SPACETAKER ARTSCENE | february 2010
Love! Valour! Compassion! Another Valentine’s Day is upon us… are you anxious? Fear not, fair ladies and gallant gentlemen – face February 14 with faith! Faith that you won’t score a dinner reservation at your first choice, that a shaky economy won’t preclude price gouging on roses, and that Hugh Grant will probably get the girl in the end. Think back on simpler times when anything worth saying could be printed on Sweethearts and the best Valentines came from your mom. Now keep this magical time in mind as you make the best of this Hallmark® holiday over champagne, humor or hemlock. And remember, whether celebrating your celibacy or toasting true love, there are few things as convivial as a night of culture.
Dominic Walsh Dance Theater and Mercury Baroque present Romeo & Juliet
February 11 & 13 @ 8pm, February 14 @ 2pm
Dominic Walsh Dance Theater and Mercury Baroque once again team up for the ultimate performing arts mash-up – Romeo & Juliet. This multi-disciplinary production brings Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers to life like never before, with Walsh’s contemporary choreography set to a Vivaldi score arranged by Antoine Plante and performed live on period instruments by Mercury Baroque. While dancers take the lead roles, actors and opera singers portray others – all delivering Shakespeare’s text at pivotal moments. Adding to the “wow” factor of this production is an award-winning design team. Cullen Theater @ Wortham (501 Texas Avenue). Tickets starting at $24. Visit www.dwdt.org or call 832.251.0706.
Mildred’s Umbrella presents The Flu Season
February 23-March 13 (Thursday-Saturdays, Mondays) @ 8pm
Mildred’s Umbrella Theater Company presents the Houston premier of playwright Will Eno’s The Flu Season, winner of the 2004 Oppenheimer Award for best New York debut. The Flu Season is a reluctant love story, in spite of itself. Set in a hospital and a theater, it is a play that revels in ambivalence and derives energy from its doubts, whether a love story is ever really a love story. Midtown Art Center (3414 LaBranch at Holman). Tickets $15.
www.mildredsumbrella.com
F*ck Love, Let’s Party! An Anti-Love Celebration at Frenetic Theater
February 12 @ 9pm
Join us for a celebration of all things anti-love! If an all-night love song extravaganza on the dance floor won’t cure you, try the Shoot Your Ex! target practice or the Violent Video Game Therapy Room… or maybe share your most intimate 14-year-old secrets at the Breakup Stories Diary Reading. Still nursing that broken heart? Take comfort in Breakup Food à la Lorena Bobbitt skewers and fried Twinkies®! Frenetic Theater (5102 Navigation). Tickets $5. www.freneticore.net
DiverseWorks presents S Percussion’s Imaginary City
February 12 & 13 @ 8pm
Imaginary City, the newest work by Brooklyn’s Sō Percussion, has been described as “brilliant” by the New York Times and “astonishing” by Billboard Magazine. The virtuosos of Sō Percussion collaborate with filmmaker Jenise Treuting to capture the sounds and images of several cities – from Tokyo to Helena’s vast skies, Denver’s mountains through the heartland of Cleveland, and Burlington’s New England landscape to the urban jungle of Houston – to emphasize the uniqueness and commonalities between the various cities. With music based partially on invented instruments, the experimentation blurs the lines between sound and vision to create an artistic metropolis. DiverseWorks (1117 East Freeway). Tickets Pay-What-You-Want. www.diverseworks.org
Save the date! After spoiling us on Valentine’s, we wouldn’t let the boys miss this: On March 3, the Menil Collection hosts MEN OF MENIL, a night supporting the Menil’s education and outreach programs. The men-only event will include professional demonstrations by champion nine-ball pool players, an extraordinary seated dinner by Jackson Hicks, fine wines, an outdoor cigar bar, plenty of good company and a chance to hone your pool skills. Tables and limited number of single tickets are available. For details, contact Elsian Cozens at 713.525.9451 or elsian@menil.org.
By Jenni Rebecca Stephenson
Photo credit: Dominic Walsh Dance Theater | Photography by Gabriella Nissen, DiverseWorks | Photography by Janette Beckman
