weekend event planner

Here are the top 12 things to do in Houston this weekend

Take a Seuss-tacular journey through nine different, visually stunning Dr. Seuss worlds.

Photo courtesy of The Dr. Seuss Experience

This weekend is, of course, Memorial Day Weekend, which means you’ll probably be outside grilling some burgers on Monday.

Coincidentally, May is National Hamburger Month and Friday is National Hamburger Day. So, you might wanna get the grilling early this weekend, or even head out to a spot where they serve some tasty burgers. (Or you can just stay home and order from the Burger Joint, like everybody else.)

Here are some other things going on this holiday weekend:

Thursday, May 27

A Call to Action: Experiments in Interdisciplinary Performance at Blaffer Art Museum
This free, experimental, interdisciplinary micro-festival is necessary and now, confronting urgent political circumstances with an expansive, performative language.

The survey of performance across dance, theatre, music, spoken word, visual art and trans-disciplinarity is organized by six intrepid guest curators: Aisha Tida Abbassi, Outspoken Bean, Rivkah French, Julia Barbosa Landois, Jake Sandridge and Sixto Wagan. Through June 5. 7 pm.

The Parkway at Regent Square presents Cinematic Throwbacks
Regent Square is expanding its calendar of outdoor programming at The Parkway with Cinematic Throwbacks. The moonlit movie event will feature campy classics on a giant inflatable screen.

The evening will be BYOC (bring your own chair), with Bovine & Barley’s Adult Ice Cream Truck on site selling concessions for noshing. May’s throwback film, the 2001 comedy Zoolander, with Ben Stiller flashing that blue-steel look as a bumbling male model. 8 pm.

Friday, May 28

The Dr. Seuss Experience at George R. Brown Convention Center
This Seuss-tacular sensory spectacle takes guests on a journey through nine different, visually stunning Dr. Seuss worlds.

Visitors can swing among Truffula Trees from The Lorax, make their way through a balloon-filled maze from Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, stroll through towering clovers listening for a Who from Horton Hears a Who!, or join the Circus McGurkus. (9 am Saturday-Sunday. Through Sunday, August 15.).

Sip n’ Shop with Houston Pets Alive Thrift
Urban South - HTX is joining Houston Pets Alive Thrift for a night of brews, light bites, and shopping to support Houston Pets Alive, a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving cats and dogs in Houston from euthanasia.

This event will take place at Houston Pets Alive Thrift on Nottingham Street, complete with a selection of Urban South’s unique beers available for guests to enjoy while they shop. 5 pm.

Houston Symphony presents Find Your Dream: The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein
Spend an enchanted evening at Jones Hall as Bank of America POPS Season concludes with beloved songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Charismatic Broadway duo Santino and Jessica Fontana perform favorites from The Sound of Music, Carousel, Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The King and I, and more, with full-orchestra accompaniment by Steven Reineke and the Symphony. The Saturday performance will be live-streamed. 8 pm (2:30 pm Sunday).

Saturday, May 29

Beard Papa's Pearland Grand Opening
Beard Papa’s, the world-famous fresh and natural cream puffs chain, is finally coming to Pearland. With its Japanese origins and cult following, the dessert destination is set to officially open at Pearland Town Center.

On the grand opening day, guests can expect various promos, free gifts for the first 100 people, and various local influencers are scheduled to make appearances as well as neighboring business owners. 11 am.

Dream Big Downtown: The Main Event
In partnership with UP Art Studio and Johnnie Blonde, downtown will host a live-art extravaganza during the Big Walls Big Dreams activation. While mural painting takes place across the city, artists will gather in the Historic District for an epic live-painting event, complete with DJ Gracie Chavez, a Johnnie Walker VIP Tent, a "refresh" stop for cold drinks, and more. (Noon to 8 pm)

Visionary Grind Arts presents "Black Is. - A Reintroduction to Culture Art Show"
Visionary Grind Arts and Hardy & Nance Studios will present this two-day art show, curated by Drék Davis.

The exhibit will feature black artists and spoken word poets as part of a celebration of black creativity and experience. It is an opportunity for artists to reintroduce Black culture to audiences in a way that strays from outdated negative stereotypes, uninformed opinion, and individual bias. 5 pm (Noon).

