What to Do and See This Month, From Post Malone to Paw Patrol
Alabama Shakes front woman Brittany Howard's first solo album, Jaime, is a tribute to her late sister.
H-Town Picks
RodeoHouston
Mar 3–22. Last year’s numbers may be hard to top—more than 2.5 million people, representing 75 different countries—but Houston’s main event always seems to find a way. This year’s concert lineup, featuring K-poppers NCT-127, El Paso smoothie Khalid, old standbys Chris Stapleton and Luke Bryan, and 16 others, sounds some intriguing notes. From $20. NRG Park, 1 NRG Park. 832-667-1080
Nikki Glaser
Mar 6 at 6 p.m. A fixture at Comedy Central’s gloves-off celebrity roasts—“Jewel is here, or as I call her, Trailer Swift”—Glaser gooses her offbeat observations with a complete lack of shame and a willingness to go there that extends to uncomfortable topics like anxiety, sobriety, and depression. Check her 2019 Netflix special, Bangin’, for proof. From $25. House of Blues, 1204 Caroline St. 888-402-5837
1984
Mar 6–29. After his diary is discovered, a nondescript “prole” must watch his life get reenacted in front of a sinister tribunal—because Big Brother is watching. Michael Gene Sullivan’s stage adaptation of George Orwell’s still-unsettling 1949 novel is so immediate, critics have said, the audience is practically implicated in poor Winston’s thoughtcrimes. From $30. Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Ave. 713-220-5700
Louise Erdich
Mar 9 at 7:30 p.m. Documenting Native American culture with candor and sensitivity, the Minnesota-born Erdich won the National Book Award for 2012's The Round House. Her latest novel, The Night Watchman, is based on the story of a grandfather who traveled from his North Dakota reservation to Washington, D.C., in the 1950s to protest governmental malfeasance. $5. Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Ave. 713-521-2026
Mixed Rep IV: Forged in Houston
Mar 12–22. The world premiere of Houston–raised Trey McIntyre’s “Pretty Things,” set to the music of David Bowie, heads up a program that also includes two of Houston Ballet’s best-loved dances: Jorma Elo’s Mozart-scored “ONE|end|ONE” and Christopher Bruce’s “Hush,” a whimsical routine to Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin. From $25. Wortham Center, 501 Texas Ave. 713-227-2787
Brittany Howard
Mar 28 at 7 p.m. The Alabama Shakes front woman’s first solo album, Jaime, trades in her band’s slow-cooking soul-rock for a sound befitting its highly personal origins. A tribute to Howard’s late sister, Jaime is languorous, idiosyncratic, smoked-out, and enlightened—funky in every sense of the word. From $39.50. White Oak Music Hall, 2915 N. Main St. 713-237-0370
Marian's Song, a new chamber opera from Houston Grand Opera, tells the story of Marian Anderson, the legendary African American contralto who gave a concert to 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 after she had been denied permission to sing at Washington Constitution Hall.
Opera
Marian's Song
Mar 5–6. Denied permission to sing at Washington’s Constitution Hall because of her race, Marian Anderson relocated to the Lincoln Memorial, where 75,000 people turned out to hear the internationally celebrated contralto perform patriotic tunes, Italian arias, and African American spirituals. Millions more listened on the radio. This 1939 milestone is the core of Marian’s Song, a new chamber opera from Houston Grand Opera composer-in-residence Damien Sneed and former Houston poet laureate Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton. “Bringing Anderson’s story to the forefront of our minds was necessary for me,” says Mouton. “To see a singer of such grace and humility navigate the harsh world around her gives hope, for our generation, that we can too be unstoppable and make change.” From $15. Wortham Center, 501 Texas Ave. 713-228-6737
Lone Star Lyric: Cartoon-a-Copia
Mar 14–15. What’s up, Doc? Dust off that ACME songbook for this nostalgic trip to the Saturday mornings of yesteryear, as Lone Star Lyric’s trusty cabaret crew raids the animated repertoires of Disney, Hanna-Barbera, Looney Tunes, and more—melodies so merry they’re still lodged in our collective unconscious many generations later. $25–30. 2536 Times Blvd. 917-414-9577
Der Fliegende Holländer
Mar 14, 18. The Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series presents Richard Wagner’s supernatural 1843 opera, known in English as The Flying Dutchman, about a spectral sea captain doomed to wander the waves until he is redeemed by a woman’s love; the March 14 performance will be live. From $15. Multiple Houston-area theaters.
