The Celebration 

The stage was set for fairytale enchantment at the Wortham Theater Center on Friday, September 6, 2024 as Houston Ballet welcomed over 230 guests to the Houston Ballet Opening Night Onstage Dinner. Mignon and Steve Gill and Fady Armanious and Bill Baldwin cochaired the event, which honored Lauren Anderson. The evening was a joyful celebration of the opening of the company’s 2024-2025 season and benefited the Houston Ballet. 

 

The Story

Dressed in chic cocktail attire, the onstage dinner guests were in attendance for the captivating performance of John Neumeier’s interpretation of The Little Mermaid as well as for the sold-out post-performance dinner. Both events took place on the Wortham Theater Center Stage. When the curtain rose a second time revealing the Onstage Dinner décor created by Bergner and Johnson, guests found themselves entering an aquatic paradise.

 

The stunning decorations transported attendees to the watery world of the Little Mermaid herself with a back-drop of ocean-blue hues and low and high flower arrangements of varying shades of pink and white adorning tables draped in lovely linens.

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Exquisitely prepared by City Kitchen, dinner was a sumptuous feast crowned with an imaginative dessert of vanilla panna cotta served with melon sorbet, passion fruit coulis, and almond tuile cookie.

 

The Moments 

At the conclusion of the performance, guests gathered in the orchestra for a presentation by artistic directors Stanton Welch AM and Julie Kent honoring Lauren Anderson for her legacy and tremendous impact on Houston Ballet.

This year’s record-breaking event raised over $325,000 for Houston Ballet.

 

The successful event raised over $2.2 million to help support the local literacy efforts of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation and the national literacy efforts of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy

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Guests: Mignon and Steve Gill, Fady Armanious and Bill Baldwin, Lauren Anderson

and Chris Stanaway, Jim Nelson, Stanton Welch AM, Julie Kent, John Neumeier,

Stephanie and Frank Tsuru, Kristy and Chris Bradshaw, Laura Robertson, Akemi

Saitoh, Kent and Shara Schaffer, Jordan Seff, Diana Skerl, Allison and Troy Thacker,

Phoebe and Bobby Tudor, Hallie Vanderhider and Bobby Dees, Margaret Alkek

Williams, Melza and Ted Barr, Susan Binney, Jennifer Kushner, James Cowan and

William Taylor, Jo Furr, Ann and Murphy Graham, Michelle Jeffery, Jay Jones and

Terry Wayne Jones, Shawn Stephens and Jim Jordan, Martha Finger, Jennifer Laporte,

Kelley and Steven Lubanko, Jean and Henry May, Marvin and Martha McMurrey,

Duyen and Marc Nguyen, Cabrina and Steven Owsley, Victoria Gutierrez and

Nick Pierce, Richard Flowers and Angel Rios, Leigh Smith, Heidi and Marcus Smith, Liliana Soltero and Mike Hawkins, Dr. Tatiana Sorkin and Michel Coret, Ann Trammell, J. Michael and Ileana Treviño, Evelyn Leightman, and Marguerite Swartz.

 

About Houston Ballet 

Houston Ballet is committed to maintaining and enhancing its status as: A classically trained company with a diverse repertory whose range includes the classics as well as contemporary works; A company that attracts the world's best dancers and choreographers and provides them with an environment where they can thrive and further develop the art form; An international company that is accessible to broad and growing local, national, and international audiences; A company with a world-class Academy that provides first rate instruction for professional dancers and meaningful programs for non-professional dancers; A company with state-of-the-art facilities for performances, rehearsals, and ongoing operations.