Festival season continues in Dallas this weekend, with music in a wide variety of forms being showcased. You can also take in an award-winning Broadway play, laugh with a bunch of well-known comedians, see a famous rock group one last time, celebrate the anniversary of a local singer, listen to blues music at its finest, and more.
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, May 10
2018 SOLUNA Festival
The annual SOLUNA Festival gets going in earnest with six different events. Among the options happening on different days through Sunday will be ReMix: Mozart-Tchaikovsky-Berg at Moody Performance Hall; Melodies of a Certain Damage at Meyerson Symphony Center; Music and the Brain at Moody Performance Hall; Array with Nas, Kaleo, and more at the Bomb Factory and Canton Hall; Lihuel Gonzalez: "Las Personas No Van Juntas" at Dallas Museum of Art; and Kid Koala's Vinyl Vaudeville at Annette Strauss Square.
AT&T Performing Arts Center Broadway Series: The Humans
Stephen Karam’s The Humans, which won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play, is an uproarious, hopeful, and heartbreaking play that takes place over the course of a family dinner on Thanksgiving. Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake has brought his Pennsylvania family to his daughter’s apartment in Lower Manhattan. As darkness falls, the Blake clan’s deepest fears and greatest follies are laid bare. The production will run at Winspear Opera House through May 20.
Improv Addison presents Maz Jobrani
Comedian Maz Jobrani is a founding member of The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, which first aired on Comedy Central. He has had two Showtime specials, Brown and Friendly and I Come In Peace. He is also a regular panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and released the book, I’m Not a Terrorist but I’ve Played One on TV, in 2015. He'll perform five times through Saturday at Improv Addison.
Friday, May 11
Lynyrd Skynyrd in concert
After a career that has spanned more than 40 years and includes a catalog of more than 40 albums, Southern Rock icons Lynyrd Skynyrd comes to Dallas as part of its Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour. This will be your final chance to hear the band sing "Sweet Home Alabama" and, uh, their other songs, too. They'll play at the recently rebranded Dos Equis Pavilion.
Improv Arlington presents Arsenio Hall
Comedian Arsenio Hall has been a name brand for over 30 years, thanks to collaborations with Eddie Murphy and his eponymous talk show, which ran from 1989-1994. He's been in and out of the Hollywood spotlight since the end of that show, but audiences at the Improv Arlington on Friday and Saturday will get to see him back in his natural element, as a stand-up comedian.
MainStage Irving-Las Colinas presents The Full Monty
The Full Monty is the cult classic musical comedy with 10 Tony Award nominations and the most highly anticipated closing number of any show. After spying on their wives enjoying male strippers at a “Girls’ Night Out,” a group of unemployed, jealous and emasculated steelworkers from Buffalo concoct a bold and unclothed way to make some quick cash by letting it all hang out. The production will run at Irving Arts Center through May 26.
The Statler Presents Ricki Derek and His Swinging Big Band 20 Year Anniversary Party
The Statler will present Ricki Derek and his swinging big band in their historic ballroom for a grand celebration honoring Derek’s 20th anniversary of his first performance. It was 20 years ago, on May 14, 1998, when Ricki Derek first hit the stage and Frank Sinatra passed on to the big show in the sky.
Saturday, May 12
Commemorative Air Force Barnstorming Event
You can watch history come alive when the Commemorative Air Force AirPower History Tour barnstormers bring the sights, sounds, and stories of World War II aviation to Dallas. The event features World War II military airplanes both flying and on static display, and visitors can ride in aircraft including a C-45 Expeditor, T-6 Texan, PT-13 Stearman, and T-34 Mentor.
Homegrown Music & Arts Festival
The annual Homegrown Music and Arts Festival has become a tradition in Dallas, a day-long event that features both Texas and national acts. The lineup for this year's event, taking place as always at Main Street Garden, will include Explosions in the Sky, The Black Angels, Alvvays, Roky Erickson, UME, Vodi, D.A.R.Y.L., Medicine Man Revival, Acid Carousel, DEULL, and Sad Cops.
Sunday, May 13
Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang in concert
Fans of blues music will be in heaven at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie when Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang team up for this concert. The 81-year-old Guy is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who was a major influence on rock titans and a pioneer of Chicago’s fabled West Side sound. The 37-year-old Lang is helping to keep the blues tradition alive, having released eight albums over the past 20+ years, including 2017's Signs.
AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Whose Live Anyway?
Whose Live Anyway? is 90 minutes of improvised comedy and songs, all based on audience suggestions. Cast members Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Jeff B. Davis, and Joel Murray will showcase some of the improv games made famous on the long-running TV show as well as some exciting new ones. Audience participation is key, with some members even being asked on stage. The show will be at Majestic Theatre.
Nas will perform as part of Array on May 12 at the Bomb Factory, one of six separate events taking place in Dallas as part of the SOLUNA Festival this weekend.
