ANA KHAN’S THINGS TO DO
Disney on Ice: Magic in the Stars
The production features 56 iconic Disney characters, including those from “Frozen 2,” “Wish,” “Raya and the Last Dragon,” along with favorites like Woody, Buzz, Tiana, Lightning McQueen and Snow White. When: Through Sunday Where: NRG Stadium, 1 NRG Parkway
Details: $20 and up; disneyonice.com
The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival
Taking place along the scenic banks of The Woodlands Waterway and Town Green Park, the festival offers guests an open-air art gallery with music, food and activities for kids. When: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. today, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday Where: The Woodlands Waterway Square, Waterway Square Place, The Woodlands Details: $15-$250, free for ages 12 and younger; thewoodlands artscouncil.org/p/festival
The ‘Family Guy Experience’
The pop-up experience takes fans inside the show’s fictional town of Quahog. Attendees can visit the Drunken Clam bar, play Giggity Golf, check out setups like the news desk, Griffin’s living room, enjoy themed cocktails and food, snap photos and grab exclusive merchandise.
When: Through June 21
Where: Junction HTX, 8200 Washington
Details: $18 and up; bit.ly/3vNq36q
Chappell Hill Bluebonnet Festival
The Official Bluebonnet Festival
of Texas will be held in Chappell Hill’s historic downtown. It features over 250 vendors selling jewelry, clothing, art and food.
When: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday Where: Chappell Hill, Main Street & the Poplar Lot Details: chappellhillhistorical society.com
Houston LatinFest
The annual celebration of Latin culture unites North, Central and South America, along with the Caribbean, through music, art and food.
When: 1-10 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
Where: The Crown Festival Park at Sugar Land, 18355 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land
Details: $12 and up, free for ages 12 and younger; theofficialhoustonlatinfest.com
Crawfish Fest
Hosted by KPRC at Discovery Green, this mudbug celebration offers Cajun-style boiled foods for purchase. Guests can add a $30 option for a 2-pound crawfish plate with their ticket. When: 2-9 p.m. Saturday Where: Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney
Details: $15, VIP $45, free for ages 8 and younger; bit.ly/432fetz
‘Bilingual: When Art Speaks’
Monterroso Gallery introduces its new location within the historic Isabella Court with the debut of “Bilingual: When Art Speaks.” The inaugural exhibition includes the work of seven artists who intentionally use art to express themselves. The artworks blend their cultural backgrounds and personal stories, showing how their language roots mix with the universal language of art. When: Saturday-May 14 Where: Monterroso Gallery, Isabella Court, 3911 Main Details:monterrosogallery.com
Here are five events recommended for the coming week.
‘They Are Falling All Around Me’
Last year, poet, memoirist and University of Houston professor Nick Flynn released “Low,” a new collection of poems that took into account our unreliability as narrators in our own stories. The poems were threaded with themes concerning memory and the past informed by trauma and loss. Given the nature of the collection, his appearance at the Moody Center this week should be a fascinating one. For “They Are Falling All Around Me: Postcards From the Edge of Latent Space,” Flynn will read poems from “Low,” which will be run through a voice-activated AI image generator. In real time, his words will prompt visual accompaniment. After the performance, Flynn will discuss it with AI developer and artist David Rokeby and composer Anthony Brandt. When: 7 p.m. today
Where: Moody Center for the Arts, Rice University, 6100 Main Details: Free; moody.rice.edu
Frankie Beverly
Frankie Beverly for years felt like one of the last living conduits to a bygone era of smooth soul music. A Philadelphia native, he came up through doo-wop more than six decades ago and found his groove in the 1970s with his funky R&B ensemble Maze. He’s been a touring fixture ever since, drifting around the country ghostlike with his all-white attire. But at 77, Beverly has decided to call it a career. So he’ll pass through Houston one last time with Maze on the “Live … One Last Time Tour.” As if Beverly on a farewell tour weren’t a sufficient draw, the bill is further stacked with the O’Jays and El DeBarge.
When: 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Toyota Center, 1510 Polk Details: $94-$205; 866-446-8849, houstontoyotacenter.com
Kronos Quartet
Back in 1973, David Harrington decided to put together a string quartet to play music that wasn’t dictated by the canon. In naming his ensemble, he settled on the Greek word for time. Over the past 50 years, Kronos Quartet has dedicated itself to performing modern music that too rarely found its way to concert halls. But in addition to time, Kronos has operated progressively with space, working on music by composers from Africa, Asia, South America and other places. The filmmaker Sam Green made a documentary about this half-century journey. Because Kronos is forward-facing, though, this presentation of “A Thousand Thoughts” doesn’t just look back. This meditative poem of a film will screen while the quartet plays, with Green narrating live. So fans are invited to look back, but also be in the moment, a sort of experience Kronos Quartet has nurtured for a very long time. When: 7:30 p.m. today Where: Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana
Details: Tickets start at $29; 713-227-4772, performingartshouston.org
Janiva Magness
Detroit native Janiva Magness sings the blues from a place of experience. Hers was a childhood filled with tragedy. And she found refuge in singing sad stuff: songs that swung between blues and soul so effortlessly that distinctions between the styles felt artificial, which they honestly are. She’s been recording for three decades, most recently a survivor’s set of songs called “Hard to Kill” two years ago. Magness says she has another album “in the hopper,” so fans may get the opportunity to hear some new tunes before the recordings find their way into the world.
When: 7 p.m. Sunday
Where: Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar, 1031 E. 24th
Details: $15; danelectrosbar.com
‘The Princess Bride’
Rob Reiner’s “The Princess Bride” was by any measure a success back in 1987. With $30 million at the box office, it doubled the amount it cost to make and seemed poised to live and then pass on as a successful but hardly life-changing comic fantasy romance. Turns out, after it left theaters, “The Princess Bride” was only mostly dead. In the intervening 30-plus years, its wit, wisdom and inconceivably lovable characters kept pulling repeat viewings and new fans as it morphed into a quintessential and quotable cult favorite. Performing Arts Houston presents the film this week with a visit from star and farm boy Cary Elwes.
When: 7:30 p.m. today
Where: Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana
Details: Tickets start at $39; 713-227-4772, performingartshouston.org