Fourth Wall Theatre Company Reads Women’s Voices at Spring Street Studio
There’s no staging, no costumes, no sets. Just five directors and 30 actors reading their hearts out. The works of five female playwrights, including Theresa Rebeck who’s been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, will be read at Spring Street Studios over an 11-day period. It’s the inaugural play reading festival…
Stirred and Shaken: Weights + Measures’ That’s What She Said
I first heard those four annoying words — that’s what she said — spoken aloud while working back of house at a lowcountry restaurant during graduate school. I believe it was our top-earning server, a guy everybody just called by his last name, Condetti, who first uttered them. Usually Condetti…
Ten Things to Do in Houston for $10 or Less (Eight Free), March 2-8
Spring technically doesn’t start until March 20, but The Old Farmer’s Almanac-purists aside, the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having sure gives us spring fever. Get out and get going because we’ve got a couple of outdoor fests that celebrate Texas and our diverse culture, a 101 class on biking,…
Houston Chefs’ Favorite Vietnamese Restaurants
Cultural diversity shines in Houston, especially in the food scene. One genre that is very well represented is Vietnamese cuisine. Readers ask all the time which restaurant serves the best Vietnamese food, but it’s a question that can’t easily be justified with one answer. Restaurants can be known for great…
Black Hill Meats, a Local Tradition of Butchery
Ritual’s surf and turf features a cut of pork it calls “poorman’s porchetta” presented with rice grits and greens and topped with oyster, shrimp and a deep, but loose gravy. Cutting into the porchetta, back in December when I reviewed the restaurant, I noticed the dark coloring in the meat and…
The 10 Best New Happy Hours in Houston
Fact: Houstonians enjoy adult beverages, especially when said adult beverages are paired with tasty bar bites at happy hour pricing. There is no shortage of happy hour spots dotting the city, and with the influx of new restaurants also dotting the city, we thought we’d bring you a list of…
21 Best Things to Do in Houston This Week: Elvis Tribute and Bobby Lee From MADtv
Tuesday, February 28 Artist Diana Thater’s The Starry Messenger is a nine-monitor video installation of the ever-shifting and evolving Milky Way. It was filmed at Griffith Observatory Planetarium in Los Angeles and shot from below the massive Zeiss star projector, and it’s on view for the next year at the…
This Week in Houston Food Events: It’s BBQ Time
From Fat Tuesday celebrations to the HLSR’s kick-off barbecue competition, here’s a look at this week’s hottest culinary happenings: Weekly through May Throwback specials at La Vista La Vista, 1936 Fountainview, will close its Briargrove location and reopen elsewhere in May. Each month leading up to the closing, Gordon will…
The King and I: Singing, Dancing and Acting in a 45-Pound Dress
Despite being reluctant to go out on the road with all the rigors that can often be involved, actress Laura Michelle Kelly decided to join the national tour of The King and I for two reasons: the show itself and for the chance to work with director Bartlett Sher, a…
Top Mexican Cookies in Houston
While walking through a Mexican bakery generally yields a chaotic sensory experience of breads, cakes, pastries and cookies of all shapes, colors and sizes, the essence of most Mexican pan dulce can be boiled down to just a few basic doughs. There’s a yeasty, faintly sweet and rather dry pastry…
Meat Madness
It’s the last few days before Lent, which, as you may or may not know, is a religious observance that starts on Ash Wednesday, March 1 and lasts for six weeks. During this time many observers will be giving up certain luxuries— meat, in particular. So this weekend is the…
As Taboo‘s Finale Looms, a Celebration of Tom Hardy’s Mumbly, Mystical Powers
If you’ve grown weary of the Don Drapers and Walter Whites of the world, don’t expect James Keziah Delaney to make a strong first impression. Taboo’s antihero, played with signature laconicism by Tom Hardy, is another difficult man for this golden age of TV — and, as fate would have…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: The 1st Annual Heights Crawfish Cook Off
From a White Oak pub crawl to a crawfish throwdown, here’s a look at this weekend’s best culinary happenings: Levy Park Grand Opening Event at Levy Park Conservancy Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. 3801 Eastside Levy Park will be celebrating in its grand reopening celebration with live music, food…
