Weekend Event Planner

These are the 11 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Machine Gun Kelly will play at at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving on October 24.

Photo by Daniel Cavazos

If you love local theater, this first full weekend in June will be your jam, as it features no fewer than five different theater companies staging new productions. The weekend will also feature a dance production, a festival-style EDM event, a notorious rapper/rocker, everyone's favorite Netflix cheerleaders, a small-scale concert, and a well-known comedian.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, June 9

Lyric Stage presents Cabaret
Set in Berlin as the 1920s draw to a close, Cabaret focuses on the hedonistic nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, while exploring the dark and tumultuous life in Germany as the Third Reich ascends to power. The fully-staged concert production, which features a 13-piece, all-female orchestra led by Vonda K. Bowling, will play five times through Sunday at Majestic Theatre.

Pegasus Theatre presents Death is a Bad Habit!
Pegasus Theatre continues their 2022 season with the RadioVizion presentation of Death is a Bad Habit! by Kurt Kleinmann. Bishop Perkins suspects that something is amiss at Our Lady of Perpetual Weepiness and has asked Harry Hunsacker, a world-famous detective and aspiring actor, to check into things at the convent. Harry, Nigel Grouse, and Lt. Foster find themselves in more trouble than they could possibly imagine. The production will run through June 25 at Bath House Cultural Center.

Uptown Players presents Broadway Our Way
The Uptown Players divas return for another entertaining weekend of Broadway music with plenty of twists, laughs, and surprises. The evening features many favorite actors from past Uptown Players seasons performing selections from Broadway shows, both past and present, all done with an Uptown Players spin. There will be four performances through Sunday at Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Kitchen Dog Theater presents New Works Festival
The annual New Works Festival from Kitchen Dog Theater was supposed to feature the world premiere of High Five this weekend, but due to a positive COVID test for a member of their production team, the production will now run June 16-26. Still taking place will be PUP Fest, an afternoon of six world premiere staged readings written by local high school students mentored and developed through playwriting workshops. There will be two performances on Saturday at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

Friday, June 10

Art Centre Theatre presents Bride of Frankenstein Goes Malibu
Dr. Frankenstein has come to California to recreate his famous monster and monster bride. Why California? Because he plans to use the brains of ... surfers. To this end, he is always looking for good material. One stormy night, Lum, a master at riding the waves, stumbles into the gloomy house, and the fun begins. The production will run through June 19 at Art Centre Theatre in Plano.

Bruce Wood Dance presents Spring
Bruce Wood Dance presents Spring, featuring a world premiere from guest choreographer Stephanie Martinez; the mainstage production of Joy Bollinger’s Slip Zone Suite commissioned by Dallas Museum of Art and inspired by its exhibition, "Slip Zone;" and the Dallas premiere of Bruce Wood’s riveting interpretation of Rite of Spring, the classic work by Igor Stravinsky. There will be three performances through Sunday at Moody Performance Hall.

Saturday, June 11

Camp Nowhere featuring Porter Robinson, Lane 8, Nora En Pure, Fletcher, and more
Camp Nowhere is a festival-style event that will feature performances by some of the top electronic music producers working today. Headlining the event will be Porter Robinson, who has released three albums — one of all-new material and two live ones — in the last year alone. Also performing will be Lane 8, Nora En Pure, Fletcher, and LP Giobbi. The concert will be at Dos Equis Pavilion.

Machine Gun Kelly in concert
Rapper, rocker, and Houston native Machine Gun Kelly is equally well known for his personal life as he is for his music. When he's not engaging in excessive PDA with or drinking the blood of his fiancée Megan Fox, he's putting out some very popular music, as both of his last two albums, including the new Mainstream Sellout, went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. He'll play at American Airlines Center.

Cheer Live
Fans of the Netflix docuseries Cheer will have lots to cheer about when the Cheer Live tour comes The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving. The event will feature coach Navarro College Monica Aldama alongside cheer stars such as Gabi Butler, Morgan Simianer, and many others. The athletes will present an exhibition of never-before-seen stunts and stage performances, an athletic event staged with the production value of a live concert.

Sunday, June 12

Turtle Creek Chorale presents Freedom Fighters: A TCC Small Ensemble Showcase
Turtle Creek Chorale will present its small ensembles for an intimate evening of music dedicated to the idea of “freedom” and the costs surrounding the lofty goals of it. Framed by the words and ideals of Nelson Mandela, the concert at Northhaven United Methodist Church will showcase the TCC Chamber Chorus, Coloratura, and TerraVox.

Anjelah Johnson-Reyes: Who Do I Think I Am? Tour
Anjelah Johnson-Reyes became an internet sensation with her viral video, Nail Salon, which led to many stand up, television, and film opportunities. That same year she joined the cast of MADtv as a series regular, which spawned another internet sensation, Bon Qui Qui, a disgruntled fast food employee with no filter. Johnson has also appeared in multiple commercials, including as the spokesperson for Taco Cabana. She'll perform at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory.

Machine Gun Kelly will play at American Airlines Center on June 11.

Photo by Daniel Cavazos

Machine Gun Kelly will play at American Airlines Center on June 11.

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Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep gets PG-spooky in new movie for the Halloween season

Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026

Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.

His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.

However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.

With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.

The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.

Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.

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