Much Ado About Nothing
Last year’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Pasadena’s Stage Door Inc. was well-received, so it was no surprise the company choose another Shakespearean play for this season. “This year, we chose to go with…[Much Ado About Nothing], and, as the director, I couldn’t be more delighted. says Stage…
The Skin of Our Teeth
Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama The Skin of Our Teeth recounts the story of mankind’s gradual upward spiral. The play fast-tracks the audience ride from the Ice Age through the Great Flood and finally the devastation of war. “Although Wilder published his play in 1942, no one has duplicated the…
Deli Man Movie Examines an Endangered Dining Tradition
According to David Sax, author of Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen, in 1930, there were more than 3,000 Jewish delicatessens in New York City in 1930. In 2009, that number had dwindled to a few dozen. The numbers haven’t…
Rice University Dorm Leader Resigns After Lap Dance Vid Goes Viral
The recently elected student head of a Rice University dormitory has resigned after videos and images of him receiving a lap dance from a stripper during a victory celebration February 20 went viral. The student paper, the Rice Thresher, did not identify the student president, but included an emailed apology…
2015 Oscars Recap: Hate Watch Edition
Nobody likes the Oscars. Maybe that’s too broad an indictment, but if your only sources of feedback on the 87th Academy Awards were social media and blogs, it’s easy to get that impression. 36.6 million people watched the ceremony last Sunday (down 18 percent from last year), and apparently every…
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Kanye
Not to go full Giuliani here, but I too must admit something I feel horrible for saying. I’ve possibly been judging Kanye West’s recent art by one of the worst criteria of all, namely the company he keeps. Specifically, Kim and the Kardashian fold. As hard as West has worked…
Judge Has to Remind HCC That Board Trustees Are Representatives of the Public
As it fought to seal some internal records in a legal fight against its former general counsel, lawyers for Houston Community College trotted out a strange argument in court earlier this month. Along with a swath of internal memos, emails and transcripts HCC wanted to seal or redact, the publicly-funded…
Derrick Rose Out for the Season, NBA Injury Carnage Pileup Continues
Take one look at the NBA standings, and you can tell this has been a weird NBA season. The two teams that are leading their respective conferences are Atlanta in the East and Golden State in the West. Last season, those two teams were their respective conferences’ eight and six…
The FPSF 2015 Lineup Is Right Here
As promised, above you should see the lineup card for this year’s Free Press Summer Fest, scheduled for June 6 and 7 at Eleanor Tinsley Park near downtown. If some of the names are a little difficult to read, we’ll be glad to oblige below…
Bill Calls for Outside Prosecutors to Present Cop-on-Civilian Shootings to Grand Juries
Jordan Baker was riding his bike near a strip mall off 5700 West Little York last January when he encountered Juventino Castro, an HPD officer of over a decade. Castro was moonlighting as a security guard, hired by a group of stores that had recently reported a string of burglaries…
HISD Stands to Lose $17 Million in Federal Funding if Student Success Act Passes
Houston ISD, like urban districts throughout the country, came out swinging Tuesday, saying that it will lose $17 million in Title I grant funds if the so-called Student Success Act passes — a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Act that supporters say will return control of public schools…
Fourth Annual Bento Competition Takes a Look at the “Fifth Flavor”
There were smiles all around as five competitors gathered around two tables in the H-E-B Community Room at Bunker Hill and I-10 to create the most beautiful bentos that they could from the random meats, cheeses and vegetables provided. Competitors had only ten minutes to make a winning bento. Themes…
Texas’s Unknown WWII Prisoner Camp: Jan Jarboe Russell’s The Train to Crystal City
It’s a little known and dark episode in Texas history: the WWII family internment camp in Crystal City, just north of the Mexican border. Thousands of German and Japanese immigrants — and their American-born children — were held in the Crystal City facility, deep in South Texas. Jan Jarboe Russell,…
McConaughey’s Booking Agency Doesn’t Want You to Know How Much UH Is Paying Him
Matthew McConaughey’s celebrity booking agency won’t let the University of Houston disclose how much it’s paying him to deliver the school’s much-anticipated May commencement speech. Due to an unusual confidentiality clause in UH’s contract with Celebrity Talent International, the school can’t release the cost of booking McConaughey without first letting…
Chef Chat: The Pit Masters Russell and Misty Roegels of Roegels Barbecue Co.
