Gish Picks: Week of December 17, 2008


Welcome to this week's "Gish Picks", where I highlight family-oriented cultural events, products or services. Please note that I "highlight" these events, but I don't know if they are appropriate for your particular children, so choose wisely based on age, maturity and interests. I know many of you go to events based on GISH PICKS recommendations; PLEASE remember to tell the organization that you are there because of us. Word-of-mouth like yours helps our business to grow. In the same spirit, please also feel free to share GISH PICKS with friends and families. Do you have something you would like to promote on Gish Picks? Advertisers can promote family-friendly events, products or services to Houstonians all over the city and the surrounding area who are active parents, involved citizens and great shoppers. We love doing this community service and want to keep it free for our readers but in order to justify the hours spent researching, writing and designing this newsletter, we need advertising support. If you'd like to learn more, please click below. Now, GO FIND FUN!

REVEL IN "THE REVELS".

There are holiday productions everywhere, so it’s not easy to pick just a few to recommend! But I always look for the most unique fare out there – and this year's production by Revels Houston, "The Christmas Revels - An Elizabethan Celebration of the Winter Solstice,” fits the bill. This brand-new show features a whimsical story line, spirited madrigals from the time period, and an enthusiastic cast of local singers, actors and dancers – many of them children. The show is set in the time of my favorite playwright, Shakespeare, and opens with Will Kemp, Shakespeare's famous clown, who has just finished Morris dancing all the way from London to Norwich in nine days. The town prepares for a visit from Queen Elizabeth I with joyous singing and dancing, and a feisty troupe of rude mechanicals. Noted local actor Barbara Lasater portrays Queen Elizabeth I in grand style and rocket scientist (he really is!) Jerry Miller heads up the three hilarious rude mechanicals while Ed Benyon brings Kempe to life. The fast-paced first act ends with a bring-down-the-house version of “Lord of the Dance,” with everyone dancing joyously through the aisles. This is the final weekend, with shows December 20 (2:30 and 7:30pm) and December 21 (2:30pm) at the Lowe Theater at St. John’s School. Tickets are $30 and $22/adults and $15/children 12 and under. What Merrie Olde fun!

LAUGH AT THE CRAZINESS OF THE SEASON WITH THE COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE.

In its 52nd season, The Country Playhouse at Town & Country Village presents Barbara Robinson’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”. With a talented and enthusiastic cast of teens and young adults from the Memorial/Spring branch and surrounding areas, this show promises to be fun for the entire family and is sure to help us all find the true meaning of Christmas. Local choirs from the community will provide the pre-show and intermission entertainment offering a host of holiday classic music selections. The story begins as Grace Bradley steps in to direct the school Christmas pageant when the pageant organizer breaks her leg. Little does she know that the school's most notorious kids have taken an interest in participating, such as the Herdman children, who are known for their bullying, biting, and just plain awful behavior around the schoolyard. Grace struggles to contain the chaos caused by the Herdman kids as she hopes for a true Christmas miracle. Don’t we all during this crazy season?! Tickets are $20/adults, $17/seniors and students, and $12/children under 10.

IT'S THE HOLIDAYS, SO "THE NUTCRACKER" IS HERE.

For over one hundred years, the story of this ballet has been staged at holiday time the world over. Set in nineteenth-century Germany, the ballet opens at a Christmas party at which the mysterious Dr. Drosselmeyer gives his little niece Clara a magical toy that takes her on an unforgettable journey. The Houston Ballet and the Moscow Ballet bring the wooden man onstage in their current productions. Here are the details:

Houston Ballet presents Ben Stevenson’s 21st production, seen by over 1,000,000 people since its premiere. Their production promises to be dazzling, with many special effects, including the Christmas tree that “grows” to forty feet, 200 pounds of “snow” falling during the snow scene, and the firing of a cannon on stage. Performances continue through December 28.

The Stafford Centre presents the Moscow Ballet in their touring production of the “Great Russian Nutcracker” -- local children will be appearing with the 132 Russian dancers on the tours. Last year, more than 6,000 U.S. children performed the Great Russian Nutcracker with Moscow Ballet’s dancers, as part of its educational outreach campaign. Set against Valentin Fedorov's spectacular scenic design, with larger-than-life puppets and the backdrop of unicorns, exotic birds and animals, the Great Russian Nutcracker is a visual delight. There will be only one show, on Sunday, December 28 at 3pm.

TUTS' SPRING OFFERINGS BEGIN JANUARY 3.

