Best Theater Season 2001

Best Theater Season

Stages Repertory Theatre

Stages set the pace for the entire theatrical season with its boisterous production of Jane Martin's Anton in Show Business. After that, artistic director Rob Bundy never looked back. Some of the best productions included the strange and disturbing comedy about a group of suits from corporate America in Laura Hembree's Car Pool. The holiday season brought the requisite musical; this year Bundy produced the understated and beautifully ironic Company, by Stephen Sondheim. Old Wicked Songs, by Jon Maran, focused on anti-Semitism and the power of music to heal; it was perhaps the most moving production of the year. Ex-Oiler Bo Eason pulled in full houses for his smart if sentimental script, Runt of the Litter, about the gory guts of professional football. And of course Stages couldn't complete a season without one totally off-the-wall script, which bounced across the stage in the shape of Betty's Summer Vacation, an absolutely bizarre tale of serial killers, mommy-hatred and raincoat-clad flashers. We can only hope that next season will be as provocative.

3201 Allen Parkway, Houston, 77019 Map
713-527-0123
www.stagestheatre.com

Best Theater Season

Stages Repertory Theatre

Stages set the pace for the entire theatrical season with its boisterous production of Jane Martin's Anton in Show Business. After that, artistic director Rob Bundy never looked back. Some of the best productions included the strange and disturbing comedy about a group of suits from corporate America in Laura Hembree's Car Pool. The holiday season brought the requisite musical; this year Bundy produced the understated and beautifully ironic Company, by Stephen Sondheim. Old Wicked Songs, by Jon Maran, focused on anti-Semitism and the power of music to heal; it was perhaps the most moving production of the year. Ex-Oiler Bo Eason pulled in full houses for his smart if sentimental script, Runt of the Litter, about the gory guts of professional football. And of course Stages couldn't complete a season without one totally off-the-wall script, which bounced across the stage in the shape of Betty's Summer Vacation, an absolutely bizarre tale of serial killers, mommy-hatred and raincoat-clad flashers. We can only hope that next season will be as provocative.

Best Ballet

Giselle, Houston Ballet

Giselle is one of very few stories that is best told in the language of ballet. It's based on the legend of the Wilis, the ghosts of young maidens who were jilted by men and died before they could marry. These mysterious creatures haunt the shadowy forests at night, looking for young men whom they will dance to death in their vengeance. In last season's production of the classic, dancers of the corps de Houston Ballet hopped across the stage slowly, their faces shrouded in white tulle, their legs all aloft in perfect arabesques. They were icy and ethereal, robotic and romantic. It was enough to give you the willies.

Best Ballet

Giselle, Houston Ballet

Giselle is one of very few stories that is best told in the language of ballet. It's based on the legend of the Wilis, the ghosts of young maidens who were jilted by men and died before they could marry. These mysterious creatures haunt the shadowy forests at night, looking for young men whom they will dance to death in their vengeance. In last season's production of the classic, dancers of the corps de Houston Ballet hopped across the stage slowly, their faces shrouded in white tulle, their legs all aloft in perfect arabesques. They were icy and ethereal, robotic and romantic. It was enough to give you the willies.

Best Place to Hear Live Tejano

Hallabaloo's

The Tejano scene in Houston is as unpredictable as the Gulf Coast weather. One day a club is hot; the next day it's shuttered and silent. Hallabaloo's is the exception. Set in a gritty southeast neighborhood, the club has kept the Tejano fires burning in Houston for nearly ten years. Wednesday night is live Tejano night. Top acts like Bobby Pulido, Los Chamacos and Joe Lopez set couples twirling with their festive sounds. Tuck in your shirt and head inside to a world of starched jeans and heartfelt gritos emanating from under white Stetsons.

