Weekend Event Planner

These are the 9 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

As April gives way to May, there are quite a few eclectic events on tap. Among them are a farewell to a legend; the return of an iconic humorist; three big events celebrating great art, music, and movies; and a living legend performing perhaps his best work.

Below are the 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, April 28

Purple Rain Tribute Screenings
The death of Prince on April 21 left a hole in many of his fans' lives, one that can only be filled honor the amazing artist he was. All Studio Movie Grill locations in Dallas-Fort Worth will help in the grieving process by showing Prince's 1984 film Purple Rain, a film that spawned monster hits like "Let's Go Crazy" and the title song, on Thursday. In addition, both Alamo Drafthouse locations will screen the film on Saturday night.

Theatre Three presents Memphis
The latest from Theatre Three is its production of the 2010 Tony Award-winning musical Memphis. It’s the 1950s and an up-and-coming DJ at a white radio station starts to play records coming out of the black underground music scene in Memphis, Tennessee. The joyously raucous musical is about breaking down barriers and singing the song of your soul. It will run through May 22.

Arts & Letters Live: David Sedaris
It's never a bad time to welcome back the renowned humorist David Sedaris, who slays whether you're reading his many books, listening to him on NPR, or seeing him live. For this Arts & Letters Live event, he appears at Dallas City Performance Hall for three straight nights (starting on April 27), reading new and unpublished material.

Diana Sheehan Sings: The Jerome Kern Songbook
Singer Diana Sheehan is a local treasure who usually only gets to showcase her voice in small venues around the area. That will change on Thursday when she takes the stage at Winspear Opera House to sing songs by Jerome Kern, who helped write classics like "All the Things You Are," "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," "A Fine Romance," and "The Way You Look Tonight."

Friday, April 29

2016 Denton Arts & Jazz Festival
The annual Denton Arts & Jazz Festival is a three-day event celebrating the arts, with more than 3,000 professional and amateur performers on seven stages showcasing the best in jazz, pop, rhythm and blues, and full orchestra music. Taking place at Quakertown Park, it also features a wide variety of dance, choral, storytelling, and theater performances, as well as visual artists.

2016 Texas Frightmare Weekend
If you're a horror movie fan, there's no better event to attend than Texas Frightmare Weekend, the Southwest’s premier horror convention. Featuring celebrity appearances, autograph signings, screenings, exclusive parties, and horror memorabilia vendors, this year's event, primarily taking place at Hyatt Regency DFW Airport, will include Robert Englund, George A. Romero, Rose McGowan, Peter Criss, James Remar, John Carroll Lynch, Lance Henriksen, and many others. The event will go through Sunday.

Saturday, April 30

Edgefest 2016
Toyota Stadium in Frisco seems to be the new go-to place for music festivals, as it hosted the Off the Rails Country Music Fest last weekend and now Edgefest on Saturday. This year's Edgefest will feature performances from Cage The Elephant, The 1975, Bastille, Silversun Pickups, Chrvches, Foals, The Struts, The Joy Formidable, Good Charlotte, Blue October, XAmbassadors, JR JR, Nothing But Thieves, and The Strumbellas.

Taco Libre Dallas 2016
The second annual Taco Libre will include an expanded event site at Main Street Garden and food from 21 taquerias around the state, but this event is about much more than just tacos. The music lineup will feature Mariachi El Bronx, Grupo Fantasma, Larry G(ee), and Mayta. And all of that will be competing with the unique sight of a ring full of lucha libre wrestlers.

Sunday, May 1

Brian Wilson in concert
Just as we lament the loss of one music legend gone too soon, you can also celebrate the seminal work of another musician who's still with us. Brian Wilson will celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beach Boys' iconic 1966 album, Pet Sounds, by playing it in its entirety for the very last time. He'll be joined by special guests Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Theatre Three will present Memphis through May 22.

Photo by Linda Harrison

Theatre Three will present Memphis through May 22.

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Movie Review

Michelle Pfeiffer is an unappreciated mom in Oh. What. Fun.

Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Michelle Pfeiffer in Oh. What. Fun.

Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.

That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.

Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.

Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.

The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.

The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.

Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.

Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.

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Oh. What. Fun. is now streaming on Prime Video.

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