Houston Symphony — Local services in Houston

First and last time we come to this venue.

This venue is first and foremost one of the most unsafe that I have ever been to. There is ZERO security when entering the building. ZERO.

You can waltz right in without any bags being checked, no metal detectors, nothing. This was my first red flag.

We get into the venue and our seats require an elevator trip, so we board the elevator and this is our second red flag. The woman manning the elevator was one of the most rude people I’ve ever come across.

I am from NYC and I have been to many events including actual legitimate orchestras and even broadway plays and I have never seen people this unprofessional in my life. Nasty to patrons, pushy with her tone. She asked what floor was needed and the man answered. Her response was “every button on this panel has that letter on it TRY THAT AGAIN WHERE ARE YOU TRYING TO GO?” She’s lucky she didn’t have that type of disrespect toward me. That’s all I’ll say about that.

We finally get to our floor and through the show fine until intermission and we get up to get drinks. Fine. Keep in mind my girlfriend is almost 9 months pregnant. It is a little challenging for her to go up and down the stairs. We spend about 20 dollars on two soda cans and bottle of water. The lights flicker and it’s time to get back to our seats.

We go toward the door and the woman at the door was exceptionally rude. She will not allow us into the auditorium because of the bottle of water.

There are zero signs posted about allowing bottled water in the auditorium. And my girlfriend is almost 9 months pregnant. She informs this woman that she is almost 9 months pregnant and she would like to have the water with her just in case. She still refuses with an attitude.

My girlfriend went to get her purse to show this woman that she is going to keep the water in her purse just in case she needs it and is feeling light headed.

Being 8+ months pregnant is certainly a good medical exception and excuse to allow someone a bottle of water in case she needs to take a drink.

Keep in mind this performance is for a Harry Potter film that is incredibly long. One intermission is not going to really help much.

She still refuses and acts as if we are a threat .. so she calls security on us. We ask for her name, and she flat out blatantly ignores us. Will not respond when asked multiple times. Ignores us like we are common trash… doesn’t treat us like paying customers. Her photo is posted below. If she doesn’t want to give her name.. I will warn people about her and show potential customers her photo. Beware of this woman.

When her supervisor arrives to speak to us she is trying to secretly whisper to her supervisor before he is able to discuss the situation with us and physically gets in between the supervisor and us because she knew she was wrong in the situation and guilty of having a terrible attitude.

The supervisor was nice and understanding, he spoke to us and agreed that there are exceptions that should be given for pregnant women as it is a medical exception. He radioed for a refund and walked us to the front end manager Freddy to get us our money back.

I will never go back to this venue.

TL:DR

This venue is completely unsafe. There are no security checking bags, there is no metal detector, and there is zero security presence throughout the building.

The staff manning the elevator is horrendous. Bad attitude. Nasty to paying customers. Talks down on them (like pushing elevator buttons is such a HARRRRDD JOBBB BOO HOO).

The woman posted below is unfit to deal with the public. She is rude, aggressive, and not worth your time or effort.

Pregnant women .. don’t go here. You will only cause yourself unnecessary stress. It is not worth the hassle.

The last thing I want to say is this …

There are hundreds of people begging for a good paying job. Wanting to give their all and have an opportunity to provide for their families who deserve that position. If you do not like your job, give it to someone else who deserves it....

It is a nice theater, however the place is confusing so go early to make sure you dont miss your event.

I parked in their parking, where the attendants sent me the wrong way...literally. I surely didn't hear him incorrectly because my daughter heard him direct us to the left as well, it also wasn't just me because their were more cars that followed shortly after.

I purchased tickets for the mezzanine, however the performers had to cancel for the original day we were originally intended to see them. I called the Jones Hall to reschedule, and they put us a bit further than what I would have liked. I did go to the box office to see if they can correct the situation having that the value of the seats were less than what I had paid for. They said they could switch me at a price hike of $45 more per person, which I declined. The view was not obstructed in any way and ended up being decent so I wasn't too upset.

The seating in the theater is so crazy odd, though the row lettering is correct, the numbers on the seats started on 20something on one end and 120somerhing is on the other side. I needed seats 8 and 9, which were in the middle. This was aggravating because we had to walk through the rows where people were already seated, luckily we were early so we didn't have to skip through a full row.

The restrooms...make sure your bladder is nice and completely empty before the performance, because it will be a journey walking slowly through a crowd and lots of stairs to get to one. Their is an elevator for those who need it, but is overfilled by...

Ever since I watched Eschenbach conduct a beautiful Messian piece in Jones hall in late 1997, I've been in love with this orchestra. Their musicianship and professionalism go largely unnoticed by the masses who demand 6-8 Tchaikovsky concerts each season, along with other repetitive, "blockbuster" type concerts. Do we really need to hear Beethoven's 5th symphony every year? Anyone who has ever seriously studied orchestral music, has been hearing, and analyzing these pieces since high school. They are wonderful, amazing pieces of music. Apparently, a little more variety would be greatly appreciated by only a scant few in this town, and possibly by none of their big, private, petroleum-based donors.

To the guy way down with the one star review, complaining about the HSO management's decision to cancel an upcoming, (at the time), Bill Cosby narated concert. You claim that "the baseless allegations 'without one shred of proof' " of his criminal, lascivious, predatory and deviant past, are insufficient to warrant such a reactionary, cowardly action by the organization. I am quite glad that you will never set foot in Jones hall EVER again. The allegations are hardly without merit, and even one year ago when you wrote that, there was more than enough evidence, from depositions for civil settlements alone, to convince anyone of that which we all know today to be a...