LA LA LA(nd) I CAN’T HEAR YOU: Your 89th Academy Award Predictions
About the only good thing you can say about 2016 is: The movies were pretty damn good. So good, in fact, that several of the best weren’t even nominated for the top award at this Sunday’s 89th Academy Awards ceremony. Nine films were nominated for this year’s Best Picture slate,…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Oyster Month and a New Hopdoddy
Mark your calendars, because you don’t want to miss these deliciously fun culinary happenings, from a whole hog butchery demo to a Taste of Italy: H-E-B has launched its 2017 H-E-B Primo Picks: Quest for Texas Best statewide competition — in which local food and beverage innovators are invited to…
Milo Yiannopoulos Was Only Famous Because of GamerGate
Over the weekend Milo Yiannopoulus suffered a fall from grace. After footage of him condoning sexual relationships between men and boys (which, by the by, those of us who have been following him for a while knew about more than a year ago and everyone needs to send a thank…
Openings & Closings: Hello, Daddy-O’s
Daddy-O’s Pizza at 861 Dairy Ashford soft opened on February 16 and throughout the weekend. Pizza fans in the Memorial area have been anxiously awaiting this opening since November 2016. The family-owned and operated pizza chain has been in business since 1995. According to its site, the New York inspired…
The Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Jazz and Performance Art
What do you have planned for the weekend? If you aren’t already locked in, that’s okay because there is still time to grab a pair of tickets and check out one of these buzz-generating performances. The weather is working with you, not against you, so grab your coat for the…
If I Were Famous: Torpedoed Heart’s Nicole Starch
Our favorite local musicians contemplate being outrageously famous.
Six Observations on the Houston Rockets 2017 Home Stretch
As we head into the back end of the NBA regular season schedule, the Houston Rockets sit in third place in the Western Conference. More importantly in the big picture, they sit as the most NBA’s confounding potential contender come playoff time. In other words, we kind of know who…
Four Casual New Restaurants for the Weekend
The weekend is fast approaching, and that means more time to eat out. Maybe you’re hoping to seek out a seat at one of the best new spots in town. Perhaps carve out a new favorite eatery or two? It’s definitely hard to keep track of all the new restaurants…
Why a Recent Rise in Nativist Xenophobia Is So Troubling in a Nation of Immigrants
Some of the earliest memories I have from childhood involve learning about my family’s origins before they’d come to America. I was told I was “half German and half Irish” from my mother’s side, with Czech from my dad’s. This seemed like a perfectly normal way to conceptualize my family’s…
How and Where to Eat Hot Pot in Houston
Hot Pot is a family style of dining that consists of a metal pot of flavored broth at the center of the table, kept simmering on a hot plate throughout the meal. Having originated over 1,000 years ago in Mongolia, today variations of hot pot exist all over East and…
Texas Lawmakers Propose New Voter ID Law
After the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found Texas’s restrictive voter ID law to be unconstitutional and discriminatory against minorities, Texas lawmakers are proposing a new law to bring the state in line with the federal judges’ ruling. The bill, SB5, filed by Senator Joan Huffman, would resemble the temporary…
Dallas’s Power Trip Return to Walters With a New Nightmare to Share
Texas’ top hardcore export returns to Walter’s Downtown to debut a ripping new record.
More Troubling Accusations Against Houston Humane Society Director
An animal cruelty investigator for the Houston Humane Society has quit after accusing the shelter’s director of denying jobs to black applicants, spewing racist epithets, bullying coworkers and being an all-around jerk. Joe Guerra, who is also a retired deputy constable, filed his complaint in December, claiming that shelter director…
Eight Original-Song Oscar Snubs That Really Hurt
Some of these songs deserved to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. But none of them were even nominated.
ICE Police Are Hunting Hispanics. Help!
What’s on your mind? What isn’t? Ask Willie D!
