On Tuesday night, Houston’s first and only bayou movie barge docked at Guadalupe Park off Navigation for the first of 2 “sneak peek” video performances on the banks of Buffalo Bayou. On the opposite shoreline, a few cargo trains and a motorcade of dirt bikes rumbled past, but the night was clear and mosquito-free, show and boat organizer Bree Edwards claims. Plus, she says: The solar-powered cinema setup on the Tex Hex worked flawlessly. Her pix of the scene:
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Tuesday’s performance, along with a second one last night — in a grittier bayou setting under the freeway at the corner of Nance and West St. — had separate film programs, but both were dry runs for this Saturday night’s 8:30 pm official maiden voyage and premiere. In honor of the weekend’s Art-Car parade, the showboat’s film program will focus on the idea of “visionary transport” and feature movies by Buster Keaton, Kenneth Anger, and Buckminster Fuller (among others), pieced together by curator and video pilot Deborah Stratman. Free stadium seating for the performance, pictured below, is available at the funnel end of White Oak Bayou, behind 1011 Wood St. downtown.
Update: Another photo of the Tex Hex, hanging out under the Eastex Freeway before Thursday night’s show:
- Tex Hex Pop Up Cinema: Past Forward [Mitchell Center]
- Previously on Swamplot: Bayou Theater: Houston Research Boat Will Have Movies on Sail
Photos: Bree Edwards/Mitchell Center for the Arts
SO cool!
Everyone I know thinks I’m crazy, but I canoed Buffalo Bayou from Highway 6 to downtown a few years ago, and it was surprisingly clean and natural. The best part was the stretch through Eleanor Tinsley Park, at the end of the trip, where the downtown skyline suddenly pops into view.
In April of this year, a friend and I took a ride on the little-known public pontoon boat ride offered occasionally on Buffalo Bayou near the Sabine Street Bridge. It was a really, really neat experience, and there were only 4 people including us that were there for the ride. The city is so different from the water. They even show you the ruins of a family tomb that was used as a foundation a bridge that still exists, and there is a point where a heavy stream of clean water pours into the bayou from an uncapped artesian well under a street a few blocks away.
The weather was perfect that day, and I was shocked at seeing only a few dozen people utilizing the landscaped trails and green spaces along the bayou. I’m sure on the same day, Memorial Park and Hermann Park were packed – why not this place?
I wish the Bayou had a more prevalent place in Houston’s image and culture.
Lets hope they don’t pull any bodies out of the bayou tonight!
I think if they showed some good horror flicks while the bodies are being fished out, it would really help them compete with all of the new 3D gimmicks. RIP “Detroit.”
I could totally ride up on my stand up paddle down that stretch of bayou. The key is to not get wet of course.
See Greens Bayou post.
’nuff said.
That is really cool. I agree that the Bayou is way under-utilized.. I kayaked with my now-fiancee on one of our first dates.. from Sabine St. to Guadalupe Park. It was really neat and we had a blast. In the future, I would take out at Allen Landing, it gets pretty grimy after that. Just FWIW!
Ooooh I would love to rent one for a party! Maybe version 2 will be bigger and have a built-in mister;)