The Hills are Alive with a Pair of Mickle Mahers, Noises Off, Die Hard, Tharp, Cinderella’s Rats and so much more: The 2024 Season Wrap up

Nancy Wozny·
DanceMusicTheater
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It’s that time of year again, when we gather on the page to consider all the shows that we have seen, what stood out, who wowed us, and more. As usual, we are never brief. Grab a snack or two or three, some tasty nog, plan on a nap midway through, and enjoy musings from a gaggle of our trusted performing arts writers.

Holiday Cheer

Lindsey Wilson: I’ve been a bit of a Scrooge this year when it comes to holiday-themed shows, but if you’re seeking glamour, glitter, and lots of soapy family drama, then you can’t miss Theatre Three’s current stellar production of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. It’s directed by Circle Theatre’s new artistic director, Ashley H. White, and features an amazingly talented cast of singer/musicians led by music director Scott A. Eckert. It feels opulent and indulgent, just like the holidays.

Tarra Gaines: I want to see the touring Yippee Ki Yay, the one-man Die Hard reenactment show performed in rhyming verse. Performing Arts Houston is presenting it in Houston, but it’s also making San Antonio and Dallas stops in late December.

Lindsey Wilson: OMG Scrooge no more. I need to see this!

Nancy Wozny: Tarra and Lindsey, I love your broad Holiday thinking! I went for the rare with Harmonia Stellarum’s excellent “Es begab sich zu der Zeit …” Musical rarities from Rome and Dresden and Ars Lyrica’s Crossing Borders program that featured the wonderful Cecilia Duarte and Camille Ortiz. For pure holiday joy, it was the Theater Under The Stars production of Disney’s Frozen that delivered. I sat behind five tiny girls in ice blue sparkly dresses. I reached holiday nirvana watching ten tiny hands reach for the falling snow. Plus, Dan Knechges’s Frozen is gorgeous!

Sherry Cheng: Tarra, if you can believe it, I watched Die Hard for the first time ever this year, so I’m way behind the curve. And Nancy, I love it rare too. I mean an anonymous German Christmas story from 1682 that only survives in manuscript in the Saxon State Library in Dresden, paired with Kapsperger’s 1629 Christmas Oratorio, which may be the first of this genre in music history–that’s what Harmonia Stellarum does best! I also attended Ars Lyrica’s gorgeous Crossing Borders program celebrating festive music across Hispanic cultures in the Renaissance and Baroque eras. That definitely put me in the Christmas spirit.

Tara Munjee: I am looking forward to seeing Ballet Austin’s longest running production of The Nutcracker in Texas.

NW: Tara, I am glad that one of us made it to a Nutcracker!

Trends

TG: I feel like there were lots of examples of companies leaning into well-known shows, not necessarily with the idea that they were going to reinvent the work, but just that they were going to do the best production possible. The Alley’s production of Noises Off is a good example of just a really strong production of one of the finest late 20th century farces, and I’d say it ended up being one of their strongest productions this year. Likewise, opera lovers might have scratched their heads when Houston Grand Opera announced they were ending their 23-24 season with The Sound of Music. Yet, I think throwing HGO’s grandeur at such a beloved classic American musical made for one of the most delightful musical productions of the year, while still managing to depict the complexity of making life and death moral choices.

NW: Tarra, I am looking forward to HGO’s grandeur behind West Side Story Jan 31-Feb. 15! As for trends, People are talking less in music shows, although it should be stated that the talkback should not last longer than the actual show. I am seeing more attention to finding a space that fits the show. Performing Arts Houston found a perfect home for the celebrated UK choir Tenebrae at St. John the Divine. Aurora has hosted events at Basket Books & Art (fave bookstore ever!). Kinetic felt Brooklyn-ish at Sanman Studios on the docks. ROCO sounded smashing at Menil’s Dan Flavin installation. NMLY.dance presented everyday more dystopian: entropic playground at Houston Met Dance, the very place it was conceived. NMLY.dance’s work also highlighted an ongoing focus on climate change that I see in the visual arts quite a bit.

SC: One trend that I’ve noticed is that symphony orchestras are taking on opera. DSO completed an ambitious Wagner Ring Cycle and the Houston Symphony hit a home run with a spectacular multimedia concert production of Strauss’s Salome. It’s a trend I hope will continue. Performing opera repertoire allows orchestras to showcase the sensitivity and flexibility of its stellar ensembles and put the music front and center.

Big News

LW: The Dallas Arts District was named the best in the nation by USA Today’s readers, beating out Chicago, Milwaukee, and even Houston (sorry Tarra, Sherry, and Nancy).

And two DFW students made an incredible showing at this year’s Jimmy Awards in New York! Fabiola Caraballo Quijada from Tyler Legacy High School was one of six overall finalists, and Damson Chola Jr. from Cleburne High School won it all in the Best Actor category.

