Weekend Event Planner

These are the 13 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

There is a lot going on around Dallas this weekend, with something to please pretty much everybody. There will be visits from three big-name comedians, the end of one film festival and the beginning of another, the first appearance by a classical music conductor, two new local theater productions, and two dynamic singers.

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 18

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden presents "Celebrate the Children"
Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden will present "Celebrate the Children," an art exhibition designed and created by Gary Lee Price. Guests can interact with beautiful, hand-crafted bronze sculptures of children, which are displayed throughout the garden. The exhibition, on display through October 31, features more than 25 different, hand-produced, bronze sculptures, many of which are of Price's own children.

Dallas International Film Festival closing day
After eight action-packed days, the 2019 Dallas International Film Festival will come to a close on Thursday. There will be 11 final screenings, all taking place at Landmark Magnolia in the West Village, including Them That Follow, starring Olivia Colman and Walton Goggins; the documentary Jump Shot; and The Death of Dick Long.

SOLUNA Festival: Fabio Luisi Conducts the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Fabio Luisi makes his first appearance on the podium following the announcement of his position as Music Director Designate. The concert, taking place on Thursday and Friday at Meyerson Symphony Center, will feature Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and works by Frank Martin and William Grant Still. The DSO will present a free simulcast of the concert on Thursday at Annette Strauss Square and stream it online via Facebook Live.

Chelsea Handler: Life Will Be the Death of Me
Chelsea Handler is back with her first book in five years and her first memoir: Life Will Be the Death of Me. In support of the book, Handler will appear in person at Majestic Theatre as part of a nationwide tour titled, Life Will Be the Death of Me: Chelsea Handler's Sit-Down Comedy Tour. The event will feature Handler in conversation, discussing stories from the new book and more.

Friday, April 19

Dallas Holocaust Museum presents "One Day in the Holocaust: April 19, 1943"
In honor the last year of their permanent exhibition, "One Day in the Holocaust: April 19, 1943," Dallas Holocaust Museum will commemorate the date with free admission all day. The exhibition will be on display through July 2019. Shortly after the exhibit comes to an end, the museum will make its way to its new digs at 300 N. Houston Street. with the distinctive shiny copper roof, which will officially open in September.

EarthxFilm Festival
EarthxFilm, presented by EarthX, showcases films and emerging media that explore conservation, climate change, and the environment while honoring the heroes working to protect our planet. The 10-day environmentally-focused film festival, taking place at multiple venues around Dallas through April 28, will showcase films like Sea of Shadows, executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, and The River and the Wall, which explores the wildlife across the complex and diverse terrain of the U.S.-Mexico border, attempting to understand how it would be affected by the wall proposed by President Donald Trump.

The Music of Cream: 50th Anniversary World Tour
The band Cream, composed of Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and Eric Clapton, was a chemical explosion like no other, the blueprint for every supergroup to follow and the heavy blues precursor to Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and others. Fifty years after their debut album, Kofi Baker (son of Ginger) and Malcolm Bruce (son of Jack) unite with Will Johns (Eric's nephew by marriage to perform songs like "Spoonful," "Strange Brew," "Sunshine of Your Love," "White Room," "Crossroads," and "Badge." The concert will take place at House of Blues Dallas.

Seth Meyers in concert
Dallas audiences will get the rare opportunity to see late-night talk show host Seth Meyers get back to his roots of stand-up comedy at Majestic Theatre. The Emmy Award-winning writer has hosted Late Night with Seth Meyers since 2014 following his 13-year stint on Saturday Night Live, where he was head writer for much of that time. In addition to his talk show, Meyers currently executive produces the NBC comedy, A.P. Bio, and co-created IFC’s docu-parody series, Documentary Now!, with Fred Armisen and Bill Hader.

Trevor Noah: Loud & Clear Tour
Like other late night talk show hosts, Trevor Noah has made hay since Donald Trump was elected president. The Daily Show's inherent political bent has allowed him to go even further than other hosts, making his takeover for Jon Stewart all the more natural. Noah will take a break from his duties on Comedy Central to get back to his roots as a stand-up comic with two shows — one Friday and one Saturday — at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Stagedoor presents Grounded
Grounded is a powerful one-woman show that will be the first Dallas-Fort Worth production by Stagedoor. It is the story of a female Air Force pilot who is grounded after becoming pregnant with her first child. When she returns to duty, she is reassigned from fighter jets to drones and must learn to navigate the intersection of wartime and home life as she hunts terrorists by day and returns to her family each night. The production will run at Margo Jones Theatre at Magnolia Lounge through Sunday.

Maren Morris in concert with Raelynn
Country singer Maren Morris, originally from Arlington, has transformed herself into a true crossover star. On the strength of the 2016 Grammy-winning song "My Church," she has rocketed up not only the country charts, where she's had two No. 1 albums, but the Billboard 200 as well, making the top 10 there. She'll play at the Bomb Factory in support of her new album, Girl, with Raelynn as opening act.

WaterTower Theatre presents Everything Is Wonderful
Following a tragic car accident that killed her two brothers, Miri, the excommunicated daughter of an Amish family, returns home to find that her parents have taken in the wayward driver of the car. Quickly learning that time has not healed old wounds, Miri struggles with the contradictions of the culture she left behind, while being forced to confront Abram, the young Amish man whose actions drove her away. Everything is Wonderful will play at WaterTower Theatre through May 12.

Saturday, April 20

SOLUNA Festival: Jennifer Hudson
For a singer who only came in seventh on her season of American Idol, Jennifer Hudson has gone on to become one of the most successful performers in the show's history. She has not only won two Grammy Awards, but also leveled up and won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in 2006's Dreamgirls. She'll perform songs from that movie and more in this special concert at Meyerson Symphony Center as part of the SOLUNA Festival.

