Weekend Event Planner

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

The various events this weekend allow you to spread your wings — in one case, literally — and explore multiple areas in Dallas and beyond. Among the offerings are a major golf tournament, two big theater productions, an arts and music festival, comedy from one of the best, a concert from a big-time band, and dancing from stars of reality TV.

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, May 18

2017 AT&T Byron Nelson Championship
After 35 years at the Four Seasons Las Colinas Country Club, this is the final AT&T Byron Nelson Championship to take place in Irving. Next year, the tournament moves to Dallas' new Trinity Forest Golf Club. A high-powered group of golfers have come to say goodbye to the course, including defending champion — and newly-crowned Masters champion — Sergio Garcia, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, and more. The tournament goes on through Sunday.

Commemorative Air Force presents AirPower History Tour
FIFI, the Commemorative Air Force’s iconic Boeing B‐29 Superfortress, flies into Dallas Executive Airport for a four-day barn-storming aviation event. The B-29 and other vintage military aircraft are on display for the tour, which features hands-on, interactive exhibits and activities, like flight simulators inside an authentic C-47 cockpit and trainer airplane. The event takes place through Sunday.

Dallas Theater Center presents Inherit the Wind
When a public school teacher is arrested for teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution to his sophomore students, two powerhouse lawyers face off in a court of law. The nation watches as science and faith collide, bringing a small southern town to its knees. Dallas Theater Center presents the play, inspired by the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial, through June 18 at Kalita Humphreys Theater.

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Into the Woods
Into the Woods, the Tony Award-winning musical classic by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, is a mixture of multiple different fairy-tales you knew and loved as kids, with an adult twist. The show, which had a big-screen adaptation in 2014, includes dazzling songs like “Children Will Listen” and “No One Is Alone.” The production runs at Winspear Opera House through May 28.

Friday, May 19

2017 Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival
Celebrating 25 years in 2017, the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival is an eclectic event that includes four main performance stages featuring national, regional, and local bands, including headliners Lynyrd Skynyrd and The B-52's. The festival, taking place through Sunday, also features a Singer/Songwriter contest, a Battle of the Bands contest, kids area, marketplace, and more.

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Paula Poundstone
Heralded as one of the United States' foremost comics, Paula Poundstone’s quick-thinking, unscripted approach to comedy makes for a perfect fit as a regular panelist on NPR’s No. 1 show, the screwball weekly news quiz show Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, where she holds the record for game losses. Poundstone showcases her skills at this special concert at Majestic Theatre.

Saturday, May 20

Nasher Sculpture Center presents Roni Horn
The Nasher Sculpture Center presents its 2017 summer show "Roni Horn," featuring large-scale, cast glass works by the American artist. For her Nasher show, eight large-scale cylindrical cast glass sculptures of varying colors occupy the museum’s main gallery. It's the artist’s first U.S. museum presentation of her work since 2010 and the first to focus specifically on her cast glass sculpture. Horn also participates in the museum's speaker series on Saturday. The exhibit is on display through August 20.

Sunday, May 21

Train in concert with O.A.R. and Natasha Bedingfield
Train is one of those bands that manages to release just enough hits to stay relevant. They made their mark with "Drops of Jupiter" in 2001, then faded for a few years before rising back up with "Hey Soul Sister" in 2009, then faded again until 2012's "Drive By." They haven't had a hit recently, but they're obviously due. They play at Starplex Pavilion in support of their 10th studio album, A Girl, A Bottle, A Boat, alongside opening acts O.A.R. and Natasha Bedingfield.

Julianne and Derek Hough: Move - Beyond - Live on Tour
Brother and sister dancing duo Julianne and Derek Hough made their names on Dancing with the Stars, and after multiple championships for each (two for her, six for him), they've taken their personal show on the road. The siblings' show at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie features brand-new stage production inspired by the elements — earth, wind, fire, and water — as well as the Move Company Dancers for group performances.

Derek and Julianne Hough bring their Move - Beyond - Live Tour to Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie on May 21.

Photo by Brian Bowen Smith

Derek and Julianne Hough bring their Move - Beyond - Live Tour to Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie on May 21.

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Movie Review

Rose Byrne fights for her life and car in new movie 'Tow'

Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Rose Byrne in Tow.

Actor Rose Byrne had a banner year in 2025, getting her first Oscar nomination for her starring role in If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You. Although she came up short in that race, she’s getting another chance to prove her acting bona fides in the new film, Tow.

In the “inspired by a true story” movie, Byrne plays Amanda, a down-on-her-luck woman who lives in her car and can’t find a job. Living in Seattle, she tries to stay in touch with her daughter, Avery (Elsie Fisher), who lives with her dad in another city, but circumstances sometimes limit their communications, especially when her car is stolen.

The good news is that her car is found relatively quickly. The bad news is that the tow company is charging her to get her car back, money she can’t afford. Now truly homeless, she does everything in her power to right the wrong, even taking the company to court. Without much luck, she has to start staying in a women’s shelter run by Barbara (Octavia Spencer), where she makes friends with Nova (Demi Lovato) and Denise (Ariana DeBose), among others.

Directed by Stephanie Laing and written by Jonathan Keasey and Brent Boivin, the film has relatively low stakes going for it and never really tries to make the story feel deeper than it is. The situation Amanda finds herself in is clearly a tough one, and any empathetic person would feel for her and want her to overcome her plight. But the filmmakers keep things light and never try to up the drama in any significant way.

The issue Amanda is dealing with, being price gouged by a predatory towing company, is one with which many people can relate. But aside from helpfully underscoring Amanda’s frustration by showing the increasing number of days she is without a car, they never establish why they felt this particular story was one worth telling. Her personal issues, including a growing estrangement with her daughter, fail to conjure any big emotions.

The filmmakers are very loose with their storytelling, especially when it comes to side characters. The presence of the women she meets at the shelter, and Kevin (Dominic Sessa), the young lawyer who offers to help her, never makes full sense other than a need for her to have other people with whom to interact. A tighter focus on what Amanda was going through would’ve helped both her and people around her feel more important.

Byrne is a dynamic performer who’s shown great skill at both drama and comedy, but there’s nothing special about her performance here. Hampered a bit by a blonde wig and false teeth, she feels out of sorts for much of the film. The unusually high-powered supporting cast - both Spencer and DeBose are Oscar winners - makes things interesting on first blush, but none of them outside of Sessa is given much to do, so they’re mostly wasted.

Tow will be a disappointment for anyone hoping to see more great stuff from Byrne. While she remains a fine actor, her performance and the story as a whole are nowhere near the level shown in her previous film. The real life predicament shown in the film also never rises to the level of being of something worth showing to the masses.

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Tow is now showing in theaters.

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