Change can be hard, but sometimes it’s for the best. Over the past few decades, you may have noticed or even been to the Baker’s Ribs location at 2223 South Voss between San Felipe and Westheimer. However, if you’ve gone by in the past few months, you may have also…
Podcast: Winners, Awkward Moments and Losers from the 2015 Oscars
There was an awkward moment between Fifty Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson and her mom, Melanie Griffith, on the red carpet before the Oscars on Sunday. But the world got to see Johnson’s impressive talent for pretending uncomfortable situations don’t seem to bother her (see also: Fifty Shades of…
Donna Campbell Struggles to Defend Pointless Alamo Bill
Most people think it’s a good thing the Alamo, the site of the 13 Days of Glory, has been nominated to become a World Heritage Site through the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Considering the deal is expected to bring in lots of money (more than $100…
Jordan Donald Comes to “Lay the Funk on Heavy”
Two years ago, Jordan “Chili Sauce” Donald came to our attention via TSU faculty member Dr. Horace Alexander Young and the great jazz pianist Joe Sample of Crusaders fame. Donald was one of the soloists in Sample’s select orchestra, and even college president John Rudley, an avid jazz fan, mentioned…
A Place to Bury Strangers Brings the Noise
A Place to Bury Strangers is not your father’s shoegaze band. Moreover, labeling them as revivalist shoegazers takes for granted the ingenuity and showmanship of the Brooklyn-based trio’s driving force, Oliver Ackermann. During live performances, he tosses his guitar around like an unwanted toy, generating sounds that disturb and compliment…
James McMurtry’s Different Kind of Fiction
Sitting at the back of a darkened Austin club watching the duo onstage, one listener is a bit restless, clapping briefly but emphatically after every song. He’s also proud as hell. Watching his 24-year-old son Curtis perform isn’t anything new for James McMurtry. But seeing his flesh-and-blood coming into his…
As Promised, Obama Vetoes Bill to Force Keystone XL Pipeline
In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, President Obama today followed through on his promise to veto a Republican-led bill that would have forced approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. It was the first major veto of his presidency. The proposed 1,179-mile pipeline, which would ship some…
Michael Sam Reportedly Slated for Next Season of Dancing With The Stars
Of all the marquee reality television shows, the one that has utilized current and former NFL players to the greatest extent (and it’s really not even that close) is ABC’s Dancing With The Stars. Former NFL standouts Emmitt Smith and Hines Ward are former DWTS champions, and in seasons past,…
Houston’s Rape-Kit Backlog Got 850 Matches in FBI DNA Database
By William Darnell City officials announced Monday that Houston’s massive, decade-spanning rape kit backlog has been eliminated. Mayor Annise Parker, joined at City Hall by Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson and law enforcement officials, said the more than 6,000 previously untested rape kits were now tested and uploaded to…
Five Houstonians Head to Dallas for Master Sommelier Exams
Roughly 600 wine professionals from across the United States applied last year to the Court of Master Sommeliers, said Master Sommelier Jay Fletcher who sits on the court’s board. Five years ago, he noted, that number was closer to 100. The allure of the court, with its coveted pin and…
An Artist’s Exploration of the Crisis in Ukraine Begins by Remembering the Past
Propaganda can kill, and one famous example is the story of The New York Times reporter Walter Duranty who, in 1931, regurgitated Communist propaganda into a series of 13 articles about Joseph Stalin’s rule over the Soviet Union and, in doing so, winning the 1932 Pulitzer Prize. While a misinformed…
Rockets Beat Timberwolves, James Harden Destroys Ricky Rubio (w/ VIDEO)
Starting on Wednesday, over the course of one week, the Rockets will play the Clippers and Cavaliers at home (with a breather against Brooklyn in between), a road game in Atlanta, before coming back home to take on the Memphis Grizzlies. There’s not much arguable about it — that is…
A Preview of Foreign Correspondents Restaurant Coming to Houston
Way back in September 2013, Treadsack, the group behind Down House and D&T Drive Inn, announced that P.J. Stoops would be the chef for Thai restaurant Foreign Correspondents. Seventeen months later, it’s still not open, but the good news is that it’s now only two or three months away. Construction…
Houston Author Kathryn Casey Explores the Texas Killing Fields in Deliver Us
To most of us, I-45 is just another highway. To true crime author Kathryn Casey, it’s a crime scene. A 50-mile stretch of I-45 connects Houston to Galveston. Over the past 40 years, dozens of bodies of young women, mostly teenagers, have been found dumped in the woods that border…
La Bikina in The Woodlands Can’t Decide What Type of Place It Wants to Be
If there’s a “can’t-miss” dish at La Bikina, it’s the molcajete de queso, in which two stubby sticks of Monterey Jack cheese are breaded in crumbled chicharrón (fried pork rinds) and gently placed atop a tangy tomatillo sauce with onion and cilantro. It’s served in a searing molcajete (a footed…
The Last Gladiators: Bronco Riders Earn Their Money the Hard Way, 8 Seconds at a Time
The cowboy climbs atop the bronco and slips his glove-clad hand into the rigging. On his cue, the gate fires open. In the blink of an eye, the bronco transforms into a hurricane with hooves. Man versus beast has begun, and man is armed with nothing. Due in large part…
“The Infinity Machine” Starts the Menil’s Byzantine Fresco Chapel Reinvention
In Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller’s installation “The Infinity Machine,” a cluster of mirrors dangles from the ceiling, slowly rotating in the darkened interior of The Menil Collection’s Byzantine Fresco Chapel. There are oval mirrors, gilt mirrors, beveled mirrors, wall mirrors, hand mirrors, in all shapes and sizes. Some…
Will Texas Finally Ban Shark Fin Trade?
