Weekend Event Planner

These are the 14 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

It's another big weekend in and around Dallas, including five concerts featuring well-known singers or bands, two new local theater productions, a famous comedian, the start of a new opera season, and more.

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, October 6

The Firehouse Theatre presents Catch Me If You Can
Seeking fame and fortune, precocious teenager Frank Abignale, Jr. runs away from home to begin an unforgettable adventure. With nothing more than his boyish charm, a big imagination and millions of dollars in forged checks, Frank successfully poses as a pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer, living the high life and winning the girl of his dreams. The musical comedy about chasing your dreams and not getting caught will play at The Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch through October 23.

Craig Ferguson: The Fancy Rascal Tour
Craig Ferguson is an actor, writer, producer, director, and comedian with a diverse career that encompasses film, television, and the stage. He is a bestselling author, has recorded numerous standup specials, and was the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, which ran on CBS for 10 years. He'll perform at Majestic Theatre.

Friday, October 7

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Hélène Grimaud Plays Brahms"
Wildlife conservationist, activist, writer, and virtuosic pianist Hélène Grimaud returns to Dallas to perform Brahms’ First Piano Concerto, the composer’s first performed orchestral work. The symphony will also perform Franck’s Symphony in D minor, which is being reintroduced by conductors like Fabio Luisi with a passion for exposing lost masterpieces to new audiences. There will be three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

The Doobie Brothers in concert
The Doobie Brothers are a classic rock band whose sound has come to be associated with the term "yacht rock." Debuting in 1971, the group - which has famously featured singer Michael McDonald off and on for most of its history - has a number of indelible hits, including "Listen to the Music," "Black Water," "What a Fool Believes, and more. They'll play at Majestic Theatre as part of their 50th anniversary tour, which is in support of their 2021 album, Liberté.

Cara Mia Theatre presents Latinidades Theatre Fest: ¡Estar Guars!
In a loving homage to live comedy, original videos, and visual spectacle, ¡Estar Guars! re-creates the classic sci-fi rebellion as a modern-day Resistencia, complete with Galactic Walls, space chanclas, migrant moisture farmers, fearless princesas, mystical abuelas, and the targeting of Sanctuary Planetas by an evil empire determined to MAGGA (Make A Galaxy Great Again). The finale of Cara Mia Theatre's Latinidades Theatre Fest will play at Latino Cultural Center through Sunday.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents DanceAfrica
The 17th annual DanceAfrica will feature African culture flowing through the music and dance of DBDT and DBDT: Encore!, along with the Allegro Performing Ensemble, the Senior Performing Ensemble, and the Junior Performing Ensemble of Dallas Black Dance Academy. Also performing will be guest artist Giwayen Mata, the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Dance Conservatory, and the DeSoto A Cappella Choir and Varsity Women. The festival takes place on Friday and Saturday at Moody Performance Hall.

Saturday, October 8

Morgan Wallen in concert
Few entertainers have had a better start to their careers than country singer Morgan Wallen. His 2018 debut If I Know Me went double platinum and yielded a No. 1 hit, "Whiskey Glasses." His follow-up, 2021's Dangerous: The Double Album, has been even bigger, going to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was named Album of the Year at the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards. He'll play at an appropriately big venue, Globe Life Field in Arlington, as part of his first headlining tour.

The Dallas Opera presents Rigoletto
Treachery, seduction, and a raging father dead set on revenge. Rigoletto - he’s the jaded jester paid to make others laugh in the debauched court of Mantua. But when his innocent daughter is cruelly seduced by the predatory Duke, Rigoletto stops being funny and vows revenge. Seething with rage, he launches an elaborate plot to avenge his beloved child. But everything goes terribly, terribly wrong... The opera will have four performances through October 16 at Winspear Opera House.

Turtle Creek Chorale presents That '70s Show: Sing-Along Sensation
That '70s Show: Sing-Along Sensation features songs that made the '70s one of the most amazing decades for music, not to mention the social and political shift that unfolded during the truly revolutionary time in people's lives. The special concert will give audiences a chance to join the Turtle Creek Chorale and celebrate the exciting, provocative, and fabulous music of the storied decade. There will be two performances - one Saturday and one Sunday - at McFarlin Auditorium on the SMU campus.

Bonnie Raitt in concert
Blues singer and guitarist Bonnie Raitt has been performing for over 50 years, although she didn't achieve breakthrough success until her 10th album, 1989's Nick of Time. It was her follow-up album, Luck of the Draw, which made her a superstar, thanks to hits like "Something to Talk About" and "I Can't Make You Love Me." She'll play at Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie in support of her new album, Just Like That..., joined by Marc Cohn.