New Dallas Symphony Orchestra music director Fabio Luisi will make his debut with the DSO on April 18 and 19 at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Fabio Luisi, Dallas Symphony Orchestra music director

Photo by Barbara Luisi Photography

New Dallas Symphony Orchestra music director Fabio Luisi will make his debut with the DSO on April 18 and 19 at Meyerson Symphony Center.

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Ooky and spooky

A Halloween-season list of the most famous ghosts of Dallas

Vecteezy.com

Scary ghost like character on a foggy night.

Dallas may lack the bones and brooding of a classic ghost story — no cliffside mansions, rolling fog, or lonely swamps — but we’ve still managed to attract a few hauntings between the freeways. If you’re in the mood for a local ghost story, here are a few of Dallas’ most classic spooky tales:

The Lady of the Lake, White Rock Lake
Dallas’ take on the vanishing traveler legend is perhaps its best-known ghost story. A young woman in evening wear — sometimes said to have come from “The Store,” better known as Neiman Marcus — is spotted walking near the lake after dark. A couple in a passing car stop to offer her a ride. She gives an address — Oak Cliff in some accounts, Lakewood in others — then vanishes when the good Samaritans arrive, leaving only a puddle of water.

When the motorists knock on the door to explain, an older man or woman — sometimes a couple — reveal that the description of the girl matches their daughter, who drowned in a boating accident. “It happens every year on this night,” they say. “The girl was our daughter, who died in a car accident on her way to a dance.” It’s one reason — along with stunning fall sunsets over the water — that I always feel drawn to the lake this time of year.

Karl Hoblitzelle, Majestic Theatre (1925 Elm St.)
Step into the Majestic Theatre and you’re transported to its glamorous heyday, when the venue hosted stars like Mae West, Jimmy Stewart, and Duke Ellington before converting to a concert and comedy venue in the 1980s. Built in the early 1920s, the Renaissance Revival-style movie palace was the grand dame of Dallas’ now-vanished Theater Row, rich with baroque detailing and romantic flourishes, including an auditorium ceiling of clouds and twinkling stars.

The Majestic was the crown jewel in a chain of theaters owned by vaudeville impresario and philanthropist Karl Hoblitzelle, whose spirit, some say, still keeps watch over his masterpiece. Employees and visitors have reported scenery shifting on its own, an office door unlocking and swinging open, phone lines lighting up without cause, and a sudden chill in the air. Perhaps some incidents can be explained by old wiring and vivid imaginations, but I like to think Karl is still in his happy place, enjoying the never-ending applause.

The Miller Ghosts, City Park (1515 S. Harwood St.)
It doesn’t get more classically haunted than the Civil War-era Millermore Mansion at City Park, where tales of cold spots, an uneasy sense of being watched, and a mysterious woman in a long brown dress have circulated for decades. Some say the Greek revival-styled mansion with the troubled past is haunted by the spirit of a former caretaker; others believe the woman is one of the three wives of cotton planter and slave owner William Brown Miller, the home’s original owner.

Replete with period furnishings, marble-top tables and original fireplaces, Millermore is one of several 19th-century preserved buildings across the 22-acre City Park.

The Jilted Bride, The Adolphus Hotel (1321 Commerce St.)
The disappointed bride of the Adolphus, said to haunt the hotel since the 1930s, is a must-include on any list of Dallas ghosts. Stories recount incidents of disembodied crying and footsteps, elevator doors that open on their own, faint strains of unseen music, and a figure in a white gown drifting about.

Opened in 1912 as Dallas’ first European-style luxury hotel, the Adolphus quickly became the city’s grandest destination — and for a time, its tallest building — hosting presidents, tycoons, and entertainers. The vintage opulence is wonderful: ornate exterior gargoyles, artwork, hardwood floors, the famed French Room, and sweeping views of downtown.

The Spirits of Hermann, The Sons of Hermann Hall (3414 Elm St.)
Home to the Dallas chapter of the German fraternal organization of the same name since 1911, the Sons of Hermann Hall is the city’s oldest bar. The historic venue is an excellent destination for swing dancing, beer drinking, and live music — and, according to Deep Ellum lore, for ghosts. In addition to the usual cold spots and spooky feelings, people have claimed to witness objects move or disappear, doors slam, phantom footsteps echo, and children’s laughter drift through empty rooms.

One legend tells of a woman whose spirit lingers after she fell from a staircase. Another claims that long-departed members of the Sons of Hermann still show up for meetings. My favorite story involves a couple in Victorian dress who walked past a group of people and climbed the stairs toward what was assumed to be a themed wedding rehearsal. When they failed to reappear, someone went to check — only to find the door upstairs locked and no one inside.

Haunted Burgers, Snuffer’s Restaurant & Bar (3310 Greenville Ave.)
The original Snuffer’s building is gone, but the ghosts of the beloved burger joint are believed to carry on. In both its original and current buildings, staff and guests have noticed strange disturbances: echoing voices, flickering lights, objects moving on their own, and children’s laughter late at night. Some believe the eerie activity traces back to a murder that allegedly took place decades ago, when the property was still a neighborhood pool hall; others claim the site was built atop a children’s cemetery.

Whatever the back story, Snuffer’s has embraced its friendly haunted ambiance — which may be why I wasn’t too spooked one New Year’s Eve in college when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder while walking to the powder room, even though I turned to find no one there. Maybe the ghost just wanted to know if I planned to finish my cheese fries.

Rhonda Aghamalian is a North Texas freelance writer and lover of local history and spooky stories.

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