weekend event planner

Here are the top 14 things to do in Houston this weekend

Hamilton returns to the Houston stage.

Photo by Joan Marcus

This weekend can be summed up in one word: rodeo. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is back for its 90th anniversary with a slew of events this weekend (get the full lineup here) including the cookoff, parade, trail rides, and more.

Also on tap: 50 Cent is back in Houston (after literally hanging in the Super Bowl halftime show), more Go Texan Day fun abounds, a fashion shows features furry friends, and red-hot Hamilton returns to the local stage.

Cowboy up, y'all. Here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, February 24

World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest
The 90th anniversary of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo starts next week. But this weekend is all about the pre-rodeo events, and things will kick off with this delicious competition. Over the course of three days, more than 250 teams from across the state of Texas and the world will compete for champion titles in the following categories: Brisket, Ribs, Chicken, Go Texan and Dutch Oven Dessert, as well as the new Open Contest, where teams may enter their dish of choice, except desserts. 5 pm. (Noon Friday; 9 am Saturday.)

Laura Rathe Fine Art presents "Color Story" opening reception
Laura Rathe Fine Art presents this multimedia duo exhibition, featuring new work from Michael Laube and Paul Rousso. The exhibition presents new bodies of work that inventively redefine the use of color to transform our visual experience. Laube and Rousso, both working within three dimensions, use their distinct processes to dramatize painting’s materiality and amplify the visual force of color. Through Monday, March 28. 6 pm.

Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center: Hamilton
If you haven't heard, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony/Emmy/Grammy-winning baby is finally here in H-Town. Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and Broadway, Hamilton has taken the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton and created a revolutionary moment in theatre — a musical that has profoundly impacted culture, politics, and education. Through Sunday, March 20. 7:30 pm (8 pm Friday; 2 and 8 pm Saturday; 2 and 7:30 pm Sunday).

Friday, February 25

Go Texan Day at The Pit Room Patio
Grab your hats and boots and come on down for Go Texan Day. The event will feature a Kendra Scott Pop-Up Shop with their limited-edition Rodeo collection, benefitting the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Educational Fund. DJ Big John will be spinning and guests can take a photo with real chicken. There will be activities for the whole family, and also enjoy famous BBQ or seasonal crawfish. They will offer complimentary face painting and twirl cotton candy for the kids. 4:30 pm.

50 Cent Bottle Signing
Fresh from hanging upside down at the Super Bowl halftime show, rapper/entrepreneur/TV producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson will be back in town, signing copies of his Branson Cognac and Le Chemin du Roi (The KINGS Path) spirits, at not one, but two Spec's locations. First, he'll be at the Weslayan location on Friday evening. Then, he'll head over to the Buffalo Speedway location on Saturday afternoon. 6 pm (2 pm Saturday).

DACAMERA presents Pat Metheny: Side-Eye with James Francies and Joe Dyson
As a teenager, legendary guitarist Pat Metheny regularly jammed with Kansas City’s best jazz musicians. That experience of sitting in with more mature players led to his latest project, Side-Eye. Metheny says Side-Eye is meant to give a platform to “new and upcoming musicians who have particularly caught my interest.” Houston native pianist James Francies, who is equally at home in the worlds of jazz and R&B, and up-and-coming New Orleans native drummer Joe Dyson clearly fit the bill. 8 pm.

Houston Symphony presents Elgar’s Enigma Variations
Conceived as a “musical photo album,” one of classical music's most beloved works includes as its shining centerpiece the immortal, achingly beautiful variation known as “Nimrod." These concerts also include the sparkling music from Appalachian Spring, Copland’s famed collaboration with dancer/choreographer Martha Graham, and Augusta Read Thomas’ 2021 composition Dance Foldings. The Saturday performance will be available to livestream. 8 pm (2 pm Sunday).

Saturday, February 26

Houston Art Car Parade Art Car & Art Bike Workshops
The Orange Show's two-day series of educational outreach workshops are for individuals interested in building art cars or art bikes. Experienced art car artists teach the introductory skills of art construction and design found in many art cars: welding, foam sculpting, and LED lighting. These workshops introduce participants to new skills, but also encourage and provide the tools for the creation of new creative communities and a network which students may find like-minded individuals for future projects. 10 am.

Interfaith Ministries presents 9th Annual Wags and Whiskers Brunch
This brunch will benefit Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston’s Animeals program, which provides pet food, toys and preventative vet care supplies to seniors with pets in the Meals on Wheels program. The event will feature a pet fashion show, silent auction, and more. Donning their best international attire, guests are invited to enjoy a program (emceed by Casey Curry) honoring longtime Animeals donor and volunteer Ann Kaesermann. 11:30 am.

