Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

It's another music-heavy weekend in Dallas, as seven out of the 10 events we're featuring having some kind of musical element. They include a cabaret festival, a day full of rock, the return of a long-lost star, a much-maligned band, a throwback to the '90s, and one of musical theater's biggest stars. What don't they include? Justin Bieber, who suddenly canceled his July 29 concert at AT&T Stadium.

Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Monday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, July 27

Denise Lee Onstage presents Dallas Cabaret Festival: Life Is a Cabaret
The Second Annual Dallas Cabaret Festival takes place over the course of three days at the Women's Building at Fair Park. The festival leads off on Thursday with a performance by Cynthia Scott, who is debuting her new show, All About Love. She'll be followed on Friday by Tarnecia Durham and Simone Gundy, and finally by a review show on Saturday featuring Samuel James, Denise Lee, Kevin Haliburton, Willie Welch, Calvin Roberts, and Stephanie Brehm.

Friday, July 28

2017 Vans Warped Tour
Rock fans are in full day of fun at Starplex Pavilion when the Vans Warped Tour comes to town. The tour includes performances from Sick Of It All, CKY, GWAR, The Adolescents, T.S.O.L, Hatebreed, Emmure, The Ataris, Andy Black, American Authors, Beartooth, Dance Gavin Dance, Jule Vera, I Prevail, Neck Deep, New Years Day, Memphis May Fire, War On Women, and more.

IMomSoHard — Mom's Night Out: Summer Break Tour
IMomSoHard is a popular web series on Facebook where two best friends talk the good, the bad, and the funny about motherhood. Now the two will leave the playroom and take the stage at Majestic Theatre for IMomSoHard LIVE with a performance that reflects the casual conversations about motherhood that have entertained so many.

Michelle Branch in concert
Michelle Branch had two big albums in the early 2000s with hits like "Everywhere," "All You Wanted," and "Are You Happy Now?" In the ensuing 14 years, her output has slowed to a crawl, both by choice and through record label issues. But she's finally released her fourth album, Hopeless Romantic, which she's playing in support of at The Kessler.

WaterTower Theatre presents Hit the Wall
Hit the Wall is a riveting story that brings the audience back to the very flashpoint of the infamous 1969 riot that erupted at Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn, considered the first major battle of the modern gay-rights movement. A group of unlikely revolutionaries are thrust onto the frontline of history when a routine police raid on a gay bar becomes a full-scale riot that ignited one of the most influential social and political movements of the 20th century. WaterTower Theatre presents the play through August 20.

Saturday, July 29

Nickelback in concert with Daughtry and Shaman's Harvest
The term "Nickelback" has somehow become synonymous with "overrated," since the group's breakout in 2001. And yet each of the band's seven albums, including 2017's Feed the Machine, have reached the top 6 on the Billboard charts, so it's obvious they still have plenty of fans out there. They'll show why at this concert at Starplex Pavilion, which includes opening sets by Daughtry and Shaman's Harvest.

Reunion Tower presents Reunion Lawn Party
After the initial Reunion Lawn Party was canceled due to rain in June, July's event will serve as the kickoff for the 2017 series. The event features a performance by Special Edition Band; lawn games; food trucks such as Ruthie’s Rolling Café, Parrot Icce, Butcher’s Son, and What’s Da Scoop; a beer garden hosted by The Nodding Donkey; and a takeover by the Dallas Stars.

I Love the '90s Tour featuring TLC, Naughty by Nature, Mark McGrath, and more
Anyone who grew up or came of age in the 1990s will want to be at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie on Saturday when it hosts The I Love the '90s — The Party Continues Tour. The festival-style concert will feature performances by TLC, Naughty By Nature, Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath, Tone Loc, C+C Music Factory featuring Freedom Williams, and SNAP.

Sunday, July 30

Big3: 3-on-3 Basketball League
Three-on-three basketball seems like it might be the next big thing, as it's been accepted into the Olympics and is currently touring the country as part of the new Big3 league created in part by Ice Cube. There will be four games at American Airlines Center featuring former NBA players both on and off the court, including Chauncey Billups, Brian Scalabrine, Allen Iverson, Corey Maggette, Mike Bibby, Jermaine O'Neal, and Rashard Lewis.

Idina Menzel in concert
From Rent to Wicked to Frozen, Idina Menzel has been part of some of the most iconic musical moments over the last 20 years. At this concert at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie, Menzel will lead audiences through a special journey of songs from her new album, idina., as well as other classic pop hits, musical theater favorites. and her own personal catalogue.

IMomSoHard LIVE — Mom’s Night Out: Summer Break Tour is at the Majestic Theatre on July 28.

Photo courtesy of IMomSoHard

IMomSoHard LIVE — Mom’s Night Out: Summer Break Tour is at the Majestic Theatre on July 28.

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Movie Review

Great acting and directing drive The Christophers to artistic heights

Photo by Claudette Barius

Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen in The Christophers.

Director Steven Soderbergh is one of those filmmakers who — aside from the Ocean’s series — never seems to make the same kind of movie twice. He is somehow able to adapt his abilities to all sorts of different stories, making each of them as compelling as any other. His latest masterclass is in the London-set film, The Christophers.

Lori Butler (Michaela Coel), who restores art for a living, is approached by brother and sister Sallie and Barnaby Sklar (Jessica Gunning and James Corden) with a scheme. They want her to become the new assistant for their aging father, Julian (Ian McKellen), a famous artist known for a series called “The Christophers,” in order to gain access to unfinished paintings from the series and complete them herself.

Lori accepts the deal despite having some uneasy feelings about Julian, with whom she had a bad interaction years ago. Julian is just as wary, both because he knows of his children’s interest in the unfinished works, and because he would prefer to be left in peace. Although the trepidation on both sides continues for the bulk of the story, a grudging respect arises between two artists who know skill when they see it.

Directed by Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon, who last collaborated on No Sudden Move, the film is astonishing in its ability to be compelling with such a small story. Much of the film is spent inside Julian’s multi-story home as Julian and Lori have low-level confrontations about a variety of things, including the meaning of his art, her abilities, the fate of the remaining “Christophers,” and more. Each conversation brings out more detail about their worldviews and their thoughts about their lot in life.

Much of the success of the film lies in the performances of McKellen and Coel. The 86-year-old McKellen has not lost his ability to astonish with the spoken word, and the monologues he delivers are engrossing even when they’re about mundane things. Coel, best known for the 2020 HBO show I May Destroy You, is a great foil for McKellen, never backing down from his challenges and giving her own unique takes on her lines.

While the film can be enjoyable for non-art lovers, those who appreciate the vagaries of the art world will have a lot to chew on. Soderbergh and Solomon debate a lot of aspects of art, including whether it’s possible to separate the art from the person making it, why some art is valued more than others, the ethics of forgery, and more. Because the film is about a fictional artist, it gives the filmmakers a bit more freedom in their criticisms.

Aside from McKellen and Coel, Gunning (Baby Reindeer) and Corden are the only other two people who get significant screen time in the film. Both of them are, let’s say, acquired tastes, and each gives an elevated performance that matches the energy of their respective characters. Tilly Botsford makes a nice impression in a small role as Julian’s masseuse.

Soderbergh’s last three films — Presence, Black Bag, and now The Christophers — have nothing in common other than the expert filmmaker helming all of them. When you can make a ghost story, a spy film, and a small film about artists equally interesting, you know you’re doing something right.

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The Christophers is now playing in theaters.

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