Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

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.

Thursday, April 8

Ochre House Theater presents Ghosts in the Kitchen: Supernova Leftovers
As part of Ghosts in the Kitchen, a series of storytelling through virtual theater as written and told by core company members, Ochre House Theater presents Supernova Leftovers, which takes viewers down the rabbit hole of wonder, denial, and self discovery. What can we expect at the end of a long journey? Supernova Leftovers is a nuclear harvest that reaps the profound workings of the Self. There’s always something leftover in the kitchen. The production will be available to stream at any time, through April 18.

Theatre Three presents Love & Kindness in a Time of Quarantine
Theatre Three will present Love & Kindness in a Time of Quarantine, a compilation of songs and monologues about life during the coronavirus pandemic curated and directed by Regina Taylor. The collaborative production, featuring new pieces by local artists, offers perspective in a time of uncertainty. Through a blend songs and monologues, this heartfelt and compassionate new work will feature nationally renowned writers and local Dallas artists. There will be daily performances through April 18, with each performance available for 24 hours, starting at 6 pm.

Undermain Theatre presents Whither Goest Thou America: A Festival of New American Plays
The Whither Goest Thou America festival of new work will be a virtual event, headlined by David Rabe’s new solo piece adapted from his short story, Suffocation Theory, which will be available to view at any time through April 25. The festival will also include virtual readings of three new plays: Second Hand Conversations with Irene by Teresa Marrero (viewable April 14-18), Bright Boys by Blake Hackler (April 21-25), and Feeding on Light by Lenora Champagne (April 28-May 2).

Friday, April 9

Maverick Theatre Company presents Spring Awakening
Based off the 1891 German play, Spring Awakening is a rock musical that critiques the hypocrisy of institutional doctrine as a means to control young adults and promote abstinence. Though dealing with difficult themes like suicide and sexual abuse, the message of the musical is to rage against the status quo in order to protect individual expression and thought. The production will be available to stream through April 12.

The Dallas Opera presents Welcome Back Song Series: John Holiday
As part of its “Welcome Back” Song Series, the Dallas Opera will present countertenor John Holiday with pianists Kevin J. Miller and Neeki Bey. They will perform an array of hits by composers from a multitude of genres, including Stevie Wonder's “You are the Sunshine of My Life,” George Gershwin's “Summertime,” Thelonious Monk's “Fly Me to the Moon," and more. The event takes place at Winspear Opera House.

Ballet Ensemble of Texas presents "A Celebration of Dance"
Ballet Ensemble of Texas will present its annual "A Celebration of Dance." The mixed repertoire program includes George Skibine’s Firebird; Swan Lake, Act 2, featuring American Ballet Theatre guest artists; Gerald Arpino’s Confetti; and two premieres by resident choreographers Jenny Johnston and Tammie Reinsch. There will be two performances, one Friday and one Saturday, at Irving Arts Center.

Mesquite Arts Theatre presents The Belle of Amherst
The Belle of Amherst is a whimsical one-woman show based on the life of Emily Dickinson. Drawing largely from Emily's poetry and letters, the play is a living, breathing autobiography of a true nonconformist. Using a stream of conscious flow of poetry and musings, Emily Dickinson is brought to life before the very eyes of her audience. There will be performances every Friday-Sunday through April 25 at Mesquite Arts Center.

Saturday, April 10

The Dallas Opera presents "Garden Serenades"
The Dallas Opera and members of the Dallas Opera Orchestra will present "Garden Serenades," a series of free weekend chamber concerts in a variety of outdoor settings, celebrating spring and the return of live performances. The series will kick off on Saturday and Sunday at the Dallas Museum of Art, featuring members of The Dallas Opera Orchestra. The program will include Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Vivaldi’s “Spring” from The Four Seasons, and additional arrangements of opera selections. There will be performances in other locations every weekend through May 2.

Jackopierce in concert
Jackopierce — a folk rock duo made up of Jack O'Neill and Cary Pierce — is a Dallas original, releasing their first album in 1990. Since then, they've gone through the usual ups-and-downs of a rock band, including breaking up for around five years to explore solo options. But they've always gravitated back to each other, with their latest album being 2018's Feel This Good. They'll play at Trees in Deep Ellum.

Sunday, April 11

Dallas Arboretum presents Dallas Blooms: “America the Beautiful” closing day
Although plenty of flowers will remain in bloom for months to come, Dallas Arboretum's annual Dallas Blooms festival will come to a close on Sunday. Among the activities on the final day will be a country western dance performance by the Richardson High School Desperados, live music by guitarist Dave Lincoln, and a concert by The Quibble Brothers.

Undermain Theatre presents Whither Goest Thou America: A Festival of New American Plays, featuring Suffocation Theory, streaming through May 2.

Undermain Theatre presents Suffocation Theory

Photo by Zane Pena

Undermain Theatre presents Whither Goest Thou America: A Festival of New American Plays, featuring Suffocation Theory, streaming through May 2.

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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. According to their post, he showed symptoms of lethargy, reduced appetite, and signs of discomfort at the end of October. A necropsy will be performed.

"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.

For now, 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," and that is all you need to know about that.

The zoo has already said that they'll be shipping in other gorillas 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.

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