Ian Cassidy in Stanton Welch’s Elements
without boundaries
Houston Ballet,
Sept. 24 - Oct. 4
Houston Ballet presents Without Boundaries, the company’s fall mixed repertory program featuring three works that easily traverse the
boundary between classical ballet and modern dance.
The program features pieces by three of the most acclaimed dance makers working
in the world today: Twyla Tharp
’s breathtaking tour-de-force, In The Upper Room, Jiří Kylián’s mesmerizing and multi-layered study in motion and minimalism, Falling Angels, and the world premiere of Stanton Welch’s Elements, set to the music of Paul Hindemith. Houston Ballet will give six performances
of Without Boundaries at Wortham Theater Center. To puchase tickets, call
713-227-2787 or go to
www.houstonballet.org.
Meet Me In St. Louis will run Sept. 29-Oct. 11.
Theatre Under the Stars,
Sept. 29 - Oct. 11
Meet Me in St. Louis makes its TUTS debut as a lavish stage musical. Gorgeous turn-of-last-century
costumes, a wonderful score and the warm humor of nostalgic romance combine in
a brand-new show with old-fashioned appeal for all ages. With a real moving
trolley to make Esther
’s heartstrings go “zing zing zing!” and a Victorian home setting that even Martha Stewart would endorse, Meet Me in St. Louis is a wonderful classic from the golden age of musical comedy. It’s a cavalcade of family fun.
For more information, go to www.tuts.com or call 713-558-TUTS.Broadway’s Ashley Brown stars in the title role as Mary Poppins.
Broadway Across America, Oct. 22 - Nov. 8
The world’s most famous nanny will arrive at the Hobby Center on Oct. 22. Combining the
best of the original stories by P. L. Travers and the beloved Walt Disney film,
the Tony Award-winning
Mary Poppins is everything anyone would hope for in a Broadway musical—and more. Produced by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, the show includes such
wonderful songs as
Chim Chim Cher-ee, A Spoonful of Sugar, Let’s Go Fly a Kite and, of course, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
The NY Daily News hails Mary Poppins as “a roof-raising, toe-tapping, high-flying extravaganza!” For more information, go to www.broadwayacrossamerica.com.
Grease
Theatre Under the Stars, Sept. 8 - 20
The one that you want is coming to the Hobby Center. Grease, which was Time magazine’s 2007 pick for No. 1 musical of the year, is rockin’ across the country in this new production direct from Broadway.
Take a trip to a simpler time of poodle skirts, drive-ins and T-birds. Bad boy
Danny and the girl next door, Sandy, fall in love all over again to the tune of
your favorite songs:
Summer Nights, Greased Lightnin’ and We Go Together as well as additional songs from the hit movie. For more information, go to www.tuts.com or call 713-558-8887.
MANON
Houston Ballet, Sept. 10, 12, 13, 18-20
A modern classic, Manon charts the romantic adventures of an irresistibly beautiful femme fatale and
her one true love, the impoverished student Des Grieux, from the demi monde of
Paris to the bayous of Louisiana. Sir Kenneth has created a brilliant dance
drama that explores the relationship between love, sex and the corrupting power
of money. The passion and danger of
Manon’s central pas de deux have proven irresistible to audiences around the world,
and have made it one of the most popular full-length ballets of the second half
of the 20th century. Recommended for 12 years and older.
Amy Blakemore: Photographs 1988-2008
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Through Sept. 13
Houston-based Amy Blakemore takes photographs in order to explore the ways in
which memory both records and transforms visual information. Employing the
camera as a subjective tool, Blakemore, who was born in 1958, has compared the
activity of photography to the process of gathering broken bits and lost
objects discovered serendipitously during long walks.
Amy Blakemore: Photographs 1988-2008 surveys Blakemore’s mature career with a carefully distilled selection of 36 works, ranging from
early black-and-white street photographs to her lushly colored portraits and
landscapes.
Josephine Meckseper
Blaffer Gallery, Sept. 12 - Nov. 14
Josephine Meckseper’s work engages leftist theories and politics in a consumerist reality.
Specifically, she examines the semantics of media propaganda as well as
capitalist sales and advertising strategies. The exhibition at Blaffer Gallery,
curated by Cynthia Woods Mitchell Curatorial Fellow Rachel Hooper, will contain
Meckseper
’s documentary photographs of anti-war protests; her signature mannequin and
product display installations; two videos,
0% Down (2008) and Mall of America (2009); and a new installation created on site—a replication of the stage sets used during U.S. presidential television
debates.