Urban South HTX 2nd Anniversary Party
All week long, Urban South HTX has been celebrating its second anniversary, collaborating with some of its favorite craft breweries across the country (including locals Spindletap Brewery, Baa Baa Brewhouse and Rudyard’s) in releasing eight new collaborative beers to celebrate the occasion. Things will truly get zany at this anniversary party, complete with delicious food from several local vendors (even Popston!), a live DJ playing all of the best party hits and, of course, good beer. Noon.

The Everlasting Vibez present Nguzo Saba Live!
The Everlasting Vibez are coming with their debut project, for a special live performance in honor of Black History Month. Centered around the principles of Kwanzaa, this performance will be a celebration and homage to the ancestors who have paved the path for African-Americans to live and thrive today as proud, melenated people. The Vibez seek to raise the vibrational frequencies and energy through a dynamic mix of live instrumentation, dance and song. 7 pm.

Sunday, February 27

Main Street Theater presents Pete the Cat
For the next few weekends, Main Street Theater will present this family-friendly production. Everybody loves Pete, the groovy, guitar-playing cool cat. Everyone but Jimmy, the world’s most organized second grader. But all that changes when Pete the Cat and Jimmy take a once-in-a-lifetime road trip. The whole family will love Pete’s hilarious, jazzy antics in this toe-tapping musical. Recommended for Pre-K and older. Through Sunday, April 2. 12:30 and 3:30 pm.

Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series: Olga Tokarczuk
A bestselling author in her home country of Poland, whose work has been translated into more than 50 languages, Olga Tokarczuk has published nine novels, two story collections, five nonfiction works, a collection of poetry, and a children’s book. In this virtual event, Tokarczuk’s translator Jennifer Croft will give a brief reading from Tokarczuk’s new novel, The Books Of Jacob, followed by a conversation between Tokarczuk and a fellow writer. 3 pm.

Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston presents Jim Blackburn: Earth Church
Jim Blackburn, professor in the Practice in Environmental Law at Rice University, will discuss his new book he co-authored about Earth-based spirituality. It's a subject that will become much more prominent in a future defined by a changing climate and the creation of a new economic system that is circular rather than linear. At the center of Earth-based spirituality is the Earth itself, that wonderful planet without which we would not be. Blackburn weaves a narrative around the poetry and art of Earth-based spirituality. 6 pm.

event-planner

Movie Review

An all-star cast delivers clever laughs in new comedy The Invite

Photo courtesy of A24

Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton in The Invite.

Once upon a time, well before scandal embroiled him, Woody Allen made great comedies aimed at adults. That type of film — which is different from the raunchy, R-rated comedies of the 21st century — has fallen out of favor in Hollywood, but as the new film The Invite proves, when done well it can be as funny as anything else out there.

Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela (Olivia Wilde) are an unhappily married couple living in San Francisco. As we meet them, Joe has arrived home to Angela preparing for a visit from their upstairs neighbors, Hawk (Edward Norton) and Piña (Penélope Cruz), who have moved in relatively recently. Their impending arrival starts a new round of arguing between Joe and Angela, something they can barely contain once the other couple comes to their door.

What proceeds is a getting-to-know-you process that is mostly awkward as Joe and Angela continue sniping at each other while Hawk and Piña put in their two cents in a much calmer manner. A sticking point between the two couples — the loud sex Hawk and Piña have on an almost nightly basis — turns the film on its head with an unexpected invitation.

Directed by Wilde and written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones, the film is a fast-paced chamber piece that takes place almost entirely in Joe and Angela’s apartment. Wilde, the writers, and the actors speed the story along not with action but through almost non-stop dialogue that often has the characters overlapping each other’s lines. The rapidity of the speech fuels the humor of the situation and establishes the differing personalities of each person.

Sex is very much top of mind for each of the characters for most of the film, but the filmmakers approach the topic in such a way that it never feels salacious. Each of the characters is a rational adult who can talk about sex in a mature manner while also acknowledging their unique feelings on the matter. And it’s the discoveries each of them makes along the way that brings about the most comedy.

But, like any comedy for adults, the film also has a dramatic tilt to it, and Wilde edges the story back-and-forth between the two tones extremely well. Joe and Angela fighting is played for laughs at times, but the sadness of their relationship comes through loud and clear. Hawk and Piña are much more intimate with each other, but the funniness of their openness is juxtaposed with a depth that arises through their conversations.

In the 2020s, Rogen has managed to make the transition from goofy stoner to stoner with real acting chops. In a stacked cast, he is the one who sells every moment the best. That’s not to say that Wilde, Norton, and Cruz don’t measure up, though; each of them inhabits their respective roles magnificently. The four actors play off each other as if they had been working together for years.

While The Invite will likely play better to those who have experience with long term relationships, its insights — and occasional bawdiness — make it a comedy that can be appreciated universally. With four actors at the top of their games and a razor-sharp script made even better by some well-done improv, it proves that you don’t need to go low to get great laughs.

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The Invite is now playing in theaters.

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