Weekend Event Planner

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

There's something for everyone going on around Dallas this weekend, including a huge designer clothes sale, concerts featuring big names from the past and present, three new theater productions, a chance to hang out with reality TV celebrities, local viewing opportunities for a unique sports event, and more.

Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Monday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, August 24

Fashion Industry Gallery presents FIG Finale 2017
At FIG Finale, taking place at Fashion Industry Gallery through Saturday, shoppers can find designer deals up to 75 percent off retail from top stores and brands. FIG Finale features women's, men's and children's clothing, shoes and accessories. The Thursday event requires a VIP ticket, while the Friday and Saturday tickets are open to the public for $5 per day.

100.3 Jack FM presents Lost '80s Live
Children of the 1980s will be in heaven at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie when 100.3 Jack FM presents Lost '80s Live. The concert will feature performances from Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet, Cutting Crew, Wang Chung, Naked Eyes, Berlin, The Flirts, Tommy Tutone, Dramarama, and Christopher Anton of Information Society.

Ochre House Theater presents Kaptain Kockadoo
Ochre House Theater will present the world premiere of Kaptain Kockadoo, a new dark musical comedy with original live music from Ochre’s first all-girl band. In the musical, the Kaptain and his crew will navigate the world of children’s television through the eyes of a religious zealot. What would you do to get to heaven? What would the Kaptain do? The production will run through September 9.

Friday, August 25

Cheer 4 Your Life presents It’s A Jungle Out There
Fans of Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother, and American Ninja Warrior will enjoy this fundraising event, where they can mix and mingle with favorite former players from those shows. The evening at Granada Theater will consist of dinner, open bar, silent and live auction, dancing, and performances from Cheer 4 Your Life teen beneficiaries. The following day, the same players will compete in Warriors Games at Lake Highlands Recreation Center, participating in challenges similar to those seen on Survivor.

Uptown Players presents The Tribute Artist
To close its 16th season, Uptown Players will present the regional premiere of Charles Busch’s The Tribute Artist. An out-of-work female impersonator assumes the role of his elderly landlady after she dies in her sleep in order to hang on to her valuable Greenwich Village townhouse. This "perfect" scheme goes awry and leads to a wild path of twists and reversals plotted by an eccentric rogues' gallery of outrageous schemers. The play will run through September 10 at Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Saturday, August 26

Soul Rep Theatre presents The Trinity River Plays
Regina Taylor’s Trinity River Plays spans 18 years in the life of Iris and her Oak Cliff matriarchal family. Set in the 1970s through the 1990s, the piece is an interlocking of three emotional one-act plays — Jar Fly, Rain, and Ghost(story). Collectively, they form a searing family drama colored by situations and nuances unique to the Dallas region. There will be two performances on Saturday at Irving Arts Center.

Reunion Tower presents Reunion Lawn Party
The final Reunion Lawn Party of the year includes live music by Petty Theft, featuring Mike Rhyner of Dallas’ “The Ticket,” food trucks, lawn games, and a special Lawn Takeover by the Dallas Mavericks. In addition to the food truck fare, attendees will have an opportunity to purchase a wide selection of domestic and imported beers and wines from the Beer Garden host, The Nodding Donkey.

Lady Antebellum in concert with Kelsea Ballerini and Brett Young
It's been an eventful 10 years for country trio Lady Antebellum. Each of their six albums, including their new album, Heart Break, has reached the top 5 in both the Billboard Top 200 and Country charts. They've also had a string of No. 1 hits and are a staple at the multitude of country music award shows. They will be joined at this concert at Starplex Pavilion by opening acts Kelsea Ballerini and Brett Young.

The Piano Guys in concert
The Piano Guys are four dads who became a sensation thanks to their original self-made music videos, including versions of One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen. Their blend of classical music with pop has made them an Internet phenomenon, with over 500 million YouTube views. They'll play at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor
It may be more of a spectacle than a true boxing match, but that doesn't make the matchup between boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and mixed martial artist Conor McGregor any less interesting. There are plenty of watch parties around town for the event taking place in Las Vegas, but you can watch it best on the big screen at most area Cinemark theaters and the AMC Mesquite 30.