Say Good-bye to Crave Sushi, Shuttering in Midtown This Weekend
Midtown’s eight-year-old sushi spot Crave will be closing its doors at 2900 Travis this Saturday, February 25, at 10:30 p.m. The restaurant revealed the shutter via a Facebook post on Februarly 17, and notes that employees are currently being assisted in finding new jobs. Apparently there are plans for the business…
Thousands Flock to Mardi Gras Celebrations in Galveston
Galveston kicked off its 12-day Mardi Gras celebration over the weekend as thousands of revelers flocked to the island for beads, drinks and parades. The first weekend featured the Funky Uptown Umbrella Brigade Parade, Galveston Pride Parade, Mystic Krewe of Aquarius Kick-Off Parade, Zaniest Golf Cart Parade, Art Car Parade…
Supreme Court Gives Duane Buck a New Chance to Appeal His Death Sentence
Duane Buck has long argued that a Harris County jury sentenced him to death by lethal injection partly due to racial prejudice after a psychologist called by his own attorney testified that Buck was more likely to commit more violent crimes because he is black. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court…
For TSU’s Men’s Basketball Team, NCAA Hopes Demand Perfection
The NCAA Tournament formula for TSU was simple: schedule difficult out-of-conference games to raise the RPI, win every game in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and then win the SWAC tournament. Accomplish that, and the thinking was, the Tigers wouldn’t just get into the tournament, but they would get to bypass…
Sheriff Gonzalez Cuts Controversial Immigration Program Helping With Deportations
Following through on a campaign promise, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez has severed a controversial partnership with federal immigration officials that facilitated deportations, the sheriff’s office announced Wednesday. Costing taxpayers roughly $675,000 per year, the program, known as 287(g), assigned ten sheriff’s deputies to work within the Harris County Jail…
Five Hidden Gems in Spring
Spring is a growing community that has a variety of food options ranging from chains to local mom and pop cafes. The Houston Press went out to Spring and five ‘Hidden Gems” that are loved by the locals.
Federal Judge Blocks Texas from Defunding Planned Parenthood
Texas will not be allowed to kick Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks enjoined the state from defunding Planned Parenthood Tuesday evening, saying the state had not presented “even a scintilla of evidence” that Planned Parenthood had violated any medical or ethical…
It’s Mardi Gras Time! Here’s Where to Celebrate Fat Tuesday in Houston
Laissez les bons temps rouler (let the good times roll)! Fat Tuesday, a guilt-free day of excess before the Lenten season officially begins, is right around the corner (on Tuesday, February 28). To celebrate, these Houston hotspots are ready to throw down. From extravagant feasts to fun-filled fêtes, here’s where…
The Top 10 NFL Free Agent Quarterbacks, Playing “Six Degrees of Bill O’Brien”
If you’re familiar with Kevin Bacon, then surely you’ve heard of the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” but in case you have not, here’s how it goes (courtesy of Wikipedia): Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is a parlour game based on the “six degrees of separation” concept, which posits…
5 Douchebags That Show Up in Every Sexual Harassment Story
One of the blogs making the viral rounds lately is Susan J. Fowler’s tale of the sexual harassment she endured working at Uber and the company’s totally scumbag way of handling it. It’s a gripping, if unfortunately common, read, and being that it has somewhat exploded it has contracted a…
I Like That My Anti-Nazi Pin Makes People Uncomfortable
It was shortly after prominent Nazi Richard Spencer got punched in the face during the inauguration of Donald Trump that I dug out my old anti-Nazi pin and started wearing it every day. I put it on automatically, the way I put on my wedding ring and my Livestrong bracelet…
Beer and Loathing at Mardi Gras! Galveston
Outside the rain comes down in thick, sideways sheets, and I can barely see anything besides RVs lining the seawall and barbecue rigs abandoned to the elements. Beyond them the Gulf is barely detectable, except that it roils like a washing machine and is potentially full of what my friend…
Refusing to Watch LGBT Video, Houston Judge Sues Employer for Religious Discrimination
While some florists and bakers have refused to serve gay couples in the name of “religious freedom,” an administrative social security judge in Houston is taking that argument to a whole new level. Judge Gary Suttles has refused to watch a 17-minute LGBT diversity training video, which gives all federal…
Does SXSW Music (the Festival) Still Matter?
