Weekend Event Planner

These are the 12 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

The first weekend in November features a slate of events where everything is on equal footing. Each event on the below list should be as entertaining as the next, including new local theater, a simulcast of a renowned opera, a tour of a TV show that celebrates bad movies, cycling on open streets in Dallas, an illuminating art experience, and two music legends in concert together.

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, November 1

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Copland's Appalachian Spring
Dallas Symphony Orchestra will present one of the quintessential pieces of American music, Appalachian Spring, in concert with Beethoven’s elegant Piano Concerto No. 2 and Elgar’s beguiling Enigma Variations. The concert, presented four times through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center, will highlight pianist Jonathan Biss, under the direction of Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

Ochre House Theater presents Elwood
Elwood is a musical comedy filled with dazzling spectacle, dance, and original music that spins a tale of a desperate man. Elwood is a recluse who lives in the piney woods who tries to save baby Elvis, who has come under his charge, from nefarious people who want Elvis for themselves. Innocence of a child's love and trust and Elwood's determination to protect baby Elvis at all costs lead Elwood down a road he never expected to journey. The production will run at Ochre House Theater through November 17.

Friday, November 2

Dallas Opera presents Carmen simulcast
The Dallas Opera will present a free public simulcast of the penultimate performance of Carmen by Georges Bizet. The simulcast will take place at Klyde Warren Park, just down the road from the production at Winspear Opera House. The event will include a Carmen costume contest for people and pets, the Tom & Jerry cartoon "Carmen Get It!," trivia contests, and more. The opera will also have one final performance on Sunday.

Second Thought Theatre presents State of Mind
Second Thought Theatre will present State of Mind, an event celebrating Second Thought and gathering support for the award-winning theater company. The event will include entertainment by actor/singer Janelle Lutz, and an appearance by featured guest, director/choreographer Joel Ferrell, who has directed multiple Second Thought productions. The fundraising event will take place at Sammons Center for the Arts.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 30th Anniversary Tour
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live 30th Anniversary Tour will feature, for the first time in 25 years, original host and MST3K creator Joel Hodgson back in the red jumpsuit as Joel Robinson. Alongside new MST3Khost Jonah Heston (Jonah Ray), Joel and the Bots will bring new movies and all new riffs and sketches. There will be two separately ticketed screenings with different movies at Majestic Theatre.

Saturday, November 3

Dallas Bike Ride
Dallas Bike Ride is a closed-road, recreational bicycle event that celebrates bicycling as a form of healthy living, fitness, transportation, and fun. The event features a 20-mile car-free bike ride throughout Dallas. Participants can choose from the full 20-mile course or a shorter 11-mile course. The event will feature on-course music and entertainment, rest stops with snacks and water, and a Finish Festival at City Hall Plaza with music, entertainment, food trucks, and other activities.

Festival at the Switchyard
The City of Carrollton will present the 9th annual Festival at the Switchyard, featuring performances by Stone Temple Pilots, Vertical Horizon, Tonic, and more. In addition to free concerts, the festival at Historic Downtown Carrollton will feature a full day of fun, with live entertainment, rides and games, activities for children of all ages, and an array of food vendors and festival booths for shopping.

Dallas Summer Musicals Gala: An Evening with the Best of Broadway
Dallas Summer Musicals will present its annual gala, An Evening with the Best of Broadway. The event will feature actors Jane Lynch and Matthew Morrison, famed for their work in the musical-comedy television series Glee, renowned Broadway performer Shoshana Bean, and other surprise special guests. The event, taking place at the Music Hall at Fair Park, will raise funds for the non-profit Dallas Summer Musicals.

Aurora: Future Worlds
Immersive and engaging, Aurora is an expansive free public art event that transforms downtown Dallas into an open-air, urban playground of new media art. With installations of light, video, and sound presented in unexpected places, the sunset signals the transformation of the city into one of the nation’s largest outdoor exhibitions. The event centers on the iconic I.M. Pei-designed Dallas City Hall and stretches throughout Dallas.

