Weekend Event Planner

These are the 11 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

If you're a fan of artist Vincent van Gogh, this is your weekend as there will be not one but two separate events featuring his artwork in Dallas. There will also be the return of Broadway to the area, a trio of big concerts, two local theater productions, a great comedian, a celebration of a local hero, and the closing of a notable art exhibition.

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

Thursday, August 5

Galleria Dallas and Dallas Museum of Art present "Van Gogh and the Olive Groves" preview
Galleria Dallas will partner with the Dallas Museum of Art to offer a “sneak peek” of "Van Gogh and the Olive Groves," which opens at the DMA on October 17. The preview offers families a glimpse into the artistic and educational exploration through select reproductions of Van Gogh’s works from the olive groves series; the originals will be presented in the museum’s exhibition. The display will provide links to online resources allowing people to further explore the exhibition. The preview will be located on Level I on the gallery wall across from Apple through August 31.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Wicked
Broadway makes its return to Dallas with Wicked, which looks at what happened in the Land of Oz … but from a different angle. Long before Dorothy arrives, there is another young woman, born with emerald-green skin — smart, fiery, misunderstood, and possessing an extraordinary talent. When she meets a bubbly blonde who is exceptionally popular, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships … until the world decides to call one “good,” and the other one “wicked.” The musical will play at the Music Hall at Fair Park through September 5.

Blackberry Smoke in concert with The Allman Betts Band, The Wild Feathers, and Jaimoe
Blackberry Smoke will come to Irving as part of their "Spirit Of The South Tour: A Celebration of Southern Rock and Roll." They'll be joined by special guests The Allman Betts Band, The Wild Feathers and founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, Jaimoe. The show at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory will conclude with a unique collaborative finale, which will feature Blackberry Smoke, The Allman Betts Band, The Wild Feathers, Jaimoe, and additional surprise guests showcasing the inspirations of Rock, Blues, Gospel, and Soul music.

Improv Addison presents Maz Jobrani
Comedian Maz Jobrani is a founding member of The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, which first aired on Comedy Central. He has had three Showtime specials: Brown and Friendly, I Come In Peace, and I’m Not a Terrorist but I’ve Played One on TV. He is also a regular panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. He'll perform five times through Saturday at Improv Addison.

Junior Players presents 12th Night: A Rock Musical
In collaboration with Shakespeare Dallas, Junior Players presents 12th Night: A Rock Musical. Illyria is the new Coachella when The Bard becomes the new sensation as his text is mixed into original infectious rock/pop style melodies in a new production out of California of this classic gender-bending comedy. The madness for love unfolds after a shipwrecked Viola falls onto the Illyrian Shores. The production will play at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre through Sunday.

Pegasus Theatre presents Death on Delivery!
In Death on Delivery!, the setting is City Hospital where Lt. Foster’s wife has just given birth to their first child, Harriet. But danger lurks around every corner. The intrepid trio must solve a mysterious string of murders before a madman claims one of their own. The production by Pegasus Theatre uses RadioVizion, which focuses on evoking the experience and glamour of being in a live radio studio of the 1930s and 1940s. It will run through August 21 at Bath House Cultural Center.

Friday, August 6

Cypress Hill in concert
Hip hop group Cypress Hill has been around for 30 years, releasing nine albums, but they're still best known for their 1993 No. 1 hit "Insane in the Brain" off their triple platinum album Black Sunday. They recently released a new single, "Champion Sound," their first new music since their 2018 album, Elephants On Acid. They'll play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit in concert (UPDATE: This concert has been canceled. Isbell is still scheduled to perform in Fort Worth on August 13.)
Country singer Jason Isbell is an old-school musician in that he's taken the long road to success. He's been paying his dues for the past 20 years, slowly but surely building a fan base. That hard work has paid off, as his last three albums have each landed at No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts, as well as the top 10 of the Billboard 200. He and his band, The 400 Unit, will play at The Factory in Deep Ellum.

Saturday, August 7

Immersive Van Gogh
Immersive Van Gogh is a digital art experience that invites audiences to enter the works of van Gogh, evoking his highly emotional and chaotic inner consciousness through art, light, music, movement, and imagination. The exhibition merges state-of-the-art technology, theatrical storytelling, and world-class animation, transporting guests inside the artist's most famous paintings. It will take place at Lighthouse Dallas through October 31.

