Weekend Event Planner

These are the 11 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Big names litter the landscape in and around Dallas this weekend, appearing at a film event, two stand-up comedy performances, a trio of concerts, and a pro-am tennis competition. You can also attend a hot air balloon festival, a classical music concert, a theater festival, and the newest immersive art exhibition.

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

Thursday, September 22

HEB | Central Market Plano Balloon Festival
The Plano Balloon Festival is a multi-day event at Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve that features balloons glows, skydivers, hot air balloons, concerts, fireworks, a huge kid’s fun zone, merchandise vendors, corporate exhibitors, and variety of foods. There will also be a half marathon, relay, 5K run/walk, and 1-mile Fun Run. On opening night will be a performance by the Plano Symphony Orchestra, featuring movie favorites. The festival takes place through Sunday.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Symphonic Dances"
The latest concert from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra looks at America from three distinct viewpoints. The fantasy world of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft inspired Connesson’s "Celephais" from Cities of Lovecraft. James Agee’s poem depicting a summer evening in a sleepy southern town is represented musically in Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Rachmaninoff blends his love of his new American home with nostalgia for his native Russia in his Symphonic Dances. The concert, featuring conductor Stéphane Denève and soprano Jeanine De Bique, will play three times through Saturday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Dallas VideoFest presents The Ernie Kovacs Award Honoring Al Franken
Dallas VideoFest will award comedian and former U.S. Senator, Al Franken, best known for his work on the NBC staple Saturday Night Live, with the coveted Ernie Kovacs Award. Immediately following the event at Texas Theatre will be a screening of the 2006 documentary, Al Franken: God Spoke. VIP admission will include an exclusive reception before the event with Franken.

Cara Mia Theatre presents Latinidades Theatre Fest
Cara Mia Theatre's annual multi-weekend Latinidades Theatre Fest starts with two events. On Thursday will be the Opening Night Celebration, featuring an outdoor ceremony with a mask performance, live music, danza, and food. The initial production is Pachuquísmo, a multi-disciplinary show on Friday and Saturday that explores history, culture, and rhythm through the lens of the Mexican American pachucas that American society tried to eradicate. Both events are at Latino Cultural Center.

Friday, September 23

Immersive King Tut: Magic Journey to the Light
The newest immersive exhibit at Lighthouse Dallas, Immersive King Tut: Magic Journey to the Light features the most famous of Egyptian rulers, the Pharaoh Tutankhamun, bringing to life the story of King Tut’s passage into the afterlife as he escorts the sun through the underworld each night to rise again victoriously each morning. Launched to commemorate the 100th anniversary of archeologist Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb of the legendary “boy king” in November 1922, the exhibit will be on display through at least November 13.

Nick Swardson: "Make Joke From Face" Tour
Comedian Nick Swardson is known for his roles in multiple Adam Sandler movies, his character Terry on Reno 911!, Grandma’s Boy, Bucky Larson, and his own shows, Comedy Central’s Pretend Time and Typical Rick. Touring what’s to be his sixth stand up special, Swardson will take audiences on a journey of smells and laughter. He'll perform at Majestic Theatre.

Roxy Music in concert
Roxy Music is touring for the first time in more than a decade to mark the 50th anniversary of their groundbreaking debut album, with band members Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera, and Paul Thompson together on stage for the first time since 2011. Regarded as one of the most influential bands of all time, whose work has inspired generations of musicians, they'll play at American Airlines Center, with support from Dallas singer St. Vincent.

Saturday, September 24

ZZ Top in concert
When original bassist/vocalist Dusty Hill died in 2021, it was fair to wonder if that was the end for legendary Texas rock band ZZ Top. But the surviving band members — Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard — have made it clear they have no intention of retiring, continuing to tour, with Elwood Francis, Hill's guitar tech, taking his place. They'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion.

Camilo in concert
Colombian singer Camilo has an enviable musical track record, along with one of the sweetest 'staches going today. His debut album, accurately called Por Primera Vez, was released just after the start of the pandemic in 2020, but still went to No. 1 on the Billboard US Latin Pop charts. He's released two more albums in as many years since, including the new De Adentro Pa Afuera, both of which have charted highly. He'll perform at American Airlines Center.

