Weekend Event Planner

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

While most big events in and around Dallas have either been postponed or canceled during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there are a few that have popped up to offer the masses some entertainment while still adhering to the necessary social distancing measures.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. While they're not all outside of the house, they all promise to provide a nice distraction from the everyday life.

Thursday, September 24

Arts Mission Oak Cliff presents Parking Lot Series: Agora Artists' Tether
In Agora Artists' Tether, five local performers navigate the parking lot while tethered by rope, as the piece explores themes of relationship, communication, and allyship in a time when systemic racism is challenged and physical contact is restricted. Performers will wear protective gear, and music will be transmitted through the radio so audience members can enjoy the entire event from the comfort of their cars. The event takes place at Arts Mission Oak Cliff on select dates through October 3.

Friday, September 25

Austin Street Center presents Humble Beginnings Luncheon
Austin Street Center’s 20th Annual Humble Beginnings Luncheon will be a virtual event, featuring Tony and Grammy Award-Winning artist, Leslie Odom, Jr. who will perform live and participate in a moderated conversation. The luncheon celebrates Austin Street Center’s work to provide safe shelter and basic needs to help the most vulnerable individuals experiencing homelessness.

Hometown Heroes Music Festival
Hometown Heroes Music Festival is a hybrid of a drive-in and a socially-distanced outdoor music festival. Taking place at Knotting Hill Place in Little Elm on both Friday and Saturday, performers will include Randy Rogers Band, Lee Brice, and Kody West on Friday, and Parker McCollum, Pat Green, and Flatland Cavalry on Saturday. There will be streamed performances by Wade Bowen and Nelly on Friday, and Stoney Larue and Snoop Dogg on Saturday, who will be performing live at the festival's two other locations in Austin and Lubbock.

Six Flags Over Texas presents HallowFest
Six Flags will present HallowFest, featuring haunted experiences every weekend between September 25 and November 1. Thrills by Day will include activities like photo opportunities, a Trick-or-Treat Trail, and delicious treats. For Chills by Night, all Halloween attractions will be transported outdoors to the wide-open midways, featuring creepy fog, eerie lighting, larger-than-life Halloween props, and sinister music in four hair-raising Halloween zones. Roller coasters will ramp up the fear factor as guests fly through the air at high speeds in total darkness. The park will be operating at a limited capacity to avoid overcrowding and guests will be required to make a reservation.

Dallas Children's Theater presents Social Justice Play Series
Dallas Children’s Theater continues its commitment to using the power of theater to spark important conversation about race by producing a series of short plays by award-winning playwright, poet, and changemaker Idris Goodwin. The three short shows, dubbed the ‘Social Justice Play Series,’ will be available completely free of charge, starting with The Water Gun Song, streaming September 25-October 4. In the play, a parent tries to find the words to explain why a water gun isn't simply a toy.

Uptown Players presents Pageant
Uptown Players will present a virtual production of the 2014 audience favorite, the farcical Off‐Broadway hit Pageant. The show takes its shots not by mocking the pageant from the outside, but by being one. The six contestants, Miss Deep South, Miss West Coast, Miss Great Plains, Miss Bible Belt, Miss Industrial Northeast, and Miss Texas (all played by men) compete in evening gown, talent, swim-wear, and spokesmodel, plus each finalist answers calls from the Beauty Crisis Hotline. The production is available to stream anytime between September 25 and October 4.

The Firehouse Theatre presents Daddy Long Legs
A heartwarming Cinderella story about a witty and winsome young woman and her mysterious benefactor, Daddy Long Legs is a beloved tale in the spirit of Jane Austen. Jerusha Abbott is the “Oldest Orphan in the John Grier Home” until a mysterious benefactor decides to send her to college to be educated as a writer. Required to write him a letter once a month, she is never to know the benefactor’s identity – so she invents one for him: Daddy Long Legs. This two-person musical starring real-life couple Caitlin Martelle Jones and Preston Lee Isham will be streamed live on select dates through October 11.

B. Moore Dance presents ROOTED: Envisage Dance Installations
As part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project, B. Moore Dance will present world premiere of ROOTED: Envisage Dance Installations, which draws inspiration from the repertoire created and curated by Founder/Artistic Director, Bridget L. Moore. These works challenge artistic practices by reimagining, rebuilding, and reinstalling works that were made in the past to reflect the present, and the Global World as it reopens for the future. ROOTED is specifically set for the Annette Strauss Square stage and replaces the previously scheduled production of The Neglected Heart of Soul: An Ode to Donny Hathaway in Hamon Hall.

