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Your weekly guide to Houston: Five (plus) don't-miss events — including apocalypse ball

On the calendar this week are a handful of outings, including a profane musical, a class with an opera star, foodie art, a family friendly crafty festival and a wild costumed party that summons creatures from the great beyond.

Do this: Click on the link below each event suggestion to find a listing filled with additional intel, like where to eat, drink and shop nearby your final destination, as well as a feature that copies the deets to your electronic calendar. Because what I really want you to do is get out and have fun.

Gexa Energy Broadway at the Hobby Center presents The Book of Mormon

Anyone else think that it's whimsically serendipitous that The Book of Mormon opens on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year celebration? For sure writers Matt Stone and Trey Parker — the irreverent duo responsible for South Park and Team America: World Police (watch this not-safe-for-work video) — would find such a coincidence priceless.

The musical, which won nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, follows two sheltered, pious chaps as they assume the missionary position in a repressed town in Uganda. If you're offended by public references to clitorises, rectum jokes and the F-word, do everyone a favor and stay at home. Nothing is sacred in this naughty musical.

The skinny: Through Sept. 15; Hobby Center for the Performing Arts; tickets start at $49.

Aleko Endowed Master Class in Voice: Renée Fleming

Call her a diva because that's exactly what Renée Fleming is. The lyric soprano is somewhat of a living legend in operatic circles. With her new crossover albums, she's also in vogue with the popular music crowd.

Although you may be dying to hear her sing as part of Houston Symphony's opening musicale on Saturday, experiencing how the famed dame teaches aspiring singers will reveal what has made Fleming a household name globally.

The skinny: Thursday, 7 p.m.; Shepherd School of Music; admission is free.

Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art

With the rise of chefs whose craft goes beyond cookery and the growing number of artists interested in performance art, time is ripe for both métiers to emulsify into a new aesthetic genre: The artist-orchestrated repast, as officials of the Blaffer Art Museum describe it.

Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art gathers the work of more than 30 individual creatives plus artist collectives to curate an extensive offering of interactive presentations, dinners, events, tours and art that delves into this confluence of ideas. The Art Guys posing as bartenders launch the exploratory exhibition on opening night, titled The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art.

Now, who's going to disagree with that statement?

The skinny: Friday, 7 p.m.; Blaffer Art Museum; free admission.

Hands-On Houston Family Festival

Explaining the difference between art and craft is like arguing which came first, the chicken or the egg. What's interesting is not the answer but the discussions that attempt to define one from the other. One curator put it simply: Craft describes an aesthetic activity in which the process is just as important as the product.

During this kid-friendly festival, families will enjoy an up-close-and-personal view of just that, including handweaving, papermaking and wet felting as well as demonstrations by the Contemporary Handweavers of Houston, Houston Area Fiber Artists, Quilt Guild of Greater Houston and Texas Basket Weavers Association. Maybe you'll be inspired to craft at home?

The skinny: Saturday, 11 a.m.; Houston Center for Contemporary Craft; free event.

FrenetiCore and Houston Zombie Walk host "Second Annual Apocalypse Ball"

While the city's elite may be enticed by Houston Symphony's opening night black-tie ball with Renée Fleming, the party throng with a penchant for the dark side of the force will don their apocalyptic best for FrenetiCore's and Houston Zombie Walk's "Second Annual Apocalypse Ball."

The undead soirée is half costumed carouse, half wild performances, which include presentations by FrenetiCore Dance, Benefit Betties, ChinaCat Dance and Jim Mackenzie alongside visual art exhibits by Rachel Harmeyer, Bret Harmeyer, Kyle Fu and artists of Zen Art Space.

Plenty of good grub and music takes this gathering well into the witching hour.

The skinny: Saturday, 7 p.m.; Frenetic Theater; tickets start at $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art gathers the works of more than 30 individuals plus artist collectives.

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Unhappy holidays

Porch pirates swipe nearly $2B in packages from Texas homes this year

Porch Pirate Person in Glasses Steals Packages

Getty Images

The Grinch isn't the only one stealing Christmas these days.

’Tis the season for porch pirates. If past trends are an indicator, the Grinch will swipe close to $2 billion worth of packages delivered to Texas households this year, with many of those thefts happening ahead of the holiday season.

An analysis of FBI and survey data by ecommerce marketing company Omnisend shows porch pirates stole more than $1.8 billion worth of packages from Texans’ porches last year. Porch pirates hit nearly one-third of the state’s households in 2024, according to the analysis.

Omnisend’s analysis reveals these statistics about porch piracy in Texas:

30.1 million residential package thefts in 2024.
An average household loss of $169 per year.
An annual average of 2.9 package thefts per household.

“Most stolen items are cheap on their own, but add them up, and retailers and consumers are facing an enormous bill,” says Omnisend.

Another data analysis, this one from The Action Network sports betting platform, unwraps different figures regarding porch piracy in Texas.

The platform’s 2025 Porch Pirate Index ranks Texas as the state with the highest volume of residential thefts, based on 2023-24 FBI data.

Researchers at The Action Network uncovered 26,293 reports of personal property thefts at Texas residences during that period. The network’s survey data indicates 5 percent of Texas residents had a package stolen in the three months before the pre-holiday survey.

The Porch Pirate Index calculates a 25.8 percent risk of a Texas household being victimized by porch pirates, putting it in the No. 5 spot among states with the highest risk of porch piracy.

The Action Network included online-search volume for terms like “package stolen” and “porch pirates.” Sustained spikes in these searches suggest that “people are actively looking for guidance after something has happened. Search trends serve as an early warning system, revealing emerging-risk areas well before annual crime statistics are released,” the network says.

Tips to avoid being a victim
So, how do you prevent porch pirates from snatching packages that end up on your porch? Omnisend, The Action Network and Amazon offer these eight tips:

Closely monitor deliveries and quickly retrieve packages.
Schedule deliveries for times when you’ll be home.
Use delivery lockers or in-store pickup when possible.
Ask delivery services to hide packages in out-of-sight spots outside your home.
Install a visible doorbell camera or security camera.
Coordinate deliveries with neighbors or building managers if you’ll be away from your home when packages are supposed to arrive.
Request that delivery services hold your packages if you can’t be home when they’re scheduled to come.
Illuminate the path to your doorstep and keep porch lights on.

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