Weekend Event Planner

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

Thanksgiving weekend is when the holidays officially kick off in the Dallas area. Eight of the 12 events we're featuring are holiday themed, including ones with ice sculptures, theater, shopping, mazes, classical music, dancing, and lights galore. You can also catch Disney characters skating, some truly talented basketball players, a great Broadway musical, or some heavenly singing.

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.

Wednesday, November 21

Gaylord Texan presents Lone Star Christmas: ICE! featuring Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
ICE! is the signature holiday attraction at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, and this year guests can experience their favorite scenes from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer brought to life in the walk-through winter wonderland. The attraction features two million pounds of ice sculptures, six ice slides, colorful ice sculptures, and more. As a bonus, use the promo code JOLLY at online checkout to receive 40 percent off tickets for November 26-29 and December 3-6. ICE! will be open through January 1.

Disney on Ice presents Frozen
It's been five years since the behemoth that is Frozen was unleashed on the world, and the popularity of Anna, Elsa, and Olaf shows no signs of slowing down. You can discover the full story at this ice skating production as Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven search for Elsa and bring back summer. Hosted by Mickey and Minnie, the musical production will also feature special appearances by favorite Disney stars. It will be at Allen Event Center through Sunday.

Dallas Theater Center presents A Christmas Carol
Dallas Theater Center will present its annual production of A Christmas Carol, in which three spirits come to visit the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and take him on a fantastic journey through Christmases past, present, and future. Brimming with joyful songs, magical spirits, and holiday cheer, this year's production will feature Alex Organ as Scrooge. It will play at Wyly Theatre through December 30.

Thursday, November 22

Grand Prairie Parks, Arts and Recreation presents Prairie Lights
Prairie Lights, taking place through December 30 at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie, is the always-popular two-mile drive featuring 4 million lights that drew 250,000 visitors in 2017. It will be better than ever in 2018 with new custom displays, along with carnival rides, a holiday show, a holiday magic walk-thru forest, pictures with Santa, gift shop, and more.

Friday, November 23

The Original Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters will bring their 2018 “Amazing Feats of Basketball World Tour” to both Frisco and Dallas this weekend. The Globetrotters will celebrate the special blend of basketball and entertainment that has made the team iconic, showcasing the high-flying, fun, and memory-making moments that they are known for. They'll play twice at Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco on Friday, and on Saturday and Sunday at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Texas Christkindl Market
This free, family-friendly market, inspired by a cherished German tradition, features holiday gifts, decorations, and other traditional festive goods, as well as live entertainment. Holiday shoppers can look for exclusive Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas decorations and designs from the renowned Rothenburg ob der Tauber Christmas Village in Germany. The event will be at Texas Live in Arlington through December 23.

Enchant: World's Largest Christmas Light Maze & Market
Enchant will once again illuminate North Texas skies with its World’s Largest Christmas Light Maze & Market. This year, the event will move inside Globe Life Park in Arlington, where guests can enjoy the light maze, an all-new skating trail, an artisans market, appearances by Santa and Mrs. Claus, and much more. The event will be open daily through December 30.

Vitruvian Lights: A Magical Night of Lights
Vitruvian Park in Addison transforms into a magical holiday wonderland during Vitruvian Lights, running through January 1. With each tree in the park decked out in different solid colors, it's a unique experience that's unmatched in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Opening Night on Friday will feature a performance by the Jordan Kahn Orchestra, food trucks, free photos with Santa, Metrocrest Services Donation Drive, and more.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty
Dallas Symphony Orchestra will present two of Tchaikovsky's grandest ballet scores, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, to kick off the holiday season. In addition, pianist Andrew von Oeyen will perform Grieg’s much loved concerto. The concert, conducted by Andrew Grams, will have three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Rock of Ages 10th Anniversary Tour
The jukebox musical Rock of Ages officially opened on Broadway in 2009, so this "10th Anniversary Tour" is getting to Dallas a little early, but fans will probably have no complaints. The production is built around classic rock songs from the 1980s, including songs from Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Steve Perry, Poison, and Europe. It will play three times through Saturday at The Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Texas Ballet Theater presents The Nutcracker
Texas Ballet Theater's production of The Nutcracker is perhaps the definitive one in Dallas-Fort Worth. A magical Christmas Eve comes to life in the ballet that features Clara and her Nutcracker Prince battling an army of mice led by the evil Rat King, and traveling through a winter wonderland to the Sugar Plum Fairy’s Kingdom of Sweets. The production runs through December 2 at Winspear Opera House before making its way to Fort Worth.