Does SXSW have the cultural value that it once did? Does it still launch careers?
Constituents Hold “Town Hall Without Ted Cruz” at Houston Headquarters
Scores of Texans gathered outside Senator Ted Cruz’s Houston headquarters Tuesday in what they called a “Town Hall Without Ted Cruz.” The constituents had spent months trying to reach Cruz to voice concerns about issues including health care, the environment, immigration — yet their emails, phone calls and letters had…
Five Years Young, SUR FEST Shines Its Spotlight On Rock en Español
SUR FEST annually brings together the best Latin rock acts in the region. This year, it’s fifth, it includes folk music, poetry and photography from more than 20 Latin American countries.
Soulquarius Proves Major Flaws Can Ruin a Dream Lineup
A lesson in how not to organize and run a one-day festival.
In Praise of The Great Wall and Its Gorgeous, Meaningless Spectacle
Maybe this’ll teach us not to judge a movie by its marketing campaign. Thanks to posters and trailers focused solely on its American star, Matt Damon, Zhang Yimou’s The Great Wall has been pilloried as an example of a Chinese myth being given the Hollywood white-savior treatment. In fact, the…
Punching Henry Has More Laughs Than Most Life-of-the-Comedian Stories
It’s thematically fitting that Henry Phillips’s slight, prickling Punching Henry hits theaters just weeks after The Comedian, a bloated Robert De Niro exercise also about a difficult stand-up comic grinding through bad gigs and insulting meetings with TV suits — and accidentally starring in viral videos. The Comedian was about…
Ask a Stoner: How Does a Percolator Work in a Bong?
Dear Stoner: How does a percolator work in a bong? Huff Dear Huff: Percolators, vaporizers, blasting hash — they all require scientific processes that most of us don’t want to learn, despite how important they are to cannabis consumption. Percolators use water to filter compounds and mixtures; they were around…
New Texas Monthly Editor Denies He’s Going to Skip Politics or Long Investigative Stories
NewTexas Monthly editor Tim Taliaferro sent waves of anxiety through journalism circles nationwide when he told the Columbia Journalism Review Monday he intends to change the editorial direction of the magazine. Here’s the bomshell lead: The new editor in chief of Texas Monthly plans to pull back from the kind…
Houston Jewish Community Center Among 11 to Receive Bomb Threats Across Country (UPDATED)
A Houston Jewish community center became the latest target of slew of coordinated bomb threats across the country, which have come in waves on a regular basis since January. Around 10 a.m. Monday, the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center received an anonymous call from a person threatening to blow up…
Luv Me Tenders Shutters Brick and Mortar After Less Than a Year
Heights-based chicken tender hub Luv Me Tenders has closed up its brick and mortar after less than a year in operation in Treadsack’s Kipper Club Test Kitchen space, according to a post on its Facebook page. Owner, Jason ‘Big Sexy’ Hill, will focus on the food truck once again, blaming…
Advocates Sue State Over Law Allowing Housing Discrimination Against Voucher-Holders
Housing advocates in Dallas have sued the state over a law that allows landlords to refuse to rent to welfare recipients, a law that the advocates from the Inclusive Communities Project say amounts to racial discrimination. Filed last week against Governor Greg Abbott in his official capacity, the lawsuit claims…
2017 NFL Fantasy Crime League: Darrelle Revis’s Record-Setting Arrest
Well, it took a little time, but we finally got our first arrest of the 2017 NFL offseason, and it was courtesy of a future Hall of Famer who, unfortunately for him, probably doesn’t have the playing chops anymore to withstand his cap figure AND a criminal blight on his…
Arthur Ave Tries Out Some New Takes on Old Standards, With Mixed Results
It’s noisy in Arthur Ave — TV-Trope-Italian-American-Family loud. It’s a pleasant din, though. Convivial. Voices echoing off brick walls, the clatter of silverware, the occasional dropped dish or glass. Friendly arguments. Laughter. It’s a fun place to eat a meal, even if that meal doesn’t always rise to the level…
Chelsea and Nick Torres Were Not Going to Give Up Their Conjoined Twins
Chelsea Torres’s dreams were nightmares. Pregnant with twins, the 23-year-old spent most nights awake to avoid distressing thoughts: nightmares about the twins not making it through delivery, of doctors delivering twin boys with four legs, one trunk and two heads — twins she knew weren’t hers. At 37 weeks along,…
The Men of Houston’s POV Podcast Renew the Lost Art of Conversation
“We’re just sharing ourselves with whoever wants to listen.”
