The Wortham Theater's Green Room is a crush of nervous little girls, well-dressed men and slightly flushed women clutching programs and nudging themselves closer to Carlos Acosta, the man in white tights signing autographs. They're on a tingly, post-performance high, having just watched him dance Basilio in Houston Ballet's Don Quixote, where a good number in the packed house gasped, grabbed their armrests and finally launched themselves from their seats to bellow "Bravo!" Some of them cried. The ballet neophytes say they've never seen anything like it. The aficionados begin their assessment with these three words: "Not since Baryshnikov." "You've heard of Air Jordan? We call him Air Acosta, " Daisuke Sato, Acosta's friend from Cuba, is telling a young fan. Opera has its Pavarottis. Classical music has its Midoris. But the closest thing to a pop star the ballet world has now is an aging Mikhail Baryshnikov, who passed his pyrotechnic prime a decade ago. … [Read more...] about They call him ‘Air Acosta’
Novelist quantum leap
How Houston inspired ‘Rushmore,’ Wes Anderson’s enduring ’90s masterpiece
When it comes to naming Texas film directors, Wes Anderson might not be the first person who comes to mind. He might not be the fifth. After all, the Oscar winner's last eight movies have been set in far-flung destinations spanning the Northeast United States, India, Japan, below the ocean and throughout most of Europe. But Anderson's film roots have always been firmly planted in Houston, having honed his cinematic style with "Rushmore," the sophomore work filmed across his hometown over 50 days in 1997 and 1998. With it, the director captured the city with scenes in Montrose and River Oaks, where he used his alma mater St. John’s School as a stand-in for the titular Rushmore Academy, and the halls of Lamar High across the road after protagonist Max Fischer is expelled from the private school's campus. Decades later, Houston is littered with stories of local extras, failed auditions and other movie magic. Read more about Houston in the 1990s Today, Anderson is a … [Read more...] about How Houston inspired ‘Rushmore,’ Wes Anderson’s enduring ’90s masterpiece