Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas on Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving weekend around Dallas brings the usual array of holiday-related events, but this year will feature a good variety of non-holiday happenings. They include a first visit by a Tony Award-winning musical, a classic family movie paired with a symphony, and two local theater productions.

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.

Wednesday, November 27

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Dear Evan Hansen
A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. Dear Evan Hansen is the deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about life and the way we live it. The Tony Award-winning musical will play at the Music Hall at Fair Park through December 8.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will finally come to the stage at Meyerson Symphony Center. Audiences can relive the magic of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in high-definition while hearing the Dallas Symphony Orchestra perform John Williams’ unforgettable score live to picture. The concert, conducted by Joshua Gersen, will be performed four times through Sunday.

Thursday, November 28

YMCA Dallas Turkey Trot
Before you indulge in turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie, it might be a good idea to get some exercise in. You can do so at the Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot, one of the largest multi-event races in the country. Runners and walkers can participate in the 5K, 8- Mile Race, or the 1K Junior Trot, all starting at Dallas City Hall. Proceeds will benefit the diverse programs of the YMCA.

Grand Prairie Parks, Arts and Recreation presents Prairie Lights
Now that Thanksgiving is here, it's time to get into the various Christmas light displays around Dallas-Fort Worth. Prairie Lights at Lynn Creek Park kicks things off with 4 million lights and hundreds of all-new displays lining and arching over two miles of path. Halfway through the drive, visitors can get out of their vehicles for a stop at Holiday Village, featuring food, gifts, photos with Santa Claus, a brand-new indoor Holiday Show, and the Holiday Magic Lighted Walk-Through Forest. The lights will be on display through December 31.

Friday, November 29

Grapevine Vintage Railroad presents North Pole Express
Grapevine Vintage Railroad’s North Pole Express, presented by Great Wolf Lodge, is a unique traditional Christmas experience. On the train, every child will receive Frosty Chocolate Snow Milk, a Christmas cookie, and a “We Believe” Silver Bell. The train continues on to the North Pole where, upon arrival, guests stroll through the snowy North Pole Forest and visit Santa’s workshop for a Broadway-style Christmas performance and a complimentary photo with Santa. The event will continue through December 23.

Vitruvian Lights
Vitruvian Park in Addison transforms into a holiday destination during Vitruvian Lights, when over 1.5 million sparkling LED lights are wrapped around more than 550 trees. On opening night, the lights will be turned on during a lighting ceremony featuring Mayor Joe Chow. Guests can enjoy live music by the Jordan Kahn Orchestra, take photos with Santa, write and send letters to Santa, pet Santa’s reindeer, meet classic holiday characters, and purchase bites from gourmet food trucks. The lights will remain on every evening through January 1.

Texas Christkindl Market
In its ninth year, the Texas Christkindl Market is one of the largest open-air holiday markets in the Southwest. Inspired by a cherished German tradition, guests can shop for holiday gifts, decorations, and one-of-a-kind finds. Guests can also get a photo with St. Nikolaus, indulge in German treats and eats, and enjoy festive music and entertainment. The market will be open through December 22, and new this year, there will also be an outdoor 5,000-square-foot ice rink open through January 12, 2020. (Note: A tree lighting ceremony originally scheduled for November 29 has been moved to Sunday, December 1, at 7 pm, due to inclement weather.)

Theatre Three presents Noises Off
They say all the world is a stage, but perhaps the drama behind the scenes is where the real story is at. Noises Off provides a sneak peek onstage and backstage of an amateur traveling theater production from final rehearsals through opening night and the subsequent touring season. But can this troupe keep their offstage antics behind the curtain, or will the drama waiting in the wings find its way center stage? The production will play at Theatre Three through December 22.

Texas Ballet Theater presents The Nutcracker
Texas Ballet Theater's version of The Nutcracker, playing at Winspear Opera House through December 8, features exquisite costumes and dazzling choreography. Audiences can experience the most magical Christmas tradition of the season as Clara and her Nutcracker Prince battle an army of mice and travel through a winter wonderland to meet the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Kingdom of Sweets.

Saturday, November 30

Cara Mia Theatre Co. presents Swimming While Drowning
Angelo and Mila are 15 and homeless. Angelo is a dreamer, Mila is a street-wise hustler, but when they become roommates at a shelter for LGBTQ teens, they build a fragile bond that inspires them to reach for understanding and self-acceptance. Emilio Rodriguez’s poetic coming-of-age story, presented by Cara Mia Theatre Co. at Latino Cultural Center through December 15, celebrates the healing power of hope and the beautiful mystery of being a teenager.

Vitruvian Park in Addison hosts Vitruvian Lights starting on November 29, running through January 1.

Photo by Stevan Koye

Vitruvian Park in Addison hosts Vitruvian Lights starting on November 29, running through January 1.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig searches for elusive new bond in audacious film Queer

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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