Montrose Texas part 2 скачать в хорошем качестве

Montrose Texas part 2

Even though Houston's Montrose neighborhood takes its name from Montrose Blvd., over the years, the main street in the area became Westheimer. Along Lower Westheimer, near downtown Houston, is where most of the clubs and restaurants located. In the center of it all was the Tower Theater, a first-run movie house that became a live performance venue around 1980. "When the musical 'Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' was looking for a home, they converted the Tower into a stage theater and had a three year run," states community observer Ray Hill. Lily Tomlin, Quentin Crisp, Peter Allen, and a wide variety of entertainers and shows appeared to big crowds at the Tower. City of Houston official Sue Lovell recalls the Tower, "It was really great place; saw Bette Midler there twice, when she was just becoming famous. It was a great live theatre; it was a great place to go to." Montrose had become a 24 hour neighborhood. "You could find everything in Montrose, and people really were walking on the streets at night going from a gallery to a little club or restaurant." says entertain Sharon Montgomery. Live music and underground clubs could be found all over Montrose. One very popular club that appealed to both straight and gay crowds was Cody's. "Cody's was a jazz nightclub. It was on the top of the building at the corner of Hawthorne and Montrose. And it was the place where you had a view of the city, unbelievable views of Houston," says Montgomery. From its very beginning Montrose attracted people in the arts and those just arriving in Houston. People such as Howard Hughes and Walter Cronkite lived here. A struggling actor named Clark Gable settled into Montrose in the late 1920s and a young school teacher made his home here for a few years. His name was Lyndon B. Johnson. The Montrose area includes historic neighborhoods with great names such as Westmoreland, Avondale, Audubon Place, Hyde Park and Cherryhurst. Lovett Boulevard, a beautiful tree-lined street, had large stylish mansions. Popular restaurants opened up here, such as Art Wren's on Westheimer which attracted colorful crowds on Friday and Saturday nights. Houston's annual Greek Festival has been held the first week of October for more than forty years. The festival stretches for blocks and attracts huge crowds to Montrose. One of the biggest festivals in Texas in the 1970s and 80s was the Westheimer Arts Festival. Local resident John Danielson fondly recalls the art festival, "Well I think of Montrose and favorite memories I always think of the Westheimer Art Festival. That was one thing I thought was just spectacular I just love that because all my friends would get together at the house and just walk over to the festival and spend a whole day and have a great time." Montrose was the party and entertainment center of Houston. Where else would you find a "Disco Kroger?" It was called that because after the clubs closed down the crowds moved over to the 24-hour Kroger grocery store on Montrose Blvd. and continued to party.