the show will go on

Houston Grand Opera announces dramatic cuts to season and staff

While the opera will see major cuts, the show will go on — online.

Photo by Tristram Kenton

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to plague local arts organizations. Houston Grand Opera (HGO) announced late Tuesday, June 23, that it will cancel 33 of the 47 mainstage and Cullen Theater performances of the 2020–21 season, through the spring of 2021.

The opera also announced it will reduce its workforce by 27 percent—a first such cut in the storied organization’s history. Staff remaining at HGO, including senior staff, will have a 15 percent pay reduction, or have their hours reduced, beginning July 1 and continuing through February 2021.

Senior leadership reduced their own salaries starting on June 1. This combination of savings will reduce 2021 expenses from $30,730,707 to $20,658,665, per the opera.

The canceled performances include Carmen (October 23–November 13), Werther (October 30–November 15), the world premiere of The Snowy Day (December 10–December 20), Parsifal (January 22–February 7, 2021), and Cinderella (January 29–February 15, 2021).

However, the show will go on: HGO will offer bi-monthly video content for its audiences and is planning a media project about The Snowy Day by composer Joel Thompson and librettist Andrea Davis Pinkney, based on the award-winning children’s book by Ezra Jack Keats. A full schedule of content will be available in the coming months.

HGO’s performances at the Wortham Theater Center will resume in April 2021 for the premieres of Mazzoli and Vavrek’s Breaking the Waves (April 16–May 1, 2021) and Rodgers and Hammerstein II’s The Sound of Music (April 30–May 15, 2021). The company will perform four of the five originally scheduled performances of Breaking the Waves.

Patrons and subscribers of the 2020–21 season will have subscriptions automatically moved to the 2021–22 season. Tickets to Breaking the Waves and The Sound of Music will be made complimentary. More information and additional options can be found online.

“Many people depend on HGO for their livelihoods, and this was not an easy decision to make,” said artistic and music director Patrick Summers, in a statement. “We are thankful to have a strong board and patron base that will help us get through this upcoming season and remain financially sound.”

“The arts are transformative and provide an impactful and moving experience,” he continued. “Now, more than ever, the Houston community needs the arts to help it process and heal, and that is not lost on us. We will continue to find ways to connect with our beloved audiences, even if we cannot physically be together.”

These cuts come after HGO restored pay to furloughed staff thanks to a $2.5 million PPP loan in May — a glimmer of good news during the coronavirus pandemic.

The opera is a major player in Houston’s arts scene, producing the opulent Opera Ball each year and hosting legends such as “King of Opera,” Placido Domingo, for performances.

opera closings

let's dance

Houston Ballet leaps into 2026-2027 with world premieres and Swan Lake

Photo by Lawrence Elizabeth Knox

Artists of Houston Ballet in Stanton Welch’s Swan Lake.

Announcing its 2026-2027 season, Houston Ballet leaps into an immersive wonderland with the world premiere ballet Where’s Alice? from co-artistic director Stanton Welch. This is just one of many dance adventures set for a season filled with spectacular story ballets, cutting edge contemporary dances, and world premieres.

“This season reflects the full breadth of what Houston Ballet is — and where we’re going,” Houston Ballet co-artistic director Julie Kent said in a statement. “We are honoring the great choreographic voices that have shaped our art form, from Balanchine and MacMillan to Lubovitch and Peck, while simultaneously opening the door to new creative possibilities through world premieres and bold collaborations.”

The season begins September 11 through 20 with a classic Texas twang for Pecos Bill, the title production of an eclectic mixed repertory program. Stanton Welch’s fun and rollicking dance follows the adventures of the folklore cowboy, Pecos Bill. The program also showcases a work from 20th century dance master, George Balanchine, with the elegant and dynamic Symphonie Concertante. And for the first time, the company will perform celebrated choreographer Lar Lubovitch’s Meadow, a piece Julie Kent herself once danced when it first debuted.

Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon returns September 24 through October 4. First performed by the company in 1994, the doomed love story between irresistibly beautiful femme fatale, Manon, and impoverished student, Des Grieux, has had audiences swooning for decades.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Houston Ballet season without the annual Margaret Alkek Williams Jubilee of Dance. And then closing out 2026, the company gifts Houston with Welch’s delightful and delectable Nutcracker Ballet.

The new year premieres Where's Alice? , Welch’s brand new work will be a re-envisioning of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, February 25 through March 7. Describing it as one of the most ambitious undertakings in HB’s recent history, the company plans for Alice to become a fully immersive theater experience that incorporates cutting-edge audio and visual effects that will take audience down the rabbit hole into a living, breathing, wondrous world.

Keeping with what looks to be the 26-27 season’s theme of blockbuster ballets from Welch, the company floats into spring, March 11 through 21, with the classic story of Madam Butterfly, a dramatic exploration of love, sacrifice, and cultural collision danced to Puccini’s heartbreaking score.

Beginning May 27 through June 6, HB offers the second mixed repertory program of the season, The Rite of Spring, and with it another world premiere. First, the company brings back the hypnotic, contemporary ballet, Reflections, a piece it originally debuted by the dance world’s reigning rock star, Justin Peck. Company member and up-and-coming choreographer Jacquelyn Long will create a new ballet for the program. Another highlight of the evening and the title work, Welch’s The Rite of Spring, offers a a visceral and elemental reimagining of dance for Stravinsky’s score that shocked the music world when it first debuted.

$Artists of Houston Ballet in Stanton Welch\u2019s Swan Lake$

Photo by Lawrence Elizabeth Knox

Artists of Houston Ballet in Stanton Welch’s Swan Lake.

The season ends June 10 through 27 with one of ballet’s most beloved stories, Swan Lake. Stanton Welch’s celebrated production was first staged by the company in 2006 and has gone on to become an audience favorite. Inspired by Pre-Raphaelite painter John William Waterhouse’s painting “The Lady of Shalott,” the production features lavish sets and costumes.

Reflecting on the whole season and his Alice in particular, Welch echo’s Kent’s belief that the programming offers a vision that connects the company’s history, present, and future.

“Where’s Alice? is an example of that vision – a production that pushes the boundaries of ballet through immersive sets and thought-provoking storytelling that makes you question, 'Who in the world am I?' as Alice did, creating an entirely new world audiences can step into,” Welch said. “It’s work like this that allows us to welcome new audiences into the theater while continuing to challenge and inspire our longtime supporters.”

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