Ben Chavez’s Last Day, County Fair.

Grows into a Full-Length Musical

Before the curtain went up on the 2025 30-minute version of Ben Chavez’s Last Day, County Fair, he knew it would eventually be a full-length show. Before the final curtain, Performing Arts Houston agreed with him and was talking to him about how to support his vision.

“It was during that process that Performing Arts Houston approached me,” Chavez says. “They had seen one of my rehearsals on stage and immediately expressed interest in taking this piece a step further, which was honestly such a huge shock to me. This piece was still so new to me.” That first showing, a part of PAH’s New/Now Houston Artist Commissioning Project, met everyone’s expectations.

“Performing Arts Houston reached out shortly thereafter and said let’s get to work,” Chavez continues, “and so I started dreaming up how I could take this piece beyond a 30-minute iteration, double the amount of songs and the amount of people involved, and I presented it to them. They were all for it.”

The 2025 version of the show had Chavez on stage, singing his songs with three backup singers. Between songs, he told the story that connected the songs and the singers would pop in to play other characters. The 2026 expanded version will have seven performers and an eight-piece band backing him up.

“People ask me, ‘What is this? A musical? Is this a concert?’ And I say, ‘Yes, it is all of those things.’ It’s laid out like a concert. You will see the band on stage. You’ll see the backup vocalists. I’ll be at the piano, but the songs—and there’s 13 of them—are all sewn together by a through line. So, it is a concept album much like The Who’s Tommy or Green Day’s American Idiot. In between the songs we’ll see some scenes play out and some dialog and some little narrations that connect the stories together.”

And the story? As the title says, the action takes place on the last day of a county fair. At the center is an entertainer on one of the fair’s stages—and he’s on the verge of coming out. For queer people, the coming-out experience is somewhat universal and yet so specific. While Last Day, County Fair isn’t autobiographical, it draws on personal conversations between Chavez and his husband.

“I grew up just outside of New York City and there were other queer people around me,” Chavez explains. “I still experienced lots of fears and shame in that process. My husband, on the other hand, grew up in a really small town in Mississippi and it was just a totally different experience—not so many outward support systems and allies.” Between the husband’s conversations and Chavez’s imagination, the songs and story emerged.

It’s been documented elsewhere that Chavez met his husband on a stop in Houston while performing in the touring company of the musical, Disney’s Aladdin. That tour, besides leading to marriage and coming-out conversations, is also influencing Last Day, County Fair. Chavez made close, lasting friendships in that company, and they’re involved in the PAH production. Jordan Speas is directing the show, and Taylor Mackenzie Smith is choreographing.

“The three of us are a tight knit trio of friends,” Chavez says. Using their experiences as touring artists, the trio are crafting the show not only for the Wortham Center, but also to translate to other venues. “This premier performance in September is also being coupled with an album release and then the goal is to take this piece on the road,” Chavez explains. “I’m looking forward to bringing this piece to stages large and small around the world. This piece could be played in a 5,000-seat opera house, but can also be played in a supper club or a small cabaret or a library.”

Chavez becomes animated as he describes his enthusiasm for touring. “I love connecting with audiences around the world through art and seeing how they may react,” he says. “I’ll never forget when I was in Aladdin, I was always so intrigued by how different audiences reacted to the comedic and the touching moments. Sometimes a certain audience would roll on the floor laughing and sometimes audiences would be totally silent because it was a different sense of humor.”

Chavez is curious to see how Last Day, County Fair will play to different audiences, too. And yes, the album of all 13 songs from the show is scheduled to be released at the time the show premieres, and a single can already be heard streaming on Spotify. “Golden Era,” an upbeat anthem, was released over the Fourth of July weekend.

Chavez often comes back to his surprise and gratitude for the Aladdin tour stop in Houston that introduced him to his husband and gave him a new home city and community. “Moving to Texas was never on my radar, and when I was on tour in 2019 with Aladdin, I stepped into Houston for the first time and met my husband.

During COVID I moved to Houston, and I was so blessedly surprised by this incredible city. I was really surprised and my heart was warmed by its diversity and really by its vast queer community, and that really showed me that I could call this city home,” he says. “This is sort of my love letter to Houston and to queer people in the world who are feeling lost and need a sense of home, a sense of family.”

Keep up with Ben Chavez on Instagram @benchavezmusic.

Beyond New/Now

Two Houston artists reshape Performing Arts Houston’s signature series.

When Performing Arts Houston first initiated its New/Now program, it was intended as a Houston artist showcase. The format would have three artists presenting 30- to 35-minute pieces on one evening. For their 60th Anniversary season, PAH found they had two artists with proposals that made them rethink that paradigm.

Harrison Guy (Dear Prairie View), a previous New/Now artist, had applied with a new piece, Ben Chavez (LastDay, County Fair) was invited to expand a piece even as it was playing its first iteration.

“We saw that both of these artists had projects that were so much bigger than the 35-minute format that we had created for New/Now,” says Meg Booth, President and CEO of PAH.

“At the same time this aligned with our 60th Anniversary season, and we thought how can we go bigger and do something different?”

“We got to know them each individually as artists,” Booth continues. “They’re both very, very different. Harrison creates a historical context within a dance and narrative environment. Then of course Ben Chavez is a piano man. He’s more based in musical theater. In working with these two artists, we were so excited about their ideas.”

“Will every New/Now artist get a full evening? We’re not quite sure yet,” Booth says. “We will likely go back to a shared evening, which we love because it’s somewhat of a mixed tape. It gives audiences the opportunity to see three new artists at the same time. But we also have the flexibility where we may be inspired to create something even different with the artists in Houston.”

In a city full of exceptional artists, it’s noteworthy that the two artists that stood out to this premiere presenting organization are both from Houston’s queer community.

WHAT: Last Day, County Fair — Performing Arts Houston’s New/Now Series
WHEN: September 25–26, 2026
WHERE: Cullen Theater, Wortham Center
INFO: tinyurl.com/Ben-Chavez