Broadway Magic, a Surprise $5 Million Gift and a Speakeasy Finish Power Hobby Center’s Remarkable Houston Night

Broadway brilliance resounded through Houston’s Hobby Center for the Performing Arts on a remarkable gala evening that unfolded on the Sarofim Stage. That is where dinner, fundraising and Tony Award winning entertainment evolved into a remarkable soirée with a surprise financial bang.

“Raise the Curtain” gala chairs Mady and Ken Kades welcomed a black-tie throng of some 240 to the speakeasy setting that led through a hidden door to the main stage where The Events Company worked its magic, draping the interior stage and dressing tables in gold and blue and swaths of floras. City Kitchen provided its always commendable dinner.

The financial windfall — a $5 million gift from the Ken and Mady Kades Foundation — was revealed by Hobby Center president and CEO Mark Folkes. The funds are earmarked for new initiatives and improvements across the Hobby Center campus. The most interesting of all is The Kades Club, a new hospitality lounge aimed at supporting and fostering community among donors and partners.

“Philanthropy is driving the next chapter of the Hobby Center, powering our strategic plan and expanding what a performing arts center can be for artists and audiences,” Folkes says. ”We’re incredibly grateful to Ken and Mady Kades for their leadership gift and creating a legacy that will strengthen Houston’s arts community for generations.”

The Kades are well recognized for the support of theater both in Houston and New York where they are investors in various Broadway productions.

“The Hobby Center represents what makes Houston special, a city defined by its diversity, creativity and sense of possibility,” Ken Kades, a Hobby Center board member and facilities chair, notes.

Mady Kades expands on that sentiment. “The arts play a big role in shaping the quality of life here, and that’s why we’re so excited to support this new expanded vision,” she says.

This Hobby Center evening honored Rob Doty for five years of exceptional leadership as board chair.

Singer Darren Criss, currently staring in the musical Maybe Happy Ending for which he won his first Tony Award for Leading Actor in a Musical, provided the night’s entertainment. Fans will recall his run on Glee and for his role in Netflix’s series Hollywood. In a special moment Criss invited High School for the Performing and Visual Arts senior Bianca Ramirez on stage for a duet of “Suddenly Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors.

The night concluded back in the speakeasy/late-night lounge where McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches and pies, courtesy of the Kades, were served.

The evening raised more than $815,000 in support of the Hobby Center’s education programs, which will bring 50,000 students to the Hobby Center for free performances in the 2026-27 season.

PC Seen: Honorary chair Margaret Alkek Williams, Christopher Johnston, Tom and Lesha Elsenbrook, Liz and Matt Furman, Edna Meyer-Nelson, Anna and Walker Hobby, Amy Cope-Gibbs and John Gibbs, Jeri and Marc Shapiro, George Lancaster, Vicki West and Ralph Burch, Kate Dearing Fowler and Steve Fowler, and Angie and David Finn.