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Your weekly guide to Houston: Five (plus) don't-miss events — Johnny Depp vigil included

Let's keep it classy this week with the creme de la creme artsy groups in the city, shall we? On the sched are witty and deeply emotional operas, a musical that reminds us of the importance of keeping things in perspective, a dance binge that features eight accomplished troupes and a historically informed concert with one keyboard whiz who's a big deal in the music scene.

Houston Symphony presents "Mozart's Abduction"

Too many notes? While not all scholars agree that Emperor Joseph II, who commissioned The Abduction from the Seraglio, actually meant this absurd comment as criticism of Mozart's opera buffa, the anecdote has become one of the funniest because of the film Amadeus. There are, indeed, lots of swift passages in the score that add to the excitement and wittiness of the lighthearted tale.

Hear all of them in a Houston Symphony semi-staged performance with maestro Andrés Orozco-Estrada, whose goal is to program one concert version of an opera per season. Joining the lively dirigent is charming soprano Lauren Snouffer as Konstanze, tenor Paul Appleby as Belmonte and the chorus from the Moores School of Music directed by Betsy Cook Weber.

The deets: Friday and Saturday; Jones Hall; tickets start at $25.

Houston Grand Opera presents Madame Butterfly

You may not know the opera but you surely know the story. Without giving too much away — because I believe that any experience is best with an element of surprise — I can promise you that many of the melodies of Puccini's Madame Butterfly you've heard over and over again. Because they are some of the most beautiful tunes ever written.

If you don't get emotional, either this production sucked or you have no heart — chances are it's the latter.

Ana María Martinez as Cio-Cio-San? Girl can wail. This casting is one for the history books.

If you don't get emotional, either this production sucked or you have no heart — chances are it's the latter.

The deets: Friday through Feb. 8; Wortham Theater Center; tickets start at $18.

TUTS Underground presents Waiting For Johnny Depp

Theatre Under the Stars' rebellious alter ego that presents musicals for contemporary-minded audiences stages the world premiere production of Waiting for Johnny Depp, a story of a struggling actress who lives in the Big Apple. In her quest for infamy, she loses grounding in the important things in life.

That's a struggle with which we're all too familiar, right? BTW, how are your new year's resolutions going?

The deets: Through Jan. 31; Hobby Center for the Performing Arts; tickets start at $25.

Dance Month at the Kaplan Theatre: "Four + Four: A Celebration of Dance Concert"

In a nutshell, "Four + Four" means two programs that spotlight four different dance companies in each performance — do the math — eight all together. Get it? For dance fiends, make plans to attend both evenings to enjoy pieces by NobleMotion Dance, Revolve Dance Company, Urban Souls Dance Company and Uptown Dance Company on Saturday and Chapman Dance, HIStory, Houston Ballet II and MET dance on Sunday.

The show is part of Dance Month at the Kaplan Theatre's 35th anniversary celebration. Arrive 45 minutes before curtain call for a pre-show dance film curated by Ashley Horn.

The deets: Saturday and Sunday; Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center; tickets start at $13.

Context presents "Intimate Encounters: Masters of the French Baroque"

Houston music cognoscenti rush to Context for two reasons: Artistic director, pianist Brian Connelly always curates masterful programs that change listeners' paradigm on what they consider beautiful, performed by virtuosos that offer historically appropriate executions rarely heard on the concert stage.

Count on "Intimate Encounters" to be just that. Paolo Bordignon, who's the harpsichordist of the New York Philharmonic and who holds a bunch of other prestigious posts, shows his skills on two keyboards as he brings to life the music of Couperin, Rameau, Du Phly and daddy Bach.

The deets: Sunday, 4 p.m.; Shepherd School of Music; tickets start at $25.

Theatre Under the Stars' rebellious alter ego presents the world premiere production of Waiting for Johnny Depp.

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MFAH expands

Houston museum acquires historic Masonic lodge property for new greenspace

Holland Lodge No. 1, A.F. & A.M./Facebook

The building at 4911 will be torn down for the new greenspace.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has acquired a prime parcel to expand its campus in the Museum District. On Tuesday, December 23, the museum announced it has purchased a two-acre parcel of land at 4911 Montrose Blvd that will bring its total footprint to 16 acres.

Located just north of the Glassel School of Art, the property will be developed as a greenspace that will serve as a community lawn as well as be utilized for future museum events and parking. MFAH has retained landscape architects Nelson Byrd Woltz — the firm responsible for work at Memorial Park and the recently-opened Ismaili Center — to create the design for the new greenspace.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston greenspace rendering A rendering offers a bird's-eye preview of the new greenspace.Image by by Cong Nie/Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

At this time, the museum does not have plans to build anything on the property, according to a press release.

To make way for the greenspace, the property’s existing building, Holland Lodge No. 1, will be torn down. Built in 1954 as a home for the oldest Masonic lodge chapter in Texas, the building features a sandstone mural facade. It has been for sale since at least 2005, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.

Demolition on the site is expected to begin in spring 2026 with the greenspace opening in approximately two years, according to press materials. In addition to the Glassell School, the museum’s campus includes the Audrey Jones Beck Building, the Caroline Wiess Law Building, the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, and the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building.

“We are delighted to contribute to Houston’s greenspace access with this new initiative, which will expand the museum’s 14-acre campus to a thoroughly walkable 16 acres,” Gary Tinterow, director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair of the MFAH, said in a statement. “While the primary objective for the purchase of this property is to secure land for any potential future expansion of the museum, our priority now is to create a welcoming community lawn. Thoughtfully designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz, one of the leading firms in sustainable landscape practice, the site will serve as public greenspace and provide additional parking for museum visitors.”

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