Houston has an impressive 17-block Theater District (website: www.houstontheaterdistrict.org) with a total of 13,000 seats. Only New York has more seats concentrated in one geographic area. Houston is also one of the few US cities with permanent ballet, opera, symphony orchestra and theatre companies.

You can buy tickets for concerts and theatre from Ticket Stop (tel: (713) 526 8889; website: www.ticket-stop.com) or the Ticket Center (tel: 1 800 828 8959; website: www.ticket-center.com). Ticketmaster (tel: (713) 629 3700; website: www.ticketmaster.com) is another good source for tickets to cultural events around the city.

Up-to-date information on what's on each week is available from the city listings paper, The Houston Press (website: www.houstonpress.com), which is published on Thursdays. The Preview section of the Thursday Houston Chronicle (website: www.houstonchronicle.com) is also full of listings information.

Music: The Houston Grand Opera, Wortham Theater Center, Texas Avenue (tel: (713) 228 6737 or 1 800 626 7372; website: www.houstongrandopera.org), has a reputation for presenting groundbreaking new operas. It has also won Grammy, Tony and Emmy awards. The Houston Symphony Orchestra at the Jesse H Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street (tel: (713) 224 4240; website: www.houstonsymphony.org), has an excellent reputation extending worldwide.

Theatre: The Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Avenue (tel: (713) 220 5700; website: www.alleytheatre.org), is one of the oldest resident professional theatre companies in the country. It began its life literally in an alley in 1947. The Theatre Under The Stars - TUTS at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby Street (tel: (713) 558 2600; website: www.tuts.com), performs musical theatre. The Miller Outdoor Theatre, Hermann Park (tel: (218) 373 3386; website: www.milleroutdoortheatre.com), is an outdoor amphitheatre which presents free performances - including ballet, Shakespeare, musicals and the Houston Symphony Orchestra - from March until October.

Dance: The Houston Ballet at the Wortham Theater Center, Texas Avenue (tel: (713) 227 2787; website: www.houstonballet.org), puts on lavish dance productions. It is the fifth largest dance company in the USA, with international acclaim following several overseas tours. The company performs classics, as well as cutting edge works by some of the world's exciting young dance makers.

Film: Mainstream films can be viewed at many cinemas throughout the city, such as Cinemark/Tinseltown-Westchase, 3600 West Sam Houston Parkway South (tel: (713) 952 1881; website: www.cinemark.com), and Magic Johnson Theatre/Northline Mall, I-45 and Crosstimbers Street (tel: (713) 692 5983). Art house and independent films can be seen at the Angelika Film Center, 510 Texas Avenue (tel: (713) 333 3456; website: www.angelikafilmcenter.com).

Several films have been filmed in Houston, many using the city's link with space travel as a theme. These include Armageddon (1998) directed by Michael Bay and Apollo 13 (1995) directed by Ron Howard. Terms of Endearment (1983) directed by James L Brooks and Robocop II (1990) directed by Irvin Kershner were also filmed in Houston.

Literary Notes: Surprisingly, for a city that has a rather hard-nosed commercial feel to it, having grown up on the strength of the oil business, Houston is the home of many bestselling historical romance authors, including Barbara Dawson Smith, Christina Dodd and Judith McNaught, who each have millions of fans worldwide. Dawson Smith's books, such as Once Upon A Scandal (1997), are mainly historical romances set in 19th-century Britain. Dodd is a prolific writer whose titles, such as A Well-Favoured Gentleman (1998) and A Well-Pleasured Lady (1997), hint at the raunchy nature of her romances. McNaught's work tends towards the romantic suspense style, with her most recent bestsellers being Night Whispers (1998) and Water's Edge (1998). The endless list of romance writers in Houston is evidence of a softer side to a city long associated with oil barons and astronauts.