Texas state Rep. Eddie Lucio III has introduced a bill that would ban the sale, trade, purchase and transportation of shark fins in the state, and we’re hoping that his fellow lawmakers will bite. This nasty practice — already banned federally, but full of fun loopholes — could’ve been dealt…
Houston Ballet Unveils Stanton Welch’s Take on Romeo and Juliet
Imagine that you’ve been doing the same choreography by a revered figure in the dance world for a classic ballet with beautiful music for more than two decades. Audiences like it, so why not leave well alone? That makes sense, right? Except that Houston Ballet’s Artistic Director, Stanton Welch, decided…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: Fearless Farmers’ Market Shopping
This hilarious post on drinking in airports by Thrillist is one of the best things they’ve published in recent weeks. (It’s much better than the lame post on the 11 “best” barbecue cities that Houston was somehow left off of. Behind the times much?) The article answers questions like, “Is…
Teen Victim to Teen Madam: Among All the Kids Money Mike Handed $100 Bills For Sex, One Was Charged With a Felony
Cara had just jumped out of the shower, thrown on a T-shirt and plopped down on the couch to finish some homework when she heard someone pounding at the front door. She was stunned by what she saw when she peered out the window: Several uniformed police officers had gathered…
The 5 Side-Scroller Puzzle Games You Must Play at Least Once
Puzzle games are in a renaissance thanks to the mobile market right now, but while things like Candy Crush and its various knockoffs remain insanely popular, there have been some amazing entries into the side-scroller puzzle genre. Not just inventive, head-scratching play but in some cases unforgettable story lines and…
Upcoming: Ankit Tiwari, Gregg Allman, Kid Rock, J. Cole, Sam Smith, Slash, Testament, etc.
8 ½ Souvenirs: With The Jitterbug Vipers., Thu., May 28, 6:30 p.m., Free. Discovery Green Conservancy, 1500 McKinney, Houston, 713-400-7336. ABBA the Concert — A Tribute to ABBA: Fri., May 15, 8:30 p.m., $25 to $45. Arena Theatre, 7326 Southwest Fwy., Houston, 713-988-1020. Allegaeon: With Product of Hate. Sat., April…
The Single Life: Doeman Elevates; Lyric Michelle Gets Personal
What the hell is a mixtape? Before this column goes any further, we need to have a heart-to-heart discussion on what counts as an EP, a mixtape and an album. I’ve long tried to justify getting a full swath of music by length and cost. For example, Drake just gifted…
Jorma Kaukonen Ain’t in No Hurry Anymore
As the quintessential American troubadour, Woody Guthrie recorded hundreds of original songs in addition to his adaptation of traditionals. He performed even more than he recorded, and wrote more than he performed. And that’s still not the end of his musical fountain. Which is how Jorma Kaukonen recently ended up…
Five Apps Music-Loving Houstonians Need
When you are a music aficionado, the Apple vs. Android debate doesn’t matter much so long as you have access to your jams. Since these folks no doubt already have apps like Spotify or Pandora, here are a few unique apps that both rappers and rockers will find intriguing. Whether…
Complaints Over Medical Care Presaged South Texas Prison Riot
In 2007, border patrol officers caught Jesus Manuel Galindo swimming across the Rio Grande to visit family in New Mexico. Charged with and convicted of illegal re-entry to the country, Galindo was ordered to serve 30 months at the Reeves County Detention Center, a sprawling prison complex in Pecos, Texas…
Lights’ Synth-Pop Charms Win Out Over Oscars
Lights Warehouse Live February 22, 2015 At age 27, Lights has already won several Junos, Canada’s equivalent of the Grammys. However, the electronic musician previously known as Valerie Anne Poxleitner is sneakily infiltrating American culture as well as the music scene. Over the weekend, the NFL Combine used the song…
Dress Code Helps Expand Houston Hardcore Scene
