While many events in and around Dallas have either been postponed or canceled during the coronavirus pandemic, organizations have pivoted to virtual or socially distanced events to continue offering the masses some entertainment while we need it the most.
Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. While not every event is out of the house, they all promise to provide a nice distraction from the everyday life.
Friday, February 5
Dallas Theater Center presents Centerstage Gala: Staging Joy
Dallas Theater Center's 2021 Centerstage Gala, titled “Staging Joy,” will be the first virtual gala in the theater’s history. The evening will be hosted by Enloe/Rose Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty and Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company member Liz Mikel, with special appearances from fellow acting company member Christopher Llewyn Ramirez. It will also feature performances from members of the Brierley Resident Acting Company, along with special appearances from current and former Dallas Theater Center artists.
East Dallas Arts presents You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
East Dallas Arts presents its fifth socially distanced, livestream production, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, featuring students ages 11-17 years old from several Dallas-area schools. Charlie Brown and the entire Peanuts gang explore life's great questions as they play baseball, struggle with homework, sing songs, swoon over their crushes, and celebrate the joy of friendship. The production will be available to stream through Sunday.
Pocket Sandwich Theatre presents Goofballs Cabaret Unhinged
The New York Goofballs are a riotous group of physical comedians and variety performers who've appeared at top (and big top) circuses, theaters, and festivals around the world. The show, taking place at Pocket Sandwich Theatre on Friday and Saturday, features favorites Dick Monday and Tiffany Riley, The Ramazinis, Magic Mike, and surprise masked guests.
Saturday, February 6
Nasher Sculpture Center presents "Nasher Mixtape" opening day
The Nasher Sculpture Center will present "Nasher Mixtape," a series of exhibitions of the Nasher permanent collection installed throughout the museum. Rather than presenting variations on a single overarching theme, "Nasher Mixtape" offers a compilation of “tracks,” micro-exhibitions focused on the Nasher’s permanent collection. A labor of love and a versatile creative activity, the mixtape has survived into the digital era in many different forms. The exhibition will be on display through September 26.
Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents DBDT: Encore! Reminisce
The DBDT: Encore! virtual performance of Reminisce reflects on the Civil Rights Era, paying tribute through the music of Andra Day, Aretha Franklin, and Gladys Knight & The Pips with the empowering words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This work was a collaborative effort by DBDT: Encore! Artistic Director Nycole Ray, DBDT: Encore! Artistic Assistant Richard A. Freeman, Jr., Encore! dancer Terrell Rogers and the entire Encore! Company.
Richardson Symphony Orchestra presents The Great American Road Trip
This special Richardson Symphony Orchestra collaboration with the School of ATEC (Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication) at the University of Texas at Dallas will feature video montages that accompany the orchestra’s performance. The concert, taking place at the Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts, will celebrate America’s musical heritage, from Broadway musicals, to Elvis’ rock and roll, to Gloria Estefan’s Latin rhythms, to the Beach Boys’ surfin’ sounds.
Sunday, February 7
Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark presents Epic Plunge
Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark in Grand Prairie is kicking off a chilly new year with the third annual Epic Plunge. Guests can take the “polar plunge” into anticipated water temperatures in the fifties. Afterward, they can thaw off with a cup of hot chocolate while inside the waterpark, which is kept at a pleasant 84 degrees. All participants will get a full-day admission ticket to enjoy everything Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark has to offer. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the all-abilities playground in Grand Prairie, Play Grand Adventures.
Dallas Museum of Art presents "Curbed Vanity: A Contemporary Foil by Chris Schanck" opening day
For his first museum commission and solo museum presentation, Dallas-native artist Chris Schanck is creating a contemporary work inspired by the late-19th century Martelé dressing table in the DMA’s collection. Made of found objects from the immediate neighborhood of the artist’s Detroit studio, Schanck’s dressing table will be coated in resin and aluminum foil — a reference to the Dallas aluminum factory where, along with his father, Schanck worked when he was young. The two dressing tables will be presented together to form a conversation about craftsmanship, material, and the vanity that drives them. The exhibition will remain on display through August 29.
Dallas Summer Musicals presents Hershey Felder: Live from Florence
Dallas Summer Musicals will present Hershey Felder: Live from Florence, streamed live from Italy. The first of a trio of events, in which Felder will bring famous composers to life through storytelling and their works, is called Before Fiddler, focusing on Sholem Aleichem and his beloved character of ‘Tevye the Milkman.’ Felder will play Sholem Aleichem himself, giving audiences the true story of what happened ‘Before Fiddler.’
Dallas Theater Center presents Centerstage Gala: Staging Joy, featuring Liz Mikel, on February 5.
Polish gingerbread at Gourmet European Market.Photo courtesy of GEM 