The Studio at TUTS' Humphrey's School of Musical Theatre is thrilled to offer six new classes beginning January 3 of 2009 for both ADULTS and CHILDREN! No audition is required for The Studio classes, just imagination. These classes are perfect for the whole family as well as for working Moms, downtown dwellers and anyone looking for ways to express their creative side and get fit while doing so. Musical theatre can develop the body as well as the mind. To sign up, visit www.TUTS.com/HSMT, email HSMT@TUTS.com, or call 713.558.8801. Step into The Studio and reach for the stars!

Here's a look at the new spring classes:

CARDIO TAP: In Cardio Tap for ADULTS you'll learn how you can enhance your
memory work by training your brain to process and memorize the steps. Come
on your lunch break and start enjoying an extra cardio workout; get some great exercise with your tap shoes on!

TAP STUDIO: Tap Studio is for students ages 7-18 with little or no previous
experience in tap dance. Learn introductory warm-ups, steps and combinations in this high energy tap class. You will study rhythm and sensational tap sounds while improving your listening skills.

MY FIRST BALLET CLASS: Start your little one off on the right foot with My First Ballet Class. 3-4 year olds learn the A, B, C's of basic movement: space and how we relate to it; musical rhythm, beat and time; opposites - left and right direction; decision making and positions of ballet. Students will also develop creative expression, imagination, dramatic interpretation, teamwork and self-awareness.

BALLET BOOT CAMP. Ballet Boot Camp for ADULTS is a program designed to help
you slim, strengthen, tone and define your entire body with a unique combination of traditional ballet conditioning and strong muscle toning. Designed for dancers and non-dancers alike, this class develops a more flexible, leaner and more refined body.

SPECIAL EFFECTS MAKEUP: Turn Saturdays into "splatter days"! Students ages
10-18 unleash the stuntman within as each student learns stage punches, how
to apply life-like bruises, how to use stage weapons and create the dramatic
deep cuts they leave behind!

ADULT ACTING: you will enjoy the benefits of private coaching in a supportive, empowering and nurturing environment. Study monologues, scene work, character development and self-awareness in this concentrated and creative 8 week session with TUTS' celebrated Rozie Curtis, a distinguished actress in her own right!

CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS AT BAYOU BEND.

“Yuletide at Bayou Bend” is a special holiday treat through Sunday, January 4 in which The Museum of Fine Arts’ Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens is dressed up in its holiday finest. During the holidays, Bayou Bend will feature festive lighting in the gardens, and eight rooms of the mansion decorated with historic recreations of celebratory moments in the lives of 18th-20th century Americans, including a scene of the first meal eaten by the Hogg family when they moved in to Bayou Bend in November 1928 and a drawing room Christmas setting created after Miss Hogg moved out of Bayou Bend into a high-rise apartment. Other scenes go back further in time to show the difference in weddings in 1700 and 1821; the elaborate christening of a New York Dutch-American boy in 1714, and a 1772 party for a commencement from Harvard. This Sunday, December 21, there will be a “Holiday History Family Day” from 1-5pm. Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, Houston’s home for America’s treasures, features one of the world’s great collections of American decorative arts and paintings which are displayed in the home of legendary Houston philanthropist and collector Ima Hogg (1882-1975). Tickets are free-$10, depending on day and time of visit.

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GISH PICKS, which is online (www.thesummerbook.com/gishpicks_archive.html) and in the Houston Community Newspaper group (www.hcnonline.com);

THE SUMMER BOOK®: A GUIDE TO HOUSTON DAY CAMPS AND CLASSES FOR KIDS AND TEENS (www.thesummerbook.com) which comes out annually on March 1 and is sold at bookstores all over Houston, including Barnes and Noble and Borders; and

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS, PRIVATE CONSULTATIONS, AND ART PROGRAMS that cover topics such as summertime fun, passion-finding (for adults, children, and parents helping their children), marketing, historic preservation, art classes, and activism. All of these services can be tailored for any audience and budget.

The purpose of GISH PICKS is to help parents become aware of all the fun things they can do with their children in Houston and the surrounding area, so HAPPY TRAVELS! Please do give me feedback and ideas, as you are out there in the trenches also looking for interesting things for your family and I want to hear what you find. If you are having trouble getting to a website listed here, try hitting the “Ctrl” button and left-clicking on the web address, which should make it “live”.


Sarah Gish Gish Creative 1940-A Fountainview, PMB 116 Houston, Texas 77057 phone/fax: 713.532.1173 email: sarah@gishcreative.com web: www.gishcreative.com and: www.thesummerbook.com and: www.saveourlandmarks.org © 2008 Sarah Gish Designed by West of the World