PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER DUGGAN.
It’s summer or for some of us, Tamarie time. Every summer, Catastrophic Theatre’s Tamarie Cooper whips up an extravagant and irreverent mash up of dance, theater and tunes for us to enjoy. Her own life is most often the source.
This year, Houston’s reigning diva claims to be “Old as Hell”.
We visited Catastrophic’s new home on the old DiverseWorks docks, which brings me to a hint of a theme in this issue: place — bricks and mortar — and finding one’s home, be it for an organization or a play.
Nancy Zastudil chronicles a handful of organizations, including Catastrophic, who have recently put down some serious roots, and Lillian Warren’s transition from landscapes to waitscapes. Dusti Rhodes got inside the world- building brains of three of Houston’s most celebrated set designers, while Abby Koenig brings us inside the hunt for the perfect venue.
Devon Britt-Darby’s Loose Ends column recounts taking an out-of-town colleague through the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s recently reunified European collections, parts of which have been displaced by the last few years of temporary exhibitions in the Upper Beck building, and argues that the findings of a new book on community engagement could help the MFAH better serve more locals and tourists alike.
After the summer issue we go into a chrysalis of sorts, merge with our North Texas sister and come out as A + C TX. Britt-Darby and I will run editorial operations from Houston while expanding coverage to Austin, San Antonio — and beyond, from time to time. (Marfa, anybody?) We think Texas is ready for a sharp-eyed, occasionally sharp-tongued arts rag that backs its sass up with the facts.
Wish us luck and see you in September,
-Nancy
