weekend event planner

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

TUTS presents a refreshed Rent.

Photo by Melissa Taylor

This weekend, a group of young New Yorkers worry about how they'll play rent — and a lot more, while some Austin teens stay dazed and confused. Those with a green thumb can get their plant on, while space lovers can celebrate a milestone anniversary of Spacelab.

Scaly reptiles invade NRG and a Sunday Funday concert brings the jams without the booze.

Enjoy; here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, May 18

Shocks and Jolts Summer Exhibit at Children’s Museum Houston

Get ready for a shock to your system with an electrifying exhibit like no other. Experience what the “Shocks & Jolts” exhibit is all about during a stunning opening ceremony where people will complete an electric circuit by making a human chain to open the gallery. Made possible by OXY, the exhibit will enable you to discover the illuminating field of electrostatics, examine the properties of electromagnetism, and build and test your own electrical circuits. 10 am.

Dartmouth College and University of Houston presents MusicMexico 2023 Symposium

For three days, the Hopkins Center for the Arts (the Hop) at Dartmouth and the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston will convene musicians, performers and scholars to explore the past and future of Mexican music and its representation in wind band literature and educational settings. The second Music Mexico Symposium is part of Dartmouth’s ongoing Mexican Repertoire Initiative to enhance access to and appreciation for Mexican artists, who are actively innovating and contributing to the evolution of wind music. 6 pm (7:30 am Friday and Saturday).

Rooftop Cinema Club Uptown presents Dazed and Confused

Alright, alright, alright! Enjoy the sights, sips and sounds atop BLVD Place. Rooftop Cinema Club Uptown has partnered with Saint Arnold Brewing Company to present Texas filmmaker RIchard Linklater’s 1993, back-to-the-’70s favorite, which launched the careers of so many stars (Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, Renee Zellweger). Saint Arnold will provide guests with tastings of their newest beer, Simmer Pilsner. which pairs impeccably with the nostalgic teen comedy and the skyline of Uptown Houston. 7:45 pm.

Friday, May 19

PlantCon International

The inaugural plant convention PlantCon International is a 100-vendor plant market and exhibition featuring rare and hard-to-find plants, seminars and workshops from field experts, and a unique non-profit mission to promote inclusivity and visibility for all national and international plant organizations. The event is organized by With Heart Collective, a non-profit focused on creating inclusive spaces and opportunities for small, minority-owned businesses and their customers. 6 am (8 am Saturday; 10 am Sunday).

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV

This fascinating documentary (narrated by Steven Yeun) chronicles the life and career of Nam June Paik (1932–2006), “the father of video art.” Born in Japan-occupied Korea, Paik studied as a classical musician before moving to Germany in the 1950s, where he became a member of the influential, experimental art movement Fluxus. Relocating to the United States, he became fully engaged with television and video, revolutionizing the use of technology. 7 pm (5 pm Sunday).

Space Center Houston presents Skylab 50th Anniversary Evening Celebration

Space Center Houston will mark the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking Skylab space station. Guests will have exclusive, after-hours access to Space Center Houston, with a special cocktail hour in the Skylab trainer exhibit. The reception will include passed hors d’oeuvres, beer, and wine, with liquor available to purchase, live music, and the unboxing of Skylab artifacts. 7 pm.

Houston Symphony presents Stravinsky Oedipus Rex

Sophocles meets the groundbreaking musical language of Stravinsky: the result is raw, riveting, and unforgettable. Lose yourself in the drama as this mythic tale of fate, political intrigue, and patricide unfolds, realized with stunning on-stage visuals created specially for these performances by artist Adam Larsen. Music Director Designate Juraj Valčuha and the orchestra are joined by world-famous opera superstars Sean Panikkar and Michelle DeYoung, along with the Houston Symphony Men’s Chorus. 8 pm.

Saturday, May 20

The Crawfish Open Championship at Low Tide Kitchen and Bar

Spring Branch seafood restaurant Low Tide Kitchen and Bar is hosting a unique crawfish eating contest. It’s open to all amateur eaters 18 years or older. (Entries will be accepted through May 18 by 8:00 p.m. A non-refundable entry fee of $20 must be paid to participate.) Contestants will be given a tray of crawfish that will be weighed before and after the contest. The competitor to eat the most crawfish meat by weight at the end of eight minutes wins. The winner will receive the Crawfish Open Trophy Belt and Prize Basket. Noon.

