Weekend Event Planner

James Taylor and Chris Tucker top best weekend events in Dallas

As the temperatures heat up, so do the quality and breadth of events in Dallas-Fort Worth. This weekend is absolutely packed with things to do, from big-name stars to music festivals to enjoying the great outdoors.

Below are your 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, June 12

2014 Shakespeare in the Park: Tartuffe
Summer means it's time for another season of Shakespeare in the Park from Shakespeare Dallas. The seasons kicks off with, ironically, a non-Shakespeare play, Moliere's Tartuffe, about a huckster who attempts to trick a wealthy family out of all of its possessions. The production will alternate with Much Ado About Nothing, which starts on June 18, at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre through July 19.

Bruce Wood Dance Project presents Touch
It will be an emotional experience when the Bruce Wood Dance Project presents Touch at Dallas City Performance Hall on Thursday and Friday, as the company will be performing publicly for the first time since Wood's sudden death on May 28. In addition to the new piece, "Touch," the performance will feature one of Wood's favorite pieces, "Home."

2014 Elm St. Music & Tattoo Festival
Deep Ellum will celebrate its reputation as the counterculture center of Dallas with the annual Elm St. Music & Tattoo Festival. Bands like The Reverend Horton Heat, Lucero and Slobberbone will be performing Thursday through Sunday at Trees, Club Dada, Three Links and Wit's End, while Oliver Peck, who appeared on the show Ink Master, will demonstrate his tattooing skills at Prophet Bar.

Friday, June 13

FC Dallas 2014 World Cup Kickoff Party
Every four years, American soccer fans come out of the woodwork to show their spirit, and FC Dallas is hosting a series of events for people to share in the World Cup experience. The kickoff party at British Beverage Co. will be followed by watch parties for all three of the United States' group round games against Ghana, Portugal and Germany, all at different locations.

2014 Fair Park Sparks!
As usual, Fair Park will be hosting the annual Fair Park Fourth on the Fourth of July, but this special event will bring a little of that flavor to town a few weeks early. It'll feature millions of sparkling lights, food trucks, kids' activities, music from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Sugar Ray and others, and, of course, a spectacular fireworks show to end the night.

Saturday, June 14

Volunteer Center of North Texas presents Voly in the Park
Many people would love to volunteer their time to a worthy cause, but don't know exactly how to get started. The Volunteer Center of North Texas is looking to make the process easier with Voly.org, a new website that will help connect volunteers and organizations. This event at Klyde Warren Park will celebrate the launch of the site with food, music and more.

2014 Jack FM Throwback Festival
Sometimes you just want to hear your favorite band's music, but they either never come to town anymore or they're way too expensive when they do. Jack FM has the solution with the annual Throwback Festival at Gexa Energy Pavilion, which is populated entirely by tribute bands, from Back in Black (AC/DC) to Rumours (Fleetwood Mac) to True-2-Crue (Motley Crue). With 15 different tribute bands performing, chances are you'll find at least one that approximates the real thing.

Chris Tucker in concert
Once upon a time, Chris Tucker was one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, parlaying scene-stealing appearances in The Fifth Element and Jackie Brown into a starring role alongside Jackie Chan in the Rush Hour trilogy. Whether by choice or not, he hasn't done much since, but he's still one of the funniest stand-up comedians out there, which he'll show in this appearance at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Sunday, June 15

2014 Trinity River Revel
Four new Trinity River attractions — the Continental Avenue Pedestrian Bridge, Trinity Skyline Trail, West Dallas Gateway Plaza and Sylvan Avenue Bridge — will have their grand opening on Father's Day with this event. It'll feature a variety of activities, including music, exercise, a vintage car show, farmers market and more.

2014 Vans Warped Tour
One day after being overrun by tribute bands, Gexa Energy Pavilion will reload with a festival featuring a slew of rock, metal, pop, punk and electronic bands. The lineup of 60 bands on multiple stages includes Volumes, Beartooth, Crown the Empire, For Today, Issues, Plague Vendor, Tear Out the Heart, The Maine and more.

James Taylor and His All-Star Band in concert
Appropriately, Father's Day will come to end with a concert by James Taylor, a singer pretty much all dads of a certain generation are guaranteed to like. Songs like "Fire and Rain," "Something in The Way She Moves," "Shower The People," "Carolina In My Mind" and "Sweet Baby James" make him one of the most iconic musicians of all time, and this concert at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie should be one to remember.

James Taylor and His All-Star Band will play at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie on Father's Day, June 15.

Photo by Timothy White

James Taylor and His All-Star Band will play at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie on Father's Day, June 15.

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Movie Review

The life of an actor is far from rosy in dramedy Misty Green

Photo courtesy of A24

Rosalind Eleazar in Misty Green.

For every well-known/successful actor in Hollywood, there are thousands of others whose lives are more tenuous as they struggle to find work. The new film Misty Green is about one such actor who, after a period in the limelight, now finds herself on the outskirts of the industry, just hoping to find her way back in.

Misty (Rosalind Eleazar) won an Emmy for a 2000s-era TV show that still gets her recognition, but not much work. Still living in the apartment of a recently-deceased man with whom she was having an affair, Misty spends her days sleeping in and her nights getting blitzed on alcohol and drugs. She seems to be heading nowhere fast until a few things coincide to break up her routine.

The man’s wife (Amy Landecker) shows up and tells her she has seven days to vacate the apartment; Misty’s brother, Jay (Daniel Kaluuya) — who is bipolar — arrives after being kicked out of his facility for non-payment; and Jordan (Chris Rock), a former colleague with whom she had a falling-out, reappears in her life, offering a possible chance to rehabilitate her image.

Written and directed by Rock (his first feature since 2014’s Top Five), the film is a funny and excruciating look at how the entertainment industry might actually work. Misty is her own worst enemy thanks to late nights fraternizing with unsavory characters like Zach (Adam Driver), who deals in drugs and women in equal measure, but her frustration proves warranted when her agent, Randy (Topher Grace), and casting directors like Rhonda (Tracie Thoms) hardly give her the time of day.

Misty tries her best to stay positive, but when jobs like singing in a bar are the best she can do, the mountain seems insurmountable. Rock does an effective job of demonstrating the elements that are within and without Misty’s control that affect her ability to regain her position in the industry. The chip on her shoulder is almost as big as the bias some have against her, and other negative circumstances don’t help matters much.

There are many small touches that Rock and his crew put in the film to give it an air of authenticity. Filming in Los Angeles (a rarity these days), Rock uses both subtle and overt shots of homeless people in the city, suggesting that the line between the haves and have-nots is a fine one, especially with Misty on the verge of not having a place to live. He also has cameos from a few of his funny friends, including a bit of meta-casting of Anthony Anderson (who has faded a bit after starring in Black-ish) in a bit part as a cop.

Eleazar, a British actor best known for appearing on the Apple TV show Slow Horses, is a magnetic presence as Misty. The character herself is somewhat cringey in her decision-making, and Eleazar sells every bit of her righteous indignation and self-defeating actions. The supporting cast is great across the board, including Rock, Driver, Kaluuya, Thoms, Grace, Anna Kendrick, and Rich Sommer.

Misty Green makes you rage against the Hollywood machine, laugh at the various ways different people deal with its maddening quirks, and hide behind your fingers as Misty chooses options that don’t help, either voluntarily or because her back is against the wall. It’s a powerhouse of acting that gives a unique angle on the inner workings of Hollywood, one that ironically might be competing for awards at year’s end.

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Misty Green is now playing in theaters.

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