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FROM THE MANAGING DIRECTOR

Needless to say, 2020 has been
a very different year than the one
we’d planned and expected.

We started this year full of excitement and
incredible anticipation for the hundreds
of opportunities we’d have in the months
ahead to welcome artists and audiences
into our new home, The Gordy. We’d been
preparing for years—planning, fundraising,
building—and this was our moment to
shine.
We’d done a ton of scenario planning as we
prepared this venue for Houston audiences thinking through every possible impact and
how we would address. Turns out we hadn’t thought about a global pandemic that would
keep the doors closed for months! Will have to add to the list for next time.
While we had not explicitly planned for a pandemic, everything we’d done in preparing
ourselves for the life changing moment of opening this venue gave us all the tools we
have needed to thrive today. The creativity and adaptability of #TeamStages has been so
intensely inspiring to experience during this time. I sincerely hope that you have shared
that experience.

Over 47,000 audience members have joined Stages’ artists in new digital mediums. The
breadth and diversity of the digital programming produced has been remarkable. And
on we go with productions of Holiday at the Hopes: A Christmas Mixup and Button’s
Sleeping Beauty: A One-Man Outrageous Unbelievable COVID Lockdown Panto!
Thank you for remaining on this journey with us! Your support is critical to our
community’s ability to grow and thrive, even at this time that looks oh-so-different from
what we expected.
We’re grateful to be on this journey with you and look forward to sharing many new,
dynamic experiences together—in person and virtually—in the months and years ahead!

Mark Folkes
Managing Director