While Houston has always maintained a steady roster of hardcore and punk bands to be proud of, there has undoubtedly been a resurgence in the past couple years. The scene now boasts a growing scene of young, interconnected hardcore acts, which have been working to foster a tight community of…
Debbie Riddle’s Pee-Pee Obsession
We can always count on Texas Rep. Debbie Riddle to introduce common-sense and much-needed legislation. Her latest bill would make it a misdemeanor for someone to use a public restroom of the opposite gender, and a state jail felony for a building manager to allow such tomfoolery. As Gritsforbreakfast points…
Vast Majority, MyDolls Bring Houston Punk History to Life
Vast Majority, Pleasure 2, Killer Hearts, MyDolls Walter’s Downtown February 20, 2015 Nowadays, thanks to the Internet, we’re all more or less used to the idea that our wacky teenage hijinks can be recorded for posterity and live on forever. But back in 1979, when Scott Telles and his Bellaire…
A Little Shrimp Makes for a Big Win at Houston Rodeo’s Best Bites Competition
Fledgling restaurant Davis Street at Hermann Park, 5925 Almeda, proved to be a big fish in a big sea of 91 competitors last night when it scored three awards at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Best Bites Competition. More specifically, it was a big shrimp that landed them both…
A Lawyer’s Head Injury Unveils Hidden Artistic Talents
A man walks into a bar, gets hit on the head by a 400-pound camera boom, and emerges almost unscathed. Or so that’s what Patrick Fagerberg thought, after his plans to hear the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark went horribly awry in 2011. “I was at South by Southwest…
MOD (Made on Demand) Pizza in Houston: A Cheap, Good, Fast Option
I visited MOD Pizza at the recommendation of an independent Houston restaurant owner. “It’s actually pretty good!” he said. “I can run in, get a pizza or a salad and get out of there quick for less than ten bucks.” No one knows more about cheap, good, fast food than…
8 Kid’s Books and Movies That Were More Than a Little Intense
People in this country spend their childhoods reading and watching material aimed at their age group, but of course times change. What is considered quality or age appropriate during a certain period of time might not look so great to parents in ensuing generations. Books and films created for kids…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Kipper Club Season 2 Comes to a Close
Monday, February 23 A Burgundy Symphony at Charivari Spec’s fine wine buyer Bear Dalton presents a “symphony” of ten wines from Burgundy “in five movements.” The wines are paired with selections from Charivari chef Johann Schuster. The menu includes pairing two selections each from Domaine Pousse d’Or Volnay Clos des…
WWE Fast Lane PPV Sets Up Big Matches for Wrestlemania 31
We live in an amazing time to be a television watcher, and I’m not just talking about the variety of choices and the flexibility that we have to watch what we want, when we want (via DVR and On Demand). I’m talking about watching what we want, multiple shows, all…
Dish of the Week: Seafood Fra Diavolo
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. This week, we’re covering seafood fra diavolo. Italian for “brother devil,” fra diavolo sauce is a hot-pepper-loaded, tomato-based sauce that is commonly used to…
Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth Speaks of Humankind’s Ability to Go On
The set-up: How much poorer would the American theater be without the riches of Thornton Wilder? A world without Our Town or The Matchmaker is unthinkable. A place without The Skin of Our Teeth (1942) would be darker still. What a unique, spectacular view this play presents. The flip side…
Roosh Williams Is Your New Favorite Rapper
For the first time as long as I’ve known Roosh Williams, he’s late. Actually he’s struggling with finding the building where we’re supposed to meet. When it rains in Houston, things grind to a halt, double when it’s cold. Williams has always looked a bit like a Persian prince, a…
Menu of Menus® and Iron Fork 2015: A New Challenger!
