There’s multidisciplinary and then there’s Performing Arts Houston. The presenting organization is once again set to offer a varied and eclectic lineup of artists for its 2025-2026 season, from speakers like Jane Fonda to music of all sorts, including classical with a comic twist, to dance from across the globe. And this all began in early summer with the monumental Eldorado Ballroom Houston, a series of avant-garde performances celebrating Black artists curated by Houston’s own Solange Knowles.
“We’ve got the Gazillion Bubble Show, [MacArthur “Genius” folk singer] Rhiannon Giddens, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, you name it,” says PAH president and CEO, Meg Booth, of the over 35 unique performances that will be presented in a multitude of different venues, including traditional theaters such as Jones Hall and the Wortham Center, but also at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Eldorado Ballroom, the Asia Society and even a Nigerian wedding venue in Alief.
The season gets started early thanks to the timing of Eldorado Ballroom Houston, a series within the larger season. Booth says they’ve been in talks with Solange Knowles for several years, even before she curated works for a similar program at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in 2023.
“She chose to curate a series of performances that used Houston’s Eldorado Ballroom as the inspiration, paying homage to what she credits as inspired her to pursue a creative career and the future and past—but primarily focused on the future—of black creativity,” describes Booth of that first Eldorado Ballroom programming for BAM.
Bringing the series back to its inspiration and literal home in Houston became the perfect way for PAH and Knowles to finally collaborate. Eldorado also acts as a kind of preface to the disciplinary breadth of this season, illustrating how PAH continues to embrace the Houston communities as well as the city’s place on the world stage.
“I think that art has so much strength in its ability to record and share culture. We are so blessed in Houston to have such a plurality of communities and have fun when we get to learn about each other’s culture through future art,” says Booth.
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Concert Truck Founders, Susan Zhang and Nick Luby. Photo by Sean Scheidt.
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Justin Rogers as James in Mrs. Krishnan’s Party. Photo by Grabb for Image Excellence.
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Two Set Violin; Photo courtesy of the artists.
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Time for Three members Ranaan Meyer, Charles Yang, and Nick Kendall; Photo courtesy of the artists.
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Ballets Jazz Montréal in Dance Me, music by Leonard Cohen, choreography by Andonis Foniadakis, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Ihsan Rustem. Photo by Thierry du Bois.
“The whole idea is that it’s this intergenerational transfer of culture, why it’s important, and the stories that are transferred through sharing a meal together. A meal can be a way to celebrate your culture. Throughout the course of the evening, the actors are in community with the participants that are there. So it’s very interactive and fun.”
Mrs. Krishnan’s Party is also a good example of the many new global offerings this season. Booth also highlights Birdy from the Taiwanese Hung Dance. She saw the company in Taiwan and, so impressed by the beauty of the dance that references both Chinese opera and the freedom of flight, she worked to find other U.S presenters to help Hung Dance build a U.S. tour.
For a very different dance vibe, but also new to Houston, PAH will bring in Ballets Jazz Montréal and their piece Dance Me, with music by Leonard Cohen. Booth says the work “beautifully marries the choreography with the poetry and music.”
Another new show, TwoSet Violin, merges classical music and comedy with accomplished Australian violinists offering humorous “hot takes” on music and the world. Two additional new shows in their Global Voices Music series are the six-man band from Zimbabwe, Mokoomba and the hot Irish acoustic band, Lúnasa.
PAH is also bringing back several artists they introduced to Houston only recently, but audiences couldn’t get enough, like Step Afrika! and the Grammy-winning A Time for Three, with a special holiday themed show.
Of course there are many returning favorites in the lineup, such as David Sedaris, Alvin Ailey Dance and Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, but even some traditional favorites will premiere new work, like Blue Man Group’s Bluevolution and the Riverdance’s 30th Anniversary World Tour.
“Membership was an opportunity for us to update the subscription model, giving people more flexibility,” explains Booth. Members get early access to tickets and can pick and choose the shows they want. “But it combines philanthropy,” Booth says of the $25 minimum membership level. Higher levels add more benefits. “There are all sorts of little perks in there that incentivize you to become a member, which then also drives philanthropic revenue for the organization.”
Philanthropy and education remains an important part of the Performing Art Houston mission, so it’s only natural to get the audience involved. Another new program this year, not directly connected to membership but perhaps in the same philanthropic spirit, is their Tenth Seat initiative, a commitment to dedicate 10% of all tickets to local students, veterans, and community groups.
“There are so many people that don’t experience the arts, and so many community groups that we work with. We thought: why don’t we make a commitment to put 10% of our overall inventory over the course of the season aside so that we can invite the groups that we know have a harder time,” describes Booth, adding that it’s not an arbitrary comp ticket. They will coordinate with organizations. “We’re going to welcome this entire group in and we’re going to make tonight special for you.”
“We can send this truck to any area around Houston, and they can do two concerts a day. We are specifically going to look at neighborhoods and districts that have more difficulty accessing high-quality arts. But it’s literally a box truck that they’ve retrofitted with lighting, with sound. You pull the side of the truck down and you’ve got classically trained pianists that give a legitimate concert in a parking lot, a playground, anywhere.”
Perhaps Concert Truck becomes the ultimate expression of Performing Arts Houston’s determination to keep rolling along, delivering world class art from around the world to Houston.
—TARRA GAINES
