Tag: Stages Theater

Posted on by Ellen Seaton - No Comments on New Roads

New Roads

One of the best parts about living in a city as big as Houston is that there is always something new to do and see. Recently I have had two new experiences. One involves live theater and the other involves a new restaurant.

Stages celebrated the opening of their new home, The Gordy, at 800 Rosine. I have been a fan of stages for years and always enjoyed their productions. Now, they have a bigger building with three stages, prop shop, costume shop, scene shop, classrooms and lots of extra space. Before entering this new theater, I wondered how they would be able to expand while maintaining the up-close and personal feeling of the previous location. Well, they did it. Each stage has seating surrounding the performance area on all sides. I doubt if there is a bad seat to be had anywhere. I can’t wait to see some of the upcoming productions that are planned for the rest of the cultural season.

During the open house I walked through all of the different departments. The costume shop had many examples of their various costumes. However, it was in the prop shop that I found this large cat head on top of a microwave. I didn’t ask what happened or where the rest of the cat was hiding.

One of the best parts of the tour was watching actor, Denise Fennell, in character as “Sister”. I have seen several of the Sister Catechism shows. Fennell is hysterical in these productions and very interactive with her audience. Her quick wit and good humored banter followed her wherever she went throughout the open house. I am looking forward to her next show at Stages.

My next adventure involved my Dear Friend and I going to a new restaurant. We like finding the small intimate places that provide great options in food. Literally, this new spot had been open for about two days when we arrived. The place is called Alma and is located on Drexel Street in Highland Village. As a vegetarian/sometimes pescatarian, I always check out the menu before going to a new restaurant for the first time. While they have plenty of options for the carnivores, they also have many options for picky vegetarian. There were several variations of salads, side dishes and grilled salmon. The staff were very helpful answering all of our questions about ingredients and options. We had a wonderful meal and will definitely go back again.

Can’t wait to see what other new adventures await me.

Until next week.….

Posted on by Ellen Seaton - No Comments on Movies and Plays and Spontaneity!

Movies and Plays and Spontaneity!

Last weekend I went to one of my favorite theaters to see a play. I went to Stages Theater which is one of the first venues I visited when I moved to Houston back in the late 1970s. Below you can see a picture of what this theater looks like today.

They are in the process of building a new Stages in a new location one block away from the current location, so I am including a picture of the current Stages just for old times sake. Of course when I started going to stages back in the early 1980s, that large apartment building behind it did not exist.

The play, “Sister’s Summer School Catechism: God Never Takes A Vacation” starring Denise Fennell as Sister was hysterically funny. Now, I am not and I have never been Catholic, but listening to Sister explain summer school to an adult audience was the funniest thing I have listened to all summer. The play involves a lot of audience participation and the audience was in a really good mood last weekend. Here is a picture of the stage at Stages. 

Then on Tuesday, there was all kind of talk about rain here in Houston. If you do not live in Houston, then please understand that there is rain and then there is RAIN, OH MY GOD WE’RE ALL GOING TO DROWN, ALL THE STREETS ARE FLOODING, HAVE ANY HOMES BEEN FLOODED YET?!?!?! I say that because I still have friends who are trying to rebuild their homes after Hurricane Harvey which made landfall over a year ago.

Since Tuesday is my weekly “cultural” day, my friend and I could not decide what to do. At the last minute we decided to stay close to home, go to a movie which has received very good reviews and guaranteed a good time. We went to see Crazy Rich Asians. We arrived at the theater for an afternoon performance, snuggled into our seats and started watching all of the previews. Half way through the first 50 (or so it seemed) previews, we kept hearing the sound, but there was no picture. Everything came to a screeching halt and a voice in the dark announced that, “A tech is rebooting the projector. Please be patient.” We waited. Then a theater representative showed up stating that it would be about five more minutes and gave everyone free passes to come back for another movie. We took our free passes and waited. After more than five minutes later the nice theater representative came back in and told us we could go see any other movie they were showing that day or we could get a refund and come back another time. My friend and I laughed at our feeble attempts at spontaneity and left with both our refunds and passes for a free movie in the future.

We went to a late lunch/early dinner at Mia Bella. I tried to order as Vodka Martini, lemon or lime twist, no olives. The waiter left. The waiter returned.

“Do you want your Vodka on the rocks?” he asked.

“No, I want it up. Lemon or lime twist please, no olives.”

“Do you want it with soda?” he asked.

“No, I do not want any soda,” I responded. I was beginning to get a bit concerned.

“Oh,” the waiter said, “You want it like a Martini?”

“Yes, a Vodka Martini,” I replied.

It was very obvious then and through out the meal that the waiter was new, but willing to bend over backwards to make sure that we were served with the utmost excellent service. The Vodka Martini with a twist was delicious. The food was also delicious! We will definitely go back to Mia Bella.

What a way to spend a completely spontaneous day!

Until next week!