The chef-owner of Roost and Lillo & Ella has won every single Iron Fork competition at Menu of Menus since its inception in 2012. Is he unbeatable? Well, one notable chef doesn’t think so, as he has stepped up to take his turn at trying to remove Kevin Naderi from…
The Worst Kindergarten Homework Assignment Ever
To those of you without kids, this may come as a shock to you but yes, there is homework in kindergarten. It’s really minor stuff, of course, and in my daughter’s case she has all week to do it. I’m talking parent-led reading of extremely simple books with key sight…
Hey, Tilman Fertitta, Let’s Get the UH House in Order Before Bullying the Big 12
It’s a half hour to tipoff and Hofheinz Pavilion is virtually empty of fans. There are a few kids from the UH band, a few fans spaced around the arena here and there and the selected media and game ops folks sitting courtside. But if the attendance tops 100 people,…
Dada Life Took Houston to the Land of Champagne, Bananas & Pillow Fights
After Action Report Performers: Dada Life, Henry Fong, Bixel Boys Location: The Dada Land Compound (Stereo Live) Date: February 20, 2015 Country: Dada Land Population: 2 (Permanent); Millions (Potentially) Chief Imports: Bananas, Champagne Chief Exports: Massive Beats When I was tasked with the assignment of filing a report on a…
The Five Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Bad Suns, Meghan Trainor, Dwarves, etc.
Bad Suns Fitzgerald’s, February 24 Formed all the way back in 2012, Bad Suns is another stylish, dance-friendly act jockeying for whatever fans haven’t yet been gobbled up by Imagine Dragons; perhaps they’re just positioning themselves as potential openers for the “Radioactive” pace-setters’ upcoming arena tour. Either way, the Southern…
Write On: We’re Looking for News Bloggers
Are you inquisitive, relentless and critical? Are you not afraid to pick up the phone or knock on doors to track down sources? Do you love trolling through public records? If your answers to the above questions are yes, yes and hell yes, then we want you. The Houston Press…
Don’t Take U.S. 290 at 610 This Weekend. Just Don’t.
Stay away from U.S. 290 at I-610 this weekend, because the area’s bound to be a big fat steaming mess of an interchange. Starting tonight (9 p.m. to be exact), TxDOT will shut down all lanes on 290 at the 610 interchange. Drivers passing through will have to either hop…
NFL Combine: 5 Things We Learned From Bill O’Brien and Rick Smith
I’ll admit, I am a bit of a press conference junkie, especially with NFL head coaches, the one category of sports personnel who are on a very regimented communication schedule, and from whom many times you can learn as much from what they don’t say as you do from what…
The Sudden Resurrection of Teen Houston Punks Vast Majority
February has been a pretty damn good month for fans of classic Houston punk. A couple weeks back, Jello Biafra’s legendary Alternative Tentacles label reissued practically every note ever recorded by H-Town punk pioneers Really Red, giving record collectors the chance to add stuff like the group’s latter-day Rest in…
Josiah Gabriel’s Infinity Machines Astonish Fitz Crowd
This is what it must have felt like to live during the time when the gift of tongues was dispensed upon Jesus’ apostles. A pentecostal spirit swept through Fitzgerald’s downstairs during Josiah Gabriel’s set Thursday, reducing the history of modern music into 25 minutes. The few people present during his…
7 Things Houstonians Should Give Up for Lent
Whether or not you are a religious practitioner whose faith requires you make certain sacrifices during this part of the church calendar, Lent is a good time in general to take stock of your life and maybe put aside a few nasty habits, at least for a few weeks. Think…
Drake Drops May 17 Arena Theatre Date
Let us, for a moment, put our dreams of a Drake and Kanye album away for a moment; here in Houston we have bigger Drake news to deal with. Out of nowhere, much like his new mixtape, comes news that Drake is hitting the circular stage at the Arena Theatre,…
Rep. Coleman: Stand Your Ground Law “Sanctions the Targeting of Young Black Men”
In a session that’s been heavily punctuated by the antics of the die-hard, open-carrying Second Amendment crowd, Houston State Rep. Garnet Coleman wants to tighten the law governing when Texans can legally shoot to kill in self-defense. Needless to say, it will be an uphill battle…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: The DUFF
Title: The DUFF Ugly *And* Fat? Are Both Required? I’m led to understand it can be either, or, or even none of the above. Outrageous. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three Duffmans (Duffmen?) out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Allegedly unattractive high school student has the improbable…
OG Bobby Trill Starts From Scratch for Thre3style Set
To know Rosbel Hinojosa is to know a real vato. Someone who will sit down with you and talk about life and family and food and music, all while making you cry of laughter due to the crazy impressions and stories that stem from his comedic arsenal. You will also…
Painting in the Texas Tradition: Contemporary Texas Regionalism
The Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts takes its visitors on a journey exploring Texas’ land- and cityscapes, wildlife, and home-life in Painting in the Texas Tradition: Contemporary Texas Regionalism. Produced in collaboration with the William Reaves Fine Art gallery, this exhibition features work from 15 of the state’s most…
NBA Trade Deadline: 4 Winners, 4 Losers
