The Wortham Theater Center is a

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfo ...

center located in

downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10, Interstate 45, and Interstate 69. The ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

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. The Wortham Theater Center, designed by Eugene Aubry of Morris Architects, was built out of private funds totaling over $66 Million. The City of Houston owns the building, and the Houston First Corporation operates the facility.

History

The Wortham Theater Center officially launched on May 9, 1987. The inaugural performance, ''

Tango Argentino Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in patterns such as AB ...

'', was performed in the Brown Theatre. '' The Knee Plays'', written by Robert Wilson and lead singer

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

The Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

, was presented by the Society for the Performing Arts in the Cullen Theater. In 2017 it was damaged by

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest ...

; it reopened in September 2018.

Significant Private Funding

A significant portion of the funding needed to build the center came from the estate of the late

Gus Wortham Gus Sessions Wortham (February 18, 1891 – September 1, 1976), was a businessman and civic leader in Houston, Texas. Biography He was born on February 18, 1891, in Mexia, Texas, to John Lee Wortham and Fannie Sessions. He moved with his fathe ...

(1891–1976), a local philanthropist and founder of American General Insurance Company. The Wortham Foundation contributed $20 million to the construction of the new Theater Center, which was named after Wortham. In spite of the banking and oil

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

of the late 1980s, more than 3,500 donors committed funds for the new facility in a major community effort, with nearly 2,200 individuals donating $100 or less to the capital campaign. Additionally, the Cullen Foundation contributed $7.5 million, and the Brown Foundation gave $6 million to the building fund.

Performance facilities

* The Brown Theater, with 2,405 seats, is named for donors Alice and George Brown. It is used primarily for opera and large ballet productions by two resident companies: the Houston Ballet and the Houston Grand Opera. * The Cullen Theater, with 1,100 seats, is named for donors Lillie and

Roy Cullen ''For the Texas businessman, see Hugh Roy Cullen.'' Roy Cullen, (born December 30, 1944, in Montreal, Quebec) is a former politician who was a Liberal MP for the riding of Etobicoke North in the House of Commons of Canada. Background Cullen ...

. It is used for smaller productions and other events.

Additional Facts

The Houston Ballet began its residency at the center on September 2, 1987, with Janie Parker and

Li Cunxin Li Cunxin (born 26 January 1961) is a Chinese-Australian former ballet dancer turned stockbroker. He is currently the artistic director of the Queensland Ballet in Brisbane, Australia.Queensland Ballet (2012)Li Cunxin returns to the stage ...

starring in the world premiere of Ben Stevenson's production of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

''. This was followed by

Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is an American opera company located in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1955 by German-born impresario Walter Herbert and three local Houstonians,Giesberg, Robert I., Carl Cunningham, and Alan Rich. ''Houston Grand Opera at ...

's first season, on October 15, 1987, with

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

and

Mirella Freni Mirella Freni, OMRI (, born Mirella Fregni, 27 February 1935 – 9 February 2020) was an Italian operatic soprano who had a career of 50 years and appeared at major international opera houses. She received international attention at the Gl ...

in a production of Verdi's ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decemb ...

''. The glass entry archway, 88-feet (27-m) tall, was originally designed''

The Houston Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (newspaper), archives, 1987. to be the end of a glass atrium, but the atrium concept was considered incompatible with Houston's hot summer weather and the danger of hurricanes, so the atrium was omitted during construction. There had been a debate about how to re-design the entry section as a non-atrium structure, but the decision was to leave the connecting archway, as designed, and simply enclose it with glass. In the future, the archway could easily be extended, if an entry structure is added. The

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...

Chandelier, hanging in the Green Room, was originally installed in 1911 at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

's Fulton Theater (renamed as

Helen Hayes Theatre The Hayes Theater (formerly the Little Theatre, New York Times Hall, Winthrop Ames Theatre, and Helen Hayes Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 240 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Named for actres ...

in 1955). During the demolition of that theater, the

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent ...

was purchased by Houstonians Billy and Janie Lisa Price, who donated it to Wortham Center. The grand staircase, which is actually a bank of escalators, is surrounded by a site-specific illuminated installation by renowned New York sculptor

Albert Paley Albert Paley (born 1944) is an American modernist metal sculptor. Initially starting out as a jeweler, Paley has become one of the most distinguished and influential metalsmiths in the world. Within each of his works, three foundational element ...

. To avoid extensive last-minute debates about approving the sculpture by the artwork committee, the illuminated structure was categorized as an issue of lighting/electrical design, not subject to the artwork committee's oversight. A unique acoustic feature of the theater is its "frying pan" pods, accessible via walkways over the rear of the orchestra seating. This construction enables the music to flow between these pods and into sections of the opera hall that is traditionally not considered a good listening area.

2017 Hurricane Damage

The center was damaged by a flood caused by

in August 2017. While the structure was undamaged, the storm and its aftermath left of

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Dust: a gener ...

, and

debris Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can refer to ...

in the lower levels of the center. Management determined that repairs to the facility would take until at least September 2018. Water breached the backstage door and other locations, filling the entire basement with 12 feet of water which destroyed mechanical equipment, electrical gear, and other building systems located in the basement level. Water also filled the orchestra pits which were also in the basement. There was water damage to the stage flooring and other finishes on the ground level. A team including Turner Construction, HKA/ARUP, and Manhattan Construction led the restoration of the theater and rehearsal spaces to its original glory. Jaffe Holden Acoustics provided acoustic and audio/video systems design services in eight short months to ensure the curtain could open in time for the fall 2018 Opera season.jaffeholden.com/

References

External links

Official Website of the Wortham Theater Center Houston Grand Opera's website Houston Ballet's website Albert Paley Official Website
{{Authority control Performing arts centers in Texas Opera houses in Texas Theatres in Houston Music venues in Houston Theatres completed in 1987 1987 establishments in Texas Downtown Houston