Weekend Event Planner

These are the 8 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

While the number of in-person events is starting to increase, the list of activities in and around Dallas this weekend is a reminder that things are not back to normal yet, with a handful of them still going the virtual route. This weekend will feature several theater productions, comedy from an A-list name, and outdoor opera, theater, dance, and movies.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend.

Thursday, May 20

Latino Theater Co. and Cara Mía Theatre present Ursula
Ursula tells the journey of Nadia, a 7-year-old, separated from her mother after seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. As Nadia waits for her asylum to be processed, she reflects on the difficulties she is leaving behind in Honduras and the new reality she is facing. The production, performed mostly in Spanish with some English with subtitles, will be available to stream at any time through May 30.

Improv Addison presents Whitney Cummings
Comedian Whitney Cummings is best known for creating and starring in the NBC series Whitney, and she also co-created and co-wrote the Emmy-nominated CBS comedy series 2 Broke Girls. In 2019, Cummings launched her own podcast, Good For You, and debuted her fourth stand-up special, Can I Touch It?, on Netflix. She'll perform six times through Saturday at Improv Addison.

Friday, May 21

Dallas Opera presents "OperaPops!" (UPDATE: This event has been moved indoors to Winspear Opera House due to expected inclement weather.)
The Dallas Opera Orchestra will perform an outdoor OperaPops! concert featuring soprano Deanna Breiwick, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, and baritone Lucas Meachem in a program of favorites from both the opera and Broadway stages. The concert, taking place at Annette Strauss Square, will include songs and music from My Fair Lady, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, Carousel, Candide, and more.

Echo Theatre presents Echo Reads: The Great Lonely Roamer & The Night That Changed Everything
As part of their Echo Reads series, Echo Theatre will present The Great Lonely Roamer & The Night That Changed Everything by CQ (Christina Quintana). Only two polar bears are left on the planet. On New Year’s Eve, one bear searches suburban Texas for a new, air-conditioned home, while his sister attempts to track him down in New York City. A gun-toting trucker tries to race his pregnant wife to the hospital. A first date laced with supercharged marijuana takes a turn at a police stop. A wild night ensues that will affect the future of an entire species. There will be virtual performances on both Friday and Saturday.

Saturday, May 22

Shakespeare Dallas presents The Wars of the Roses
In its return to the stage, Shakespeare Dallas will journey across nearly 50 years of history between 1422 and 1485 with an abridged staged reading of Shakespeare’s four history plays: Henry VI Parts I, II and III and Richard III. The Wars of the Roses will be an all-day affair on both Saturday and Sunday at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre.

TITAS/Dance Unbound presents Pilobolus in the Garden
Pilobolus in the Garden is a premiere outdoor site-specific performance commissioned by TITAS that will take audience members through a physically and emotionally moving performance experience that explores the vistas of Nasher Sculpture Garden while exploring the nature of nature. A collaborative work between famed Pilobolus Dance Company and local dance, music, and creative writing artists of the Arts Magnet, the project will have four separate performances on Saturday.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents "Spring Celebration"
Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s Spring Celebration features guest artist Alicia Graf Mack, who will perform a sentimental solo, Don’t Stop, from a New York City rooftop. DBDT veteran dancer and rehearsal assistant Claude Alexander III will take viewers on an emotional journey through the process of forgiveness and unconditional love in his full company work, A Tender Pardon. The program will also feature an emotionally moving male trio, Evidence of Souls Not Seen, choreographed by Lloyd Whitmore. The virtual event will be available to stream at any time on Saturday or Sunday.

Carbaret Drive-In presents Hedwig and the Angry Inch
After a five-month break, CarBaret will open its second season with the 2001 John Cameron Mitchell adaptation of his own off-Broadway musical, Hedwig and the Angry Inch. They'll also premiere the new North Texas short film That, and host a pre-show live performance by Harley Deville. The drive-in event, which was rescheduled from May 9, will take place in the parking lot outside of Brizo in Richardson.

Latino Theater Co. and Cara Mía Theatre present Ursula, available to stream at any time, May 20-30.

Photo courtesy of Cara Mia Theatre

Latino Theater Co. and Cara Mía Theatre present Ursula, available to stream at any time, May 20-30.

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Movie Review

Podcaster lets creepy noises get under her skin in Undertone

Photo courtsy of A24

Nina Kiri in Undertone.

While the horror genre is still capable of producing some innovative filmmaking, most of the output tends to fall back on jump scares and other tropes to deliver their terror. So when a film like the new Undertone tries something different, it should be applauded for the effort, even if it’s not as successful in its execution.

Evy (Nina Kiri) is a podcaster who co-hosts a show called Undertone, which focuses on paranormal videos and sounds they find on the internet. Her co-host, Justin (Adam DiMarco), lives in London, so - for kind of contrived reasons - in order to make the time difference between them work, Evy records at around 3 am her time. Evy - who lives at home with her bedridden, dying mother - is the skeptic of the two, consistently debunking clips that Justin presents to her.

Her doubts are tested when Justin brings in a series of 10 audio clips that purport to be about a boyfriend recording his girlfriend as she talks in her sleep. The audio begins in a lighthearted manner and quickly turns creepy and then sinister as unexplained things start happening. Evy senses that what she’s hearing is bleeding into her own world, especially when inexplicable actions take place in her mother’s bedroom.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Ian Tuason, the film is effective early on when it introduces the story concept. Making great use of sound design, Tuason essentially puts the audience inside Evy’s head, where every little sound is heightened. Setting the podcast sessions in the middle of the night ups the anxiety level for both her and the audience.

However, as the film goes along it gets a little tedious watching Evy listen to the audio, even as Tuason attempts to keep the film dynamic by moving the camera around her. The premise of the story - progressively going through 10 clips - and Tuason’s framing of shots that focus as much on the background as they do on Evy seem to promise more interesting results than actually transpire.

What ultimately holds the film down more than anything is its lack of different viewpoints. The only other person who’s actually seen is Evy’s mother, who is unable to speak. Evy speaks to Justin, another friend, and a doctor over the course of the story, and while each broadens our understanding of Evy somewhat, none of them make her a truly three-dimensional person. Getting a little more information about her history might have helped the story work better.

Kiri does her level best to vary her acting in the various podcast scenes, and even when they start to get repetitive, she remains compelling and watchable. It’s difficult to judge the other actors based on audio alone, but knowing that DiMarco also starred in season 2 of The White Lotus helps to visualize him and his acting style.

Undertone does well in creating a spine-chilling mood, but it needed something beyond that to become a truly great horror movie. Tuason shows some promise as a filmmaker, especially in the way he uses the camera to create tension, but a more complete story will serve him better the next time around.

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Undertone is now playing in theaters,

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