Mix-MATCH Festival: Celebrating Houston’s Diverse Arts Scene

On any given day, the Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston, better known as MATCH, regularly offers local audiences a wildly varied lineup of performances. Few days, however, offer the expansive diversity seen during the second annual Mix-MATCH Festival. 

“This is such a unique space,” says Dennis Draper, MATCH’s director of patron services. “On any weekend, you can find dance, music, film, and the occasional cat band at MATCH. I kid you not—a woman has trained stray cats to perform in a band,” he laughs. “We’re called the most diverse city in America. When we think about that, we think about all the different ethnic cultures, but we don’t think about each culture’s various art forms.”

The Mix-MATCH Festival attempts to address that oversight.

“The cool thing about MATCH is that you get to see it all. We are the most diverse city in the country, and you can see that in one weekend at MATCH,” boasts Draper.

Some twenty individual performers and groups will appear on five stages over six hours during the festival. No, the cat band isn’t on the schedule, but the Houston Underwater Film Festival is.

“Houston has lots of film festivals, several of which are held at MATCH. One of the groups that most surprised me was the Houston Underwater Film Festival,” Draper says. “It’s fascinating. It’s everything from short pieces about underwater experiences to full-blown stories filmed underwater. It’s unique. And once you see it, you think, How have I missed this?”

For the Mix-MATCH Festival, filmmakers, photographers, and visual artists from the Underwater group will screen their work and discuss their often-offbeat journeys to working underwater.

Also on the schedule is Queerbaret featuring Sage Cantu, a trans woman of color who will appear as Artemis Hunter.

This is the first time that Queerbaret has been performed professionally. Cantu describes the show as a celebration of queer art and drag in a cabaret style.

“I wanted to focus on queer art with a theater twist. It’s a fun, high-energy cabaret show with drag elements,” Cantu says. “The main thing is storytelling through music and dance.”

Queerbaret features several local drag performers. Cantu, in her Artemis Hunter persona, performs a seven-minute selection of songs from Hamilton.

The eccentric five-piece band Houston’s A.S.S., a group that features three accordions, is set to perform an eclectic set list (think Beyoncé and Lou Reed).

Working with violist Tonya Burton and filmmaker David Rivera, Houston Ballet principal dancer Karina González Edwards performs Precious Gift. The multi-media piece blending dance, music, and film is based on González’s life experience and explores a woman’s journey through pregnancy.

Pronoia Theater mounts Io, A New Myth. The comedy, written by Aaron Garrett, follows a woman who strives to rebuild her life after the town she lives in is destroyed. The original music for the show is by Sandra Peck Ramsey.

The Pilot Dance Project, led by Adam Castañeda, presents El Baile de Lotería. Choreographer Cynthia Garcia brings the characters of the Mexican card game lotería to the stage in a series of vignettes. 

In a show aimed at pre-teens and their families, Brave Little Company offers Lost Luggage, an interactive theater piece about suitcases left at baggage claim and the stories they tell.

Dennis Draper is excited about the variety of performers in the Mix-MATCH Festival. Not only are the diverse genres and art forms represented, but renowned world-class performers like Karina González Edwards, usually seen on massive stages before hundreds if not thousands of people, will be seen here in an intimate setting.

“We have performers at every stage of their career,” Draper notes. “Some people are just starting, and others have been performing for decades. Being able to see them side-by-side is unique to MATCH.”

“You can see all this exciting stuff in one day at the Mix-MATCH Festival,” Draper continues. “If music has been your thing and you’ve been to a concert at MATCH, come see a dance performance or a theater group in one of our Matchbox theaters. Experience something completely different!

“I’m looking for another organization in the United States that does what MATCH does. We haven’t found any other organization that subsidizes artists and offers such a diverse group of performers. MATCH  is a goldmine of art. You’re going to see something different, I promise you.”

The festival ends with the MATCH Mixer, an opportunity to meet and mingle with the participating performers and artists.

WHAT: Mix-MATCH, A  Mixed Arts Festival
WHEN: January 18, 3 to 9 p.m.
WHERE: MATCH, 3400 Main St.
INFO: For info, call 713-521-4533 or visit matchouston.org/mix-match-festival