It’s Houston Theater Week, meaning that from now until Sunday, August 20, you can get “buy one, get one free” tickets to any of more than 200 performances from the upcoming 2023-2024 season. It also happens to be National I Love My Feet Day, and we can think of a few more places you can give your tootsies a rest while consuming great art and entertainment this coming week, too. Or not; we wouldn’t blame you if you couldn’t help but get up and dance at a few of them. Keep reading for more.
In 1865, formerly enslaved people began creating a new community as freed people in Houston, a place that we now know as Freedmen’s Town in Fourth Ward. Freedmen’s Town has built a rich history that includes art, crafts, food and, of course, music. On Thursday, August 17, at 7 p.m. in The Reading Room at POST Houston you can join the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) to learn more about that musical legacy during Sonic Histories: An Evening with Flash Gordon Parks. Parks, an ethnomusicologist, will join HFTC (Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy) x CAMH Freedmen’s Town Lead Research Fellow Amarie Gipson for a listening session and conversation about 60 years of sonic history, examining both Houston history and the Fourth Ward diaspora through sound. The event is free and you can register here.
The third annual Houston SUMMERJAZZ festival returns to the Wortham Theater Center this weekend, courtesy of DACAMERA. The 13-member Spanish Harlem Orchestra will bring their Grammy-winning rhythms of salsa and Latin jazz to town on Thursday, August 17, at 8 p.m., a show proceeded by a free performance by vibraphonist Jalen Baker and his quartet at 6:30 p.m. in the Wortham Theater Center’s Grand Foyer. Grammy-nominated Gretchen Parlato, whose 2021 album Flor “saw her widely acclaimed as the outstanding jazz voice of the times,” will take the stage the following night, on Friday, August 18, at 8 p.m. And on Saturday, August 19, at 8 p.m. Mwenso & the Shakes will close the festival with their “unique style of jazz and blues expression.” Tickets for the events are available here and are pay-what-you-can, with suggested prices of $35 and $50, and a minimum of $10.
The best mariachi groups in the state come to town this weekend as part of the 4th Annual Mariachi Festival, which includes three nights of concerts at the Wortham Theater Center. The festival begins on Friday, August 18, at 7 p.m. with “Latina Night” featuring Mariachi Mariposas, the University of Houston’s Mariachi Pumas and winners from this year’s National Mariachi Youth Vocalist Competition, including 11-year-old Eduardo Antonio Trevino (as seen on America’s Got Talent). Formal attire-requested the next night, Saturday, August 19, at 7 p.m. when Mariachi 7 Leguas, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Ballet Folklórico and Nayelli Peña, winner of the 2022 Mariachi Extravaganza National Vocal Competition, take the stage. And celebrating their 35th anniversary, Mariachi Imperial de America will headline the closing night of the festival, traditional Mexican dress-requested, on Sunday, August 20, at 7 p.m. Tickets (including VIP experience upgrades) are available here for $15 to $250.
Indian cinema comes to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on Friday, August 18, at 7 p.m. with a film “that exists almost against all odds, and also one of the most beautiful films ever made, in any language,” Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali. The film focuses on a child named Apu and though it is “unlikely your childhood was anything like Apu’s,” the story “is a dream of every childhood, a recollection—or a wish—of love and family that reaches deep inside us,” resulting in a film that “blindsides the viewer” with “a child’s perspective on the world.” The museum’s spotlight on Indian cinema will continue with screenings of Charulata (The Lonely Wife) on August 19, The Music Room (Jalsaghar) on September 1, and Devi on September 2. Tickets to any of the screenings are available for $7 to $9.
Poet, scholar and eventual martyr Tahirih is remembered as “one of the first Iranian women to defy tradition and publicly remove her veil,” an action that would lead to her execution at the age of 36 in 1852. On Friday, August 18, and Saturday, August 19, at 7:30 p.m. Tahirih’s story will come to life via solo piano and live painting in a piece called “Tahirih the Pure,” one of three works composed by Iranian-American composer Badie Khaleghian to be presented by Musiqa during Unchained: A Collaborative Intermedia Tribute to Women’s Stories of Resilience at The MATCH. “Half-told Stories,” a collaborative dance work from Khaleghian and NobleMotion Dance, and “Electric Sky Blue,” an immersive, interactive piece utilizing amplitude and motion capture technology that originated from pianist Caroline Owen’s reflections on the titular color, will also be featured. Tickets for either are pay-what-you-can with a suggested price of $35 and can be purchased here.
Hip-hop turns 50 this year and, as we all know, “Houston will always be the heart of Texas hip-hop.” Miller Outdoor Theatre certainly knows as the first night of their free two-night concert event will celebrate the genre during Miller Summer Mixtape Featuring Paul Wall on Friday, August 18, at 7:30 p.m. Keisha and J-Mac of 97.9 The Box will host the evening, and joining Wall – who recently (and quite humbly) told us all exactly who he is – on the bill are DJ Mr. Rogers, LaNell Grant, AJ McQueen, Phill Wade and Doeman. Tickets for reserved seating will be available here beginning at 10 a.m. this morning, August 17, or you can trek out to Hillside seating with a blanket or lawn chair. You can also watch from home on the Miller Outdoor Theatre website, YouTube channel or Facebook page.
Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej parlayed their popularity as the stars of the popular online series BuzzFeed Unsolved into their own YouTube channel/digital media studio (Watcher Entertainment along with Steve Lim) and a spiritual successor to BuzzFeed Unsolved, titled Ghost Files, which premiered last year. The show follows the pair as they investigate some of the most haunted (allegedly) locations, deep diving into the history of the locales while bringing their typical chemistry and humor. Now, Bergara and Madej are on tour, and will stop by Houston’s Bayou Music Center on Friday, August 18, at 8 p.m. for Ghost Files Live. The evening promises a screening of a never-before-seen episode of Ghost Files, followed by a Q&A with the audience. Tickets can be purchased here for $25 to $65.
The second night of the two-day concert event at Miller Outdoor Theatre, Miller Summer Mixtape, will be a “Country Night” hosted by KKBQ on Saturday, August 19, at 7:30 p.m. Headliner George Ducas – writer of songs for artists like Garth Brooks, The Chicks and Eli Young Band – will be joined by Fort Worth-based singer-songwriter Robert Ellis, The Voice alum Kim Cruse and country music DJ, DJ Mike. Like the first night, the show is free and you can reserve a seated ticket here (starting at 10 a.m. on August 18), opt for ticketless seating the Hill, or catch it on the Miller Outdoor Theatre website, YouTube channel or Facebook page.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
