Weekend Event Planner

These are the 13 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

It's The Nutcracker week around Dallas, as there will no fewer than five different versions of the classic Christmas ballet on stages in the area. You can also see a former Fleetwood Mac member gone solo, an "orchestra" known for their rockin' Christmas light show, a great comedian, and more.

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

Thursday, December 9

Avant Chamber Ballet presents The Nutcracker
Avant Chamber Ballet will close their 2021 season with Paul Mejia’s lush production of The Nutcracker. This is Avant Chamber Ballet’s second time to present this professional production, with live orchestra conducted by Brad Cawyer, the professional dancers of Avant Chamber Ballet, and a large children’s cast. There will be four performances through Sunday at Moody Performance Hall.

Lindsey Buckingham in concert
For over 40 years, Lindsey Buckingham has had a love/hate relationship with the band that made him famous, Fleetwood Mac. He pursued solo projects in the early '80s before going his own way in 1987, only to return in 1993. He put out more solo projects in the early 2000s, but always returned to the band until his unceremonious firing in 2018. Now he's back with a self-titled solo album, in support of which he'll play at Majestic Theatre.

Friday, December 10

Dallas Ballet Company presents The Nutcracker
Dallas Ballet Company will present their 35th annual performance of The Nutcracker. Complete with elaborate sets and scenery, the journey begins with the dream of a young girl, Clara, and her Nutcracker Prince. Through the battle scene of scurrying young mice and soldiers, the victorious Nutcracker Prince takes Clara through the Snow Kingdom and Land of Sweets where they are greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy and tasty treats from around the world. The production will run through Sunday at Granville Arts Center in Garland. All performances will also be livestreamed.

Dallas Repertoire Ballet presents The Nutcracker
Dallas Repertoire Ballet presents their 29th annual production of The Nutcracker. It tells the classic story of Clara, along with her precious toy nutcracker, as they journey through a magical and wondrous dream world, filled with brave battling soldiers, wistful snowflakes, and candy-like delights. Audiences can also visit the “Nutcracker Nook” gift shop and place a bid in the silent auction. The production will run through Sunday at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson.

Uptown Players presents Oy Vey in a Manger
In Oy Vey in a Manger, Angel, Winnie, Trixie, and Trampolina try to sell off their manger — yes, that manger — before it's foreclosed upon. Crises arise, secrets are revealed, Jewish-Gentile tensions surface, and mayhem ensues – all in glorious four-part harmony. Uptown Players' production, running through Sunday at Kalita Humphreys Theater, boasts The Kinsey Sicks' reinterpretations of holiday classics, such as "God Bless Ye Femmy Lesbians," "Anchor Baby," and "Lusty the Snowman."

Michael Martin Murphey's Cowboy Christmas
Michael Martin Murphey's music career has spanned four decades and has included such musical genres as folk, country, rock, Western, and cowboy music. As a singer, songwriter, and producer, he has contributed some of the most beloved songs of his generation and beyond. "Triple M" returns with his annual Christmas event, a combination of poetry and music and stories at Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Saturday, December 11

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents Espresso Nutcracker
The holiday tradition of sharing magical moments is authentically captured, bringing together the beauty of different cultures and showcasing them in Espresso Nutcracker. Dallas Black Dance Academy students take this classic story to another level by “jazzing” up select scenes set to Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite. The students will whisk the audience away as they take them through a wondrous journey to the Land of Snow and Sweets. The production takes place at Majestic Theatre.

Contemporary Ballet Dallas presents Clara's Dream & Holiday Review
Contemporary Ballet Dallas’ holiday production includes two acts: Clara’s Dream, the best parts of The Nutcracker, and Holiday Review,including performances in tap, jazz, hip hop, and contemporary to holiday songs. Clara’s Dream includes CBD’s Youth Ballet Company, guests & CBD students, and the Holiday Review includes CBD’s Youth Hip Hop Company, Youth Tap Ensemble Company, Youth Ballet, guests, and CBD students. There will be one performance Saturday and one Sunday at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts.

Maze featuring Frankie Beverly in concert
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly has established a trust fund with music lovers worldwide. Fans know when they attend a Maze concert they will be treated to an evening of honest, raw soul music. And that’s how it has been for more than 40 years. Nothing has changed. The band has stayed in its lane, continuing to do its thing, bringing quality music from the heart night after night. They'll play on both Saturday and Sunday at Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert
Trans-Siberian Orchestra will celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut album, Christmas Eve and Other Stories. Released in 1996, the album was the beginning of their "Christmas Trilogy" that would go on to include The Christmas Attic and The Lost Christmas Eve. Featuring songs like "O Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night" and "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24," the concert will have two performances on Saturday at American Airlines Center.

