Weekend Event Planner

These are the 7 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

The weekend between Christmas and New Year's is not usually a prime time for new events, but this year is an exception as we wait for 2019 to begin. Featured events include a tour of a Broadway musical, an electronic music festival, circus performers, big-time college football, and a black-and-white play. You can also get an extra holiday fix courtesy of two special concerts.

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. Making plans for New Year's Eve? Here are the best parties and top restaurants for dining out that night.

Thursday, December 27

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Broadway Series: A Bronx Tale
Broadway’s hit crowd-pleaser takes audiences to the stoops of the Bronx in the 1960s, where a young man is caught between the father he loves and the mob boss he’d love to be. Bursting with high-energy dance numbers and original doo-wop tunes from the songwriter of Beauty and the Beast, A Bronx Tale is an unforgettable story of loyalty and family. It will play at Winspear Opera House through January 6.

Friday, December 28

Robert Earl Keen's Cosmic Cowboy Christmas
At this concert, Robert Earl Keen and his band will perform tongue-in-cheek holiday favorites, Keen standards, new renditions of classic holiday hits laced in bluegrass, and more. Keen has recorded 19 full-length albums, including 2015's Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions. For this concert at House of Blues Dallas, he'll be joined by opening act, Shinyribs.

Lights All Night
Lights All Night celebrates its ninth year, offering festival-goers access to some of the most sought-after electronic and dance music acts in the world. Headliners at the two-day festival, taking place on Friday and Saturday at Dallas Market Hall, will include Diplo, Tiësto, Rezz, and Gucci Mane. Other notable performers include What So Not, Anti Up, Shiba San, Ekali, Mr. Carmark, and more.

Dallas Children's Theater presents Lone Star Circus’ Forever
In a fun and daring tribute to the birth of the modern circus, Dallas’ own Lone Star Circus brings its unique brand of spectacle back for the holidays in this all-new show. Jugglers, acrobats, clowns, and four-legged performers from around the world come together to create a parade of not-to-be-forgotten moments for the entire family. The show will be at Dallas Children's Theater through January 1.

Saturday, December 29

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Notre Dame vs. Clemson
The fight for college football's national title runs through Arlington this year. In one of the two semifinals for the College Football Playoff, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will face off against the Clemson Tigers in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium. The winner will go on to play either Alabama or Oklahoma in the CFP Championship Game on January 7 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Pegasus Theatre presents Clowning Around with Murder
In Clowning Around with Murder, someone has murdered the Founder and Head Professor of the Clown College. Harry Hunsacker, world famous detective and aspiring actor, meets a variety of clowns, clues, and a copper in disguise on the trail of a murderer in clown white. The play, running through January 20 at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson, features Pegasus Theatre's trademarked Living Black & White technique, where everything is presented in black, white, and shades of gray to mimic the look of an old black-and-white film come to life on stage.

Old 97's Holiday Hoopla
The Old 97's Holiday Hoopla will feature performances by the Old 97's, DIY punk rock magician CaseyMagic, and special solo acoustic set by Rhett Miller. The Old 97's are playing in support of their first-ever collection of original Christmas songs, Love the Holidays. The concert will take place at The Statler Hotel.

A Bronx Tale will play at Winspear Opera House through January 6.

Photo by Joan Marcus

A Bronx Tale will play at Winspear Opera House through January 6.

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Movie Review

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' doc leaves truth in question

Photo courtesy of A24

Nathan Fielder and Elizabeth Holmes in You Can See Everything.

Elizabeth Holmes faced one of the most public downfalls in recent history after she was accused of defrauding investors in her health technology company, Theranos. Her subsequent indictment and conviction drew the interest of many, including, it seems, comedian/actor/filmmaker Nathan Fielder. Fielder somehow convinced Holmes and her husband, Billy Evans, to make a documentary about her final days of freedom, called You Can See Everything.

It’s not immediately clear why Fielder — who only has one previous feature-length documentary to his credit — is interested in profiling Holmes, but the approach that he and co-director Lance Oppenheim (Primetime) take is one that puts Fielder in the spotlight as much as her or Evans. Fielder looms over the couple — sometimes literally, sometimes from afar — as they care for their children, make meals, try to re-establish business relationships, and prepare for Holmes’ prison sentence, which is due to start about a month after the film begins in 2023.

Fielder quizzes Holmes and Evans about predictable subjects — such as how Theranos worked, her relationship with COO Sunny Balwani, and her conviction — and ones that are slightly off-kilter, including the miniseries The Dropout, which dramatized Holmes’ rise and fall. He is met with seeming openness by both of them — the title of the movie is uttered by Holmes at one point — but there are times where their idea of transparency doesn’t jibe with Fielder’s expectations.

Through it all, the quirky reputation that Fielder has from TV shows like Nathan for You, The Curse, and The Rehearsal colors his participation, as well. He appears sincere, if surprisingly intense, in his questioning, but there are more than a few moments where it’s fair to wonder if the whole thing is an act of performance art. That suspicion grows in the second half of the nearly three-hour film as Fielder and Oppenheim go down roads that stretch the definition of what a documentary is or can be.

The film is utterly fascinating as the filmmakers go on what seems to be a full-on exploration of the meaning of truth. Holmes and Evans, either intentionally or unintentionally, carry on conversations with Fielder with wide-open, unblinking eyes, something that conveys honesty and creepiness in equal measures. Fielder meets them with squinting expressions, looking like he’s trying to determine how candid they’re actually being.

One of the biggest things the film reveals (or does it?) is that — if she’s not a sociopath — Holmes might be someone who’s either oblivious or naive. As cryptic or strange as she can be in words and actions, Evans is even more so, and as the film progresses it’s him whose motives and ideas are called into question. Control over the narrative of the film wobbles back-and-forth between Fielder, Holmes, and Evans, and even at the end it’s unclear whose perspective has truly won out.

There is no way to accurately get across what it’s like to watch You Can See Everything for the first time. The motives of everyone involved are up in the air, resulting in a roller coaster ride that’s full of astonishment, laughs, and a number of surprises. It’s an audacious film that can’t be categorized, one that will challenge the thinking of voters when it comes time for awards season.

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You Can See Everything opens in theaters on October 16.

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