Weekend Event Planner

These are the 18 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

This weekend across Dallas is so packed full of big events that we are going to break with format and group them by subject matter instead of dates. There is something for everybody to do over the next four days, so staying home is not an option.

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.

ART

Disney Animation: Immersive Experience
The latest immersive art event at Lighthouse ArtSpace Dallas will be Disney Animation: Immersive Experience, which takes visitors inside the greatest films of Walt Disney Animation Studios, from their very earliest, groundbreaking features to the beloved hit movies of today. Starting on April 20, it will run through at least September 4.

Dallas Art Fair
The Dallas Art Fair will include 88 international exhibitors for its 15th edition, offering collectors, arts professionals, and the public the opportunity to engage with a rich selection of modern and contemporary artworks presented by leading national and international galleries. Taking place at Fashion Industry Gallery, the fair kicks off with a VIP preview on April 20, followed by the main event, April 21-23.

Headington Companies and The Joule present EYEBORETUM
Anyone who's always wanted to get closer to The Eye, the huge eyeball in the closed-off park area across from The Joule hotel, is in luck this weekend thanks to EYEBORETUM, a three-day, all-ages affair in celebration of the Dallas Art Fair. The imaginative garden experience invites guests to see things from a new perspective by exploring surreal, vibrant landscapes throughout The Eye’s expansive lawn. The event takes place April 21-23.

FESTIVALS

USA Film Festival
The 53rd Annual USA Film Festival will feature 28 different screenings over the course of five days. Highlights include opening night films Chevalier and Judy Blume Forever, Flamin' Hot, Little Richard: I Am Everything, The Pod Generation, Master Gardener, and a Great Directors Tribute to Lasse Hallström. The festival goes on through April 23 at Angelika Film Center in Dallas.

EarthxExpo
At EarthxExpo, attendees can learn more about how to take and inspire action towards a more sustainable future worldwide. This year's conference and family-friendly expo assemble and connect citizens, educators, students, businesses, nonprofits, and global leaders to explore sustainable solutions for today’s most pressing challenges. The festival takes place April 21-23 at Fair Park.

City of Grand Prairie presents Main Street Fest
Grand Prairie's annual Main Street Fest will include live music performers, carnival rides, arts & crafts, food & beverage gardens, an array of entertainment at the Kidzone, and more. The festival takes place along - where else? - Main Street in Grand Prairie, April 21-23.

MUSIC

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "The Rite of Spring"
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will present "The Rite of Spring," conducted by Gemma New and featuring cellist Zlatomir Fung. The program will include Borodin's Polovtsian Dances, the world premiere of Katherin Balch's Cello Concerto, and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. There will be three performances at Meyerson Symphony Center, April 20-22.

Emmylou Harris in concert
A 13-time Grammy winner and Billboard Century Award recipient, Emmylou Harris’ contribution as a singer and songwriter spans 40 years. She has recorded more than 25 albums and has lent her talents to countless fellow artists’ recordings. In recognition of her remarkable career, Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008. She'll play two special shows at Longhorn Ballroom on April 22 and 23.

THEATER

WaterTower Theatre presents The Manic Monologues
When creator Zack had his first psychotic break and was diagnosed with bipolar in May 2017, he was just finishing his PhD at Stanford University — and his world imploded. Zack and his girlfriend Elisa decided to create a play based on true stories to disrupt the stigma around mental illness. It resulted in a series of vignettes they called The Manic Monologues. Making its regional premiere at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, the play runs through April 30.

Broadway Dallas presents Tootsie
Based on the Oscar-nominated film,Tootsie is a laugh-out-loud love letter to the theatre that tells the story of Michael Dorsey, a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until one show-stopping act of desperation lands him the role of a lifetime. Featuring a Tony-winning book by Robert Horn and score by 2018 Tony winner David Yazbek, the musical will run at Winspear Opera House through April 30.

Uptown Players presents Broadway Our Way '23
Uptown Players will present its 20th annual fundraiser, Broadway Our Way ’23. The production features many favorite actors from past Uptown Players seasons performing selections from Broadway shows, both past and present, all done with an Uptown Players twist. The production will have four performances, April 20-23, at Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Shakespeare Dallas presents The Henriad
Shakespeare Dallas will present staged readings of The Henriad plays - King Richard, Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2), and Henry V. William Shakespeare’s timeless stories will be explored through Play On Shakespeare’s modern verse translation, allowing audiences to understand the Shakespeare Histories like never before. Running nightly Thursday-Sunday at Samuell-Grand Amphitheater through April 30, The Henriad will feature a different play every night.

Repertory Company Theatre presents The Secret Garden the Musical
Orphaned in India, 11-year-old Mary Lennox returns to Yorkshire to live with her embittered, reclusive uncle Archibald, and his disabled son Colin. The estate’s many wonders include a magic garden which beckons the children with haunting melodies and spirits from Mary’s past who guide her through her new life. The musical will run April 21-30 at Repertory Company Theatre in Richardson.

DANCE

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents DBDT: Encore! Rising Excellence
The DBDT: Encore! Rising Excellence performance draws on the heritage and memories of Japanese and Polish choreographers who produce works with powerful athleticism and delicate gestures. Choreographer Takehiro Ueyama created Heroes to honor the dedication and preservation of citizens who played a crucial role in Japan’s recovery after World War II. Katarzyna Skarpetowska choreographed Snow Playground, an abstract work inspired by a peaceful image of swirling snow across a children’s playground. There will be performances on April 21 and 22 on Moody Performance Hall.

TITAS / Dance Unbound presents Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
For more than 60 years, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has reigned as an American “cultural ambassador to the world, with the the gifted African American dancers infusing energy and emotion into classics and new works alike. Guided by the visionary artistic director Robert Battle, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater remains the nation’s leading modern dance company. They'll perform three times on April 22 and 23 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

SPORTS

PGA TOUR Champions presents Invited Celebrity Classic
An officially sanctioned PGA TOUR Champions and Charles Schwab Cup event, the Invited Celebrity Classic features a star-studded field of 40 celebrity golfers competing alongside the pros. Celebrities playing include Tim Brown, Roger Clemens, Robbie Gould, Greg Maddux, Mike Modano, Albert Pujols, Emmitt Smith, Tony Romo, and more. The tournament, takes place at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, April 21-23.

COMEDY

Eisemann Center presents Maria Bamford
Comedian Maria Bamford is revered for her deeply personal and experimental comedy about mental illness. She starred in the surreal, semi-autobiographical Netflix comedy series, Lady Dynamite, about a comedian who suffers a nervous breakdown, and is the star of three unconventional hour-long stand-up specials. She'll perform at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts on April 23.

Nimesh Patel: The Lucky Left Tour
Fresh off performing at the Moontower Just for Laughs festival in Austin, Indian-American comedian Nimesh Patel will bring The Lucky Left Tour to Dallas. Based in New York City, Patel has written for Saturday Night Live and A Little Late with Lilly Singh, is a regular at New York’s Comedy Cellar, and has opened for Chris Rock & Aziz Ansari. He'll perform at Majestic Theatre on April 23.

Image courtesy of Lighthouse Immersive

"Disney Animation: Immersive Experience" starts at Lighthouse ArtSpace Dallas on April 20.

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Movie Review

The Magic Faraway Tree is a whimsical family lark that fails to take root

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.

With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.

The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids - Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) - are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.

Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.

Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.

Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.

There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.

A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.

With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.

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The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.

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