BWW Guest Blog: Paul Hopper on Resilience in Houston and the HGO Resilience Theater in GRB

On August 25, I walked into Houston Grand Opera just like I would any other Friday morning. I parked underneath the Wortham Theater Center, rode the escalator up through the Grand Foyer, and hitched an elevator to my office backstage on the 6th floor. Within the next 72 hours, much of the route I took would be submerged underneath 14 feet of water from Hurricane Harvey-and the days and weeks that have since followed have been anything but ordinary.

Houston Grand Opera staff was sent home at 2 p.m. that Friday afternoon, giving us all extra time to prepare for the pending storm. I distinctly remember looking out the window on that sunny afternoon as I packed up my laptop and a few things to work on in the event that we would need to work from home for a few days-the rain was scheduled to last into the middle of the following week. I never would have anticipated that the damage from the nearly 40 inches of rain that fell would leave Houston Grand Opera without performance venues, rehearsal spaces, and offices for the foreseeable future.

As the 24-hour newsreel went into overdrive, Houston was bombarded with the grim reality of Harvey's wrath. The resulting floods engulfed thousands of residences, forcing 30,000 Houstonians out of their homes as visuals of entire families being airlifted off the roofs of their houses splashed across the screen.

One beacon of hope that emerged even before the precipitation abated was the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The GRB immediately opened its doors to those who found themselves without a physical home, welcoming in 10,000 refugees of the storm to provide not only a roof over their heads and a dry space to rest their weary bodies, but a space for Houstonians to come together as a community in a time of dire need.

It's particularly moving that this same building has now welcomed a homeless opera company for its season-opening production of Verdi's La traviata. That meant building an opera theater in an empty exhibit hall with little more than two weeks until opening night. Not only did we have to create a stage, bring in lighting, assure quality acoustics, and arrange for the amenities our audience expects. We had to construct dressing rooms, chorus and orchestra rooms, set up a box office, even bring in extra lavatory facilities. We were thrilled that our directors have seized the opportunity to play with the space and create theatrical experiences that can best be called "unconventional opera."

HGO's move to the George R. Brown has been no small endeavor, but it's a testament to the company's resilient spirit and our commitment to bring our artistic product to a community craving catharsis and spiritual rejuvenation. It seemed only appropriate that we name our new temporary home HGO Resilience Theater.

This production also marks the commencement of HGO's new multidisciplinary six-year initiative Seeking the Human Spirit, which aims to explore the deeply spiritual themes in opera and to deepen Houstonians' connection to the arts. Now, more than ever, the people of Houston are yearning to come together for a shared artistic experience that can provide an emotional release after an incredibly arduous two months.

The challenges that our great city faces are far from over. Countless Houstonians still have not returned to their homes and many are struggling to return to any sense of normalcy. We at HGO are grateful to have a temporary home at the George R. Brown Convention Center and to have this opportunity to give back to the city of Houston by doing what we do best: producing world-class opera.

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