Dish-Houston

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) is excited to announce the cast for A Chorus Line, running July 16 - 21 at Miller Outdoor Theatre.  A Chorus Line is “one singular sensation” that garnered virtually every award imaginable, including the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize.  The groundbreaking musical, set during an audition for an upcoming Broadway show, shines a light on the hopes, fears and dreams of performers vying for a chance to do what they all know they were born to do.

In true A Chorus Line fashion, the cast will feature an ensemble of unique experience and talent, including Broadway and TUTS veterans: Michael Callahan, Caitlin Cannon, Mike Cannon, Erica Cenci, Kevin Curtis, Rob Flebbe, Jessica Lee Goldyn, Martin Harvey, Jordan Fife Hunt, Jolina Javier, Logan Keslar, Julia Krohn, Bryan Langlitz, Alissa LaVergne, Kristen Paulicelli, Michaeljon Slinger, Selina Verastigui, Karley Willocks and Mikey Winslow. 

In a special connection to the show, Mitzi Hamilton, who served as the inspiration for Val in the original Michael Bennett production of A Chorus Line, will both direct and choreograph the TUTS production.  Beyond her influence in the Bennett version of A Chorus Line, Hamilton’s legacy with the show includes performing as Val in both the original London company and later on in the Broadway version.  Joining her will be Thom Culcasi as the conductor and musical director.  He last worked at TUTS for Man of La Mancha and Miss Saigon.  Other creative team members include sound designer Dennis Craig and lighting designer Richard Winkler.

For those who are serious theatre buffs know this production of A Chorus Line will undergo a slight update from its original production in order to speak to today’s audience.  To modernize the storyline, the dialogue has been refreshed to remove the pop culture references to the 70s, and the costumes have been moderately reconfigured.

For tickets and times CLICK HERE!

Beyonce deserved a little retail therapy after the busy week she had. 

The 31-year-old singer, whose net worth is estimated to be $300 million, must have given shoppers quite the surprise when she breezed into Target department store in Houston, Texas a day ahead of her scheduled concert.

Beyonce must have a closet full of accessories, but was in the mood for more as she made a beeline for the hats.

The entertainer, who's been on a relentless pace for her Mrs. Carter Show world tour, was seen trying on a few selections including a couple of wide-brimmed versions.

Her fabulous wig was loose and tousled around her shoulders, and she didn't seem to care if it got messy from the constant trying on of chapeaux.

It's widely known that Target is one of Beyonce's favorite stores and has staged publicity events with the chain for previous albums.

If you're interested in getting into shape like Beyonce and feel her energy there are some amazing workout classes that happen weekly at the House of Dereon Media Center, famously owned by Beyonce herself and her family. First is Zubma Fitness with Crystal Wall. She has lost over 40 pounds and is inspiring people all over to be healthier and make better life choices!

The second is Nightclub Cardio where exercise meets entertainment. Joy Winkler and Forest Petis take your workouts from boring to high energy fun teaching you the latest in dance moves to the hottest hits. People are losing weight, gaining confidence and increasing their joy through this class according to the website. Defiantly worth a try!  

After Monday's concert in Houston, Beyonce will perform in Chicago, Illinois, St. Paul, Minnesota and Detroit, Michigan before heading on to Canada...but who's to say, she might show up to one of these classes. After all, they do happen on Monday nights and they are before her concert time....

Hank Rush, Star of Hope President and CEO, has announced that the Mission’s SUMMER OF HOPE initiative continues with a “Hot Weather Alert” because of the extreme heat. The Mission’s HOPE-IN-ACTION van departed the Men’s Center at 8:45 AM this morning loaded with bottled water. Multiple times a week the outreach van visits areas frequented by homeless men and women, distributing water and encouraging the street homeless to seek shelter at the Star of Hope.

Star of Hope has received 38.000 bottles of water donated by the I Am Waters Foundation. I Am Waters foundation was created by Houstonian Elena Davis to enrich the lives of America’s homeless by providing a continuous source of fresh, clean bottled water, delivered with a daily, inspirational message of hope, love and a sense of belonging to the greater community. Star of Hope expects to distribute about 1,500 bottles of water a week to shelter clients and street homeless.

With daytime temperatures predicted to surpass 100 degrees this weekend, the downtown Men’s Development Center and the Women and Family Emergency Shelter, both over capacity with record numbers, are encouraging all resident guests to stay inside. The two shelters have set up areas offering cold water to anyone requesting it.

In addition, the Mission has put out a call for financial assistance.

