Weekend Event Planner

Dual Dallas Theater Center productions top best weekend events

It's an arts-heavy weekend around Dallas-Fort Worth, as most of the big events revolve around culture. You can choose between multiple theater productions, popular classical music, a big fashion event, tap dancing and more.

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

Thursday, February 19

Once the Musical
It's been a couple of months since the national tour of Once the Musical was in Dallas, but the anticipation of its arrival in Fort Worth makes seeing it that much sweeter for musical fans in the Panther City. The simply enchanting love story has a short stay at Bass Performance Hall, running through Sunday.

Dallas Theater Center presents Medea
The first of two new Dallas Theater Center productions this weekend is the classic — as in ancient — Greek tragedy Medea. It's an intimate affair for the cast and the audience, as all performances take place in the basement of Kalita Humphreys Theater. The play alternates with the other new DTC production (see below) through March 29.

Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts presents The Last Two People on Earth
Two theater legends, Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac, have teamed up for The Last Two People on Earth, an "apocalyptic Vaudeville." After a flood of Biblical proportions leaves Patinkin and Mac as the last two people on Earth, the only thing they can do is sing and dance and hope the world comes back again. The cabaret plays at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts through Sunday.

Friday, February 20

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Disney in Concert
Songs from Disney films are some of the most iconic in movie history, so they're a natural to be performed by symphony orchestras. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra tackles selections from Frozen, Aladdin, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and many more in three concerts through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Dallas Theater Center presents The School for Wives
As an antidote to the tragic Medea, DTC presents the comedy The School for Wives by Moliére. The French farce, playing through March 29 in the main space of Kalita Humphreys Center, contains razor-sharp observations about love, marriage and desire. And to make it even better, it features almost the exact same cast as Medea, letting them really show off their acting range.

Saturday, February 21

Crow Collection of Asian Art presents Chinese New Year Festival
Horse lovers, your year is over as the Chinese calendar flips from the Year of the Horse to the Year of the Ram. The Crow Collection of Asian Art celebrates with an all-day festival featuring an array of specialty booths, wellness activities, entertainment, cultural performances and food trucks along Flora and Harwood streets.

The Pin Show presents Scene: A Fashion Concert
You can tide yourself over for the actual Pin Show in April, which will take place at the newly revived Bomb Factory, with this event taking place at Trees in Deep Ellum. Take in performances by French 75 and Diamond Age while witnessing a behind-the-scenes photo shoot of the designs of Nha Khanh, Lucy Dang, Nine Muses and Emmanuel Tobias.

Sunday, February 22

Arts & Letters Live: Jacqueline Woodson — Dreams Come True
The Arts & Letters Live series at Dallas Museum of Art always brings in a great variety of authors — some celebrities and some not. Jacqueline Woodson falls on the "not yet" side, but that doesn't mean she won't be interesting, as she talks about her collection of poems Brown Girl Dreaming, which won the 2014 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

Pocket Sandwich Theatre presents Rhythmic Souls
The tap dance troupe Rhythmic Souls has been making a name for themselves all over Dallas with their energetic routines that utilize different genres of music, like jazz, classical, blues, hip-hop and rock. This performance at Pocket Sandwich Theatre is the start of a new series for the troupe, titled Play It By Ear — Volume 1: Experiments in Rhythm.

Dallas Theater Center uses almost the exact same cast for two new productions at Kalita Humphreys Center: Medea and The School for Wives.

Dallas Theater Center presents The School for Wives

Photo courtesy of Dallas Theater Center

Dallas Theater Center uses almost the exact same cast for two new productions at Kalita Humphreys Center: Medea and The School for Wives.

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Hottest headlines of 2024

Alamo Drafthouse saga leads Dallas' top entertainment stories of 2024

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

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Editor's note: The biggest movie drama of 2024 in Dallas starred the theaters themselves. Local Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas closed abruptly, then reopened. Plano lost a beloved art house theater, too. Also among this year's hottest entertainment headlines: The opening of an art-focused park in Frisco and the groundbreaking of a cool new aquatic park in Garland. Here's a look back at our most-read entertainment stories of the year.

