Weekend Event Planner

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

This weekend around Dallas will feature a wide variety of events, with something to please any age. They include a circus-themed production with an accompanying children's festival, a play centered on a former Texas governor, a fan celebration with celebrity guests, the start of a new opera season, a must-see scientific exhibition, a concert by a famous boy band, and more.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, October 17

Laughter League presents The Petite Palace
The Petite Palace is an intimate, eclectic tent show that will take audiences on an unparalleled journey. The production combines the dazzling, daring aura of Cirque du Soleil with the madcap mirth of Saturday Night Live. The Petite Palace, running through November 3 at Bath House Cultural Center, provides an up-close personal experience that is part circus, part variety show, part cabaret.

Dallas Theater Center presents Ann
Written by Emmy Award-winner Holland Taylor and starring Libby Villari, Ann is a no-holds-barred portrait of Ann Richards, the legendary governor of Texas. This inspiring and hilarious play brings audiences face-to-face with a complex, colorful, and captivating character bigger than the state from which she hailed. The one-woman play will run at Kalita Humphreys Theater through November 10.

Femme It Forward feat. Monica, Ashanti, Mya, and Keri Hilson
Femme it Forward is a multi-format series of all-female curated lineups spotlighting the entertainment industry’s most creative and accomplished female visionaries, both on the stage and behind the scenes. The Dallas concert, taking place at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, will feature performances by Monica, Ashanti, Mya, and Keri Hilson.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Dvořák's Cello Concerto
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will perform Dvořák's Cello Concerto, considered the greatest ever composed for the instrument. A work of symphonic grandeur and passion, it memorializes a girl Dvořák loved but lost with a melody from one of his own songs played in the ethereal high register of the cello. The concert, featuring cellist Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, will also include Schumann's Symphony No. 2. There will be four performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Friday, October 18

Dallas Fan Days
Dallas Fan Days brings together thousands of Texans to celebrate their love of all things fiction and fantasy at one of the largest fan events in Texas. Celebrity guests will include Ron Perlman, Anthony Daniels, Patrick Warburton, Matthew Modine, and more. The event, which also includes interactive adventures, gaming competitions, panels, and more, will be at Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas through Sunday.

The Dallas Opera presents The Magic Flute
To open its 2019-2020 season, The Dallas Opera will present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final operatic masterpiece, The Magic Flute. The intrepid Prince Tamino is saved from a dragon by the mysterious Queen of the Night, then dispatched to rescue her daughter from Sarastro, the formidable high priest. The funny and profound opera will run at Winspear Opera House through November 3.

Saturday, October 19

Perot Museum of Nature and Science presents "Origins: Fossils from the Cradle of Humankind"
The Perot Museum of Nature and Science will present fossils of two recently discovered ancient human relatives in the limited-run exhibition, "Origins: Fossils from the Cradle of Humankind." This exhibition will mark the first time that ancient hominin fossils have traveled for public display since “Lucy” between 2007 and 2013. The exhibition will be on display through March 22, 2020.

Laughter League presents Dallas International Children's Festival
The inaugural Dallas International Children’s Festival will celebrate the diverse cultural heritage of Dallas with a variety of performers, circus stars giving tips on how to juggle, spin plates, and hang from a trapeze, a Ninja Warrior obstacle course with demonstrations by American Ninja Warrior finalist Grant McCartney, and much more. The festival takes place at Bath House Cultural Center.

Tenacious D in concert
Over the past 25 years, Jack Black has led two lives. In one, he's the actor known for movies like High Fidelity, School of Rock, and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. In the other, he's part of the comedy rock duo Tenacious D with fellow actor Kyle Gass. While they've never reached the heights of someone like "Weird Al" Yankovic, they've maintained a loyal following that's allowed them to release four albums, including 2018's Post-Apocalypto. They'll play at The Bomb Factory.

State Fair of Texas Concert Series: 98 Degrees
The '90s and early 2000s were absolutely lousy with boy bands, and 98 Degrees was near the top of the list. The group, comprised of Nick Lachey, Drew Lachey, Justin Jeffre, and Jeff Timmons, had a great four year run thanks to songs like "Because of You," "The Hardest Thing," "Thank God I Found You," and "Give Me Just One Night." The foursome will perform for State Fair of Texas attendees at Fair Park.

Heritage Oak Cliff Home Tour
Heritage Oak Cliff is hosting its 45th annual home hour, the oldest and longest-running home tour in the city of Dallas. This year’s tour includes 10 homes from diverse Oak Cliff neighborhoods, showcasing a variety of architectural styles. Proceeds from the tour, taking place on Saturday and Sunday, will fund Oak Cliff neighborhood grants. Tickets can be purchased at Simply Austin at Bishop Arts.

Dallas Theater Center will present Ann at Kalita Humphreys Theater through November 10.

Photo by Karen Almond

Dallas Theater Center will present Ann at Kalita Humphreys Theater through November 10.

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Movie Review

Andrew Garfield leads peasant rebellion in medieval film The Uprising

Photo by Betina La Plante/Focus Features

Andrew Garfield in The Uprising.

Writer/director Paul Greengrass made his name with a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking that brought immediacy and depth to three Jason Bourne films, United 93, Captain Phillips, and more. In The Uprising, he uses those skills to tell the story of the so-called Peasants’ Revolt in 14th century England.

Greengrass wastes no time starting the main plot as Ploughman (Andrew Garfield) and his fellow villagers object to onerous taxes put on them by the country’s nobility, led by the young King Richard II (Woody Norman), to fund an ongoing war. Ploughman initiates a violent response over the tone-deaf — and unseemly — way the king’s guard go about their business, and the rebellion soon starts to spread across the countryside, with the citizens looking for a degree of autonomy.

The ever-expanding group makes their way toward London to try to make their case to the king himself. Meanwhile, the king’s top advisors, including Archbishop Sudbury (Stephen Dillane) and Treasurer Hales (Tom Hollander), try to usurp power from the inexperienced monarch even as the king’s mother (Katherine Waterston) tries to get him to be more assertive.

The history of the English monarchy is long and lurid, as Shakespeare detailed in multiple plays, including Richard II. Though the events in the film took place almost 650 years ago, it’s easy to see parallels between what the peasants were fighting for and modern-day politics. Greengrass’ storytelling intent is solid, and the righteous anger the citizens feel is initially relatable and palpable.

But the populism theme of the story soon gets bogged down in drudgery and minutiae that is difficult to understand, especially when the details are lost in the thick regional English accents. The leaders of the rebels — including John Ball (Jamie Bell), Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), and Alyce (Thomasin McKenzie) — are shown doing a lot of planning, but the strong feelings they have about their quest don’t come across well, leaving the audience as passive observers.

When there is action, Greengrass and his team employ a frenetic style that is not great for comprehension. While the gist of what is happening and what side is winning is legible, individual moments go by so quickly so as to be nearly meaningless. Save for Ploughman, any connection that has been made with various characters proves futile, as Greengrass doesn’t seem to have any time for emotion. Scenes that should feel thrilling or heartbreaking instead come off as empty.

Garfield is a two-time Oscar nominee who has done great work across multiple genres. He’s fine in this role, but whether it’s the story, the filmmaking, or something else, he’s not as captivating as usual. The same goes for other strong actors like Bell, McKenzie, Dillane, Hollander, and Waterston, who each seem to be giving their all to their performances but are somehow muted in the process.

Done right, The Uprising could have been a rip-roaring account of people standing up against their oppressors. What Greengrass has made, though, is a film that can’t translate its medieval story for a modern audience and concentrates too much on unexciting elements and too little on thrilling ones.

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The Uprising is now playing in theaters.

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