Best Performance Space: MATCH
Our inventive theater companies always accomplish the most with the least, from Rec Room’s shoebox intimacy to Queenbury and A.D. Players’s sumptuous state-of-the-art digs. But for versatility and ecumenical accommodations, nothing in town rivals MATCH. The four multi-use theaters that comprise Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (the complex’s official name) overflow with dance, theater, music, performance art, visual art, kiddie programs — a veritable arts cornucopia.
MATCH’s mission statement offers “the premier performance venue for the Houston region’s small and mid-sized arts organizations and the leading destination in the region for audiences to experience a broad spectrum of the arts.” Is it ever!
Along with its affordable rental policy, the award-winning design space – warehouse chic – is permanent home to The Catastrophic Theatre, Dirt Dogs Theatre Co., and Main Street Theater’s youth programs. There are three rehearsal halls, dance studios with sprung floors, a cafe, gallery and office space. The whole place has a hip L.A. kind of vibe.
Take a look at what played in just one week in December. There was Mr. Popper’s Penguins for the young ‘uns from Main Street Theater; Merry Everything, a seasonal dance festival from C Squared; the variety and magic show A Curious Christmas from Curiously Enough; the holiday concert December Rose from the multicultural choir International Voices Houston; the family showcase Believe from Juxtapose Arts Collective; a reinvention of the Broadway hit Godspell from ImagineNation Theatre; and young phenom Ethan Bortnick Live in Concert presented by Sun and Sky Entertainment. That’s quite a lineup for any theater, but it’s business as usual at MATCH. What would Houston do without its innovative, humming Midtown Arts and Theater Center? It’s a showcase.
Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston
3400 Main, Houston
713-325-5370 (office)
713-521-4533 (box office)
matchouston.org
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2019.