TG: If y’all will allow me to verve off our performing arts focus for a moment, I have to mention the continuing rise of immersive visual art spaces in Houston this year. The techno art space Artechouse opened in early fall. Houston finally got our own Meow Wolf with Radio Tave. I believe Texas is the only state with two Meow Wolf venues. And in December the downtown POST cultural space opened an immersive art night club, succinctly called Art Club.

But back to performing arts, I think the new presenting initiative at the Hobby Center is certainly big. Ever since its opening, Houston’s Hobby Center has been the presenter of Broadway at Hobby, for the best of touring Broadway shows, but this year Hobby really upped their presenting game, creating two new series they’re presenting, Beyond Broadway and Live at the Founders Club. They’re also beefing up their educational Discovery Series for students and working with Performing Arts Houston to bring in some of their local New Now artists.

Jumping into our next big topic, some of the big news for Houston was retirement news. Lots of major figures are either taking steps back or leaving their prominent backstage roles.

Comings and Goings

SC: Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers leaving HGO after 25 years with the organization, executive director John Mangum leaving the Houston Symphony for Lyric Opera of Chicago, founder and artistic director Robert Simpson retiring from the Grammy award-winning Houston Chamber Choir after three decades at the helm–these are all visionary leaders who left indelible marks on their organizations. I’m really thankful for everything they’ve done for these performing arts organizations.

TG: Updating a retirement announced in 2023, Stages long-time AD Kenn McLaughlin officially left at the end of the 23-24 season and after a nation-wide search, Stages announced in May they had selected Utah Shakespeare Festival new play director and interim AD, Derek Charles Livingston as their new artistic director. He took up the Stages reins this summer.

While many of these retirements and departures are at some of our biggest and most preeminent performing arts companies, I just did a story about how the founders of Houston’s 4th Wall Theatre made a five year plan to leave their leadership roles, while continuing to contribute artistically to their company. It might be a blueprint for other smaller or mid-sized companies in the future.

NW: Tarra, I am so happy that you addressed succession and 4th Wall is doing it with such grace and thoughtfulness. As an elder, I think about how small arts organizations will go on after founders retire. With so many departures announced or already in motion at Houston’s cultural pillars it will be a whole new arts scene!

LW: There were lots of staff shuffles this year in DFW. WaterTower Theatre in Addison abruptly let its associate producer, Elizabeth Kensek, go, citing budget cuts from the city. The theater company also announced that its usage and office space at its longtime home at the Addison Conference & Theatre Center was being drastically reduced (those budget cuts again, they say). Luckily Amphibian Stage in Fort Worth saw Kensek for the gem she is and scooped her up to help lead with Jay Duffer, who became artistic director when longtime AD Kathleen Culebro stepped down.

The previously mentioned Ashley H. White has made her mark this year on Circle Theatre, hosting live music, wine tastings, and even pop-up tattoo events to complement her first season as AD. Over at Dallas Theater Center, Kevin Moriarty handed the interim AD reins over to resident playwright Jonathan Norton, who has a long history with the company and is very excited to lead.

Welcome Surprises

NW: Adam Castañeda, founder of The Pilot Project, has brought local dance back to the Miller stage with Bayou City Dances, which showcased several local groups and choreographers. It’s a great start and I can’t wait to see how this festival evolves. It was also so great to see two stellar local troupes Houston Contemporary Dance Company and Open Dance Project collaborate for Butterfly Effect at Asia Society Texas Center.

TG: It’s been a couple of years in the making, but Houston is becoming quite the intimate concert and cabaret town. Besides some groups that have been here for years like Music Box Theatre, Paul Hope Cabaret and A.D. Players’ Arts Lounge Live, the creation of Live at the Founders Club at Hobby Center has opened up even more opportunities for cabaret lovers to see both local and national performers in a club-like setting. Performing Arts Houston occasionally presents cabaret style artists as well, like Meow Meow who’s scheduled to be in Houston in March, 2024.

New Groups

TG: I’ve only seen one show each from two recently inaugurated companies, but the brand new Houston Broadway Theatre certainly got my attention with a New York-worthy production of the musical Next to Normal that they mounted in the more intimate Zilkha Hall at Hobby in July. This fall, the new women-focused Lionwoman Productions debuted at MATCH the Texas premiere of the fascinating Playhouse Creatures, a history play about the first stage actresses in London. We’ll have to see if there are one-then-done companies or they’ll be sticking around, but intriguing beginnings.

NW: Chelsea De Souza and David Dietz launched Houston Music Festival on Nov. 2 at Alta Arts with a mission to re-vision chamber music. NMLY.dance, founded by Houston dance veteran Lori Yuill and Nicole McNeil, has had a busy burst onto the scene with non-stop stunning performances and showings. Wild She Dances, now based in Austin and Houston, was founded by Bethany Logan, who has gathered some of the most interesting movers in Texas to create site-specific work.

