Weekend Event Planner

Holiday events galore dominate the best things to do in Dallas this weekend

December naturally brings lots of holiday-related events, but few weekends this year have had as many big events happening as this one does. Even with the presence of a few top entertainers, holiday events dominate the landscape. Consequently, we'll be breaking down the massive list into categories instead of by day to underscore the number and variety of options available to you.

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.

Theater

Broadway Dallas presents Shucked
The lone non-holiday theater offering will be the national tour of Shucked, a Tony Award-winning musical comedy featuring songs by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. The corn-fed, corn-bred American musical is about a small-town girl who must travel to the big city in order to try to save the corn that sustains her community. The production runs December 5-15 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

CenterStage Theatre Works presents Elf the Musical
Based on the beloved 2002 movie, Elf the Musical is a feel-good, ultra-silly, heartwarming show. Buddy the Elf’s larger-than-life antics light up New York City with childlike wonder. The production runs December 5-15 at Frisco Discovery Center.

The Firehouse Theatre presents Annie
With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone's hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. A ward of a New York City orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan, Annie escapes to New York, going on adventure after fun-filled adventure. The production runs December 5-22 at The Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch.

Bishop Arts Theatre Center presents Black Nativity
Inspired by Langston Hughes's 1960 Broadway production, Black Nativity returns with hand-clapping, toe-tapping, and finger-snapping theatrical wonderment for the 20th anniversary production at Bishop Arts Theatre Center. The holiday favorite is the heartwarming retelling of the Nativity story that includes Gospel music, dramatic dance, and biblical narrative. The production runs December 5-22.

Garland Civic Theatre presents Little Women
Based on Louisa May Alcott's 1868-69 semi-autobiographical novel, Little Women focuses on the four March sisters: traditional Meg, wild and aspiring writer Jo, timid Beth, and romantic Amy. They are with their beloved Marmee at home in Concord, Massachusetts, while their father is away serving as a Union Army chaplain during the Civil War. The production runs December 6-22 at Granville Arts Center in Garland.

Theatre Arlington presents Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn, the beloved film classic, comes to the stage in a charming crowd-pleaser featuring one glorious Irving Berlin number after another, each celebrating a different festivity. The production runs December 6-22 at Theatre Arlington.

Lewisville Playhouse presents Forever Plaid
In Forever Plaid. the dreams of a quartet of high-school chums of recording an album ends in death in a collision with a bus filled with Catholic schoolgirls on their way to see the Beatles' American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. The revue begins with the Plaids returning from the afterlife for one final chance at musical glory. The production runs December 6-22 at Lewisville Playhouse.

Uptown Players presents A Queer Carol
A Queer Carol, an LGBTQ+ adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, is a contemporary retelling set in modern-day Manhattan. It follows "Ben" Scrooge, a prominent interior decorator, and his assistant Bob Cratchit, who endures the abuses of Scrooge while simultaneously trying to take care of his lover, Tim. The production runs December 6-15 at Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Richardson Theatre Centre presents Rockabilly Christmas: A Christmas Radio Play
It's 1958, and America's favorite radio station is celebrating the Yuletide with that crazy new sound sweeping the country - Rockabilly. The whole town is abuzz, and why not; the live lineup features a dark-haired, hip-swinging young singer from Memphis. Rockabilly Christmas: A Christmas Radio Play will feature local performers singing Christmas songs and producing an old-fashioned radio play. The production runs December 6-22 at Richardson Theatre Centre.

Theatre Coppell presents A Christmas Carol
Scrooge hates Christmas and despises any sentimentality that leads to good will and charity, even toward his own family. It takes ghosts with a dire prophecy to convince him that mankind should be everyone’s business. The production runs December 6-22 at Coppell Arts Center.

Holiday festivals

The City of Garland presents A Garland Christmas on the Square
The City of Garland will present their annual tree lighting ceremony as part of their festive celebration, Christmas on the Square. Visitors can enjoy live music from Q the Band alongside Christmas carolers, real reindeer, and a snow hill. They can also capture memories with Santa Claus, savor treats from local vendors and restaurants, and explore artisan crafts at the Urban Market. The event, taking place in Downtown Garland, will include a lighted tunnel, synthetic ice-skating rink, and train rides. The event takes place on December 5.

Klyde Warren Park presents Tree Lighting Celebration
Klyde Warren Park's annual Tree Lighting Celebration includes an afternoon of family-friendly activities, an array of food trucks serving holiday-inspired treats, and culminates with the lighting of "The Mayor’s Tree" in the heart of the park. That event, taking place on December 7, is just the prelude to...

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Reliant Lights Your Holidays
Visitors to Klyde Warren Park can walk across the street to Sammons Park on the AT&T Performing Arts Center campus for Reliant Lights Your Holidays, also on December 7. The event will feature performances by Jackopierce, NRG Party Band, and more; a holiday vendor market; thousands of LED lights; a Christmas-themed drone show; a wintery snow playground; and more. For long lists of spectacular local Christmas lights, go here and here.

City of Farmers Branch presents A Christmas Carnival
The Farmers Branch Historical Park will transform into A Christmas Carnival, featuring holiday treats and eats; carnival rides; live entertainment from Stargazer, Lady Diamond, and local school shows; Dasher’s Silent Disco; roaming holiday characters; and Santa Claus. For the finale, the event - taking place on December 7 - will include a holiday drone show and fireworks display.

