Weekend Event Planner

These are the 11 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

There is no one big event to unite people in and around Dallas this weekend. Instead, you have a variety of interesting choices, including two theatrical productions, a pair of unique comedians, classical music on a small and large scale, great dancers, a Chinese New Year celebration, a Groundhog Day celebration, and both the opening and closing of various art exhibitions.

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, January 30

The Firehouse Theatre presents The Drowsy Chaperone
With the houselights down, a man in a chair appears on stage and puts on his favorite record: the cast recording of a fictitious 1928 musical. The recording comes to life and The Drowsy Chaperone begins as the man in the chair looks on. Mix in two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theater producer, a not-so-bright hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, a misguided Don Juan, and an intoxicated chaperone, and you have the ingredients for an evening of madcap delight. The Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch will present the production through February 23.

Theatre Three presents Imagine Broadway
Four of Dallas' top vocal talents — Marisa Diotalevi, Blake Hackler, Quintin Jones, and Cherish Robinson — will perform a concert showcasing Broadway's best musicals, including some familiar favorites from Theatre Three's history. The foursome will sing everything from classic show tunes to contemporary hits, with plenty of creative twists and turns along the way. All proceeds from the concert, playing three times through Saturday, will benefit Theatre Three’s programming.

Tim and Eric: 2020 Mandatory Attendance World Tour
Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim — aka Tim and Eric — are a comedy duo best known for their Adult Swim show, Tim and Eric Awesome Show. Their brand of surreal and absurd comedy is an acquired taste, but it has won them many fans over the years. The Tim and Eric Mandatory Attendance Tour, coming to Majestic Theatre, will be filled with more spoofs, goofs, and insanity, including some very special surprises.

Friday, January 31

Eisemann Center presents Piano Battle: Andreas Kern vs. Paul Cibis
The brainchild of internationally accomplished pianists Andreas Kern and Paul Cibis, the Piano Battle sees the duo go head-to-head on stage, entertaining the audience with a variety of classical pieces. The two artists, with distinctly different performance styles, take turns to perform pieces by composers such as Chopin, Liszt, and Debussy, or improvise based on the tunes the audience requests. The performance will be at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Salome
The scandalous subject of Salome put Richard Strauss’ opera-writing career on a fast, if not notorious, track. It’s about the depraved teen who, in exchange for a dance with seven veils, gets what she asks for, the head of John the Baptist, on a silver platter, then pays for it. In the hair-raising final scene, a crazed Salome sings some of the most spine tingling music you’ll ever hear. There will be two performances — one Friday and one Sunday — at Meyerson Symphony Center.

TITAS/Dance Unbound: Delfos Danza Contemporánea
Delfos Danza Contemporánea is Mexico’s premiere contemporary dance company, ranking among the best in Latin America. Cuando los Disfraces se Cuelgan (When the Disguises are Hung Up) is an evening-length reflection on appearances and the disguises we put on in order to navigate a world. This one-night-only performance will be at Winspear Opera House.

Saturday, February 1

Crow Museum of Asian Art presents Chinese New Year Festival (This event has been postponed due to coronavirus concerns)
Celebrating the Year of the Rat, the Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas will present the 21st annual Chinese New Year Festival. The signature event will feature dragon and lion dances, musical and martial-arts demos, art making and calligraphy, specialty booths, wellness activities, colorful entertainment, and cultural performances. The event will be at NorthPark Center.

Dallas Museum of Art presents "My|gration" opening day
"My|gration" is an installation of works that will trace the migration of people, objects, and ideas in art across times and cultures. Composed of works from the DMA’s collection, "My|gration" highlights the contributions of artists who immigrated to the United States, examines how the movement of people is expressed through art, and illuminates ways cross-cultural connections inform artistic production. The exhibition will be on display through January 3, 2021.

DMA Arts & Letters Live: Selected Shorts
Selected Shorts comes to the Dallas Museum of Art for an evening of O. Henry Prize-winning stories. A selection of award-winning stories — Midrash on Happiness by Grace Paley, Nayla by Youmna Chlala, A Permanent Member of the Family by Russell Banks, and Oh Shenandoah by Maura Stanton — will be brought to life on stage through readings by acclaimed actors, including two-time Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Wendie Malick.