Simple Minds in concert
Contrary to what you may think, the career of Simple Minds did not begin and end with their only No. 1 hit, "Don't You Forget About Me," from The Breakfast Club soundtrack. The Scottish duo is still releasing new music 40 years into their career, putting out their 19th album, Walk Between Worlds, this past February. They'll play at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Sunday, November 4

Flying Steps presents Flying Bach
Flying Bach, which stars Germany’s four-time world champion Flying Steps breakdance troupe, interprets the music of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “The Well-Tempered Clavier." The show combines Bach’s classical masterpiece with modern electronic beats and clever choreography. There will be two performances at Majestic Theatre.

Stephen Stills and Judy Collins in concert
Fifty years ago, singer-songwriter Stephen Stills met singer-songwriter Judy Collins, and their tumultuous love affair would be immortalized by Stills with his composition “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” The two icons of folk are touring for the first time together, playing music from their rich catalogs and their new album, Stills & Collins. They'll play at The Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Aurora: Future Worlds will feature multiple light and video art installations in downtown Dallas on November 3.

Photo courtesy of Aurora 2016

Aurora: Future Worlds will feature multiple light and video art installations in downtown Dallas on November 3.

event-planner

Movie Review

The Dink aces pickleball with funny, star-filled comedy

Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

Mary Steenburgen and Jake Johnson in The Dink.

While the sport of pickleball was invented way back in the 1960s, it has exploded in popularity in the 2020s. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out a way to make a movie about the craze, and a comedy like the new Apple TV film The Dink provides the best way to honor and make fun of the divisive sport at the same time.

Dusty Boyd (Jake Johnson), aka The Hammer, is a former tennis phenom who’s now working as an instructor at a club owned by his dad, Chuck (Ed Harris). While the two don’t always see eye-to-eye, they have a mutual hatred for pickleball, which they have begrudgingly allowed on the property by giving it the worst court.

Dusty is hoping to stop all future pickleball expansion by winning a one-on-one grudge match, but when he injures his wrist, he’s given a prescription of pickleball as a form of rehab. Older women like Candace (Mary Steenburgen) are the only people he can find to play with, and despite his disdain for the sport, he soon falls prey to its low-key charms.

Directed by Josh Greenbaum (Will & Harper) and written by Sean Clements, the film is probably the best advertisement pickleball will ever have. Dusty’s introduction to the sport serves as a lighthearted tutorial for the uninitiated while still getting in some nice digs at its expense. The other players - Candace, Gail (Cleo King), and Judy (Lynn Marie Stewart) - are equally welcoming and critical of Dusty, who initially has trouble adjusting to the game’s different rules.

The film’s approach to the story is silly but never stupid. Dusty is a blowhard, but he’s also able to admit when he’s wrong, especially when Candace introduces him to multiple things he had never considered before. A long-standing feud between Dusty and Andy Roddick provides more than just a goofy cameo for the real-life tennis star. The film also pushes right to the edge of being over-the-top before pulling back, allowing it to keep a semblance of reality to it.

Clements’ story follows a tried-and-true formula, making the film very predictable but enjoyably so. Where it earns its comedy credentials is in its finer details, like Dusty’s love for his 1999 Buick LeSabre with under 200,000 miles on it, his trunk full of old VHS tapes, or his interactions with his assistant PJ (Aaron Chen), who manages to be the comic relief in an already funny film.

Johnson, probably best known for starring in the sitcom New Girl in the 2010s, has the right amount of smarm and niceness to pull off the role, letting viewers laugh at and root for him at the same time. The film is full of comedy all-stars in small roles like Oswalt, Chris Parnell, and Ben Stiller, but Harris steals everyone’s thunder. The line readings by the four-time Oscar nominee give an extra punch to his character’s jokes, especially one that hints at the sordid history of the tennis club.

It’s a shame that The Dink is only playing on a streaming service as there’s a dearth of good comedies like this in movie theaters. With a solid joke-telling approach, a respect for its subject matter, and a cast who all play off each other well, this is a film that deserves to be seen by more than just those with an Apple TV subscription.

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The Dink is now streaming on Apple TV.

movies sports pickleball film