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Your weekly guide to Houston: Five (plus) don't-miss events — including a 13-hour music orgy

On tap for the week are the growing pains of a local comedienne, an art exhibit as big as Texas, a musical marathon, film screenings that will keep your little ones occupied, a foodie tour of La France and an opening that features the work of four women.

Be sure to click on the links below each suggestion to find helpful intel about the event and what's nearby your final destination, in case you feel an urge for food, drink or retail therapy. Tip: There's a feature that downloads the deets right to your electronic calendar. Now, read on.

Catastrophic Theatre presents Tamarie Cooper is Old As Hell

Houston funny girl Tamarie Cooper doesn't stop creating despite the fact that — in her own words as opined in her latest vaudevillian hilarious romp — she's "old as hell." The shrewdness of the 40-year-old veteran playwright/actor is something to be experienced, nothing that truly can be limned through literary devices.

Will over-the-hill Cooper be satisfied with only being typecast as an off-the-wall nosy neighbor, kooky aunt and lunatic maid? Or will she risk being shut down for churlishly breaching the unwritten code of thespian art? In light of the live orchestra, original music, big cast and singing and dancing slated for this comedic spectacle — I sure hope it's the latter.

The skinny: Thursday through Aug. 24; Catastrophic Theatre; tickets are pay-what-you-can.

Art opening reception: Lawndale Art Center's "The Big Show"

Lawndale Art Center's "The Big Show" is a juried free-for-all, an opportunity for emerging artists who live within 100 miles of Houston to hang their oeuvres at a museum of repute. The resulting exhibition is a bricolage of compelling works that paint a clear picture of the trajectory of art in the city.

As this year's juror, Duncan MacKenzie, co-founder of Chicago-based contemporary art digital hub Bad at Sports, is charged with making sense out of nearly 1,000 submissions from 366 entrants to proffer his point of view. The selected 83 works by 67 artists represent the burgeoning inventive prowess that will comprise the future aesthetic movements in the industry.

The skinny: Friday, 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Lawndale Art Center; free event.

Day of Music: A Free Day-Long Celebration of Houston's Musical Diversity

Is there such thing as too much music? Think of this Houston Symphony hosted event as a polyphonic, tuneful orgy in which major players of the city's music scene — classical, popular, jazz, international and everything in between — get in bed to offer a 13-hour marathon concert that's complemented with family friendly activities, including an instrument petting zoo, arts and crafts and harmonica lessons.

Plan your day with this helpful schedule.

The skinny: Saturday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; Jones Hall; free event, no tickets required.

Children's Film Festival Seattle 2013 presented by Asia Society Texas Center

At a loss for what to do with the kiddos now that school is out? Asia Society Texas Center has the answer with a series of screenings from the yearly Children's Film Festival Seattle — because it's never too early to impart the appreciation of diversity and knowledge about the cultures of the world in an impressionable young mind. Parents will surely learn a thing — or two — along the way as well.

Find the complete lineup of films here. Add a literary educational component by attending a family writing workshop before a couple of the screenings.

The skinny: Saturday through July 28; Asia Society Texas Center; $8 general admission; $5 Asia Society Texas Center members.

Bastille Day Celebration at Philippe Restaurant + Lounge "Pink+Petanque"

Practice your redneck français — you know, append a "le" or "la" before as many nouns as you can, say sacre bleu and mon dieu while imbibing too much vin — to fit in at chef Philippe Schmit's Bastille Day fete. Then, pay hommage to the tricoleur with a gastronomic tour de nourriture that samples the many regional cuisines of Marianne, with wine selections courtesy of sommelier Vanessa Trevino-Boyd.

A delightful extra to this year's celebration is a game of pétanque — which sounds like it means derrière, but it doesn't — sort of like bocce but with a French accent.

The (not so) skinny: Sunday, 4 p.m.; Philippe Restaurant + Lounge; entry is $65.

