Spring is here, but if you needed another reminder, it’s also opening day over at Daikin Park. If sports are not your thing, though, we’ve got you covered. This week, we’ve got a special edition film series, art along Buffalo Bayou, and more much. Keep reading for these and more events that have made our list of best bets.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will screen two Gérard Depardieu-Pierre Richard buddy comedies, La chèvre and Les compères, as part of Five Funny French Films: Classics, a spin-off from the museum’s annual Francophile film series that will focus on movies made between the 1960s and the 1990s. Serge Korber’s The One Man Band (L’homme orchestre), the first of two films set to be screened featuring legendary French comedian and actor Louis de Funès, will kick off the series on Friday, March 28, at 7 p.m. The second film is Hibernatus, with Francis Veber’s The Dinner Game closing the series on Sunday, March 30, at 5 p.m. The full schedule of films can be found here, and tickets to each screening are available for $8 to $10. If you’re wondering, Five Funny French Films will return in May.
It’s been said that L. Frank Baum derived the name Oz from his filing cabinet, an inauspicious beginning for one of the most beloved tales of all time, which continues to spawn works of soaring popularity. On Friday, March 28, at 8 p.m., Open Dance Project will present their dance theater adaptation of Baum’s classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, at Miller Outdoor Theatre. The all-ages-friendly production still finds a farm girl far from home, but it incorporates acrobatics, aerial silks, and ASL-integrated choreography. The performance is free, and you can reserve a ticket here starting at 10 a.m. today, Thursday, March 27, or you can plan to sit on the Hill (no ticket required). If you can’t make it, the performance will be livestreamed on the Miller Outdoor Theatre website, YouTube channel, and Facebook page.
Art Colony Association will once again transform Downtown Houston, from Sam Houston Park and down along Allen Parkway, into an outdoor art gallery on Saturday, March 29, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the Bayou City Art Festival. Raleigh, North Carolina-based watercolor artist Gwendolyn Redfern will headline more than 250 artists from around the U.S. representing 19 artistic disciplines. Attendees can also expect culinary demonstrations from local chefs, food vendors and food trucks, craft beer and wine gardens, live entertainment, and a Wicked-themed installation. The festival will continue Sunday, March 30, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets must be purchased online, and general admission tickets can be purchased for $5 to $20, with weekend passes available for $30, VIP tickets available for $75, and weekend VIP passes for $120.
If you’re a sneakerhead, you probably already know where you’ll be this weekend, but for those casual fans of the footwear, Sneaker Con returns to Houston on Saturday, March 29, from 12 to 7 p.m. at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The all-ages-welcome event expects to have more than 250 vendors on site with over 100,000 pairs of sneakers to be bought, sold, and traded for meaning, yes, bring your own sneakers if you’re looking to upgrade. The traveling roadshow, which has been held since 2009, will offer more than just sneakers, such as a special appearance by Houston rap icon Paul Wall. Tickets to the convention can be purchased here for $30.
In his final oratorio, George Frideric Handel told the tale of Theodora, a woman who converted to Christianity and, following her refusal to make a sacrifice to Jupiter in honor of the emperor’s birthday, was subsequently martyred. Ars Lyrica will present the work in concert, with its English libretto by Thomas Morell, on Saturday, March 29, at 6 p.m. during Handel’s Theodora at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Though the work was pulled from the stage after only three performances following its 1750 premiere, Handel considered it his most important oratorio. Soprano Nola Richardson leads the cast as Theodora and will be joined by mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte, bass-baritone Douglas Williams, countertenor Cody Bowers, tenor Brian Giebler, and the Moores School Concert Chorale. Tickets are available here for $15 to $80.
Imagine in a world where you can rent memories, a woman sets out to get the memories of her grandmother, who happens to be the last Holocaust survivor, and you’ve got Noga Flaishon’s Memoriam, which officially opens Saturday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. at Main Street Theater. Flaishon has said that the play acknowledges that “in our lifetime, the Holocaust is going to become a story. It’s going to stop being a lived memory and will turn into something we just tell or watch in movies or read in books. Now is the time where we are grappling with the idea of what kind of story it’s going to be. Those are the questions that I wanted to ask.” Performances will continue at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through April 19. Tickets can be purchased here for $40 to $63.
Put on your walking shoes and visit the sights along the trails in Houston’s East End, illuminated by video art, on Saturday, March 29, from 8 to 10 p.m. during NIGHT LIGHT. Buffalo Bayou Partnership and Aurora Picture Show have again teamed up to present this annual evening, this year featuring Buffalo Bayou-inspired works from Guatemalan American visual artist and educator Diana-Sofia Estrada, visual artist and writer Saúl Hernández-Vargas, and Ha Na Lee and James Hughes, known as Isogram Media Studio, lighting up a half mile stretch of trails. In addition to the artwork, guests can also patronize a night market (which opens at 7:30 p.m.), complete with neighborhood vendors, food trucks, and complimentary drinks from Saint Arnold Brewing Company, while listening to music from DJ FXBOX (Felix Olmos). Attendance is free, but registration is encouraged here.
