Young Professionals Spotlight

Act One young professionals group aims to cultivate next generation of theatergoers

Ensemble Theatre Act One Young Professionals Drama-Try photo

Performers enjoy Act One's "Drama-try(tree): A Night of Dramatic Poetry" event in April.

Courtesy of KNH Photography / The Ensemble Theatre

Editors note: In our continuing Trailblazers series, we profile exciting young professionals organizations around Houston.

The Ensemble Theatre's Act One Young Professionals

Founded in 1976 by the late George Hawkins, The Ensemble Theatre aims to preserve African American artistic expression and enlighten, entertain and enrich a diverse community. As the oldest and largest professional African American theater company in the Southwest, Ensemble holds the distinction of being one of the largest such theater companies in the country to produce plays in-house and own its facility.

"The Ensemble Theatre's Act One Young Professionals was started as a way to cultivate the next generation of supporters for the theater," says public relations manager Robert Ross. "The goal is to cultivate younger audience members by using Act One as their introduction to the theater."

Who can join? Anyone can join, but the group is targeted to young professionals aged 20 to 45.

Perks: The membership is a full season subscription with invitations to the theater's calendar of pre-show mixers, meet and greets with the cast and discounts on Act One special events.

Biggest annual event: Every April for national poetry month, the group hosts "Drama-try(tree): A Night of Dramatic Poetry" as a way to create an additional platform for Houston area poets and introduce more young professionals to the theater. A portion of the proceeds from that event also support a scholarship for a youth to participate in their Young Performer's Program, a performing arts education program for youth ages 6 to 17 years old.

Upcoming event: A mixer to kick off the new season and encourage more young professionals to join. This event is on September 12 to celebrate the group's fifth anniversary with a night of games, music and refreshments.

Membership cost: $155

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a 14 minute tour

Museum of Fine Arts takes Houston to Paris cathedral with new virtual tour

Still image of digital rendering of Notre- Dame Cathedral, Ars Electronica.

Museum of Fine Arts courtesy image.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston opens “Notre-Dame Immersive Experience.” (Still image of digital rendering of Notre- Dame Cathedral, Ars Electronica.)

Lovers of art and architecture around the world mourned when a 2019 fire destroyed significant portions of the exterior and interior of Notre-Dame Cathedral, one of the most beloved landmarks in all of France. After five years of intense rebuilding and repair, Notre-Dame is set to open again this December. For those who can’t make it to the reopening, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has a very special virtual trip planned this holiday season with their just announced monumental installation, the “Notre-Dame Immersive Experience.”

Set within the MFAH’s vast Cullinan Hall, this animated, 14-minute, immersive presentation will surround visitors with images of Notre-Dame, simulating the experience of walking through the medieval cathedral. Viewers will go on a virtual journey from the outside of Notre-Dame as day turns to dusk, then move into the candle-lite interiors and stained-glass windows. The immersive video will also replicate the fire and its aftermath before revealing the cathedral’s newly reconstructed spire, topped with a cross and a golden rooster, a national emblem of France and a symbol of Christianity.

“It is difficult to exaggerate the role Notre-Dame plays in the public imagination, from its iconic architecture, emblematic of the Northern Gothic style, to its magnificent stained-glass rose windows,” Museum of Fine Arts, Houston director Gary Tinterow said in a statement. “When fire erupted five years ago, millions of people around the world grieved the loss of a monument that had personal significance to each of them. Happily, the cathedral has been restored, and now Houstonians will be among the first to experience the reconstructed building that rose from the ashes.”

“Notre-Dame Immersive Experience” was created by Ars Electronica Futurelab, in partnership with French start-ups Iconem and Histovery. To create a virtual 3D model of Notre-Dame, the installation uses point cloud data compiled by the late Belgian art historian and Vassar College professor Andrew Tallon, who created 3D laser scans of the cathedral in 2010 that proved instrumental in guiding the reconstruction of the cathedral as well as additional scans and 3D material by Histovery.

Over the years, we’ve come to expect perception-defying immersive artworks from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston every summer, but this “Notre-Dame Immersive Experience” November surprise looks to be a perfect place to take any visiting art, history, or Francophile friends and family for the holidays.

The "Notre-Dame Immersive Experience" will be on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston from November 23, 2024, through January 5, 2025.

Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston opens “Notre-Dame Immersive Experience.”

museum of fine arts houston museums notredame cathedral