madge is back

Madonna announces new Houston dates on worldwide Celebration Tour following life-threatening illness

Madonna has announced new show dates following her hospitalization.

Madonna/Facebook

Not long after battling for her life following a serious illness, Madonna has just announced her triumphant return.

The pop icon announced a slew of rescheduled shows in Texas and beyond for her wildly anticipated, worldwide Celebration Tour on Tuesday, August 15. Fans will recall that the 84-date tour, a nod to her 40-year career anniversary, was initially set to kick off on July 15 in Vancouver, Canada.

Madonna will now perform in Houston on Thursday, March 28 and Friday, March 29, 2024 at Toyota Center. Importantly, these are new shows replace the original Houston performance dates of September 13 and 14 this year.

Elsewhere in Texas, Madonna will now perform in Dallas on Sunday, March 24 and Monday, March 25, 2024 at American Airlines Center — those dates are rescheduled from the original September 18 and 19 shows there.

She'll also head to Austin on April 14 and 15 for two Moody Center shows, rescheduled from the original September 21 and 22 dates.

Her Celebration Tour will officially kick off with four sold-out shows in London this October and will travel across Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands) throughout 2023.

The North American leg will begin on December 13 in New York at at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with new show dates just added.

Fans can visit the tour sites on Live Nation and Ticketmaster for updates and more information.

Sadly for some fans across the U.S., the following shows are now canceled: July 27 in Tulsa, December 22 in Nashville, January 15 in San Francisco, January 18 in Las Vegas, and January 20 in Phoenix.

After developing a serious bacterial infection on June 24, Madonna spent several days in the ICU for what has been widely reported as septic shock — an often fatal syndrome. Sepsis, a notoriously fatal condition occurring after infection, has been linked to celebrity deaths including Muhammad Ali and Patty Duke Astin.

Five weeks ago, Madonna confirmed the reports with an apologetic message to fans and staff. "My first thought when I woke up in the hospital was my children," she wrote on Instagram. "My second thought was that I did not want to disappointment anyone who bought tickets for my tour. I also didn't want to let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Madonna (@madonna)

But now, the pop powerhouse is back. Here are the full North American tour dates, included rescheduled and new performances.

Madonna - The Celebration Tour - 2023/2024

12/13/2023 Brooklyn Barclays Center Original Date (no change)

12/14/2023 Brooklyn Barclays Center Original Date (no change)

12/16/2023 Brooklyn Barclays Center MSG - 8/27/2023*

12/18/2023 Washington Capital One Arena Original Date (no change)

12/19/2023 Washington Capital One Arena 9/2/2023

1/8/2024 Boston TD Garden 8/30/2023

1/9/2024 Boston TD Garden 8/31/2023

1/11/2024 Toronto Scotiabank Arena 8/13/2023

1/12/2024 Toronto Scotiabank Arena 8/14/2023

1/15/2024 Detroit Little Caesars Arena 8/5/2023

1/18/2024 Montreal Bell Centre 8/19/2023

1/20/2024 Montreal Bell Centre 8/20/2023

1/22/2024 New York Madison Square Garden 8/23/2023

1/23/2024 New York Madison Square Garden 8/24/2023

1/25/2024 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center 12/20/2023

1/29/2024 New York Madison Square Garden 8/26/2023

2/1/2024 Chicago United Center 8/9/2023

2/2/2024 Chicago United Center 8/10/2023

2/5/2024 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 8/7/2023

2/8/2024 Cleveland Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 8/2/2023

2/13/2024 Saint Paul Xcel Energy Center 7/30/2023

2/17/2024 Seattle Climate Pledge Arena 7/18/2023

2/18/2024 Seattle Climate Pledge Arena 7/19/2023

2/21/2024 Vancouver Rogers Arena 7/15/2023

2/24/2024 Sacramento Golden 1 Center 1/13/2024

2/27/2024 San Francisco Chase Center 10/4/2023

2/28/2024 San Francisco Chase Center 10/5/2023

3/1/2024 Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena 10/7/2023

3/2/2024 Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena 10/8/2024

3/4/2024 Los Angeles Kia Forum Crypto.com - 9/27/23*

3/5/2024 Los Angeles Kia Forum Crypto.com - 9/28/23*

3/7/2024 Los Angeles Kia Forum Crypto.com - 9/30/23*

3/9/2024 Los Angeles Kia Forum Crypto.com - 10/01/23*

3/11/2024 Los Angeles Kia Forum Kia Forum - 1/7/24 & 1/8/24*

3/13/2024 Palm Desert Acrisure Arena 1/11/2024

3/16/2024 Phoenix Footprint Center 7/22/2023

3/19/2024 Denver Ball Arena 7/25/2023

3/24/2024: Dallas, American Airlines Center 9/18/2023

3/25/2024: Dallas, American Airlines Center 9/19/2023

3/28/2024: Houston, Toyota Center 9/13/2023

3/29/2024: Houston, Toyota Center 9/14/2023

4/1/2024 Atlanta State Farm Arena 9/5/2023

4/4/2024 Tampa Amalie Arena 9/7/2023

4/6/2024 Miami Kaseya Center 9/9/2023

4/7/2024 Miami Kaseya Center 9/10/2023

4/14/2024: Austin, Moody Center 9/21/2023

4/15/2024: Austin, Moody Center 9/22/2023

4/20/2024 Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes 1/25/2024

4/21/2024 Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes 1/27/2024

4/23/2024 Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes 1/28/2024

4/24/2024 Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes 1/30/2024

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.

---

Cookie Queens is now playing in theaters,

madge is back

Madonna announces new Houston dates on worldwide Celebration Tour following life-threatening illness

10 eateries participating in Houston Restaurant Weeks for the first time

Classic car dealer rolls into Houston with massive Katy facility

Ex-NBA star's resort-style Houston home hits market for $11.99 million

10 eateries participating in Houston Restaurant Weeks for the first time

Classic car dealer rolls into Houston with massive Katy facility

Ex-NBA star's resort-style Houston home hits market for $11.99 million