David Matranga (left) as Macduff and Matt Hune as Malcom in Stark Naked Theatre's Macbeth

One of the most versatile actors in Houston, David Matranga has just finished a run as the heroic, noble Macduff in the dramatic tragedy Macbeth at Stark Naked Theatre. He's currently appearing as the young, innocent Detective Sergeant Penny in the comedic whodunit The Hollow at the Alley Theatre. Local audiences have also seen him recently in the Houston Grand Opera's production of Show Boat. Television audiences have seen the Yale School of Drama alum in Law & Order and Longmire. An experienced voice actor with more than two dozen animated films to his credit, he's also filmed the action comedy Urban Shakedown. And all of that is just what he's done lately.

Playing such a variety of roles requires Matranga to be something of a chameleon, though he says part of his job is to find a connection between himself and each character. "I try to stay away from the cliché things that you hear, like 'I transform into another person.' You have to use all of who you are in a role, but you're always still you. You're using different aspects of yourself, but it's you."

Macduff was a role Matranga had had on his wish list for a while. Still on the list are Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman ("I'm still a little too young for that part, but I'm looking forward to playing it some day," Matranga tells us), Eddie Carbone in A View from the Bridge and James Tyrone in Moon for the Misbegotten.

More »

What She Does: When Crystal Belcher was living in Washington DC in 2009 she heard about a pole dancing fitness course but never had the time to try it out. Yet the idea just wouldn't leave her mind, and when she returned home to Houston the opportunity to finally look into the unique world of pole dancing presented itself. After dropping $10 on a first class she became hooked and never looked back, falling in love with both the sheer physicality of the style as well as it's artistic communicative abilities.

Now she teaches and performs pole dancing all over the country. Houstonians will find her in her East Downtown space The Playground. She spends her time hosting and promoting pole dance competitions in order to get more exposure for her chosen dance form, as well as show off her own considerable moves as you can see in the video above. She gained quite a reputation, and will be competing in the National Pole Championships in Las Vegas in August. We could certainly do worse as a representative of the city, as Belcher's dances are beyond hypnotic and examples of incredible athleticism. Can we lose the rhythmic gymnastics and have this instead in the Olympics?

More »

Photos by Daniel Kramer

Daniel Kramer is a professional photographer and photo instructor at Rice University. He's shot everything from pro sports to breaking news to music and weddings. He also used to be a staff photographer for the Houston Press, during which time he took this iconic photo of a businessman walking over shattered glass from a downtown skyscraper in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Many of his post-Ike photos went on to win awards.

More »

What She Does: Blue 130 is a lot like another local artist, Julie Zarate. Her paintings and mixed media pieces focus on garishly colored female forms that dance between representational art and good pop explosions. She's been drawing since she first learned how to pick up a pencil, and used art as an outlet when she moved to Houston from the East Coast with her family. The road to art has meandered a lot for Blue. She started as a musician, then studied to be a tattoo artist while moving around. Luckily, she returned to Houston three years ago and finally laid down solid roots in the art scene.

For want of a better term her work is pin-up, designed to catch the eye with flowing physical forms and commercial hues that are meant to entice. Her figures tend to beckon the viewer closer, and she often hangs them in front of minute patterns that are so subtle that you don't even realize that you're being hypnotized by the backgrounds. This is even more effective in her mixed media work because it gives an unsettling but barely noticed level of layers that feel like mild vertigo. It's very well crafted stuff that tastes like candy and kicks like whiskey.

Her mix of hot girls, tattoos and loud colors can usually be seen at the East End Studio Gallery among others, and she's shown at House of Blues, Artopia, Summer Street , Hardy & Nance, and most recently Pushing the Limits.

More »

Photo by Raychel Deppe

Houston author and speaker Nina Godiwalla had just finished her freshman year in college when she left her close-knit Zoroastrain community here to spend the summer as an intern at J. P. Morgan in New York City. She took four cheap suits and two pairs of cheap shoes with her; she came home with insights about corporate culture that eventually led to her bestselling book, Suits: A Woman on Wall Street , a memoir about her time in high finance. (It's been described as a Devil Wears Prada for bankers.)

A native Texan, Godiwalla quickly realized she would have to lose her southern accent and disassociate herself from her Persian-Indian ancestry in order to fit into high-powered corporate America. Cutthroat competition became her daily standard, with heavy doses of racism and sexism thrown in. Three degrees and more than a decade later, Godiwalla was offered what should have been her dream job but suddenly walked away from it all.

The woman who once wanted to be an investment banker instead became an expert on changing the same corporate culture she once longed to be part of.