Southside Sporting Club Welcomes Keith Frank & The Soileau Zydeco Band

Southside Sportside Club will welcome Louisiana’s Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band for one performance only. Led by the legendary vocalist and accordion player Keith Frank, their music is a modern celebration of Louisiana culture that’s earned them a loyal following and acclaim. The band features some of the most talented guitarists, drummers, bassists, and fiddlers in the genre and they put on a show like no other, with electrifying performances and crowd-pleasing hits that never fail to get their audiences up and dancing. 5 pm.

Blaffer Art Museum presents Robert Hodge x Tim Kerr: "No Kings But Us" opening reception

Hodge-Kerr is a collaboration between Houston-based artist and impresario Robert Hodge and Austin-based musician and artist Tim Kerr. Individually, their work is steeped in the rich history between music and pop culture, and they share a deep interest in racial equality and human rights. With mutual admiration and converging interests, from color palette to messaging to medium, they have come together to entwine a creative vision. Through Sunday, June 4. 6 pm.

Theatre Under The Stars presents Rent

Winner of the Tony for Best Musical and Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this sensational musical has captured the hearts of millions of theater fans around the world. A re-imagining of Puccini's La Bohème, Rent follows an unforgettable year in the lives of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams without selling out. With its inspiring message of joy and hope in the face of fear, this timeless celebration of friendship and creativity reminds us to measure our lives with the only thing that truly matters — love. Through Sunday, May 28. 2 & 8 pm (2 and 7:30 pm Sunday).

Sunday, May 21

Reptilian Nation Expo: Reptile and Amphibian Show

This weekend, over at NRG Center, Reptilian Nation Expo will feature 100+ breeders and vendors with over 300 tables of reptiles, amphibians, arachnids, isopods, and other bugs. Visitors can buy supplies, enclosures, insect/rodent feeders, and more. There will also be crocodilian and exotic, venomous snake presentations. So, if you’re the type of brave soul who isn’t freaked out by these little mofos, this expo is right up your alley. 10 am.

The Party Sober Partnership presents Recover Out Loud Soberfest 2023

SoberFest HTX 2023 is a unique event that celebrates the joys of sobriety while showcasing the power of music. It is an inclusive space where everyone can come together to have fun, dance, and enjoy great music without the influence of alcohol or drugs. By sober people for sober people, this festival is an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and to embrace a sober lifestyle. The festival will feature a variety of food trucks, vendor booths, and mocktails to keep everyone entertained throughout the day. Noon.

Impractical Jokers: The Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Tour

Brian “Q” Quinn, James “Murr” Murray, and Sal Vulcano of the beloved prank show Impractical Jokers will bring The Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Tour to Sugar Land. The hidden-camera comedy show follows Q, Murr and Sal as they compete to embarrass each other amongst the general public, with a series of hilarious and outrageous dares. This event will feature never-before-seen videos and storytelling stand-up. 5 pm.

RIP, Chuck

Actor Chuck Norris, star of 'Walker, Texas Ranger,' dies at 86

Courtesy photo

Chuck Norris, star of "Walker, Texas Ranger," has died at 86.

Chuck Norris, the martial arts grandmaster and action star whose roles in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and other television shows and movies made him an iconic tough guy — sparking internet parodies and adoration from presidents — has died at 86.

Norris died Thursday, in what his family described as a “sudden passing.”

“While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace,” the family said in a statement posted to social media.

Before he would become a star in movies and on TV, Norris was wildly successful in competitive martial arts. He was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion. He also founded his own Korean-based American hard style of karate, known sometimes as Chun Kuk Do, and the United Fighting Arts Federation, which has awarded more than 3,300 Chuck Norris System black belts worldwide. Black Belt magazine ultimately credited Norris in its hall of fame with holding a 10th degree black belt, the highest possible honor.

Born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Oklahoma, on March 10, 1940, he grew up poor. At age 12, he moved with his family to Torrance, California, and joined the U.S. Air Force after high school, in 1958. It was during a deployment to Korea that he started training in martial arts, including judo and Tang Soo Do.