The City of Grapevine presents Wally Funk Community Celebration Parade
The City of Grapevine will honor resident and hometown hero, Wally Funk, for her history-making experience aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital space tourism rocket. The event will feature a parade along Historic Main Street, immediately followed by a presentation by aviation leaders, peers, Grapevine Mayor William D. Tate, and Grapevine City Council. The parade will then head south on Main Street from Wall Street toward Dallas Road, and will culminate on Peace Plaza at Grapevine Main Station, with remarks by dignitaries and Funk.

Sunday, August 8

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière - Towards No Earthly Pole" closing day
Sunday will be the final day to view "Concentrations 63" at the Dallas Museum of Art. Berlin-based French-Swiss artist Julian Charrière creates work that bridges the realms of environmental science and cultural history. This focused exhibition — Charrière’s first solo museum exhibition in the U.S. — provides immersive encounters with the artist’s melancholic and beautiful portraits of nature in the human era, culminating with his most recent video project, Towards No Earthly Pole.

Immersive Van Gogh will be open at Lighthouse Dallas, August 7-October 31.

Photo by Michael Brosilow

Immersive Van Gogh will be open at Lighthouse Dallas, August 7-October 31.

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Movie Review

Jessica Chastain drama Dreams stumbles through steamy romance

Photo courtesy of Teorema

Isaac Hernández and Jessica Chastain in Dreams.

The opening scenes of the new drama Dreams are bracing, fictional sequences that call to mind real-life scenarios. In them, a young Mexican man named Fernando (Isaac Hernández) goes through a somewhat harrowing journey from the back of a semi truck in South Texas all the way to San Francisco. It’s a familiar immigrant story that seems to set the stage for a film with something interesting to say.

It turns out, however, that Fernando has not made the long and arduous trek for a job. Instead, it’s to be with Jennifer McCarthy (Jessica Chastain), a rich woman who helps lead a foundation dedicated to multiple things, including funding dance academies. Fernando, a talented dancer, and Jennifer have been in an off-and-on affair for years, with Jennifer wanting to keep their relationship a secret.

Although both are drawn to each other in an inexplicable, lustful way, their bond is tenuous, with each of them dissatisfied for different reasons. Fernando clearly sacrifices much more of himself than Jennifer, who wants for nothing except maybe more affection from her father, Michael (Marshall Bell), and brother, Jake (Rupert Friend).

Writer/director Michel Franco seems to try to inject tension into Fernando and Jennifer’s relationship from the start, an attempt that is only halfway successful. It’s clear from the way they greet each other - not to mention a steamy sex scene shortly thereafter - that they have known each other for a good length of time. Franco is able to get across this familiarity with an economy of scenes, and the intensity of their bond holds for a while.

But as the film progresses and both of them grow disenchanted with their arrangement, Franco starts taking the story in some odd directions. The biggest issue is that it’s never clear at what point in time the story is taking place. Fernando ends up making multiple trips back and forth across the border, with Jennifer doing the same at one point, and Franco’s use of flashbacks muddies the waters, wrong-footing the audience when he should be trying to draw them further into Fernando and Jennifer’s complications.

Revelations in the final act make the story even more confusing, as both main characters start saying and doing harsh things that seem to come out of nowhere. That would be all well and good if Franco actually committed to their changes of heart, but he keeps things wishy-washy for most of the final 15 minutes, resulting in an ending that makes little sense for either character.

Despite the story issues, both Chastain and Hernández give compelling performances. Chastain has been a little under the radar since winning an Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, but she keeps this character interesting longer than it should have been. Hernández has limited credits and appears to have been cast for his dancing ability, but he goes toe-to-toe with Chastain on more than one occasion and acquits himself well.

Dreams had all of the ideas to explore a more in-depth story about the complicated immigration policies between Mexico and the U.S., or how wealthy people take advantage of those less fortunate. But Franco never finds the right footing, settling instead for a titillating and somewhat mystifying relationship story that feels half-baked.

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Dreams is now playing in select theaters.

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