Weekend Event Planner

These are the 8 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

The events in and around Dallas this weekend are a nice mixture of high culture and pop culture. You can see one opera production in its natural setting, or see another in an unusual location. You can enjoy some classical music, or enjoy a concert by a classic rock star. And you can hear a conversation about the biggest musical in the world right now, or watch a performance honoring an iconic TV show.

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 16

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Brahms 2
The latest concert from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, playing at Meyerson Symphony Center through Sunday, features violinist Alexander Kerr. Kerr is being showcased during Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1, and the symphony is also taking on the distinctive richness of harmony and rhythm of Brahms' ingenious Second Symphony.

Disney on Ice: Worlds of Enchantment
Many of your favorite Disney characters are represented during Disney on Ice: Worlds of Enchantment, which is at American Airlines Center through Sunday. There are high-speed stunts with Lightning McQueen; underwater adventures with Ariel; heroic action with Buzz, Woody, and Jessie from Toy Story; and fun in the wintery world of Arendelle with Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and Kristoff from Frozen.

Friday, March 17

Dallas Opera presents The Turn of the Screw
The latest from the Dallas Opera, The Turn of the Screw, is a dark and gripping 19th-century tale based on the atmospheric novel by Henry James. Playing four times through March 25 at Winspear Opera House, it follows a governess who sees what she believes to be a ghost after being hired to care for two children. Her vision leads to a number of chilling revelations about former employees and the children themselves.

Saturday, March 18

House of Blues Dallas presents Local Brews, Local Grooves
This event, taking place throughout the House of Blues Dallas, features 15 breweries, 18 bands on four stages, and delectable food pairings. Bands performing include The Mastersons, the Funky Knuckles, Dead Flowers, the Buffalo Ruckus, and many others. There's also over 45 beers to sample, an outdoor party plaza, food pairings, vendors, contests, prizes, games, and more. As this is a beer-centric event, it's only for those 21 and over.

Dallas Opera presents Madame Butterfly simulcast
The Dallas Opera is moving its annual free simulcast event from Klyde Warren Park to The Star in Frisco. The classic Italian opera Madame Butterfly is being simulcast live from the Winspear Opera House. The program is hosted by KLUV Radio’s Jody Dean, and activities include a Family Fun Zone, contests, behind-the-scenes interviews, and a WB Classics cartoon. The event starts at 4:30 pm, and the opera simulcast begins at 7:30 pm.

George W. Bush Presidential Center presents "Engage Conversation: Hamilton’s America"
Christopher Jackson, who was nominated for a Tony Award for originating the role of George Washington in Broadway’s Hamilton, takes part in a conversation on the phenomenon that has propelled Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Fathers into the pop culture mainstream. Jackson is joined by filmmaker Alex Horwitz, director of the PBS special Hamilton’s America, and Yale historian and Hamilton expert Joanne Freeman. If you don't have a ticket for the sold-out event, you can watch via Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/thebushcenter.

Off Broadway on Flora: One Woman Sex and the City: A Parody on Love, Friendship, and Shoes
This loving tribute and send-up takes audiences through a laughter-infused version of all six seasons of the beloved Sex and the City. Comedic whirling dervish Kerry Ipema brings all the favorite characters to life at Wyly Theatre as they brunch, banter, argue, support each other, and swoon over men and Manolos. There will be puns, cosmopolitans, and audience participation.

Sunday, March 19

Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo in concert
Fans know and love Pat Benatar for hit songs like "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," "Love Is a Battlefield," "We Belong," and more. The name Neil Giraldo may not be as familiar, but the guitarist was a key player in Benatar's band during her prime in the 1980s, and he also happens to be her husband. The two are playing a special acoustic concert at Majestic Theatre.

Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo play at Majestic Theatre on March 19.

Photo courtesy of Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo

Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo play at Majestic Theatre on March 19.

event-planner

Movie review

Over-the-top The Bride! makes other Frankenstein movies seem subtle

Photo by Niko Tavernise

Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley in The Bride!.

The story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster is now over 200 years old, with Mary Shelley’s book having been adapted or referenced in close to 500 films. Less common is the character of The Bride of Frankenstein, which existed in the original text but has more often than not been excised in adaptations. Writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal has tried to rectify that by giving the character a big showcase in her new film, The Bride!.

Gyllenhaal has reimagined the story as one in which a woman named Ida (Jessie Buckley) becomes possessed by the spirit of Shelley (also Buckley). At the same time, the already-existing Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) approaches Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening), who specializes in reanimation, with the request to make him a wife. When Ida falls to her death in an “accident” involving her boyfriend (John Magaro), the ideal corpse becomes available.

After Ida’s resurrection, she and the monster become restless being studied by Dr. Euphronius and decide to break out to experience the world. The world, naturally, is not exactly welcoming to them, and soon the couple are on the run for causing mayhem, including a few murders. In hot pursuit are detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his assistant, Myrna Mallow (Penélope Cruz), as well as other authorities.

It’s clear that Gyllenhaal wanted to merge the Frankenstein story with Bonnie & Clyde, especially since she sets the film in the mid-1930s. And that wouldn’t have been a bad idea if having the monster and The Bride going on a crime spree was truly the focus of the movie. But most of the time there’s less intentionality in their misdeeds and more confusion, leading to a muddled plot with no clear direction or end goal in mind.

One of the biggest problems is that Gyllenhaal starts the energy of the film at an 11, giving her and everyone else nowhere to go but down. She dabbles in multiple different tones, at times going the straight drama route and other times making what seems like full-on camp. At one point, she even has the monster and the Bride in a dance sequence set to “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” which would be hilarious as an homage to Young Frankenstein if the film weren’t so disjointed.

Most baffling of all is what Gyllenhaal wants from The Bride character. She morphs multiple times over the course of the film, from close to unintelligible at the beginning to rough-and-tumble at the end. There are hints at the lack of control she has over her autonomy, including Shelley’s possession of her and the monster lying to her about her past, but any commentary that Gyllenhaal might be trying to make gets lost amid the oddity of the film as a whole.

Both Buckley and Bale are all-in for their performances, which definitely fall in the “love it or hate it” dichotomy. Each scene is pitched so high that there’s little nuance to either of them, and neither is on par with their previous Oscar-caliber roles. The high-powered supporting cast of Bening, Sarsgaard, Cruz, and Jake Gyllenhaal is watchable based on previous roles, but none of them elevate this particular movie.

Whatever intentions Maggie Gyllenhaal had in making The Bride! are only halfway legible in a film that can never find its tonal footing. There has rarely been subtlety in movies featuring Frankenstein’s monster and related characters, but this one makes all the others seem like stuffy dramas in comparison.

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The Bride! is now playing in theaters.

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