SC: This one is definitely under the radar at the moment. The Rhapsode Guild in Houston was founded this year as a communal guild of creators and performers to explore new forms of music-drama and musico-poetic expression. Their first show was at the Houston Saengerhalle and featured Houston creatives both familiar and new (composers, writers, singers, dancers), including Isabelle Ganz, Neil Orts, Misha Penton, B.P. Herrington, Sarah Dyer, and Daniel Saenz. I’m looking forward to seeing their future projects.

Best Season

TG: I had to miss a couple of shows here and there of almost every company’s season, so I don’t think I can name a best, but I have to give a nod to Rec Room once again for some extraordinary shows that seemed focused on exploring the complexity of relationships. Their two-hander King James gave a nuanced yet hopeful portrayal of male friendship that I have seldom seen in a play. And I readily confess that Spring Awakening is not my favorite musical, but to see it performed in such an intimate space gave me a whole new appreciation for the show. I just saw their intriguing last show of the year, Winter Solstice, by German theater director and playwright, Roland Schimmelpfennig. The play plays with theatrical traditions, as characters act as narrators for other characters’ thoughts and even stage directions. It’s the kind of work that only Rec Room would attempt.

I also want to give a mention to Catastrophic for their two Mickle Maher productions It Is Magic and Spirits to Enforce, two of my favorite shows this year. Technically Magic was part of their 23-24 season and Spirits began their current season. Both were Maher at his best, using Shakespeare to riff on the glory and messiness of theater-making, and both brought out the best in some Catastrophic regulars.

LW: I’ll say it again: Ashley White is doing awesome things over at Circle Theatre. For her first official season in charge, she chose Lauren Gunderson’s Artemisia, the rock musical Hundred Days (where I got a very cute ghost tattoo on my ankle), Water By The Spoonful, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, and her own very funny, very feminist, punk-rock version of Tartuffe (which she never set out to write).

NW: The DACAMERA season is simply always phenomenal. I also appreciate how much thought goes into ROCO and Apollo Chamber Players programming.  DiverseWorks commissioned two groundbreaking dance works by two native Houston artists: Jasmine Hearn’s Memory Fleet: A Return to Matr and Laura Gutierrez’s In Tarps we Trust. In Dallas, Charles Santos brings new dance voices to the TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND season and Bruce Wood Dance Dallas is building on their national reputation with a season of renowned choreographers.

TM: Yes, TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND’s director Charles Santos continues to introduce Dallas dance audiences to superb international companies such as Okareka (New Zealand) and to host return visits of outstanding American ones such as the Mark Morris Dance Group (New York).

LW: Yes, yes, yes TITAS! I saw Twyla Tharp’s 60th anniversary show and it was sublime, especially The Ballet Master section with John Selya, whom I remember seeing in Tharp’s Movin’ Out on Broadway in the early 2000s. As a former dancer entering her mid-40s, I found it to be a very poignant and honest look at aging in the performing arts.

SC: I rarely miss a Houston Symphony concert and I have to say this season they have continued to wow me with exceptional music-making. The improved acoustics in the newly renovated Jones Hall reveal rich layers of sound and nuanced colors, but it’s the musicians themselves who are rising to even higher levels of excellence and artistry, led by their always compelling Music Director Juraj Valčuha. Standout performances include a beautiful rendering of Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony, and the brilliant conception of finishing Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony with Alban Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra. Sir Ronald Runnicles came to town to conduct Strauss’s Don Quixote and Wagner’s Overture to Tannhauser. That concert was unforgettable too.

I am also loving both Ars Lyrica and Harmonia Stellarum’s programming this season. Houston is so lucky to have two early music ensembles that bring the best singers and instrumentalists to town for their shows. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Apollo Chamber Players’s fantastic and timely season We the People. They’ve really raised their national profile with an in-depth feature from NPR, and were just named Chamber Music America’s Ensemble of the Year. That’s a huge and well-deserved honor and so great for Houston, especially because CMA is having their annual National Conference in Houston next February.  Houston will be playing host to over 30 of the best chamber music ensembles from all over the country.

Hidden Gems

Lindsey Wilson: Maybe it’s wrong to call it a hidden gem, but I am always blown away with what I see at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Fort Worth’s many museums get a lot of deserved credit, but I feel that the Carter often gets overshadowed by the Modern, the Kimbell, etc. I had a lovely conversation with artist Jean Shin about her “Museum Body” exhibition on display through June 2025, and very much enjoyed going to see it over the summer. Also, their gift shop is fantastic.

NW: Lindsey, you are never wrong and certainly not about The Carter. We even gave them two cover stories, Dario Robleto and Cowboy (written by Tarra). We are so lucky to have an internationally known dance film festival here in Texas with Frame Dance’s Frame x Frame Film Festival. Lydia Hance’s curatorial vision continues to sharpen.

