This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Thursday, June 26
It must be a bitch to work as a casting director. You sit on your ass all day
while beautiful people parade before you, seeking your approval. The job does
require a little skill, though, because there’s an art to picking out which beautiful
person outshines — and out-acts — the others. Today, Women in Film and Television
presents Casting from Both Sides, a class for both people who want to cast
and those who want to be cast. For a brief moment, as both groups receive instruction
from veteran casting directors Liz Keigley and Dolores Jackson, they’ll be comrades.
6 p.m. mixer; 7 p.m. program. Doubletree Guest Suites, 5353 Westheimer. For information,
call 713-961-5000 or visit www.wift-houston.org.
$10.

Friday, June 27
Wish you had a little extra cash? Here’s an idea: Bet what you do have on a
horse race. Then sit back and — voilà! — the dough will
multiply. Just make sure you pick the winning horse. Today live American
quarter horse racing returns to Sam Houston Race Park. If you screw up and
lose your cash, Jerry Jeff Walker will comfort you with the soothing sounds
of “Sangria Wine,” “Mr. Bojangles” and “Leavin’ Texas.” And the kind folks at
Jiffy Lube will give you a free concert T-shirt. 5:30 p.m. gates open; 7 p.m.
races; 10:30 p.m. concert. Sam Houston Race Park, 7575 North Sam Houston Parkway
West. For information, call 281-807-RACE or visit www.shrp.com.
$3.

Saturday, June 28
Give it up for Slainte — the bar’s got spirit. After closing last year thanks
to the construction on Main Street, the Irish pub’s doors are open again, and
tonight there will be a grand opening blowout to celebrate. Downstairs
entertainment includes strolling bagpiper Tom O’Brien and the Celtic trio the
Remnants. Upstairs, the Patrick Devlin Band will be performing traditional Irish
songs and some U2 (surprise, surprise). There will also be an Irish market,
with “Irish wares,” whatever those are. But best of all, throughout the evening,
they’re going to be filming an episode of ExTreme Dating. You can watch
people with flat stomachs ham it up for the camera. If you’re lucky, the guys
might take their shirts off while dancing, which, for some unfathomable reason,
dudes on those shows are wont to do. 7 p.m. until closing. 509 Main. For information,
call 713-222-1033. If you wear a kilt or an “Irish maiden outfit,” you’ll get
a free pint.

Sunday, June 29
It’s always nice to see a play that reams snotty, upper-crust bitches. You get
to simultaneously look down on a group of people and immerse yourself in their
gilded world. Of her play The Women, which opened on Broadway
in 1936, Clare Boothe Luce once said, “The women who inspired this play deserved
to be smacked across the head with a meat ax, and that, I flatter myself, is
exactly what I smacked them with.” With not a male in the cast, the work centers
around the lives of wealthy New York wives and divorcées. Luce knew her
subject; after all, before becoming a lecturer on women’s rights, ambassador
to Italy, congresswoman, author and war correspondent, she married George Brokaw,
a wealthy New York clothing manufacturer. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays
and Saturdays (no shows June 27 or July 4); and 3 p.m. Sundays through July
27. Main Street Theater, 2540 Times Boulevard. For information, call 713-524-6706
or visit www.mainstreettheater.com.
$13 to $30; today’s performance is pay-what-you-will.

Monday, June 30
If you’ve got to watch your pennies these days, you’re not alone. Rather than
giving up going out completely, though, why not look for places with deals?
Today, chase those pesky Mondays away at Live Sports Cafe. There’s free
pool all night, which can make a real difference. Think about it: five pool
games, $5. And $5 can get you a couple of beverages on a Monday at Live Sports.
From 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., the bar has $6 domestic pitchers, $2 domestic draft beers
and $2 call drinks. The only problem: If you’re on the prowl, chances are you’re
gonna meet a cheapskate. 11 a.m. to midnight. Live Sports Cafe, 407 Main. For
information, call 713-228-5483 or visit www.livesportscafe.com.

Tuesday, July 1
If you didn’t know that today was International Elvis Meet-up Day, well,
you must be hopelessly out of the loop. Actually, there are 12 Elvis meet-up
days per year, on the first Tuesday of every month. The Asian Worldwide Elvis
Fan Club is marking the occasion with an event at Central Market Cafe. There
will be an Elvis memorabilia display, an Elvis fashion show and a name-that-tune
contest. Maybe they’ll get creative with the contest, eschewing your “Love Me
Tender”s and “Teddy Bear”s for something a little more interesting. Here’s the
best Elvis line ever: “But we’ve yet to taste the icing on the cake that we’ve
been baking with the past.” Anyone? Anyone? 7 p.m. Central Market Cafe, 3815
Westheimer. For information, call 281-589-8133 or visit www.elvisworldwide.com.
Free.

Wednesday, July 2
John Hejduk was an architect and an artist, all rolled into one. Most of the
buildings he imagined weren’t meant to be constructed; they were theoretical.
During his last 20 years, Hejduk created what he called “architectural masques”
— works that combined architecture with painting and told stories. Menil curator
K. Michael Hays says Hejduk “returned architecture to an overtly spiritual function.”
His final works “present a reduction of form and an intensity of emotion beyond
which architecture cannot go.” Some of his buildings seem to have hair, beaks,
eyes and legs. Others include theaters, periscopes, traps, chapels and labyrinths.
All demonstrate Hejduk’s belief in architecture as a spiritual refuge. “Sanctuaries:
The Late Works of John Hejduk“ is on view through August 31 at the
Menil Collection, 1515 Sul Ross. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.
For information, call 713-525-9400 or visit www.menil.org.
Free.