Saturday, May 13
When John Simons sought to bring a legitimate comic con to Texas for the first time since the early 1980s, it took some legitimately hard work. “Houston had a terrible reputation. It was really hard with people in the industry — the vendors, exhibitors, agents, guests and all the people that you need,” says Simons, CEO of Comicpalooza producer Startling Events. “The people of Houston were always behind it,” Simons explains, “but it was essentially a sales call.” Held in 2008, the first Comicpalooza took place in a movie-theater lobby; this year’s event will consume more than 1.1 million square feet of the George R. Brown Convention Center. On tap are panel discussions, cosplay, gaming and celebrities including Chuck Norris, who Simons says hasn’t posted up at a comic con since 1974. 10 a.m. to midnight May 12 and 13, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 14. 1001 Avenida De Las Americas. For information, visit comicpalooza.com. $10 to $275. — Steve Jansen
Hard to believe, but Chris Rock is now a senior statesman on the stand-up circuit. Despite his roles in films like New Jack City and CB4 — and even his somewhat underplayed stint on Saturday Night Live — Rock truly broke through on ’90s HBO specials like Bring the Pain. Besides his up-and-down movie career, Rock’s personal peaks and valleys are a main theme throughout his stand-up set, including his successes and failings as a father and husband; his divorce finalized last year. Also expect some political opining, about which the once-controversial Rock has never been shy. Demand for this original date of his Total Blackout Tour at Sugar Land’s Smart Financial Centre was so high another has been added the night before. 8 p.m. May 12, 7 p.m. May 13. 18111 Lexington, Sugar Land. For information, call 281-207-6278 or visit smartfinancialcentre.net. $69.50 to $125. — Clint Hale
Good news, ghouls and goblins. Halloween comes early this year with the 2017 Halfway to Halloween Bash, brought to us by The Houston Zombie Walk, Bud Light and Top Dog Halloween Madness. Everyone’s favorite excuse to dress as a sexy nurse or creepy clown will take place with drink specials, dancing and raffles every hour for tickets to all the major haunts of Houston and the Texas Renaissance Festival. Break out the finest cosplay wardrobe because there will be a contest with a $500 cash prize for the best costume. Zombie Walk chairman Darren Tompkins has some advice for partygoers. “You’ve got to see it to believe it. You don’t have to dress up, but you’ll wish you did. Go for broke.” Adding a little “treat” to the “tricks,” all the money for entry will go toward scholarships. 8 p.m. to midnight, May 13. Chapman and Kirby Nightclub, 218 Lamar. For information, visit facebook.com/events/262523517541701. $10 to $50. — Sam Byrd
Enjoy a trip through the East with AsiaFest 2017, Asia Society Texas Center’s annual family event featuring community performances, fusion cuisine, creative activities and local vendors — all to spotlight some of our multicultural city’s unique traits. Rose Rougeau, the center’s vice president of communication, says the party will be a nod to all the different traditions that have come together to make Houston so flavorful. “The purpose behind AsiaFest is to celebrate Asian-Pacific American Heritage month and to bring families together in celebration of Houston’s diverse cultures,” she explains. The month of May was chosen for this remembrance because it marks the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869; Chinese, as well as Irish, immigrants laid the track, in large part. Expect dancing, tai chi, martial arts, Taiwanese puppet shows, and Viet Wave music. Families can also enjoy making art with dragon-boat crafts, kites, origami and other activities. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 13. 1370 Southmore. For information, call 713-496-9901 or visit asiasociety.org/texas. Free. — Sam Byrd
The bigger the hat, the better, and it always helps if it's the same shade as Easter candy. There's something fun about giving in to our Southern drawl, donning a seersucker suit, and dressing up in fuschia hats and parasols. It's all part of the charm when the Fort Bend Museum hosts A Southern Garden Party with tasty treats, signature cocktails, live music and outdoor festivities. The venue? It's the stunning Victorian classic revival plantation home, built in 1883 on 12,000 acres and known as the Moore House. Texas cattleman John Matthew Moore attended Texas A&M University and served as a United States Congressman (he gave the home as a wedding present to his wife, Lottie Dyer Moore); the home remained in the family for more than 90 years. This year's garden party honors sixth-generation Richmond resident Virginia Scarborough and eighth-generation Texan Jess Stuart, both of whom have family ties to the first settlers in Fort Bend County. 3 to 6 p.m. May 13. 406 South 5th Street, Richmond. For information, call 281-342-6478 or visit fortbendmuseum.org/a-southern-garden-party.html. $15 to $45. — Susie Tommaney