Staff writer and oh-so-lovely Houston explorer Whitney Radley's pick: Planned Parenthood Young Leaders' "Party Like a Rock Star" Kickoff Celebration

Whitney says: "If the recent uproar over Senate Bill 5 has you hankering to do something beyond buying a pair of Sen. Wendy Davis' pink running shoes and/or throw darts at effigies of Rick Perry, now's the time to get involved with Planned Parenthood Young Leaders, which is gearing up for its "Party Like a Rockstar" event, set for Aug. 10, with a kickoff party this Sunday at Reef."

The skinny: Sunday, 5-7 p.m.; Reef; admission is $25 or free with "Party Like a Rockstar" ticket purchase.

Arts smarty pants and in-the-loop happy gal Nancy Wozny's pick: Interpretive Voices

Nancy says: "When Nicole Longnecker told me she was starting a gallery, I expected her to highlight women artists, so it's no surprise that her second show, Interpretive Voices, is an all-female exhibit. The show features works by ceramic artist Jessica Dupuis from Chapel Hill, N.C.; multi-media artist Erin Stafford from Dallas; paintings and drawings from San Antonio artist Megan Harrison and two dimensional works by Jade Cooper of Houston."

The skinny: Saturday, 5-8 p.m.; exhibit runs through Aug. 17; Nicole Longnecker Gallery; free event.

The Bastille Day Celebration at Philippe Restaurant + Lounge offers a tour de cuisine through many of the regional flavors of France.

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A Roman Holiday (Season)

All roads lead to Houston museum's blockbuster exhibit of Imperial Rome

Photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times" ("Statue of Trajan" Minturno, Italy, 2nd century, marble, National Archaeological Museum, Naples)

Houston's holiday season will have a distinctly Roman feeling this year, as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is bringing the glory of the Gladiator era to Texas. On November 2, 2025 through January 25, 2026 the MFAH presents the monumental new exhibition “Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times.”

Featuring 160 objects of antiquity, including marble sculptures, frescoes, mosaics, delicate glass vessels, and exquisite bronze artifacts, the exhibition will transport visitors back in time to the Roman Empire during a flowering of art and architecture. The MFAH partnered with the Saint Louis Art Museum to organize the exhibition, which will showcase many pieces that have never been on view in the U.S.

While Emperor Trajan might not be the most famous — or in some cases, most infamous — of the Roman emperors, he ruled between 98 and 117 C.E. during the empire’s height and was the second of the so-called “Five Good Emperors” of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty. He was also the first emperor born outside of present-day Italy, in what is now Andalusia, Spain. During his reign, he granted citizenship and rights to some peoples from conquered lands. The exhibition will explore how this time period expanded what it meant to be a Roman and how art reflected Rome’s power and promoted the empire’s values and ideals.

$\u200bThe Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times"$

Photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times" ("Statue of Trajan" Minturno, Italy, 2nd century, marble, National Archaeological Museum, Naples)

From statues of prominent men and women of the era, including Trajan, to vivid frescoes and furnishing from the villas of Pompeii, the objects in the exhibition will tell fascinating cultural and political stories of life in imperial Rome. To add context to the artworks and objects of antiquity, the MFAH will recreate a section of Trajan’s Column, which was a towering pillar with a spiraling narrative frieze, one of the few monumental sculptures to have survived the fall of Rome.

“Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times” brings such a wealth of objects to Houston thanks to unprecedented loans from the renowned antiquities collections of Italian museums including Museo Nazionale Romano, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, the Parco Archeologico di Ostia, and the Musei Vaticani. It would would likely take months of travel across Italy to see this much art.

“This is truly a rare opportunity for U.S. audiences to experience spectacular objects from this glorious era of the Roman Empire,” said Gary Tinterow, director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair of the MFAH, in a statement. “We are enormously grateful to our colleagues in Rome, Naples, and Vatican City for lending these treasures to us and broadening the appreciation of Italy’s cultural heritage.”

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