Enjoy the second weekend of November by exploring some of our picks for the best things to do. This week, we’ve got a celebration of cinema, an appreciation for architectural excellence, and an epic theater experience making its return to Houston after more than 30 years. Keep reading for these and more below.
Live at the Founders Club returns to the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, November 6, at 7:30 p.m. with Divas Across the Decades starring America’s Got Talent alum Christina Wells. Wells, who you may have seen on the Theatre Under the Stars’ stage in productions like The Little Mermaid and Newsies, will be joined by a live band, with backing vocals from LaBraska Washington and Lydia Jackson, to perform music from iconic divas from the 1940s to today in an intimate, club-like environment. The show will be performed a second time at 7:30 p.m. Friday, November 7, and tickets are available for both here for $65 to $100. But act quick – tickets for both performances are close to selling out.
Variety noted that through Shatara Michelle Ford’s second feature film, Dreams in Nightmares, seems to begin a familiar road trip story, it “punctures those expectations to deliver something grander and more poetic” with characters that explore “what it means to be Black and queer in contemporary America.” The film will make its Texas premiere as the opening night selection for the Houston Cinema Arts Festival on Thursday, November 6, at 7:30 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The film kicks off more than 50 films, as well as workshops, music showcases, a photography exhibition, and more at locations across the city, including River Oaks Theatre, Aurora Picture Show, Rice University, and the DeLUXE Theater. Tickets, ranging from $15 for a single screening to a $300 all-access pass, can be purchased here, and you can view the full festival lineup here.
The parking lot, front lawn, and the block of Southmore Boulevard surrounding Asia Society Texas will once again turn into a Night Market on Friday, November 7, from 6 to 10 p.m. The festival will feature more than 80 local, Asian American and Pacific Islander-owned businesses and performers who will be on hand as local retail and food vendors and for Japanese carnival activities and live dance performances by South Seas Productions, University of Houston’s UH Modern, Kajal Desai Dance, and University of St. Thomas Filipino Student Association. Throughout the evening, you can also enjoy a beer garden, Karaoke Korner, a Chinese lantern display from Houston Botanic Garden, sumo wrestling demonstrations, and after-hours access to the museum’s latest exhibit, The House of Pikachu: Art, Anime, and Pop Culture. The outdoor market is free, with indoor access available for $5 to $10 here.
In Weimar-era Berlin, Valeska Gert made a name for herself as a cabaret artist, becoming “well-known for her wild, unpredictable, highly controversial, beautiful yet often grotesque performances.” On Friday, November 7, at 7 p.m., Open Dance Project will open DADA GERT, an hour-long immersive, multimedia performance described by the Houston Chronicle as “the choreographic equivalent of the writer’s maxim, ‘show, don’t tell,’ plunging viewers into the agitated mind of German-Jewish performance artist Valeska Gert” within “a woozy, frenetic environment, contained like the inside of a Pandora’s Box.” Friday’s performance is sold out, but additional shows are scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursdays, 7 and 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Sundays through November 22. Tickets are available here for $35, with pay-what-you-can (minimum $5) performances scheduled for 9 p.m. on November 8 and 15.
Laurel and Hardy biographer Randy Skretvedt has said that the comedy duo’s 1929 short film Liberty was built to accommodate a joke that had to be cut from one of their previous films. The joke centered on Laurel and Hardy accidentally donning each other’s pants and getting caught each time they try to switch. Liberty is one of the silent films you can see on Friday, November 14, at 8 p.m. when ROCO returns to River Oaks Theatre for From Silence to Sound, a program led by guest conductor and composer Andrew Earle Simpson, who will lead the ensemble as they perform Simpson’s own original scores for Liberty, Disney’s Silly Symphony, and Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant. Tickets can be purchased here for $15 to $45.
Get a peek behind the doors of the city’s architectural gems on Saturday, November 8, when Preservation Houston hosts the 12th Annual Good Brick Tour from noon to 5 p.m. Ticket holders will have the opportunity to visit four distinct properties, all of which are winners of the preservation and restoration-minded Good Brick Awards, including a First Ward bungalow built in 1921, a Classical Revival in the Old Sixth Ward Historic District, an Anderson Todd-designed steel-framed pavilion, and the three Style in Steel townhomes created by the firm behind the Astrodome. The tour continues on Sunday, November 9, from noon to 5 p.m. You have until today, Thursday, November 6, to buy advance tickets here for $25. $30 tickets will be available at the door, with single-site admission tickets also available for $10 at each location.
On Saturday, November 8, when Rec Room Arts opens part one of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, it will mark the first time in more than 30 years the two-part play – about AIDS, politics, religion, and identity in Reagan-era America – will be professionally produced in Houston. Sophia Watt, who co-directs with Matt Hune, told OutSmart, “Things feel politically pretty unstable at this moment in time, and that can be pretty scary and pretty intense,” adding, “I was really interested in plays that fought back against that and provided a roadmap of hope, challenge, and rigor in the face of systems that want to eradicate you. Angels seemed to fit the bill.” Both parts, Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, will be presented on alternating evenings at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays through December 30. Tickets are available here for $20 to $45.
Six new large-scale sculptures, all created by Houston Latinx artists and inspired by women found in myths, legends, and Latin American history, will be unveiled on Sunday, November 9, when the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston again hosts its family-friendly fall festival, Myths and Leyendas: Mujeres from 1 to 5 p.m. In addition to the temporary sculptures in Cullen Sculpture Garden, festivalgoers can enjoy art-making activities, food for purchase, live music from Mariachi Orgullo de Houston and Ars Lyrica, dance by HTX Cultural Dance Community, short films presented by Houston Latino Film Festival, a game of Lotería with cards depicting works of art you view at the museum, and more. Tickets are free to the Museum and the festival activities, but advance tickets are encouraged, which you can get here.
The post Best Bets: Houston Cinema Arts Festival, <i>Angels in America</i>, and <i>DADA GERT</i> appeared first on Houston Press.
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