Sunday, February 2

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden presents Arboretum Annie
Pennsylvania may have Punxsutawney Phil, but Dallas has Arboretum Annie, the groundhog meteorologist that will return to predict the weather based on if she sees her shadow or not at the Dallas Arboretum's sunrise ceremony. Guests can enjoy a full day of fun, starting with complimentary coffee or hot chocolate, breakfast food vendor sales in the garden, and a screening of Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.

Art exhibit closings
Both Nasher Sculpture Center and the Dallas Museum of Art will close exhibitions on Sunday. Sightings: Anne Le Troter at the Nasher isa a sound piece based on Le Troter's research on fertility tourism and the history of sperm banks in the U.S., where the lack of governmental regulation has resulted in the rise of so-called “designer babies." Concentrations 62: Wanda Koop - "Dreamline" is the first U.S. solo museum exhibition for Koop, an established Canadian painter whose practice depicts how modern urban society intersects with the natural environment.

The Firehouse Theatre will present The Drowsy Chaperone through February 23.

Photo courtesy of The Firehouse Theatre

The Firehouse Theatre will present The Drowsy Chaperone through February 23.

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Movie Review

Long-awaited Wicked movie adaptation lives up to the hype

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked.

The musical Wicked is indisputably the biggest Broadway smash of the 21st century, having grossed more $1.6 billion in New York alone and achieving the rare feat of running for over 20 years. All of which is to say that the long-awaited movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz prequel will most likely be a massive success whether it lives up to what longtime fans envisioned or not.

Part one — yes, this 2 hour and 40 minute film is merely the first act of the musical; part two arrives a year from now — introduces Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch who goes on to become Dorothy’s nemesis, and G(a)linda (Ariana Grande-Butera), the pink-garbed “good” witch, as they meet at Shiz University in Oz. Glinda is the ultra-popular one with sycophantic hangers-on, while Elphaba is shunned by almost everyone, sometimes including her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who’s desperate to make her own space away from Elphaba.

Her mistreatment by others leads Elphaba to get angry, which manifests itself in uncontrollable magic. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices this and takes a personal interest in her, giving her one-on-one instruction in hopes of harnessing her power. In the meantime, Elphaba and Glinda attempt to go from forced roommates to actual friends, although Glinda’s entitled personality is more of an obstacle than anything else they encounter.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film does a great job of distinguishing itself from the stage version while still remaining true to what made it so beloved. As Chu showed in his last film, In the Heights, he has an innate feel for how to tap into the essence of the source material while expanding it into something befitting the scope of a blockbuster movie.

In this case, he finds a way to give even greater emphasis to the bigotry that Elphaba faces simply because of her green skin; the fact that she is being played by a Black woman drives home the point even more. The story remains light and fluffy for the most part, but the ostracization/otherness that Elphaba feels is delivered in a powerful way, as is her empathy for talking animals like Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who are facing their own persecution.

Of course, the highlight of the film is Stephen Schwartz’s music, and while not all of the songs are equal in impact, they still make for a cohesive whole. The number of songs and order they appear in the first act is identical to the stage musical, with the standouts remaining “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” While there is some superfluous action and cutaways added to certain numbers, it’s not enough to distract from what makes the songs effective.

Oddly, the progression of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda works better on stage when the timeline is accelerated, but Erivo and Grande-Butera make up for this slight lack with their fantastic performances. The emotion each brings to their characters fits them almost perfectly, and there’s simply no denying the strength of each of their voices. Bode, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, and more make for a solid supporting cast.

The well-known ending of the first act of Wicked is a huge high point that is so good that it almost makes up for the fact that audiences won’t see the second film for a long time. But if part one is any indication, part two should turn out to be another great musical theater adaptation in a decade that has already seen its fair share.

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Wicked opens in theaters on November 22.

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