Ribbon Dancing and Gourmet Wine Pairings Highlight Successful ‘Wonderland’ Gala at Stages
Priscilla Dickson, Quy Tran
Apr. 14, 2023
Tom Herrick, Allison Pfeiffer, Ashley Coombs, Michael Hogan
ONE OF THE CITY'S favorite performing arts orgs — Stages theater company — threw its typically intimate and fun annual gala recently, on its own premises at the still-new Gordy theater complex, raising well more than half a mil to further its creative mission.
This year’s ball boasted the world-premiere of a cirque-style Alice in Wonderland-inspired show — ribbon dancing, acrobatics, even a burlesque-y partial striptease-while-juggling number — to delight the 180 guests of chairs Alicia and Garrett Gordy (yes, that same Gordy family) between cocktail hour and dinner.
The meal, which featured wines chosen by ardent Stages supporter Chris Shepherd, included melon ball gazpacho with jumbo lump crab and cucumber ribbons. The soup was followed by medallions of beef tenderloin with cabernet-caramelized shallot glaze, mascarpone polenta and wilted greens.
Popular items in what turned out to be a record-breaking silent auction included “a True Yellow Experience with a stay at Double Arrow Ranch nestled between the Crazy Mountains and the banks of the Yellowstone River, an authentic cattle drive, and plenty of trout fishing,” per a Stages rep. “Other top items included an 18K Gold necklace from acclaimed jewelry creator Robert Wander; a private dinner at the home of James Beard Award-winning Chef Chris Shepherd; and a VIP Astros experience.”
Notable guests included Glenda and Russell Gordy, George Lancaster; Charles Walker, Stages board chair Myrtle Jones, James and Nicole Lassiter and Marnie Greenwood.
In all, the gala raised $550,000 for Stages’ important mission.
Alicia Gordy, Christopher Mitchell, Glenda Gordy
Brandon Weinbrenner and Mauri Oliver
Cabrina and Steven Owsley
Charles and Kerry Walker
Garrett Gordy, Chris Shepherd, Russell Gordy
George Lancaster, Myrtle Jones
Jerry Barnett and Michael Byars
Jill Roth and Ben Lipson
Kalinda Campbell and Sledge Leonidas
Katie Maltais, Beth Lane, Lindsey Brown, Stacy Soefer Gomar
Lauren and Bob Hagerich
Marnie Greenwood, Alicia Gordy, Alexandra Bruskoff
Rick Pasqualone and Denise Fennell
Rina and Ryan O'Malley, Garrett Gordy, Rich Bruskoff
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In HGO’s ‘Tosca,’ Soprano and HGO Studio Alum Wilson Offers a ‘Down-to-Earth’ Take on the Titular Role
Apr. 17, 2023
Wilson in 'Tosca' (photo by Lynn Lane)
HOUSTON HOLDS A special place in the heart of internationally renowned, Arizona-born soprano Tamara Wilson, who makes her role debut this Friday as Floria Tosca in the Houston Grand Opera’s production of Tosca.
Wilson is a 2005-2007 alumna of the HGO’s Butler Studio Program, one of the world’s most respected young artist programs. Although she had sung very little opera before joining the program, Wilson quickly developed a strong work ethic, covering lots of roles, and sitting in on company rehearsals to observe first-hand how professional singers collaborate with different directors and conductors. Then, in 2007, the powers that be at the HGO asked Wilson if she could replace Patricia Racette as Amelia for the entire run of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball). Despite never having sung a note of Verdi, Wilson decided to go for it.
“It was one of those things where if I step up to the plate, do a big ol’ swing and miss, then that’s fine. I’m still learning,” says Wilson. “Luckily, it was a home run for me.”
Wilson, who now lives in Houston, has gone on to enjoy a highly successful career singing plenty of Verdi as well as the music of Mozart, Strauss and Wagner. She returned to the HGO last year to sing the title role in director Robert Wilson’s highly acclaimed production of Turandot. Tosca will be yet another achievement in her already illustrious career.
While Tosca is often played as a melodramatic diva, and Verdi’s music can certainly lend itself to that, Wilson’s take on her role is refreshingly down-to-earth. “I think she’s just a gal who was an orphan, who has been lucky enough to meet the love of her life,” says Wilson. “She gets jealous, just like anybody would in a relationship, but deep down, she has this feeling of, ‘Don’t leave me.’”
Along with that deep vulnerability, Wilson is also adamant in portraying Tosca not as a weakling, but as a strong woman. “Tosca was raised by monks and having gone to Catholic school as a young ‘un . . . you kind of build up a thick skin,” says Wilson, whose mother works for the Catholic Church. “That’s the easy part about Tosca — all the Catholic stuff!”
Known for her ability to skillfully perform a wide range of demanding repertoire, people often describe Wilson’s dramatic, coloratura voice based on whatever rep they’ve happened to have heard her sing. “I mostly hear my mom in my voice,” says Wilson, again, bringing things down to earth. “I hear me and my mom on a piano bench just singing and hanging out.” (There’s a charming and prescient video on YouTube of Wilson’s first public performance at age three with her mother playing piano.)
In high school, Wilson’s first voice teacher told her, “Sing with your voice. Everyone else’s is taken.” Years later, Wilson still strives to sing with an authentic voice, a voice you might not recognize upon first hearing it, but a voice that is truly her own. “People go to live theater to see something that is authentic and truthful and your performance,” says Wilson. “It’s not just how you sound. It’s how you tell stories, and how you connect with the music and your colleagues. … And it should always evolve.”
Tosca opens Friday, April 21, and runs through May 5. John Caird directs, and Benjamin Manis conducts.
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