Weekend Event Planner

These are the 7 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

The weekend between Christmas and New Year's is not usually a prime time for new events, but this year is an exception as we wait for 2019 to begin. Featured events include a tour of a Broadway musical, an electronic music festival, circus performers, big-time college football, and a black-and-white play. You can also get an extra holiday fix courtesy of two special concerts.

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. Making plans for New Year's Eve? Here are the best parties and top restaurants for dining out that night.

Thursday, December 27

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Broadway Series: A Bronx Tale
Broadway’s hit crowd-pleaser takes audiences to the stoops of the Bronx in the 1960s, where a young man is caught between the father he loves and the mob boss he’d love to be. Bursting with high-energy dance numbers and original doo-wop tunes from the songwriter of Beauty and the Beast, A Bronx Tale is an unforgettable story of loyalty and family. It will play at Winspear Opera House through January 6.

Friday, December 28

Robert Earl Keen's Cosmic Cowboy Christmas
At this concert, Robert Earl Keen and his band will perform tongue-in-cheek holiday favorites, Keen standards, new renditions of classic holiday hits laced in bluegrass, and more. Keen has recorded 19 full-length albums, including 2015's Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions. For this concert at House of Blues Dallas, he'll be joined by opening act, Shinyribs.

Lights All Night
Lights All Night celebrates its ninth year, offering festival-goers access to some of the most sought-after electronic and dance music acts in the world. Headliners at the two-day festival, taking place on Friday and Saturday at Dallas Market Hall, will include Diplo, Tiësto, Rezz, and Gucci Mane. Other notable performers include What So Not, Anti Up, Shiba San, Ekali, Mr. Carmark, and more.

Dallas Children's Theater presents Lone Star Circus’ Forever
In a fun and daring tribute to the birth of the modern circus, Dallas’ own Lone Star Circus brings its unique brand of spectacle back for the holidays in this all-new show. Jugglers, acrobats, clowns, and four-legged performers from around the world come together to create a parade of not-to-be-forgotten moments for the entire family. The show will be at Dallas Children's Theater through January 1.

Saturday, December 29

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Notre Dame vs. Clemson
The fight for college football's national title runs through Arlington this year. In one of the two semifinals for the College Football Playoff, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will face off against the Clemson Tigers in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium. The winner will go on to play either Alabama or Oklahoma in the CFP Championship Game on January 7 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Pegasus Theatre presents Clowning Around with Murder
In Clowning Around with Murder, someone has murdered the Founder and Head Professor of the Clown College. Harry Hunsacker, world famous detective and aspiring actor, meets a variety of clowns, clues, and a copper in disguise on the trail of a murderer in clown white. The play, running through January 20 at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson, features Pegasus Theatre's trademarked Living Black & White technique, where everything is presented in black, white, and shades of gray to mimic the look of an old black-and-white film come to life on stage.

Old 97's Holiday Hoopla
The Old 97's Holiday Hoopla will feature performances by the Old 97's, DIY punk rock magician CaseyMagic, and special solo acoustic set by Rhett Miller. The Old 97's are playing in support of their first-ever collection of original Christmas songs, Love the Holidays. The concert will take place at The Statler Hotel.

A Bronx Tale will play at Winspear Opera House through January 6.

Photo by Joan Marcus

A Bronx Tale will play at Winspear Opera House through January 6.

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Movie Review

Andrew Garfield leads peasant rebellion in medieval film The Uprising

Photo by Betina La Plante/Focus Features

Andrew Garfield in The Uprising.

Writer/director Paul Greengrass made his name with a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking that brought immediacy and depth to three Jason Bourne films, United 93, Captain Phillips, and more. In The Uprising, he uses those skills to tell the story of the so-called Peasants’ Revolt in 14th century England.

Greengrass wastes no time starting the main plot as Ploughman (Andrew Garfield) and his fellow villagers object to onerous taxes put on them by the country’s nobility, led by the young King Richard II (Woody Norman), to fund an ongoing war. Ploughman initiates a violent response over the tone-deaf — and unseemly — way the king’s guard go about their business, and the rebellion soon starts to spread across the countryside, with the citizens looking for a degree of autonomy.

The ever-expanding group makes their way toward London to try to make their case to the king himself. Meanwhile, the king’s top advisors, including Archbishop Sudbury (Stephen Dillane) and Treasurer Hales (Tom Hollander), try to usurp power from the inexperienced monarch even as the king’s mother (Katherine Waterston) tries to get him to be more assertive.

The history of the English monarchy is long and lurid, as Shakespeare detailed in multiple plays, including Richard II. Though the events in the film took place almost 650 years ago, it’s easy to see parallels between what the peasants were fighting for and modern-day politics. Greengrass’ storytelling intent is solid, and the righteous anger the citizens feel is initially relatable and palpable.

But the populism theme of the story soon gets bogged down in drudgery and minutiae that is difficult to understand, especially when the details are lost in the thick regional English accents. The leaders of the rebels — including John Ball (Jamie Bell), Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), and Alyce (Thomasin McKenzie) — are shown doing a lot of planning, but the strong feelings they have about their quest don’t come across well, leaving the audience as passive observers.

When there is action, Greengrass and his team employ a frenetic style that is not great for comprehension. While the gist of what is happening and what side is winning is legible, individual moments go by so quickly so as to be nearly meaningless. Save for Ploughman, any connection that has been made with various characters proves futile, as Greengrass doesn’t seem to have any time for emotion. Scenes that should feel thrilling or heartbreaking instead come off as empty.

Garfield is a two-time Oscar nominee who has done great work across multiple genres. He’s fine in this role, but whether it’s the story, the filmmaking, or something else, he’s not as captivating as usual. The same goes for other strong actors like Bell, McKenzie, Dillane, Hollander, and Waterston, who each seem to be giving their all to their performances but are somehow muted in the process.

Done right, The Uprising could have been a rip-roaring account of people standing up against their oppressors. What Greengrass has made, though, is a film that can’t translate its medieval story for a modern audience and concentrates too much on unexciting elements and too little on thrilling ones.

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The Uprising is now playing in theaters.

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