Weekend Event Planner

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

Texas Ballet Theater will present Cinderella at Winspear Opera House, August 24-26.

Photo courtesy of Texas Ballet Theater

High-profile musical collaborations are the order of the weekend, event-wise. There will no fewer than five different concerts featuring either dual headliners or opening acts who have already established themselves as known quantities. Other events will include a cute animal film festival, two new local theater productions, and a ballet version of a classic story.

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

Thursday, August 23

Dallas VideoFest presents PawFest
Take a refreshing break from the dog days of summer to watch some funny, heart-melting videos of adorable felines and canines. PawFest features a new selection of videos curated by Will Braden, including approximately 100 cat and/or dog videos culled from videos in the categories of Comedy, Drama, Animated, Musical, Action, Vintage, and Documentary. The event takes place at Texas Theatre.

Charlie Puth in concert with Hailee Steinfeld
Charlie Puth is perhaps the ultimate example of how the music industry currently works. His most famous song, "See You Again," is one where he's only the featured artist, playing second fiddle to rapper Wiz Khalifa. But thanks to its heart-wrenching inclusion at the end of Furious 7, it launched Puth's career, leading to headlining dates like this at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory. He'll be joined by singer/actress Hailee Steinfeld.

Second Thought Theatre presents Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.
To be a woman in the 21st century is to experience, and to embody, a world of contradictions. Work, relationships, family, sex, and power intersect as one daring group of actors turns everything you thought you knew directly on its head. Language is inverted, bodies are distorted, men are banished, and nothing is sacred in this bold, provocative, riotous play. It will run at Bryant Hall in the Kalita Humphreys Theater complex through September 15.

Friday, August 24

Evanescence and Lindsey Stirling in concert
Two extremely talented female musicians will be at the forefront of this concert at Dos Equis Pavilion. Amy Lee leads the way for Evanescence, which is having a bit of a resurgence after releasing their fourth album, Synthesis, in 2017. They'll be joined by Lindsey Stirling, a violin virtuoso who's taken the instrument far from its classical roots. Her latest album, Warmer in the Winter, was released in 2017.

Mavis Staples in concert with Sarah Jaffe
The true must-see concert of the weekend is this one at the recently revived Statler Hotel. Mavis Staples is a music legend, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who has weaved herself into the very fabric of gospel, soul, folk, pop, R&B, blues, rock, and hip hop over the last 60 years. She'll be joined by Dallas-Fort Worth's' own Sarah Jaffe, who has won huge acclaim over the past decade. Jaffe released her fourth album, Bad Baby, in 2017.

Texas Ballet Theater presents Cinderella
Texas Ballet Theater will present the most beloved fairy tale of all time, Cinderella. Marvel as spells and pumpkin shells are upstaged by extraordinary choreography and breathtaking sets. Laugh at the zany antics of Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters and rejoice as Cinderella finds her prince charming. The production will have five performances at Winspear Opera House through Sunday.

Uptown Players presents Perfect Arrangement
To close its 17th season, Uptown Players will present the regional premiere of Topher Payne’s Perfect Arrangement. It’s 1950, and new colors are being added to the Red Scare. Two U.S. State Department employees, Bob and Norma, have been tasked with identifying sexual deviants within their ranks. There’s just one problem: both Bob and Norma are gay, and have married each other’s partners as a carefully constructed cover. The production will run at Kalita Humphreys Theater through September 2.

Saturday, August 25

Rascal Flatts in concert with Dan + Shay
Almost 20 years into their career, Rascal Flatts remains one of the most popular country music groups around. They've released a new album every 1-2 years since their debut in 2000, with four of those albums going to No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Country charts. They'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion in support of their 2017 album, Back to Us, joined by opening act Dan + Shay.

Sunday, August 26

Wiz Khalifa and Rae Sremmurd in concert with Lil Skies and O.T Genasis
In an odd coincidence, Wiz Khalifa will be in town the same weekend as his "See You Again" collaborator, Charlie Puth. There won't be a live recreation of the song, though, as both have concerts in other cities on the night the other is playing. This concert promises a great time regardless, as Khalifa will be joined at Dos Equis Pavilion by Rae Sremmurd, Lil Skies, O.T. Genasis, and more. Khalifa recently released his sixth album, Rolling Papers 2.

Second Thought Theatre will present Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. at Bryant Hall through September 15.

Second Thought Theatre presents Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.

Photo by Evan Michael Woods

Second Thought Theatre will present Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. at Bryant Hall through September 15.

event-planner

Movie Review

Rose Byrne plays one stressed-out mom in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

Photo courtesy of A24

Conan O'Brien and Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

Movie history is littered with depictions of stressed-out mothers who have breakdowns due to the pressure put on them by their children, spouses, or society in general. Recent examples include Hereditary, Tully, and Nightbitch, with each of them finding different ways to depict their main character’s struggles. Yet another put-upon mother goes through the wringer in the oddly-named If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.

When we meet Linda (Rose Byrne), she’s already in the middle of a huge ball of stress. Her daughter (Delaney Quinn) suffers from an unnamed illness that requires around-the-clock care and frequent doctor visitors. Her husband, Charles (Christian Slater), is a boat captain whose job keeps him away from home for long periods of time. And her job as a therapist requires her to hear other people’s problems, necessitating her seeing a fellow therapist (Conan O’Brien) on a daily basis.

Nearly everyone else she encounters in the movie adds to her anxiety, including Caroline (Danielle Macdonald), a new mother who’s constantly worried about her baby; Dr. Spring (Mary Bronstein), who constantly harps on Linda to get her daughter to eat; an officious parking attendant at the hospital; and a sneering desk clerk at the motel she and her daughter are forced to stay at after a plumbing disaster at home. Consequently, she dismisses James (A$AP Rocky), another motel worker, the one person who treats her with a modicum of kindness.

Written and directed by Bronstein, the film is a harrowing experience that somehow also manages to be darkly funny at times. Linda is dealing with way too much for one person to adequately handle, something that is compounded by the fact that nobody really listens to her, not even the therapist she’s paying to do so. Scenes bounce back and forth between Linda demonstrating righteous anger at what the world is throwing at her and crushing guilt over supposedly not doing enough for her child.

Bronstein depicts Linda’s journey in a number of interesting ways, some straightforward and others not so much. Bronstein makes liberal use of close-ups on Linda’s face, heightening the feeling that the world is closing in on her. The plumbing problem at her home results in a huge hole in the ceiling, which becomes the source of some unexplained phenomena, a choice that might have been unnecessary.

What’s most striking about the film is how hardly anyone is on Linda’s side. Since the film joins the story as it’s already in progress, the audience is left to guess as to how Linda has behaved in the past to garner such negative interactions from people who should be helping her. While she’s not a perfect person, she also doesn’t appear to be such a jerk that she should be treated with disdain everywhere she goes.

Byrne, who’s gravitated toward lighter roles in recent years, is an absolute marvel in this part. The more stress Linda feels, the more she becomes disheveled, and Byrne makes you feel every ounce of the character’s pain. O’Brien, who’s rarely had to play anyone but “Conan O’Brien” before, is surprisingly good, tamping down his comic sensibility to complement Byrne well. A$AP Rocky also makes a nice impression, elevating a character that’s a little underwritten.

The role of a mom is never an easy one, and that’s in the best of circumstances. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You - a title that is never explained yet still somehow fits - earns its stripes by demonstrating how the often thankless job of motherhood can become even more distressing when the mom in question is given little to no support.

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If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is now playing in select theaters.

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