Christie Ballantyne, MD - Houston Methodist

Sit under a ceiling of twinkling lights inside the Theatre Under The Stars and watch timeless classics in addition to new and innovative musical productions. You'll find featured shows like Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, The Wiz, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Ragtime, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, and more. Though the TUTS group performed outdoors at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park, today, TUTS performs in the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, a 2,650-seat theater with a fiber-optic ceiling that twinkles as the lights dim, harkening back to the theater troupe's open-air performances.

What began as a hobby has bloomed into one of Houston's most popular tourist attractions, The Beer Can House. Over 18 years, the house disappeared under 50,000 flattened beer cans of different varieties for practical and decorative reasons. The can motif was only one aspect of the now-iconic visionary art environment. The yard is filled with plants and flowers that hang from the trees, occupy ceramic vessels, and grow in raised beds. As the neighborhood has changed, the property remains a time capsule of Houston’s vernacular architecture from the early 20th century, with a surprise around every corner.

Bask in the sweet sounds of jazz music at the Houston International Jazz Festival, which makes its annual return by celebrating a remarkable run of music, artists, education, and history. The festival, benefitting Jazz Education, Inc., a nonprofit organization, starts the summer with live music and a host of musicians and bands worldwide. The focus of the festival always seeks to honor the legends, the music, and the standards of tradition, shaping young minds and educating them for the future.