Mary J. Blige in concert with Lalah Hathaway
Over the past 25 years, Mary J. Blige has established herself as the grande dame of R&B/hip hop music. She's worked with virtually every big name in her genre, including Nas, Lil' Kim, Ja Rule, Method Man, Eve, 50 Cent, Drake, Diddy, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West. She'll play at the Music Hall at Fair Park in support of her new album, Strength of a Woman. The opening act will be Lalah Hathaway.

Sunday, August 27

Foundation45 presents Deep Ellum Water Balloon Wars
With temperatures still hovering near 90 degrees, we'll take any excuse we can to cool down. You'll have plenty of opportunities to get doused with water at the Deep Ellum Water Balloon Wars, an adults-only event taking place behind Trees. It will feature water balloon battles, water slides, dunk tanks, music, food, and drinks in the heart of Deep Ellum. Attendees must at least 18 years old.

The Piano Guys will play at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie on August 26.

Photo courtesy of The Piano Guys

The Piano Guys will play at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie on August 26.

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Movie Review

Ana de Armas brings John Wick-level violence to spinoff Ballerina

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Ana de Armas in Ballerina.

The John Wickfranchise has been successful due to two things: The hyper-violence inflicted by its protagonist, and its star, Keanu Reeves, who has used a bare minimum of words to create a great antihero. Trying to capitalize on its popularity, Lionsgate - the studio behind the franchise - has made Ballerina, a spin-off focusing on a character inspired by another minor character from John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.

That convoluted set-up is the first of a variety of missteps for the film. An opening scene introduces the audience to a young Eve (Victoria Comte), who gets taken in by a criminal group known as the Ruska Roma after her father is killed. The bulk of the film takes place 12 years later when a now-adult Eve (Ana de Armas) is finishing her training as a ballerina/assassin-for-hire, led by The Director (Anjelica Huston).

Hungry to prove her worth, Eve starts going out on various jobs. One of those jobs puts her in the orbit of the group responsible for her father’s death, and she dedicates herself toward finding the leader known as The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) and exacting revenge. Oh, and for funsies, the film - set between John Wick 3 and 4 - also brings in Wick himself to juice the action.

Directed by Len Wiseman and written by Shay Hatten (who’s written the last two John Wick films), the film is at its best when the filmmakers are going all-in on the action. Like all films in the series, the actual body count soon becomes negligible, with the film more interested in how inventively Eve can slaughter everyone in her path. And there are some creative methods employed, including ice skates, hatchets, and - most memorably - a flamethrower.

What Wiseman and Hatten are not able to do, however, is make us care about Eve herself. The main John Wick films got increasingly complicated, but they were tolerable because of how compelling a character Wick was. There’s no such connection with Eve, and for all her personal tragedy, she might as well be a faceless person. A lack of explanation as to why Ruska Roma is training women as ballerinas - you know, the title of the movie - only underscores how little the filmmakers cared about creating a good story.

Consequently, despite plenty of gory kills, the film is actually quite boring to watch play out. The film goes through the paces of having Eve take on all-comers, but the end result is never in doubt and most of the action runs together. The inclusion of Wick into the story feels like the afterthought, whether it actually was or not. It also has the unfortunate effect of comparing a character fans know and love to one who hasn’t been given a chance to establish herself.

Although her character as a whole is lacking, De Armas shows that she can easily handle the physical aspects of the role. The 37-year-old actor is oddly asked to play a 24-year-old (or so), but she mixes it up with the best of them. Byrne makes for a so-so new villain, while Reeves, Huston, Ian McShane, and Lance Reddick (making his final film appearance after passing away in 2023) all reprise their roles well.

Ballerina has the look and feel of the four previous John Wick films, but it fails to be as compelling of an action film as any of them. True, it has just as much violence as fans have come to expect from the series, but its lead character is one that never reaches the level of John Wick, and it doesn’t seem like the filmmakers even tried to accomplish that goal.

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Ballerina opens in theaters on June 6.

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