Don’t miss I DREAM OF MAHARANI - Houston Young People for the Arts’ annual party on February 6!

Also, join us for our kick-off party, Saris & Samosas — more info HERE.

6 pm, Monday, January 4 - Inaugural Free Concert

Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney, discoverygreen.com
Archie Bell, Mango Punch, Yvonne Washington, Roy Head & Jennifer Holliday headline this free concert celebrating the inauguration of Mayor Annise Parker. Fireworks follow at 8:55 pm. In the event of severe weather, the festivities will take place in the George R. Brown Convention Center, right across the street.

7 pm - 9 pm, Tuesday, January 5 - First Tuesday at Houston Center for Photography

HCP, 1441 W. Alabama, hcponline.org
HCP invites you to bring your photographic work to share with other local photographers and gain insight from fellow participants. HCP Ed. Coordinator, Rachel Hewlett, will also let you know what’s going on at HCP and other photography venues around town incl. opportunities around the country. It’s first-come, first-serve with room for only 11, so get there on-time or early!

8 pm, Wednesday, January 6 - Master Class at Main Street Theater
Previews end tonight and performances run through January 24, 2010. Maria Callas is teaching a master class. She’s glamorous, commanding, larger than life—and incredibly funny. An accompanist sits at the piano, at the ready. Callas’ first “victim” is Sophie, a ridiculous, overly-perky soprano. Before the girl can sing a note, Callas stops her—she can’t stand hearing music massacred! And now what has started out as a class has become another stage for Callas herself. She glories in her own career, dabbles in opera dish and flat-out seduces the audience. MST’s production will star Celeste Roberts as Callas.
Being performed at the Chelsea Market location and PG-13. Call 713-524-6706 for tickets or more info or visit mainstreettheater.com. p.s. Tickets to the preview run about $26 less than other tickets…either way, this is going to be great!

7-10 pm, Thursday, January 7 - Celebrate Dance!

It’s Dance Month at the Kaplan Theatre 2010 with festivities kicking off and honoring Houston’s premier presenters who have helped cultivate the Houston dance community. Honorees include June Christensen (Society for the Performing Arts), Andrea Cody (Dance Houston + HYPA Steering Committee member), Christina Giannelli (Dance Source Houston), Nancy Henderek (Dance Salad), Sixto Wagan (DiverseWorks), Jennifer Wood and Louie Saletan (Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex). Brad Marks (Champion Benefactor of Dance) will also be honored for underwriting I W Marks Master Class Series, which allows hundreds of students to take classes from dance masters around the world.

The party happens at Warehouse Live for a very inexpensive $25 to honor these outstanding individuals that bring so much to Houston’s art + dance community. Live world sounds from Moodafaruka, mixing Flamenco, Middle Eastern, Spanish and Western, along with guest performances in Bollywood by Mahira Dance Company, Samba by the Brazilian Arts Foundation, Tango with Luna Tango and more! Catering by Bowl Cafe.

Tickets and more information at jcchouston.org.

Congratulations to all of the honorees!

8 pm, Friday, January 8, 2010 - Bobbindoctrin’s 6th Annual Puppet Festival

Midtown Arts Center, 2414 LaBranch
Cost: $10 for evening shows; Sunday’s Fambly Day is pay-what-you-will.
Bobbindoctrin, once again, presents their most daring contemporary puppetry for adults (they do bring a “Fambly Day” to the mix on Sunday) and includes company members and local artists with live works of puppetry, along with short films from national and international puppetry artists, distributed by Heather Henson’s Handmade Puppet Dreams.

10 am, Saturday, January 9, 2010 - Ice Carving with the Magnificent 7
Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney, discoverygreen.com
Cost: $Free
Watch as ice artists from around the U.S. return to DG to transform blocks of ice into frozen masterpieces using chainsaws and blowtorches. Finished sculptures will be lit, displayed and judged by ice experts and park visitors (aka you). After the awards, Reverend Butter of DLG Ice Factory puts on an ice carvinig display set to music.

Sunday, January 10 - Project Row Houses

Open 12-5 pm, 2505-2521 Holman Street
Admission is free
It can get hot in these non-airconditioned row houses, so take advantage of the brisk weather and tour the latest installation, Round 31 Life Path 5: Action/Restlessness. You can also view a special traveling exhibition of Travis Whitfield, a landscape/portrait painter and photographer, that has created a multi-media installation that serves as a historic reflection and celebration of the lives of rural African-American residents in northwest Louisiana in the early 1970s. Exhibition includes original photographs and a repeating, 50-minute long video.

