In honor of Earth Day, which is coming up on April 22, as well as National Exercise Day, we encourage you to walk to whenever you can to reach out best bets, or at least take public transport. It will be worth it, as this week we’ve got a musical inspired by a cult classic, a spring festival, and a classic ballet. Keep reading for these and much more.
February marked the 60th anniversary of the start of Beatlemania – specifically, February 1964 was when four lads from Liverpool appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, playing along to “She Loves You,” for “a whopping 73 million viewers and an in-studio audience of 700.” Sixty years may have passed, but on Thursday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. you can join the Houston Symphony as they welcome a band of Beatles lookalikes and soundalikes for Classical Mystery Tour: A Tribute to The Beatles at Jones Hall. The concert will feature more than two dozen of The Beatles’ classic songs – “Yesterday,” “Hey Jude,” and “Penny Lane” to name a few – all played as they were originally recorded. The show will be performed a second time on Friday, April 19, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to either in-hall performance can be purchased here for $63 to $195.
On Friday, April 19, at 7:30 p.m. Houston Grand Opera will present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s take on the legend of Don Juan, Don Giovanni. Luca Pisaroni, the bass-baritone who’s set to play the title character, recently told the Houston Press that “Don Giovanni has an aura of mystery and there is an historical relevance, a vocal and acting challenge that as an artist and a singer you cannot ignore,” adding that the music is “amazing,” noting that “every time you get close to it, you realize how profound the music is and how modern it is compared to what we were hearing at that time.” Performances will continue at 7:30 p.m. Fridays, Saturday and Wednesday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Wortham Theater Center through May 3. Tickets can be purchased here for $25 to $210.
A 1936 propaganda film inspired Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney to create Reefer Madness: The Musical, which The Garden Theatre will open at the MATCH on Friday, April 19, at 8 p.m. The musical – based on a famous (or infamous) “low-budget exploitation film” turned cult classic that “was financed and commissioned by a church group with the intention to raise awareness on the ‘dangers’ of marijuana to a ludicrous degree” – celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, and you won’t want to miss this chance to get in on the party. Additional performances will run through April 27 and are scheduled for 1, 6 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20; 2 p.m. Sunday, April 21; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25; 8 p.m. Friday, April 26; and 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 27. Tickets can be purchased here for $23 to $28.
The first Earth Day dates back to April 22, 1970 – a time before the existence of the Environmental Protection Agency or legislation like the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. Across the nation, 20 million people turned out, making the day a “the precursor of the largest grassroots environmental movement in U.S. history.” On Saturday, April 20, from noon to 5 p.m. you can celebrate Earth Day at Discovery Green. The afternoon will feature performances from Calmecac Indigenous Arts Dancers and Lee’s Golden Dragons; music from Jukebox Trainwreck, a band that “recycles” songs you know into something new; art demonstrations, live painting, and a “battle” of chalk artists; art installations, such as art cars and solar and wind power sculptures; documentary shorts; crafts; lots of opportunities to find ways to get involved and more much. All are welcome to the free event.
Witness the world premiere of Music for New Bodies, the first collaboration from composer Matthew Aucoin and director Peter Sellars, on Saturday, April 20, at 8 p.m. at Brockman Hall for Opera in The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. DACAMERA and The Shepherd School of Music will present the piece, inspired by the poetry of Jorie Graham, and performed by five vocalists and an 18-instrument ensemble comprised of Shepherd School of Music students and DACAMERA Young Artists. The concert will be followed by a conversation with Aucoin, Sellars and Joseph Campana, poet and director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Rice, moderated by DACAMERA’s Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg. Tickets can be purchased here for $41 to $81.
The celebration of different Hispanic cultures through music will make for a “hot night” at Miller Outdoor Theatre on Saturday, April 20, at 8:15 p.m. during the 23rd Annual Noche Caliente featuring David Sánchez and produced by the Diaz Music Institute. Sánchez is “recognized as one of the greatest tenor saxophonists in the world,” the winner of a Latin Grammy in 2005 and someone “known for exploring and combining his Latin heritage, Pan African influences, and the fundamentals of jazz in his music compositions.” During the concert, Sánchez performing with Houston youth group “Caliente,” under the direction of Grammy-nominated music educator Jose Antonio Diaz. The event is free, and you can get reserve your free tickets here starting at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 19, or you can plan for the ticketless seating on the Hill.
If you’re not aware, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, opened in 1924, which means this year we’re celebrating the museum’s 100th anniversary. The perfect way to start the celebration is during the museum’s Spring Festival – New Beginnings on Sunday, April 21, from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza and the Cullen Sculpture Garden. The family-friendly event will include musical and dance performances, international food vendors, artmaking stations and activity tables, such as a table to see an Arabic calligraphy demonstration (with the Islamic Arts Society) and story time (with the Houston Public Library), and much more. Admission is free all day to both the museum’s permanent-collection galleries and the Spring Festival. No tickets needed for the outdoor activities, and you can reserve a free ticket to enter the museum here.
Fun fact: Despite Swan Lake being one of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “sure-fire hits for ballet companies around the world” – along with The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty – “was a critical failure when it was first performed by the Bolshoi Ballet in 1877.” Critics aside, “the audience lapped it up,” and on Sunday, April 21, at 2 p.m. you can catch the classic ballet at the Wortham Theater Center when Performing Arts Houston brings World Ballet Series: Swan Lake to town. The project features hand-painted sets, more than 150 costumes and, of course, all of the ballet’s classic moments, such as the Dance of the Cygnets, Odile’s 32 fouettés and the Black Swan pas de deux. The ballet will be performed a second time on Sunday, April 21, at 6 p.m. Tickets to either performance can be purchased here for $45 to $125.
Natalie de la Garza
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