Sold
Out Wiz Choreographer Helps Houston Youth
 |
| Patdro
Harris (c), director and choreographer of The Wiz,
conducts a master class with young performers affiliated
with The Ensemble Theatre and The Classics Through
the Ages program of the Houston Chapter and Missouri
City Chapter of Links, Inc. Young performers (l
to r) are Danielle King, Erin Smith, Amanda Holmes
and Robyn Adams. |
Houston youth benefited from a unique
opportunity when choreographer, Patdro Harris, recently
flew into town to direct and choreograph, The Wiz, a
musical that opens at The Ensemble Theatre to a sold-out
crowd on June 25th.
As an internationally renowned performing artist, Harris
has a long list of accomplishments to his credit which
include Broadway, The Kennedy Center, The Black Arts
Festival and Stevie Wonder productions. No stranger
to The Ensemble, in '08, he directed and choreographed
the 12 Ways of Christmas.
This month, at the request of the Houston Chapter of
Links and The Ensemble, he sliced off two hours from
his busy Wiz production schedule to share some of his
lifetime knowledge with four Houston youth. The young
performers, Robyn Williams, Amanda Holmes, Danielle
King and Erin Smith, are high school students who are
members of The Ensemble Theatre's Young Performers Program.
They are also protégés of CTA (Classics
Through the Ages), a national Links, Inc. program which
increases the exposure of youth to the classical arts
by sponsoring arts participation opportunities in the
community.
>>See
Front Page News
|
Inefficiency
Negates Budgets
 Even
citizens that fail to fully grasp the concept of representative
taxation should realize that paying for municipal services
is a necessary evil. Accordingly, they have a working
understanding about the City of Houston’s $4 billion
dollar budget that (much to the delight of term limited
Mayor Bill White) the City Council finally accepted
on June 17 after a stormy session. It’s not surprising
that much of the storm was generated by the hot air
from wannabe successors of a term limited “strong
mayor,” insofar as that’s how political
games are played.
>>See
Editorial |
SERENA
GIVES VENUS WIMBLEDON PROPS: Younger sis says she rules
the grass court game. Plus, sisters rank among world's
highest-paid players.
As the Williams sisters begin their run for a Wimbledon
title this week, Serena Williams is already calling
her sister Venus the best grass-court player of her
generation.
The siblings own seven of the last nine women's singles
titles at Wimbledon, but it is Venus, with five victories
compared to Serena's two, who has reigned supreme on
the lawns of the All England Club. If Venus can win
her third successive title she will become the first
woman since Steffi Graf to complete a hat-trick of Wimbledon
crowns.
>>See
Entertainment |
