Weekend Event Planner

These are the 11 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

A certain Founding Father-themed musical dominates this weekend's slate of events, but it's by no means the only fun thing to do. There will be the start of two other theater productions, the beginning of a classical music festival, another Instagram-able pop-up, shadowy dance, a concert from an indie darling, an arts festival, and more.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, April 4

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Hamilton
It's been a little over four years since Lin-Manuel Miranda and the original cast of Hamilton first took the theater world by storm with their now-indelible musical. Dallas finally gets its shot to see the production up close and in person as the third national tour settles in for a monthlong stay at the Music Hall at Fair Park, running through May 5. If you haven't already secured your tickets, there are still some tickets available, and you can always enter the lottery for a chance at $10 tickets.

Tyler Perry presents Madea's Farewell Play Tour
Actor, playwright, filmmaker, and comedian Tyler Perry will present the final tour for his beloved and iconic character, Madea. Perry’s Madea franchise has resonated with its diverse audience with films exploring poverty, race, love, and more. Marking Perry’s 21st stage play as the Atlanta grandma, the show stars the original cast, including Tamela Mann, David Mann, and Cassi Davis. The play will run at The Theatre at Grand Prairie through Sunday.

Second Thought Theatre presents Lela & Co.
Second Thought Theatre will present the area premiere of Lela & Co. by Cordelia Lynn. Lela, a young storyteller, sets the stage to tell the story of her beautiful, magical life. Set against the backdrop of a refugee crisis in an unnamed foreign country, the play charts Lela’s eventful journey from girlhood to womanhood. The production will run through April 27.

SOLUNA Festival
Hamilton is not the only big event starting this week. Dallas Symphony Orchestra's annual SOLUNA Festival kicks off with a variety of events, including violinist Augustin Hadelich performing Sibelius' Violin Concerto (playing Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center), an evening with Susan Graham (taking place Friday at the Meyerson), and more. The festival runs through April 28.

Friday, April 5

Candytopia
Candytopia, a candy-coated experiential adventure, will bring its confectionery wonderland to Dallas for a limited-run engagement. It features more than one dozen rooms with larger-than-life interactive art installations and full sensory experiences. Candytopia Dallas, located at The Hill off of Walnut Hill Lane, will feature the most popular attractions from its past locations along with new elements inspired by local culture and landmarks unique to the city.

TITAS presents Pilobolus — Shadowland: The New Adventure
Shadowland: The New Adventure uses Pilobolus’ exploration of mixed media to tell a love story about two people and their quest to save a magical bird. Employing animation, video, and live shadow theater, this madcap adventure dips its toe into the genres of science fiction, film noir, and romantic comedy. The production will have three performances through Saturday at Moody Performance Hall.

Jenny Lewis in concert
Over the years, Jenny Lewis has made a name for herself in a variety of ways. She was a child actress, starring in films like The Wizard and Troop Beverly Hills. She got her start in music as the dynamic frontwoman of influential LA group Rilo Kiley. And she was also part of the beloved early 2000s group The Postal Service. She recently released her fourth solo album, On the Line, in support of which she'll play at Canton Hall.

Saturday, April 6

Dallas Museum of Art presents "America Will Be!: Surveying the Contemporary Landscape" opening day
Drawing on works from the Dallas Museum of Arts’s permanent collection, this exhibition presents the ways in which contemporary artists engage with landscapes, broadly defined, exploring how our natural and built environments intersect with our representations of ourselves and our communities. The exhibit, part of the museum's free admission, will be on display through October 6.

Deep Ellum Arts Festival
The Deep Ellum Arts Festival will present its 25th anniversary edition. Taking place on six blocks of Main Street in the Dallas entertainment district of Deep Ellum, the festival features 200 top-notch decorative and visual artists, 100 original bands and singer/songwriters performing from four different stages and two additional performance areas, a Pet Parade, and foods and drinks. The festival runs through Sunday.

Live from Here with Chris Thile
Technically part of the SOLUNA Festival, Live from Here is a radio variety show hosted by musician and singer/songwriter Chris Thile that is a direct descendant from A Prairie Home Companion. The Dallas taping, taking place at Winspear Opera House, will feature special musical guests Jamie Lee, Nora McInerny, Esperanza Spalding, and The Head and the Heart.

Sunday, April 7

Crow Museum of Asian Art presents Jacob Hashimoto: "Clouds and Chaos" closing day
The solo exhibition of Jacob Hashimoto: “Clouds and Chaos," which explores the universally compelling phenomenon of nature, will come to a close at the Crow Museum of Asian Art in Dallas after being on display since September 2018. The exhibition’s central work, Nuvole (2006-2018), is a large-scale site-specific installation on view in Gallery III. It was the first major exhibition to debut in the newly renovated museum.

