Weekend Event Planner

These are the 9 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

There is no shortage of things to do around the Dallas area this weekend, and your choices run the gamut of entertainment. They include a theatrical celebration of one of the top bands of all time, a classic opera, mind-blowing dance, and the return of one of the most popular annual parades the city has to offer.

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 9

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Let It Be
In this Beatles-centric jukebox musical, you can relive the Fab Four's past, from The Ed Sullivan Show to Abbey Road, with favorite hits including "Hard Day's Night," "Day Tripper," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Twist and Shout," "Get Back," "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," "Strawberry Fields," and much more. Dallas Summer Musicals presents the production at the Music Hall at Fair Park through March 19.

Ochre House Theater presents Dr. Bobaganush
Right after Ochre House Theater's Dr. Bobaganush started in January, it came to an abrupt and shocking end when writer/director/star Matthew Posey was the victim of a shooting. Undaunted, Posey has forged forward with the show, vowing to see it come to fruition. Set during the time of the Nazis, it focuses on a traveling mystic who heralds the cause to help the persecuted at a price larger than he can imagine. The production will run through March 25.

Friday, March 10

The Price is Right Live
The Price Is Right Live is the hit interactive stage show that gives eligible individuals the chance to "Come On Down" and play classic games from television's longest running and most popular game show. Taking place at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie, contestants can win cash, appliances, vacations, and possibly even a new car by playing favorites like Plinko, Cliffhangers, the Big Wheel, and the fabulous Showcase.

Dallas Opera presents Madame Butterfly
With poignant melodies, unforgettable characters, and a heart-wrenching storyline, Madame Butterfly has captivated audiences and dampened handkerchiefs for more than 100 years. Loosely based on true events in Nagasaki, Japan, Madame Butterfly tells the tale of a naïve Japanese girl, Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly), blinded by her love for a callous American naval officer. The production plays at Winspear Opera House through March 26.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Ella & Louis
Legendary musicians Ella Fitzgerald and Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong are brought to life with the sultry voice of Marva Hicks and Byron Stripling's blazing trumpet. Backed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the duo performs "S'Wonderful," "A Tisket a Tasket," and "What a Wonderful World," among others. Jeff Tyzik conducts the concert, playing at Meyerson Symphony Center through Sunday.

TITAS presents Diavolo
Diavolo | Architecture in Motion uses dance to explore the relationship between the human body and its architectural environment. The diverse team of dancers, designers, choreographers, and engineers create visceral and awe-inspiring works that reveal how we are affected emotionally, physically, and socially by the spaces we inhabit. The performance takes place at Dallas City Performance Hall on Friday and Saturday.

Saturday, March 11

Dallas St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival
The annual Dallas St. Patrick’s Parade and Festival is the largest St. Patrick’s Parade in the Southwest. Starting at Greenville Avenue and Blackwell Street and ending at SMU Boulevard and Central Expressway, the parade draws upwards of 125,000 people along the 2-mile route to see more than 90 floats, 1,700 participants, bands, and more. It's followed by the Dallas Observer St. Patrick's Day Concert featuring Jimmy Eat World at Energy Square.

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Max Hartman and Friends
Dallas native Max Hartman is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, but you may know him best as a stage and voiceover actor, including in award-winning work with Kitchen Dog Theater. This special night at Winspear Opera House features songs from his band Mur, his side project Hartman & Cole (with drummer Brant J. Cole), and a special featured set of songs that he has composed for the stage and screen but has yet to perform himself.

Sunday, March 12

Dallas Museum of Art openings and closings
If you go to the Dallas Museum of Art on Sunday, you can see both the last day of one notable exhibit and the opening of another. "Concentrations 60: Lucie Stahl," which plays with the notion of liquidity in its many forms, comes to an end, while "México 1900–1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco, and the Avant-Garde," which documents the country’s artistic Renaissance, starts. The latter exhibit is on display through July 16.

The Dallas St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival takes place on March 11.

Photo by Jerry McClure

The Dallas St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival takes place on March 11.

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Movie Review

Horror comedy film Y2K goes for nostalgia but maybe too soon

Photo courtesy of A24

Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, and Julian Dennison in Y2K.

Movies that rely on nostalgia can be successful if they’re timed right. Generally, 25-30 years seems about the right amount of time to try to take advantage of people’s fond feelings for a certain era, which is why movies/TV shows about the ‘80s have been prevalent for much of the 21st century, and ‘90s-set films started to pop up in the last 10 years.

Y2K, a horror comedy that plays on the fears of technological mayhem many people thought would happen at the turn of the century, is right on the cusp of that rule, taking place 24 years after its timeline. It centers on two teenage boys, Eli (Jaeden Martell) and Danny (Julian Dennison), who are opposite in demeanor but have an unshakeable bond. Eli likes a popular girl, Laura (Rachel Zegler), and Danny convinces him to crash a New Year’s Eve party where she’ll be.

As the clock strikes midnight and the year moves from 1999 to 2000, everything that uses an electrical current goes haywire, with many of them combining forces to attack the humans around them. Eli and Danny find themselves on the run with Laura, as well as two stoners, Ash (Lachlan Watson) and CJ (Daniel Zolghadri), with each of them trying to use their unique skillset to help defeat a growing robot army.

Directed by Kyle Mooney and written by Mooney and Evan Winter, the film lands some solid jokes about the era in its opening 20 minutes or so, whether it’s the extreme slowness of dial-up internet, the goofy user names from AOL Messenger, or the various high school cliques of the time. However, many of them seem to echo ones told in 1999’s American Pie, a weird kind of art-imitating-art moment instead of commenting on real life.

The jolt of the machines attacking partygoers seems to promise a fun-if-bloody romp, but Mooney and Winter don’t seem to know where to take the story. They establish the computer bona fides of Eli and Laura early on, but when it comes time for them to put their talents in action, it feels like two actors going through the motions instead of real people who know what they’re doing. Almost none of the characters are believable or entertaining, and the few that rise above are dispatched way too early.

And because the filmmakers don’t make you care about the main group, nothing they face is that interesting, either. The villainous robots are made up of a bunch of disparate parts, which would seem to offer the opportunity for funny sight gags. Mooney and his team fumble most of their chances, though, leaving that side of the story stuck in limbo where it’s not absurd enough to be hilarious or scary enough to really count as horror.

Martell, Dennison, and Zegler are each rising stars who have their individual charms, but only Dennison is able to make much of an impact. Zegler, who starred in West Side Story and will soon be Snow White, is especially misused. They try to shoehorn in a cameo by Limp Biskit lead singer Fred Durst, but his appearance makes little sense and adds almost nothing to the story.

Filmmakers who want to mine nostalgia, especially in a comedy, need to really commit to the bit instead of throwing in a few references and needle drops. Mooney, who’s making his directorial debut, demonstrates little feel for timing, and so most of the film is like a car spinning its wheels, going nowhere.

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Y2K opens in theaters on December 6.

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