Leslie Alexander and the Rockets Are Not Afraid of Change
It was a Monday morning in late October of 2015, and I, along with fellow Houston Press writer Jeff Balke, was getting a unique opportunity — the chance to sit down with Rockets owner Leslie Alexander in his office and pick his brain for roughly two hours about his tenure…
Upcoming: The B-52’s, Chance the Rapper, Future, Jason Isbell, Leela James, Meat Puppets, PWR BTTM, The Sonics, etc.
A constantly updated guide to upcoming concerts in the Greater Houston area.
Stalin’s Ukrainian Genocide Demands a Better Film Treatment Than Bitter Harvest
Director George Mendeluk has stated that he wanted to make Bitter Harvest to bring wider attention to the Holodomor, the forced famine imposed by Joseph Stalin that killed between three and seven million ethnic Ukrainians in the early 1930s. That’s certainly a subject worthy of a film, but the question…
A Kiddo Zombie Leaves School to End the Apocalypse in The Girl With All the Gifts
Camo-clad officers swarm through a labyrinth of drab hallways to fetch their prisoners: seemingly normal children. These 20 or so 9-year-old kids each get the solitary confinement treatment but are all smiles when the soldiers barge into their rooms and strap them to the wheelchairs they’ll live in for the…
It’s Melanie Lynskey vs. a World of Pricks in Netflix’s I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore
No, I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore is not a documentary about all the things going through your head right now, but in his directing debut, actor Macon Blair (Blue Ruin, Green Room) certainly captures something of the spirit of the times. As this stylized, deliriously violent,…
Fist Fight Purports to Be Transgressive Comedy but Pulls Its Punches
It was interesting, and more than a little inspiring, to watch the public outcry against the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education over the past couple of weeks — especially the online campaign in which, in response to DeVos’ ill-informed attacks on America’s supposedly failing public education system,…
Grim and Bloody, Logan Gets Wolverine Right
Logan is a punch in the gut in all the right ways. Onscreen, the X-Men series has always found ways to morph and expand, from time-traveling fantasy to social allegory to political thriller. And it’s done so as other comic-book franchises have ossified, with the DC movies (foolishly) doubling down…
Models Flock to Houston for SI Swimsuit Issue Party and Festival
Models, athletes and celebrities stuck around Houston after the Super Bowl for Sports Illustrated’s Vibes party to celebrate the release of the magazine’s annual swimsuit issue. Kate Upton, who appeared on the cover of the issue for the third time, was one of many models who walked the red carpet…
Rocket Eric “Lights-Out” Gordon Wins NBA Three Point Contest
It seems fitting than a player from the Houston Rockets, who this season set an NBA record for most three point shots made and attempted in a game, would win the league’s annual three-point contest held over All-Star Weekend. Guard Eric Gordon, who joined the Rockets this year from the…
Light Crowds Don’t Dampen Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Fest’s Vibe
“Where’s the afterparty?” Hmmm…New Orleans?
