Unwrap Your Candies Now
Episodes
In this episode of the podcast “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Catherine Lu chats with Houston Ballet Principal Dancer Connor Walsh. They talk about his lead role as “The Prince,” which he originated for Stanton Welch’s The Nutcracker, as well as his childhood Nutcracker memories and finding time for holiday traditions amidst a busy performance schedule. Performances of The Nutcracker run through December 29 at the Wortham Center. Th...
In this episode of the podcast “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Ernie Manouse chats with longtime “Tonight Show” host, stand-up comedian, voiceover artist, author and speaker Jay Leno, known to many as “the hardest working man in show business.” Society for the Performing Arts presents An Evening with Jay Leno on December 6 at Jones Hall. Then, Catherine Lu interviews mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte and bass Daniel Noyola, two of the sta...
In this episode of the podcast “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Catherine Lu chats with hip hop pioneer and legendary rapper Kurtis Blow, who is the MC of The Hip Hop Nutcracker. The national-touring holiday production comes to the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land on December 4. Then, Ernie Manouse sits down with Dixie Longate of "Dixie's Tupperware Party" to talk about her latest show, Never Wear a Tube Top While Ridi...
In this episode of the podcast “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Ernie Manouse interviews Jeff Miller (director) and Tamarie Cooper (cast member and co-artistic director) about Baby Screams Miracle by Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Clare Barron. Described as a funny, moving tale of faith and survival, the show is being produced by The Catastrophic Theatre from November 22 – December 15 at MATCH. Then, Catherine Lu chats with Houst...
In this episode of the podcast “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Catherine Lu chats with Houston arts writer Pete Gershon about Lawndale Art Center’s 40th Anniversary. They discuss the center's history and impact, from its DIY beginnings in 1979 as an annex for University of Houston art students and its role as an incubator for experimental art to current exhibits and plans for the future. Gershon is Chair of Lawndale’s Advisory Bo...
In this episode of the podcast “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Ernie Manouse interviews actor and attorney John Raley, who stars in Inherit the Wind. Cone Man Running Productions will present the classic play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, inspired by the Scopes Monkey Trial, November 14 – 23 at Spring Street Studios. Raley talks about his career in law, his love of acting and how the two intersect. Then, Catherine Lu features...
In this episode of the podcast “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Ernie Manouse interviews Broadway superstar and stage legend Bernadette Peters, who performs in Houston on November 2 at Jones Hall presented by Society for the Performing Arts. Then, Catherine Lu previews the 7th Annual Houston Early Music Festival, November 7 – 17. She finds out about the city’s early music scene, uniqueness of historical instruments and upcoming festi...
In this episode of the podcast “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Catherine Lu chats with MECA’s Resident Curator Theresa Escobedo and Program Director Liz Salinas about the traditions associated with Día de los Muertos and the organization’s free community festival in celebration of the holiday, from November 2–3. Then, Ernie Manouse interviews Timothy Gulan and Brandon Michael Nase, who star in Broadway’s Cats, October 22 – 27 at the ...
In this episode of the podcast “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Ernie Manouse chats with Desdemona Chiang, director of Vietgone at the Alley Theatre, from Oct. 4 – Nov. 3. A mix of rom-com, road trip, hip-hop and 70s pop culture, the play by Qui Nguyen is inspired by the story of how his own parents met and fell in love in 1975 in an Arkansas camp for Vietnamese refugees. Then, Catherine Lu learns more about... Read more
In this episode of the podcast “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Catherine Lu chats with soprano Anna Diemer, Co-Managing Diva of Opera on Tap - Houston. One of the newest chapters of the international opera non-profit, the group of local singers brings affordable, interactive opera performances to bars, coffeehouses, breweries and other alternative venues. Then, Ernie Manouse interviews actor, singer and dancer Juliette Redden, who st...
In this episode of the podcast “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Ernie Manouse chats with Philip Lehl, Co-Artistic Director of 4th Wall Theatre Company. Now entering its ninth season, the company’s 2019 – 2020 line-up opens with a reimagining of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, starring Kim Tobin-Lehl and Joseph “Joe P” Palmore. Then, Catherine Lu interviews Marian Luntz, curator of film and video at the Museum of Fine Arts Ho...
In this episode of “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Catherine Lu interviews Yoonshin Song, the Houston Symphony’s new concertmaster, who begins her appointment this 2019-2020 season. Selected from the orchestra's extensive three-year search to fill the position, she previously served as concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 2011-2019. Then, Ernie Manouse chats with Rebekah Dahl, singer, actor, co-founder and co-owne...
In this episode of “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Ernie Manouse chats with Jake Speck, Executive Director of A.D. Players. The Christian-based theater company opens its 2019-20 Season of Hope with The Hiding Place. A World Premiere adaptation by A.S. Peterson, the play is based on the true story of Corrie ten Boom, who was active in the Dutch underground, hiding Jews during World War II. Then, Catherine Lu interviews Alecia Lawyer, ...
In this episode of “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Catherine Lu and Ernie Manouse preview the 2019-2020 seasons of eight of the major performing arts groups of Houston’s Theater District, and they chat with Mayor Sylvester Turner about the significant impact of the arts in the city. Recorded live at Jones Hall at the 26th Annual Theater District Open House on August 25, this episode also marks the radio debut of the podcast, which ca...
In this episode of “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Catherine Lu learns about the Houston Chamber Choir's season-opening concert, featuring Annelies, the first major choral setting of The Diary of Anne Frank, composed by James Whitbourn with libretto compiled and translated by Melanie Challenger. The Choir presents the work’s Houston Premiere at the newly-reopened and expanded Holocaust Museum Houston, September 21 and 22. Catheri...
In this episode of “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Ernie Manouse gets an inside look at A Chorus Line and what it’s like to cast and stage this Broadway classic with Megan Larche Dominick, Theatre Under The Stars’ Associate Artistic Director / Director of New Works. TUTS presents the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical that portrays the life of a Broadway dancer, September 10 – 22 at The Hobby Center. Then, Catherine Lu cha...
In this episode of “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Catherine Lu chats with Brandon Bell, Director of Education and Artistic Administrator, about Da Camera’s 2019 – 2020 season, which opens with Bon Appetit! – a concert with a musical take on Julia Child. Bell also describes the free activities that Da Camera has planned for the 2019 Theater District Open House, including musical caricatures composed on-the-spot by a Da Camera Young A...
In this episode of “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” Ernie Manouse chats with Martha Davis, lead singer of the ’80s new wave band The Motels, known for hits like “Only the Lonely” and “Suddenly Last Summer.” The Motels will perform in Houston’s Arena Theater on Thursday, August 22 as part of the Lost 80s Live tour. Then, Catherine Lu previews the 2019 Houston Theater District Open House with Kathryn McNiel, CEO of Theater District Hous...
In this episode of "Uwrap Your Candies Now," Catherine Lu chats with two local musicians of the World Doctors Orchestra - Drs. Charles and Grace Lee. A married couple who met while playing in the Texas Medical Center Orchestra, The Lees spearheaded the effort to bring the global orchestra of doctors to Houston, where they will present a series of events culminating in a concert on August 17. Proceeds will benefit A Child...
In this episode of Unwrap Your Candies Now, Ernie Manouse introduces us to two of the performers taking to the Miller Outdoor Theatre stage as part of the 2019 Houston Shakespeare Festival. Shannon Uphold (Audrey/Ensemble) is a 2nd-year graduate student in the UH Professional Actor Training Program enjoying her second year with the festival; and Laura Frye is making her HSF debut after graduating from the University of Houston 1...
Chat About Unwrap Your Candies Now