Slinky Slithers

The real story of Miller Outdoor Theatre: Inside Houston's outdoor artsinstitution

Cissy Segall Davis, Miller Outdoor Theatre managing director
Photo by David W. Clements
A scene from the Miller Outdoor Theatre's early days.

While constricting neckties and ankle-breaking stilettos seem to be the uniform du jour for some highbrow art performances, Houston concertgoers should give thanks to a venue where fashion is meaningless and comfort is king. A land of lawn seating and picnic baskets, where vino is optional, and encouraged.

But don't let the informal ambiance fool you. If it's not good enough for the best stages around the country, you won't find it at Miller Outdoor Theatre, either.

Since its dedication as Miller Memorial Theatre in 1923, the venue and 7.5 acres of greens have served as the country's only proscenium theater of its kind. It presented over 140 professional performances to 431,000 people last year, free of charge. That's more than some of the indoor theaters in town.

Back in its formative years, Miller was built as a permanent bandstand flanked by 20 limestone columns (now part of the Mecom Rockwell Colonnade Fountain across from Hotel ZaZa) hosting pageants, sports radio broadcasts and later accommodating the Houston Symphony's first outdoor concert in August of 1941, drawing an estimated crowd of 15,000 even with temperatures reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

It wasn't until 1952 that a city official pointed out that Miller Outdoor Theatre, not Miller Memorial, was the intended name. It's unsure of how the misunderstanding happened.

Cissy Segall Davis, Miller Outdoor Theatre's managing director, has been involved with the venue's activities since 1979 while working at Theatre Under the Stars. Today, she has quite an arduous but richly rewarding responsibility: Working with local arts organizations to program an eight-month performance season and finding touring groups to fill in any cultural and artistic gaps.

"What you see when you look out is an audience that reflects Houston's diversity, including all age, ethnic and socio-economic groups, all sitting together watching the same show at the same time," Segall Davis said. "Anyone can come here to see great performances totally free of charge.

"This is a gift and we are very lucky the city invests in this facility and program."

The Miller Theatre Advisory Board (MTAB) — a 21-member governing group appointed by the Mayor and approved by City Council with five chairs designated for Rice University, University of Houston, Texas Southern University, Houston Independent School District and South Main Alliance — administers a grants program for Houston’s finest performing arts and community-based organizations to perform free of charge at Miller Theatre. Roughly, 85 percent of what's on stage is from these Houston organizations.

And with monies primarily coming from the Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funds through the Houston Arts Alliance (HAA), there is a strong desire to ensure the programs promote tourism and are of the highest artistic merit.

Working with Houston non-profit groups to schedule out the season, underwriting is available for up to 50 percent of the production costs. Segall Davis and her team assess issues of quality, diversity, broad popular appeal and cost effectiveness, followed by a thorough evaluation of the performance.

For touring groups, the funding process is different as HOT funds can only be granted to organizations that operate within city limits.

"This is such a fabulous venue, so well equipped, that the Miller Board wanted to augment the schedule of free performances by Houston’s performing arts groups with outstanding regional, national and international touring artists and groups," Segall Davis said. "The board takes on the responsibility of raising funds to cover these costs."

The Aluminum Show, a touring troupe from Israel, opens the Miller Outdoor Theatre season this Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m.

Think Texas big aluminum slinkys slithering about the stage, creating a sparkling pseudo sci-fi family-friendly world of industrial-meets illusion and fantasy. Using found materials from factories, dancers tell an all-familiar story of a young futuristic machine determined to find its parents.

Spoiler alert: portions of the show are interactive.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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