Cinespace short films at WaterWorks
NASA, Houston Cinema Arts Society, and Buffalo Bayou Partnership collaborate for an evening of music and film at WaterWorks. This free event features curated short films inspired by NASA archive footage and music by DJ Flash Gordon Parks. Bring a chair or blanket for seating and a picnic for dinner, or grab food and drinks from local vendors. 7pm.

H-Town Memorial Day Mayhem
Hip-hop heads will be getting some good live music on this day. Not only will rapper/longtime Seinfeld fan Wale be in town for this party, there is also this rap-a-thon, happening over at Toyota Center.

The superstar lineup includes Lil Durk, 2 Chainz, Trae Tha Truth, DJ Mr. Rogers, Yung Bleu, Coi LeRay, Mooski, Erica Banks, Stunna Bam, and Houston’s Loud Muzik artists Art of Ratchet. 8 pm.

Sunday, May 30

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Ernesto Neto: "SunForceOceanLife"
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s summer series of grand-scale, immersive exhibitions continues with this major commission, by renowned Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto, that transforms Cullinan Hall into a suspended walkway.

When visitors enter the epic sculptural work, they can explore a complex labyrinth of interactive pathways, all while suspended in mid-air. Through Sunday, September 26. 12:30 pm.

Market Street presents Memorial Day Weekend Concert
This Memorial Day Weekend, Market Street invites guests to kick back, relax and get in the groove with some live music. Top-40 hits will be performed by the popular group Rapture.

Guests are invited to bring blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy the concert in Central Park. The many restaurant patios surrounding Central Park are a perfect place to dine alfresco while enjoying the live music that’ll be popping off. 4 pm.

event-planner

Movie Review

Eagerly anticipated Wicked movie brings Broadway to the big screen

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked.

The musical Wicked is indisputably the biggest Broadway smash of the 21st century, having grossed more $1.6 billion in New York alone and achieving the rare feat of running for over 20 years. All of which is to say that the long-awaited movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz prequel will most likely be a massive success whether it lives up to what longtime fans envisioned or not.

Part one — yes, this 2 hour and 40 minute film is merely the first act of the musical; part two arrives a year from now — introduces Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch who goes on to become Dorothy’s nemesis, and G(a)linda (Ariana Grande-Butera), the pink-garbed “good” witch, as they meet at Shiz University in Oz. Glinda is the ultra-popular one with sycophantic hangers-on, while Elphaba is shunned by almost everyone, sometimes including her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who’s desperate to make her own space away from Elphaba.

Her mistreatment by others leads Elphaba to get angry, which manifests itself in uncontrollable magic. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices this and takes a personal interest in her, giving her one-on-one instruction in hopes of harnessing her power. In the meantime, Elphaba and Glinda attempt to go from forced roommates to actual friends, although Glinda’s entitled personality is more of an obstacle than anything else they encounter.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film does a great job of distinguishing itself from the stage version while still remaining true to what made it so beloved. As Chu showed in his last film, In the Heights, he has an innate feel for how to tap into the essence of the source material while expanding it into something befitting the scope of a blockbuster movie.

In this case, he finds a way to give even greater emphasis to the bigotry that Elphaba faces simply because of her green skin; the fact that she is being played by a Black woman drives home the point even more. The story remains light and fluffy for the most part, but the ostracization/otherness that Elphaba feels is delivered in a powerful way, as is her empathy for talking animals like Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who are facing their own persecution.

Of course, the highlight of the film is Stephen Schwartz’s music, and while not all of the songs are equal in impact, they still make for a cohesive whole. The number of songs and order they appear in the first act is identical to the stage musical, with the standouts remaining “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” While there is some superfluous action and cutaways added to certain numbers, it’s not enough to distract from what makes the songs effective.

Oddly, the progression of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda works better on stage when the timeline is accelerated, but Erivo and Grande-Butera make up for this slight lack with their fantastic performances. The emotion each brings to their characters fits them almost perfectly, and there’s simply no denying the strength of each of their voices. Bode, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, and more make for a solid supporting cast.

The well-known ending of the first act of Wicked is a huge high point that is so good that it almost makes up for the fact that audiences won’t see the second film for a long time. But if part one is any indication, part two should turn out to be another great musical theater adaptation in a decade that has already seen its fair share.

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Wicked opens in theaters on November 22.

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weekend event planner

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