Flipping out

Olympics' biggest stars join Houston's Simone Biles for thrilling gymnastics showcase in Houston

Jordan Chiles, MyKayla Skinner, Jade Carey, and Grace McCallum won a trove of Olympic medals in Tokyo — and now they're coming to Texas entertain fans in a thrilling gymnastics "spectacular." Nearly every member of the Team USA gymnastics squad (minus one, sadly, Sunisa Lee) will join headliner Simone Biles on the Gold Over America Tour stopping at Toyota Center on October 8.

According to an August 19 news release, also performing will be 2016 Olympic gold and silver medalist and Dancing With The Stars champion Laurie Hernandez; All-American, NCAA National Champion and viral video sensation Katelyn Ohashi; winner of three gold medals in 2019 and 2020 at the Tokyo World Cup Morgan Hurd; elite gymnast Shilese Jones; former USA Gymnastics Women's Athlete of the Year Chellsie Memmel (who mounted a comeback at Nationals in Fort Worth); 2021 French Olympian Melanie De Jesus dos Santos; and 2018 NCAA National Champion from UCLA where she achieved 10 perfect 10’s, Peng-Peng Lee.

“The Athleta Presents Gold Over America Tour will match athleticism and entertainment,” Biles says in the release. “The show embodies the themes of empowerment and togetherness, which was on display in Tokyo. Together, all the gymnasts on this tour want to inspire the next generation of women and athletes.”

Beyond being a demonstration of eye-popping twists and flips, the show promises to promote values of empowerment, friendship, positive body image, mental health awareness, and self-confidence, organizers say.

But let's be real. We're there for the eye-popping twists and flips, too — and we know this dream lineup can raise the roof with them.

For those who need an Olympics refresher:

(Deep breath)

Houston's Biles — the most-decorated gymnast of all time — experienced a medical issue called "the twisties" after qualifying rounds, which made her death-defying stunts too dangerous to compete safely. When she suddenly dropped out of the team final, her Texas training mate Chiles and calm-and-collected teammate McCallum delivered some unscheduled clutch performances that helped win the team silver medal.

And then ... when Biles couldn't compete in the vault final, Skinner — who hadn't qualified, announced her retirement, and packed her bags to leave Tokyo — got the call to compete in Biles' spot and won herself a silver medal.

And then ... Carey, who'd flubbed her vault in the same final where Skinner won the silver medal, came charging back the next day with a stunning floor exercise and won herself a gold medal.

And then ... Biles returned triumphantly on the very last day of competition with a "twist-less" balance beam routine she could compete safely, and won herself a bronze medal.

(Exhale)

These shining stars of the Games will each perform some of their most famous routines mixed with career highlights, personal videos, and social media interactions; "the show is a high-energy, gymnastics-meets-pop-concert spectacular," the release says. A crew of gymnastic dancers under bright LED video screens and lights will heighten the adrenaline, and some ticketholders will get to join them onstage at the end.

It could be fans' last time to see Skinner perform, as she still plans to retire. Biles has not yet announced her future plans, but there was much pre-Olympics speculation that she'd hang up her leotard after this year, too. Both women are a "grandmotherly" 24 in a sport dominated by teenagers.

Local fans of Hernandez will be happy to see her back on the mats, too, as an injury in warmups at the National Championships took her out of the Fort Worth competition; she served as an NBC commentator at the Olympics. (Follow her comeback journey, as well as those of Hurd and other elite gymnasts, in the excellent docu-series Golden, streaming on NBC's Peacock app — one episode goes inside Dickies Arena for Nationals.)

The 35-city tour, which starts September 21 in Tucson, Arizona will also make Texas stops in San Antonio on October 6 and Houston on October 8.

Tickets for the Houston show start at $30, available through Ticketmaster.

To sign up for more information about VIP packages and a chance to dance in the show finale, visit www.GoldOverAmericaTour.com. Follow on Instagram & Facebook @GoldOverAmericaTour, Twitter @GoldOverAmerica and YouTube. #GoldInAllOfUs

Five of these Team USA gymnasts are going on tour.

Getty Images

Five of these Team USA gymnasts are going on tour.

tours sports

Movie Review

Supergirl fails to take flight in a movie weighed down by grief

Photo courtesy of DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures

Milly Alcock in Supergirl.

Last year's Superman reboot brought a renewed sense of optimism for, if not the concept of the comic book movie, then at least the DC Comics universe. After more than a decade of DC films that felt mostly creatively bankrupt, the leadership of James Gunn gave the story a sense of fun. That included the brief introduction of Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, who’s now getting her own showcase in, naturally, Supergirl.

When we first met her in Superman, Supergirl was in rough shape, arriving at the Fortress of Solitude visibly inebriated. Nothing has changed at the beginning of this film, save for her aimlessly traveling around the universe with her rambunctious dog, Krypto. One of her random stops puts her in the same bar as Ruthye (Eve Ridley), who is looking for help tracking down Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) and a group known as the Brigands after they brutally murdered her family.

Kara is initially loath to offer aid, but when Krem shoots a poison dart into Krypto while escaping, her motivation goes way up, especially since Krem holds the antidote. Kara, with Ruthye doggedly following her, uses every means available to her to find Krem, a journey that is hampered by galaxies having different colored suns than the one that gives her powers, the yellow sun.

Directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, the film is a big step back in the fun category, not least because Supergirl is deep in her feelings for much of the film. Her personal trauma, which is detailed in occasional flashbacks, gives a reason for her depression, but fails to land fully. The story seems to want everyone to be sad, as it includes a child trafficking ring and multiple instances of families being murdered.

Milly Alcock and Krypto in Supergirl.Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

To try to counteract that downer material, the filmmakers give Supergirl many opportunities to show off her fighting skills. While still CGI-heavy, the action scenes contain enough of a semblance of reality that they feel exciting. Unfortunately, this is undercut by the inclusion of several slow-motion sequences, giving the impression that the filmmakers didn’t trust the actors to deliver the goods on a consistent basis.

Superman (David Corenswet) makes a handful of appearances in the film, and while his presence is welcome given how well the character came across in the previous movie, it also doesn’t allow Supergirl to become her own person. Almost everything she does is colored by either her cousin or her parents, and since her powers are identical to those of Superman, there is very little that makes her story unique aside from how she’s dealing with the fallout.

Alcock (House of the Dragon, Sirens) gives an appealing performance despite her character being drunk and/or moody most of the time. She definitely sells what Supergirl is going through, so if given a better story in a future film, she’s proven her capability. Schoenaerts makes for a pretty good villain, although he’s aided by a look that includes a face full of studs. Jason Momoa has a memorable supporting role as the bounty hunter Lobo, even if his character doesn’t add much to the story.

While not a full-on disaster, Supergirl does not continue the momentum that Superman started. With a story that’s more concerned with showing audiences death scenes than a hero saving people, the film doesn’t seem to understand the appeal of a character like Supergirl or how to make her someone audiences will return to over and over again.

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Supergirl is now playing in theaters.

movies film

Flipping out

Olympics' biggest stars join Houston's Simone Biles for thrilling gymnastics showcase in Houston

Five of these Team USA gymnasts are going on tour.

Movie Review

Supergirl fails to take flight in a movie weighed down by grief

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