Monday, January 11 - Adult Beginner Ballet Class at Hope Stone.
6:30 pm - 8 pm, 1210 W. Clay, Suite 26, www.hopestoneinc.org
These classes are weekly and they also offer them for different levels but what better way to start out your new year? Go test it out for a nominal fee ($18 drop-in) to see if it is for you. Hope Stone also offers programs for children and adults in several disciplines aside from ballet. Visit their site for more information. Aside from being a board member, I’m also a student.

DON’T MISS THE NEXT HYPA EVENT WITH THE CATASTROPHIC THEATRE ON APRIL 1!  CLICK HERE 

Friday through Sunday

Bayou City Arts Festival - Houston’s one-of-a-kind outdoor art gallery.  Stroll the 1.1-mile tree-lined Picnic Loop & enjoy 300 Fine Juried Artists from around the U.S. and the world. 1,100 Artists — the most in Festival history — competed for the 300 positions. One-third will be exhibiting their art for the forst time at Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park; two-thirds will be returning. Buy gifts for yourself, family and friends!  www.bayoucityartfestival.com

Dance | Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. (8p, Friday and Saturday; 2p, Sunday)  SOLD OUT.  As part of a 50-city global tour in celebration of its 50th Anniversary, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater brings the beauty, power, passion and artistry that are its hallmarks to Houston for three performances. Led by renowned Artistic Director Judith Jamison, the Company will perform AAADT company member Hope Boykin’s new Go in Grace, featuring Grammy-Award winning female a cappella musical group Sweet Honey In The Rock performing their original score live onstage with the dancers and a new production of Suite Otis (1971) by Tony-Award winning choreographer and former AAADT company member George Faison set to the timeless songs of Otis Redding. The program’s celebratory finale will be Ailey’s timeless masterpiece Revelations performed in its entirety.  www.spahouston.org. 

Now through April 4

Opera in the Heights: Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi. (Mar 27, 28 & Apr 2, 3, 4).  Falstaff is the supreme, ultimate, transcendental comedy in music. Maestro Verdi at 80+ years old wrote music for the ages. Enjoy seeing the tables get turned on old “Sir John” as, in the end, we will agree: “All the world is a burlesque and man is born a jester.”  Tickets are $35-$45 for general admission seating. Select seats on Thursday and Friday’s are $28 for seniors and $10 for students.  www.operaintheheights.org.

Friday

7:30pm - midnight | Gala: DiverseWorks’ Fire Sale.  Promising an irreverent evening ablaze with amazing art steals, a matchless buffet and sizzling musical selections by DJs Tierney Malone and Danny B.  Honoring The 9@59@9 Gang, Caroline Huber, and Marshal & Victoria Lightman.  Tickets:  Start at $150.  p.s.  go to the after party starting at 10pm for $50 per person.  713.223.8346 or www.diverseworks.org.

8 pm | Dance: Sandra Organ Dance Company - Si Se Puede.  In collaboration with Talento Bilingüe de Houston, Sandra Organ Dance Company presents a full-length modern dance performance inspired by the legacy of Cesar E. Chavez and the history of the migrant farm worker movement. Sí Se Puede (Yes We Can) opens with A Prayer for the Farm Worker, written by Cesar E. Chavez, and also includes Tata Dios, a dance about a couple and their struggles as migrant farmers. Sí Se Puede offers students and adults of all ages a creative and unique perspective on this important issue. Tickets: $18. www.tbhcenter.org (also performed on Saturday at 8 pm)

8 pm-11 pm | Mixed Media: Steel Lounge Underground at the CAMH.  Hosted by DJ Pooks and Josh Zulu and featuring Jaekim, Young Mammals and Ceeplus Bad Knives.  Free.  5216 Montrose Blvd.  www.camh.org.

8 pm - midnight | Critical Mass Afterparty @ Tipping Point Store.  Bikes, beer, and live music. Downtown on Main Street. Catch the Fat Tony on the mic backed by DJ Dave Wrangler. And if you have never seen the kicks at The Tipping Point Store you are missing out. Thomas has got loads of custom Nikes, Onitsuka and more. Free. www.indiehouston.org.

Saturday

12 noon | Live Music: Westheimer Block Party.  See 100+ great, local and regional music all in one area for free.  They have stepped it up this year with bringing in national artists though for a ticket price. The day part is free but the evening part tickets are purchased here. 300-500 Westheimer.  www.freepresshouston.com (Event goes through Sunday).

1-4pm | Workshop Houston Five Year Anniversary Open House.  Celebrating 5 years of innovative programs for the youth of the Third Ward, join the board and staff for delicious food + birthday cake, music and fun times.  Support the programs by getting your own limited edition, hand-printed youth- and artist-designed totes and tees and take part in a silent auction.  Free.  3615 Sauer.  www.workshophouston.org.

