Curtain up

Houston Theater Week spotlights BOGO tickets to more than 230 shows

Houston has a wealth of arts organizations, offering performances of everything from avant garde theatre to classical music to multiple genres of dance. Even the most art-obsessed Houstonians may feel overwhelmed at deciding which performances to attend, especially if they're on a budget.

Thankfully, a popular program helps newbie arts lovers and longtime patrons alike. Houston Theater Week 2024 offers buy-one-get-one-free deals for more than 230 performing arts programs for the upcoming 2024-2025 arts season. Sponsored by the Houston First Corporation, the event, which runs from August 12 to 18, is a chance for Houstonians to explore performances by 22 professional performing arts organizations.

“Houston’s annual Theater Week is making a difference for both patrons and our arts organizations," Theater District Houtson's Hillary Hart said in a statement. "Not only does the revenue generated through ticket sales keep artists and other creative professionals working, it strengthens our already vibrant theater scene and exposes new audiences to a range of cultural performances by some of the best talent in the world at a discount."

Among the organizations participating this year are 4th Wall Theatre Co., Alley Theatre, Apollo Chamber Players, Chamber Music Houston, DaCamera, Dirt Dogs Theatre Co., Houston Ballet, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Symphony, Jazz Houston, Kinetic Ensemble, Main Street Theater, Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Performing Arts Houston, Rec Room Arts, ROCO, Stages, the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, TUTS, and more.

$\u200bThe Alley Theatre Presents A Christmas Carol$ Get tickets to the Alley Theatre Presents A Christmas Carol Photo by Lynn Lane

So, whether audiences are looking for Mozart, Motown or Mariachi, they'll find something exciting to experience.

They can select from multiple shows, including the Alley's beloved holiday tradition, A Christmas Carol, or a new production of Disney's Frozen, presented by TUTS. Houston Grand Opera brings its colorful Cinderella back to the Wortham Theater Center stage.

Jazz Houston celebrates icon Sarah Vaughan's centennial with Sarah Vaughan at 100!, and the Rec Room mounts the coming-of-age musical Spring Awakening. ROCO's 20th anniversary season offers three commissioned world premieres, and the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts brings back its Live at the Founders Club series, along with All Things Equal: The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Main Street Theater launches the world premiere of Memoriam, an exploration of memory and what we owe to future generations. The Jerusalem Quartet returns to Chamber Music Houston's concert hall at Rice University, and the Houston Symphony's Hansel and Gretel & Don Quixote is a concert of classical music inspired by fairy tales, legend, and adventure.

“A dynamic performing arts community is one of Houston’s strongest assets," said Michael Heckman, president and CEO of Houston First Corporation. "Houston is fortunate to have a thriving industry that is vital to the city’s economy. We expect Theater Week to help us keep it that way."

Houston Grand Opera's production of Cinderella.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Houston Grand Opera presents Cinderella as part of its 2024-2025 season.

performing-arts deals

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