Why does an actor in the current Broadway production of Wicked step away to come back to Houston to perform in the Houston Shakespeare Festival in the title role of Henry V? And it’s the first time he’s done Shakespeare since 2018?
Michael Thatcher, who graduated from grad school at the University of Houston in 2014, says at the end of last summer, he was talking with Jack Young, HSF artistic director and acting professor in the UH School of Theatre & Dance, about collaborating on something.
“Henry V was always a dream role of mine and so we made it happen,” he says. “It was a great opportunity to get back to the Bard.”
Somewhat surprisingly, Thatcher never participated in the Houston Shakespeare Festival put on each year by the University of Houston Theatre Department with a mix of students and professionals. But once he left school, he did a lot of Shakespeare.
“The Texas Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Shakespeare Festival; I did Shakespeare in the Park with the Public Theater in Central Park but then I made my Broadway debut in The Play That Goes Wrong in 2018 and did the national tour for that. And then I booked Wicked and I’ve been there ever since.
“Henry V is a great story of leadership that always interested me. Henry V goes from the beginning of the play when we’re not really sure what type of leader he’s going to be to a really brash leader, leading his men into battle. A really threatening leader against the French to then later in the play learning the ins and outs of what his soldiers are going through. He becomes more of a sympathetic and empathic leader.
“It always interested me to see the arc of his character and the leadership that he chooses to embolden himself with that leads this small band of brothers to victory when they should have definitely lost.
“One of my favorite things about Henry V is that the final part of it is kind of a romcom of Henry wooing the French princess that he’s set to marry. For four of five of Shakespeare’s acts he’s a soldier and a king and in the last act he’s just a guy trying to woo the girl.”
This production clocks in at about two hours, Thatcher says. There are battlefield scenes but Thatcher describes them as “a little stylized.”
When the audience first sees Henry V, he’ll seem very regal, Thatcher says. “He’s presented right away with an act of defiance from the French. So right away we get to see how he handles that. You’re not really sure at first if he’s going to throw a mockery right back at the French or he’s going to rise above it.
“He chooses to rise above it with some fun wordplay.”
As is usual for the visiting talent, Thatcher is also in As You Like It which presents on alternate nights to Henry V. “I play duke Frederick the evil duke,” he says, adding that because of his larger size he’s often played evil characters in his career. “Honestly, evil characters are so fun to play.
In preparation for the festival, Thatcher went a performance of the Houston Symphony at Miller Outdoor about three weeks ago. He had never been on the stage there.
“I went out and saw the symphony because I was very curious to see the stage and hear the sound. I sat as far back on the hill as I could to take it all in. And what Jack Young, our director told us the first day ‘If you hold your hand out and put your thumb up a person on the stage is as big as your thumbnail.’ It’s true.
“It was very informative to know that some audience members will be so far away that we need to communicate our story back to them. It’s a fun show. I can’t wait to have an audience.”
Asked why people should come to the Houston Shakespeare Festival, Thatcher says: “I think Shakespeare is still as relevant today as it was when it was written. It’s also just a good time. It’s family-friendly. I love Shakespeare. When someone not well versed in Shakespeare where actors know what they’re doing it just unlocks something for people.
“Shakespeare is meant to be heard and seen. It’s not meant to be read. I think people should come out for a good time. The shows are both fantastic. There’s no real tragedy this summer. All of Houston should come out and see us.”
Performances are scheduled for August 1-10 at 8:15 p.m. with a pre-show Bard Talk beginning at 7:45 p.m. as follows:
Henry V: July 31, August 2, 4, 6 and 8.
As You Like It : August 1, 5, 7 and 9.
At Miller Outdoor Theatre, 6000 Hermann Park Drive. Free. For more information, call 832-487-7102 or visit milleroutdoortheatre.com FREE.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
