Five Questions

The music communicator: Former prodigy Frank Huang embraces new challenge atHouston Symphony

The Houston Symphony has plenty of new in store this season, but the biggest new face is Frank Huang, an acclaimed violinist who's returned to Houston to take over as concertmaster. Though he was born in China, Huang moved to Sugar Land when he was seven and spent many of his formative years growing up in the shadow of the Bayou City.

Huang was only 11 when he first performed with the Houston Symphony in a nationally broadcast concert and now after playing around the world as a soloist and teaching at the prestigious Eastman School of Music, he returns in one of Symphony's most important positions for Saturday's Opening Night: A Vienna Soiree at Jones Hall. Tabbing the 32-year-old Huang as concertmaster completed a two-year, worldwide search to fill the position.

CultureMap talks to Huang about seeing Houston in a different light, the challenges of his new role and the spectacle of Opening Night and the guests it brings.

CultureMap: You grew up in Sugar Land. How does it feel to be back in the hometown?

Frank Huang: It feels good. My parents are here and they're very happy I'm back close to home. I left when I was quite young, about 15, and I haven't had much time to be back, so it's nice to come back and get to know the city as an adult. I've seen a lot of things that I didn't know were here.

CM: What's your role as the concertmaster?

FH: Well I was a concertmaster before for about seven to eight years, of a chamber orchestra, but a full symphony is different — there's more people, a lot more people than the chamber orchestra, and before I had no conductor. It was a small thing, but with a big orchestra you want to still keep that small feel. The concertmaster is like a conduit between the conductor and the rest of the orchestra. What (the conductor) wants to do with the music the concertmaster has to translate that into actual playing.

There are specific things I have to do as well, making sure all the string players' bowings are matching, lots of discussions with other principal players about how to play things, especially things that are tricky and difficult. It's kind of like being the middle man. But the people here are great musicians, they listen and watch well.

CM: What are you most excited about this season? Is there anything you haven't played before?

FH: Opening night on Saturday, the Mozart Sinfonia concertante — that's going to be really fun, great piece between myself and Wayne Brooks on viola, as well as my first performance as concertmaster. There's a lot of great music throughout the season, it's hard to pick a specific one. Each week will be its own challenge.

There's actually a lot of pieces I haven't played, I know them just from hearing them, and maybe I played them in school, but most of my career so far has been concertos and trios, quartets, small groups, so I've played pretty much all that kind of music, but with symphonies and big pieces there is a lot that's new to me.

CM: Looking forward to any special guests?

FH: There's alot of people I know coming — Gil Shaham, I'm very excited to see him, I've done a few recordings with him and a few tours and he's one of the nicest, greatest guys around. A couple of younger musicians that are friends of mine from chamber music, like Alisa Weilerstein, she played in the first quartet I was in when I was 17-18 years old, her dad was my teacher. It's a lot of fun to see them and have them here.

CM: Before coming to Houston, you taught at Eastman School of Music. How does this experience compare?

FH: It's a completely different thing, I enjoyed teaching a lot and I'm teaching this year at the University of Houston. It's so rewarding. I've had some inspirational teachers and I think that's why I love it, because I can see what can happen when you inspire someone to practice and really work to be their best.

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Movie Review

An all-star cast delivers clever laughs in new comedy The Invite

Photo courtesy of A24

Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton in The Invite.

Once upon a time, well before scandal embroiled him, Woody Allen made great comedies aimed at adults. That type of film — which is different from the raunchy, R-rated comedies of the 21st century — has fallen out of favor in Hollywood, but as the new film The Invite proves, when done well it can be as funny as anything else out there.

Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela (Olivia Wilde) are an unhappily married couple living in San Francisco. As we meet them, Joe has arrived home to Angela preparing for a visit from their upstairs neighbors, Hawk (Edward Norton) and Piña (Penélope Cruz), who have moved in relatively recently. Their impending arrival starts a new round of arguing between Joe and Angela, something they can barely contain once the other couple comes to their door.

What proceeds is a getting-to-know-you process that is mostly awkward as Joe and Angela continue sniping at each other while Hawk and Piña put in their two cents in a much calmer manner. A sticking point between the two couples — the loud sex Hawk and Piña have on an almost nightly basis — turns the film on its head with an unexpected invitation.

Directed by Wilde and written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones, the film is a fast-paced chamber piece that takes place almost entirely in Joe and Angela’s apartment. Wilde, the writers, and the actors speed the story along not with action but through almost non-stop dialogue that often has the characters overlapping each other’s lines. The rapidity of the speech fuels the humor of the situation and establishes the differing personalities of each person.

Sex is very much top of mind for each of the characters for most of the film, but the filmmakers approach the topic in such a way that it never feels salacious. Each of the characters is a rational adult who can talk about sex in a mature manner while also acknowledging their unique feelings on the matter. And it’s the discoveries each of them makes along the way that brings about the most comedy.

But, like any comedy for adults, the film also has a dramatic tilt to it, and Wilde edges the story back-and-forth between the two tones extremely well. Joe and Angela fighting is played for laughs at times, but the sadness of their relationship comes through loud and clear. Hawk and Piña are much more intimate with each other, but the funniness of their openness is juxtaposed with a depth that arises through their conversations.

In the 2020s, Rogen has managed to make the transition from goofy stoner to stoner with real acting chops. In a stacked cast, he is the one who sells every moment the best. That’s not to say that Wilde, Norton, and Cruz don’t measure up, though; each of them inhabits their respective roles magnificently. The four actors play off each other as if they had been working together for years.

While The Invite will likely play better to those who have experience with long term relationships, its insights — and occasional bawdiness — make it a comedy that can be appreciated universally. With four actors at the top of their games and a razor-sharp script made even better by some well-done improv, it proves that you don’t need to go low to get great laughs.

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The Invite is now playing in theaters.

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