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Houston Lifestyles & Homes March 2009
Doubt: A Parable
The Company OnStage, March 6 - April 11
Sister Aloysius, the school principal, suspects that popular young Father Flynn
is showing improper attention to the school
’s first black student. Set in 1964, this Pulitzer prize-winning drama explores
how moral certainty and truth can collide with shattering results. A thought
provoking evening of exciting theater.
chitty chitty bang bang
Hobby Center, Through March 7
Presented by Cadillac Broadway Across America-Houston, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the most fantasmagorical Broadway musical in the history of everything, flies
into Houston through March 7 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts.
Based on the timeless novel by Ian Fleming, the production features the music
and lyrics by the legendary Sherman brothers, composers of
Mary Poppins. The national tour boasts an entirely new creative team, original script and
fresh adaptation directed by Ray Roderick.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang features a lush score, dazzling costumes and stunning sets. For tickets, visit www.broadwayacrossamerica.com or call 713-629-3700.
Bill Cosby
Jones Hall, March 13
One of the most influential stars in America today, Bill Cosby has captivated
audiences for decades with his uncanny ability to point out the humor in our
lives and touch our hearts. Don
’t miss this night of stand-up comedy with the incomparable Bill Cosby. He will
appear without the orchestra in ths second half of the program.
Contemporary Conversations: John Chamberlain,
American Tableau
The Menil Collection, March 19 – Aug. 2
John Chamberlain studied at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1951-52 and Black
Mountain College from 1955-56. The following year, he moved to New York, where
for the first time he created sculpture that included scrap-metal auto parts.
He used these found metal pieces as raw materials, shaping them at will, adding
paint, and welding the finished compositions to preserve their stability.
Despite the heavy and rather unyielding character of such material, Chamberlain
’s work often achieves a lyrical quality-colorful, anthropomorphic, somehow
lighter on its feet than one would expect.
The dismantled and reshaped auto body quickly became Chamberlain’s signature sculptural medium. Although he eschewed the material for a period
starting in 1967, he resumed its use in 1974 and continues to work in this
media at present.
Electric Mud
Blaffer Gallery, Through March 29
Electric Mud, guest-curated by David Pagel, art critic for the Los Angeles Times and associate professor of art theory and history at Claremont Graduate
University in Claremont, Calif. will be on display at the Blaffer Gallery
through March 29.
The exhibition explores visual art that blurs the boundaries between clay,
traditionally used for its functionality, and paint, conventionally used for
aesthetics. It highlights the basic properties of these crude, gooey substances
to turn conventional ideas on their ears, confounding preconceived differences
between art and craft, painting and ceramics, form and function, leisure and
labor, still life and real life.
Texas Oil: Landscape of an Industry
Blaffer Gallery, Through March 29
Texas Oil: Landscape of an Industry at Blaffer Gallery will be the CLUI’s first major exhibition in Texas and one of its most ambitious projects to
date. The exhibition will include photographs and informational texts on
approximately 50 Texas sites that the CLUI has framed as discrete anecdotes in
the overarching story of how oil has sculpted the state
’s terrain.
The Puppet show
Contemporary Arts Museum, Through April 12
International in scope, The Puppet Show brings together contemporary artworks in a variety of media that explore the
imagery of puppets. From actual puppets, to works that evoke topics associated
with puppetry and others that introduce new variations to this historical and
global form of theater,
The Puppet Show features works that are, in various ways, movable and/or moving objects that
perform as alter-egos for the artist or as human surrogates
—often with wicked good humor.
For more information, go to www.camh.org or call 713-284-8250.
Mauritius
Alley Theatre, April 15 - May 3
Theresa Rebeck returns with Mauritius, a “tightly woven and ever-surprising sinister comedy” (Playbill.com) “filled with stunning scenes of high humor and drama” (Variety).
