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Houston hero Solange Knowles comes home for weeklong performance series

Solange Knowles is coming home.

From June 10-20, the Grammy-award winner and her artist collective, Saint Heron, will present six distinctive performances as part of Eldorado Ballroom Houston at three renowned venues: Eldorado Ballroom, Jones Hall, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

The Houston native launched the Eldorado Ballroom series in 2023 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as a tribute to her hometown. Since that initial performance, Knowles has reimagined Eldorado Ballroom, including a performance at Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles in October 2024. Now, Knowles is bringing the series to its inspiration and namesake.

Eldorado Ballroom Houston serves as a reflection and time to honor pioneering Black artists, while also showcasing current creatives. Houston takes center stage with a forward-looking celebration of its musical roots, spotlighting Chopped and Screwed's lasting influence and the creative impact of the city’s Nigerian and African communities.

The series also honors Black folk and Zydeco music, Black female classical composers, devotional gospel traditions, and contemporary performance art.

Several artists will represent Bayou City during the weeklong event, including musicians from the Houston Symphony, interdisciplinary Houston-born artist Autumn Knight, Nigerian-American artist and Houston native Dozie Kanu, and Houston-based sound selectors HYPERFEMME and Big Ace.

“We’re thrilled to work with Solange and Saint Heron to present her vision right here in her hometown,” said Performing Arts Houston president and CEO Meg Booth in a statement. “Collaborating with Solange, Saint Heron, and Project Row Houses to shine a light on the Eldorado’s legacy of inspiring Black creativity and community with so many great artists is an enormous honor.”

In addition, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will host two free screenings of Saint Heron’s film Monuments are Here. The film centers on Gene “Shady the Great” Thomas, a vocalist for Parliament Funkadelic.

“Project Row Houses appreciates that Solange makes sure our community is always part of her story,” Wilson said. “Solange has given us another great gift with this event — the opportunity to work with Performing Arts Houston. We look forward to exceptional artists from around the world empowering people and enriching our community through engagement, art, and direct action.”

Fans were first introduced to Saint Heron in 2013, when Solange Knowles released a compilation album of the same name through her record label. What began as a digital hub for amplifying Black artistry in music and culture has since evolved into an institution encompassing a studio, creative agency, library, and art gallery.

“We could not be more excited about Solange Knowles' return to Third Ward and the Eldorado Ballroom at Project Row Houses,” said Danielle Burns Wilson, Project Row House’s executive director. “She is so much a part of this building's history — her creative energy has reverberated in the ballroom's air since A Seat at the Table. Now, she'll be back to deepen that connection and supercharge the energy in this historic venue.”

Courtesy of Performing Arts Houston

Solange Knowles is coming home for six performances in June.

Knowles has remained connected to her roots through generous donations to Project Row Houses and nine simultaneous screenings across the Third Ward of her 2019 short film, When I Get Home.

Early access is now open for Performing Arts Houston members. General admission opens at 10 am on April 22 at performingartshouston.org/eldorado.

On Dissonance (An Evening of Classical, Symphonic, and Opera Works); Tuesday, June 10 at 7:30 pm; Jones Hall
Type of Guest; Wednesday, June 11 at 7:30 pm; Eldorado Ballroom
Monuments Are Here; Thursday, June 12 at 5 pm & 7:30 pm; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Paper in My Shoe; Saturday, June 14 at 7:30 pm; Eldorado Ballroom
Glory to Glory (A Revival for Spiritual and Devotional Work); Sunday, June 15 at 6:30 pm; Jones Hall
Go Slow; Friday, June 20; Location TBD

performing-arts celebrities eldorado ballroom solange knowles

Movie Review

Fawning Michael Jackson biopic Michael ignores the singer's complexities

Photo by Glen Wilson

Jaafar Jackson in Michael.

Michael Jackson remains among the most complicated figures in pop culture history. On one hand, he’s responsible for some of the most enduring music of all time, thrilling generations with his voice and dance moves. But his later years were marred by accusations of child sexual abuse and erratic behavior, including his premature death at the age of 50.

So the new biopic Michael is a tough one to judge from a critical standpoint, not least because director Antoine Fuqua and writer John Logan have elided — perhaps temporarily — the thornier parts of Michael’s history. Instead, this film focuses on the 20-year period in which Michael (played as an adult by Michael’s nephew Jaafar Jackson) goes from the prepubescent lead singer of the Jackson 5 to one of the biggest music superstars of all time.

That choice puts an overly sympathetic tint to Michael’s story, as he spends most of that time under the thumb of his domineering father, Joseph (Colman Domingo). Joseph has a vision for Michael and his brothers, and he pushes them hard in a quest to become rich and famous. Even when they achieve that goal, though, Joseph refuses to let up, holding onto Michael even when it’s clear he should go out on his own.

As a reminder of the enormous impact Michael Jackson had on the music industry and world at large, the film is successful. Fuqua and Logan include plenty of music, naturally, but they seem to be most interested in depicting Michael as a human being. They lay it on thick, whether it’s showing him spending time among his family members away from the stage, hanging out with bodyguard Bill Bray (KeiLyn Durrel Jones), or visiting sick kids in hospitals. The message that Michael is a harmless, good person couldn’t be clearer.

The film hints at but doesn’t really explore Michael’s oddities. His obsession with kids literature and movies, especially Peter Pan, are seen as inoffensive quirks, as is his menagerie of animals, including a creepy CGI version of Bubbles the chimp. His arrested development seems to be partially blamed on his parents treating him like a child well into his adulthood, and the resulting fallout is not (yet) addressed.

Many viewers will be most interested in the music sequences, and — save for some repetitive shots of fans fainting at the mere presence of Michael — they are handled well. Whether it’s at home, in the studio, on the set of the “Thriller” video, or at live performances, the film manages to fully get across just what a phenomenon Michael was at his peak. The staging and editing of each scene is dynamic, complementing Michael’s other-worldly abilities well.

If there is one reason to see the film, it is the performance of Jaafar Jackson. Whether he’s capable of doing any other kind of role is undetermined, but his portrayal of his uncle is compelling, as he demonstrates singing, dancing, and acting skills in equal measure. He’s aided by an equally great performance by Domingo, who — with the help of facial prosthetics — overcomes the trope of the bad father. Nia Long and Larenz Tate are also good in smaller roles, but Miles Teller is an odd presence as Michael’s manager.

There are reports that legal complications prevented the filmmakers from using previously-shot scenes delving into accusations against Michael, and there are rumors that a second film will be made about the last 20 years of his life. But that speculation can’t absolve Michael of showing all the positive aspects of Michael Jackson’s life and not even touching any of the negative ones.

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Michael opens in theaters on April 24.

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Welcome Back, Icon

Houston hero Solange Knowles comes home for weeklong performance series

Movie Review

Fawning Michael Jackson biopic Michael ignores the singer's complexities

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