It seems Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was married to a world-class publicist. After he composed Requiem in D minor, K. 626 in Vienna in 1791, the piece remained unfinished when the composer died later that year. Franz Xaver Süssmayr finished the work and delivered it to Count Franz von Walsegg, who might have succeeded in passing the composition off as his own were it not for the many stories spun in society by Mozart's widow, Constanze. While we may never know the full truth behind her theories (Mozart received the commission from a mysterious messenger, or he thought it was a requiem for his own funeral), there's no denying the power behind this profoundly moving work with its message of hopefulness and redemption. Mercury presents Mozart's Requiem, using the same instruments from Mozart's time, with guest artists Hannah Celeste Lu (soprano), Sarah Mesko (alto), Aaron Sheehan (tenor) and Stephen Hegedus (bass). Conducted by Antoine Plante and accompanied by members of the Houston Symphony Chorus, the program also includes Funeral Music for Queen Mary, Z.58c & Z. 860. For those looking to dig deeper, there's a pre-concert lecture at 7:15 p.m. where we'll learn more about the mystery behind the final touches for this composition. 8 p.m. May 13. Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas. For information, call 713-533-0080 or visit mercuryhouston.org. $68. — Susie Tommaney
“How many of us, whether you’re a millennial or not, remember going to your grandmother’s house and sitting on the front porch watching them talk?” asks Ensemble Theatre Artistic Director Eileen J. Morris, who will direct the world premiere of Melda Beaty’s Front Porch Society. Morris is betting sense memory alone will connect audiences to the porch where Beaty’s Carrie Honey sits on November 4, 2008 — the anniversary of her son’s brutal murder and the eve of Barack Obama’s historic election. Through four elderly women in Marks, Mississippi, the play explores community, sisterhood and racial injustice, but just as important, Morris says it’s a reminder of how “even in the most serious moments in life, something warm and humorous, or that just puts a smile on your face, happens. Life happens.” 2 and 8 p.m. May 13. Also 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. May 11 through June 4. 3535 Main. For information, call 713-520-0055 or visit ensemblehouston.com. $30 to $50. — Natalie de la Garza
In the ultimate battle of the sexes, Playhouse 1960 is pitting the men against the women in its presentation of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged. The bawdy and irreverent script by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield takes us through a fast-paced romp of 37 of the Bard's best plays, forcing the trio of actors to jump from role to role as they plow through Romeo and Juliet, Titus Andronicus (as a cooking show, no less) and the rap-tastic Othello. On the first two weekends the ladies take the stage, and, for the final two weekends, the men will try their hand at the task. The woman who never sleeps, the very talented Christine Weems, directs these madcap men and women in tights. Our recommendation? Attend both versions and see which sex should be declared victor. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. May 5 through May 27. 6814 Gant. For information, call 281-587-8243 or visit playhouse1960.com. $15 to $18. — Susie Tommaney
Sunday, May 14
Jeff is a nightwatchman in a middle-income Manhattan apartment. He’s in his late twenties, probably not living up to his potential, but his habit of talking too much makes it a good job for him. He gets drawn into a murder investigation involving his strict supervisor’s troubled brother, which also brings in another parallel pair: a veteran police officer and his young female partner. There are secrets enough to go around and Jeff has only bad options to sort through. Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero wraps comedy, drama and romance into one neat package (and is much lighter in tone than his recent hit movie Manchester by the Sea, according to Kim Tobin-Lehl, co-director of this 4th Wall Theatre Co. production with Jennifer Dean). Actor Adam Gibbs takes a break from musical theater to play Jeff, saying: “He is a very good-spirited, light-hearted, well-intentioned individual, but what speaks to me about Jeff and about this play generally is that all of the characters are very flawed. All four characters, you see them stuck between right and wrong. I think that the flaws are what makes these characters real to me.” The play’s two acts run about two hours, with intermission; also starring are Chelsea Ryan McCurdy as the young police officer, Drake Simpson as her older partner, and Joe Palmore as Jeff’s boss. 3 p.m. May 14. Also 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays and 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 29. May 11 through June 3. Spring Street Studios, 1824 Spring. For information, call 832-786-1849 or visit 4thwalltheatreco.com. $15 to $49; pay what you can May 29. — Margaret Downing
Monday, May 15
You’ve read it, I’ve read it, President Obama read it last summer. In spring 2015, crime novelist Paula Hawkins’s The Girl on the Train blew expectations away, selling 32 million copies globally and spawning legions of followers. According to store manager McKenna Davis, Murder by the Book was “one of only six stores” worldwide chosen to host the British author in person during the latest tour for follow-up Into the Water. Fellow writer Megan Abbott (HBO’s upcoming The Deuce) hosts Paula Hawkins In Conversation, where, Davis explains, attendees will get their new hardback signed and eavesdrop as two talented women of fiction talk shop. But don’t worry: Just because their work is harsh doesn’t mean these writers bite. “There’s almost a rule of thumb, that the [darker] the fiction they write, the funnier the author is in person!” Davis laughs. “But in my opinion, major successes always begin with a voice that captures your reader’s attention. As the book spirals downward into more unsettling material, the reader follows that voice.” 7 p.m. May 15. 2342 Bissonnet. For more information, call 713-524-8597 or visit murderbooks.com. $35. — Vic Shuttee