Author Shuffle

The reading must go on: Zadie Smith bows out of Inprint talk and a PulitzerPrize star steps in

Michael Chabon
Photo by Benjamin Tice Smith
Zadie Smith

In a shake up to the 2012-2013 Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, one celebrated author exits as a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist agrees to take her place.

Novelist Zadie Smith will be unable to attend the January event, the first Inprint reading of 2013, as scheduled. The London and New York based, Orange Prize-winning author is unable to fly due to pregnancy complications.

"It helps, I think, that Smith and Chabon are good friends, and we are delighted to present yet another extraordinary writer."

In her stead, Inprint has invited best-selling writer Michael Chabon, author of Wonder Boys, The Amazing Adventure of Kavalier & Clay and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. He will be reading from his latest novel, Telegraph Avenue. Chabon was previously in Houston to read for Inprint in 2007.

“Inprint is thrilled to present Michael Chabon in the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series,” Inprint executive director Rich Levy tells CultureMap. “We send best wishes to Zadie Smith during her pregnancy, and are grateful to Michael for agreeing to come in her place on such short notice, in celebration of his wonderful new novel Telegraph Avenue.

"It helps, I think, that Smith and Chabon are good friends, and we are delighted to present yet another extraordinary writer to the Houston community.”

The Chabon reading will take place on Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. on the Alley Theatre's Hubbard Stage. Previously purchased Zadie Smith tickets, both season subscriptions and general admission, will be honored at the door.

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under the big top

Cirque du Soleil tumbles into Houston with high-flying new performance

A vertical ballet in Curque du Soleil's new show

Photo by Jean-François Savaria

The cube at rhe center of Cirque du Soleil's Echo

No one mixes high concept art with acrobatics and spectacle quite like Cirque du Soleil, and they are bringing their latest show, Echo, to Houston in 2025. The big top will set up at Sam Houston Race Park from February 6 to March 9. Tickets are available at the official website.

Like all Cirque du Soleil performances, Echo has a detailed storyline told through a thrilling combination of physical motions and music. Echo follows Future, a woman who stumbles across a cosmic cube that shows her all the ways humanity’s actions affect the world. She and her best friend, a dog named Ewai, go on a journey together exploring new ways to shape the Earth.

“I think it’s important when people come to Echo to be blown away by the performances and acrobatics, and at the same time, I want them to leave feeling empowered,” says author and director Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhtar.

Cirque du Soleil Echo Performers inside The Cube.Photo by Jean-François Savaria

The world of Echo is built on the idea that people can learn from their interactions with the world. Humanity’s impact on the natural world and the animals that inhabit it is a key them explored by Future and Ewai. As the name suggests, much of the choreography revolves around the way actions reverberate from their initial impact. Echoes dominate the world.

Key to the production is the cube. No mere prop, the cube is as much a character as Future and Ewai. Approximately the size of a two-story building, the cube rotates, displays videos, and cast members perform on top and inside of it. By showing them the power of connectedness and cooperation, it leads the various actors through trials and expressions,

That’s not to say that the classic Cirque du Soleil experience has been traded in for a pure narrative. Echo features dancers suspended by their hair, slackwire acts, wall acrobatics, contortionists, and juggling.

Cirque du Soleil Echo The performance also features the jaw-dropped acrobatics Cirque du Soleil is known for.Photo by Jean-François Savaria

In addition, Echo ups the musical component by being the first Cirque du Soliel production to feature six live vocalists. Most of the musicians on stage also sing.

“Our most natural instrument is the human voice, and so it makes sense conceptually to use vocals to establish a symbiotic relationship between humanity and the environment,” says band leader Michael Lieberman.

In addition, Echo is the first original production for Cirque du Soleil since the Covid-19 pandemic. Originally developed as Under the Same Sky by British artist Es Devlin, its production was halted during the shutdowns.