Home for the Holidays

The theater district declares triumph over Harvey, delivering song and dance — despite storm-related setbacks — to warm hearts this season.

IMG_9736-Edit

Perhaps the phrase is overused, especially in these post-Harvey days, but there’s no better way to put it: The show must go on. Performing arts companies across Houston are determined to bring warmth and familiarity to the holidays through beloved productions that have become tradition.


Some organizations were displaced entirely after the flood, and scrambled to find new homes for the season. The Ballet, for example, is relocating its Nutcracker show — the set and costumes, brand-new last year, were kept safe from the flood — from the waterlogged Wortham to Sugar Land’s Smart Financial Centre (Dec. 10-23) and the Hobby Center (Dec. 20-Jan. 6).

Fellow Wortham resident the Houston Grand Opera, which pulled together an impressive production of La Traviata just weeks after Harvey in the George R. Brown, returns to the convention center’s Resilience Theater with its much-anticipated world-premiere production of The House Without a Christmas Tree (Nov. 30-Dec. 17). The heartwarming opera features former HGO Studio artist Lauren Snouffer as young Addie, who brings a Christmas tree into her family’s home against her father’s will, and spotlights the HGO’s children’s chorus.

Alley Theatre dress rehearsal of A Christmas Carol Houston, Tx., on 11-18-15. photos by John Everett

Meanwhile, the Alley plans to be back in its Downtown theater, which took on 10 feet of water thanks to Harvey, for its annual showing of A Christmas Carol (Nov. 24-Dec.30).

And Stages Repertory Theater — which was largely unaffected by the storm, but which offered the use of its facilities to hurricane-displaced performing arts orgs — opens its annual “panto” show, Panto Cinderella, on Nov. 29 (through Dec. 31). The British holiday tradition of panto, short for pantomime, incorporates song, dance, cross-dressing and slapstick. TUTS, in association with Lythgoe Family Panto, also presents a version of Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight at the Hobby Center (Dec. 12-24).

Art+Culture
Expect ‘Complete Beauty and Medical Gym Experience’ at Montrose Med Spa

MONTROSE MED SPA is consistently focused on one thing: the patient. The boutique spa is intentionally designed as haven where clients can realize their aesthetic and wellness aspirations in a secure and comforting environment. Business partners Maricela and Ashley pride themselves on their unwavering commitment to the patient and continuous learning ensuring that clients receive the most safe and effective treatments available. Intentional wellness of placing emphasis on inner well-being and self-care is the vision of the spa and they have curated a team of highly trained professionals who share this philosophy. With this vision in mind, Maricela and Ashley have developed a complete beauty and medical gym experience. Services provided include Medical Weight Loss, EMsculpt Neo, EMface, HydraFacial (face & body), Fillers, Neurotoxins, Microneedling, VI Chemical Peels, and IV Therapy. LUXURY BEAUTY & MEDICAL GYM MEMBERSHIPS available. Schedule your complimentary skin analysis consultation and receive $100 off your first treatment. 713.485.5027, 2505 Dunlavy St. Houston, TX 77006 Follow us on Instagram.


Keep Reading Show less

ON JAN. 3, 2025, I observed a big personal anniversary. As of that day, it’d been 20 years since I first moved to Houston — from the Big Apple media circus, by way of my home state of Louisiana — and began working as an editor in the lifestyle-magazine biz here. It’s been two full decades, which is hard to believe! I like to joke that I’m far too young and good-looking to have done anything for two decades. But here we are.

Keep Reading Show less

Christopher Salazar stars as troubled-genius chef in the Alley's 'Seared'.

ONE OF HOUSTON'S favorite theater makers — Alley Associate Artistic Director Brandon Weinbrenner — has gotten some delicious news about his latest show. The run of his Seared, a sometimes-funny and sometimes-intense tale of life in the kitchen at a suddenly hot New York restaurant by playright Theresa Rebeck, has been extended beyond its original schedule and will now be up through March 9.

Keep Reading Show less
Food+Travel