Dish of the Week: Cassoulet
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 sharing a French classic: cassoulet. Originating in the south of France in the province once known as Languedoc, cassoulet is a…
Keeping Men on Their Toes in Houston Ballet’s Cinderella
It’s a classical ballet done in three acts with classical technique and professional dancers, but other than that, well it’s not your usual trip down memory lane. It’s Stanton Welch’s Cinderella, now making its third appearance in Houston, courtesy of the Houston Ballet company. Melody Mennite, principal dancer for the…
UH Tourney Chances Take a Hit With Loss to SMU
The Houston Cougars’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament took a hit Saturday night. The 18-8 Cougars lost to No. 19 SMU (24-4) by a score of 76-66. The Cougars led for large portions of the game, including nearly the entirety of the first half, but SMU was just too…
My Manana Comes May Change the Way You Feel About Eating Out
The set-up: There are no high-stepping singing waiters á la Hello, Dolly! anywhere near Elizabeth Irwin’s gritty exposure of restaurant’s lowest of the low – the busboys – in My Mañana Comes (2014). The only high kicks might be the precise trajectories as they maneuver trays of food from the…
For the Texans, It’s Simple: Sign Tony Romo and Cut Brock Osweiler
Back in early 2012, the Indianapolis Colts were coming off of a 2-14 season that saw them “earn” the right to pick first in the 2012 NFL Draft, so it just so happened that the team who employed Peyton Manning for the previous fourteen seasons was going to get the…
How a Houston Newspaper Became the Victim of a Fake News Scheme
Jonathan McElvy’s free weekly newspaper, The Leader, serves about 35,000 readers in the Heights — yet shortly after the Super Bowl, McElvy began receiving complaints from people across the country and the world. It was all very unusual, as the complaints were all about the same false, offensive article. It…
Performance Art Gone Awry Raises a Big Stink at AvantGarden
An ill-conceived prank results in a disgusting night at the beloved Montrose arts venue.
Shows of the Week: The Well-Traveled Sting Circles Back to His Rock Roots
The livest music in the Bayou City for the third week of February 2017.
The Whale at Theatre Southwest Is Big as All Get-Out
The set-up: Celebrating its 60th season, venerable Theatre Southwest, housed in a musty strip mall off Fondren Road, manages to open our eyes to the wonders of theater. You never know what surprise is in store. I’ve yet to see a creepier Pillowman or a classier Philadelphia Story. How about…
The Best Brothers Examines Who and How We Love
The set up: Daniel MacIvor, y’all! Daniel freakin MacIvor!!! Wait, what? You’ve never heard of him? Ever? You’ve never heard of this award winning actor/playwright/director whose prolific work spans decades? An artist with unbridled personal story-telling prowess whose work digs deep into the emotions of the unforgettable characters he creates?…
Police Video Shows Houston Man Beating Boy With Belt
Something unusual caught the attention of a Harris County Precinct 1 monitoring surveillance video of a popular illegal trash dumping site on Thursday — a man beating a child with a belt. For five minutes, the man struck the boy with a belt at least 62 times in the head,…
Rice Baseball Hopes a Trip to Cuba Translates Into a Championship Season
The Rice Owls begin the 2017 baseball season in Austin Friday. It’s the start of a four game series against the UT Longhorns, which this year are coached by former Rice assistant David Pierce. Though the Longhorns are coming off of a down year, they are still a tough opponent…
Gov. Abbott Has a Problem With the NFL Because It Opposes the Bathroom Bill
Before the NFL released a tame, relatively cookie-cutter statement about the Texas’s bathroom bill one week ago, Governor Greg Abbott had been conspicuously silent on the controversial legislation. Publicly blasting any and all critics of the bill had been Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s job. Only Patrick had made the one…
Jonathan Richman vs. Steve Bannon…Er, Colonel Klink
Looking for a one-stop antidote to Trump TV and the Trump Reich?
Dining for Democracy
To celebrate the contributions that immigrants have made to Houston’s food scene and to show support for the ACLU of Texas’s work on behalf of immigrants, several of the city’s top restaurants and bars will participate in the fundraiser Dining for Democracy, lasting from March 8 to March 22. Organizers…
