Dish-Houston

BY DISH CONTRIBUTOR MARCUS B. CARTER:

 

I don’t think one is ever fully prepared to experience the greatness that is Oprah Winfrey!  When I found out I received tickets to her Houston “Lifeclass” I was overwhelmed with emotions.  Oprah is truly one of the biggest inspirations of my life and to have an opportunity to experience her energy up close was tremendous. I have also been a huge fan of her Lifeclass series, and find them to be some of her most pertinent work in inspiring America.  To my surprise we would be taping 2 shows that Morning.  The first was “The Power of I am ____________” and the second was “Dreaming Big”.  Her expert on stage was none other than Houston’s own Pastor Joel Osteen who helped her frame the topics of each show. 

 

 

The first show “The Power of I Am__________”  was about understanding the power of your words.   It was stated simply` that you are whatever follows “I am ______”.  BRILLIANT!   When you speak phrases like “I am tired” or “I am broke” you are psychologically affirming those conditions.   Osteensays, “Whatever follows “I Am” will come to find you!”   You should replace the negative “I am’s” withpositive affirmations like “I am creative” or “I am surrounded with abundance” and best of all “I am successful”.   Interestingly, Oprahmentioned that women often find it hard to utter the words “I am Beautiful”.    She encouraged women to look at themselves daily, and affirm their beauty with words.  SIMPLY PUT, words have power!  You must be conscious about what you SAY, and specifically WHAT YOU SAY about yourself.   

 

The second show dealt with “Dreaming Big” which hit a bit too close to home for me.  Osteen and Oprahbantered about how holding back from pursuing a dream can be detrimental to your life.  They encouraged viewers not to procrastinate or get comfortable with just an “ordinary” existence. David Otunga, Jennifer Hudson’s fiancé Skyped in to further drive this point home. Otunga, said his Harvard Law degree and the high paying law firm were not enough for his life.  He found himself unhappy withhis career, because he always dreamed of being a professional wrestler. With his mother’s blessing, he abruptly quit his job and pursued a professional wrestling career, stepping out into an unknown existence. This decision yielded him not only great wrestling success, but he has now transitioned into movie roles and wider opportunities as an entertainment personality.  The lesson of this class was to dream boldly, and not to be afraid to pursue your passion.

 

Overall, the experience was truly life changing.  Lately, I have found myself working very hard to be cognizant of the words leaving my mouth, and grappling with avenues to my passions.  I feel honored to have received a 6^throw opportunity to take a class from one of the greatest teachers, Ms. Oprah Winfrey.  I now feel obligated, to pursue my dreams BOLDLY!  Are you willing to change the way you speak about yourself and how you peruse your dreams?  Are you willing to fervently pursue the dreams that you have pushed to the back of your proverbial closet?  If so, I wish you much success on the first steps to an exciting and more fulfilling life.

Join Buffalo Bayou Partnership and KBR for the 6^th year anniversary of KBR Kids Day on Buffalo Bayou.  A day filled with FREE family fun, hands-on educational activities, music, food, park performers, and kayak demonstrations on the bayou!
 

Activity stations will include numerous hands-on activities from over 30 Houston non-profit organizations partners, rock climbing wall, kayak and skateboarding demonstrations, Art Cars on display (Jeannie Bottle by Kelly Blakley, Hen-a-Tron by Drew Bettge, Mr. Green by Mark Bradford and Sentrasauraus by Perri Harper), local entertainment, face painters and balloon artists. 

Additionally, there will be a Halloween Costume Parade, so come dressed in your favorite costume!

It's all happening Saturday, October 20, 2012 from 11am-3pm, so mark your schedules today!

All performances will take place at the Children’s Memorial Hermann Stage

11-11:30am
DJ Bill and his Bag of Tricks and
Chick-fil-A Herd of Cows

11:30am-12:30pm
Leah White performing her Houston Hits

FREE grass-roots, all day event connecting the dots between, skateboarding, music, art, and science
Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark

12:30pm
Halloween Costume Parade led by
Whole Foods Market Veggie Salute

1pm
Captain Kale with Whole Foods Market
Healthy Eating Games

1:30pm
Break Free Crew/ Break Dancing

2-3pm
Allegro West Academy
Dance Zone
Emotion Dance Company
Mixteco Ballet Folklorico
North Harris Performing Arts
Planet Funk
Vitacca Dance Project
Houston Dance Showcase Presented by Vitacca Productions & Company

Want to know how much all of this wonderful entertainment costs?? It's DISH'S favorite price!! It is FREE and everyone is welcome!

