Weekend Event Planner

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

If you're a fan of artist Vincent van Gogh, this is your weekend as there will be not one but two separate events featuring his artwork in Dallas. There will also be the return of Broadway to the area, a trio of big concerts, two local theater productions, a great comedian, a celebration of a local hero, and the closing of a notable art exhibition.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend.

Thursday, August 5

Galleria Dallas and Dallas Museum of Art present "Van Gogh and the Olive Groves" preview
Galleria Dallas will partner with the Dallas Museum of Art to offer a “sneak peek” of "Van Gogh and the Olive Groves," which opens at the DMA on October 17. The preview offers families a glimpse into the artistic and educational exploration through select reproductions of Van Gogh’s works from the olive groves series; the originals will be presented in the museum’s exhibition. The display will provide links to online resources allowing people to further explore the exhibition. The preview will be located on Level I on the gallery wall across from Apple through August 31.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Wicked
Broadway makes its return to Dallas with Wicked, which looks at what happened in the Land of Oz … but from a different angle. Long before Dorothy arrives, there is another young woman, born with emerald-green skin — smart, fiery, misunderstood, and possessing an extraordinary talent. When she meets a bubbly blonde who is exceptionally popular, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships … until the world decides to call one “good,” and the other one “wicked.” The musical will play at the Music Hall at Fair Park through September 5.

Blackberry Smoke in concert with The Allman Betts Band, The Wild Feathers, and Jaimoe
Blackberry Smoke will come to Irving as part of their "Spirit Of The South Tour: A Celebration of Southern Rock and Roll." They'll be joined by special guests The Allman Betts Band, The Wild Feathers and founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, Jaimoe. The show at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory will conclude with a unique collaborative finale, which will feature Blackberry Smoke, The Allman Betts Band, The Wild Feathers, Jaimoe, and additional surprise guests showcasing the inspirations of Rock, Blues, Gospel, and Soul music.

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 three Showtime specials: Brown and Friendly, I Come In Peace, and I’m Not a Terrorist but I’ve Played One on TV. He is also a regular panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. He'll perform five times through Saturday at Improv Addison.

Junior Players presents 12th Night: A Rock Musical
In collaboration with Shakespeare Dallas, Junior Players presents 12th Night: A Rock Musical. Illyria is the new Coachella when The Bard becomes the new sensation as his text is mixed into original infectious rock/pop style melodies in a new production out of California of this classic gender-bending comedy. The madness for love unfolds after a shipwrecked Viola falls onto the Illyrian Shores. The production will play at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre through Sunday.

Pegasus Theatre presents Death on Delivery!
In Death on Delivery!, the setting is City Hospital where Lt. Foster’s wife has just given birth to their first child, Harriet. But danger lurks around every corner. The intrepid trio must solve a mysterious string of murders before a madman claims one of their own. The production by Pegasus Theatre uses RadioVizion, which focuses on evoking the experience and glamour of being in a live radio studio of the 1930s and 1940s. It will run through August 21 at Bath House Cultural Center.

Friday, August 6

Cypress Hill in concert
Hip hop group Cypress Hill has been around for 30 years, releasing nine albums, but they're still best known for their 1993 No. 1 hit "Insane in the Brain" off their triple platinum album Black Sunday. They recently released a new single, "Champion Sound," their first new music since their 2018 album, Elephants On Acid. They'll play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit in concert (UPDATE: This concert has been canceled. Isbell is still scheduled to perform in Fort Worth on August 13.)
Country singer Jason Isbell is an old-school musician in that he's taken the long road to success. He's been paying his dues for the past 20 years, slowly but surely building a fan base. That hard work has paid off, as his last three albums have each landed at No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts, as well as the top 10 of the Billboard 200. He and his band, The 400 Unit, will play at The Factory in Deep Ellum.

Saturday, August 7

Immersive Van Gogh
Immersive Van Gogh is a digital art experience that invites audiences to enter the works of van Gogh, evoking his highly emotional and chaotic inner consciousness through art, light, music, movement, and imagination. The exhibition merges state-of-the-art technology, theatrical storytelling, and world-class animation, transporting guests inside the artist's most famous paintings. It will take place at Lighthouse Dallas through October 31.

The City of Grapevine presents Wally Funk Community Celebration Parade
The City of Grapevine will honor resident and hometown hero, Wally Funk, for her history-making experience aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital space tourism rocket. The event will feature a parade along Historic Main Street, immediately followed by a presentation by aviation leaders, peers, Grapevine Mayor William D. Tate, and Grapevine City Council. The parade will then head south on Main Street from Wall Street toward Dallas Road, and will culminate on Peace Plaza at Grapevine Main Station, with remarks by dignitaries and Funk.

Sunday, August 8

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière - Towards No Earthly Pole" closing day
Sunday will be the final day to view "Concentrations 63" at the Dallas Museum of Art. Berlin-based French-Swiss artist Julian Charrière creates work that bridges the realms of environmental science and cultural history. This focused exhibition — Charrière’s first solo museum exhibition in the U.S. — provides immersive encounters with the artist’s melancholic and beautiful portraits of nature in the human era, culminating with his most recent video project, Towards No Earthly Pole.

Dallas Summer Musicals will present Wicked at the Music Hall at Fair Park through September 5.

Photo by Joan Marcus

Dallas Summer Musicals will present Wicked at the Music Hall at Fair Park through September 5.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig searches for elusive new bond in audacious film Queer

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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