Theater
Come From Away
Mar 3–8. When the FAA shut down U.S. air space after the 9/11 attacks, more than 6,500 airborne passengers found themselves rerouted to the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, which welcomed them with open arms. Sometimes musicals—this one a seven-time Tony nominee from 2017 by Irene Sankoff and David Hein—practically write themselves. From $35. 800 Bagby St. 713-315-2525
Stages: Honky Tonk Laundry
Mar 6–May 24. When Katie Lane blows into the Wishy Washy Washateria fresh off a breakup, hard-luck owner Lana Mae dusts off that guitar and turns her laundromat into a suds-laden saloon. Roger Bean’s 2017 country spin on the jukebox musical proves hit songs make the best revenge. From $25. 800 Rosine St. 713-527-0123
The Office! A Musical Parody
Mar 12 at 7:30 p.m. The Netflix and Comedy Central mainstay has spawned both a hit Off-Broadway musical and, now, this traveling production, which claims to cram all nine seasons into one “typical” day at Dunder Mifflin. Songs include “That’s What She Said,” “Marry Me Beesly,” and “We Have Fun Here.” From $29.50. Stafford Centre, 10505 Cash Rd., Stafford. 281-208-6900
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Mar 13–14. Brill Building grad Carole King’s 1971 album Tapestry influenced generations of singer-songwriters—including Elton John, Sheryl Crow, and Adele—and provides several showstoppers in Douglas McGrath’s 2013 adaptation of King’s near-limitless back catalogue, which took in nearly $250 million over its five-year Broadway run. From $34.20. Grand 1894 Opera House. 2020 Postoffice St., Galveston. 800-821-1894
Ensemble Theatre: Autumn
Mar 19–April 12. Veteran playwright and NYU professor Richard Wesley’s 2015 drama examines modern urban politics and competing generational agendas when a longtime big-city mayor, now eyeing the governor’s office, is shocked to learn his party has decided to back his protégé—and godson, no less—for the position instead. From $26. 3535 Main St. 713-520-0055
Voir Dire
Mar 20–22. Joe Sutton’s hyper-tense 1995 courtroom drama—in which a racially mixed jury debates the fate of a well-to-do black man—was written well before the O.J. verdict. The play, said the LA Times, “demonstrates how jurors can begin to feel as if they, too, are on trial.” From $10. Quintero Theatre, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, 3531 Cullen Blvd. 713-743- 3388
4th Wall Theatre Company: Between Riverside and Crazy
Mar 13–April 4. Stephen Adly Guirgis won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this darkly funny portrait of a widowed ex-cop in danger of losing his magnificent, if deteriorating, pre-war NYC apartment. Thing is, with unruly houseguests everywhere he looks—some kin, some not—he may have bigger problems. From $17. 1824 Spring St. 832-767- 4991
Broadway at the Hobby Center: Fiddler on the Roof
Mar 24–29. A poor but scrappy milkman in czarist Russia tries to do right by Jewish tradition (and his five daughters) as simmering anti-Semitism and incipient revolution threaten his shtetl. Broadway chieftain Bartlett Sher, a Tony winner for 2008’s South Pacific revival, directs this 1964 favorite known for “Matchmaker” and “Sunrise, Sunset.” From $30. 800 Bagby St. 713-315-2525
Go see Houston Ballet's "Forged in Houston" March 12–22.
Image: Courtesy of Houston Ballet
Dance
Dancing With the Stars Live!
Mar 7 at 7:30 p.m. No Sean Spicer, sadly, but several ex-contestants from the ABC powerhouse’s most recent season—The Bachelorette’s Hannah Brown, Kate Flannery from The Office—have been announced as possible guest stars, joining the show’s regular dancers in another sizzling cavalcade of spangly outfits and fabulous footwork. From $55. Smart Financial Centre. 18111 Lexington Blvd., Sugar Land. 281-207-6278
Viva MOMIX!
