It’s National Stay at Home Because You’re Well Day, and whether you’re at home or in the office right now we still recommend taking it easy. Rest a little and save some energy for your evenings and some of the events below. From a Dickens festival and a lit class classic to a popular Korean film and a little horror for the holidays, keep reading for everything that made this week’s list of best bets.
If you haven’t gotten your fill of Charles Dickens with the Alley Theatre’s annual production of A Christmas Carol, spend the weekend in Galveston for the 50th anniversary of Galveston Historical Foundation‘s Dickens on The Strand. Presented by the British Consulate-General Houston, the festival includes parades, multiple stages, carolers and musicians, and plenty of vendors. In addition to activities like walking tours, a costumed run and bed races, there are a variety of special ticketed events, some including Dickens’ descendants. The festival begins on Friday, December 1, with free admission to Fezziwig’s Beer Hall from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets to the festival on Saturday, December 2, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, December 3, from 12 to 6 p.m. can be purchased here for $18 to $25 (with ticketing information about special events here).
Insight is on the program on Friday, December 1, at 7:30 p.m. when WindSync presents their latest program, Germination, at The MATCH. As part of their 15th anniversary season, the wind quartet will welcome composers Viet Cuong and Nicky Sohn to not only present local premieres of two of their works (Cuong’s Flora and Sohn’s Yardbird Suite), but also to discuss the creative process between composers and musicians during a panel discussion moderated by Houston Public Media‘s Joshua Zinn. Also, because this is WindSync’s 15th anniversary season, audience members will be able to enjoy light bites and an open beer and wine bar. Regular admission tickets can be purchased for $35, with $10 student tickets and $75 VIP tickets also available. Tickets can be purchased here.
Kate Hamill’s adaptation of the Jane Austen classic Sense and Sensibility, a story about two sisters whose family loses everything after the death of their father and their subsequent romances, will open at 4th Wall Theatre Company on Friday, December 1, at 7:30 p.m. Director (and 4th Wall co-founder) Kim Tobin-Lehl recently told the Houston Press that Hamill’s instructions allow a lot of creative freedom to the production, with 4th Wall’s show perhaps appealing to those who have been reluctant to reading Austen’s book, saying “[t]hat the adaptation says that Jane Austen is witty. She’s funny. She’s very aware of the hypocrisies and the underlying ridiculousness of what these people look like if you stripped away their mannerisms.” Performances will continue at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through December 23 at Spring Street Studios. Tickets can be purchased here for $28 to $63.
As if meeting your girlfriend’s parents at Christmas isn’t scary enough, on Friday, December 1, at 8 p.m. Cone Man Running Productions will add a little horror to the mix with the world premiere of Surviving the Night, a new play by Houston-based writers Matt Elliott and Debra Schultz. In a landscape of rom-coms and holiday classics, gift yourself a little tension and suspense as you meet an aspiring filmmaker who finds that meeting the parents isn’t the only thing he has to worry about as life begins to resemble some of his favorite films. Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and December 4 and 10, and 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, through December 16 at Spring Street Studios. Tickets can be purchased here for $15 to $20.
On Friday, December 1, at 8 p.m. Andrés Orozco-Estrada will return to Jones Hall to conduct the Houston Symphony and special guest violinist Augustin Hadelich for the aptly titled program Andrés Returns. Two works from Dmitri Shostakovich are on the program, one of which is Symphony No. 11. The symphony, also known as The Year 1905 is “a profound reflection on the events of the Russian Revolution of 1905” which the Houston Symphony premiered in the U.S. back in 1957. The concert will also be performed at 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, December 3. Tickets for any of the concerts can be purchased here for $34 to $125. Saturday night’s concert will also be livestreamed and you can buy access here for $20.
To target a crime lord, a Police Academy-esque narcotics squad sets up shop in a chicken restaurant and accidentally turn the place into a hit in director Lee Byeong-heon’s 2019 film Extreme Job. Following the film’s “record-shattering South Korean debut,” the internet told us to “make this Korean action comedy a priority as soon as possible.” If for some reason you still haven’t gotten around to catching it, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will conclude their Korean Film Nights series on Sunday, December 3, at 5 p.m. with a screening of the “highest-grossing and second-highest-watched film in Korean box office history.” Bonus: Actor Ryu Seung-ryong will be on hand for a post-screening discussion led by University of Houston professor Karen Fang. Tickets to the screening can be purchased here for $8 to $10.
Dance Source Houston’s Mind The Gap (now in its 27th edition) returns to The MATCH on Tuesday, December 5, at 7:30 p.m. for an evening-length program featuring six choreographers (and Dance Source Houston members) presenting both solo and ensemble works. The program includes Brittany Nicole Bass, solos from both Mark Aguilar and Stacy Skolnik, Lori Yuill’s “Archival, Revival, Reprisal,” Kyle Rucker’s “A Playful Listen,” and Adam Castañeda’s “Bayou People,” a music and dance collaboration with Markus and Melissa Cone of the MMC Ensemble. Tickets are pay-what-you-can with a starting price of $15 and you can purchase them here. The event will also be available via livestream on Tuesday and through video-on-demand from December 6 through December 17, with more information here.
Magic comes to Theatre Under The Stars courtesy of a fairy godmother with a coach, dress and two glass slippers perfect for a night at a ball in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, which opens on Tuesday, December 5, at 7:30 p.m. Soara-Joye Ross, who will play the fairy godmother in the musical (inspired by the 1997 teleplay with Brandy and Whitney Houston) recently told KHOU that the character of Cinderella “gets a lot of the things she wants, including love! Which is ultimately what we all need. What this whole world needs right now.” Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and December 22; and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays through December 24. Tickets can be purchased here for $40 to $149.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