Suits, a funny, humble and insightful look at Godiwalla's life in New York, became a best-seller, resonating with readers across the country. She returned to Texas to launch MindWorks, a corporate training company working with diversity and innovation issues.

More »

What He Does: David Wilhem has had some success with his stainless steel paintings, but his newest passion is something called light painting. It's a little difficult to explain, but stick with me here because it's cool as hell.

First Wilhem just keeps an eye out for unusual graffiti or buildings or whatever might make a good picture, and takes a few phone shots as a reference. He maintains a map of Houston in his home that is extensively marked with future projects.

Once he has a subject he mounts his camera on a tripod to keep it absolutely still. Knowing the exact composition of the shot, exactly how much ambient light is around, and precision movements and timing all have to be mastered to bring a light painting to life.

For example, in the above Wilhem will figure out what lights to use for the shot and clip them to his belt loops or keep them in his pockets or in spots that he will be at in the shot so he can drop one light and simply pick up the next once he's in that position for the shot. To write the word "HOME" backwards into the camera he used a 5 dia LED from a camping supply store. He makes a mark at the left of the frame and the right so that he know where to stay in, then very carefully moves the light until in a specific sequence to capture the word. The results are astounding.

More »

The smoke was still rising from the rubble at the Pentagon after the 9/11 attacks when Houston news reporter Tom Abrahams hit the scene and went to work. During his 20 year long career as a journalist, Abrahams has interviewed American Presidents, traveled with presidential candidates, and witnessed high ranking officials appear at the U. N. Security Council regarding the war against Iraq. Those experiences served him well when he started writing his first novel, Sedition, A Political Thriller. The book's plot is based on the real life Cato Street Conspiracy, an 1820's plot to overthrow the British government by patriots unhappy with English politics after the death of King George III. Abrahams found out about Cato Street while reading one day. "It was just a little footnote, about this conspiracy. When I looked into it, it was fascinating.

"I knew I didn't know enough to write a novel set in 19th century England, but given the situation in our country right now, the large amounts of people who are dissatisfied with the direction Washington is taking, the story seemed very relevant. The book asks the question what is it to be a patriot? Can you love your country so much that you would be willing to harm your country? Every character in the book is a patriot in their own way, they care about this country. They want it to work."

More »

What He Does: The man they call Browncoat, or alternatively, DJ Twinkle-Toes, is a graphic artists and DJ here in Houston. His work is pop art at its finest, mixing almost photorealistic faces with cartoonish hair and clothing in his figures. It's a mixture of toy store packaging mixed with communist propaganda that instantly grabs the eye and doesn't let go. Much of his inspiration comes from his wife, and you can see her face peering out of many of pieces recreated with loving detail. He's been a regular gallery exhibitor for the last ten years, having worked with Talento Bilingual de Houston, War House Gallery, Summer Street, and his second home at East End Studio Gallery.

Browncoat started drawing in first grade. Eventually he got good enough to have other children pay him to draw them custom portraits of Super Mario. It was light work, but it helped him hone his skills as an artist. By junior high he was actively pursuing a future as an artist, even applying to HSPVA, but it was a biography of Vincent Van Gogh which brought him to tears that cemented his future in the arts.

Why He Likes It: Well, there is definitely the perk of being able to take pictures of naked women and then draw them, no one can deny that. All flirting aside, Browncoat like how art allows him to express himself without apology.

More »

Courtesy of Kris Becker

What he does: It might seem like a simple question: What do you do? For composer-pianist Kris Becker, it's not a simple answer. "First I laugh," Becker says. "Then I consider my audience. And then I try not to confuse people out of their minds." His success rate with that varies.

"At my core, I am a nu-classical composer-pianist." The order in which he uses terms like rock, fusion and classical to describe his style depends on what he's working on at the moment.

Becker has described himself as "classically trained, jazz-influenced, with rock and roll sensibilities." What exactly does that mean? "Mostly it means I use classical skills to create music that most people wouldn't call classical."

More »

What He Does: Vincent Fink has been a graphic designer ever since he left the Art Institute of Houston in 2005. He found a nice high-paying job doing what he loved, but a cruel and verbally abusive production manager inspired him to strike out on his own. Now he heads Point 506 Clothing & Graphic Design. They're an independent fashion company here in Houston that aspires to produce unique artist interpretations of scientific concepts and to bring an air of enlightenment to modern fashion.

Every single design comes right out of the talented left hand of Fink, who feels that a trendy design should have a deeper meaning than just 'Hey, it looks cool.' Fashion doesn't have to be empty; it can show off centuries of expanded mathematical thought, and that's what he offers on his shirts.

More »