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    Weekend Event Planner

    The Wizard of Oz onstage tops best weekend events in Dallas

    Alex Bentley
    Mar 20, 2014 | 12:00 am

    We seem to be living in a backward world. Last week — a time when many people were on spring break — was packed with top-flight events. Now that everybody is back in town, this weekend has significantly less to offer.

    But don't despair: There are still a few things worth checking out. Below are your best options for your precious free time Thursday through Sunday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

    Thursday, March 20

    Undermain Theatre presents We are Proud to Present a Presentation…
    The official name for this play, making its regional debut at Undermain Theatre, consists of 27 words, essentially providing a synopsis of the plot. The production is actually kind of a play within a play, as a group of actors gear up to portray the extermination of the Herero tribe of Namibia by the Germans. But how each actor identifies with the character they're playing makes for some funny and tense situations. It plays through April 19.

    Dallas Summer Musicals presents The Wizard of Oz
    We all know and love The Wizard of Oz, and now there's more of it to love as Dallas Summer Musicals presents the stage version. Playing at the Music Hall at Fair Park through March 30, the musical has every song and iconic moment from the film, as well as a few new songs from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber and some surprises along the yellow brick road.

    Friday, March 21

    Gin Blossoms in concert
    When the Gin Blossoms were at their peak in the early 1990s, fans would've killed to see them in a venue as small as The Kessler. But 20 years later, the band is purely a nostalgic act, despite putting out two albums since 2006. The band, famous for songs like "Hey Jealousy," "Found Out About You" and "Follow You Down," plays two shows at the renovated Oak Cliff theater.

    Dallas Opera presents Die tote Stadt (The Dead City)
    The Dallas Opera starts to bring its 2013-2014 season to a close with Die tote Stadt, the classic German opera from composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Playing at Winspear Opera House through April 6, it tells the story of a man obsessed with his dead wife who must try to let go of her memory in order to truly live again.

    Saturday, March 22

    2014 Dallas Vintage Clothing and Jewelry Show
    You could hunt and peck at various antique and vintage stores around the Dallas-Fort Worth area, or you could just do some one-stop shopping at the Dallas Vintage Clothing and Jewelry Show, which starts Friday and goes through Sunday at Addison Conference Centre. Dozens of vintage dealers from around the country display their wares — and hope you buy.

    Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas Art Bus Tour
    The latest bus tour from the Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas takes the art adventurous from Holly Johnson Gallery in the Design District to Kirk Hopper Fine Art in downtown Dallas before heading a bit out of town to Webb Gallery in Waxahachie. The price of the tour includes both the bus ride and lunch from Boster Catering.

    Savor Dallas International Grand Tasting
    This is one of the few Savor Dallas events that hasn't yet sold out, so act now to secure your spot. Now in its 10th year, this finale features tastes from top local restaurants, hundreds of wines, and selection of beers and spirits. A VIP Tasting Package gets you into both the Reserve Tasting earlier in the day and early entry into the International Grand Tasting.

    Sunday, March 23

    Dallas Holocaust Museum presents screening of Besa: The Promise
    The Dallas Holocaust Museum is currently displaying "Besa: Code of Honor," and this is the second of two feature-length documentary screenings related to the exhibit. The film details how Albania, with a majority Muslim population, managed to successfully hide and protect almost all of the Jewish refugees within its borders during World War II.

    Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Twilight of the Gods
    The latest concert from the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra aims to bring a little thunder to the Bass Performance Hall. Featuring three performances Friday through Sunday, the orchestra plays Peter Sculthorpe's "Earth Cry," with a prominent didgeridoo element, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 and Wagner's Götterdämmerung.

    Dallas Summer Musicals presents The Wizard of Oz at Music Hall at Fair Park through March 30.

    The Wizard of Oz
      
    Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann
    Dallas Summer Musicals presents The Wizard of Oz at Music Hall at Fair Park through March 30.
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    Movie Review

    Wes Anderson shows off comedy chops in stylish The Phoenician Scheme

    Alex Bentley
    Jun 6, 2025 | 12:55 pm
    Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, and Michael Cera in The Phoenician Scheme
    Photo courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features
    Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, and Michael Cera in The Phoenician Scheme.

    If you were to do a poll of the best comedy filmmakers of the 21st century, writer/director Wes Anderson is not the obvious choice to come out on top, but there’s an argument to be made for him. His quirky style doesn’t yield the guffaws that more broad comedies do, but the absurd situations he creates in his films are often more consistently funny than anything else.

    Anderson’s inimitable approach is once again on full display in The Phoenician Scheme. At its center is Zsa-Zsa Gorda (Benicio Del Toro), a much-hated businessman who’s looking to complete a number of big projects in the fictional country of Phoenicia. As he seems to be the target of multiple assassination attempts, he appoints his daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), as his heir to try to ensure his legacy.

    Both she and his new assistant, Bjorn (Michael Cera), accompany him around the country as he tries to enact a scheme to have others cover the bulk of the cost for the various projects. Those he attempts to convince include Phoenician Prince Farouk (Riz Ahmed), brothers Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston), fellow businessman Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric), ship captain Marty (Jeffrey Wright), his Cousin Hilda (Scarlett Johansson), and Uncle Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch).

    Put in Andersonian terms, the film is a mix between the madcap antics from The Grand Budapest Hotel and the impenetrable storytelling of Asteroid City. If you were to try to understand every detail of what’s going on in the story of The Phoenician Scheme, it might take three or more viewings to do so. But the film is still highly entertaining because Anderson fills its frames with his typical visual delights, great wordplay, and his particular version of slapstick.

    Much of the comedy of the film derives from Anderson inserting moments that initially come as a surprise and then utilizing them as running jokes. The film features more blood than usual for the filmmaker, but each time a character gets wounded (or worse), it gets funnier. The assassination attempts get broader as the film goes along, and the matter-of-fact way in which they’re treated by Gorda and others is also hilarious.

    Of course, Anderson is the cinephile’s comedy director, so the film is also full of high-brow things like allusions to paintings, tributes to other filmmakers, and classical music. Each time Gorda has an attempt on his life, he briefly finds himself in a version of limbo, depicted in black-and-white by Anderson. The cast of characters Gorda finds there - including Bill Murray as God - could come straight out of a 1950s Ingmar Bergman movie.

    Del Toro has delivered some great performances over the years, but this one is near the top for him. This is his second Anderson film (following The French Dispatch) and he nails the deadpan method. Also great is Cera, who uses a ridiculous accent to make a big impression. Threapleton, the daughter of Kate Winslet, makes the most of her first big film role. The list of supporting actors is too deep to properly laud everyone, but they all fit in seamlessly.

    Opinions will differ, but for this critic’s money, Anderson is at his best when he fully leans into the comedy of his films. He does just that in The Phoenician Scheme, to the point that it doesn’t matter that the story is overly complex. The combination of his eye for visual detail, a witty script, and committed performances make it a success.

    ---

    The Phoenician Scheme is now playing in theaters.

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