Houston, Sterling, 1945-

Sterling Houston was born in San Antonio in 1943. Houston attended Los Angeles City College before dropping out in 1964 to study acting in New York. He worked as an actor Off-Broadway and was involved with the Playhouse of Ridiculous theater. In 1968 Houston moved to San Francisco with Larry Neal, his partner and collaborator. For the next seven years they performed as the rock and roll band, Fleshtones. In 1978, Houston returned to theater and began working at the Magic Theatre as a stage technician, staff technician, actor and advisor on issues of African-American and gay sensitivity. In 1981, panicked by health issues, Houston returned to San Antonio to join the family real estate business.

After returning to San Antonio, Houston became involved with the local community and professional theater companies as an actor, director and producer. In 1983, encouraged by a residency with George C. Wolfe, Houston began to write plays. In 1985 he was commissioned by the San Antonio Museum of Art to create a work about the Harlem Renaissance, which became the musical, A'Lelia . Houston joined Jump-Start Performance Company, a not-for-profit presenting and producing theater company, dedicated to the exploration of alternative viewpoints in performance, in 1988 and worked as performer, writer-in-residence, administrative director and artistic director over the next 18 years, premiering 30 plays in that time. His theatrical works in that time include: Relationships: Good and Not So Good, a collaboration with dancer Blondell Cummings, which toured nationally; La Frontera, about a Latino family moving into San Antonio's historically black East Side; High Yello' Rose, an all-female musical retelling of the myths of traditional Texas history toured to Austin, after a successful run in San Antonio; Isis in Nubia , an epic re-telling of the myths of ancient Egypt; Santo Negro, a mixed-media musical around events in the life of 16th century African saint, Martin de Porres; On the Pulse of the Morning , a collaboration with poet Maya Angelou for a cast of nine speakers and four singers; Black Lily, White Lily a domestic farce chosen to open Cleveland Public Theatre’s Festival of New Plays; The Alien Show/Kool Jams ‘99 , a play with music dealing with aliens, alienation, and the coming millennium; Message Sent , a short play commissioned by the Actor's Theater of Louisville’s Humana Fest; Cameoland , a musical history of San Antonio's African American community before integration; Miranda Rites, a surrealistic tragicomedy. His plays are known for their biting social commentary, burlesque humor, and intensive musical ideas.

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