Eisemann Center presents Paul Taylor Dance Company
The Paul Taylor Dance Company is one of the world’s most sought-after dance troupes. The dancers, led by Artistic Director Michael Novak, perform Taylor's repertoire and works by contemporary choreographers. Dances on the program for this performance at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson include Paul Taylor's Arden Court, Taylor's Scudorama, and Rush Hour 1 by Larry Keigwin.

Roger Waters in concert
During this concert at American Airlines Center, part of Roger Waters' This is Not a Drill tour, he will give an indictment of the corporate dystopia in which we all struggle to survive, and a call to action to love, protect, and share the precious and precarious planet Earth. The show will include a dozen songs from Pink Floyd's golden era, alongside other newer songs.

Sunday, October 9

Nasher Sculpture Center presents Magali Reus: "A Sentence in Soil" closing day
Sunday will be the final day to view Magali Reus: "A Sentence in Soil" at Nasher Sculpture Center. Reus' second major U.S. show features an installation that examines the relationships between people and objects through the distortion of common images. The artist reimagines commonly found objects such as “No Parking” signs or dehumidifiers to take on new lives.

Monday, October 10

Courtesy photo

Legendary Bonnie Raitt will play at Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie on October 8.

The Chicks in concert
We're extending the list past the weekend to note a rare two-day appearance by a big band. The last time The Chicks came to town in 2016, they still had the word "Dixie" attached to their name. But in 2020, in conjunction with the release of their latest album, Gaslighter, they decided to drop that part since it came with unintended negative connotations. They'll play on both Monday and Tuesday at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

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Movie review

Adam Scott gets creeped out exploring eerie Irish hotel in Hokum

Photo courtesy of Neon

Adam Scott in Hokum.

There are relatively few actors who can switch back and forth between comedy and drama easily, but Adam Scott is the rare exception. He’s equally as well known for starring in comedy projects like Parks & Recreation, Party Down, and Step Brothers as he is for dramas like Big Little Lies and Severance. He’s going the latter route again in the new horror film, Hokum.

Scott plays author Ohm Bauman, who’s trying to finish his latest book. In an effort to avoid distractions and also pay tribute to his parents, he retreats to an Irish hotel where his mom and dad spent their honeymoon. Bauman, who is about as stand-offish as you can get, and the staff of the hotel are at odds almost right away, although Bauman finds a kind of kinship with Jerry (David Wilmot), a seemingly-homeless man he meets in a nearby forest.

Bauman becomes intrigued with the story of the hotel’s closed-off honeymoon suite, which is said to be haunted. His curiosity, though, seems to trigger a variety of strange things, one of which ends with him in an extended stay at the hospital. He returns to the hotel determined more than ever to discover what’s really happening in the honeymoon suite, with things both normal and supernatural blocking his way at every turn.

Written and directed by Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy, the film’s approach to horror is both subtle and overt. On the good side is Bauman’s story, which gradually gets deeper as more is revealed about his past, especially the premature death of his mother. Bauman’s trauma over her loss influences his thinking and actions, and a possible connection between his current situation and his personal history broadens the scope of the plot.

There is plenty of creepiness to be found in the film, starting with the dark and decrepit nature of the hotel itself. Any building where a particular room is off-limits naturally inspires intrigue, and McCarthy does a solid job of building tension. That’s why it’s strange and disappointing that he gives in to the lamest of horror tropes - a sudden appearance by an odd-looking person accompanied by a big screeching noise - on multiple occasions.

The film is at its best when it features weird moments that are never or only slightly explained. A dead body in a rabbit suit is echoed by the unexplained broadcast from Bauman’s youth featuring a terrifying TV host with bulging eyes and rabbit ears. Bauman’s explorations take him into the hotel’s basement via a dumbwaiter, where he encounters all manner of strange things, including what seem to be witches. Because most of these things are left to the audience’s imagination, they hit harder in the moment.

Scott is known to be understated in his acting, and that skill works well in this particular role. Although he clearly plays Bauman as freaked out, he never indicates panic, and that level-headedness makes his character someone you want to follow no matter how dark the path might be. The mostly-Irish supporting cast is not well-known, but Wilmot and Florence Ordesh make the most of their short time on screen.

Hokum - a title that is also not explained - is a horror film that earns its bona fides through mood more than action. Even though not much of consequence happens throughout the film, it still keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what will happen next.

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Hokum is now playing in theaters.

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