It was calm for a while yesterday, and it looked, even up until around lunchtime, like the NBA trade deadline was just gonna be a big nothing. And then Portland traded for Aaron Afflalo, and the floodgates opened up. By the time it was all said and done, 37 players…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Celebrate National Margarita Day
Chinese New Year @ STRAITS Restaurant Friday – Sunday 800 Sorella STRAITS will be celebrating the Chinese New Year all weekend long, as Chef John Sikhattana has created a unique and modern menu. Feast on “Fertility & Long Life”, a roasted duck, bamboo and bean thread noodle dish; the “New…
The 3 Most Out-There Full House Fan Theories
When I was growing up, the adventures of Danny Tanner and his enormous blended family on Full House were my jam…which probably explains why I as a 33-year-old man am still calling things my jam. If aliens landed tomorrow and demanded I explain the appeal of Full House to them…
9 Hazards That Come With Parking in Houston
There’s only one thing worse than driving in Houston, and it’s parking in Houston. It’s bad enough that we have to weave our way through a million cars every day, but then we have to locate a place to park and hope it isn’t ten blocks away from our destination…
Book Examines Crucial Partnerships of James Madison, the “Lost” Founding Father
Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America By David O. Stewart 433 pp. $28 Simon and Schuster As the jacket flap for this book notes, its subject was “Short, plain, balding, neither soldier nor orator, low on charisma and high on intelligence. [He] cared more about achieving results than taking…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: A Special Charity Beer Dinner With Two of Houston’s Best
13 Celsius, 3000 Caroline, will be welcoming Markus Hubert, 10th generation winemaker and owner of Hubert Vineyards, on Monday, February 23 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.. Hubert will be pouring his wines, sharing his family history of winemaking, and enlightening guests on the process of making wine in the…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Events: The (Mostly) Dance Edition
Music by Stevie Wonder and Prince isn’t commonly used for ballet scores, but Complexions Contemporary Ballet isn’t interested in what’s common. Led by Co-Artistic Directors/Founders Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden, the company comes to Houston for a one-night three-act performance on Friday. The program includes Innervisions, an upbeat modern dance…
Daryl Hall & John Oates Still Making Their Dreams Come True
It was a special opportunity for Houston fans of Hall & Oates last year when the recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees played the intimate Arena Theatre. Making the evening more special, concertgoers were spared the sight of John Oates being smothered by a large, um, enthusiastic Asian…
Rice Owls Begin to Soar
There’s a minute left in overtime and the Rice Owls trail visiting UAB by seven points. The game should be over. In years past, the game would be over. In years past, this game would have been over five minutes into the second half, the point in which Rice’s 12-point…
Openings & Closings: Montrose, How Much Mexican Food Can You Eat?
Well, this was surprising. A press release from Roland Laurenzo that came out on Wednesday, February 18 says that there’s a delay in the construction of the new apartments that were replacing El Tiempo 1308 Cantina. The release reads (and yes, it’s really in all caps): “1308 WILL BE STAYING…
Houston’s 10 Best All-Ages Music Venues
We can all remember back to a time when we were under 21 years of age, ready to go out on a Friday night with friends. But where to go? Long ago, back when the Earth was flat, there was not much to do besides driving around all night or…
Sammie Relford Gives It One More Shot
Sammie Relford is making another comeback. The soul singer once enjoyed a long run as one of Houston’s most recognizable and popular entertainers, drawing comparisons to past R&B greats from James Brown to Luther Vandross. Some of those were self-anointed, perhaps, but Sammie also had the crowds to back them…
The 10 Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: Grand Old Grizzly, Big Sandy, Lights, etc.
Grand Old Grizzly Fitzgerald’s, February 20 Not to be mistaken for their neighbors in the Grizzly Band — a forgivable mistake, to be sure — Grand Old Grizzly has modestly established themselves as one of Houston’s top roots-rock units in the past few years. Drawing on familiar sources from Tom…
UPDATED Gay Marriage Has Finally Hit Texas (Sort of)
Update 4:15 p.m.: Attorney General Ken Paxton isn’t too happy Texas saw its first legal gay marriage this morning. Upon receiving the news that Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant obtained a marriage license and exchanged vows at the Travis County Clerk’s Office, Paxton got the state Supreme Court to block…
Texas Has Quite Literally Run Out of Places to House Violent Sexual Predators
According to the head of the bluntly named Office of Violent Sex Offender Management, the agency has run out of room to house the worst of the worst sex offenders who have been sent to the state’s controversial civil commitment program. At least two convicts are currently finishing their sentences…
Renowned Mariachi Gabriel Solis Croons at Numbers Tonight
Don’t look now, but local singer and promoter Eddie de las Casas has pulled off a major coup in bringing internationally famous Mexican mariachi singer Gabriel Solis to town tonight. Usually an artist of Solis’s fame and drawing power would probably play one of the larger Latino clubs in town…
NBA Trade Deadline Countdown: Can Daryl Morey Keep His Streak Alive?
