Kandi Burruss brings one-woman show to Houston

Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and television personality Kandi Burruss is bringing her one-woman show, “I Do, I Did, I’m Done,” to House of Blues Houston on Aug. 23, turning the public unraveling of her marriage to Todd Tucker into an evening of music, comedy, and unfiltered storytelling.

The Houston date follows a stop at House of Blues Dallas on Aug. 21. Both shows come as Burruss’ split from Tucker, whom she married in 2014, has played out largely online, fueled by speculation and cheating allegations she has publicly pushed back against.

Burruss, a member of the R&B group Xscape and a longtime cast member of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” said the show grew out of a habit she has leaned on throughout her career. Working through hard moments by turning them into music or a stage production.

“I always vent through my creativity,” Burruss told the Defender. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to find the words to say when I’m going through something, and my best way to do it is either through my songwriting or putting something on stage.” 

She pointed to two earlier examples, the play “Mother’s Love,” written during friction between Tucker and her mother, and the “Welcome to the Dungeon” tour, built around drama chronicled on reality TV. This show follows the same instinct, but with rawer material, the end of her marriage.

The show moves through the arc suggested by its title, opening with clips of raw, on-camera check-ins Burruss recorded during the early days of the split, before shifting into a livelier stretch with a DJ and audience participation, and closing with an unscripted segment modeled on “Speak on It,” the online series where Burruss usually interviews others about their lives. This time, she is the one speaking.

“DonJuan was like, we need you to sit down and record almost like an interview for yourself,” Burruss said, referring to DonJuan Clark, her longtime general manager. “I was like, I don’t want to do that. He was like, I know you don’t want to, but you’ll appreciate having this later.”

Clark, who has managed Burruss’ business ventures for more than a decade and books the tour, said the show came together over months of work between Burruss, creative director Victor Jackson, and the production’s musical director, who helped shape a set list Burruss then reworked to match how she wanted to tell her story.

“There was such a sensitive topic that even with doing it, we wanted to do it with care,” he said. “She stayed closely involved in staging and costuming decisions, and the version now on tour is more revealing than the one she first performed in Atlanta.” 

“When it gets to the very vulnerable part, you feel like you’re at a concert, but then you hear them yell it out, like they’re angry at points with her,” he said. “It’s very much a collaborative feeling.”

Burruss said performing live differs from the honesty audiences know from reality TV, where hourlong conversations are edited into minutes. She hopes the show encourages them to navigate any struggles in their relationships. 

“If you don’t feel respected in a situation, do what’s best for you,” she said. “I urged people preparing for their own divorces to seek legal counsel early and shield children from conflict with a co-parent.”

Houston holds a specific place on the tour, Burruss said. The city’s audiences have shown up consistently for her ventures over the years, part of why organizers added a Texas stop. 

Clark said cities on the tour so far, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, have largely kept details of the show off social media, with attendees choosing not to post specifics before other audiences see it. 

“ Houston ticket holders should arrive ready for an honest, emotional evening,” he said. “She’s very vulnerable, very honest. This is probably the most vulnerable that people can come.”

Tickets for the Aug. 23 show at House of Blues Houston are available through Ticketmaster.