Sunday, November 25

Pentatonix in concert
Arlington's own Pentatonix got their big break when they won the third season of NBC's The Sing-Off in 2011. Since then, the a cappella group has gone on to release seven albums, including three Christmas albums. They'll perform at The Theatre in Grand Prairie in support of their new Christmas album, Christmas is Here!, featuring songs like "What Christmas Means to Me" and "When You Believe."

Alex Organ stars as Scrooge in Dallas Theater Center's A Christmas Carol, playing at Wyly Theatre through December 30.

Dallas Theater Center presents A Christmas Carol

Photo by Paxton Maroney

Alex Organ stars as Scrooge in Dallas Theater Center's A Christmas Carol, playing at Wyly Theatre through December 30.

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Movie Review

Horror comedy film Y2K goes for nostalgia but maybe too soon

Photo courtesy of A24

Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, and Julian Dennison in Y2K.

Movies that rely on nostalgia can be successful if they’re timed right. Generally, 25-30 years seems about the right amount of time to try to take advantage of people’s fond feelings for a certain era, which is why movies/TV shows about the ‘80s have been prevalent for much of the 21st century, and ‘90s-set films started to pop up in the last 10 years.

Y2K, a horror comedy that plays on the fears of technological mayhem many people thought would happen at the turn of the century, is right on the cusp of that rule, taking place 24 years after its timeline. It centers on two teenage boys, Eli (Jaeden Martell) and Danny (Julian Dennison), who are opposite in demeanor but have an unshakeable bond. Eli likes a popular girl, Laura (Rachel Zegler), and Danny convinces him to crash a New Year’s Eve party where she’ll be.

As the clock strikes midnight and the year moves from 1999 to 2000, everything that uses an electrical current goes haywire, with many of them combining forces to attack the humans around them. Eli and Danny find themselves on the run with Laura, as well as two stoners, Ash (Lachlan Watson) and CJ (Daniel Zolghadri), with each of them trying to use their unique skillset to help defeat a growing robot army.

Directed by Kyle Mooney and written by Mooney and Evan Winter, the film lands some solid jokes about the era in its opening 20 minutes or so, whether it’s the extreme slowness of dial-up internet, the goofy user names from AOL Messenger, or the various high school cliques of the time. However, many of them seem to echo ones told in 1999’s American Pie, a weird kind of art-imitating-art moment instead of commenting on real life.

The jolt of the machines attacking partygoers seems to promise a fun-if-bloody romp, but Mooney and Winter don’t seem to know where to take the story. They establish the computer bona fides of Eli and Laura early on, but when it comes time for them to put their talents in action, it feels like two actors going through the motions instead of real people who know what they’re doing. Almost none of the characters are believable or entertaining, and the few that rise above are dispatched way too early.

And because the filmmakers don’t make you care about the main group, nothing they face is that interesting, either. The villainous robots are made up of a bunch of disparate parts, which would seem to offer the opportunity for funny sight gags. Mooney and his team fumble most of their chances, though, leaving that side of the story stuck in limbo where it’s not absurd enough to be hilarious or scary enough to really count as horror.

Martell, Dennison, and Zegler are each rising stars who have their individual charms, but only Dennison is able to make much of an impact. Zegler, who starred in West Side Story and will soon be Snow White, is especially misused. They try to shoehorn in a cameo by Limp Biskit lead singer Fred Durst, but his appearance makes little sense and adds almost nothing to the story.

Filmmakers who want to mine nostalgia, especially in a comedy, need to really commit to the bit instead of throwing in a few references and needle drops. Mooney, who’s making his directorial debut, demonstrates little feel for timing, and so most of the film is like a car spinning its wheels, going nowhere.

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Y2K opens in theaters on December 6.

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