SC: Some of the most enjoyable performances I’ve been to have been concert projects put together by individual performing artists. Pianist Yvonne Chen performed a beautifully conceived Murakami Music program at Steinway Selection Center in downtown Houston. In the same venue violinist Rainel Joubert gathered his friends and colleagues to perform new music by Cuban composers. Archway Gallery continues to host all kinds of top-notch chamber music concerts. Memorial Classical Series had a great year hosting intimate house concerts. The Kawai Piano Gallery hosts internationally renowned pianists regularly as well as local favorites. Tunes on 10th in the Heights is a popular outdoor porch concert series. There have been several outstanding concerts at the Russian Cultural Center. And shoutout to Monarch Chamber Players for continuing their mission to perform in every neighborhood in Houston and beyond. They’re now on the Texas Commission on the Arts’ Texas Touring Roster.

Rare Texas events

TM: The Dallas Arts District’s Block Party in April 2024 is certainly a rare event! Audiences enjoyed rotating performances by BANDALOOP Vertical Dance Company (San Francisco) and Bruce Wood Dance (Dallas). Keeping with the outdoor block party spirit, Bruce Wood Dance performed in Sammons Park by the Winspear Opera House and BANDALOOP staged a work on the roof and façade of the Wyly Theatre.

LW: Lying on the angled concrete outside the Wyly and watching BANDALOOP swirl and soar along the building’s silver facade is now a core memory for me. So were the troupe’s impressive improv skills when the music kept cutting out!

NW: Performing Arts Houston brought the celebrated UK-based choir Tenebrae  for a marvelous sold out show. Cara Mía Theatre brought the San Francisco-based troupe La Mezcla in for Ghostly Labor, in their second engagement. Dallas Symphony Orchestra performed Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Skylar Campbell Dance Collective presented the very first work by Alexei Ratmansky with Ben Rudisin and Chelsy Meiss Fain’s performance of the Romeo and Juliet balcony pas de deux. And upcoming is score for transitional times, a Dance Performance and Installation by Hope Mohr and Ranu Mukherjee on Jan. 10 at Rice’s Moody Center for the Arts. All rare. All fabulous!

TG: I think this might be a good place for my Fusebox Festival 2024 report. In the future Fusebox is moving to an every other year festival while presenting more shows and artists throughout the year on their own and in partnership with Texas Performing Arts.

So I definitely wanted to catch the festival this year, and it did not disappoint for bringing in rare Texas events. I don’t want to take over the entire wrap up, so just to highlight two shows that don’t get to Texas often. Radioactive Practice from choreographer Abby Zbikowski and her New Utility dancers was a blend of athletic movement and dance in ways I rarely see and one of the best dance performances I attended this year. It felt like I was watching dance as an extreme sport with all the “players” emotionally and sometimes physically supporting and holding each other up.

And probably the absolute strangest performance I saw all year was Australian artist Justin Talplacido Shoulder’s Anito. I’m still struggling to describe what Anito is. The closest I can get is if performance, choreography, costume and set design were all literally and figuratively rolled into one action. Using costumes, body prosthetics, parts of the set and their bodies, the artists created ever changing primordial creatures and whole landscapes that continued to evolve as the show progressed.

Keeping an Eye Out For

LW: Kitchen Dog Theater is finally getting to move into its new home in the Dallas Design District in summer 2025, but before then the company’s continuing its trend of staging shows in non-traditional performance spaces. I love it when the Dogs are on the loose.

SC: Loop38 added three new core members this year and welcomed them in a special concert that was billed as a “chamber music party.” I think it’s a great idea to give audiences an opportunity to experience music in a more communal and accessible way. Chelsea de Souza is one of the new core members and she’s also started the Houston Music Festival Nancy talked about earlier. Chelsea is a really dynamic performer, and she’s the rare classical pianist who is also comfortable with improvisation in diverse styles. She seems to relish exploration and experimentation both as a soloist and as a collaborator. I’m excited to watch where she goes from here.

I’m also following several composers in Houston. One is Mark Buller, whose work Mass in Exile, with libretto by Houston writer Leah Lax, was commissioned and performed beautifully by the Houston Chamber Choir this year. They’ve teamed up for another commission, this time by Austin’s Grammy-winning Conspirare, for a work written for chorus and strings titled Requiem in the Light. I’m looking forward to hearing both works paired together next February. Another composer I have my eyes on is Daniel Knaggs, who has also written several fantastic choral works for the Houston Chamber Choir. He’s got opera on his mind and I’ve heard captivating snippets from the chamber operas he’s working on right now.

NW: Sherry, Mark Buller’s Mass in Exile for Houston Chamber Choir was gorgeous! Thanks for that reminder. I am paying attention to Agora Artists, a newish Dallas-based haven for independent dance makers, thinkers and educators, founded in 2019 by Booker T. Washington and NYU Tisch School of the Arts grads Avery-Jai Andrews and Lauren Kravitz. If Houston Ballet demi-soloist Jack Wolff is in motion either as a dancer or choreographer I want to be there.

