Willie Mae Sallie wrote the musical play It’s Almost Midnight in one sitting. The “Holy Spirit woke me up at two o’clock one morning,” she says. “I sat down to write and by day it was done.” Based in part on Sallie’s experiences with her brother, who was very ill at the time, Midnight shows us a young man whose body has to get sick before his soul gets well, and includes excerpts from such songs as “Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus” and “It’s Another Day’s Journey.” Strangely enough, this production, running two nights at the Hobby Center, will be performed by church folk who are “totally amateurs,” as Sallie puts it. See what time it is at 7 p.m. Friday and today. Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Zilkha Hall, 800 Bagby. For information, call 713–315–2525. $22 to $27.

Fri., Feb. 1, 7 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 2, 7 p.m., 2008

This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 6, 2008.