“I went out for gymnastics and football at North Torrance high,” he told The Associated Press in 1982. “I played some football, but I also spent a lot of time on the bench. I was never really athletic until I was in the service in Korea.”

After he was honorably discharged in 1962, he worked as a file clerk for Northrop Aircraft and applied to be a police officer, but was put on a waitlist. Meanwhile, he opened a martial arts studio, which expanded to a chain, with students including such stars as Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donnie and Marie Osmond, and Steve McQueen, whom he later credited with encouraging him to get into acting.

From one studio to another
Norris made his film debut as an uncredited bodyguard in the 1968 movie “The Wrecking Crew,” which included a fight with Dean Martin. He had also crossed paths with Bruce Lee in martial arts circles. Their friendship — sometimes, as sparring partners — led to an iconic faceoff in the 1972 movie “Return of the Dragon,” in which Lee fights and kills Norris' character in Rome's Colosseum.

He went on to act in more than 20 movies, such as “Missing in Action,” “The Delta Force” and “Sidekicks.”

“I wanted to project a certain image on the screen of a hero. I had seen a lot of anti-hero movies in which the lead was neither good nor bad. There was no one to root for,” Norris said in 1982.

In 1993, he took on his most famed role, as a crime-fighting lawman in TV's “Walker, Texas Ranger.” The show ran for nine seasons, and in 2010, then-Gov. Rick Perry awarded him the title of honorary Texas Ranger. The Texas Senate later named him an honorary Texan.

“It’s not violence for violence’s sake, with no moral structure,” Norris told the AP in 1996, speaking about the show. “You try to portray the proper meaning of what it’s about — fighting injustice with justice, good vs. bad. … It’s entertaining for the whole family.”

Norris also made a surprise comedic appearance as a decisive judge in the final match of the 2004 movie “Dodgeball.” He only on occasion has taken acting roles in recent years, including 2012's “The Expendables 2” and the 2024 sci-fi action movie “Agent Recon.” He's due to appear in “Zombie Plane,” an upcoming film starring Vanilla Ice.

Chuck Norris: the man, the meme, the legend
It was around the time of “Dodgeball” that his toughman image became the stuff of legend, literally: “Chuck Norris Facts” went viral online with such wildly hyperbolic statements as, “Chuck Norris had a staring contest with the sun -- and won,” and, “They wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mt. Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t tough enough for his beard.”

Norris ultimately embraced the absurdity of the meme craze, putting together “The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book,” which combined his favorites with supposedly true stories and the codes he aimed to live by. He would also write books on martial arts instruction, a memoir, political takes, Civil War-era historical fiction and more.

“To some who know little of my martial arts or film careers but perhaps grew up with 'Walker, Texas Ranger,' it seems that I have become a somewhat mythical superhero icon,” Norris wrote in the forward to the fact book. “I am flattered and humbled.”

That book raised money for a nonprofit he founded with President George H.W. Bush that promoted martial arts instruction for kids.

The intentionally outlandish statements featured in the 2008 Republican presidential primary, when Norris endorsed Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and shot an ad playing on the “Chuck Norris facts.”

President Donald Trump's supporters later promoted Trump Facts in the same vein, and political pundits tried it as well, describing the commander-in-chief's decision to seize Venezuela's sitting president, Nicolas Maduro, as a “Chuck Norris Moment,” and its initial effect on oil prices a “Chuck Norris Premium.”

Norris was outspoken about his Christian beliefs and his support for gun rights, and backed political candidates for years — he even went skydiving with Bush for the former president's 80th birthday. As for Trump, Norris endorsed him in the 2016 general election and wrote guest columns praising him without explicitly endorsing him the in the days before the 2020 and 2024 elections.

Norris has five surviving children: stunt performers Mike and Eric with his late ex-wife Dianne Holechek, twins Dakota and Danilee with his wife Gena Norris, and Dina, the result of an early 1960s “one-night stand” revealed in his autobiography.

Norris celebrated his birthday just over a week before his death, posting a sparring video on Instagram.

“I don't age. I level up,” he wrote.

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