Outstanding Performers

TM: I especially admired performers Soledad Barrio of Noche Flamenca (presented by TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND, Dallas) and Y. A. Oza, a cast member of Austin Shakespeare’s Jane Eyre (performed at the Rollins Theatre at the Long Center, Austin). Barrio displayed duende passion and masterful flamenco technique while Oza seamlessly transitioned between the roles of a devoted canine companion and Victorian-era human characters.

NW: The entire cast of Catastrophic Theatre’s production of Brian Jucha’s Love Bomb entertained at every moment of this strange and wonderful play. Fiona Dorr moved as if there was a smoking volcano inside her in Ethan Colangelo’s post-apocalyptic love duet on blurred edges as part of Vitacca Ballet’s Gala program. Connor Walsh’s tender and restrained performance in Aszure Barton’s Come in proved a highlight of the Houston Ballet season so far. Houston Contemporary Dance Company immersed themselves in Yin Yue’s FoCo Technique™  and it showed in their high-octane performance of Yue’s Citizen at Asia Society Texas Center.

SC: I’m going to really miss Todd Waite at the Alley Theatre now that he is retiring from the Resident Acting Company. He was pitch perfect in Noises Off this season and Chekhov’s Little Comedies last year, and I’ll look forward to his final performance in his signature role as Sherlock Holmes in Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery in April next year.

TG: While Waite makes a great Holmes, his performance in Pictures From Home early in the year made me remember what a versatile and dynamic actor he can be when given a more complex role.

I got to give a round of applause to Pamela Vogel who jumped from the lead role in Swing State at 4th Wall to the one-woman Year of Magical Thinking at Main Street with only about a week between one show closing and the other opening. Both plays wrestled with themes of grief, guilt and regret, yet Vogel made each character so unique in their vulnerabilities and strengths.

Going back to my Kudos to Catastrophic for their two Mickle Maher productions, Magic and Spirit, both casts were superb but I need to give a special shoutout to two actors who I’ve seen in Catastrophic shows before but with these show now in an extraordinary new light: Dillon Dewitt in Magic playing an actor trying out for the role of the Big Bad Wolf in an adult version of the Three Little Pigs in Magic and Walt Zipprian as Spirit’s reluctant superhero Ariel.

LW: Parker Gray has long been a solid performer, but this year he really got to explore beyond “quirky guy.” His turn as the AI companion bot in Stage West’s Marjorie Prime was surprisingly emotional, and he’s currently managing chaos as the “director” in the return engagement of The Play That Goes Wrong, playing first at Stage West and in the New Year at WaterTower Theater.

Still Thinking About

TM: Twyla Tharp Dance (presented by TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas). Tharp’s witty vision never grows old; it keeps evolving, just as concert dance does.

TG: Stepping outside of Texas, if I may. I went to the UK this summer and while in London saw the musical Operation Mincemeat. The story is based on a real British intelligence operation during World War II, and the cast of five actors each play multiple parts, most of them based on real historical figures. The show is hilarious one minute, poignant the next, but I’m still thinking about it because it made me remember some fundamentals about how songs can be a narrative force and develop characters in great musicals and especially made me think about how sometimes the quietest songs can become powerful soliloquies in their own right. Mincemeat debuts on Broadway, so here’s hoping it will tour Texas in a few more years.

LW: Imposter! Hypocrite! Tartuffe! at Circle Theatre. It had no right to be as good as it was. White told me that she wrote the adaptation on a dare but that script was as polished and tight as a play that had been through years of workshops. The playful tone was set right from the start, and my voice was hoarse from cheering and booing for 90 minutes straight.

NW: There was a section of Ben Morris’s fabulous multimedia work Longleaf (commissioned by Loop38) that imitated the sounds of birds. What if there comes a time when all we have left are composer’s ideas of bird sounds? Emily Hynds offered a sly anatomy of awkwardness in The Interruption, performed with such nuance and naturalness by Callina Anderson and Kathleen Gullion.

SC: There was so much thought behind Ben Morris’s work, yet without being didactic. I love the sound of fire in that work–crackle, roar, fizzle. Kudos to the Loop38 brass players who really got to shine in Longleaf. Harmonia Stellarum’s season opening concert “A True Palestrinian Torrent of Sound” was ravishingly good. An early music ensemble doing Bruckner might seem odd, but for the composer’s 200th birthday, Music Director Mario Aschauer really showed us how Palestrina and Bruckner are brothers in spirit. On the theater front, Tarra mentioned Rec Room’s production of Winter Solstice earlier. That play is going to stay with me for a long time. The theatrical aspects were creative and brilliant; the acting was superb all around, especially Spencer Plachy in his Rec Room debut as Rudolph, seducing everyone on and off the stage with so much charm and culture even as something dark and sinister seeps up from beneath. I felt my skin crawl as the tension grew to a fever pitch, and that insidious sense of unease and danger stayed with me long after the show.

