Houston Grand Opera Managing Director Perryn Leech and Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers shared a statement on Facebook about the company in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Offices will be closed until after Labor Day, and the company's website remains down.

The company's update concerns the Wortham Theater Center, whose two theatres—the Brown and Cullen—are home to Houston Grand Opera.

“The Wortham had water penetration into the front of house areas at a low level due to high water; that water has now receded and left residual dirt,” according to the statement. “In the back of house, water surged over the storm defense and some water went onto the Brown Theater stage. This was at a low level but has resulted in damage to the surface of the stage. The Cullen Theater stage has little water damage and the dressing room corridor had water, but also at a low level. The basement of the building is completely full of flood water.”

The Theater District garage is completely flooded and will be closed for some time for repairs. HGO staff members did move valuable instruments and many costumes, including those for the company's opening productions of La Traviata and Julius Caesar, to higher floors in advance of the storm.

Another update is expected the afternoon of August 31.

Houston Grand Opera, according to the statement, is “grateful to the artists and other colleagues from around the country and the world who have sent their support. That means so much to us all. Houston Grand Opera will recover and deliver a fantastic season to our patrons, giving them the art they need to heal from this calamity.”

Their message closed with a nod to Houston Grand Opera's recent staging of Wagner's Ring Cycle, stating, “The only future water we want coming across our stage is that of the Rhine!”

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