ARTS PICKS
“Mine the Gap,” “Book of Magdalene” top choices.
1. ‘Mine the Gap’
Lawndale’s Artist Studio Program didn’t quite go according to script last year. The one-year residencies were to have yielded presentations by three entities — two individual artists and one collaborative project — but the pandemic shut things down. Rather than scuttling its plans, Lawndale extended the artists’ residencies by a year, and they created new pieces for “Mine the Gap,” which reflects their art in the time of COVID. Holly Veselka’s collection mixes items found during walks along Buffalo Bayou with 3D scans of those items and 3D printed interpretations of them. Gerardo Rosales riffs on immigration and sexuality with his mural and paintings informed, in part, by an encounter with a coyote in Memorial Park. And Jacquelyne Boe and David Janesko have adapted a projection and dance presentation so that their dancers are isolated inside of individual pods.
When: Feb. 6 through April 25
Details: Lawndale, 4912 Main; free, visit lawndaleartscenter.org to make a viewing appointment
Andrew Dansby
2. ‘Book of Magdalene’
Play wright-screen writer-lyricist essayist-translator Caridad Svich has penned dozens of plays, which earned her a 2012 lifetime achievement Obie recognition. “Book of Magdalene” is set after an apocalyptic event and, through its titular character, probes connections based on love, faith and humanity. Amelia Rico directs a cast headed by Mariam Albishah.
When: Feb. 11-21
Where: Streaming via Main Street Theater
Details: Pay what you can, suggested $20-$54 ticket; mainstreettheater.com
Andrew Dansby
3. Fabien Gabel
Who better to present an allFrench program of music than renowned French conductor Fabien Gabel? Gabel will lead the Houston Symphony through an evening that includes Camille Pépin’s “Avant les clartés de l’aurore,” Henri Tomasi’s “Fanfares liturgiques” and Francis Poulenc’s Sinfonietta.
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana
Details: $29-$109 (or $20 for a Saturday livestream); 713-2247575, houstonsymphony.org
Andrew Dansby
4. Concert of Arias
Each year, Houston Grand Opera hosts the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers as it seeks to find rising talent for its HGO Studio program. And each year, that competition concludes with celebratory Concert of Arias, in which select finalists perform. This year’s Concert of Arias will feature soprano Brittany Logan, mezzosopranos Hannah Shea and Emily Treigle, countertenor Key’mon W. Murrah, tenors Aaron Crouch, Eric Taylor and Ángel Vargas and baritone Luke Sutliff. But unlike years past, this year’s Concert of Arias will have no audience, as HGO shifts to a virtual competition judged by HGO artistic and music director Patrick Summers, HGO artistic adviser Ana María Martínez and guest judge OPERA San Antonio general director E. Loren Meeker.
When: 7 p.m. Friday Details: Streaming at facebook.com/houstongrandopera
Andrew Dansby
5. ‘I, Too, Am America’
Ekundayo Bandele’s “I, Too, Am America” is a music-filled play that both celebrates Black contributions to American culture while also investigating discrimination and its repercussions. The video production is directed by the Ensemble Theatre artistic director Eileen J. Morris and features actors Kendrick Brown, Rachel Hemphill Dickson, Crystal Rae and Steve Scott.
When: Streaming Feb. 7-28
Details: $25; 713-520-0055, ensemblehouston.com Andrew Dansby
6. Mara Held
New York artist Mara Held has assembled “Gates of Cilicia” from her “Straight Lines” series. “Gates” takes its name from the Taurus Mountains (in presentday Turkey) and its inspiration from cave paintings and other images created by early man. Her works — gouache and egg tempera on paper — reward the lingering looker, drawing the eye with crisply defined and brightly colored repetitive forms that almost seem to transform from different vantage points or with a different focal point.
When: Noon-4 p.m. TuesdaysSaturdays, Feb. 6-May 15
Details: McClain Gallery, 2242 Richmond; appointments encouraged: 713-520-9988, mcclaingallery.com
Andrew Dansby
7. Black History Month at Holocaust Museum Houston
You’re invited to celebrate Black History Month with Holocaust Museum Houston. Choose between four free public programs hosted virtually via Zoom or tune in for all of the star-studded offerings. Kam Franklin, lead singer of the Suffers, kicks off the lecture series with a performance and discussion on Feb. 4. On Feb. 11, HMH will screen Ava DuVernay’s documentary film “13th.” History professor and former state parole officer Dwight Watson is slated to discuss his book “Race and the Houston Police Department 1930-1990” on Feb. 18. And to close the lineup, HMH is partnering with the Houston Museum of Natural Science to host “An Evening With the Lacks Family: The Story Behind the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” on Feb. 23. There are four Black History Month book events on the February calendar, too.
When: Virtually Feb. 4-23
Details: Advance registration at hmh.org/events Amber Elliott