weekend event planner

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

UH's Houston Shakespeare Festival returns to Miller Outdoor Theatre this weekend.

Photo courtesy of University of Houston’s School of Theatre & Dance

This weekend marks major national news from some hometown icons, as our Queen Beyoncé drops her highly anticipated new album Renaissance, and our hip-hop icon Bun B showcases his Trill Burgers on a Good Morning America faceoff.

Meanwhile, families can enjoy a Disney singalong treat or free outdoor Shakespeare, while kids young and old can celebrate bro culture with the internet's masters of over-the-top stunts (who happen to be mostly made up of Aggies). A hilarious Canadian comic comes to town, a brewery celebrates X-Mas in July, and a famed international movie composer takes the stage.

Enjoy, here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, July 28

Disney Concerts presents Encanto: The Sing-Along Film Concert Tour
The Oscar-winning Disney film comes to life in a concert event, featuring the entire, feature-length film and an on-stage band celebrating all hit songs from the beloved soundtrack. The soundtrack features eight original songs (including that dang song about Bruno!) by Academy Award-nominated, Tony and Grammy-winning songwriter/composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, with an original score by Academy Award-nominated composer Germaine Franco. 7:30 pm.

The Secret Group presents Alingon Mitra
SNL rising star Sarah Sherman was supposed to perform at the Secret Group on this evening. Unfortunately, she had to postpone her Texas dates. Thankfully, the Group found someone to step in: New York stand-up/comedy writer Alingon Mitra. He has written for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and was also staffed on Adam Ruins Everything. He has also done stand-up on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Conan, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. 8 pm.

University of Houston presents Houston Shakespeare Festival: King Lear
The Houston Shakespeare Festival (HSF) returns to Miller Outdoor Theatre this summer with performances of King Lear and Cymbeline, through Saturday August 6. Lear, the more serious of the two plays, presents the story of an aging king. In dividing his estate, he disowns the wrong child. Family loyalty, betrayal, and madness set the stage for the grand tragedy of this play — the first, Houston Shakespeare Festival production of this enthralling masterpiece in over 20 years. 8:15 pm.

Friday, July 29

Both Sides of the Blade at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
In the latest from French filmmaker Claire Denis (who won Best Director at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival for this film), Juliette Binoche stars as a woman who finds her life spiraling out of control when she becomes involved in a passionate love triangle with her longtime partner (Vincent Lindon) and his best friend (Grégoire Colin), who is also her former lover. And don't forget to stay for the credits! 7 pm (2 pm Saturday; 5 pm Sunday).

Dude Perfect: That's Happy
Dude Perfect comes to Houston as part of their That's Happy tour. Fans will see the Dudes compete in even bigger battles, tell their totally LOL stories, and get a little messy in the process. The tour will feature some of the most popular segments from their award-winning “Overtime” series, like Cool not Cool and Wheel Unfortunate with Ned Forrester, and new fan-favorite segments like Get Crafty and Top 10 are in the works as well. 7 pm.

Russian Cultural Center - Our Texas presents “The Airy Vernissage” opening reception
Natalia Arnett (Urban) found her passion in watercolors when she was 42 years old. After she moved to Houston, she discovered an old present from her mother – the box of watercolors. The perfect rainy day outside inspired Natalia to open that box and create her first still-life painting. Natalia believes that inspiration can be found anywhere, and even the most ordinary subject can become an inspiration. Through Wednesday, August 31. 7 pm.

713 Music Hall presents Kurtis Conner
Canadian comic Kurtis Conner is embarking on his most ambitious solo tour yet. A sell-out performer, podcaster, and global YouTube sensation, Conner is bringing his freshest, funniest material yet to the stage. After studying comedy writing and performance in Toronto, Conner quickly found an audience on Vine, later migrating to YouTube and growing that audience to over 3.7 million subscribers worldwide. 8 pm.

Saturday, July 30

The Energy Corridor District presents Market at Grisby
The Energy Corridor District is hosting its first-ever Market at Grisby. The event will feature a signature artisan market presented by the Your Neighborhood Farmers Market Association, live music with Josie Arias, gift card giveaways to one of the five Grisby restaurants, and so much more. The market will feature some jewelry, artisan crafts, handcrafted soaps and oils, etc. Parking will be available across from Watson's House of Ales and in other Grisby parking lots. 10:30 am.

Saison Doug Release - Doggie Day at Lone Pint
Join Lone Pint Brewery for the release of its Saison Doug Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale, which will also honor our four-legged friends. Come out for a day of live music (Ryan Pinnick and Sugar Ball Express will be performing), pet-friendly vendors, and beer. Tropicalia Bistro and Rolling Smoke BBQ will be the food trucks on hand, and part of the Farmhouse Ale proceeds will be donated to the Boston Terrier Rescue Group of Greater Houston. Noon.

14 Pews presents The Tin Drum
Oskar is born in Germany in 1924 with an advanced intellect. Repulsed by the hypocrisy of adults and the irresponsibility of society, he refuses to grow older after his third birthday. Volker Schlöndorff’s visionary 1979 adaptation of Nobel laureate Günter Grass’s acclaimed novel, characterized by surreal imagery, arresting eroticism, and clear-eyed satire, earned the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film. 7 pm.