Mar 28 at 8 p.m. Founded in 1980 by choreographer Moses Pendleton, the Connecticut-based modern-dance company applies lyrical motion and stirring visuals to subjects ranging from Alice in Wonderland to baseball to the American Southwest. This performance assembles several renowned MOMIX dances for a 40th-anniversary retrospective. From $22. Grand 1894 Opera House. 2020 Postoffice St., Galveston. 800-821-1894
Visual Art
Catherine Couturier Gallery: Maggie Taylor
Thru Mar 28. The Ohio-born artist employs digital tools to painstakingly craft her surrealist images, which can take up to six months to complete and often incorporate real-life objects, including vintage photographs Taylor scrounges from flea markets near her Florida home. Lewis Carroll, a muse of sorts, would approve. Free. 2635 Colquitt St. 713-524-5070
Lawndale Art Center: Virginia Lee Montgomery: SKY LOOP
Thu Mar 29. Hurricane Harvey was as devastating to Houston’s artists as everyone else, including Yale-trained sculptress and filmmaker Montgomery. This multidisciplinary project analyzes the storm on a psychic level, incorporating footage from many sources—including some she shot herself, both at her studio and along Buffalo Bayou—to emphasize its personal impact. Free. 4912 Main St. 713-528-5858
Asia Society Texas: Form Is Emptiness, Emptiness Is Form: Works by Miya Ando
Thru Mar 29. The California-raised multimedia artist and experienced metallurgist took a cue from the Heart Sutra Buddhist text— which teaches that nothing is permanent—to create this wood- and metal-based site-specific installation that initiates a thoughtful dialogue with the Yoshio Tanaguchi–designed Asia Society building. Free. 1370 Southmore Blvd. 713-496-9901
Galveston Arts Center: Britt Thomas: Indian Spirit
Thru April 12. Thomas, a Houston-based “lens artist,” went to games, pep rallies, and parades to document the deep-seated relationship between the Golden Triangle community of Port Neches–Groves and its high- school football team, the Indians— discovering a unique bond that is unusually strong even within our state’s pigskin-crazy culture. Free. 2127 Strand St. 409-763-2403
Moody Center for the Arts: Radical Revisionists: Contemporary African Artists Confronting Past and Present
Thru May 16. Ten artists from Africa and the diaspora confront the bitter legacy of colonialism through fearless reappraisals—a boy in Napoleon-era garb posing with a soccer ball, for example—in this sprawling multimedia exhibition timed to the opening of Rice University’s Center for African and African American Studies. Free. 6100 Main St. MS-480. 713-348-2787
Francis Bacon: Late Paintings
Thru May 25. Focusing on the years 1971 through 1991, this exhibition on loan from Paris’s Centre Pompidou collects dozens of works by the 20th century’s most celebrated British artist. Riddled with darkness, brusque imagery, and tragedy, the paintings often nod to literary inspirations including Aeschylus and T.S. Eliot. $19 (non-members). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. 1001 Bissonnet St. 713-639-7300
Menil Collection: Photography and the Surreal Imagination
Thru June 14. A timely precursor to the deep-fake video era, this homegrown exhibition—culled from private Houston collections and the Menil archives—celebrates the many ways the camera can fool the naked eye through the works of Man Ray, Cindy Sherman, Diane Arbus, Robert Rauschenberg, and two dozen other artists and photographers. Free. 1533 Sul Ross St. 713-525-9400
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: Glory of Spain: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library
Mar 1–May 25. Imported from the New York–based Hispanic Society, this impressive traveling exhibition of roughly 200 items gathers art and artifacts from ancient times through the early 1900s spanning Roman and Islamic Spain; Portugal; Central and South America; and the Philippines. Prominent artists represented include Goya, El Greco, and Diego Velázquez. $19 (non-members). 1001 Bissonnet St. 713-639-7300
Saxophonist Kamasi Washington will be at House of Blues on March 11.
