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No more Whitman’s Samplers, no more wilting H-E-B bouquets, and no more pink bears holding hearts! This Valentine’s season, the Bat City Bombshells stick it to romance with a burlesque show boasting anti-Valentine’s propaganda. Featuring the burly-q talents of Sherry Bomb, Violet Sky, Mistress Moon, Kateastrophe, Roc Gaude, Folly Parton, Ms. Gorgeous George, Jack Potts, Marcia Melons, Hibiscus Bloom, Jess Velour, and host Nico De Gallo. Forbidden Fruit sponsors and provides sensual somethings for the show’s raffle. – James Scott

Nobody’s suggesting that youth is overrated, but the Eastside’s ever-sizzling Vortex Theatre and World Famous *BOB* unveil a poignant show focused on stories of elders of the queer community. The evening features a cast of five, all over the age of 60, who share 10-minute stories of their personal experiences that invite the audience to discard preconceived ideas of aging. This production is an outgrowth of *BOB*’s Campfire Queer Storytime, hosted monthly at the Vortex, and is sponsored by Rainbow Connections ATX, a program of Family Eldercare. –Wayne Alan Brenner

Based on Tim Burton’s beloved film, this hilarious musical tells the story of a strange and unusual teenager whose life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and a demon with a thing for stripes.

“This project has been financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Live Music Fund Event Program.” Decades later, our forever-booming state capital and the so-called live music capital finally fuse together to birth interdisciplinary collaborations such as this beaut: Brazilian ATX vet Frederico Geib, his South American roots-pop combo, and local dance institution Andrea Ariel. Reviving the group’s 2019 project Exótico Americano, Downtown’s exclusive sound speakeasy hosts Frederico7 y Los Primes being remixed live by 30-year boundary-breaker Ariel as she live composes an improvisational technique called Soundpainting, which employs “1,500 gestures to spontaneously guide, shape and remix material in real time.” – Raoul Hernandez

In November 2008, a film released that shook teens and tweens to their very core; a film based on a Mormon mom’s dream of sparkly vampires and abstinence; a film starring two little freaks barely entering their freakdom. This Aughts classic gets twisted queer-style by Austin drag elites: Lavender Thug, Iggy Bank, Munster Mash, Tangelo, Vixie St. Claire, Travis Randy Travis, Jenna Talia, Jack Rabid, Kino Kino, Gender Destruction, and host Brigitte Bandit. Hold on tight, spider monkey. – James Scott

Lydia Loveless’ sixth LP, Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way Again, reset behind its anthemic title. The 2023 album saw the songwriter return home to Ohio and confront a barrage of insecurity. The result casts Loveless’ hook-heavy roots rock in a more reflective light – no less biting but turned inward to confess vulnerabilities and embrace ambiguity. Labelmate on resurrected Bloodshot Records, Jason Hawk Harris, opens both nights with his own expansive vision of Americana from last year’s tortured reckoning with loss, the remarkable Thin Places. – Doug Freeman

You’re a busy guy; you don’t have time to read all of War and Peace. But you’re also ashamed that you’ve not dug into the hottest Russian novel of 1869! Hark: A solution awaits at the Zach Theatre production of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Dave Malloy’s musical adaptation of a 70-page section of Tolstoy’s great tome. Described by the theatre as an “innovative electro-pop opera,” this two-hour-and-thirty-minute love triangle will be available as pay-what-you-will until Feb. 4. Heads-up to queers: Thursday, Feb. 1, is PRIDE night!– James Scott

Look, nobody wants us to make a dumb sausage fest joke, but if the andouille fits… Banger’s annual free three-day party around Mardi Gras will feature a Cajun-forward special menu (including boudin link with red beans and rice, crawfish and sausage gumbo, gator hush puppies, and beignets), bourbon barrel beers, kid-friendly games, and live music from Chansons et Soulards, Austin Cajun Aces, Jean Pierre & the Zydeco Angels, the Numbers, and Lexi Weege & JJ Slater. – Kimberley Jones

These bulls will stomp your face! And every other part of your delicate human body! Or, as the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour promoters put it: “Each ride promises an opportunity for an unforgettable moment!” A modestly priced ticket allows the attendee to take in the aroma of hay and dung and watch emerging bull riders and superstars of the sport try to stay atop their bulls for eight seconds. – Brant Bingamon

PrintEXPO is PrintAustin’s free annual print fair that showcases more than 100 artists, galleries, print shops, and university-based printmaking programs from across the U.S. And this? This is one hell of an enjoyable opening-night shindig – with cocktails and more, including live bluegrass from the Greenlawn Rangers.

We’ve been in the Elgin Butler Brick Company building for almost 33 years now – more than enough time to turn junk into memorabilia. Desks, chairs, shelves, file cabinets, yes, but also other “random Chronicle things.” Posters, handbills, and fliers. The press kit from the Austin Aztex national championship season. Forty-year-old guides to life in Austin. Old issues. Really old issues. Snow globes. Softball trophies. Vintage tees, free bandanas, and branded hard hats. (And never fear; we’re not really going anywhere, just moving to the other side of the volleyball court on 40th St.) – Nick Barbaro

From Texas Comedies – the company that brought us Murders & Moontowers, Boomtown, Prohibition, and other staged follies – comes this latest spectacle inspired by the notorious Sutton-Taylor Feud, the longest-lasting and deadliest feud in 19th-century Texas.

Do you think gun violence is way out of control in these United States, citizen? Do you want a more effective response than “thoughts and prayers” from politicians? Different Stages knows how public art can help effect change, continuing their current season of theatre with Scott Z. Burns’ drama about the aftermath of a deadly shooting at a high school. Directed by Carl Gonzales and Lacey Cannon Gonzales, featuring performances by Lucky Cantu, Eva McQuade, Beau Paul, Gina Houston, Stan McDowell, Liz Waters, and Jason Park. – Wayne Alan Brenner

Austin Symphony Orchestra draws inspiration from “the special relationship” for an across-the-pond-and-back performance featuring four composers – two American, two British. Austin’s own preeminent pianist, Anton Nel, opens the program with Benjamin Britten’s Piano Concerto, Op. 13. Also on the bill: American Samuel Barber’s aching “Adagio for Strings,” Brit Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music, and American Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, performed in collaboration with Chorus Austin. – Kimberley Jones