Weekend Event Planner

These are the 8 best things to do in Dallas this New Year's weekend

Most people will be focused on bringing in the New Year this weekend, but Christmas isn't quite done with us. In addition to a Christmas-themed concert and theater production, events will include a circus, an electronic dance music festival, a huge bowl game, theater in black and white, an annual concert tradition, and fireworks.

Below are the best ways to spend your last weekend of 2017. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, December 28

Dallas Children’s Theater presents Lone Star Circus' Cirque Joyeux
Ring in 2018 at Dallas Children's Theater with thrilling daredevils, electrifying jugglers, mesmerizing acrobats, hilarious clowns, and endearing four-legged performers. Dallas’ very own Lone Star Circus gets you up close and personal with circus stars from around the world at Cirque Joyeux, a family-friendly New Year tradition. The production will play at least twice a day through Monday.

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas by Chip Davis
Marking the 33rd anniversary of Mannheim Steamroller's annual Christmas Tour and the release of Mannheim Steamroller Christmas, Chip Davis will direct and co-produce this performance that will feature Mannheim Steamroller classics, along with dazzling multimedia effects. The concert will take place at the Pavilion at the Toyota Music Factory, which will be set up in a rare intimate theater configuration.

Friday, December 29

Lights All Night
The 8th annual Lights All Night will once again celebrate New Year's Eve at Dallas Market Hall, offering festival-goers of all ages access to some of the most sought-after electronic acts across the globe. Performers will feature EDM heavyweights Bassnectar and Porter Robinson (DJ set) as headliners, along with Marshmello, Illenium, NGHTMRE, Seven Lions, Ugly God, Smokepurpp, and many more.

Goodyear Cotton Bowl: USC vs. Ohio State
Bowl season in Dallas-Fort Worth wraps up with the 2017 edition of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. Even though it won't have any say in who will win the national championship, the bowl game at AT&T Stadium will feature a stellar matchup between the USC Trojans of the Pac-12 Conference and the Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference.

Pegasus Theatre presents A Minor Case of Murder
With the help of his best friend (and paid-by-the-hour assistant) Nigel Grouse, and the long-suffering Detective Lt. Foster of the Metropolitan Police, world-famous detective and aspiring actor Harry Hunsacker will go on an all-new adventure. The production, running through January 28 at the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson, is in Living Black & White, a technique which uses trade-secret makeup, special lighting, meticulous costumes and sets, and stylized acting to create the illusion that the audience is watching a black-and-white movie brought to life on stage.

Saturday, December 30

Bob Schneider in concert with Roxy Roca and Ryan Berg & The Velvet Ears
Although he appears locally on multiple occasions throughout the year, it's become a tradition for Austin-based musician Bob Schneider to return for an end-of-the-year show in Dallas. For this concert at Granada Theater, Schneider will be joined by opening acts Roxy Roca and Ryan Berg & The Velvet Ears.

Sunday, December 31

AT&T Streaming Lights at Reunion Tower
While there are plenty of ways to celebrate the beginning of the new year, the most explosive way is with the annual fireworks shot off from Reunion Tower. You're not allowed to set up camp in the footprint of the tower, so scout out a place on the west side of the Trinity River, along the levees and Trinity Overlook Park, then watch and listen to the radio simulcast on NOW 102.9 FM.

Monday, January 1

Lightwire Theater presents A Very Electric Christmas
With New Year's Day falling on a Monday this year, you can extend your weekend activities with Lightwire Theater's A Very Electric Christmas, which will have two performances at Winspear Opera House. In this story, a young bird named Max gets blown off course during a snowstorm, and he ends up alone and lost at the North Pole. He encounters many fanciful creatures in a magical tale of family, friendship, and hope set to timeless holiday hits.

Lone Star Circus' Cirque Joyeux will play every day through January 1 at Dallas Children's Theater.

Dallas Children's Theater presents Lone Star Circus Holiday Spectacular

Photo courtesy of Lone Star Circus

Lone Star Circus' Cirque Joyeux will play every day through January 1 at Dallas Children's Theater.

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Movie Review

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney go off in trashy film The Housemaid

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

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The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

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