Weekend Event Planner

These are the 12 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

The Masked Singer National Tour will be at Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie on July 15.

Photo courtesy of Fox

It's a packed weekend around Dallas, with a couple of big-name concerts, six new local theater productions, a visit from a comedian-turned-actress-turned-comedian again, an exhibition of some extraordinary playhouses, a popular reality TV competition in the flesh, and a gaming and music festival hosted by a popular YouTuber.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, July 14

Jon Pardi in concert
Country singer Jon Pardi has been popular since his debut in 2014, with all three of his albums getting to the top three on the Billboard Country charts, including 2016's No. 1 California Sunrise. He's gone from opening act for Luke Bryan to headliner at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth to this starring show at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving. Fans will likely hear music from Pardi's upcoming new album, Mr. Saturday Night, set to be released in September.

Second Thought Theatre presents Pass Over
In Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s Pass Over, Moses and Kitch talk smack, pass the time, and hope that maybe today will be different. As they dream of their promised land, a stranger wanders into their space and disrupts their plans. Evoking heartbreak, hope, and joy, the play crafts everyday profanities into poetic and humorous riffs, illuminating the unquestionable human spirit of young, black men looking for a way out. The production runs through July 30 at Bryant Hall.

Verb Kulture presents Rhythm and Rhapsody
Rhythm and Rhapsody is an artistic fusion of storytelling and poetic expression that brings poetry, rhythm, and dance together to share stories that reflect social challenges in the African American community. Audiences will be drawn into a whirlwind of emotions by the poets and dancers as they take them on a journey reflecting past and present issues in America. The production, part of AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project, will take place in Hamon Hall inside Winspear Opera House through Saturday.

Cry Havoc Theater Company presents Women of Troy (UPDATE - 7/15/22: Due to a positive COVID test within the cast, the remainder of the performances have been canceled.)
In Women of Troy, five young women are imprisoned for reasons beyond their control. They must work together to fight not only for their own lives, but for the lives of countless others. Through sharing their stories they must convince their captors of a simple truth — in union, there is strength. A retelling of the classic Trojan Women, initially inspired by the controversial Texas "heartbeat bill," SB8, this play has found new relevance in the wake of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. There will be five performances through Sunday at South Side on Lamar.

Improv Addison presents Mary Lynn Rajskub
Mary Lynn Rajskub is making a return to stand up comedy after a long career as a versatile and dynamic actress, writer, and performer. Over the years, she's had roles in TV shows like 24, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Flight of the Conchords, and Modern Family, and in movies like Julie and Julia, Sweet Home Alabama, Dude Where’s My Car, and Roadtrip. She'll perform five times through Saturday at Improv Addison.

Friday, July 15

Dallas CASA presents Parade of Playhouses
Dallas CASA will present the annual Parade of Playhouses, which will showcase 13 custom created children’s playhouses. For this event at NorthPark Center, generous architects, builders, organizations, corporations, and individuals design, build, and donate children’s playhouses to raise funds for Dallas CASA. Playhouse designs for 2022 include a lighthouse, windmill, Mars spaceship, and an aquarium, plus a playhouse based on the historic Williams House in University Park. Visitors can view and bid on the playhouses through July 31.

Mainstage Irving - Las Colinas presents Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Both touching and hilarious, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a zany musical set in sexy 1980s Madrid, featuring the unravelling world of Pepa, Pepa’s wandering lover, the lover’s nutty ex-wife, their son and his fiancée, Pepa’s ditzy friend and that friend’s suspicious boyfriend, plus a lawyer, and a talkative taxi driver. The production will run through July 30 at Irving Arts Center.

Outcry Theatre presents House of Stairs
House of Stairs centers on Peter, Lola, Blossom, Abigail, and Oliver, five 16-year-old orphans living in a near future who are brought to a place unlike anything they have ever known. It has no walls, no ceiling, no floor. Nothing but endless flights of stairs leading nowhere — except back to the machine. The five will learn to love the machine, will let it rule their lives. But will they let it kill their souls? The production will run through July 24 at Addison Conference and Theatre Centre.