4-7pm | Opening Reception: Project Row Houses.  “Round 30”-Featured artists:  Gregory Michael Carter, Stephanie Diamond, Rashida Ferdinard, Lance Flowers, Cynthia Giachetti, Lisa Quells,, Stacy-Lynn Waddell and Yinka Adeyemi.    2505-2521 Holman Street.  www.projectrowhouses.org.

5-10 pm |  Aerosol Warfare Gallery & Boutique + CKC START Street & Urban Arts is a Houston-based organization whose mission is to promote street, urban & alternative forms of art as a positive and creative force in the community. The exhibition features artwork and a full installation by KIPP Academy students, workshop participants and various supporters throughout the previous 2008-2009 season. Free.  2110 Jefferson @ Hutchins, Suite 113, EaDo.  713.882.6649. www.aerosolwarfare.com  

7 pm | Deja Rendez-Vous: A Respectacle on Buffalo Bayou and Party with CLUI and Simparch.  First, at 7:00pm, join sound artist Richard Lerman and guest performers in the courtyard just outside the UH Mitchell Center building for Travelon Gamelon, a mini-concert of custom-designed “wind harps” (on bikes!). Then at 7:30pm follow the promenade (on bikes!) over to Tony Marron Park for Deja Rendez-Vous: A Respectacle on Buffalo Bayou - a mutli-media celebration of the intersection of Oil and Houston. The event will include the world premiere and unveiling of a new public artwork from SIMPARCH, co-commissioned by the Mitchell Center and Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP). All S.O.S. public programs involving the CLUI and SIMPARCH are co-presented with BBP in conjunction with the new initiative Confluence: Points of View on Buffalo Bayou.  www.buffalobayou.org. Tony Marron Park, 808 North York.  Free.

7 pm | Film:  Gigi.  Houston Grand Opera prepares for the world premiere of Andre Previn’s Brief Encounter.  Previn served as music director for this Oscar- and Grammy-winning film, which takes place in a park. Bring a lawn chair or blanket to the hill at Discovery Green. Free.. For more information, call Discovery Green at 713.400.7336.  www.discoverygreen.com

7pm | Film: Houston Jewish Film Festival presents Love Comes Lately at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Brown Auditorium.  www.mfah.org/films (also plays on Sunday at 1 pm)

7:30pm | Music: Houston Symphony’s Bach vs. Vivaldi Experience - Brandenburg 1 & 3.  Enjoy Bach’s Magnificat along with concertos by Bach and Vivaldi.  Part of Houston Symphony’s weekend-long Bach vs. Vivaldi Music Experience at Houston Baptist University.  For more info visit www.houstonsymphony.org.

9pm | Film:  Houston Jewish Film Festival presents Children of the Sun at MFAH.  www.mfah.org/films  

Sunday

11 am - 12 noon: Dance - Dominic Walsh Dance Theater takes the stage at Bayou City Art Festival performing For the Two of You and sections from his Titus Andronicus  and Amadeus for Anita. Free with festival admission.  www.dwdt.org.

3 p.m. | Music:  Sunday Jazz Series with Houston Grand Opera Studio members.  HGO Studio members in a program of jazz, including music by André Previn at the Sunday Jazz Series at Discovery Green. Admission is free. For more information, call Discovery Green at 713.400.7336. www.discoverygreen.com.

7 p.m. | Film:  The Fortune Cookie.  Showing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Fortune Cookie features Jack Lemmon alongside Walter Matthau, whose performance earned him an Academy Award. Directed by Billy Wilder with a film score by André Previn, this movie was made in 1966, the same year Previn became conductor of the Houston Symphony. General admission is $7 at the MFAH box office. For more information, call MFAH at 713.639.7531.  www.mfah.org/films.

8 pm | Live Music:  DJ SUN at The House of Blues w/ special guest DJ E’s E (NYC) and others.  DJ SUN’S SOULARIUM brings Houston’s House of Blues a flavorful monthly mix of nationally recognized DJs and musicians. Each month’s SOULARIUM will bring the groove-heavy, and versatile sounds you have come to expect and love from dj and producer DJ SUN. Free.  1204 Caroline.  www.hob.com/houston.

Tuesday, March 31 | Opera:  Taste This! with Houston Grand Opera Studio singers.  Enjoy an evening of wine and song featuring the music of Andre Previn with a cabaret-style performance at The Tasting Room in Uptown Park.  www.houstongrandopera.org.