Image: Courtesy of Live Nation
Concerts
Eagles
Mar 6–7. Adding Vince Gill and Glenn Frey’s son, Deacon, since the elder Frey’s death in January 2016, the country-rock superstars here will perform iconic 1976 LP Hotel California in full, followed by a set of hits from other albums. Unpopular opinion: Great as “Hotel California” is, “The Last Resort” is better. From $149. Toyota Center, 1510 Polk St. 866-446-8849
International Women’s Day Celebration Concert
Mar 8 at 5 p.m. Composed largely of health care professionals, the Texas Medical Center Orchestra and conductor/artistic director Libi Lebel salute women of the world with a program of all-female composers including Lili Boulanger, Jennifer Higdon, and Amy Beach. Pianist Lulu Lui will be featured on Florence B. Price’s “Concerto in One Movement.” $25. Hobby Center, 800 Bagby St. 713-315-2525
Trixie Mattel
Mar 8 at 8 p.m. She may look like a lost member of the B-52’s who tried to join KISS, but when it comes to folk-tinged country music, RuPaul’s Drag Race alumna Mattel plays it surprisingly straight. All punning aside, her latest album, Barbara, adds a becoming dose of sunny ’60s pop to the mix. From $39.50. Wortham Center, 501 Texas Ave. 832-487-7041
Post Malone
Mar 9 at 8 p.m. Don’t let the face tattoos fool you: The Dallas-raised rapper’s affable demeanor, perceptive lyrics, and softhearted melodies have made him one of the era’s major pop stars. Featuring the No. 1 hit “Circles,” last fall’s Hollywood’s Bleeding includes collaborations with Halsey, Future, Young Thug, Travis Scott, and Ozzy Osbourne. From $83.50. Toyota Center, 1510 Polk St. 866-446-8849
Kamasi Washington
Mar 11 at 7 p.m. Through a host of collaborations and the sprawling albums The Epic and Heaven & Earth, the L.A.-born saxophonist has helped revitalize jazz by demonstrating his willingness to leap outside the genre at a moment’s notice, as Washington’s work with Raphael Saadiq, Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat, Broken Bells, and many others will attest. From $30. House of Blues, 1204 Caroline St. 888-402-5837
Houston Symphony: Adams’ El Niño
Mar 14–15. Eminent contemporary composer John Adams turned to a variety of sources, including the New Testament Apocrypha and several female Latin American poets, for this operatic 2000 oratorio that aims to tell the story of Christ’s birth from a decidedly different point of view—a sort of Handel’s Messiah for the 21st century, Adams has said. From $29. Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana St. 713-224- 7575
Richard Goode
Mar 24 at 7:30 p.m. Hailed as one of the world’s leading Beethoven interpreters, Goode built his reputation with recordings like his 10-disc set of the complete piano sonatas. In Houston the New York native will perform four of them—Nos. 15, 26, 27, and 32, plus the “Bagatelles,” Op. 119—in honor of the composer’s 250th birthday. From $30. Stude Concert Hall, 6100 Main St. 713-524-5050
Whitney Cummings will be at House of Blues on March 14.
Image: Courtesy of Live Nation
Comedy, etc.
Tova Leigh
Mar 9 at 8 p.m. First dispensing hilariously frank advice as a London “mummy blogger” before branching out into the all-purpose diatribes filed under “My Thoughts About Stuff”—recent example: “The Bikini Rant”—Leigh ranks among social media’s funnier influencers. Her F*cked at 40 Tour previews her book of the same name, due this month. From $25. The Secret Group, 2101 Polk St. 832-898-1088
Whitney Cummings
Mar 14 at 8 p.m. Creator of defunct NBC sitcom Whitney and the longer-lived 2 Broke Girls, the Washington, D.C.-raised comedian’s acerbic take on male-female relations is perhaps better suited to standup anyway. Her How Dare You tour comes on the heels of Cummings’s fourth comedy special, Can I Touch It? From $22.50. House of Blues, 1204 Caroline St. 888-402-5837
Mick Foley
Mar 16 at 8 p.m. Make all the “one pile driver too many” jokes you want, but the WWE Hall of Famer and successful author—1999’s Have a Nice Day more or less established the wrestler-memoir genre—brings the same goofy wit to his new one-man stage show, “Tales from Wrestling Past.” From $25. Improv Houston, 7620 Katy Fwy. Ste. 455. 866-468-3399
Fabulously Funny Comedy Festival
Mar 28 at 7 p.m. Ice Cube’s foil in the Friday films and Eddie Murphy’s pal in Dolemite Is My Name, Mike Epps takes top billing on this laugh-a- minute tour that also features Lavell Crawford, DC Young Fly, Karlous Miller, Kountry Wayne, and Haha Davis. From $59. NRG Arena, 1 NRG Park. 832-667-1400
See a screening of 1933's King Kong on March 15.
Image: Courtesy of Fathom Events
Film
Market Square Park: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Mar 4 at 8 p.m. Superficially a ’70s spoof starring Will Ferrell as the leader of an extremely chauvinistic news team and Christina Applegate as his blond-bombshell foil, Adam McKay’s 2004 comedy has become an unparalleled catchphrase factory over the years. Trust us: It’s kind of a big deal. Free. 301 Milam St. 713-223-2003
Aurora Picture Show: Cry of the Third Eye
Mar 5 at 7 p.m. Nearly a decade in the making, multimedia artist Lisa E. Harris’s fanciful three-part study of the Third Ward’s ongoing transformation—Cry of the Third Eye, The Children of the Lost, and The Last Resort—will screen in full for the first time as she sings, narrates, and shows off her theremin talents. Free. Smith Neighborhood Library, 3624 Scott St. 713-868-2101
Fathom Events: I Am Patrick
Mar 17–18 at 6:30 p.m. The life of Ireland’s patron saint—abducted and forced into slavery by pirates at age 16, he wound up converting much of the pagan Emerald Isle to Catholicism—is reimagined in this feature- length 2020 film starring Lord of the Rings’ John Rhys-Davies as Old Patrick. From $13.53. Multiple Houston-area theaters.