The title, Mauritius, refers to an island off the coast of Africa from which a
now highly collectible stamp, described as the crown jewel of philately, was
issued in the age of Victoria. Like the Maltese Falcon, the Mauritius stamp is
the fraught object of desire for an assortment of shady characters with
different and mysterious backgrounds and motives, who move through the twists
of the plot
’s crosses and double-crosses. Recommended for mature audiences.
rent
Hobby Center, April 29 - May 3
Rent is the classic musical about love, friendship and community, and is the seventh
longest-running show in Broadway history. This new touring production stars
original Broadway cast members Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp.
Set in New York City’s East Village, Rent is a modern take on the classic Puccini opera, La Boheme. It tells the unforgettable story of a group of young artists learning to
survive, falling in love, finding their voices and living for today. This
production
is recommended for children ages 12 and up.
For more information, go to www.tuts.com or call 713-558-TUTS.
Rock ‘n’ Roll
Alley Theatre, April 29 - May 24
Four-time Tony Award winner Tom Stoppard returns to the Alley with Rock ‘n’ Roll, winner of London Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play.
It’s August 1968, and Russian tanks are rolling into Prague. Jan, the Czech
student, lives for rock music; Max, the English professor, lives for communism;
and Esme, the flower child, is high. By 1990, the tanks are rolling out, the
Stones are rolling in and idealism has hit the wall. Stoppard
’s sweeping and passionate play spans two countries, three generations and 22
turbulent years, at the end of which, love remains. Recommended for mature
audiences.
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures From the National Museum
Museum of Fine Arts, Through May 17
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul explores the rich cultural heritage of ancient Afghanistan from the Bronze Age
(2500 B.C.) through the rise of trade along the Silk Road in the first century
A.D.
The exhibit features some 228 objects ranging in date from 2200 B.C. to the
second century A.D. Drawn from four archaeological sites, they belong to the
National Museum and include fragmentary gold bowls with artistic links to
Mesopotamia and Indus Valley cultures from the Bronze Age site of Tepe Fullol;
bronze and stone sculptures and a gilded silver plaque from the former Greek
colony at Ai Khanum; and bronzes, ivories and painted glassware that have been
imported from Roman Egypt, China and India and excavated from ancient
storerooms discovered in the 1930s and 1940s in Begram.
For more information, go to www.mfah.org or call 713-639-7300.
Lauren Majewski in The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude
masters of movement
Wortham Center, March 12 - 22
The Houston Ballet introduces three important works into its repertoire on its
program
Masters of Movement, which honors Anthony Tudor on his 100th birthday with the company.
The Leaves are Fading is a lyrical study in wistful dreaminess by famed English choreographer Antony
Tudor. William Forsythe
’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude is a demanding neoclassical showpiece set to the music of Franz Schubert. Jirí Kylián’s Soldiers’ Mass is a poignant commentary on the destruction and devastation of war.
The Houston Ballet will give six performances of Masters of Movement in Brown Theater at Wortham Theater Center. For more information or to purchase
tickets, call 713-227-2787 or go to
www.houstonballet.org.
Hobby Center, March 24 - April 5
Adapted from the classic Victor Hugo novel, the musical theater phenomenon Les Misérables has a score by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. One of the world’s best-loved musicals, it is the longest running musical in London’s West End, and arguably the longest continuously-running musical in the world.
Les Misérables follows the life of the fugitive Jean Valjean, his foster daughter Cosette, and his
relentless pursuer Javert against a backdrop of the French Revolution.
For more information, call 713-558-TUTS or go to www.tuts.com.
Jones Hall, March 12, 14, 15
Brahms’ magnificent second concerto is grander in scale than his four symphonies as
well as any concerto written before its time. Hear German romanticism at its
greatest depth and excitement,
“played with commanding virtuosity,” according to The New York Times.
Prelude, sponsored by Fluor, begins 50 minutes before each concert. University
of Houston musicologist Paul Bertagnolli illuminates Bruckner
’s choice to leave out the strings in his E minor Mass. For more information, go to houstonsymphony.org or call 713-224-7575.
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