5 Things to Do this Week: Check Out Tomorrow's Superstars at Booker T. or Get Your Hands Dirty at Earth Day Texas

Cracking into the arts and culture calendar this week feels a little like busting into a piñata: There’s a ton of stuff crammed in there, and enough variety to appeal to every kind of person. You don’t even have to fight over the good stuff. There’s more than enough to go around.

For the dreamers:

2016 Grand Concert
7 p.m. Monday, April 18
Booker T. Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts
2501 Flora St.
$5-$10

Your high school concert featured the dreamiest of stoners strumming a guitar and channeling James Taylor. This is not that. The Booker T. Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts is known for its musical alumni, which includes Erykah Badu, Roy Hargrove, Nora Jones and plenty of other talented performers. So, you can expect some serious musical chops at play when their orchestras, ensembles and choral groups take the stage during this two-part concert, which continues Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

For the book worms:

Reading: Practical Applications for Multiverse Theory
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19
The Wild Detectives
314 W. 8th St. 
Free

Local comedians Nick Scott and Noa Gavin mine the rich comedic and sci-fi potential of a high school campus in their new young adult novel, Practical Applications for Multiverse Theory. Join the authors as they celebrate the release of their book, and discuss how all the messy emotions and drama of a high school are perfect fodder for an apocalypse.

For the activists:

Dallas Theater Center’s Deferred Action
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 20
Wyly Theatre
 2400 Flora St.
Pay-what-you-can

Dallas Theater Center tears down walls with its production of the political and affecting Deferred Action, a collaboration with Cara Mia Theatre Company. The play follows the travails of Javier Mejía, an undocumented immigrant who came to the US as a minor — and it explores how the intersection of politics, economics and social sentiment creates an uneasy existence for these so-called “dreamers.” This production represents the world premiere of the work, written by David Lozano and Lee Trull. The timely subject matter finds borders at every turn, in a tense search for amnesty and acceptance.

For history buffs:

Texas Theatre 85th Anniversary Party & the Mystery of the Texas Theatre Safe
9:30 p.m. Thursday, April 21
Texas Theatre
231 W. Jefferson Blvd.
$.35

The Texas Theatre is one of the best-preserved historical gems in Dallas, a total boon for history and film buffs alike and a rarity in our strip-mall and chain restaurant crazed metropolis. Tonight, everyone’s favorite throwback theatre parties like it's 1931 with a 35 mm screening of Buster Keaton’s Parlor, Bedroom and Bath. Following that, local musician George Quartz hosts a good old-fashioned safe-cracking, to find out what secrets lie within the mysterious Texas Theatre safe.

For the eco-conscious:

Earth Day Texas 2016
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, April 22
Fair Park
Free

In Dallas, when we say it’s time to get your green on, your thoughts probably turn to drunken revelry down Greenville Avenue in mid-March. But this time, the party is a little more productive than that — cultivating a consciousness that doesn’t involve dyed beer and an IV full of saline. It’s Earth Day Texas 2016 — a three-day festival that inspires Dallasites to get involved with environmental issues through education and action. The free event, held at Fair Park, boasts a jam-packed schedule that includes panels, an eco-conference for business leaders, a huge public exhibition, speaker series, gardening classes, workshops, and enough kiddy activities to keep little ones engaged all weekend long. Live music performances include the O’s, Telegraph Canyon, Kinky Friedman and Michael Martin Murphy. The green-themed programming kicks off Friday, and gates are open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. through Sunday. For more information, including a detailed schedule, visit earthdaytx.org.