PERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON PRESENTS AN EVENING WITH PETER SAGAL

(HOUSTON, April 5, 2024) – Performing Arts Houston presents the host of NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, Peter Sagal, for an evening of life stories, commentary on current events, and behind-the-scenes insights from his hit radio show. A limited number of VIPs will meet Sagal at an intimate photo and signing opportunity following the performance. Tickets start at $39, at performingartshouston.org.  

As part of Performing Arts Houston’s education initiatives, a pre-show Pages & Stages book club will be held on the sixth floor of the Wortham Center at 6:30 pm to discuss Sagal’s written work with Performing Arts Houston’s Education & Community Engagement team and Harris County Public Library. This free book club is open to all ticket holders. More information is available at performingartshouston.org/community.

Sagal has traveled all around the country with Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! playing to sold-out theaters from Seattle to Miami. As one of the nation’s premier radio humorists and commentators on current events, and the host of Constitution USA on PBS, Peter speaks about the intersections of politics, civics, humor and entertainment, and how they all draw from each other to create the American experience. An adept moderator, Sagal is also the perfect emcee, able to apply his quick wit to esoteric company stories, weaving in jokes for an uproarious and unforgettable evening. Whether providing insightful, colorful commentary on current events or a behind-the-scenes peek at the funniest show on radio, Sagal never fails to inform and entertain.

Peter Sagal is, has been, and perhaps someday will be again, a husband, father, playwright, screenwriter, author, journalist, columnist, marathoner, Jeopardy contestant, dramaturg, podcast host, documentary host, foreign correspondent, wedding officiant, and magician’s assistant.

As a playwright, his work has been produced or commissioned by the Long Wharf Theater, Seattle Rep, Actor’s Theater of Louisville, Florida Stage and many others here and abroad, and he’s won awards from the Lannan Foundation, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and fellowships from the Camargo and Jerome Foundations. His screenwriting career began and pretty much ended with Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights which he wrote without meaning to.

In 1997, Peter got a call from a friend telling him about a new show at NPR, which was looking for “funny people who read a lot of newspapers.” He auditioned and appeared as a panelist on the first broadcast of Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me! in January of 1998, and moved with his family to Chicago to become the host in May, alongside our original judge and scorekeeper, Carl Kasell. In the two decades since, he has traveled the country with the show, playing in venues such as the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, Red Rocks, Tanglewood, the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, and Carnegie Hall. He’s interviewed two Presidents, a number of Nobel Prize winners, astronauts and rocket scientists, musicians Elvis Costello, Yo Yo Ma, and Ice Cube, actors Tom Hanks and Scarlet Johansson and many, many others. Wait, Wait… has grown from 50,000 weekly listeners on nine stations at its launch to over five million listeners on more than 700 stations, making it the most listened-to hour in public radio. This, however, has not gone to his head.

In 2008, he accepted a Peabody award on behalf of the panelists, crew and producers of this show. He’s also won the Kurt Vonnegut Award for Humor from the Kurt Vonnegut Library. He’s the author of The Book of Vice: Naughty Things and How To Do Them andThe Incomplete Book of Running, a memoir about the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing and other adventures while running long distances. He’s contributed essays to Opera News, Saveur, Finesse, The New York Times Magazine, and was the “Road Scholar” columnist for Runner’s World.

On TV, Peter has made appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and other shows, and hosted Constitution USA with Peter Sagal for PBS, and National Geographic Explorer for the NatGeo Channel. He also appears on a narrowly popular podcast, Nerdette Recaps Game of Thrones with Peter Sagal, because he is a giant nerd.

He has three daughters, Rosie, Gracie and Willa, and lives in the Chicago area with his wife Mara and two dogs, DeeDee and Dutchie, who like to see their names in print.

Ticket Information
Tickets start at $39. Tickets can be purchased through the Performing Arts Houston website at performingartshouston.org or by calling our box office at (713) 227-4772. To support the arts and enjoy benefits like priority access, member-exclusive pricing, no-fee exchanges, and more, become a Performing Arts Houston member at performingartshouston.org/memberships.

ABOUT PERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON
Performing Arts Houston is a leading non-profit performing arts presenter dedicated to connecting audiences with exceptional artists from around the globe. Founded in 1966, the organization remains committed to advancing artistic innovation, community engagement, and cultural enrichment. With a legacy spanning over five decades, Performing Arts Houston has presented many of the most influential artists of our time.

Each year, Performing Arts Houston presents a multi-disciplinary season of over 60 performances across Houston’s historic Theater District and venues citywide and creates a wide range of programs and opportunities for students and lifelong learners to engage with and experience the arts, including masterclasses, workshops, talks, student matinees, performance avenues for local arts groups, paid arts administration internships, a commissioning series for working Houston artists, and in-school residencies. Learn more at performingartshouston.org.

CALENDAR DETAILS
Performing Arts Houston
presents
An Evening with Peter Sagal
May 3, 2024
Friday, 7:30 pm
Cullen Theater, Wortham Center
Tickets start at $39
performingartshouston.org

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Facebook: @performingartshouston
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Caroline Senter, Public Relations Associate
Email: csenter@performingartshouston.org
Phone: 713-632-8105

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