Pop artist, curator and art gallery owner Dandee Warhol takes paint-by-numbers to new heights with an interactive mural project at this Saturday's downtown art market. It's just one of the many ways to have free fun outdoors this weekend; we've also got the pepperoni-hawking one-man-band Alex Meixner ("pep-pepperoni"), Sunday afternoon games at Discovery Green, and Footloose, The Musical. Keep reading for ten of our favorite events that won't cost you more than $10 — and eight of them are free! Check out the Houston Press calendar for even more things to do.
Footloose, The Musical
Miller Outdoor Theatre
8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, free
Continuing 8 p.m. April 6-8, free
Everybody cut loose, because six degrees of Kevin Bacon brings us to the hill when HITS Theatre, H-town's incubator to the stars, presents two weekends of the toe-tapping Footloose, The Musical. Returning to the limelight is 17-year-old Mia Heckler; it's her eighth show at Miller and this time she plays preacher's daughter Ariel. She gets all googly-eyed over new kid in town Ren, this time played by Miles Marmolejo. You know the rest: Small town steps out of the '50s and realizes that dancing isn't the devil's work after all.
An Act of Justice: Undoing the Legacy of Mass Incarceration
Rothko Chapel
7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, free
8:15 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, free
8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, free
Netflix regulars will by now have caught the documentary 13th, by director Ava DuVernay, which offers up a soupçon of conspiracy theories about how exactly our country came to lead the world in incarceration. If this topic is of concern to you, or you have family behind bars, then consider attending this cerebral three-day symposium that explores human rights and the criminal justice system. Don't miss the powerful virtual reality experience that places viewers inside a U.S. solitary confinement prison cell. This event is free but reservations are requested; contact Kelly Johnson at 713-524-9839 or [email protected].
How to Build a Time Machine
14 Pews
7 to 9 p.m. Friday, free to $10
Mua ha ha! Mad scientists run amok in this upgrade to H.G. Wells' 1895 novel. Animator Rob Niosi, admittedly fixated on the time-machine prop, joins forces with theoretical physicist Ron Mallett, who is convinced that black holes are the gateway to time travel. Mix in a little archival material and Jay Cheel weaves it all together to produce this entertaining exploration of cinema as a gateway to the fourth dimension. Insider tip: Pay at the door and get in for a ten-spot, or become a member and get in for free.
Tomball German Heritage Festival
Old Town Tomball Near the Historical Train Depot Plaza
6 to 10 p.m. Friday, free
10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, free
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, free
Break out those lederhosen and dirndls, because everybody's German during the last weekend in March in Tomball. Grammy-nominated musician and producer Alex Meixner, the accordion-playing, drum-beating, horn-blowing one-man band who marches in circles for Hormel pepperoni on TV, is one of the headliners. If that doesn't make you smile, the ethnic and festival food, beer, wine, street vendors and pony rides will. Extroverts will want to get in on the chicken-dance contest, the hollerin' contest and the best-dressed German contest.
Heartmade Art Market
Main Street Square
11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, free
The artists behind Anvil Cards say they make cards because cards make people happy. That makes sense to us, and fits right in with the other exhibitors at the Heartmade Art Market, all of whom design for happiness. Come check out this downtown art market and see what Dandelion Glass Art, Fuzzy Grapefruit, Two Cats (in a bag), Moo-chila and other creative locals have been up to lately. Park at McKinney Place Garage, take the free Greenlink circulator, or hop on METRO's Red Line and get off at Main Street Square.