• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    Social Scene

    The next Downton Abbey? TV insider makes a bold prediction at a Houston gala that includes its own butler

    Clifford Pugh
    Apr 10, 2014 | 12:17 pm

    Not many Houston galas have a butler doing the honors. But Mr. Rodgers, the rising star of Channel 8's Manor of Speaking, the locally-produced talk show that dissects every episode of the monster PBS hit, Downton Abbey, was out in full force to welcome guests to Houston Public Media's first major gala fundraiser Tuesday night at the Houstonian.

    Titled "Masterpiece Evening," the event combined the impeccable taste of the long-running PBS series Masterpiece with a Texas good time. The Events Co. transformed the hotel ballroom into a sumptuous drawing room, with patterned damask tablecloths and gorgeous bouquets of roses, peonies and hydrangeas artfully displaced on each table in silver mint julep cups and coffee tins.

    Titled "Masterpiece Evening," the event combined the impeccable taste of the long-running PBS series Masterpiece with a Texas good time.

    The featured guest was longtime Masterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton who engaged in a lively interview session with Channel 8 host Ernie Manouse while both sat in padded chairs that looked like the set when Alistair Cooke hosted what was then called Masterpiece Theatre in the early 1970s.

    Eaton, who recently authored a book about her 25-year career as producer of the most popular and beloved PBS show, admitted that she originally turned down its latest hit, Downton Abbey, because she thought it was too similar to an update of Upstairs, Downstairs, which was in production at the same time.

    She got another chance after the major networks and cable channels, including HBO, also turned it down. "By then I had woken up and smelled the coffee and had been tipped that Maggie Smith and Elizabeth McGovern were going to be in it," she explained.

    "Who knew that it would be the rising tide for a lot of (PBS) stations around the system? It gives everybody the opportunity to be excited."

    Favorite discovery

    She allowed that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has probably been Masterpiece's most rewarding discovery (at age 9 he was cast in the production of David Copperfield) and revealed that her "true favorite" Downton Abbey character is the nefariousThomas Barrow because the actor who portrays him (Rob James-Collier) is "so warm hearted and funny and smart . . . a really good actor and nothing like Thomas."

    And she went out on a limb and predicted that the "next Downton Abbey" could be a series called Indian Summers that starts filming next month for airing in late 2015 or possibly 2016. Set on the subcontinent of India from the mid-1930s through 1947 (when India achieved independence from Britain), it includes a lot of Downton ingredients — a romantic setting, a gripping story and an attractive cast, led by a handsome single British raj, his sister with a dark past and assorted other intriguing British and Indian characters.

    And she went out on a limb and predicted that the "next Downton Abbey" could be a series called Indian Summers that starts filming next month.

    "In the very first episode you discover that somebody's involved with the wrong person and somebody gets murdered," she revealed.

    "But if it doesn't work, forget I said it."

    Lynn Wyatt chaired the evening and her presence drew an A-list crowd, including Linda McReynolds, Pat Breen, Diane Lokey Farb, Phoebe Tudor, Joanne Herring, Cynthia Petrello, Richard and Ginni Mithoff, Melanie Gray and Mark Wawro, Anne Mendelsohn, Judy Nyquist, Melinda and Sam Stubbs, Karen Love, Sue and Lester Smith, William Middleton and Andrea White. Wyatt's son, Steve Wyatt, accompanied her.

    After welcoming the crowd of more than 275, Houston Public Media executive director and general manager Lisa Trapani Shumate asked for a moment of silence to honor Roy Cullen, who died a few days ago. The Cullen family are longtime supporters of the University of Houston and Houston Public Media.

    Shumate also singled out philanthropist Ann Harderas "our angel from Beaumont." Harder, who attended the gala, has been a longtime supporter of Houston public television and radio.

    The evening raised more than $450,000 for Houston Public Media, which has recently reorganized its radio, TV and digital operations into a single entity, with one website and a new logo.

    Lynn Wyatt, left and Rebecca Eaton.

    Lynn Wyatt, left and Rebecca Eaton at Masterpiece Evening April 2014
      
    Photo by © John R. Lewis
    Lynn Wyatt, left and Rebecca Eaton.
    unspecified
    news/society
    CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
    Get Houston intel delivered daily.

    Stage With Purpose

    Broadway stars and Houston youth shine at Covenant House Texas gala

    Joel Luks
    Jun 11, 2025 | 2:00 pm
    Covenant House Night of Broadway Stars gala 2025
    Photo by Katy Anderson
    Rayshun LaMar performed "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours."

    The curtain rose, and so did hearts, as Night of Broadway Stars lit up the Wortham Theater Center, merging musical razzle-dazzle with a mission rooted in compassion. Benefiting Covenant House Texas, the evening offered both Broadway brilliance and deeply personal testimony in support of youth experiencing homelessness.

    The stage sparkled with talent flown in from New York, including Houston’s own Kevin Cahoon, who returned to his hometown to perform “Maybe Love” from Shucked. Josh Young brought heat with “Heaven on Their Minds” from Jesus Christ Superstar, Brook Wood belted “Save Me,” and Rayshun LaMar had guests dancing in their seats to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours.” Rita Harvey teamed up with Young for a romantic rendition of “Come What May” from Moulin Rouge.

    But the real headliners were the Covenant House youth, who joined the Broadway pros onstage.

    Their performances were acts of courage, resilience, and transformation. During the seated dinner in the Wortham’s grand foyer, guests were visibly moved as the youth shared their journeys using signs that contrasted their lives before and after Covenant House.

    A key fundraising feature — Scholarships of Hope — invited attendees to fund holistic care for the youth, including shelter, meals, mental health services, and career development.

    The evening was chaired by April and Wells McGee and Flo McGee and Wade Upton, and honored the Hamill Foundation for its longstanding support. Incoming Covenant House Texas CEO Anthony Flynn took the mic to share his personal connection to the cause, his own experience with housing instability, and his excitement for the organization’s future.

    Seen on the scene were Heidi and Todd Binet, Cheryl Boblitt King and Bill King, Kurt and Marlene Nondorf, Randy Walker, Elaine and Robert Shaffer, Patti and Tom Turner, Amy Pierce, Joe and Cathy Cleary, and Barbara Strobel and George Bement.

    Covenant House Night of Broadway Stars gala 2025
      

    Photo by Katy Anderson

    Rayshun LaMar performed "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours."

    covenant housefundraisers
    news/society

    most read posts

    Houston's pioneering South American steakhouse will soon shutter in River Oaks

    Texas Monthly's BBQ Snob dishes on the magazine's new top 50 list

    'Famous' Bronx-based pizza chain fires up 3 Houston locations

    Loading...