Okay, it’s National Be Late for Something Day, but you will not want to be late for any of this week’s best bets. We’ve got short-run theater productions, a dark and dance-y fairytale, and the return of one of our favorite annual festivals. Keep reading for these and more.
Spend an evening getting to know a late Supreme Court justice on Thursday, September 5, at 7:30 p.m. when All Things Equal: The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg comes to the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Michelle Azar, who is playing Ginsburg in the 90-minute, one-woman show, recently told the Houston Press that she thinks people should see the show to “engage with someone that they might not see right now in the political climate. To engage with someone who cares from an education point of view. Ruth always felt she was a teacher. And she has a compassion to hear the other side of things, to hear all sides of things.” A second performance is scheduled for Friday, September 6, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to either can be purchased here for $49 to $110.
On Friday, September 6, at 7 p.m., Houston Ballet will open John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid, a variation that is truer to Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale and incorporates elements of Andersen’s life into the ballet, at the Wortham Theater Center. Houston Ballet Soloist Danbi Kim, who will dance the title role, recently told the Houston Press that audiences won’t find the Ariel they know from Disney’s 1989 animated film, stating that Neumeier’s ballet “has more connection to real life, real feelings. It’s more realistic relating to this character and this situation.” Performances will continue at 7:30 p.m. Friday, September 13, and Saturdays, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, September 14, and 2 p.m. Sundays through September 15. Tickets can be purchased here for $25 to $160.
Director Wim Wenders has said that his 1984 Palme d’Or winner, Paris, Texas, “left a deep footprint” in his “artistic and personal life.” The film, made “with a distinctly romantic American sensibility,” was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard and features Harry Dean Stanton as a “lonesome” traveler trying to reconnect with his son backed by “haunting music and evocative iconography – billboards, train tracks, desert highways.” On Friday, September 6, at 7 p.m., the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will screen the 4K digital restoration in honor of the film’s 40th anniversary. Paris, Texas will screen a second time on Saturday, September 7, at 7 p.m. and again on Sunday, September 8, at 2 p.m. Tickets to any of the screenings can be purchased here for $7 to $9.
Since graduating from Juilliard in 2018, composer and bass player (and Detroit native) Endea Owens has made quite the splash, from joining The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s house band and appearing at Super Bowl LV with H.E.R. to touring and performing with artists like Wynton Marsalis, Diana Ross, and Solange – not to mention picking up an Emmy and a Grammy, too. On Friday, September 6, at 8 p.m., you can see Owens and her band, The Cookout, when they play Miller Outdoor Theatre, courtesy of DACAMERA. Tickets can be reserved here today, September 5, at 10 a.m., or you can plan to sit on the Hill without a ticket. As always, shows at Miller are free, but if you can’t make it, you can livestream this one on the Miller Outdoor Theatre website, YouTube channel, or Facebook page.
H-Town’s annual celebration of Japanese culture, Japan Festival Houston, will return to Hermann Park this weekend with a full lineup of traditional and contemporary performances of Japanese music, dance and martial arts, as well as food, vendors, and more on Saturday, September 7, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. around the Hermann Park Reflection Pool. The festivities on Saturday will conclude with an 8 p.m. performance by waggaki trio Rin’, who are celebrating their 20th anniversary, at Miller Outdoor Theatre. Tickets for Rin’ can be reserved here starting Friday, September 6, at 10 a.m. Of course, you can always sit on the Hill, where no ticket is required. As always, shows at Miller are free, as is entry to the festival, which will continue on Sunday, September 8, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Miller Outdoor Theatre.
Whether you know her as “Sassy” or “The Divine One,” you certainly know Sarah Vaughan, one of the great jazz singers of all time, with a career that spanned across five decades. On Saturday, September 7, at 7 p.m., celebrate Vaughan’s centenary when Jazz Houston presents Sarah Vaughan at 100! at the Wortham Theater Center. Ekep Nkwelle and the Jazz Houston Orchestra will open the evening with songs from Vaughan’s 1965 bossa nova-influenced album Viva! Vaughan, before headliner (and Grammy winner) Dianne Reeves takes the stage to sing from her own tribute to the great vocalist, the 2001 album The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan. Tickets are available here for $50 to $95, with an optional VIP add-on (including access to a post-concert reception and meet and greet) also available for $150.
Rec Room Arts, which the Houston Press awarded “Best Season” to in this year’s Houston Theater Awards, will be back on stage on Saturday, September 7, at 7:30 p.m. with the opening of Spring Awakening. The Tony Award-winning musical with “alluringly melancholy music” by pop singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater, based on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play, boasts a conceit that is “bold, funny and inviting” in its look at adolescent sexuality. Rec Room’s restaging will feature live musicians in an intimate setting and is directed by Matt Hune, who we named last season’s “Best Artistic Director.” Tickets to the opening night performance are sold out, but additional performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays until September 28. Tickets are available here for $20 to $50.
The new North American tour of Dear Evan Hansen will swing by Houston, courtesy of Theatre Under the Stars, starting on Tuesday, September 10, at 7:30 p.m. over at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. The Tony and Grammy Award-winning show, which The New York Times called a “gorgeous heartbreaker of a musical,” is about “a lonely teenager who inadvertently becomes a social media sensation and a symbol of the kindness that is often cruelly absent in high school hallways.” Additional performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesdays, Thursdays and September 15, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through September 22. Tickets are available here for $34.50 to $143.50.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
