Weekend Event Planner

These are the 8 best things to do in Dallas this Christmas weekend

It's the weekend before Christmas, so it's time for a little ... Broadway? That will be the case in Dallas, as not one but two different classic Broadway musicals will be playing. In addition, you can enjoy a holiday pop-up experience, two different holiday-themed concerts, a galaxy far, far away with live orchestra accompaniment, a celebration of winter, and horse riding.

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, December 20

Holly Jolly Pop-Up
The Holly Jolly Pop-Up boasts five holiday-themed rooms, each designed to evoke different holiday memories and feelings. Room names include “Candy Cane Lane,” “Frolic in the Snow,” “Meet Under the Mistletoe,” “Presents and Bows,” “Naughty or Nice” (with a holiday spice), and a bonus room set up to help “Bring in the New Year.” The pop-up will be open every day at Level Gallery through January 5.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents The Phantom of the Opera
Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera boasts many exciting special effects, including the show’s legendary chandelier. The beloved story and thrilling score, with songs like “Music of the Night,” “All I Ask Of You,” and “Masquerade,” will play at the Music Hall at Fair Park through January 6.

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Broadway Series: Chicago
There’s never been a better time to experience Chicago, Broadway’s razzle-dazzle smash. The hit musical, which won six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, and a Grammy, is now the No. 1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history. The universal tale of fame, fortune, and all that jazz, with one show-stopping song after another, will play at Winspear Opera House through Sunday.

Vocal Majority presents The Greatest Snowman
The Greatest Snowman is a two-act show in which Frosty the Snowman decides to get into show business with a solo act at Christmastime. Ticket sales are slow, so Frosty livens up the performance and he invites the Vocal Majority to join him. Act 2 will consist of beloved and sacred Christmas songs to put the audience in the Christmas spirit. There will be five performances through Sunday at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Star Wars: A New Hope
Nothing says the holiday like Star Wars, right? Dallas Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jayce Ogren, will perform the Oscar-winning music of John Williams as Luke, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Chewbacca try to take down Darth Vader in the intergalactic classic. There will be three performances through Saturday at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Friday, December 21

Perot Museum of Nature and Science presents Winter Solstice Sunrise Celebration
You can celebrate the official start to winter at this event at Perot Museum of Nature and Science. It will feature yoga surrounded by dinosaurs in the Life Then and Now Hall; a sound-centered experience in the Gems and Minerals Hall using singing bowls, the voice, and other instruments; and a sunrise dance party in the lobby with music by DJ Sober and other performers.

Saturday, December 22

Southfork Ranch presents Trail Ride with Santa
Southfork Ranch will present its famous trail rides with a fun and festive addition: Santa Claus. The rides, taking place at 10 am, 11:30 am, and 1 pm, feature a Santa-led horseback ride through the property’s ranch land, as well as photo opportunities with Jolly Old Saint Nick in his “cowboy boot chair” or in a classic Southfork stagecoach. There will also be candy canes for all. Riders must be at least 8 years old.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert
Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 2018 tour is a completely updated presentation of their unforgettable The Ghosts of Christmas Eve. The rock opera features such fan favorites like "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24," "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Good King Joy," "Christmas Canon," "Music Box Blues," "Promises To Keep," and "This Christmas Day." There will be two performances on Saturday at American Airlines Center.

Chicago will play at Winspear Opera House through December 23.

Photo by Paul Kolnik

Chicago will play at Winspear Opera House through December 23.

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Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first but not by much

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films likeM3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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