Saturday, September 26

Oktoberfest celebrations
Two local venues will push ahead with Oktoberfest celebrations in safe and socially-distanced ways. Legacy Hall's Oktoberfeast in Plano will offer two time slots by reservation only, featuring a traditional live German band performance, stein-holding competitions, German fare, and beer-a-plenty. McKinney Main Street's Parktoberfest will feature live music from Brave Combo, a keg tapping, and stein holding competition. Traditional German fare will be offered as well as a variety of beers from the venue, TUPPS Brewery.

Ballet North Texas present Night on the Trinity
Ballet North Texas opens its 2020/21 season with Night on the Trinity, a celebration of diverse choreography and original music composition from local and national artists, including Kiyon Gaines Ross, guest performers by Bruce Wood Dance and Ballet Frontier of Texas, and live musical accompaniment from composer Quinn Mason and the musicians of MAKE Trio. The event will take place at Annette Strauss Square.

Sunday, September 27

Dallas Museum of Art presents "To Be Determined" opening day
The Dallas Museum of Art will present "To Be Determined," a new exhibition that explores individual and collective meanings through works of art, sacred objects, and design. Drawing from the museum’s encyclopedic collection, including 13 new acquisitions and three major paintings by Dallas-based artists, the exhibition juxtaposes works from across time, geography, and cultures, from the 13th century to the present day, to trace how the resonance of art can shift when presented in new contexts and as viewers imbue them with their own personal meanings. The exhibition will remain on display through December 27.

Agora Artists will present Tether at Arts Mission Oak Cliff through October 3.

Photo by Corey Haynes

Agora Artists will present Tether at Arts Mission Oak Cliff through October 3.

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Movie Review

Jessica Chastain drama Dreams stumbles through steamy romance

Photo courtesy of Teorema

Isaac Hernández and Jessica Chastain in Dreams.

The opening scenes of the new drama Dreams are bracing, fictional sequences that call to mind real-life scenarios. In them, a young Mexican man named Fernando (Isaac Hernández) goes through a somewhat harrowing journey from the back of a semi truck in South Texas all the way to San Francisco. It’s a familiar immigrant story that seems to set the stage for a film with something interesting to say.

It turns out, however, that Fernando has not made the long and arduous trek for a job. Instead, it’s to be with Jennifer McCarthy (Jessica Chastain), a rich woman who helps lead a foundation dedicated to multiple things, including funding dance academies. Fernando, a talented dancer, and Jennifer have been in an off-and-on affair for years, with Jennifer wanting to keep their relationship a secret.

Although both are drawn to each other in an inexplicable, lustful way, their bond is tenuous, with each of them dissatisfied for different reasons. Fernando clearly sacrifices much more of himself than Jennifer, who wants for nothing except maybe more affection from her father, Michael (Marshall Bell), and brother, Jake (Rupert Friend).

Writer/director Michel Franco seems to try to inject tension into Fernando and Jennifer’s relationship from the start, an attempt that is only halfway successful. It’s clear from the way they greet each other - not to mention a steamy sex scene shortly thereafter - that they have known each other for a good length of time. Franco is able to get across this familiarity with an economy of scenes, and the intensity of their bond holds for a while.

But as the film progresses and both of them grow disenchanted with their arrangement, Franco starts taking the story in some odd directions. The biggest issue is that it’s never clear at what point in time the story is taking place. Fernando ends up making multiple trips back and forth across the border, with Jennifer doing the same at one point, and Franco’s use of flashbacks muddies the waters, wrong-footing the audience when he should be trying to draw them further into Fernando and Jennifer’s complications.

Revelations in the final act make the story even more confusing, as both main characters start saying and doing harsh things that seem to come out of nowhere. That would be all well and good if Franco actually committed to their changes of heart, but he keeps things wishy-washy for most of the final 15 minutes, resulting in an ending that makes little sense for either character.

Despite the story issues, both Chastain and Hernández give compelling performances. Chastain has been a little under the radar since winning an Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, but she keeps this character interesting longer than it should have been. Hernández has limited credits and appears to have been cast for his dancing ability, but he goes toe-to-toe with Chastain on more than one occasion and acquits himself well.

Dreams had all of the ideas to explore a more in-depth story about the complicated immigration policies between Mexico and the U.S., or how wealthy people take advantage of those less fortunate. But Franco never finds the right footing, settling instead for a titillating and somewhat mystifying relationship story that feels half-baked.

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Dreams is now playing in select theaters.

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