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    a texan in new york

    Texas stage star shines bright in Rent's 20th anniversary summer tour

    Tarra Gaines
    Aug 5, 2019 | 10:30 am

    The next time you’re in the audience of a touring Broadway show, take a look across an aisle or in the next row for that musical theater-loving kid enthralled and singing silently along. Ten or 15 years from now, that child just might be the star lighting up the stage in that same musical.

    Such is the case of Texas-born-and raised Cody Jenkins, who plays Mark Cohen in theRent 20th anniversary tour as it turns summer into a season of love at the Hobby Center.

    Texas strong
    Jenkins is proof a Texas theater kid can make it to New York and back on tour with a show that helped him first to dream of Broadway. When CultureMap catches up with Jenkins as he prepares to head back to his Lone Star home state with the Rent production, he is quick to recount the support he had along the way. He gives props and thanks to the Texas acting and musical educational organizations that helped foster his love of the arts and gave him the skills to tackle a Tony Award-winning Broadway show. Growing up in Fort Worth, he especially cites getting involved with Kids Who Care at a young age.

    “They were a really big reason why I continued in theater and continued to grow as an actor,” he says of the performing arts organization.

    Jenkins saw Rent for the first time in Dallas almost 10 years ago, when original cast members Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp toured. Jenkins had been involved with youth productions of West Side Story and immediately made a connection with the camaraderie and friends are family message of both shows.

    “Once I saw it, I thought: I have to do this show,” he says.

    Jenkins later jumped into the show his senior year at Texas State University, where he went for its “fantastic” acting program.

    “I would definitely tell all kids who want to pursue acting to give Texas State a look, because it’s a very good school. I credit my love for Shakespeare and acting to the school. It opened my eyes to how great acting is,” says Jenkins.

    A man of all seasons
    Now as part of this unprecedented 20th anniversary tour, Jenkins finds himself in the “strange happenstance” of having inhabited three roles in the show. He began with the tour playing Gordon while also understudying one of the main characters, Roger, roommate and best friend to Mark. Now with the latest cast turnover, he plays the budding filmmaker and lynchpin character Mark full time.

    Jenkins best describes who Mark is when he describes his poignant solo, “Halloween.”

    “A lot of Mark is on the outside. He’s the camera man, always observing. He’s very much connected to the other characters, but “Halloween” is where we get to see him dealing with all the emotions that he’s been pushing away,” he explains, adding, “He’s felt like he’s so connected, involved and holding everyone together, but in reality he’s been on the outside looking in.”

    With Rent still going strong 20 years from its mid-’90s debut and likely will still beguile 20 years from now, I asked Jenkins why audiences continue to sell out the show with each revival and new tour.

    “I think it’s about the honesty in the show and about how real these people are,” he ponders. “I think there’s a moment in the show for everyone. People love to coming back and hear the story and music and see the spectacle. The music is so beautiful and the orchestration so stunning.”

    While many fans might think of “Seasons of Love,” as the highlight of the show, Jenkins feels the one song that embodies Rent's honesty, authenticity, and cycles of love is actually “Without You,” as a “beautiful picture of how life continues to go on when people come and go from out lives.”

    But as the tour heads to Houston, Jenkins seems still in wonder at how far he’s come, yet full circle.

    “I’ve always had very strong ties to Rent. It’s a dream show to do, and I’ve done it; and this is a dream role to do, and soon I’ll be able to say I’ve performed both my dream roles in the show. It’s so wild to me to be in that place now.”

    ---

    Rent runs August 6-11 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby St. For tickets and showtimes, visit the show’s site.

    A limited number of seats in the first two rows of the orchestra section will be available for $25 for in-person purchases at the Hobby Center Box Office on the day of each performance only, two hours prior to the show.

    Rent takes a musical stand at the Hobby Center, August 6-11.

    Rent 20th anniversary tour 2019
      
    Photo by Carol Rosegg
    Rent takes a musical stand at the Hobby Center, August 6-11.
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    a very fine house

    Pioneering Houston Latino folkart gallery will close next year

    Tarra Gaines
    Jun 5, 2025 | 9:30 am
    ​Macario and Chrissie Ramirez.
    Photo by Agapito Sanchez
    Macario and Chrissie Ramirez.

    It’s the end of a cultural era as Chrissie Ramirez, owner of the Heights gallery and cultural space Casa Ramirez Folkart Gallery, announced that after 40 years she will close the 3,000-plus-square-foot space on W. 19th St. at the end of the current lease period in March 2026.

    \u200bMacario and Chrissie Ramirez.
      

    Photo by Agapito Sanchez

    Macario and Chrissie Ramirez.

    Filled with traditional art, especially paintings and sculptures, the space also showcased textiles, home accessories, religious objects, clothing, literature, and antiques. But it was the husband-and-wife owners, Macario and Chrissie Ramirez, who turned this Casa into a real home for the local Latino community, as well as a cultural landmark in Houston’s art landscape. Macario Ramirez founded Casa Ramirez in 1985 to honor his father, a folk artist and part-time jeweler who had his own business in San Antonio selling Mexican crafts. Over 40 years, Macario and Chrissie's longtime support for Latino artists along with the gallery's culturally rich programming and educational outreach helped to popularize Mexican and Latin American folk art and traditions.

    Chrissie Ramirez continued her husband’s mission after his death in 2020, keeping the gallery and his life’s work going. After five years running the business, she wants to travel and lead a less scheduled live. Houstonians won’t have to say goodbye just yet, as Ramirez says they will stay stay open and continue their annual holiday celebrations and programming.

    “Casa Ramirez will continue to operate as a retail establishment and offer the colorful mix of folk art, crafts, work by local artists and focus on the vibrant culture and traditions of Mexico, Latin American and the Southwest that we are so well known for and held in our hearts for so long,” Ramirez said in a statement.

    Throughout her remarks, Ramirez recalled her husband’s pioneering cultural and civil rights work in the community and his continuing legacy in Houston.

    Prominent Texas author, analyst, radio host, and Nuestra Palabra founder Tony Diaz spoke about the cultural reach Case Ramirez had over the years. Diaz especially credits Macario Ramirez and the gallery for helping to make Dia de los Muertos such an important Texas holiday and for helping to spread understanding of its celebrations in the U.S.

    “Today Day of the Dead is socially acceptable —it’s a movie by Disney. That was not always the case,” Diaz said. “There was a moment in our history when people would see the sugar skulls that are now beloved and they would think that it had something to do with ‘other things.’ You could come to Casa Ramirez, and the street would be full with our gente who knew that it was something beautiful to preserve. And before the rest of the nation caught on, Casa Ramirez was the home for that dear celebration of ours. ”

    Though she might be retiring, Ramirez says she will keep the name Casa Ramirez for future projects and activities in other locations. She also plans to continue her cultural work, with a focus on organizing “the collection of writings, documents, and artifacts” that are part of the Casa Ramirez and her family’s history with a goal to “archive them for their educational and historical value.”

    Ramirez emphasized that Casa Ramirez will remain open until March. She will spend this time “clearing, closing, and cleaning out” the gallery, but has plans for holiday and closeout sales before shuttering the space for good. It will still host traditional annual gatherings and programs for the rest of the year, including Hispanic Heritage Month in September, the Day of the Death holiday celebrations in October/November, and Christmas and New Years programming with special guests and music events in the works. Thankfully, that means Houstonians still have plenty of time to visit and share their own memories of this extraordinary Casa.

    casa ramirez folkart galleryclosingsthe-heightsvisual-art
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