SPECIAL EVENTS

The Houston Theater District will celebrate its 16th Annual Theater District Open House event on Sunday, August 30 from noon - 4 pm. An event that Houstonians look forward to at the beginning of each fall, this FREE, family-friendly event will take place in the heart of the Theater District at the Alley Theatre (615 Texas Ave.), Hobby Center for the Performing Arts (800 Bagby), Wortham Theater Center (501 Texas Ave.) and Jones Hall (615 Louisiana Ave.)

The Capital One Bank Theater District Open House is a free, fun-filled afternoon of learning more about the arts and Houston’s nine major performing arts organizations: Alley Theatre;; Da Camera of Houston; Gexa Energy Broadway Across America – Houston; Houston Ballet; Houston Grand Opera; Houston Symphony; Society for the Performing Arts; Theatre Under The Stars and Uniquely Houston®.

“Houstonians have grown accustomed to coming to Open House each year to check out what the different groups have to offer for the upcoming season,” said Andrew Huang, President & CEO, Houston Downtown Alliance. “Those who are regular arts patrons or who may be new or occasional art-goers know that this is the best time to get great prices on a season subscription or even a special package deal only available at Open House.”

This year’s Open House allows Houstonians to do just that with interactive and informative events including: backstage tours; live performances by professional and community entertainers; sneak previews of the 2008-2009 Theater District seasons; question and answer sessions with performers; activities for the kids such as a Back-Alley Garage Sale and an instrument petting zoo; free refreshments and season ticket information booths.

Capital One Bank will provide Theater Trolley Stops at the venues for guests wishing to ride rather than walk.

The Houston Symphony will offer a free concert starting at 4 pm in Jones Hall, with a special giveaway presented by Capital One Bank. Attendees must be present at the concert for their chance to win a Theater District sponsored trip to see the Houston Symphony’s performance of “The Planets—an HD Odyssey” at Carnegie Hall (for official rules visit houstontheaterdistrict.org).

The Theater District will also be offering a “Taste of Downtown,” with dozens of restaurants providing generous tastes of their chefs’ best. The sampling stations will be located in each venue and will continue throughout the day.

Guests can register to win exciting prizes by participating in the Capital One Bank Theater District Open House Scavenger Hunt, a fun way to learn interesting facts about your Theater District. Scavenger Hunt questions pertaining to Theater District performing arts groups and organizations are in the event program available at each of the four event venues. Guests must visit each member’s information table to obtain answers. After completing the Scavenger Hunt with correctly answered questions, guests turn in their entries at a specified location in each venue to be entered in a drawing for a chance to win prizes including a pair of round trip tickets on Continental Airlines and free tickets to Theater District performances.

More than two million people visit Houston’s Theater District annually. Houston is one of only five cities in the U.S. that boasts permanent professional resident companies in all of the major performing arts disciplines of opera, ballet, music and theater, and is the only city in America that has a collective Open House involving all of these groups and their multiple venues.

Theater District Open House is a program of the Houston Downtown Alliance sponsored by Capital One Bank, Houston Area Cadillac Dealers, Comcast, Continental Airlines, City of Houston Convention & Entertainment Facilities Department and funded in part by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.

For additional event information and Capital One Bank special ticket offers, call 713.658.8938 or visit houstontheaterdistrict.org.

WHERE:

Alley Theatre – 615 Texas Avenue

Hobby Center for the Performing Arts – 800 Bagby

Jones Hall – 615 Louisiana

Wortham Theater Center – 501 Texas Avenue