Bayou City Concert Musicals Honors Mitzi Wayne Weiss Tonight

Bayou City Concert Musicals will present the 2015 Kim Hupp Award to veteran Houston Producer/Actress Mitzi Wayne Weiss as part of its fundraising event, Something Wonderful: The Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein, at 7:30 p.m., tonight, January 24, 2015, at the Cullen Performance Hall of The University of St. Thomas, 4001 Mt. Vernon.

The Kim Hupp Award was established by BCCM in 2004 to commemorate the life of Kim Hupp, BCCM's first musical director, who died in 2002. The Hupp Award is presented annually to individuals who have made significant contributions to musical theatre in Houston.

This year's honoree, Mitzi Wayne Weiss, was one of a small group of Houston women, including Nina Vance, Marietta Marich, and Johnny George, who were instrumental in building Houston theatre in the 1950s and 1960s. Mitzi began her theatre career as a child actress on radio soap operas in Chicago. When she moved to Houston in 1948, she worked at the Houston Little Theatre and with Nina Vance at the original Alley Theatre, where she starred in the Alley's production of Golden Boy. In 1958, Mitzi and Johnny George bought the Playhouse Theatre and Mitzi became a producer as well as a performer. While operating the Playhouse, Mitzi co-produced Carlo Menotti's The Consul with Walter Herbert in what proved to be the birth of the Houston Grand Opera. Her work on the stage ranged from the serious to the comic to a collection of memorable musical roles, including Ado Annie in Theatre Inc.'s production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma. In addition, Mitzi hosted a daily radio talk show on KTRH and one of Houston's first television talk shows on Channel 39. Mitzi came out of retirement in 2004 to take one of the lead roles in BCCM's production of 70 Girls 70 and was a member of BCCM's founding board.

"One can easily make the case that Houston's thriving theatre scene would not exist today without Mitzi Wayne (as she was always known professionally)," says BCCM President Sharon Williams. "She was not only a multi-talented performer, she was a smart producer and businesswoman as well. The work she did in the 1950s and 1960s laid the foundation that makes Houston one of the nation's best cities for theatre today. We are fortunate that she continues to be a vital member of Houston's theatre community as a patron and a mentor to many."

The Kim Hupp Award will be presented as part of Something Wonderful: The Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein, a concert benefiting Bayou City Concert Musicals, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, January 24, 2015, at the Cullen Performance Hall of The University of St. Thomas, 4001 Mt. Vernon. The musical evening will feature the songs of America's most beloved Broadway partnership performed by Zachary Bryant, Susan Draper, John Gremillion, Danica Dawn Johnston, Beth Lazarou, Michael Ross, Susan Shofner, and Musical Director Michael Mertz. BCCM Artistic Director Paul Hope will host the evening.

Tickets to Something Wonderful: The Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein are $50 (performance only) and $100 (includes a post-performance reception honoring Mitzi Wayne Weiss and the show's performers).

Tickets are available by phone at 713-465-6484 or on-line at www.bayoucityconcertmusicals.org. Tickets are available for advance sale only. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Media inquiries should be directed to Sharon Williams at 713-791-9447 or by email at info@bayoucityconcertmusicals.org.

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