Weekend Event Planner

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

Music is a big theme for events in and around Dallas this weekend. You can celebrate the songs of a late, great singer, watch some phenomenal dancing, enjoy a two-day festival, attend two big-name concerts, or run to the tune of multiple bands. Also on tap will be a water circus, new art, and the continuation of a growing activism movement.

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, March 22

Eisemann Center presents Sweet Dreams: The Music of Patsy Cline
Performer Mandy Barnett, who originated the role of “Patsy Cline” in the theatrical production Always… Patsy Cline, will take audiences on a sparkling musical journey performing an evening of Cline’s hits. The concert, taking place at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson on Thursday and Friday, will include "Sweet Dreams," "Crazy," "I Fall to Pieces," and more, along with other classic country and pop standards, and selections from Barnett's own albums.

AT&T Performing Arts Center Broadway Series: Riverdance: The 20th Anniversary World Tour
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Riverdance draws on Irish traditions as the performers propel Irish dancing and music into the present day, capturing the imagination of audiences across all ages and cultures in an innovative and exciting blend of dance, music, and song. The production will run through Sunday at Winspear Opera House.

Friday, March 23

Toyota Texas Music Revolution
The 2018 edition of Toyota Texas Music Revolution is a two-day festival featuring great music from multiple genres. The festival, taking place at Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve in Plano, will include performances by Ryan Bingham, Margo Price, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Gary P. Nunn, Two Tons Of Steel, The Texas Gentlemen, The Buffalo Ruckus, Drew Kennedy, Austin Cunningham, Jesse Dayton, The Bird Dogs, and The O's.

Cirque Italia Aquatic Spectacular
Cirque Italia's Aquatic Spectacular, which was in Hurst the past couple of weeks, will feature aerialists dazzling and shimmering on a chandelier high above the ground, contortion in a bubble, a Venetian aerial duo, and even someone hula hooping while in the air. The event will take place in a tent in the parking lot of Grapevine Mills through April 1.

Alabama in concert
There was no bigger country band in the 1980s than Alabama. They racked up nine consecutive No. 1 albums thanks to an unprecedented run in which 27 out of their 28 singles went to No. 1. That level of success earned them a hall pass for the rest of their lives, allowing them to release only two albums in the 21st century, including Southern Drawl in 2015. They'll play at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Beck in concert
Beck has had one of the oddest careers of any rock musician. He's arguably best known for his first official single, 1994's "Loser," but it wasn't until 2002's Sea Change that one of his albums hit the top 10 on the Billboard charts. He's had a steady run of top-selling albums ever since, including his latest, 2017's Colors. He'll play at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, with Twin Shadow as opening act.

Saturday, March 24

March for Our Lives
The school shooting in Parkland, Florida on February 14 has led to an unprecedented call for gun control from high school students and others. As part of the growing movement, the March for Our Lives will take place in Washington, D.C. and hundreds of other cities around the world, including sister marches in Dallas, McKinney, and Denton.

Sunday, March 25

Toyota Rock n’ Roll Dallas Half Marathon
The musically themed Toyota Rock ‘n’ Roll Dallas Half Marathon is expected to draw 13,000 runners. The 13.1-mile race will start near the Omni Dallas Hotel on Young St. and Lamar St. and will take runners on a tour of downtown and the Dallas skyline, including Deep Ellum, Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, the Bishop Arts District, and Houston Street Bridge. Live bands will be performing along the course, while Hayes Carll will perform at the finish at The Lawn at Reunion.

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Laura Owens" opening day
For more than 20 years, artist Laura Owens has pioneered an innovative, and at times controversial, approach to painting, challenging traditional assumptions about figuration and abstraction, as well as the relationships among avant-garde art, craft, pop culture, and technology. This exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art is the most comprehensive exhibition of her 20-year career, featuring over 60 paintings and objects from the mid-1990s until today. The exhibition will be on display through July 29.

Riverdance will take the stage at Winspear Opera House through March 25.

Photo courtesy of Riverdance

Riverdance will take the stage at Winspear Opera House through March 25.

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Movie Review

The Devil Wears Prada 2 fashions glam Runway comeback with underdressed story

Photo by Macall Polay

Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada 2.

When The Devil Wears Prada came out 20 years ago, it was a sensation for essentially two reasons: The showcase of the glamour of the fashion industry, and the performance of Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly. Streep’s withering glares, disdain shown toward Priestly’s subordinates, and delivery of several instantly iconic lines rightfully earned her an Oscar nomination.

Two decades later, the gang has come back together for The Devil Wears Prada 2, trying to recapture some of that magic. Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), freshly fired from her job at the fictional New York Mirror, is brought back into the fold at Runway magazine to be their features editor. Miranda is still in charge and as standoffish as ever, but Nigel (Stanley Tucci) welcomes her back with open arms.

Like everything else, Runway has had to change with the times, going mostly digital and having to kowtow to advertisers to keep the money flowing. That includes sucking up to Miranda’s former assistant, Emily (Emily Blunt), who’s now the head of the New York branch of Christian Dior. However, even Andy’s incisive writing and Miranda’s keen eye for the next fashion trend may not be enough to keep the magazine afloat.

The filmmaking team of director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna have also returned, and they have done a good job of keeping the tone of the original film without relying too much on nostalgia. Most of the main characters have aged/changed in reasonable and appropriate ways, and it’s initially fun to see them all interacting again. The fashion side of things keeps the film feeling high-class, even if most regular people can’t afford most of what’s on display.

The filmmakers have lots of ideas on how to update the characters for the modern world, but the follow-through on those ideas is not as great. Because there is no longer the same power dynamic between Andy and Miranda, Frankel and McKenna go in search of other conflicts, none of which work as well. The two-hour film ends up feeling like a bunch of individual scenes that are tenuously held together by the barest thread of a story.

Strangest of all, though, is the film’s treatment of Miranda. She remains somewhat imperious, but her influence has diminished in multiple ways. In trying to make her change with the times, including bowing to politically correct terminology, the film has neutered what made her such a great character. There is rarely a point where she feels in charge, and the story choices made because of that weaken the film overall.

In 2006, Hathaway was just barely out of her Princess Diaries phase, and she has gone on to become a major, Oscar-winning star with no fewer than five different films coming out in 2026. She remains the heart and soul of this film, and she elevates every scene she’s in. Streep is hamstrung by the changes in her character, but she still brings her unique presence to the role. Tucci remains a delight and has great chemistry with Hathaway, but Blunt is underserved by a role that keeps her apart from the others for large stretches and tethered to an annoying character played by Justin Theroux.

As with many sequels, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is enjoyable just because it allows fans to spend time with some favorite characters again. Even though the filmmakers don’t utilize those characters in ways that are as memorable as the first time around, the film is still a fun time at the theater that gives moviegoers a glimpse at a world many can only dream to be in.

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The Devil Wears Prada 2 opens in theaters on May 1.

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