Outstanding Production

TM:Texas Ballet Theater’s performance of Beauty and the Beast at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas last May. The reconstruction of Lew Christian’s 1958 ballet features splendid dancing along with lavish costumes and sets on loan from the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

LW: This is a total wild card: Reunion ‘85 presented through ATTPAC. Full disclosure that this touring show is produced by an old college friend of mine, but damn if I didn’t have fun. I filled a table with loud, outgoing, ready-to-participate actor friends—who all showed up in full 1980s costume, by the way—and we had a blast singing along with the (totally rad) house band, interacting with the performers, and choosing our alter egos for the night. It was silly and goofy and a refreshing reminder that theater shouldn’t always take itself too seriously.

TG: Probably another example of a company leaning into a well-known work to just create the best production possible, was Dirt Dog’s production of Martin McDonagh’s brilliant Pillowman. Admittedly, McDonagh’s strange political fairytale may only be well known to a certain type of theater-goer. For this intimate production at the MATCH, director Malinda L. Beckham drew out that pitch black comedy from the play. I had half forgotten just how darkly funny Pillowman can be. The whole cast was tremendous, but I’d give a special audio ovation to Cory Sinclair who not only took on the lead role of Katurian but also was the sound designer and created the original score. That’s some creative range.

Best Dance show

TM: Noche Flamenca presented by TITAS/ DANCE UNBOUND at the Wyly Theatre in Dallas in October 2024. Company directors Martín Santangelo and Soledad Barrio merge traditional flamenco style with contemporary dance and theatrical staging, and the results are thrilling.

NW: The best new choreography was seen as part of Vitacca’s Gala, which included  Ethan Colangelo’s post-apocalyptic love duet on blurred edges and Garrett Smith’s After Silence. Kelly Ann Vitacca continues to bring in original choreographic voices like Hélène Simoneau’s gorgeous, ocean-y Lighthouse.

I also want to acknowledge the exhibit Women Artists of the Ballets Russes: Designing the Legacy, which showcases the work of designers Sonia Delauney, Alexandra Exter, Natalia Gontcharova, and choreographer Bronislava Nijinska. This outstanding exhibit, curated by Caroline Hamilton, runs through Jan. 12 at the McNay in San Antonio.

SC: I don’t get a chance to see a lot of dance, but I really loved Houston Ballet’s production of Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid. It was captivating and emotionally intense. Karina Gonzalez’s (Mermaid) movements were so fluid and haunting, and Connor Walsh (Prince/Poet) really embodied the longing and turmoil in his character. The production was also visually stunning and mesmerizing to watch.

TG: I already mentioned Radioactive Practice at Fusebox. I also always love a good Houston Ballet mixed rep performance, just to see the juxtaposition of dances and choreographers. I really enjoyed seeing Stanton Welch’s Velocity and Aszure Barton’s Come In together in their fall mixed rep. They were two very different dances, with very different themes, but at the level of bodies moving on stage they both were so structurally and geometrically beautiful.

Immersive

TG: One of the early immersive theaters in Houston, Strange Bird, created a new choose your own absurd death show titled The Endings that sends individuals through an office space directed by a voice in headphones.

While I was in London this summer, I saw the latest work from one of the biggest names of immersive theater and dance, Punchdrunk. Viola’s Room is a departure for them because there were no live performers; instead, I put on headphones and a recorded narrator (Helena Bonham Carter) led me through a mix of very realistic teen bedrooms and very fairytale-esque castles and forests to take me through a narrative about growing into adulthood and identity. I had to take my shoes off for this one, as a diverse set of ground-scapes was part of the immersion.

All this is just to say I think maybe audio guide immersive experiences are having a resurgence.

NW: It’s great to see Dallas’s Bombshell Dance Project going all out immersive, first with In the Conservatory with the Knife, and this season with Flies. In Houston, we have to talk about Annie Arnoult/Open Dance Project’s  Red Landscape at Rice’s Moody Center for the Arts. We were literally in the room with Georgia O’Keeffe.

SC: Annie Arnoult’s Red Landscape: Georgia O’Keefe in Texas 1912-1918 at Moody Center for the Arts was fantastic, though I had to constantly get out of the way of the dancers as they moved through the space. It was so visceral, and at moments I felt like I was inside O’Keefe’s body, witnessing and experiencing her struggles and pain. So much meticulous research went into the production and it shows.

Most fun show

NW: During the Alley’s Noises off, the entire audience responded with collective glee when they turned the set around. It’s such a whimsical show, and wonderfully directed by Brandon Weinbrenner, who is so good with physical comedy. HGO’s Cinderella is a larger than life production, plus the rats are so fun. Theatre Under The Stars offered a delicious and delightful Little Shop of Horrors.

