We Are Terrific!

Houston's latest image-boosting campaign gets a big hand from the Chron

Comments (0) By Richard Connelly Thursday, Apr 19 2001

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"While many Houstonians tread various paths to make Houston a 'world class' this or that and get the word out about it, the Houston Ballet company … are already on their toes in world-class triumph in London," read the editorial, about the company's production of Cleopatra. "As Molly Glentzer reported in the [April 5] Chronicle, the ballet is getting much high-profile attention and praise….World-class congratulations are in order."

That same day, page 11D of the paper's Houston section: "Cleopatra Suffers a Fate Worse Than Death at London Premiere," said the headline. The story noted that critics at four of the five major London dailies had panned the performance, "and two of them found it downright laughable."

Glentzer wrote that story, but it was the one she wrote the day before that triggered the editorial. "Wow factor: Houston Ballet's Cleopatra Awes Even Londoners," blared the headline. "[B]y the time Cleopatra was over," she wrote, "I heard several people say simply, 'Wow,' as if they'd just stepped off the gigantic Ferris wheel by the Thames."

Glentzer herself was awed, especially by Lauren Anderson in the title role. "By the time she put that asp to her breast, I was really feeling sad about it," she wrote, in a sentence you don't read every day.

If you're lucky.