Weekend Event Planner

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

The first weekend in March brings a variety of interesting events to the Dallas area. Among your choices are some truly theatrical magic acts, the best of Broadway done in a unique way, a celebration of all things Irish, a collaborative version of a Shakespearean play, a concert from one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, 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, March 2

The Rustic presents 2017 Texas Independence Day Bash
The Rustic is throwing a huge bash to celebrate Texas Independence Day, featuring live music from Raised Right Men and Shinyribs. Also on hand are Texas-themed vendors like Tumbleweed TexStyles, which sells Texas T-shirts, and All the Wire, which sells custom Texas-themed jewelry. The event also includes cornhole games and a photo booth with Texas props.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Rachmaninoff & Rachmaninoff
Anyone who loves the compositions by Sergei Rachmaninoff will be in heaven at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's latest concert. Two of the composer's classics, Piano Concerto No. 4 and Symphony No. 1, are being featured during the four performances, taking place at Meyerson Symphony Center through Sunday. Pianist Garrick Ohlsson is the featured musician.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents The Illusionists
It's no musical, but The Illusionists is a mind-blowing spectacular that showcases the jaw-dropping talents of seven of the most incredible illusionists on earth. The nonstop show, packed with thrilling and sophisticated magic, is presented by Dallas Summer Musicals at the Music Hall at Fair Park through Sunday.

Uptown Players presents Broadway Our Way
Now in its 15th year, Uptown Players’ annual fundraiser, Broadway Our Way, light-heartedly pits the men against the women to determine who the true Divas of the Dallas stage really are. The production, playing at Kalita Humphreys Theater through Sunday, features many favorite actors from past Uptown Players seasons performing selections from Broadway shows both past and present, done with an Uptown Players twist.

Friday, March 3

Southwest Celtic Music Association presents 35th Annual North Texas Irish Festival
The North Texas Irish Festival, one of the largest Irish festivals in the U.S., returns to celebrate 35 years of music and Irish culture. This year’s theme, "Texas Grown — Irish Roots," celebrates the music, dance, and cultural talent in and around the region and incorporates the tradition of Irish and other Celtic influences. The event, taking place at Fair Park through Sunday, also features whiskey tastings, blacksmithing demonstrations, horse displays, Celtic storytelling, animal rescue groups, food, children's activities and entertainment, and chef demonstrations.

Cara Mia Theatre presents Yemaya's Belly
A Cuban boy is born into a humble farming family, but after his first taste of cold Coca-Cola, he dreams of a world beyond his family's meager acre. Naively yearning to meet the "President of America," Yemaya’s Belly follows his epic journey into manhood and materialism, from farm to city, to a raft sailing to the New World. Cara Mia Theatre presents the play, performed in English, at Latino Cultural Center through March 19.

Dallas Theater Center presents The Tempest
Dallas Theater Center and Ignite/Arts Dallas at Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts presents the inaugural production of Public Works Dallas’ The Tempest. The 90-minute musical adaptation of the play features 200 actors and community members, only five being professional actors. There are four performances through Sunday at the Wyly Theatre.

Saturday, March 4

2017 Lantern Fest
The Lantern Fest is an unforgettable spectacle, taking place at Texas Motorplex in Ennis. Before sundown, friends and families can enjoy food, live music, a stage show, familiar princesses, face painters, s'mores, balloon artists, and more. Then, when the time is just right at absolute dark, the sky will be lit up with thousands of lanterns, symbolizing attendees' highest hopes, fondest dreams, and/or memorials of loved ones.

Dita Von Teese: The Art of the Teese
International Queen of Burlesque Dita Von Teese takes audiences on an opulent evening of fantasy and seduction in her new striptease spectacle, Dita Von Teese: The Art of the Teese. The show treats audiences to show-stopping numbers like a brand-new version of her iconic “Martini Glass” routine, which features a beautiful art-deco style cocktail glass, crystallized from top to bottom with over 250,000 Swarovski crystals. She performs twice at the House of Blues Dallas, on Saturday and Sunday.

Green Day in concert with Against Me
It's hard to believe, but Green Day can now be considered a classic band. It's been over 30 years since they first started and over 22 years since their breakout album, Dookie. Their success has also led to them being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. They play at American Airlines Center in support of their 2016 album, Revolution Radio. They'll be joined by opening act Against Me.

Sunday, March 5

The Best of Second City
Chicago’s legendary sketch and improv comedy theater comes back to Dallas with “The Best of the Second City,” a must-see show that features the best sketches and songs from the Second City’s 55-year history. The troupe was made famous by superstars like Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, and more, as well as their trademark improvisation. They perform at The Kessler.

Green Day plays at American Airlines Center on March 4, with opening act Against Me.

Photo by Frank Maddocks

Green Day plays at American Airlines Center on March 4, with opening act Against Me.

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Movie Review

Faces of Death returns with modern twist on cult horror film

Photo courtesy of of IFC Films

Dacre Montgomery in Faces of Death.

True horror fans will likely be familiar with the 1978 cult film Faces of Death, which purported to be a documentary showing real-life killings in gory detail. It didn’t, of course, but that didn’t stop rumors from continuing to spread for decades. Now, almost 50 years and multiple sequels later, comes a new version of Faces of Death, an actual movie that pays homage to the original in interesting ways.

Margot (Barbie Ferreira) works at a YouTube-like company called Kino as a content moderator, flagging videos that violate the company’s policies. This means her job often involves seeing some truly despicable things from all manner of depraved people. One day, though, she comes across a video that seems a little too real, and after seeing more similar videos, she starts to believe they’re genuine murders.

Going against her company NDA, she starts to investigate the videos on her own, which puts her on the radar of Arthur (Dacre Montgomery), who is actually kidnapping people and killing them on camera through methods seen in the original Faces of Death film. It’s not long before Arthur tracks her down, with a plan to make her one of his next victims.

Written and directed by Daniel Goldhaber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) and co-written by Isa Mazzei, the film is not so much scary as it is creepy, with the occasional gross-out sequence. The idea of having someone emulate the killings in the cult film is a good idea, and pairing it with the modern-day attention economy - in which content creators go to increasing lengths for clicks - is a clever twist on a concept that other films have done.

The film as a whole is a commentary on how social media and video sharing sites have often decided to prioritize profits over the well-being of their users. Margot is shown allowing videos involving violence and sexual assault to stay on the site while nixing ones depicting how to use Narcan or demonstrating putting on a condom on a banana. Josh (Jermaine Fowler), Margot’s boss, is even explicit in the company mandate that outrageous videos drive views.

While Arthur has the makings of a good villain, there are few attempts to make him seem truly diabolical. His kidnappings often seem more spur-of-the-moment than calculated, and even though he has a well thought-out dungeon at home, the house’s location in the suburbs seems to make him vulnerable to easy discovery. Goldhaber and Mazzei leave more than a few unanswered questions along the way that take away from the intensity of the story.

Ferreira is yet another actor from Euphoria who’s capitalizing on her exposure from that show. She plays Margot’s increasing anxiety well, and when the action ratchets up in the final act, she meets the moment in a satisfying way. Montgomery returns to the vibe he had while playing the evil Billy on Stranger Things, and even though his character doesn’t fully live up to his potential, Montgomery sells his evil for all it’s worth.

The new Faces of Death may not be what some are expecting given the reputation of the previous films, but it’s a solid horror/thriller that uses the brand as a launching pad into something different. It doesn’t make much of a dent in the scare department, but it does give its violence and gore a degree of relevance in today’s often desensitized world.

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Faces of Death is now playing in theaters.

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