SC: I second Noises Off. I loved how it showed off the technical brilliance and ensemble chemistry of Alley’s resident actors. I think all of them were in the cast. Also Cinderella at HGO, THE RATS 100%. I just wanted to take one of those adorable rats home with me.

TG: Since I’m making random confessions about my musical theater tastes, I will also admit I’m usually very skeptical about musicals based on movies, but the touring production of Beetlejuice the Musical completely won me over with its fourth wall-breaking cheeky humor and its built in inability to take itself too seriously. The songs were catchy and lots of fun, as well.

LW: Tarra, you’re not alone. I was so prepared to hate Beetlejuice and damn I hate that I had such a great time.

Favorite story

TM: “All That Dance Can Be: Ballet Austin’s Mind Opening New Season” (May, 2024).  Wonderfully generous and reflective in interviews, Ballet Austin’s artistic director Stephen Mills discusses his creative vision and artistic experience with appealing humility and thoughtfulness.

LW: It was so uplifting to talk to Katie Burkes about her nonprofit Artists San Frontières, which provides mental, emotional, and situational stability through the performing arts during times of war, ecological disaster, and economic disparity. “Each day, I wake up and I need the following: food, water, shelter, safety, and art.” Same, Katie.

NW: I interviewed Houston Ballet principal Connor Walsh as he was beginning his 20th season about all the choreography that lives in his body. He’s always a joy to watch and chat with! I see this story as one of many focusing on the agency of dancers, and the choreographic DNA they carry.

TG: The chance to travel to Cuba and explore the arts there for Arts and Culture was one of the highlights of my whole year. I have Cuban roots on my mother’s side of the family, as well, so I also felt a personal connection to the story.

SC: Ben Morris’s multimedia Longleaf Project for Loop38 is the kind of work that makes a great impact beyond the concert hall. He did a ton of research throughout the writing process, then he directly engaged with the local community to bring attention to an important ecological issue. He got in touch with the Texas Longleaf Team and the people at the Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary. He immersed himself in the experience and learned everything he could about the longleaf, including being there to record and witness a prescribed burn. It was great to see how the project brought together musicians, forestry experts, rural residents, city people, and nature lovers.

Working on Now

NW: Tarra and I are working on an epic story on the value of live performance. Wish us luck!

SC: I’m working on a pair of Texas Studio stories. One is on pianist Yvonne Chen, whom I have known for many years. She really is doing Everything Everywhere All at Once these days. Texas Studio most often features visual artists, so I’m really glad to get to write about a musician I admire.

LW: I just finished a sit-down with Ashley White (shocker!) and also had the pleasure of exploring Jessica Kreutter’s ceramics at Galveston Arts Center. I love this opportunity to learn about visual art—something I’m not trained in, but definitely appreciate.

Beyond Texas

TM: The Royal Ballet’s premier of Wayne McGregor’s MaddAddam at the Royal Opera House in London and the Paris Opera Ballet’s closing performance of Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling at Palais Garnier in Paris this past November. These narrative ballets of different eras demanded superb dramatic and technical skills, and the dancers of both companies delivered!

TG: I have wanted to go to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for years and finally got there this summer. For travel lovers who also love performing arts, I highly recommend it. Just the amount of shows and diversity of performances was astounding, yet there were two debut musicals based on the Gwyneth Paltrow ski trial. And yes I did see one of them. Shows I also loved: L’Addition what began as a kind of sketch comedy restaurant scene that ended up as a hilarious hour of Absurdist theater at its finest, and the very funny, but also sad and sweet, The Emu War, a musical about the a real bit of history when the post-WWI Australian government declared war on the nation’s emus.

LW: I…did not travel in 2024. But I have a good reason! I’m getting married in 2025 and we’re saving our pennies for that. We’re hoping to do a grand honeymoon in Europe in 2026, so you better believe I’ll be toting my new husband to as many West End shows as possible.

NW: Congrats Lindsey and we will look forward to your report next year! I saw Camille A. Brown’s I AM, Inspired by the “I AM” episode of the HBO series, Lovecraft Country at Jacob’s Pillow. So good!

SC: London: 2:22 A Ghost Story, a tight, intriguing, suspenseful show full of surprises, but also deeply moving; Richard III at the Globe with an all female cast, powerful performance, the audience was really part of the action, complicit in Richard’s evil schemes and lies. He (she) spoke to the crowd as Trump might at one of his rallies. Avignon: At the International theater festival this summer, I saw Scotland, a hilarious play about three guys who just want to be everything Scottish, even though they are not. All done with physical theater. I noticed that physical theater is big in Europe, not so much in Texas.

TG: I’m going to claim credit for Sherry seeing 2:22 because I recommended it to her. I’ll also put a request in for a Texas theater to produce it soon. I’ll roadtrip to see it, if a Dallas, FW or Austin company mounts it first.

