Events News

The latest event cancellations in Dallas-Fort Worth due to coronavirus concerns

Journey has canceled its entire 2020 tour, including its date on August 30 at Dos Equis Pavilion.

Photo courtesy of Journey

As concerns regarding the spread of the coronavirus and government restrictions on group gatherings continue, more event cancellations and postponements are being announced every day in Dallas-Fort Worth. In an effort to keep you as up-to-date as possible, we'll compile a list of different announcements every week.

Note: Given the pace at which things are happening during these times, cancellations are coming at a rapid clip. To be sure you're up to speed, you may want to check with the presenting organization or venue regarding the status of any particular event.

Dallas

Cry Havoc Theater Company: The theater company's production of Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground, scheduled for July 9-19, has been changed to online-only audio play that will be released in July. Its production of Endlings, scheduled July 16-August 2, will be changed into a multimedia performance project that will be released in September.
The Danielle Georgiou Dance Group presents The Savage Seconds: This new experimental opera, scheduled for June 4-10 at Undermain Theatre, will instead be premiering online during those same dates. The artists of DGDG will be designing the production specifically as a work of “theatre on film.” Those interested can view the work at thesavageseconds.com.
Das Blümelein Project presents Try Me: This theater production, part of AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project and scheduled for May 21-23 at Hamon Hall inside Winspear Opera House, has been postponed to undetermined dates.
Highland Park Village: The shopping center has postponed all public events, including their monthly market, until undetermined dates in the fall.
Journey: The classic rock band has canceled its entire 2020 tour with Pretenders, including the August 30 concert at Dos Equis Pavilion.
Just Say YES 10th Annual Celebration: The fundraiser benefiting Youth Equipped to Succeed, scheduled for May 26 at Hilton Anatole, has been postponed to an undetermined date in the fall.
Nasher Sculpture Center: Officials for the art museum are still evaluating when it will reopen, but they have canceled the May 15 and June 19 editions of 'til Midnight, their monthly concert series.
Oak Cliff Film Festival: The annual film festival, scheduled for June 4-7 at various locations in Oak Cliff, has been canceled. It will go on as a virtual event featuring short films on June 4 at 8 pm; go to notthe.oakclifffilmfestival.com to view the films.
Puptopia: This event, the "first-ever amazement park for dogs and their owners," originally scheduled for March 21 at Main Street Garden and then postponed to May 30, has now been postponed to October 31. It has also been moved to Pacific Plaza Park.
Second Thought Theatre: The theater company has postponed its production of A Streetcar Named Desire, scheduled for May 20-June 13, to July 22-August 15. Consequently, it has postponed its production of Sweetpea, which was scheduled for those dates, to sometime in their 2021 season.
Texas Ballet Theater: The dance company has made significant adjustments to its upcoming 2020-2021 season, which will now begin with The Nutcracker on November 27 in Dallas. Beauty and the Beast, originally slated to open the season September 11-13 in Dallas, will now close the season, playing May 14-16, 2021 at Winspear Opera House.

Fort Worth

Billy Bob's Texas: The music venue has postponed concerts by Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen (was May 9, now October 23), Jon Langston (was May 15, rescheduled date TBD), and Chad Prather (was June 7, now August 23). It has also rescheduled Cory Morrow to July 24.
Casa Mañana Theatre presents The Full Monty: The theater company has postponed this production, scheduled for May 30-June 7, to undetermined dates.
Michael Bublé: The first visit by the crooner to Fort Worth, originally scheduled for April 4 at Dickies Arena, has been rescheduled for February 15, 2021.
Texas Ballet Theater: The dance company has made significant adjustments to its upcoming 2020-2021 season, which will now begin with The Nutcracker on December 11. Beauty and the Beast, originally slated to open the season October 2-4 in Fort Worth, will now close the season May 21-23, 2021.

Irving

The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory: The Exodus Music & Arts Festival, scheduled for May 24, and Primus, which was scheduled to perform on May 26, have both been postponed to undetermined dates.

Plano

Plano Magazine Wine Walk: This event for wine lovers at The Shops at Willow Bend, originally scheduled for March 26 and then postponed to May 14, has been postponed again to June 25.

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Movie Review

Film sequel Avatar: Fire and Ash is a technical and visual feast

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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