Sunday, September 25

Dirk Nowitzki Pro Celebrity Tennis Classic
Returning after a three-year break, the fifth annual Dirk Nowitzki Pro Celebrity Tennis Classic takes place at SMU Tennis Center, hosted by the beloved NBA champ and Dallas Mavericks legend. Joining Dirk for the one-day charity pro-am competition will be Luka Dončić, JJ Barea, former tennis pros Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, and Mark Knowles, and more.

Kevin James in concert
We all know Kevin James from his sitcom The King of Queens and movies like Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Hitch, and Grown Ups, but long before he was a star, he was a stand-up comedian traveling the country. In the last few years, he's gotten back to his stand-up roots, something he'll prove in this special show at Majestic Theatre.

Photo by Brian Cooke

Roxy Music will play at American Airlines Center on September 23.

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Movie Review

Michael Jackson can do no wrong in fawning biopic Michael

Photo by Glen Wilson

Jaafar Jackson in Michael

Among the complicated figures in pop culture history, Michael Jackson has to be at or near the top. On one hand, he’s responsible for some of the most enduring music of all time, thrilling generations with his voice and dance moves. But his later years were marred by accusations of child sexual abuse and erratic behavior, including his premature death at the age of 50.

So the new biopic Michael is a tough one to judge from a critical standpoint, not least because director Antoine Fuqua and writer John Logan have elided - perhaps temporarily - the thornier parts of Michael’s history. Instead, this film focuses on the 20-year period in which Michael (played as an adult by Michael’s nephew Jaafar Jackson) goes from the prepubescent lead singer of the Jackson 5 to one of the biggest music superstars of all time.

That choice puts an overly sympathetic tint to Michael’s story, as he spends most of that time under the thumb of his domineering father, Joseph (Colman Domingo). Joseph has a vision for Michael and his brothers, and he pushes them hard in a quest to become rich and famous. Even when they achieve that goal, though, Joseph refuses to let up, holding onto Michael even when it’s clear he should go out on his own.

As a reminder of the enormous impact Michael Jackson had on the music industry and world at large, the film is successful. Fuqua and Logan include plenty of music, naturally, but they seem to be most interested in depicting Michael as a human being. They lay it on thick, whether it’s showing him spending time among his family members away from the stage, hanging out with bodyguard Bill Bray (KeiLyn Durrel Jones), or visiting sick kids in hospitals. The message that Michael is a harmless, good person couldn’t be clearer.

The film hints at but doesn’t really explore Michael’s oddities. His obsession with kids literature and movies, especially Peter Pan, are seen as inoffensive quirks, as is his menagerie of animals, including a creepy CGI version of Bubbles the chimp. His arrested development seems to be partially blamed on his parents treating him like a child well into his adulthood, and the resulting fallout is not (yet) addressed.

Many viewers will be most interested in the music sequences, and - save for some repetitive shots of fans fainting at the mere presence of Michael - they are handled well. Whether it’s at home, in the studio, on the set of the “Thriller” video, or at live performances, the film manages to fully get across just what a phenomenon Michael was at his peak. The staging and editing of each scene is dynamic, complementing Michael’s other-worldly abilities well.

If there is one reason to see the film, it is the performance of Jaafar Jackson. Whether he’s capable of doing any other kind of role is undetermined, but his portrayal of his uncle is compelling, as he demonstrates singing, dancing, and acting skills in equal measure. He’s aided by an equally great performance by Domingo, who - with the help of facial prosthetics - overcomes the trope of the bad father. Nia Long and Larenz Tate are also good in smaller roles, but Miles Teller is an odd presence as Michael’s manager.

There are reports that legal complications prevented the filmmakers from using previously-shot scenes delving into accusations against Michael, and there are rumors that a second film will be made about the last 20 years of his life. But that speculation can’t absolve Michael of showing all the positive aspects of Michael Jackson’s life and not even touching any of the negative ones.

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Michael opens in theaters on April 24.

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