Best Place to Hear Live Tejano

Hallabaloo's

The Tejano scene in Houston is as unpredictable as the Gulf Coast weather. One day a club is hot; the next day it's shuttered and silent. Hallabaloo's is the exception. Set in a gritty southeast neighborhood, the club has kept the Tejano fires burning in Houston for nearly ten years. Wednesday night is live Tejano night. Top acts like Bobby Pulido, Los Chamacos and Joe Lopez set couples twirling with their festive sounds. Tuck in your shirt and head inside to a world of starched jeans and heartfelt gritos emanating from under white Stetsons.

Best New Effort to Inject Culture into Houston

Winedale Publishing

So Gabrielle Hale's Winedale Publishing isn't exactly new (she founded the press in 1996). But at the beginning, it looked like Winedale might be little more than an excuse to bring back into print the scattered remains of husband and Houston Chronicle columnist Leon Hale's oeuvre (some of which surely was penned at Hale's "old place" in Winedale, Texas). But as the years pass and Windedale's list grows, it becomes increasingly clear that Hale has larger ambitions for her small house. Yes, Leon's older work is happily back in print, alongside a new remembrance of foods past by the inventor, for better or worse, of the shopworn "Soupwich." But Winedale's list also now includes the novel Gabriel's Eye by SMU eminence C.W. Smith, and four fiction titles, including the new Drinking with the Cook, by the well-reviewed Laura Furman. Look for forthcoming titles by first-time Texas novelists Lynn Miller and former Press staff David Theis.

Best New Effort to Inject Culture into Houston

Winedale Publishing

So Gabrielle Hale's Winedale Publishing isn't exactly new (she founded the press in 1996). But at the beginning, it looked like Winedale might be little more than an excuse to bring back into print the scattered remains of husband and Houston Chronicle columnist Leon Hale's oeuvre (some of which surely was penned at Hale's "old place" in Winedale, Texas). But as the years pass and Windedale's list grows, it becomes increasingly clear that Hale has larger ambitions for her small house. Yes, Leon's older work is happily back in print, alongside a new remembrance of foods past by the inventor, for better or worse, of the shopworn "Soupwich." But Winedale's list also now includes the novel Gabriel's Eye by SMU eminence C.W. Smith, and four fiction titles, including the new Drinking with the Cook, by the well-reviewed Laura Furman. Look for forthcoming titles by first-time Texas novelists Lynn Miller and former Press staff David Theis.

Best Open-Mike Comedy

The Red Rooster

When All D. Freemon was looking for a venue to replace the vacuum in black comedy that followed the demise of the Jus' Jokin' club, he turned to the former BYOB discotheque founded by Houston NewsPages publisher Francis Page Sr. in '71. Though primarily an open mike for comedians of all stripes and colors, the Thunder Thursdays showcase has already landed such talent as blaxploitation icon Rudy Ray Moore (a.k.a. Dolemite) and Renaldo Ray of BET's Comicview to kick off the evening. Here's to keeping diversity in the local comedy scene.

4937 Martin Luther King Blvd., Houston, 77021 Map
713-847-7757
www.originalredrooster.com

Best Open-Mike Comedy

The Red Rooster

When All D. Freemon was looking for a venue to replace the vacuum in black comedy that followed the demise of the Jus' Jokin' club, he turned to the former BYOB discotheque founded by Houston NewsPages publisher Francis Page Sr. in '71. Though primarily an open mike for comedians of all stripes and colors, the Thunder Thursdays showcase has already landed such talent as blaxploitation icon Rudy Ray Moore (a.k.a. Dolemite) and Renaldo Ray of BET's Comicview to kick off the evening. Here's to keeping diversity in the local comedy scene.

I support

Keep the Houston Press Free.

Best Theater Season

Best Theater Season

Best Ballet

Best Ballet

Best Place to Hear Live Tejano

Best Place to Hear Live Tejano

Best New Effort to Inject Culture into Houston

Best New Effort to Inject Culture into Houston

Best Open-Mike Comedy

Best Open-Mike Comedy

Best Of Houston®

Arts & Entertainment