Fathom Events: King Kong
Mar 15 at 1 and 4 p.m. The Big Bang for a truly monstrous franchise, RKO’s 1933 screamer still casts a long shadow over its many successors, including this fall’s Kong vs. Godzilla. But for all its ingenious special effects (for the time), Kong’s core resides in the uncanny chemistry between “scream queen” Fay Wray and one shockingly soulful giant ape. From $11.37. Multiple Houston-area theaters.
Asia Society Texas: Juice
Mar 26 at 5:45 p.m. Touching on climate change, Bitcoin mining, and more, this 2019 documentary explores the relationship between electrical and political power through more than 50 interviews conducted in Lebanon, India, Iceland, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Producer Robert Bryce and director Tyson Culver will host a post-screening Q&A. $25 (non-members). 1370 Southmore Blvd. 713-496-9901
Literary
Inprint: Reginald Dwayne Betts & Natalie Diaz
Mar 23 at 7:30 p.m. Crystalizing his time behind bars into his latest volume of poetry, Felon, Yale Law grad Betts previously won an NAACP Image Award for 2010 memoir A Question of Freedom. A member of the Gila River Indian Community, Diaz has just published Postcolonial Love Poem, which Graywolf Press calls “an anthem of desire against erasure.” $5. Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Ave. 713-521-2026
Brazos Bookstore: Deb Olin Unferth
Mar 27 at 6:30 p.m. In Unferth’s new novel, Barn 8, a team of incongruous characters attempts to steal one million chickens from an egg farm. Currently a UT-Austin creative-writing professor, the author won a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship following her story collection Wait Till You See Me Dance and graphic novel I, Parrot. $16 (book price). 2421 Bissonnet St. 713-523-0701
Events
Secrets of Camp Logan
Mar 7 at 10 a.m. A hastily assembled WWI army post, Camp Logan (present-day Memorial Park) became notorious after some of its African American soldiers clashed with Houston police in August 1917, with deadly results. This Houston Museum of Natural Science–sponsored tour assembles at the park’s running center; expect to walk up to a mile of unpaved ground. $45 (non-members). 7575 N. Picnic Ln. 713-639-4629
Arthur: The Immortal King
Mar 12 at 6:30 p.m. The Knights of the Round Table’s chivalrous deeds and daring adventures have gripped the popular imagination since before Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur was published in 1485. Win Scutt, assistant properties curator for English Heritage, will discuss what makes the Arthurian legends so alluring—and enduring. $15. MATCH, 3400 Main St. 713-521-4533
Barrio Dogs: A Decade of Dedication
Mar 29 at 2 p.m. The East End–based animal-services organization—which, among other things, promotes responsible pet care, sponsors adoptions, and works against animal neglect and abuse—celebrates its tenth anniversary with this afternoon fundraiser featuring an appreciative chorus of bow wow wows and live music from actual human beings as well. Free. Bohemeo’s, 708 Telephone Rd. 713-923-4277
See Paw Patrol Live! at the Hobby Center.
Family
Main Street Theater: The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley
Thru April 4. A bizarre bulletin-board mishap turns an average boy into a globe- trotting adventurer—when you’re flat as a postcard, it’s incredibly easy to travel through the mail—in Timothy Allen McDonald’s song- packed adaptation of the classic children’s book by Jeff Brown. From $16. MATCH, 3400 Main St. 713-524-6706
Main Street Theater: The Cat in the Hat
Mar 10–15. “The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play...” Thus begins Dr. Seuss’s timeless tale of feline-induced rainy-day mayhem, adapted for the stage by Katie Mitchell in 2009—the same year the esteemed theater director was named to the Order of the British Empire. From $12. MATCH, 3400 Main St. 713-524-6706
PAW Patrol Live!
Mar 13–15. Nickelodeon’s civic-minded pre-K franchise hits the stage in “Race to the Rescue,” in which Ryder’s loyal color-coded pups must save the Great Adventure Bay Race after Mayor Goodway’s mysterious disappearance. Could her mustache-twirling rival, Mayor Humdinger, somehow be involved? From $27. Hobby Center, 800 Bagby St. 713-315-2525