Tokyo String quartet
Houston Friends Of Music, Sept. 15
The Tokyo String Quartet has captivated audiences and critics alike since it was
founded more than 30 years ago. Regarded as one of the supreme chamber
ensembles of the world, the Tokyo Quartet
—Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda (violins), Kazuhide Isomura (viola) and Clive
Greensmith (cello)
—has collaborated with a remarkable array of artists and composers, built a
comprehensive catalogue of critically acclaimed recordings and established a
distinguished teaching record.
Performing more than 100 concerts worldwide each season, the Tokyo String
Quartet has a devoted international following. For more information, go to
www.houstonfriendsofmusic.org or call
713-348-5400.
Joaquín Torres-García: Constructing
Abstraction with Wood
The Menil Collection, Sept. 24, 2009 –
Jan. 3, 2010
The Joaquin Torres-Garcia: Constructing Abstraction With Wood exhibition will center chiefly on works from the 1920s to the 1940s, spanning
the time when Torres-Garc
ía lived in Spain, New York, Italy and France, developing toys and the vocabulary
for his wood constructions, to his eventual settlement in Uruguay as the
founder of a Constructivist art movement.
These sculptural works will be accompanied by a selection of Torres-García’s oil paintings and drawings, which demonstrate the connections between his
experiments in two- and three-dimensional forms.
Celebrated for his work as a modernist painter, teacher and author, Torres-García is also known for breaking new ground in the realm of wooden constructions or “maderas.” Beginning in the late 1920s in Paris, Torres-García adapted the language of Neo-Plasticism from his colleagues Mondrian and Van
Doesburg into a new three-dimensional concept for grids and planes made of
wood. These maderas informed his simultaneous experiments in children
’s toys, which he promoted and sold as educational tools for young minds.
Der Rosenkavalier - Film & Music
Houston Symphony, Sept. 25 - 27
After seeing Wiene’s film Der Rosenkavalier, Richard Strauss adapted his sumptuous opera score for it. For decades, the
film was thought lost until recent painstaking reconstruction. See this
charming gem of the silent movie era when Hans Graf and the Houston Symphony
unite the classic film with Strauss
’ dazzling orchestral score, filled with virtuosity and passion.
The Moon: “Houston, Tranquility
Base Here. The Eagle Has Landed”
Museum Fine Arts Houston,
Sept. 27 - Jan. 10
The Museum Fine Arts Houston celebrates the 40th anniversary of the landing on
the moon with
The Moon: “Houston, Tranquility Base Here. The Eagle Has Landed.” The exhibition pays tribute to the achievements of the Apollo space missions.
This exhibition provides an overview of 500 years of fascination with the
ever-changing phases, yet ever-constant image of the moon. Approximately 130
works of art will be on view and will feature some of the most groundbreaking
treatises on the moon as well as 17th-century telescopes and other early
scientific instruments, moon globes and maps. For more information, go to
www.mfah.org.
No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston Through Oct. 4
No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston is the first museum exhibition to consider the current and past efforts of
regional artists working in the urban environment.
The exhibition features works by approximately 18 individuals and collaborative
teams.
No Zoning includes examples and documentation of important city interventions and
visionary structures from the 1980s to the present, and incorporates a
combination performance, lecture and video screening space that presents
special programs during the museum
’s extended Thursday evening hours. In addition, a series of special artistic
programs and educational tours are located throughout the city. For more
information, go to
www.camh.org.
American string quartet
with Menachem Pressler
Houston Friends of Music, Oct. 13
One of the world’s finest quartets, the American String Quartet, celebrated its 33rd anniversary
last year. In over three decades of touring, the American String Quartet has
performed in all 50 states and virtually every important concert hall
throughout the world.
Internationally active as soloist and chamber musician, Menachem Pressler was a
founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio. He established himself among the world
’s most distinguished and honored musicians, with a career that spans over five
decades. American String Quartet will perform in Stude Concert Hall.
Ballet Etóile
Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Oct. 15 - 17
Like many companies around the world, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater will celebrate
the 100th anniversary of the Ballets Russes this season with special
performances on Oct. 15-17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hobby Center for the Performing
Arts.
This era has always fascinated choreographer and artistic director Dominic Walsh
because of the vision of a total work of art, one in which dance, music,
dramaturgy and decor combine to be greater than the sum of its parts.
To celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Ballet Russes and honor the great
Diaghilev, Walsh will offer his 21st century take on classics from the era
—The Firebird, The Afternoon of a Faun and The Dying Swan along with a revival of his breathtaking Le Spectre de la Rose.