Chelsea Handler: Vaccinated and Horny Tour
Chelsea Handler is a comedian, actress, and TV host who's arguably best known for her late-night talk show on E!, Chelsea Lately. Never one to shy away from controversy, she's built her comedic reputation on a willingness to do and say things that her peers might not. Her latest comedy special is 2020's Chelsea Handler: Evolution on HBO Max. She'll perform at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Sunday, December 12

Home Free in concert
Successful a cappella groups are few and far between, but Home Free has managed to set themselves apart. Originally formed in 2001, the group first gained national notice after winning the fourth season of NBC's The Sing-Off in 2013, earning them a contract with Sony. They've gone on to release eight albums, including the recently released Home of the Free. They'll perform at Majestic Theatre.

Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis' Holiday Shindig
Married couple Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis will bring some yuletide cheer with this special concert at the Lewisville Grand Theater. Robison and Willis are each renowned for crafting some of the most enduring music on the vast country and Americana landscape, and they will sing their way through their greatest hits as well as holiday classics.

Uptown Players presents Oy Vey in a Manger at Kalita Humphreys Theater, December 10-12.

Photo courtesy of Uptown Players

Uptown Players presents Oy Vey in a Manger at Kalita Humphreys Theater, December 10-12.

theater concerts holidays dance event-planner

Coffee News

Black Sheep Coffee from the U.K. comes to U.S. with debut in Dallas

Black Sheep Coffee

Black Sheep Coffee, coming from the U.K.

A coffee shop from the U.K. with celebrity ties is opening its first U.S. location in Dallas. Called Black Sheep Coffee, it's a growing chain based in London with a renegade stance: to champion the robusta coffee bean, one overlooked by most coffee snobs.

Black Sheep was founded in London in 2013 by friends Gabriel Shohet and Eirik Holth, who loved coffee and wanted to start their own business. They've built it into a chain with 60-plus locations including cafés and take-out shops across England, Scotland, Wales, France, and the Philippines.

The Dallas shop will open at 6240 E. Mockingbird Ln., in a shopping center in the Lakewood neighborhood. Shohet says it'll open in late spring.

Dallas came onto their radar after they formed a partnership for the U.S. expansion with Kristaps Porzingis, a professional basketball player who was playing for the Dallas Mavericks. He's since been traded to the Washington Wizards, but Shohet says Dallas still seemed like the perfect place to launch.

"I love Texas, it's a great state and a lot of people are moving there," Shohet says. "There's so much growth and Dallas has a good vibe. Kristaps became a good friend and ended up investing. He moved to Washington but we'd gotten this great location on Mockingbird and we're building a local team."

They'll make Dallas their headquarters, with a plan to open another half dozen locations, plus franchise opportunities as well (email franchising@leavetheherdbehind.com).

One of the non-coffee drinks at Black Sheep Coffee is a peanut-butter hot chocolate.Black Sheep Coffee

Shohet and Holth built the company brick by brick, starting out doing pop-ups before moving into brick-and-mortar locations. Their goal is to break the wall between specialty coffee and the mass market.

"We've always been about the coffee," he says. "We source the beans from plantations in southern India, Papua New Guinea, Brazil. We get the best beans in the world: specialty-grade, shade-grown, and hand-picked."

"But our premise was also, How can we bring great quality coffee to the mass market, by providing the best coffee but not making people feel like they're disturbing the coffee sacks?" he says. "Our baristas know their coffee, but if you just want to get your drink quickly and want caramel syrup, then go for it. We make it inclusive."

Their most radical act is their use exclusively of the robusta bean, whose stronger, less delicate flavor profile has seen it relegated to uses such as instant coffee and pre-ground cans, while arabica has been the bean favored by the discerning coffee crowd. But some roasters have begun to reject the narrative that robusta is inferior to arabica.

"We're the only coffee company in the world to focus 100 percent on specialty robusta," he says. "Everybody is always touting arabica, but if you can find a great robusta that’s not commercial grade, you have a cool product."

Robusta has twice the amount of caffeine, and he says the growers they work with are more enviro-friendly, requiring less water with more cherries per bush.

"Robusta is thicker and richer, and has an amazing crema when you brew it as espresso," he says. "It's also less acidic, so it's easier to digest on an empty stomach and has more body. It might have less flavor notes than arabica, but that extra body punches through the milk. Robusta is a great bean for drinks made with milk. It's unfair that it has a bad reputation."

Their championing of a bean that others forsake goes with their entire ethos. They also eschew plastic.

"When everybody’s doing something, we do something different," he says. "That’s what our slogan is about: 'Leave the herd behind.'"

In addition to coffee, their shops have exotic lattes, smoothies, and a signature peanut-butter hot chocolate. They do a small selection of food including bagels, "toasties," and Norwegian waffles, a signature.

"But we don't want to be a restaurant — we'll offer the pastries and items that go with coffee, but we just want to focus on making the best coffee."

openings celebrities coffee

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