Carousel at the Houston Grand Opera

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/2/16 at 7:21pm

I asked about this in the "carousel at the Lyric opera in Chicago" thread and thought it deserved a thread of its own. I know it doesn't start until the 22nd, but is anyone planning on seeing it. I'd be interested to hear if ashfords direction/choreography and any other part of the production has a dramatic change. Is anyone familiar with the cast?

Updated On: 4/15/16 at 07:21 PM

[asmith0307]

Posted: 4/2/16 at 7:33pm

Paul Hope is a fairly well-known Houston actor, though I have only ever seen him in straight plays at the Alley. The rest I have never had the chance to see. Ryan Steele may be in the ensemble though. He recently posted about coming to Houston and has performed in a Rob Ashford show at HGO (Carmen) before. 

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/2/16 at 8:28pm

Paul Hope has performed in hundreds of musicals in Houston for the last 20+ years with Houston Grand Opera, Alley and Theatre Under the Stars, mostly.  He and James Belcher are mainstays in Houston theatre.

[asmith0307]

Posted: 4/2/16 at 8:57pm

Mister Matt said: "Paul Hope has performed in hundreds of musicals in Houston for the last 20+ years with Houston Grand Opera, Alley and Theatre Under the Stars, mostly.  He and James Belcher are mainstays in Houston theatre."

Oddly, I can't name a single show that I have seen Paul Hope in at TUTS, though by sheer numbers I probably have. That probably goes to say something about his acting too (in a good way - he's not as distinguishable by his "style". I also sit much further away in the Sarofim than in either the Hubbard or Neuhaus at the Alley. 

Updated On: 4/22/16 at 08:57 PM

[CindersGolightly]

Posted: 4/3/16 at 6:59am

Who is in the cast? 

[Broadwaywest]

Posted: 4/3/16 at 8:55am

Duncan Rock as Billy

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/3/16 at 4:22pm

I grew up in Houston and performed professionally there for about ten years with numerous theatre companies, but I moved to Chicago 15 years ago and have been out of the Houston theatre loop in that time.  I still have a lot of friends performing there (even Everett Evans is a dear friend of mine).  I don't know what Paul Hope has been doing in the last 15 years, but in the 90s, it was difficult to attend a TUTS production and NOT see Paul (we also went to the same gym back then).  Thank God TUTS has the Sarofim now.  The Music Hall was such a dreary old barn.  And the Arena (of which Paul Hope was one of the original investors) was a hideous theater-in-the-round that was an 80s novelty that was far too large for any production to be effective.  Unfortunately, Houston remains being a size queen with Jones Hal, Sarofim and the Brown (Wortham) being too large to be enjoyed by the majority of the audience for plays and musicals. 

 

While I believe Houston to be vastly underrated in the general sense by much of the country, the city does make really bone-headed decisions with regards to tourism, sports and the arts.  The city will never live up to its potential until it invests in a practical and usable mass transit system (an elevated rail system similar to Chicago would be ideal) rather than constantly expanding its freeways, which only adds to its traffic problems rather than the reverse.  The feeble attempt to increase tourism by adding that "aquarium" and ferris wheel downtown as well as the little light rail (glorified buses, really) is rather embarrassing.  I do like the improvements to Main Street and the Theatre District, however.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/15/16 at 7:29am

https://instagram.com/p/BENOBLSunel/

Yes, ryan Steele is in the show along with his boyfriend Charlie Williams.

Updated On: 4/15/16 at 07:29 AM

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 4/16/16 at 11:24am

Apparently this is the same production staged by Rob Ashford in Chicago last year. Steven Pasquale and Laura Osnes were great, the production was terrible. How does Ashford keep getting hired? He has ruined three of my favorite shows (PROMISES, PROMISES, HOW TO SUCCEED and now CAROUSEL) and yet he keeps getting new jobs. How does this happen???

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/21/16 at 9:27pm

It begins tomorrow! Anyone planning on attending. I just really want to know if there are any changes.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 4/22/16 at 12:24am

"How does Ashford keep getting hired? He has ruined three of my favorite shows."

Evidently everyone doesn't share your distain of his work.  As simple as that.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/22/16 at 10:18am

I agree with jayinchelsea regarding this production.  Mostly great cast in Chicago but the production and direction were so awful, I couldn't stay for the second act.   It was painful to watch.