Weekend Event Planner

These are the 13 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

It's a big weekend around Dallas, with the State Fair coming to an end, a couple of big name concerts, a quartet of new local theater productions, a new Instagram-friendly exhibit, monster trucks, and a major new art exhibition, among other options.

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

Thursday, October 14

State Fair of Texas
You only have four more days to enjoy the wide-ranging fun of the State Fair of Texas, as it comes to a close on Sunday. Concerts on the final weekend will include Elvis tribute act Kraig Parker (Friday), country singer Charley Crockett (Saturday), and pop/rock band The Last Bandoleros (Sunday). Or you can try to get your fill of fried food, Midway rides, carnival games, and more before they go into hiding for a year. Looking for discounts? Here's every possible one.

Dead & Company in concert
When it comes to a venerated group like the Grateful Dead, nothing is ever truly the end. Dead & Company features original Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir alongside John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti. Continuing in the tradition of the iconic band, the group draws from the Dead’s vast catalog of songs to keep their tradition alive. They'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion.

WaterTower Theatre presents The Taming
A patriotism-obsessed Miss Georgia has kidnapped a Republican Senator’s campaign manager & a liberal activist who is fighting to save the endangered panda-shrew, and is holding them hostage in her hotel room the night before the big Miss America Pageant. In this hilarious, raucous, all-female “power-play” inspired by Shakespeare’s Shrew, contestant Katherine has political aspirations to match her beauty pageant ambitions. The production will run through October 24 at WaterTower Theatre in Addison.

The Classics Theatre Project presents The Hairy Ape: A Comedy of Ancient and Modern Life In Eight Scenes
The Classics Theatre Project will present an intensely intimate and provocative production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape: A Comedy of Ancient and Modern Life In Eight Scenes. The ensemble cast tackles O'Neill's take on expressionism in this work that directly challenges the underlying rags-to-riches mythology of America and powerfully examines the effects of alienation in the modern world. The production will run through November 6 at The Core Theatre in Richardson.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Beethoven’s Emperor"
Nicknamed the “Emperor,” Beethoven’s last piano concerto is bursting with heroic themes and virtuosic cadenzas, as well as one of the composer’s most tender slow movements. This concert, which features pianist Garrick Ohlsson and conductor Carlos Kalmar, also includes Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony. There will be four performances through Sunday at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Bishop Arts Theatre Center presents Before You Get Married
Before You Get Married is an immersive theatre experience that explores the relationship between two siblings on the night before the sister's wedding. With the passing night and flowing wine, both siblings struggle to understand what they mean to each other as secrets are revealed. The production will run at Bishop Arts Theatre Center through October 30.

Friday, October 15

NTPA Repertory Theatre presents Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical
Based on the story by Robert Luis Stevenson and featuring a pop rock score from Grammy- and Tony-nominated Frank Wildhorn and Oscar- and Grammy-winning Leslie Bricusse, Jekyll & Hyde is about the epic struggle between good and evil. It's an evocative tale of two men — one, a passionate and romantic doctor; the other, a terrifying madman — and the two women who are in love with him and unaware of his dark secret. The production will run through October 24 at Willow Bend Center for the Arts in Plano.

Saturday, October 16

Sweet Tooth Hotel presents "Rewind"
Sweet Tooth Hotel will present their newest exhibit, "Rewind", a title that is a play on the installations visitors will be able to explore. At the center of the exhibit will sit a full-blown vintage video store full of VHS tapes and a few hidden spaces for guests to discover. In addition, they’ll be rebooting some cult favorite installations from their previous exhibits. The exhibition will be open through at least January 30 at Watters Creek at Montgomery Farm in Allen.

Monster Jam
Monster Jam, featuring an epic 12-truck line-up of fan favorites, includes the ultimate mix of high-flying stunts and four-wheel excitement with unbelievable action to unexpected thrills. Taking place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, it will include the return of The Monster Jam Pit Party, where fans can see the massive trucks up close, participate in Q&As with the drivers, take pictures, and enjoy other family-friendly fun.

The Dallas Opera presents The People's Choice Concert
The Dallas Opera will kick off their season with The People’s Choice Concert, featuring favorite and familiar opera arias from a selection of operas spanning the centuries, including Bellini’s Norma, Mozart’s The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, Puccini’s Tosca and Madame Butterfly, Bizet’s Carmen, Verdi’s Otello, and more. The concert will take place at Annette Strauss Square.

KXT 91.7 presents The Polyphonic Spree: Jukebox Jamboree
The Polyphonic Spree: Jukebox Jamboree will be an eclectic evening featuring two sets by The Polyphonic Spree, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary as a band. One set will be the band's favorite songs to cover and the other set will feature original songs. Both concerts, taking place on Saturday and Sunday at The Kessler, will be recorded for a live EP.

Sunday, October 17

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Van Gogh and the Olive Groves"
The Dallas Museum of Art will host the first exhibition dedicated to Vincent van Gogh’s important olive grove series. "Van Gogh and the Olive Groves" reunites for the first time the series of paintings devoted to the titular motif that the artist produced between June and December 1889. It additionally highlights new discoveries about the artist’s techniques, materials, and palette that emerged from a collaborative conservation and scientific research project that included all 15 paintings in the series. The exhibition will remain on display through February 6, 2022.

Kane Brown in concert
Kane Brown is part of the new brand of country music, unafraid to add pop and R&B sounds to his songs. Not so coincidentally, that has made him very popular, resulting in both of his first two albums going to No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts (2018's Experiment also hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200) and three No. 1 hits so far. He'll play at American Airlines Center.

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Van Gogh and the Olive Groves" starting on October 17.

Photo by Rik Klein Gotink

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Van Gogh and the Olive Groves" starting on October 17.

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Movie Review

Michelle Pfeiffer is an unappreciated mom in Oh. What. Fun.

Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Michelle Pfeiffer in Oh. What. Fun.

Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.

That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.

Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.

Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.

The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.

The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.

Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.

Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.

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Oh. What. Fun. is now streaming on Prime Video.

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