This Sunday, May 14, is Mother’s Day, and if you’re looking for a fun way to spend some quality time with mom (or looking for something to do away from mom), we’ve got you covered. Keep reading for this week’s list of best bets, including French films, a fan-favorite musical, and a ballet with a side of cake.
What’s a down-on-his-luck Elvis impersonator with a wife and baby on the way to do to make a living but become a lip-synching drag legend? That’s what happens in Stages’ production of Matthew López’s The Legend of Georgia McBride, which will play in repertory with Stages’ production of Drag Wonderettes, opening later this month. Jeremy Gee, who plays the role of the Elvis impersonator-turned-drag queen, told Houston CityBook that now “is the perfect time to be doing both of these shows,” adding that he hopes “people who do not understand or agree with or are afraid of drag come to one or both shows and get something out of it.” Performances will continue at 7 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays; 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through July 2. Because The Legend of Georgia McBride will play in repertory with Stages’ production of Drag Wonderettes, showtimes will vary.
Step into pianist Eunbi Kim’s world on Thursday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m. when she presents it feels like a dream at Asia Society Texas Center. The songs Kim will perform, created with commissioned composers, are drawn from Kim’s 2022 album titled It Feels Like and exhibit “an egalitarian balance of speech, acoustic instruments, and electronics while probing existential questions of family and identity.” These include “Disco giratorio de palabras” by Angélica Negrón, “Saturn Years” by Sophia Jani, “Mother’s Hand, Healing Hand” by Pauchi Sasaki, and “It Feels Like a Mountain, Chasing Me” by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), which will be performed during Thursday night’s performance. The performance will further be enhanced by projections created by new media artist Xuan. Tickets to the in-person event are available for $25 and can be purchased here.
Desperate to save a local nursing home, a group of non-bicycle riding nuns enter a race to earn the prize money in Oh My Goodness! (Juste ciel!), a U.S. premiere which kicks of Five Funny French Films at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on Friday, May 12, at 7 p.m. Laurent Tirard’s film leads off the 11th edition of the weekend-long series, which continues with Eric Lavaine’s “feel-good, irreverent” Happy 50 (Plancha), Didier Barcelo’s wacky road trip film Freestyle (En roue libre), Louis Garrel’s “low-key comic crime caper” The Innocent (L’innocent), and role-reversing pregnancy comedy Enormous (Énorme), for which director Sophie Letourneur will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A. You can view the full schedule here, as well as purchase tickets for each screening, which are available for $8 to $10.
Houston Ballet will bring George Balanchine’s Jewels – three gem-inspired acts of dance set to music by Gabriel Fauré, Igor Stravinsky and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – to Miller Outdoor Theatre on Friday, May 12, at 8 p.m. May 12 is also the theater’s birthday, so make plans to get there early, as starting at 6 p.m. you can enjoy face painting, performance artists, and a complimentary slice of cake from El Bolillo Bakery. Friday night’s performance will not be livestreamed, but you can reserve a ticket here beginning today, May 11, at 10 a.m. or plan to sit on the unreserved Hill. Houston Ballet will present Jewels again on Saturday, May 13, at 8 p.m. You can reserve tickets here starting at 10 a.m. on May 12, plan to sit on the Hill, or you can catch a livestream of the performance on the Miller Outdoor Theatre website, YouTube channel or Facebook page. Both performances are free.
Back in 2018, a cemetery was discovered at a Fort Bend ISD construction site. The remains of 95 individuals, called the Sugar Land 95, were found, believed to be those of men that were part of a convict leasing program in the 1800s. On Friday, May 12, at 8 p.m. DACAMERA will welcome drummer/composer Kendrick Scott to the Wortham Theater Center for the world premiere of Unearthed, which Scott told the Houston Chronicle is his “way of trying to honor them in some small way.” The multi-media project features text by Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, visual art from Robert Hodge, and music performed by the Harlem String Quartet. Tickets can be purchased here for $37.50 to $67.50. Note that at press time, only single seats remain in the orchestra and the best seats are located in the front mezzanine, so act fast for this one.
The 1968 Democratic National Convention has been described as a “political earthquake,” its Chicago setting a place where “young and old, war and peace, law and order” collided. On Friday, May 12, at 9 p.m. Open Dance Project will open a new piece of immersive dance theater inspired by the time titled 1968: The Whole World is Watching. Tap dancer Brenden Winkfield discussed the work, conceived by Open Dance Project Artistic Director Annie Arnoult, with Houston CityBook, noting that “Not only am I dancing, I’m speaking, and I’m singing,” and “doing all of these vulnerable things, and people are literally just a few feet, sometimes inches away from what I’m doing.” Performances continue at 7 and 9 p.m. Friday and Saturdays, 3 and 5 p.m. Sunday, and 7 p.m. Thursday, through May 20 at The MATCH. Tickets can be purchased here for a regular donation-based price of $40 (and note that the 9 p.m. show on Saturday, May 13, is pay-what-you-can).
“Seasons of Love” are coming to the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, May 16, at 7:30 p.m. when Theatre Under the Stars brings Jonathan Larson’s Rent to town for a two-week run. Simone Gundy, who plays the role of Joanne Jefferson, recently told the Houston Press that the La Boheme-inspired musical’s “overarching theme is love,” noting that her “biggest challenge will be getting through the numbers and the scenes without getting too emotional but still retaining enough emotion to make the audience have the reaction I wish I could have. I want them to be able to cry like I want to on the stage but I can’t because I have to belt.” Performances will continue at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sunday, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through May 28. Tickets can be purchased here for $40 to $135.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
