A live show where LeVar Burton tells the stories behind his iconic roles in Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Reading Rainbow, moderated by Ernie Manouse.
LeVar Burton comes to Jones Hall on Tuesday, November 17, for a night of stories and conversation. He'll be joined on stage by Houston Public Media's Ernie Manouse, who's moderating the evening. The whole thing is built around Burton talking through the stories behind some of the roles that have defined his career.
He'll be looking back at Roots, where he played Kunta Kinte at nineteen while still a student at USC—a role that put him on the cover of TIME. A decade later, he became Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation. And then there's Reading Rainbow, which he hosted for twenty-six years and calls his proudest work. Between those three, he's covered a lot of ground: a historical epic, a sci-fi staple, and a children's show that basically grew up with a generation of us.
Beyond the screen, Burton's a lifelong advocate for literacy and a vocal opponent of book banning. He's also just put out a new memoir, Take my Word for It, so there's fresh material to draw from alongside the older stories. His resume is long—fourteen Emmys, a Grammy, a Peabody, and six NAACP Awards—and in 2024 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal. The evening is less a formal lecture and more a conversation, with Manouse guiding the discussion through those different chapters.
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Tickets start at $39, and the show runs at 7:30 PM at Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana St. If you're a member, you get free parking and no booking fees.
