Silver anniversary memories
Rise of the Wortham Theater Center: How it all began
Jun 2, 2012 | 4:30 pm

Photo by Jia Li
In the 1980s, everyone agreed that Houston needs a new performing arts center. Even a recession couldn't stop the Wortham Center from rising in downtown Houston.
The gala celebration was hosted by comedian and operaphile Tony Randall and produced by George Stevens. Houston Ballet principals Janie Parker and Li Cunxin danced artistic director Ben Stevenson's Esmeralda pas de deux and the full ballet company danced the finale from Harald Lander's Etudes. Houston Grand Opera presented act two of La bohème; the U. S. Army Herald Trumpets saluted with fanfares, and a parade of luminaries danced, sang, played, spoke or joked: comedian Art Buchwald, singers Hildegard Behrens and Diahann Carroll, dancers Gloria Rodolfo Dinzel and Tommy Tune, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and retired dancers Dame Margot Fonteyn and Peter Martins.




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