The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Adds More Free Shows With Facility Improvements — The Woodlands’ Concert Mecca Is Changing

As the The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion powers into a big events 2025, one big number stands out from 2024. Some 57,000 people came to shows for free last year. Just as Cynthia and George Mitchell would have wanted. Cynthia Mitchell’s dream was to remove barriers to the arts for all.

For the first time in the history of  The Woodlands’ world class amphitheater all the fine arts shows at The Pavilion were totally free to attend. The nonprofit Pavilion annually spends $2.5 million to bring in the performing arts shows.

“We absorb the expense,” The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion president and CEO Jeff Young tells PaperCity The Woodlands. “There’s no ticket sales. So we either have to have sponsors and underwriters. We’ve always used the words ‘Rock pays for Bach.’

“When Mr. Mitchell created the venue, he created a nonprofit which was about promoting the arts and removing the barriers to entry for the arts, and exposing his community to world class symphony and performing arts productions.”

Young has deep roots in The Woodlands. He is a 1998 McCullough High School graduate and he’s worked at The Pavilion for 34 years. He was named CEO last year. Communicating the Mitchells’ original mission and for The Pavilion is important to him.  

“We want more people to understand our mission,” Young says. “We want people to know that we’re not just a rock house or a contemporary music house. We’re very fortunate in the fact that we’re probably the most diverse amphitheater in the world, as far as the amount of programming we can do.

“A high school graduation to a church service to a heavy metal show to a country show to a rap show to a dance recital. And that’s important to us being involved in this community.”

The High School Connection

Several local school districts in The Woodlands area benefit from their proximity to The Pavilion.

“One of the coolest events we do is the Fine Arts and Education Day, when we bring the symphony out and they go through all the fourth graders from Conroe ISD come out,” Young notes.

Spring ISD’s fifth grade classes attend too. 

“There are direct correlations with getting children at early age involved with the arts, and visual and performing arts is beneficial for them,” Young says. “They grow up with a richer, more fulfilling life, and it helps them later on in life.”

When schools were closed during COVID-19, the Pavilion responded with an innovative program for kids.

“During COVID, we started Arts On The Go Boxes,” Young says. “So basically our incredible marketing department wondered ‘How can we reach out?” We created these boxes and made over 300 of them, and it’s a curriculum. In it, there’s videos, there’s games, there’s arts, there’s crafts, there’s STEAM activities. It’s curriculum that people still use today. And that’s a way that we can expand our reach.”

Another one of the ways that The Pavilion gives back to the community is through performing arts scholarships.

“We started awarding scholarships for those students that are interested in the performing arts,” Young says. “And our incredible volunteer organization, the Pavilion Partners, really took that under their wing and really created this event, this wine dinner, that generates funds for the pavilion to give away in scholarships. We’ve given out millions of dollars in scholarships, and we’re going to continue to ramp that up and do more of that.”

A Changing Cynthia Woods

The Pavilion’s footprint has evolved over the years.  

“In 2015 when we did the ice rink, and over the next three years, we put about $25 million back into the facility,” Young says. “We’re a 35-year-old physical plant. You walk around and you look at it, you don’t — you can’t — really tell that it’s a 35-year-old plant, because we’ve updated, we’ve increased technology.

“We’re the only amphitheater in town. It’s all about guest experience, whether you’re coming to a symphony or you’re coming to the Boston Pops or you’re coming to a Dave Matthews show. We want you to feel safe. We want you to have a great experience. We want you to have the amenities that you want.”

Less visible changes for concert goers will happen during The Pavilion’s off-season this year, with the administrative offices, built in 1997, getting remodeled.

“We need to add more offices, we need to do more outreach,” Young says. “We need to add positions that we really haven’t had. We’ve been so focused on certain things. And we’re very lean, but we’re very mighty when you look at us compared to other nonprofits and other organizations.

“Our staff is tiny in comparison for the revenue that we generate. And so the reason we’re expanding that office is we’re adding staff. 

Facility upgrades are set to happen throughout the offseason this year as well.

“For this year, we’re looking at the video screens,” Young says. “The video screens are a big part of what we are. And if you’ve ever seen the videos, our marketing department does all the content for that from messaging about our mission to messaging to be aware of the weather. But we have to upgrade those screens Those are now 11 years old, and they have lived their life.

“So that’s another $700,000 right there. We want to try to add some cover; some shelter in different locations. We want to add some more restrooms.”

Sound for those seated on the lawn has been upgraded recently.

“We just invested in a more than $500,000 lawn sound system for the lawn,” Young says. “When the tours come in here, and even when the symphonies and ballets, they bring sound and production for the stage. We have to provide everything else. We hired a company to come in and did a state of the art upgrade for sound reinforcement.

“That was $500,000 that we put back in the facility.”

Sharing the Wealth

Local nonprofits in The Woodlands area benefit too. To date, there are 13 to 15 groups that have staffed concession stands, with the groups earning a percentage of the concession revenue for the date worked.  

“I think we’ve given out close to $7 million since we started in the early 2000s to give back to nonprofits,” Young says. “We are committed to giving back to the community and keeping this place the incredible place that it is. It’s a quality of life thing, and I think we do an incredible job for the world class entertainment we bring.

“The diversity of what we bring here is second to none. We’re really hitting home how important the arts are to everyone.”

And that’s a mission the whole community can agree on.

Interested in helping The Pavilion further its nonprofit mission? You can join the Pavilion Partners program for several ways to volunteer. Membership for the year will start March 1.