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Spanish at the Symphony, reliving Madame Butterfly & German collage power, who could ask for more?

Seeing a performance of Madame Butterfly has been a tradition in the author's family.

Editors Note: We've asked Houston arts leaders and CultureMap contributors to pick the jewels from Houston's upcoming arts season — the events that they don't plan to miss. Here's what's on the list of CultureMap's high and low culture (he's half of the hilarious Real Housewives commentating duo) extraordinaireTheodore Bale

During a stroll through an airport concourse last year, I gave in to temptation and bought one of those highly-touted Spanish language immersion programs. It’s pretty good.

By this time, however, I’m tired of speaking to the voice recognition program in my laptop. I need some real human interaction. So I’m thrilled that the Houston Symphony is offering a free concert at Jones Hall on September 12 that coincides perfectly with my eagerly anticipated autumn adult-Ed Spanish class.

The Chevron Fiesta Sinfónica Familiar features music from a variety of Hispanic composers, most of whom I’ve never heard of. Galindo’s Sones de Mariachi and Chávez: Sinfonía India will certainly set me in the right mood, along with Moncayo’s Huapango and Revueltas: Sensemayá, when I start to practice my verb conjugations. Brett Mitchell conducts this creative, one-night-only program.

It was a common ritual of my youth to enjoy a Japanese dinner with my mother and then see a great staging of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. It sounds hokey, I know, but I’m thrilled that Houston Grand Opera is giving me another chance to relive those wonderful memories with its season-opening new production.

This staging features the work of director Michael Grandage, set and costume designer Christopher Oram, and lighting designer Neil Austin. Their recognized production of Britten’s Billy Budd at the Glyndebourne Festival is just a hint of what is sure to be a stunning version of Butterfly, the team’s first opera production for an American company.

Since the performances run from October 22 through November 5, I intend to return with a young friend who aspires to become an opera singer. She’s never seen a staged performance before, and this one is sure to win her over.

After watching dance mostly on television this month (yes, I’m a serious addict of So You Think You Can Dance), I’m eager to see some real bodies in motion, and in the company of a live audience. I’ll continue my exploration of the flourishing local contemporary dance scene at the Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance, offered free at the Miller Outdoor Theater September 24-25. Dances performed to both live and recorded music are offered from a wide range of Houston groups, including Noble Motion Dance, Revolve Dance Company, Vault, infinite Moving Ever Evolving (iMEE), and many others.

The 11 a.m.. show on Saturday is especially intended for families, and features performances from Houston Ballet II and The Anjali Dance Company.

I’ll definitely be heading to DiverseWorks for Yasuko Yokoshi’s brilliantly weird Tyler, Tyler, on October 14-16. Films of the unusual dance stuck out most definitely during DiverseWorks’ press conference last month. With both classically-trained Kabuki dancers and contemporary artists, the goal of the event is described as “not to have the performers exchange their respective forms, but to examine the nature of cultural identity by experimenting with cultural form.” I’m there.

After the stunning last season from this presenter, in particular Morgan Thorson’s Heaven, I know that this is where I’ll find the most cutting-edge dance in the city. Original music from Steven Reker, along with scores from Sakamoto, Cat Power and Lou Reed, accompanies the dance.

In between these stunning performances, I plan to return time and again to The Menil Collection to see Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage, which opens on October 22. The German collagist is one of my all-time favorites, and it will be the first time I’ll get to enter inside his legendary Merzbau, a chamber-like sculpture made from found material. One visit won’t be enough.

Seeing a performance of Madame Butterfly has been a tradition in the author's family.

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Movie Review

Cheesiness undermines Whalefall's intense survival story

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Austin Abrams in Whalefall.

Austin Abrams has been a professional actor for 15 years, but the 30-year-old seems to just now be getting his due. After years of mostly supporting roles in films like Paper Towns, Brad’s Status, and Weapons, he has been charged with leading two films in 2026 where he’s largely acting by himself: First Resident Evil and now Whalefall.

Abrams plays Jay Gardiner, who has returned home to California a year after the death of his hard-ass father, Mitt (Josh Brolin). The two had a tempestuous relationship, and while his mom (Elisabeth Shue) and sisters (Jane Levy and Emily Rudd) reminisce fondly about him, Jay finds it difficult to come up with good memories. The two did share a connection with the ocean, and Jay decides to honor him by going scuba diving.

Ignoring warnings of whale activity in the area, Jay makes his way out into a notoriously dangerous part of the ocean near their home. Soon after he starts swimming, he encounters a sperm whale chasing after a giant squid. Jay inadvertently gets sucked into the enormous creature’s mouth and, ultimately, inside its body. Faced with a seemingly inescapable situation, Jay’s only hope lies in the lessons his father taught him.

Directed by Brian Duffield and adapted by Duffield and Daniel Kraus from Kraus’ book of the same name, the film is at its best when it depicts Jay struggling to survive within the whale. The claustrophobic nature of the setting and the various obstacles (multiple contracting chambers, the squid, and more) he faces make every scene inside the whale feel as intense and cover-your-eyes scary as any great horror movie.

Naturally, the entire movie can’t be about his survival efforts, and so the filmmakers toggle back and forth between Jay’s ordeal in the whale to memories of times with his father. Not so coincidentally, these remembrances come with subtle or overt wisdom from Mitt that would serve Jay well in his current situation. More often than not, these flashback scenes are so on-the-nose that they come off as cheesy instead of inspirational.

It’s also difficult to derive any big emotions from the story other than revulsion at the way Jay’s body is brutalized while he’s inside the whale. None of the characters in the film receive a notable introduction to the audience before big events start happening. It’s next-to-impossible to be invested in their stories when their personalities are being revealed in bits and pieces throughout the movie.

Abrams does well enough in bringing out the terror Jay feels in the whale and the sullenness/anger he has toward his father in other scenes. But whether it’s because his lines in the whale are hard to understand (he’s often talking around a scuba mouthpiece) or the disconnect the character has with father, there’s just something missing in his performance. Brolin’s performance is one-note, and Shue, Levy, Rudd, and John Ortiz don’t appear enough to make a big impact.

With Kraus onboard as the co-writer of the film, it may be the case that Duffield was not given leeway to change the story of Whalefall too much. What might have worked in the book doesn’t seem to translate equally to the film, and while Jay’s nightmare in the whale is effective, the rest of his story doesn’t come across as successfully.

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Whalefall is now playing in theaters.

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