The Gordy Comes Back to Life With Happy Hours — Houston’s $35 Million Cocktail Paradise
Making the Most of a New Theater During Coronavirus
BY Shelby Hodge // 11.04.20Christopher Johnston, Mark Folkes, David Chambers, Alexandra Yates at The Gordy's COVID-19 inspired happy hour (Photo by Priscilla Dickson)
What: “Thursdays at The Gordy”
Where: Stages’ spanking new $35 million theater complex
PC Moment: Stages fans were back in full merriment for the first of several Thursday evening reservation-only happy hours that reunite patrons with staff and stars. Little more than a month after a grand gala celebrated The Gordy opening last January, COVID-19 shut it down — along with everything else. Last week, the theater returned to life with a socially-distanced cocktail hour that was as much a celebration of resilience as a revival of the theater community.
A near-giddy clutch of happy hour revelers spread out across the theater with cocktail tables scattered throughout the building’s Albert and Ethel Herzstein Lobby, Edmundson Gallery, Lancaster Lounge and outside on the Radoff Patio on a night that was perfect for al fresco partying.
While jazz pianist Matt Crump entertained with song and keyboard, guests noshed on treats from charcuterie boxes and sipped both wine and speciality cocktails that included such creative names as The Gordy-hattan, the Director’s Rita and the Matinee Mimosa.
And who else would spend this unusual happy hour in the Lancaster Lounge other than the person for whom it was named, George Lancaster, Stages chair emeritus? One of the interesting amenities of The Gordy is the collection of private wine lockers. Taking advantage of that was patron Ralph Burch, who shared a Vincent Latour Chassagne-Montrachet with his guests, Vicki West and Mario Gudmundsson.
Elizabeth Anthony
The limited gathering allowed guests the opportunity to stroll The Gordy and take in the works of Texas-based artists Paul Fleming in the Edmundson Gallery and Sarah Ferguson in the Lancaster Lounge.
PC Seen: Sally and Philip Edmundson, Myrtle Jones, Judy and Jim Nicklos, Lori Priess, Neal Hirsch, Michelle Watkins, Susie and Sanford Criner, Marc Matejowsky and K.M. Cooper, David Chambers, Alexandra Yates, Stages managing director Mark Folkes and Christopher Johnston, and Stages artistic director Kenn McLaughlin.
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