LW: I’ll try to put in a good word over here.

Random Shout Outs

NW: The box office staff at the MATCH always greets me with a smile and my tickets. Also, the Mix-MATCH: A Mixed Arts Festival is a welcome addition. Thanks Team DACAMERA for The Music Card. Dance Source Houston continues to set the standard of how nimble and effective a dance service organization can be. Performing Arts Houston’s membership program is an excellent way to build community.

SC: Houston Symphony musicians for organizing Third Space Music, a great way to connect with audiences outside of Jones Hall. They have a great concert series that concludes each season with a charity concert where all proceeds go to a non-profit of their choice.

LW: Everyone at Theatre Three is so nice! From box office to concessions to ushers, it’s always a comforting and enjoyable experience to see a show there.

Looking Forward

TM: I eagerly await Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández’s performance at Austin’s Long Center this coming February. Sporting traditionally inspired costumes, large casts, and expert dancing, this company has been a longstanding touring ambassador for Folklórico.

LW: Theatre Three again, which is producing the musical Debbie Does Dallas in its basement Theatre Too space. I mean, that one just begs to be up close and personal…

TG: The majority of the mid-sized and large theater companies in Houston have one or several world premieres scheduled for the spring that look promising. Catastrophic is premiering The Frozen Section (a comedy on aisle 9), a new play by Pulizter finalist, Lisa D’Amour. Main Street Theater has a dark comedy written and directed by local actor, Dain Geist, titled Seven Assassins Walk into a Bar. I’m also looking forward to Stage’s last show of their 24-25 season, which they left open for new AD Derek Charles Livingston to pick. He chose the world premiere Let. Her Rip. which apparently he helped workshop at Utah Shakespeare. This will be his Stages directorial debut, as well.

And since I’m a study in contrasts, I’m also looking forward to the 10th anniversary season of Annie Arnoult’s Open Dance Project because they’ll be reprising some of her, and our, favorite immersive dance works of the last several years. I can’t wait to see shows like Panopticon and Dada Gert again.

SC: Definitely Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves at the Houston Grand Opera. If you remember the art film of the same title by Lars von Trier, you know how disturbing and shocking the story is. Mazzoli’s music is always intriguing. I think it’s going to be an emotionally challenging and thought-provoking production. I’m prepared to be devastated by it. Now to balance the devastation with laughter, I can always count on Tamarie Cooper’s summer show at Catastrophic to bring me out of the dark.

NW: I am looking forward to seeing Jeanine Durning’s The Invitation Situation, created for and with Heidi Brewer, Clare Croft, Andee Scott, and Mary Williford-Shade at the Match on May 30 & 31. I am also looking forward to Adele Nickel’s new work for DSH’s Barnstorm Festival, Houston Ballet’s new production of Raymonda, TITAS is bringing the Seattle-based company Whim W’Him for their Texas debut on April 11, and Vitacca Ballet’s Smith Works, an evening of works by Garrett Smith on May 15–16  at Hobby Center, Zilkha Hall.

Reasons to hope for the future of the arts

TM: Continued deference to artistic legacy along with the impulse to innovate. For example, Ballet Austin’s February 2024 program, Triad, opened with a restaging of George Balanchine’s neo-classical Concerto Barocco (1941) and then Amy Sievers contemporary ballet Renaissance (2019) followed. While choreographed nearly eighty years apart, both dances enthralled the audience. That’s a testament to the vitality of dance performance.

TG: Getting the “This Week at the MATCH” mass email every Monday. I write about the arts and at least a third of the companies and groups I will not recognize. And I think that’s a good thing. It makes me happy to see so many people putting on a show.

LW: People are still passionate. It feels like we’re all getting paid less, there’s less emphasis on local coverage (cough, cough, I would love to remedy that), and audiences are still lukewarm about seeing live performances instead of movies or streaming at home, but everyone is still doing the damn thing. If the fire burns, it can’t be tamped down.

NW: Well said Lindsey! Young artists trying new things always gives me hope. I love what Agarita is doing in San Antonio! Artists starting new groups like Wild She Dances, NMLY.dance, and Houston Music Festival too. And finally the unwavering resilience of the arts: This magazine just celebrated its 15th anniversary. Kinetic is 10, Windsync is 15, Bruce Wood Dance Dallas is 15, ROCO is 20, and Dance Source Houston is 20. I have been lucky to be there at the beginning of all these organizations and that gives me strength and hope.

SC: The absolute devotion of all the performing artists, whether in dance, theater, or music, to their craft. The level is so high yet they continue to grow and give us one brilliant performance after another. I’m quite in awe of that.

-NANCY WOZNY

Nancy Wozny

Nancy Wozny is editor in chief at Arts and Culture Texas, a contributing editor at Dance Magazine and a frequent contributor to Pointe Magazine and Dance Teacher.