The Masked Singer National Tour(UPDATE: This event has now been canceled.)
The Masked Singer National Tour will bring the No. 1 show on television to the next level on its first-ever North American tour. Hosted by Joel Dommett, host of The Masked Singer UK (replacing Natasha Bedingfield, who had to drop out due to illness), audiences can expect to see their favorite characters brought to life, as well as surprise celebrity guests, new performances, and a can’t-miss spectacular live show. The show will be at Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Uptown Players presents Kinky Boots
Uptown Players continues its season with the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots. The hit musical tells the story of Charlie Price, a factory owner struggling to save his family business. Having inherited a shoe factory from his late father, Charlie forms an unlikely partnership with cabaret performer and drag queen Lola to produce a line of high-heeled boots to continue his father’s legacy and save the business. In the process, Charlie and Lola discover that they are not so different after all. The production will run through July 31 at Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Saturday, July 16

TimTheTatman's Tailgate
TimTheTatman's Tailgate, hosted by one of the world's biggest YouTube gamers, will feature tournaments for Fortnite and Pong; musical performances by Kane Brown, Mitchell Tenpenny, EDM DJ Arty, and Tool tribute band Schism; yard games and arcade games; and more. The two-day event will take place on Saturday and Sunday at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco.

Brandi Carlile in concert
Brandi Carlile is one of those singers whose reputation goes way beyond the actual success she's had in the music industry. Unlike some overnight success artists, Carlile has put in a lot work in her career, releasing five albums dating back to 2005 before she finally broke through with 2018's By the Way, I Forgive You, which earned her three Grammy Awards. She'll play her most high-profile local concert to date at Dos Equis Pavilion in support of her latest album, 2021's In These Silent Days.

Uptown Players presents Kinky Boots at Kalita Humphreys Theater, July 15-31.

Photo by Mike Morgan

Uptown Players presents Kinky Boots at Kalita Humphreys Theater, July 15-31.

comedy event-planner concerts families theater kids music

Movie Review

Kids film The Legend of Ochi is a miss despite cute character

Photo courtesy of A24

Young Ochi and Helena Zengel in The Legend of Ochi.

Most movies aimed at children tend to be relatively low-brow, with easy-to-understand stories and humor that doesn’t make anyone think too hard. The movie studio A24 is best known for its edgy films, with their only real attempt at making a “kids movie” in their 13-year history being the off-kilter Marcel the Shell with Shoes On in 2022.

True to form, though, the new The Legend of Ochi is far from your typical kids movie despite its PG rating. Yuri (Helena Zengel) lives on the remote fictional island of Carpathia with her father, Maxim (Willem Dafoe) and her adopted brother, Petro (Finn Wolfhard). The kids have been taught from a young age to fear the creature known as the Ochi, and accompany their dad and other children on nighttime hunts to protect their livestock from the bloodthirsty animals.

When Yuri comes across a young Ochi stuck in a trap, though, she finds she is able to communicate with it in the Ochis’ chirping language. Finding herself bonded with the creature in an unexpected way, Yuri sets out to return the young animal back to its home, with Maxim, Petro, and others hot on her tail.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Isaiah Saxon, the film often comes across like a light version of Wes Anderson. Saxon includes all kinds of quirky elements like Maxim dressing up like a knight during the Ochi hunts, unusual geography on the island, and - randomly - a candy-colored grocery store. Of course, Dafoe himself has appeared in five Anderson films, underscoring Saxon’s inspiration.

But whereas Anderson generally uses the peculiarities in his films for deeper purposes, Saxon has difficulty finding much meaning in his storytelling. What seems to be at play in the film is a culture of misplaced fear, epitomized by the banishment of Yuri’s mom, Dasha (Emily Watson) after she was bitten by an Ochi. But Saxon can never properly explain why she now lives on her own, or capitalize on any emotions from when she and Yuri are reunited.

The lack of adequate answers to questions that arise is what plagues the film for most of its running time. Consequently, the film is a non-starter in most ways; there is almost no excitement or suspense to be had as Yuri tries to achieve her quest. Saxon even fails at what should have been the easiest part of the film, making audiences fall in love with the cute-yet-ferocious young Ochi.

Zengel, whose only previous notable role was in the 2020 Tom Hanks film News of the World, does her level best to make Yuri interesting, but she can’t rise above the film’s other faults. Dafoe knows how to play oddball roles, but this one never makes any sense. Wolfhard and Watson don’t get enough screentime for them to make a big impression either way.

While A24 can usually be counted on to deliver memorable films that skew outside of the normal output of Hollywood, The Legend of Ochi never finds its footing. If it’s supposed to be a kids movie, it misses the mark by a long shot, with little that could be considered attractive for the younger set.

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The Legend of Ochi is now playing in theaters.

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