Oluwah Akinyemi presents Death, Love, & Meditation
Nigerian-born Houston artist Oluwah Akinyemi will be the latest artist showing off his work at MythoFutuRiddim this weekend. But he'll also be doing a live set sharing the influences and inspirations behind his latest project, which he calls "an original soundtrack of the existential conflicts and victories of humanity." The artist talk will also include the presentation of favorites from previous projects "Phases" and "Vitality." 7 pm.

Sunday, July 31

BuffBrew 11th Annual X-Mas in July
It's time to break out the ugly X-Mas tanks and get this X-Mas in July party started. Join the herd on the third-floor rooftop for Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company's annual mid-year, holiday spectacular. A rooftop ticket includes access to try icy cold treats and special release brews to beat the heat, your own, very merry commemorative glass, a sleighin' live DJ, winter-wonderland photo ops, and more. Noon.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents "Materials of Empire: Colonial Narratives 1700-1860" closing day
This is the last day for this exhibition, which explores objects from the Rienzi Collection that shed light on the links between Europe, Africa, the Americas, and India—- objects that reveal as well as conceal, and places them within the context of entangled legacies and experiences of empire. Exploration, war, scientific expeditions, and religious missions feature prominently in the history of Europe, and these factors fueled an age of discovery in which ships transported explorers, merchants, and migrants from Europe to far-reaching destinations. 12:30 pm.

A.R. Rahman in concert
A two-time Academy Award winner and five-time nominee, A.R. Rahman is mostly known as the man who has redefined contemporary Indian music. Rahman has sold more than 150 million copies of his work, comprising of music from more than 100 film soundtracks and albums across over half a dozen languages, including landmark scores such as Roja, Bombay, Dil Se, Taal, Lagaan, Vandemataram, Jodhaa Akbar, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, and countless more. 7 pm.

event-planner

Movie Review

Cookie Queens goes behind the scenes of Girl Scout Cookie season

Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Girl Scouts in Cookie Queens.

Few people are strong enough to resist the lure of Girl Scout cookie season every year, with the cookies’ limited availability and unique flavors a strong incentive to indulge. But only the girls and their families who have sold the cookies know the joys and stresses of trying to get people to buy them, a process that is detailed in the new documentary, Cookie Queens.

The film by documentarian Alysa Nahmias uses the stories of four different girls to represent the nationwide ritual for the Girl Scouts. They include 12-year-old Olive in Charlotte, North Carolina, a longtime top seller; 8-year-old Shannon Elizabeth in El Paso, Texas, who wants to earn the reward of going to camp; 5-year-old Ara in San Diego, California, whose goal is modest compared to most other girls; and 9-year-old Nikki in Chino, California, who has to compete with her older sisters in the cookie-selling bonanza.

The girls represent a cross-section of both ages and backgrounds, with some girls coming from wealthy families and some girls dealing with more limited means. And how much money your family has makes a big difference, as not only does someone richer have more freedom with their time and supplies, but all scouts are required to reimburse the organization for every box they take in, regardless of whether they’re able to sell it or not.

That caveat makes the journeys of the four featured girls feel wildly different. It’s clear from the start that Olive and Nikki’s families don’t give a second thought to the personal economics of selling cookies, with each girl taking in thousands of boxes at the beginning of the six-week selling season. With both Olive and Nikki rightfully confident that they’ll have no problem offloading their supply, their stories turn to how selling is personally affecting them, with each trying to reconcile the fun of doing it with the pressure they feel from their family members.

Shannon Elizabeth’s story is more harrowing, as her parents feel a strong desire to help her accomplish her lofty goal, but worry that the cost might literally be too high for the family as a whole. More than once, the parents are shown fretting that they won’t have the money to pay back what they owe should they fall significantly short in their sales. Their selling approach, which includes walking through an empty swap meet and standing outside a chain restaurant at night, only adds to their stress.

The most fun story to watch is that of Ara, whose innocence is matched by her confidence. Her parents teach her how much money they’ll owe with her small goal of 55 boxes, but right away she takes on more responsibility than expected. She’s shown making sales pitches and tallying the total number of boxes she’s sold with little-to-no help from either her mom or dad. With her high voice, glasses, and a monitor on her arm to manage her diabetes, she becomes the cute and sympathetic part of the film.

There are times that the film starts to feel more than a little manipulative, however. While many of the moments documented come off as organic, some of them seem like Nahmias is actively guiding the participants in order to get a better story. This is especially evident with Shannon Elizabeth and her family, whose early struggles turn into a miraculous feel-good story by the end, a turnaround that seems implausible at best. Everything with them might have been aboveboard, but Nahmias and her team edit the family’s journey in a way that pushes a bit too hard for emotion.

Cookie Queens, which was produced by a company owned by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, helps to give insight into the business of selling Girl Scout cookies for those who’ve only been on the purchasing end of the transaction. The dedication of each girl toward selling their allotted supply proves fun and interesting, even if the filmmaker tries to gild the lily on occasion.

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Cookie Queens is now playing in theaters,

movies girl scout cookie film