In the vein of popular walking tours, a new theatrical experience is coming to the George R. Brown Convention Center this March.
Called Art Heist, the immersive show explores the true-life — and still unsolved — case of the world's biggest art theft: when half a billion dollars in paintings disappeared from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.
Written by theater artist TJ Dawe, who also directed the show with Ming Hudson, the interactive experience recently premiered to sold-out crowds at the Vancouver Fringe Festival and has sold out shows at San Antonio’s Tobin Center for the Performing Arts and Austin’s Paramount Theater.
It relies on a socially distanced, outdoor setting as a safe way to experience theater, and promises no two performances will be the same.
Small groups depart from the Wings Over Water sculpture at George R. Brown and visit walkable locations throughout downtown Houston, gathering clues and interrogating suspects to try and determine whodunnit. Expect to meet several career criminals and con artists, including a possible inside man, a feared mastermind, and a gentle psychopath.
At the end, teams will submit their guesses for the robber and get to pose inside a giant art frame.
Each 90-minute performance promises to be unique, and start times staggered every 30 minutes help keep groups intimate.
Art Heist runs March 9-28, with tickets starting at $39.50. Start times every 30 minutes, 6–8pm on weekdays; 2-3:30pm and 5:30-8pm on weekends.
Call the Society for the Performing Arts box office at 713-227-4772 or visit the website to buy.
Photo courtesy of DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures
Milly Alcock in Supergirl.
Last year's Superman reboot brought a renewed sense of optimism for, if not the concept of the comic book movie, then at least the DC Comics universe. After more than a decade of DC films that felt mostly creatively bankrupt, the leadership of James Gunn gave the story a sense of fun. That included the brief introduction of Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, who’s now getting her own showcase in, naturally, Supergirl.
When we first met her in Superman, Supergirl was in rough shape, arriving at the Fortress of Solitude visibly inebriated. Nothing has changed at the beginning of this film, save for her aimlessly traveling around the universe with her rambunctious dog, Krypto. One of her random stops puts her in the same bar as Ruthye (Eve Ridley), who is looking for help tracking down Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) and a group known as the Brigands after they brutally murdered her family.
Kara is initially loath to offer aid, but when Krem shoots a poison dart into Krypto while escaping, her motivation goes way up, especially since Krem holds the antidote. Kara, with Ruthye doggedly following her, uses every means available to her to find Krem, a journey that is hampered by galaxies having different colored suns than the one that gives her powers, the yellow sun.
Directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, the film is a big step back in the fun category, not least because Supergirl is deep in her feelings for much of the film. Her personal trauma, which is detailed in occasional flashbacks, gives a reason for her depression, but fails to land fully. The story seems to want everyone to be sad, as it includes a child trafficking ring and multiple instances of families being murdered.
Milly Alcock and Krypto in Supergirl.Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
To try to counteract that downer material, the filmmakers give Supergirl many opportunities to show off her fighting skills. While still CGI-heavy, the action scenes contain enough of a semblance of reality that they feel exciting. Unfortunately, this is undercut by the inclusion of several slow-motion sequences, giving the impression that the filmmakers didn’t trust the actors to deliver the goods on a consistent basis.
Superman (David Corenswet) makes a handful of appearances in the film, and while his presence is welcome given how well the character came across in the previous movie, it also doesn’t allow Supergirl to become her own person. Almost everything she does is colored by either her cousin or her parents, and since her powers are identical to those of Superman, there is very little that makes her story unique aside from how she’s dealing with the fallout.
Alcock (House of the Dragon, Sirens) gives an appealing performance despite her character being drunk and/or moody most of the time. She definitely sells what Supergirl is going through, so if given a better story in a future film, she’s proven her capability. Schoenaerts makes for a pretty good villain, although he’s aided by a look that includes a face full of studs. Jason Momoa has a memorable supporting role as the bounty hunter Lobo, even if his character doesn’t add much to the story.
While not a full-on disaster, Supergirl does not continue the momentum that Superman started. With a story that’s more concerned with showing audiences death scenes than a hero saving people, the film doesn’t seem to understand the appeal of a character like Supergirl or how to make her someone audiences will return to over and over again.
Milly Alcock and Krypto in Supergirl.Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures