Lynn Wyatt Square / Courtesy of Houston First Corportation on X The $26.5 million Lynn Wyatt Square for the Performing Arts, a reimagined green space and focal point of Houston’s downtown Theater District, officially opens to the public on Friday, September 22, 2023. During opening weekend, the park will host free lawn games and live entertainment, including an interactive experience called “Bees” created by the Australia-based Polyglot Theatre. Bordered by Jones Hall, Alley Theatre, and Bayou Place—and adjacent to the Wortham Theater Center and only a few blocks away from the Hobby Center for ..read more

Federico De Michelis, bass-baritone and founder of The New Song Project / Courtesy of the artist Houston opera singer Federico De Michelis says that the genre of “song” is so broad and accessible that it’s one of the great entry points to the performing arts—and it sparked an idea for a new arts organization. “I want to build not only a project where [composers and writers] are supported and can develop their talent, but also a community around songwriting, storytelling, performing, and experiencing the power of music, theater, and literature,” said De Michelis. With these goals in mind, the A ..read more

“Still Life Paint” by Meg Mickelsen, 2014 Young Master / Courtesy of Texas Commision on the Arts The Texas Commission on the Arts and the Texas Cultural Trust have announced that the application cycle is now open for the 2024 class of Young Masters, described as “a joint initiative that provides exemplary Texas student artists in grades 8-11 with the financial help they need to pursue advanced study in the areas of visual arts, literary arts, music, theater, dance, musical theater, folk arts, and media arts.” Awardees will receive grants of $5,000 per year (for up to two years, with submission ..read more

The women’s chorus in Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston’s 2015 production of “The Pirates of Penzance” / Photo by Steve Feinberg Nicole Kenley-Miller says that she’s most excited about the portrayal of the character Mabel, played by Julie Hoeltzel, in this summer’s production of Pirates of Penzance by the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston. “In other productions I have seen, she tends to be played as a cutesy, coquettish ingénue that is waiting around for a man to come and save her,” she said. “But that is simply not supported by the librettist’s text.” In Pirates of Penzance ..read more

Scene from “Mughal-e-Azam” / Courtesy of mughaleazamplay.com Considered the first original, large-scale Broadway-style music written and produced in India, Mughal-e-Azam is in the midst of its first North American tour, making a stop in Houston for performances July 14 – 16 at the Wortham Center’s Brown Theater. Based on the epic, blockbuster 1960 Bollywood movie of the same name, Maughal-e-Azam: The Musical premiered in 2016 in Mumbai and has been described in a press release as “a love letter to South Asian history and legend,” as well a “a love story as familiar to Indians and their Eastern ..read more

Houston Ballet Music Director and Principal Conductor Ermanno Florio in rehearsals with the Houston Ballet Orchestra / Photo by Amitava Sarkar (2016). Courtesy of Houston Ballet. Houston Ballet recently announced that the 2023-2024 season will be Ermanno Florio’s final season as Music Director after 32 years at the podium. “Although I’m stepping down as Music Director of Houston Ballet, I will continue with my international conducting career and look forward to the possibility of guest conducting with the Company in the years ahead,” said Florio in a statement. Musicians of the Houston Ballet ..read more

L-R: Linda Lorelle, moderator, with Houston mayoral candidates Robin Williams, John Whitmire, Sheila Jackson Lee, Lee Kaplan, Gilbert Garcia, Robert Gallegos, and Amanda Edwards at the Houston Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture / Photo by Catherine Lu This past Monday night, the Houston Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture—the first candidate forum of this campaign—took place before a packed audience at the Hobby Center’s Zilkha Hall. The public event was organized by the city’s seven state-designated cultural districts: Arts District Houston, East End Houston Cultural District, 5th Ward Cultural ..read more

Mural in progress by artist Aches, located on the side of Houston Ballet’s Margaret Alkek Williams Center for Dance, and “Imagine,” an art car by artist Ruth Sosa Bailey / Photo by Elizabeth Sosa Bailey The public will have the opportunity to ask Houston mayoral candidates about their visions, stances, and plans for arts and culture in the city, if elected, at a community forum. The Houston Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture will take place on Monday, June 12, 2023 at 6:30pm, preceded by a public reception at 5:30pm, at the Hobby Center’s Zilkha Hall. The forum is organized by the city’s s ..read more

Kathyrn Lott / Photo by Julie Soefer Twenty-year veteran of the nonprofit and arts world, Kathryn Lott has been named President of the Discovery Green Conservancy, the nonprofit that runs the 12-acre downtown park through a public-private partnership with the City of Houston. Lott will begin her leadership role on July 1, 2023, succeeding longtime President Barry Mandel who is retiring after serving as President since 2010. Since its opening 2008, Discovery Green Park has welcomed more than 20 million visitors, according to its website. Located across from the George R. Brown Convention Center ..read more

Emanuelee “Outspoken” Bean / Photo courtesy of the artist Emanuelee “Outspoken” Bean is a poet and more.  He is a poetic “producer of experiences,” as he calls it – from his artistry as a champion slam poet to his roles as festival producer, creator of Five-Minute Poems (in which he creates custom poems on-the-spot), collaborator with Houston Ballet, and mentor to the next generation of performance poets by coaching the Meta-Four Houston Youth Poetry Slam Team. Since April 2021, Outspoken Bean has served as Houston’s Fifth Poet Laureate, a cultural ambassador position that aims to foster ..read more