Today is the day, the day when NBA contenders will take one last shot at reshaping or retooling their rosters for a stretch run, and the day when NBA afterthoughts stockpile a few more first- and second-round draft picks that they will inevitably screw up come June of whatever year…
Feminism in Comics: How Wonder Woman, Lois Lane & Other Females Have Fared Over the Years
According to Houston’s Taryn M. Gray, writer Brian Azzarello who just finished a 35-issue run of Wonder Woman, was successful because, “He didn’t focus on the fact that she was a woman. For 35 issues, it was just her being her and not using her body to sell the point…
Boyhood: The Most Boring Oscar-Worthy Film of the Year
Last week, Screen Junkies posted a hilarious trailer for Boyhood, likening the Oscar frontrunner to the Harry Potter franchise but “without a plot or magic or fun.” The slow-moving indie film isn’t for everyone, but it’s nonetheless in a tight race for Best Picture, its 12-years-in-the-making premise up against the…
Local Judge Brings Veteran Punks to Play for the Pooches
It only takes a few minutes of phone time with Judge Michael Schneider of the 315th District Juvenile Court to get the feeling that here is a public official who is genuinely trying to make a difference. This Friday the judge plays host to a benefit for Friends of B.A.R.C…
Houston Will Get Its First Bicycle Master Plan in 20 Years
While the death of Chelsea Norman — hit by a driver in Montrose while biking home from her Whole Foods job and left to die in the street — helped raise awareness about the pitiful state of bike safety in Houston, bicyclists keep getting hit by cars here. At least…
Five Reasons Why Fox’s Empire Has Become a Breakout Hit
Empire most certainly wasn’t built in a day, but its reputation as a breakout hit has been made in virtually no time at all. Since the series debuted six weeks ago, every episode has drawn more viewers than the one before it. Buoyed by positive reviews and especially word of…
Chef Chat — The Pit Masters Part 2: Will & Nichole Buckman of CorkScrew BBQ
As we learned in Part 1 of our Chef Chat yesterday, It takes time to build a barbecue operation. CorkScrew BBQ consists of two trailers. The original is nicknamed “Baby” and the big, shiny, black metal one with the hot pink CorkScrew logo is called “Mama.” There’s a smokehouse as…
Hashtags Are Officially #Over. So Now What?
PREVIOUSLY: Why #Hashtags Are So Damned Irresistible to Record Companies This social sphere of readily available media makes it easier for artists to reach their fans on a whole new level, but it also makes those fans able to reach other things with just the click of a button which…
Taking Back Sunday Confronts the Future “Kicking and Screaming”
Tonight Taking Back Sunday will grace the stage at House of Blues. Unlike their retrospective jaunt two years ago in celebration of their classic 2002 album Tell All Your Friends, this is in honor of the re-release of their newest album, Happiness Is. Though many might view them through the…
Outcasts, Be More Pretty!