Food and drink will be available for purchase (including food trucks – It’s a Wrap, Luchi & Joey’s, Monster PB&J, Porch Swing Desserts and Snow Cone Angels)

Put on your favorite Halloween costume and join us at Downtown’s Sabine Promenade – (150 Sabine Street, 77007) between Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive. 

Parking is so easy! Parking is available at City Lot H (next to Fonde Recreation Center at Sabine Street and Memorial Drive) and Lot C (Memorial Drive and Houston Avenue).

Of course none of this could happen without some amazing sponsors!

Lead sponsor KBR with additional support from Children’s Memorial Hermann, City of Houston Mayor's Office of Special Events, Downtown District, The Greensheet, Houston Family Magazine, Houston First Corporation, Houston Parks and Recreation Department, IKEA, KHOU-Channel 11, Orange Show for Visionary Arts, Texas Children’s Health Plan, United Airlines, Watermill Express and Whole Foods Market

Would you like to know a little bit more about Buffalo Bayou Partnership? It is, after all, the entire reason the city of Houston exists! Buffalo Bayou Partnership is the non-profit organization revitalizing and transforming Buffalo Bayou, Houston’s most significant natural resource.
The Partnership coordinates the integration of major amenities into the bayou greenbelt and seeks ways to increase community involvement through pedestrian, boating and biking amenities, permanent and temporary art installations, and other natural and built attractions.

For more information CLICK HERE

See you on the Bayou, DISHIES!

The Halo House Foundation has announced the 2nd annual “Houston Stars - Dancing for a Cause” gala will be held on Saturday, October 20, 2012, at the Houston Royal Sonesta Hotel.

Local Houston celebrities have teamed up with the Halo House Foundation in support of the event. The Houston Stars - Dancing for a Cause Gala will be raising money to provide short-term housing for out-of-town patients who are receiving blood cancer treatment at the Houston Medical Center. Every year a significant number of blood cancer patients are unable to obtain the care they need because they cannot afford the necessary short-term housing.

The gala will feature dance performances from:

Dale Tyczowski - Owner, Dalek Interiors
Jared Lang - G.M., Momentum Audi.  President of Fashion Houston 2010;
James Rodriguez - Houston City Councilman
Jo Furr - Author, Retired Educator
Lynn Lumsden - Development Manager, Prism Electric
Kat Cosley - LiveWell Network's "Deals" Program Host
Patricia Gras - Senior Producer, PBS
Chita Johnson  - Meteorologist, KHOU.

Guests will have the opportunity to pick their favorite Houston "Stars" of the evening, enjoy great food, libations, a live and silent auction, and all in support of providing housing to cancer patients in Houston.

As you may remember DISH Publisher Lori Freese won last year's competition and has been honored to be asked back this year as a judge.

Halo House Foundation
The Halo House Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides short term housing for Houston Medical Center blood cancer patients and their families.  The organization was started in 2009 by Dr. Nathan Fowler and Kathleen Fowler. Dr. Fowler is a researcher and practicing oncologist at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and was inspired to create Halo House after seeing his own patients spend their entire life's savings to pay for housing and medical treatments because they did not have access to affordable short-term housing during their time of treatment. Halo house has provided over 2,500 days of housing since opening their first two apartments in January, 2011, and has helped families from 12 states across the US. In 2015, the organization plans to open their own Halo House facility with 20 apartments for cancer patients.

For more information about Halo House or to purchase tickets for the upcoming gala please visit CLICK HERE

DISH received the sad word over the weekend that due to a health problem, Alley veteran James Black is unable to perform the role of Willy Loman in the Alley Theatre’s current production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.  Everyone is confident that he will make a full recovery and will be able to return to the Alley stages in future productions.

“I must put my health above all, follow the medical guidance of my doctor, and step away from this role and this great production,” says James Black.  “I leave with a heavy heart and apologize for disappointing loyal Alley subscribers and current ticket holders.”

Managing Director Dean R. Gladden continues:

“We request that you respect the privacy of James Black and feel confident that he will return to full strength soon and be able to direct this year’s production of A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas. We have cancelled performances through Friday, October 5 and are doing our best to contact all ticket holders to reschedule for performances later in the run.”

