Houston’s Most Dramatic New School Opens With Curtain Raising Performances Worthy of $88.3 Million Project

Established movers and shakers and talented creatives said hello to future movers, shakers and creatives when HSPVA Friends raised the curtain on the spanking new Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts at the annual Friends’ “Encore Luncheon.” With student talent spotlighted throughout the $88.3 million building and “The Downtown Debut” review in the Denney Theatre, more than 400 supporters experienced the remarkable genius of the entire student body.

A wind ensemble entranced visitors in the Black Box Theatre while the Studio Theatre was transformed into a jazz club and in the Recital Hall vocalists and pianists performed classical music. In the Art Galleries, senior visual arts students showcased their senior works. Ultimately, the review said it all in musical theater form with original lyrics, scripts and dance routines that had the costumed students on their toes and guests rising in a standing ovation.

Community honoree Bob Eury, president of Central Houston, even took a few struggling dance steps in the midst of the performance. He later allowed that he would remain in the corporate world, forgoing a dance career.

The lively program included remarks from HSPVA Friends executive director Alene Coggin, Kinder HSPVA principal R. Scott Allen, and Eury. It concluded with the entire school singing “Happy Birthday” to Mary Martha Lappe, founding executive director of HSPVA Friends. Generous applause went not only to those but also to luncheon chairs Kimberly Hickson and David Spaw and a standing ovation to Nancy and Rich Kinder, whose name the school bears.

The event, that featured a salmon salad lunch from Café Natalie Catering, raised a record of more than $250,000 for art supplies, guest instructors, technology advancements and other building blocks for the rigorous arts curriculum.

PC Seen: City Councilman Robert Gallegos, Roxann Neumann, Mariquita Masterson, Gayle Eury, Guy Hagstette, CeCe Fowler, Phoebe Tudor, Jim Derrick, Susie and Sanford Criner, Marita Fairbanks, Patricia Oliver, Barry Mandel, Donna Kacmar, Jo and Jim Furr, Minnette Boesel, Perryn Leech, and Dean Gladden.

For a look inside HSPVA’s new downtown showcase school, check out the PaperCity exclusive.