1. All 5 Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations in Dallas-Fort Worth close. June 6 was a sad sad day for Dallas moviegoers: All five Dallas-area locations of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain closed. Two is One, One is None, LLC closed the six franchised Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas that it (and its affiliates) operated, and had filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Local movie lovers lamented the end of the Alamo Drafthouse era. But that wasn't the end...

2. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema to re-open all 5 locations in Dallas-Fort Worth. On June 27, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain was back in business in Dallas-Fort Worth: The company announced it would reopen all five locations in Dallas-Fort Worth as well as a location in the Twin Cities in summer 2024. They would all be back open by the end of August.

3. Dallas woman wins 2024 Miss Hooters International beauty pageant. A Dallas woman won the Hooters crown: Cassidy Welch, a server at a Dallas-area Hooters, was named Miss Hooters International 2024 at the 27th Annual Miss Hooters International Pageant which took place on August 22 at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth.

Meet the 2024 Miss Hooters International winner Cassidy Welch. Hooters

4. Construction to begin on new theme-park-style aquatic park in Garland. A splendid new water park was finally underway in Garland in mid-July: The Surf & Swim Aquatics Facility, coming to 440 W. Oates Rd. in south Garland, was set to begin construction in summer 2024, with an opening anticipated for summer 2026.

5. Mark Cuban reveals mystery behind why he sold the Dallas Mavericks. After two decades as a passionate and hands-on owner, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban took many by surprise in December 2023 when he sold his majority share in the team without explanation. But in three media appearances, he shared the reasons behind his decision, which involved family as well as the new reality of owning a team in the NBA.

6. Where to see the most marvelous Christmas lights around Dallas in 2024. The big, beautiful holiday light displays that Dallas is known for switched on earlier than ever this year, promising an extra long season of sparkle and shine. This is our guide to the most spectacular Christmas lights of 2024 all around Dallas. We also made a separate list for the best homes and neighborhoods to see dazzling lights.

Vitruvian Lights in Addison The famous Vitruvian Lights at Vitruvian Park switched on in November. Photo by Stevan Koye

7. Plano loses arthouse movie theater Angelika after 20 years. An acclaimed independent movie theater in Plano closed: Angelika Film Center & Cafe - Plano, which had been open at The Shops at Legacy shopping center since 2004, closed its doors on June 3. The theater was one of the nicest in DFW, arriving at the Plano shopping center three years after it opened, and three years after Angelika made its DFW debut when it opened at Mockingbird Station in Dallas.

8. Stars of Dallas TV show return to Southfork Ranch for grand reunion. Fans of the iconic TV soap opera Dallas would get a chance to be up-close-and-personal with some of the show's stars during the Southfork Experience, a three-day event to be held at the iconic Southfork Ranch in Parker. Taking place October 25-27, it would consist of a variety of events, including a VIP Cocktail Reception at Renaissance Dallas Richardson Hotel, a meet-and-greet at Southfork Ranch, a chance to break bread with the actors, and more.

Josh Henderson, Linda Gray Dallas stars Josh Henderson and Linda Gray would be among the celebrities on hand at the Southfork Experience. Photo by Marty Perlman

9. Much anticipated Kaleidoscope Park to debut with fanfare in Frisco. A splashy new park with public art and gardens was finally opening in Frisco in October: Called Kaleidoscope Park, it was a new green space opening inside Hall Park, the mixed-use development off Gaylord Parkway and Dallas Parkway, where it was being billed as the second-biggest park opening in DFW since Klyde Warren Park opened in downtown Dallas in 2012.

10. Official list of 4th of July events and fireworks around Dallas in 2024. When it came to Independence Day events in the Dallas area, our cup ranneth over in a big way. Whether it was Dallas proper or the surrounding suburbs, almost every city in the area held some kind of event in the days leading up to July 4 or on the day itself. This was as close to a comprehensive list as there was on 4th of July-themed events happening in the Dallas area in 2024.

4th of july alamo drafthouse cinemas celebrities christmas lights christmas lights dallas closings dallas tv reunion hot-headlines kaleidoscope park frisco mark cuban mavericks miss hooters international movies parks plano angelika theater theater