For this year’s presentation on January 19 and 20 at Wortham Theater Center's Cullen Theater, Performing Arts Houston will present the works of three artists: Kam Franklin, Group Acorde, and ShaWanna Renee Rivon.
Kam Franklin
Commissioned work: Bayou City Comeback Chorus: Vol. 2
Frontwoman of the Houston soul band The Suffers, Kam Franklin is a musician with roots in gospel, R&B, and funk. She won The Houston Press’ Award for Best Female Vocalist in 2012 and 2014, and Local Vocalist of the Year in 2014 and 2015. She’s performed with The Suffers on Late Show with David Letterman, The Daily Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Bayou City Comeback Chorus: Vol. 2 is a continuation of an original work released in 2022. The live music piece, influenced by psychedelic funk, gospel, chamber choirs, and jazz, focuses on social justice, peace as a practice, environmental preservation, and gun violence. The chorus features Houstonian musicians and vocalists.
ShaWanna Renee Rivon
Commissioned work: Emancipation
ShaWanna Renee Rivon is an award-winning playwright, historian, educator, and activist whose niche and artist’s mission is to create period-piece comedies centered around the lives of Black women. Rivon is currently under commission with the Alley Theatre.
Emancipation is a play that examines how Black ancestors in Houston, particularly on Emancipation Street in Third Ward, fought for freedom. Incorporating dancing and singing, Emancipation is a celebration of the accomplishments that Blacks have made in Houston, while also highlighting that Black Americans are no freer today than they were during Reconstruction Years.
ShaWanna Renee Rivon will present Emancipation, a story of Black ancestors in Houston.
Photo by Claire McAdams
Commissioned work: Entrainment
Group Acorde blends the worlds of dance and live jazz. Founded in 2016 by a team of two contemporary movement artists and two experimental musicians, they aim to provide accessible and affordable dance and live music performances and workshops for the Houston community through public performances, classes, and partnerships with local organizations.
Entrainment is a collaboration between the artists of Group Acorde and Texas native Robert Boston, a composer, musician, and educator at the Mark Morris Dance Accompanist Training Program and Music Director at Barnard College Department of Dance in New York. The piece explores a dialogue between individualism and collectivism by using technology to bring the performers and audience together.
As for the nuts and bolts of what goes into the program, Houston Press sat down with Meg Booth, president and CEO of Performing Arts Houston, for a detailed discussion about the ongoing success of the New/Now project.
“We are a presenter and so largely what we do is scour nationally and internationally for artists who have projects that are already completed and that are touring so Houstonians don't have to travel to go see some of these great pieces because we'll bring them to Houston,” Booth said. “But with New/Now, we're actually working throughout the whole creation process with artists. They just give us a pitch in the application process about a piece of work that they want to create, and once awarded, they get to create it. We work with them throughout the course of the award.”
A big part of the program is not only supporting the creation of new work of Houston artists and bringing attention to Houston artists, but it gives Houston artists access to the many stages in the Theater District.
“[New/Now has the] bandwidth and the finances to get into these stages, which is very difficult for many of the extraordinary Houston artists that work throughout the community. But we also want to support the future development of that artists,” she said.
When it comes to evaluating the success of the program, the numbers do all the talking. Performing Arts Houston, at the end of this week, will have cumulatively supported the creation of 12 new live productions and nine digital productions.
Booth says the program continues to grow and create new opportunities for artists and theater patrons alike.
“Some of the fun things that are different this year within New/Now are we've eliminated barriers to the arts to a ‘pay what you can’ basis,” shje says. “While tickets used to be a fixed price, now you can go to our website and pay $0 . . . or if you're feeling charitable, you can pay $100 for your ticket and pay what you can to come experience this mixed tape of Houston artists.”
The program also has legs. Performing Arts Houston is working with Hobby Center for the Performing Arts with its ExxonMobil Discovery Educational Series that caters to the elementary school-aged crowd. One of the programs on the lineup is Harrison Guy’s Colored Carnegie, which was presented during the inaugural year of New/Now’s live performances.
Further, for the eagle-eyed patrons of the Theater District, some may have noticed the music boxes located throughout the area. Three awardees from the New/Now initiative are featured when patrons turn the crank.
“The commissioning project is a holistic support of these extraordinary artists, and we try to find as many opportunities as we can to continue their performance visibility,” she said.
The artists stick around with the program for a while, too. The award recipients provide feedback about their experiences, serve on adjudication panels for future season, and overall help refine New/Now’s experience.
The result is that the New/Now program is witnessing a return on its investment.
“The collaboration with the Discovery Educational Series is one component of how we are continuing to find opportunities to shine lights within the Theater District on Houston artists,” Booth said. “We continue to dialogue with a number of foundations about how we can create or support creative capital for Houston artists. New/Now is continually evolving, and we hope that it will continue to do so.”
In a city filled with such diverse, extraordinary artists, New/Now – with it’s “pay what you can” system – is an easy way to consume several artistic experiences in one night.
Performing Arts Houston presents New/Now at 7:30 p.m. on January 19 and 20 at Wortham Theater Center's Cullen Theater, 500 Texas. For ticket or information, call 713-227-4772 or visit performingartshouston.org. The price is “pay what you can.”
