Houston audiences get to preview a staged reading of the sci-fi drama Pilgrims, by Claire Kiechel (Lulu Is Hungry and Some Dark Places of the Earth), before it premieres in Chicago at The Gift Theatre in June.
Photo of Claire Kiechel courtesy of Alley Theatre
Alley Theatre
7:30 p.m. Monday, free
These are not the pilgrims found in Thanksgiving lore. In this sci-fi drama, playwright Claire Kiechel quarantines a teenage girl and a soldier in close quarters on a spacecraft headed to a newly discovered planet. The complex characters reflect America's own journey and the predicament of perhaps never changing and moving on from our country's past. The 90-minute reading, directed by Alley Resident Assistant Director Brandon Weinbrenner and including Alley Resident Company members Melissa Pritchett and Jay Sullivan as well as Houston actor Melissa Molano, will be followed by a post-performance conversation with Kiechel led by Elizabeth Frankel. Reservations are recommended.
In 2005, A Raisin in the Sun was selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry, alongside other American films deemed to be “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”
Photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
7 to 9:30 p.m. Monday, $7 to $9
Mayor Sylvester Turner joins a very long list of Houstonians who have selected a favorite flick to screen at MFAH. He'll be in attendance Monday night to introduce this 1961 film about an African-American family in Chicago in search of the American dream, in spite of experiencing resistance from their white neighbors. Director Daniel Petrie was recognized at Cannes, but it's the words of playwright and screenwriter Lorraine Hansberry that ensure a place in history for this classic gem. Stars Sidney Poitier as the ambitious son and Claudia McNeil as the widow who wants to relocate.
Ed Wood wrote and directed Plan 9 From Outer Space, a horror/sci-fi flick about aliens transforming dead humans into zombies and vampires to try to stop humanity from creating a sun-driven bomb.
Photo courtesy of Misnomers
Rec Room
8 to 9 p.m. Monday, $10
Edward Davis Wood Jr. was crowned, postmortem, the world's worst director. But taste is subjective, and this complex and prolific filmmaker is perhaps best known for penning Glen or Glenda, Bride of the Monster, Jail Bait and the sci-fi drama Plan 9 from Outer Space. Come on down to the Rec Room for a staged reading of this classic 1959 film about space aliens resurrecting the dead so that they can conquer Planet Earth, though we're not sure an army of zombies and vampires is the best way to go.
What will you discover at Avenida Houston, H-Town's newest dining, entertainment and arts district, nestled in the shadow of GRB and Discovery Green? We might just see ice carving this Tuesday night.
Photo by Katya Horner
Avenida Houston
7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, free
What is Avenida Houston? Long story short, it's H-Town's newest dining, entertainment and arts district, a promenade of sorts framed by George R. Brown Convention Center, Discovery Green and a pair of swanky, posh hotels (Hilton Americas-Houston and Marriott Marquis). Come out each Tuesday, March 14-May 30, to see a rotating lineup of art performances, including ice carving and live painting.
Owen Laukkanen divides his time between Vancouver and Prince Edward Island, Canada, but he'll venture down to the Bayou City this Wednesday to sign copies of The Forgotten Girls, as well as his YA book, The Fixes, written under Owen Matthews.
© Author photo by Berni Huber
Murder By The Book
6:30 p.m. Wednesday, free
It's a three-for-one special over at our favorite indie bookseller of all things crime- and murder-related. Novelist David Joy (Where All Light Tends to Go) will discuss and sign copies of The Weight of This World; and former professional poker journalist Owen Laukkanen (The Watcher in the Wall) will talk about The Forgotten Girls, a suspenseful crime drama in which agents Stevens and Windermere turn their efforts to victims no one has ever cared about. Joining them is New York Times bestselling author Chevy Stevens (Still Missing), who will sign copies of Never Let You Go.