Artistic Director Gregory Boyd is pleased to announce that Glenn Fleshler will play the role of Willy Loman. He was the understudy for Willy Loman in the recent Broadway production. His Broadway credits also include Captain Brice, RN in Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia and Antonio’s man/ensemble in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. A definitive first preview and opening will be announced at a later time.

ABOUT DEATH OF A SALESMAN
The return to the Alley of Arthur Miller’s Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Death of a Salesmanis particularly relevant today. The play juxtaposes the American Dream with the realities of a fluctuating economy, unequal opportunities, and unfair advantages, with vivid characters and consummate theatricality. As salesman Willy Loman approaches the end of his working life, he must reconcile his unrealized dreams while struggling against the current world. Recommended for general audiences; mature themes.

ABOUT GLENN FLESHLER
Glenn Fleshler is making his Alley Theatre debut. On Broadway, he appeared in Death of A Salesman, Arcadia, The Merchant of Venicewith Al Pacino, A Behanding in Spokane, Guys and Dolls, and Spring Awakening. He appeared with Meryl Streep in Mother Couragein Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre, Maggie Smith in The Lady From Dubuque in the West End, and the Drama Desk-winning cast of Stuff Happens at The Public Theatre along with many other productions Off-Broadway and around the country. He has had many recurring roles on TV including George Remus on Boardwalk Empire, Pavel Mirminsky on Delocatedand Det. Milton Trammel on Damages. He has also made appearances on Law & Orders, Fringe, The Good Wife, Bored to Death, Sex and the City and Third Watch. Films include: Margaret, All Good Things, A Price Above Rubies and the upcoming releases of Gods Behaving Badly, Nightingalewith Marion Cotillard and Joaquin Phoenix, Starbuck with Vince Vaughn and the latest Woody Allen project.

 

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) is proud to announce the international musical sensation and four time Tony Award nominee Jekyll & Hyde will run at Hobby Center For The Performing Arts Oct. 10 – 21, 2012 as TUTS’ opening show for its 2012-2013 “A Lot To Love” season.  After four thrilling, chilling years on Broadway and multiple world-wide tours, this dark and dangerous love story returns in a stunning new production that includes all the classic songs (“This is the Moment,” “A New Life,” and “Someone Like You”) that first grabbed audiences by the throat and transformed Jekyll & Hyde into a theatrical phenomenon.

The musical stars Tony Award nominee Constantine Maroulis in the dual title role of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde.  Starring alongside him will be Grammy nominee and R&B superstar Deborah Cox as Lucy.

Several stage veterans will join the headlining cast.  Teal Wicks, whose credits include Wicked’s Elphaba on Broadway, will play Emma Carew.  Laird Mackintosh, who played on Broadway and in the first national tour as George Banks in Mary Poppins, will portray John Utterson.  Richard White, whom audiences will remember from the lead role in TUTS’ Zorro and Phantom, Broadway’s Most Happy Fella and the national tours of Urinetown and Camelot, will play the role of Sir Danvers Carew.

TUTS’ presentation of Jekyll & Hyde is part of a 25 week national tour leading up to a Broadway engagement of the show starting in April 2013.  TUTS fittingly serves as a stop during the tour as the show originated right here in Houston.

Conceived for the stage by Tony and Grammy Award nominee Frank Wildhorn and Steve Cuden, Jekyll & Hyde features a book & lyrics by two-time Oscar winner, Emmy winner and four-time Tony Award nominee Leslie Bricusse, music by Frank Wildhorn, and will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award Nominee Jeff Calhoun. 

The musical is based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s acclaimed novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde about a London doctor who accidentally unleashes his evil alternate personality in his quest to cure his father’s mental illness.

Tickets (starting at only $24) are available on-line at TUTS.com, by phone at (713) 558-TUTS (8887), outside the Houston area at (888) 558-3882, or in person at the Theatre Under The Stars Box Office, located at 800 Bagby at Walker, Monday - Friday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., and Saturday - Sunday 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.  An audio described performance is available Sunday, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m.; open captioning is available Sunday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The Hobby Center is wheelchair accessible.  Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more.  Group tickets may be purchased by calling (713) 558-8888 or via email at groupsales@tuts.com.