Weekend Event Planner

These are the 12 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Snoop Dogg surprised the Club Nomadic patrons who stuck around late.

Photo by F. Carter Smith

Theater, music, and the wonders of nature are the themes for this weekend in and around Dallas. There will be four concerts with bold-faced headliners, two new local theater productions and a national Broadway tour, and beautiful flowers showcased at two different nature events. You can also enjoy some classical music, an extra artful dance performance, and a visit from a popular podcast.

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

Thursday, April 7

Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group in concert
Lyle Lovett, the Texas-based singer, composer, and actor, fuses elements of Americana, swing, jazz, folk, gospel, and blues in a convention-defying manner that breaks down barriers. Although he hasn't released a full album since 2012's Release Me, he is a regular presence in and around Dallas, playing here once or twice a year. Lovett will play three consecutive nights at Majestic Theatre, joined by Nikki Lane on Thursday, Hayes Carll on Friday, and Old 97's on Saturday.

Theatre Three presents Stede Bonnet: A F*cking Pirate Musical
At long last, following the pandemic and construction delays, Theatre Three will return back to their home on Routh Street with a world premiere production, Stede Bonnet: A F*cking Pirate Musical. Stede, depressed and exhausted of his luxurious life, chooses to leave everything behind and become the best pirate in the world. One problem … he doesn’t know what he’s doing. After a run-in with the dramatic and conniving Blackbeard, Stede wonders if he’s made a terrible mistake. The production will run through May 1.

Jazmine Sullivan in concert
R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan has been a mainstay in the genre for years, notching two No. 1 albums on the Billboard R&B charts in her first three releases. She also earned 12 Grammy nominations over 11 years, but came home every time without a trophy until just four days ago, when she won two awards, including Best R&B album. She'll play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving in support of her 2021 EP, Heaux Tales.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Jesus Christ Superstar
The North American tour of Jesus Christ Superstar celebrates 50 epic years since the original rock opera concept album release that began this musical theatre phenomenon. The musical is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ, as seen through the eyes of Judas. Reflecting the rock roots that defined a generation, the legendary score includes "I Don’t Know How to Love Him," "Gethsemane," and "Superstar." The production runs at the Music Hall at Fair Park through April 17.

Friday, April 8

Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival
Take a road trip south to the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival, celebrating 70 years of bluebonnet trails. It includes vendors, food, a beer garden, wine wander, and live entertainment. Music on the Main stage on Friday night will feature Infinite Journey, a Journey tribute band, while country music artist Rick Trevino will headline on Saturday night. The festival takes place through Sunday in Historical Downtown Ennis, while the bluebonnet trails can be enjoyed throughout the month of April. Read more about the Ennis bluebonnets here, and bluebonnets throughout DFW and Texas here.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique"
Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique," featuring conductor Fabio Luisi, violinist Karen Gomyo, and trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth. Selections for the concert, running through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center, will include Einem's Capriccio, Strauss' Duett-Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon with String Orchestra and Harp, and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.

Uptown Players presents Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song
Uptown Players will open their season with Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song, a new and shortened revival of Fierstein’s original 1983 Torch Song Trilogy. The play follows the life of Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish drag queen who makes it his life journey to find happiness in 1970s New York in the midst of homophobia and intolerance, even by his own family and partners. The pioneering gay drama reminds us of the universal struggle between love and fear, and the circumstances we cannot change. It will run through April 17 at Kalita Humphreys Theater.

TITAS/Unfiltered presents Compagnie Marie Chouinard
Compagnie Marie Chouinard will make their Texas debut with Jerrome Bosch: Le Jardin des Delicess (Hieronymus Bosch: Garden of Earthly Delights). Watching the performance is to step into Bosch’s extraordinary tryptic and viscerally experience this painting as never before. Expertly choreographed, complex yet stunningly unfiltered, this dance work is a masterpiece within a masterpiece. There will performances on both Friday and Saturday night at Moody Performance Hall.

Saturday, April 9

Kings of The West with Snoop Dogg & Ice Cube
Both Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube are icons of the rap/hip hop genre, with both of their solo careers dating back to the early 1990s. But neither of them is content to let the new generation have their mantle, as they've each released new solo albums in recent years, and they also released a new album with the name of their supergroup, Mt. Westmore. They'll perform at Dos Equis Pavilion as part of their Kings of the West tour.

Lovett or Leave It: Live or Else Tour
On the podcast Lovett or Leave It, Jon Lovett, a former Obama speechwriter and co-host of Pod Save America, is joined by comedians, actors, journalists, and Friends of the Pod for a roundup of the week's top news. At this event at The Factory at Deep Ellum, he'll be joined by writer/comedian Akilah Hughes and Luke Warford, Democratic candidate for Texas Railroad Commission.

Sunday, April 10

Dallas Arboretum presents Dallas Blooms: "Birds in Paradise"
Sunday is the last day for the Dallas Arboretum's annual Dallas Blooms event, and right on cue, the garden's 125 Japanese cherry trees have begun to bloom, with their 3,000 azaleas about to burst forth as well. The festival of nature also includes larger-than-life peacock topiaries and more than 500,000 spring blooming bulbs to create the largest and most colorful floral display in the Southwest.

Charli XCX in concert
Pop singer Charli XCX has been a big name on the music scene since her 2014 breakout song, "Boom Clap," as well as "Fancy," her collaboration with Iggy Azalea the same year. She's gone on to work with big names like Ty Dolla Sign, David Guetta, and Rita Ora, and her new album, Crash, is the first to reach the top 10 of the Billboard 200 in her career. She'll perform at House of Blues Dallas.

The Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival takes place in Historical Downtown Ennis, April 8-10.

Photo by Steven Ng

The Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival takes place in Historical Downtown Ennis, April 8-10.

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Movie Review

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney go off in trashy film The Housemaid

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

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The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

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