Live From Here with Chris Thile will be at Winspear Opera House on April 6.

Chris Thile/Facebook

Live From Here with Chris Thile will be at Winspear Opera House on April 6.

event-planner

Animal News

Latest animal to die at Dallas Zoo is young male gorilla named Zola

Dallas Zoo

Zola RIP

Another animal at the Dallas Zoo has died an untimely death: Zola, a young Western lowland gorilla, died on Wednesday, November 5, at age 23.

The zoo does not know why Zola died. A necropsy will be performed. According to their post, Zola was euthanized after showing symptoms of lethargy, reduced appetite, and signs of discomfort at the end of October.

"Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to begin breathing on his own afterward, despite the extraordinary efforts of our veterinary and animal care teams," their post says. "With his comfort as our priority, we made the difficult decision to let him go peacefully."

The zoo did not announce Zola's death immediately, instead waiting two days until Friday afternoon at 3 pm. Politicians and government agencies prefer to choose Friday afternoons to post news that is negative or controversial, since fewer people, and definitely fewer journalists, are online on Friday afternoons. It's called the "Friday news dump."

The death is very inconvenient for the Dallas Zoo since they were just about to ship off their male gorillas, which also include Juba, B'Wenzi, and Zola's half-brother Shana, to the San Antonio Zoo. Animals are very dear to the zoo — until it's time to ship them off to another zoo.

The relocation of the other three male gorillas is "temporarily on hold" but the zoo says they will be moved "when the time is right."

Other gorillas will be shipped in to replace them — although we do not know which gorillas and from where. The Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the overseeing body for zoos, only divulges that kind of intel on a "need to know" basis. Right now, you and I do not need to know. If we did know which gorillas were coming and where they were coming from, we might ask questions that would force the zoo to explain what it's up to.

Zola was born at the Bronx Zoo in 2002 and became internet famous as the "breakdancing gorilla" for splashing in pools and puddles. Some animal experts attributed his actions to frustration at being locked inside a zoo. He was relocated to the Calgary Zoo in 2009 when he was only 7 years old — zoos always play up what great bonds and family ties their animals have, until it's time to ship them somewhere else, and then suddenly the bonds and family ties don't matter.

Unfortunately, Zola did not "integrate well" at the Calgary Zoo, so he got shipped off to the Dallas Zoo in 2013.

At least now he won't have to be relocated again.

Death count
Zola's death is one more in a long-running series of deaths at the Dallas Zoo in recent years, the most previous being Jata, a 7-year-old painted dog who died in June 2024. Jata also showed signs of lethargy and decreased appetite, reportedly due to kidney disease.

Whenever a death occurs, they always wax on about their "extraordinary" veterinary and animal care teams — and yet, so many of these deaths were either unexplained or completely caught their teams by surprise.

Zola the Western lowland gorilla is the latest to join this death march of animals at the Dallas Zoo:

Jata, one of the zoo's three African painted dogs, died in June 2024, at seven years old.
Ferrell, a 15-year-old giraffe, died in December, 2023, following "an unexpected fall in the barn" that injured the giraffe's jaw so badly, they were forced to euthanize him.
Ajabu, a 6-year-old African elephant who died on May 8, 2023, from the herpes virus.
Pin, a 35-year-old lappet-faced vulture, died on January 22, 2023, cause unknown.
Jesse, a 14-year-old giraffe, died on October 29, 2021, cause unknown.
Auggie, a 19-year-old giraffe, died in late October 2021 of liver failure.
Marekani, a 3-month-old baby giraffe, sustained a mysterious injury and was euthanized on October 3, 2021.
Kirk, a 31-year-old chimpanzee, died in August 2021 due to "surprise" heart disease.
Keeya, a 6-year-old Hartmann's mountain zebra, died in March 2021 due to a mysterious unexplained head injury.
Subira, a 24-year-old silverback gorilla, died suddenly in March 2020, due to a cough, or maybe cardiovascular disease. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hope, a 23-year-old Western lowland gorilla, died suddenly in November 2019 after being at the zoo for only two years.
Ola, an 8-year-old female African painted dog, was killed in July 2019 by two other painted dogs, less than a month after she was transferred to the zoo.
Witten, a 1-year-old giraffe, died in June 2019 during a physical exam under anesthesia when he suddenly stopped breathing.
Adhama, a baby hippopotamus, mysteriously died in 2018.
Kipenzi, a baby giraffe, died in 2015 after running in her enclosure.
Kamau, a young cheetah, died of pneumonia in 2014.
Johari, a female lion, was killed in front of zoo spectators in 2013 by male lions with whom she shared an enclosure.

And in February 2021, they lost a crow called Onyx who was part of their "animal ambassador team," "participating in a training session" for a bird show. He was never found.

animals