Shove off, John Hughes. The DUFF, a high school comedy by Ari Sandel, opens by declaring that The Breakfast Club’s social categories are, like, way passé. Explains lead Bianca (Mae Whitman), “Jocks play video games, princesses are on antidepressants and geeks rule the world.” Today, be ye goth kid, science…
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 Is a Tepid Sequel
Five years ago, four losers passed out in a jacuzzi, boiled back to 1986, healed their past wounds, rocked out to Poison and returned to their timeline as gods. Thusly, Hot Tub Time Machine director Steve Pink was hailed as a minor deity: He’d taken a dumber-than-huffing-hairspray premise and made…
Art Crowd Party
Hipsters and art lovers start their weekend off with the new version of “taking in a show,” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Art Crowd Party. The party features a private viewing of the “Line: Making the Mark” exhibit, casual chats with MFAH Curatorial Assistant Lauren Rosenblum, cocktails, light…
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Music by Stevie Wonder and Prince isn’t commonly used for ballet scores, but Complexions Contemporary Ballet isn’t interested in what’s common. Led by Co-Artistic Directors/Founders Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden, the company comes to Houston for a one-night three-act performance. The program includes Innervisions, an upbeat modern dance tribute to…
Houston Burlesque Festival
Last year marked the inaugural Houston Burlesque Festival, the first of its kind in Houston. The event drew more than 1,000 fans to the House of Blues. This year’s event expands beyond performances to include burlesque classes and merchandise. The Friday night kickoff party features Missy Lisa, Midnight Joy, Pelvis…
13th Annual Dance Houston Festival
Three of Houston’s most esteemed choreographers — Jane Weiner, Dominic Walsh and Leslie Scates — are working as “advisers” with local companies for the 13th Annual Dance Houston Festival. Walsh is working with the modern dance company Freneticore and Indian dance group Nritya Dance Company. “I’m not actually giving anyone…
Shawn and Marlon Wayans
Nothing’s off the table when it comes to comedy for Marlon Wayans. Rape? 9/11? Murder? “Those all sound like pretty funny topics to me,” he says flatly during a recent conversation with us. One half of the bill for the Shawn and Marlon Wayans weekend run in Houston, Marlon tells…
River Oaks Chamber Orchestra: Six Degrees of Tolstoy
Here’s a complicated lineage — a Beethoven sonata that inspired a Tolstoy novel that inspired a string quartet. Is there a recognizable relationship between the sonata and the string quartet? River Oaks Chamber Orchestra lets you answer that question for yourself at Six Degrees of Tolstoy, an unusual performance that…
Graf Conducts Schumann
Hans Graf, Houston Symphony conductor laureate, embraces the wide variety of classical music. “If you are Russian, you shouldn’t only play Tchaikovsky’s music,” Graf said. “The world is much too international for that.” Former music director Graf returns to Houston for a night of German and French works, including Hindemith’s…
Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity
Men and women suited in athletic gear, harnessed and strapped to machines traversing through space at frightening speeds — each a real life Icarus ignoring the advice of the gods and attempting to defy gravity. Their opponent is basic physics. They dodge swinging cement blocks and slam into any surface…
2014/2015 Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series: Mary Szybist and Kevin Young
A pair of America’s best young poets take the stage at the latest installment of the 2014/2015 Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, Mary Szybist and Kevin Young. Szybist is the author of Incarnadine, which won the 2013 National Book Award, was named to Publishers Weekly’s list of the top five…
River Oaks Theatre Special Presentation – Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen: The Duchess of Malfi
The widowed Duchess of Malfi wants to marry Antonio. But her family’s strongly opposed to the marriage. When they discover that the Duchess and Antonio have married in secret and that she’s pregnant, they launch a ruthless plan of revenge. Gemma Arterton appears as the Duchess. This performance, broadcast from…
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
When we heard that Bayou City Theatrics was taking a “modern approach to casting” for a play set in ancient Rome, we were intrigued, and challenged Luke Hamilton, BCT resident choreographer, who also appears as Hero in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, to explain the…
I Cheated on My Man to Get Even. Help!
Welcome to Ask Willie D, Rocks Off’s advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, “funny, serious or unpredictable.” Something on your mind? Ask Willie D! FEELING GUILTY ABOUT EARNING MONEY FROM SELLING DAUGHTER’S CLOTHES Dear Willie D: My daughter has moved…
FPSF’s Journey From Crazy Idea to Civic Institution
We tried our best to come up a question for Omar Afra that was a clever play on “seven year itch,” but failed miserably. It’s just as well — the co-founder and producer of Free Press Summer Fest says he wasn’t thinking in those terms anyway. According to Afra, the…
In McFarland, USA, Kevin Costner Eases White America Into the Now
American Sniper notwithstanding, the first fresh multiplex trend to emerge in 2015 is Old White Dudes Learning How to Share Their World. First came Kevin Costner in the sour Black or White, playing a coot who discovers that black folks love their kids, too, even in South Los Angeles. Who…
Capsule Stage Reviews: February 19, 2015
The Blackest Shore Catastrophic Theatre brings the work of New York-based up-and-coming playwright Mark Schulz to us twice this season. Closing out the year is Schultz’s play Everything Will Be Different: A Brief History of Helen of Troy, a show about teen girl anguish. On offer now is the premiere…
Capsule Art Reviews: February 19, 2015
“Mel Chin: Rematch” For the next few months, Houston-born and raised Mel Chin will be taking up practically the whole art atmosphere of the city with his 40-year retrospective. It’s a progressive art feast so big that it takes four museums to hold it all. And as a special treat…
The Last Five Years Soars Even as It Loses Sight of Its Source
Here at last is peak Kendrick: In intimate long takes and in comic montage, she belts, hurts, swoons and rages, always remaining appealingly human. You can tell, when Anna Kendrick scraps for her big notes, that she’s not a natural, that she’s working hard, that she’s living a dream. All…