Dance

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents Black on Black
Black on Black is an intimate evening with Dallas Black Dance Theatre and DBDT: Encore!, an exhibition of never-before-seen premiere works choreographed exclusively by DBDT dancers, for the dancers. Guests can enjoy a pre-show reception featuring light bites and refreshments, and an afterparty with a live DJ set. The event takes place on December 6 and 7 at the Dallas Black Dance Theatre studios.

Avant Chamber Ballet presents The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker, performed with a live orchestra, tells the story of Clara and her adventures with the Nutcracker Prince as they journey through the Land of Sweets. Featuring vibrant costumes, stunning choreography, and a professional cast of dancers, the production from Avant Chamber Ballet is a holiday tradition. The production will have four performances, December 6-8, at Moody Performance Hall.

Ballet Ensemble of Texas presents The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker rings in the holiday season with humor, tradition, and splendor. Guest artists will include alumni Breanne Granlund and Carlos Gonzalez, soloists with American Ballet Theatre. More than 200 young dancers from the Ballet Academy of Texas will also be part of this production, which will have four performances on December 7 and 8 at Irving Arts Center.

Music

Justin Timberlake in concert
In any other weekend, a visit from Justin Timberlake would be the undisputed highlight. Part of The Forget Tomorrow World Tour, Timberlake's first tour in five years, this concert will feature the pop singer performing songs from his latest album, Everything I Thought It Was, his first new album since Man of the Woods in 2018. The concert takes place at American Airlines Center on December 6.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Christmas Pops
The tradition of Christmas Pops continues with the Dallas Symphony Chorus performing anthems, classical holiday favorites, and sing-along carols. Vocalists will join the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony Chorus to bring a bit of Christmas magic to Meyerson Symphony Center. The main event takes place December 6-15; parents can also choose the shorter Family Christmas Pops on December 7 and 14, a one-hour long performance featuring the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas.

Fantasia in concert
Former American Idol winner Fantasia has not been as hugely successful as fellow champions Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood, but she has firmly established herself in the R&B genre. She's also been a big part of The Color Purple musical, starring on Broadway, a national tour, and the 2023 film adaptation. She'll perform at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie on December 6, joined by special guest Avery Sunshine.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Christmas Pops at Meyerson Symphony Center, December 6-15.

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Movie Review

Film sequel Jurassic World Rebirth: stillborn is more like it

Photo by Jasin Boland/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

Scarlett Johannson in Jurassic World Rebirth.

Given how successful the Jurassic Park / Jurassic World franchise has been at the box office, it’s no surprise that Universal Pictures will find any excuse to keep the gravy train rolling. So here comes Jurassic World Rebirth, a film with all new characters that only has a tangential relationship to the stories that have come before.

And, man, does it have a lot of characters. Leading the way is Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johannson), a woman who is known for being able to procure hard-to-get things. She’s hired by Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), who works for a medical company looking to get blood samples from giant dinosaurs to make a life-saving heart medicine. Naturally, they need a dinosaur expert, which they find in Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey), whose work at a natural history museum is coming to an end as the public seems to be growing tired of dinosaurs, five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion.

The dinosaurs they need can be found off the coast of Suriname, a subtropical environment that is one of the only hospitable areas left for the creatures. There Zora recruits boat captain Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), who comes with a crew of three mostly anonymous people. And for good measure, Reuben Delgado (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) happens to be sailing nearby in the middle of an ocean voyage with his two daughters and his older daughter’s extremely lazy boyfriend.

Given the recent pedigree of director Gareth Edwards (The Creator, Rogue One) and original Jurassic Park writer David Koepp (returning to the franchise for the first time since 1997’s The Lost World), the film should be an unmitigated success. Instead, the filmmakers and their team stumble blindly through any kind of character development. The fact that they’re trying to introduce no fewer than 11 different people should be a big flashing red light, but still they persist.

Instead of making us care whether the people in the film live or die (spoiler alert: A lot of them die), Edwards and Koepp seem to lay all of their hopes on audiences being satisfied with yet-more dino mayhem. But dinosaurs rampaging or chomping people in half only works if the human component is compelling, which it is not. They try to gloss over this by having the characters encounter experimental cross-bred creatures, a story device that makes an impact with a monstrous one in the final act, but otherwise fails to land.

The film also yada-yadas a lot of the plot points, including how Krebs’ company knows they need the blood of these particular dinosaurs when they’ve never had it before. They reference events from previous films in oblique ways, but they run into the same issue every Jurassic World film has had: Not being able to properly explain the main premise of their story, given that previous events should have stopped them from ever happening.

Any film with an Oscar winner (Ali) and nominee (Johannson) at the top should be one worth watching, but it almost feels like neither actor knew what kind of film they were actually making. They each get by on charm, but even they can’t sell the nonsense they’re asked to say. Bailey, who played Fiyero in Wicked, is given a weird nothing part, while Friend plays the villain with little verve. We hardly get to know anyone else, but Audrina Miranda, who plays the youngest daughter on the sailboat, is super-cute and gets a couple of decent emotional moments.

As with the Marvel movies, there is bound to come a time when the general moviegoing public gets tired of being served mediocre Jurassic movies. If any of the franchise’s movies deserves to be the stopping point, it’s this one, with a non-starter of a story and little to get excited about when it comes to the dinosaurs.

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Jurassic World Rebirth opens in theaters on July 2.

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