“Traditionally the summer time is when our population increases and our donations decrease. We can use some immediate help to insure that this will be a SUMMER OF HOPE for Houston’s suffering homeless,” said Rush.

Typically, Star of Hope, a faith based mission, offers food, shelter, education, spiritual direction and structured recovery programs to about 1,150 homeless men, women, and children each day. 

The Texas abortion bill, SB5, failed to pass the state senate on Tuesday night. While reports have said that a vote on the bill did take place, Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst confirmed early Wednesday morning that the bill was dead.

The legislation’s debate was marked by a filibuster launched by Senator Wendy Davis, a Democrat, who wore pink tennis shoes and prepared for the long haul. She filibustered for over 11 hours without food or bathroom breaks. 

While her filibuster failed to make it to midnight after she received three strikes, the watching crowd chanted and cheered until after midnight. The noise interrupted the proceedings on the floor, causing the vote on SB5 to happen after the midnight deadline.

If it had passed, the bill would have required sweeping changes in how abortion services work in Texas. In effect, the bill would have closed about 80 percent of the abortion clinics currently operating in the nation’s second most populous state.

While the Texas senate session was scheduled to end at midnight, confusion reigned for three hours over what had actually happened. News organizations, including the Associated Press, announced that SB5 passed in Texas, despite Davis’ filibuster and what some users on Twitter called the peoples’ filibuster.

Official confirmation was given on the bill’s status at 3:03 am. At that time, Lt. Governor Dewhurst announced that, while the bill had passed, it was too late. While the abortion services bill was declared dead early Wednesday morning. In response Governor Rick Perry has called another special session for July 1, 2013 to bring this issue up again. 

Until then, Democrats and pro-choicers declared a momentary victory. On Twitter, Planned Parenthood Federation Of America president Cecile Richards wrote,

“We have started something here that they cannot stop.”

A tweet from @YourAnonLive also chimed in, saying,

“The citizens overrode the Texas Senate with their voices. Tonight we proved who really has the power.”

 

Jaston WilliamsJaston Williams is known as one of Texas’ best character actors. He loses himself in a role with accent and body language among other techniques but he has this innate ability to pick up on nuances of a person’s character and by implementing them effortlessly the audience looses themselves as well. A case in point is “Tru” which ran at the Zach Scott Theatre in Austin. Although the character himself is silly and irreverent, playing Capote is a serious thing. After fistfuls of rave reviews for the one man show it is clear that Jaston has chops. Over 30 years of experience will do that to you. 

Many folks have heard of Greater Tuna, A Tuna Christmas and Red, White and Tuna. Jaston Williams and his working partner of 30 years Joe Sears wrote Greater Tuna together and had a short small run in Austin, Texas in 1981 with a small tour that included Houston. There were packed houses everywhere they went and much to their surprise they ended up off Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre for over a year. In 1985, Greater Tuna was the most produced play in the United States with schools, community playhouses, professional theatres, and colleges all adding the comedy to their repertoire.  

The popularity of Greater Tuna has even extended to the most distinguished home in the country, with Command Performances at the White House upon the invitation of President and Mrs. Bush in 1990 and again in 1991. 

In December of 1994, A Tuna Christmas took Broadway by storm, playing to rave reviews and turning the toughest critics into "Tuna" fans. In return they presented Joe Sears with the esteemed honor of a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play.

DISH sat down with Jaston recently to talk about “Tuna” and his latest production that is debuting in Galveston at The Grand 1894 Opera House. The new show is called “Blame it on Valentine, Texas” so William’s clearly is sticking to what he knows, big personalities in small town Texas.

“Valentine” is a one person show about how Jaston became Jaston. Stories like being the only boy in a ballet class in the panhandle of Texas at 5 years old, accidentally ruining the show but stealing it at the same time. Or the time his father saw the Beetles on the Ed Sullivan show which sent him into an emotional breakdownto the point that he was unable to speak so he started making “Cowboy” noises instead. Stories like not having a tornado shelter at their home growing up but a lot of their neighbors having them and his mother insisting they drive all of the way across town during an actual tornado because she didn’t want to offend someone who had invited them over to hunker down.

“After all, they had already “hunkered” at everyone else’s shelter and if they didn’t go to this one the family would have their feelings hurt!”

His raucous retelling of the story over the phone about trying to get his blind mother to stop driving had this interviewer in stitches so in the context of the show one can only imagine how much funnier this whole story can be! The town police have given up on giving her tickets and she still drives!!

Enjoy the trip down memory lane laughing all of the way with Jaston through Valentine, Texas by clicking here for tickets.