Weekend Event Planner

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

UPDATE: The Bulladora Music Experience, which was on this list when it first published, has been canceled due to weather.

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The first weekend in June is deceptively busy around the Dallas area. While we only list 10 events below, many of them include multiple activities that span the spectrum of theater, music, art, movies, television, comic books, and more. In other words, you'll have no trouble finding something to do.

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, June 2

Vitruvian Nights Live Concert Series
Starting Thursday, Vitruvian Park in Addison is hosting a bi-weekly concert series featuring live music; gourmet food trucks; drinks; mobile boutiques, and giveaways from radio stations like 106.1 Kiss FM, 102.1 the Edge, and Lone Star 92.5. Kicking things off is Warehouse, a Dave Matthews Band tribute group.

Audacity Theatre Lab presents 2016 Dallas Solo Fest
The Dallas Solo Fest, presented by Audacity Theatre Lab, features eight one-person shows that include a mix of local and national solo performers. Taking place at Magnolia Lounge at Fair Park through June 12, the purpose of the festival is to celebrate extraordinary solo theater, as well as increase awareness and appreciation for the form in the North Texas area.

Friday, June 3

Soluna Festival finale
The Soluna Festival is coming to a close with three final events. The highlight includes three performances, Friday through Sunday, by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra of Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony, complemented by two performances at Nasher Sculpture Center by artist Mai-Thu Perret: Figures on Thursday and O on Saturday.

Red Bull Global Rallycross Dallas
Completing an exceptionally busy weekend at Fair Park is Red Bull Global Rallycross, which makes a return to the Lone Star State with its inaugural Dallas event. The competition pits star-driven, production-based cars against each other in door-to-door racing featuring dirt, asphalt, and tabletop jumps. There will be racing on both Friday and Saturday.

Fan Expo Dallas
The largest comics, sci-fi, horror, anime, and gaming event in Texas, Fan Expo Dallas features a slew of big names from movies, TV, and comics. The three-day festival at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center includes special events like a free presentation with William Shatner, Sci-Fi Speed Dating, a forum with Jay and Silent Bob, and Breakfast with Stan Lee.

WaterTower Theatre presents Outside Mullingar
The latest from WaterTower Theatre is Outside Mullingar, written by Pulitzer-, Oscar-, and Tony Award-winning author John Patrick Shanley. The play is a romance about Anthony and Rosemary, two introverted misfits in rural Ireland. Anthony is oblivious to the longing of his neighbor Rosemary, but when his father threatens to disinherit him, it spurs a delightful tale about love and its many surprises. The production runs through June 26.

R. Kelly in concert
R&B singer R. Kelly has been unapologetic in making his music as sexy as possible, with examples like his biggest hit, "Bump n' Grind," and his 2013 album, Black Panties. The always memorable performer is playing at American Airlines Center in support of his 2015 album, The Buffet.

Saturday, June 4

VolunteerNow presents Voly in the Park 2016
Voly in the Park, a daylong event at Klyde Warren Park, is Dallas’ only volunteerism festival, featuring 75 nonprofit agencies, hands-on volunteer projects, live entertainment, and more than 5,000 attendees. This festival showcases VolunteerNow’s volunteer matching program, Voly.org, an online platform that makes it quick and easy for volunteers to connect with more than 1,000 North Texas nonprofits.

Kenny Chesney in concert with Miranda Lambert, Jake Owen, and Old Dominion
The first big concert of the summer is this monster at AT&T Stadium, featuring country superstar Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Jake Owen, and Old Dominion. Chesney is touring in support of his forthcoming 2016 album, Some Town Somewhere, while Lambert is still riding high off the success of her 2014 album, Platinum.

Fan Expo Dallas takes place at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center June 3-5.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Comic Con

Fan Expo Dallas takes place at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center June 3-5.

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Movie Review

Lust eclipses romance in new adaptation of 'Wuthering Heights'

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights.

Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights is one of those classic books assigned in high school English classes, and it has received a number of film adaptations over the years, each of which differ in numerous ways from the source material. Purists won’t receive any reprieve from Emerald Fennell’s 2026 adaptation, with a title that is stylized as "Wuthering Heights” for good reason.

Cathy (played as an adult by Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) have known each other their entire lives, with Cathy’s alcoholic and inveterate gambler father (Martin Clunes) taking in Heathcliff on a whim when he was a boy. The two bond as they grow up together, although Cathy always seems to have an eye on moving up in society from their relatively impoverished lifestyle.

Cathy finally gets her wish when the rich Linton familyled by Edgar (Shazad Latif), moves in down the road, Despite discovering she has feelings for the now grown-up Heathcliff, Cathy sees Edgar as her way out and agrees to marry him. A scorned Heathcliff flees, returning years later as mysteriously wealthy. His reappearance ignites something in Cathy’s soul, and the two engage in a perhaps unwise affair.

Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn) infuses the dusty material with an energy that’s not typically present in stories set in this particular time and place. Aside from the occasional Charli XCX song (the singer created a whole concept album for the film), the film looks and feels like a period piece, albeit one that doesn’t get bogged down in the drudgery that can sometimes come from films set in the distant past.

Much of that has to do with the lust the filmmaker puts into the story. Even if you’re not familiar with Brontë’s book, you can rest assured that Fennell has strayed far from the text, giving Cathy and Heathcliff thoughts and actions unthinkable in the 19th century. Fennell plays with expectations by opening the film with audio featuring creaking noises and a man grunting, conjuring up a situation far different than what is actually happening, and she also makes liberal use of rain, sweat, and tears to make the actors enticing.

What she can’t do, however, is make the two lead characters compelling. Cathy is a striver who never seems to know what she wants out of life, and Heathcliff goes from a bore to a brute over the course of the film, with no clear indication that he likes anybody, much less Cathy. Anyone expecting some kind of grand romance will be disappointed as Fennell is much more interested in making the film weird, like having the walls of Cathy’s room look like her skin, complete with freckles.

Robbie and Elordi do well enough with the material, and it’s clear that both of them are committed to bringing Fennell’s vision to life. Their styles tend to balance each other out, and if the story had been committed to their characters’ relationship, they might be lauded for their chemistry. In the end, though, the supporting actors feel more interesting, including ones played by Hong Chau, Alison Miller, and Clunes.

This version of Wuthering Heights should never be construed as an alternative to reading the book for any high schoolers out there. While Fennell makes the film interesting with her technical filmmaking choices, the story never finds its footing as it fails to sell the one thing that it seems to promise.

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Wuthering Heights opens in theaters on February 13.

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