The weekend is upon us, and in between the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, and that new, sci-fi movie where Oprah shows up looking like one of the characters from The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, we've rounded up a few things that might be up your alley:
Thursday, March 8
Roller skating at The Rink: Rolling at Discovery Green
How long has it been since you’ve been on rollerskates? Avenida Houston is here to take all of you back to your roller-rink days with The Rink: Rolling at Discovery Green. The city’s first outdoor roller rink is back this month, with different theme nights going on throughout the week. On Mondays, it’s Cheap Skate Night. Wednesdays are Let the Good Times Roll Date Night. Both Tuesdays and Thursdays and Time Warp nights, and Thursday, it will be TV and Movie Theme Night. So, there’s a good chance you’ll be skating around to your favorite TV/movie theme songs. Skating starts at 7 pm.
Pod Save America’s live podcast at Jones Hall
For the past year and a half, former Barack Obama staffers Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor have been using their civilian time recording Pod Save America, a twice-weekly podcast where the foursome talk about — what else? — politics. The show has already garnered such a following (it averages more than 1.5 million listeners an episode) that HBO has called on them to do a series of specials this fall, where they’ll cover the U.S. midterm elections. But until then, you can catch these guys live at 8 pm, at the Jones Hall for Performing Arts.
Friday, March 9
Riverdance 20th anniversary show
Man, has Riverdance really been around for 20 years? It almost seems like yesterday when this craze of Irish people dancing in place was all over the place. There was a time when if you started playing Irish music at a pub, a bunch of drunk dudes would immediately start doing their very own, Michael Flatley impersonations. If you still long for those Lord of the Dance days, Riverdance is currently on a 20th anniversary world tour, and these dancers will be kicking their heels for five shows, this Friday through Saturday, at Sarofim Hall at the Hobby Center.
The FotoFest 2018 Biennial spotlights India
FotoFest has once again rounded up photographers and shutterbugs for a visually captivating exhibition usually known as a Biennial. For this year’s Biennial, India is the main subject. Last year, FotoFest announced that it snapped up author/photographer Sunil Gupta as the lead curator for this exhibit, which features 48 leading/emerging photogs, and new media artists of Indian descent. Titled INDIA Contemporary Photographic and New Media Art, it will be on display from Saturday, March 10 to Sunday, April 22; the grand opening is 8 pm.
Saturday, March 10
Bee Ardoin at Cactus Music
Singer-songwriter (and Houston native) Brittany Bee Ardoin is making her presence known in the gospel world. A former teacher at Theater Under the Stars, Ardoin has performed at the Stellar Awards and The Celebration of Gospel, sharing the stage with such heavyweights as Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams. The Truth About Walking, her newly-released, first EP, debuted on the Billboard Heat Seekers Chart at #3 and the Christian Album sales chart at #43. So, if you’re in a gospel sort-of mood this weekend, she’ll be doing an in-store performance at Cactus Music at 1 pm.
A sultry Carmen at Jones Hall
They’re known as Compañia Nacional de Danza back home in Spain, but over in these parts, they’re known as the Spanish National Dance Company. This company has been around for nearly 40 years, so this collective of artists knows how to put on a show. For this revamped version of Carmen, the classic Georges Bizet opera, the company got together with award-winning Swedish choreographer Johan Inger, who has opted to make this production more minimalistic (plain open stage, clear-cut visuals, etc.). The show starts at 7:30 pm at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts.
Sunday, March 11
Author Madame Nielsen at Brazos Bookstore
Madame Nielsen is one fascinating, Danish figure. For starters, she used to be Claus-Beck Nielsen, a man whom Madame declared dead in 2001. Since then, the multi-gendered Madame has released albums, written plays, done some performance art and dropped some novels. One of her novels, The Endless Summer, has been recently released in the States and is the first to be translated into English. It tells of a love story between a Danish woman and a younger, Portuguese artist. Nielsen will make a stop in Houston’s Brazos Bookstore to read from Summer at 5 pm.
Crawfish at Cottonwood
Celebrate Houston’s favorite springtime obsession — crawfish — with a cook-off at Cottonwood. Pay $25 at the door to feast on spicy bugs prepared by 11 teams from restaurants like Saigon House, Fluff Bake Bar, Riel, and La Vista, all of whom will be competing for a people's choice prize. In addition, the bar will be tapping special beers from Saint Arnold like Berry Medilow (Boiler Room aged in chardonnay barrels with fruit). Local bands Pecos Hank and Bayou City Funk will keep the party going from 1 to 6 pm.
Skip over to Hobby Center for the 20th anniversary of Riverdance.
