Weekend Event Planner

Festivals top the 15 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Mid-May is prime festival season in and around Dallas, and three more will be held this weekend, if you can stand the heat. Other choices include three local theater productions, two symphony concerts, two rodeo events, two dance productions, the start of an art exhibition, a well-known comedian, and a concert by a big pop star.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. If you want more options, check out the calendar for an even longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, May 15

The Firehouse Theatre presents The Wedding Singer
The Wedding Singer takes viewers back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room. Based on the hit Adam Sandler movie, The Wedding Singer's score does for the '80s what Hairspray did for the '60s. The production runs through June 1 at The Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5"
The first of two Beethoven-themed concerts by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra this week features conductor Jonathan Heyward and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, who will be the soloist for Beethoven’s final piano concerto, “Emperor.” The evening concludes with Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony. There will be three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Friday, May 16

City of Grapevine presents 41st Annual Main Street Fest
The 41st Annual Main Street Fest is a family-friendly event featuring live music, craft brew and wine experiences, food and unique shopping. Visitors can enjoy the Carnival and Midway, explore the KidZone and experience Texan-sized fun all weekend long. Country star Neal McCoy will be the headlining performer for the festival, which takes place through Sunday in Historic Downtown Grapevine.

Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival
The annual Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival features live performances by national, regional, and local bands. Headlining bands will include The Revivalists, Cold War Kids, Young the Giant, NEEDTOBREATHE, and Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. Over the course of the festival, nearly 50 bands will perform on various stages. The event also includes kids activities, roaming performers, food, and more. The event takes place in Galatyn Park Urban Center outside of Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson through Sunday.

Professional Bull Riders presents Kid Rock's Rock N Rodeo
The big PBR weekend in Arlington kicks off with Kid Rock's Rock N Rodeo, a music-infused event that features Kid Rock live in concert. Six teams, each led by a legendary rodeo head coach, will compete head-to-head in bracket-style competition across barrel racing, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, and breakaway roping. The event takes place AT&T Stadium.

Art Centre Theatre presents Southern Fried Nuptials
Harlene Frye is going to marry her childhood sweetheart this weekend ... assuming the typical Frye family hijinks don’t derail the wedding. Harlene and Attie’s future together is threatened when the bride-to-be’s awful ex-flame shows up with information she doesn’t want her fiancé to find out. The production runs through June 1 at Art Centre Theatre in Plano.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents Spring Celebration
Dallas Black Dance Theatre's annual Spring Celebration will feature the world premiere of Kareem B. Goodwin’s Building the Beat, along with two audience favorites: Allyne D. Gartrell’s My Inspiration and Christopher L. Huggins’ Night Run. There will be performances on Friday and Saturday at Wyly Theatre.

Teatro Dallas presents El Otro
A simple ride to retrieve a birthday gift sends a young teenage girl named Romy and her two fathers on a phantasmagoric ride through a harrowing night. Lupe, her birth father, forces her to choose between him and Ben, the fresh-faced Fort Bliss soldier who recently married her mother. The winner gets to live. The production runs through May 31 at Latino Cultural Center.

Texas Ballet Theater presents Giselle
Closing Texas Ballet Theater's season is the world premiere of Giselle, where Artistic Director Tim O’Keefe intricately builds upon the foundational choreography of Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa to present his own interpretation of the iconic masterpiece. Set to the hauntingly beautiful composition of Adolphe Adam, the production tells the tragic tale of love, betrayal, and redemption. There will be four performances through Sunday at Winspear Opera House.

Saturday, May 17

Art & Soul of Kaleidoscope Park
Kaleidoscope Park in Frisco will present the inaugural Art & Soul of Kaleidoscope Park, a two-day celebration of creativity and community that will showcase 30 artists from North Texas and beyond. The featured artists, selected by a jury of Frisco arts advocates, include Suzy Jones, Jennifer Luney, Donna Schmittler, and Rick Chambers, representing a diverse mix of mediums, from ceramics and glass to digital art, drawing, mixed media, and more. The event takes place on Saturday and Sunday.

Nasher Sculpture Center presents "Generations: 150 Years of Sculpture" opening day
Nasher Sculpture Center will present its 2025 summer show, "Generations: 150 Years of Sculpture." Drawn from the Nasher’s permanent collection, the new selection of works features numerous recent acquisitions and offers conversations about the possibilities for sculpture, both past and present. The exhibition features over 50 works of art by 24 artists, with sculptures by Nairy Baghramian, Kevin Beasley, Huma Bhabha, Anthony Caro, Jaume Plensa, Jean Tinguely, and others. The exhibition will remain on display through August 24.

Texas Theatre presents Ramy Youssef
Comedian Ramy Youssef comes to Dallas as part as of his love beam 7000 tour. Youssef created, produces, directs, and stars in the Hulu show Ramy, inspired by his own experiences centering around a first-generation Egyptian-American Muslim on a spiritual journey in his politically divided New Jersey neighborhood. He'll perform at Texas Theatre.

Halsey in concert
Pop/R&B singer Halsey is 10 years into her career, one that has been a success since the beginning. All five of her albums finished either No. 1 or No. 2 on the Billboard 200, including her latest, 2024's The Great Impersonator. Along the way, she's collaborated with other notable artists across multiple genres, including G-Eazy, Benny Blanco, Yungblud, Kelsea Ballerini, Marshmello, and Justin Timberlake. She'll perform at Dos Equis Pavilion.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Beethoven X Beyoncé"
Composer/conductor Steve Hackman will present a new blend of pop/R&B’s queen and classical music’s king as Beyoncé’s iconic repertoire is interwoven with Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. The symphonic world’s most joyful celebration of dance becomes the backdrop to 15 of Beyoncé’s chart-topping hits, including “Girls,” “Crazy in Love,” “Single Ladies,” “Sorry,” “Halo,” “Cuff It,” and “Texas Hold ‘Em” in the innovative new musical fusion. The concert takes place at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Professional Bull Riders World Finals: Championship
Professional Bull Riders will present the climatic end of the battle for the 2025 PBR World Championship. Following four rounds of competition, the bull rider with the most world points will be crowned the World Champion, earning the $1 million bonus, and coveted gold buckle. The competition takes place on Saturday and Sunday at AT&T Stadium.

Photo courtesy of Halsey

Halsey will perform at Dos Equis Pavilion on May 117.

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Movie Review

Chris Pratt plays one man against the AI machine in thriller Mercy

Photo courtesy Amazon Content Services

Chris Pratt in Mercy.

It seems like every other movie set in modern times being released these days includes either a reference to or a plot revolving around artificial intelligence. In the real world, the benefits of the technology compete with its downsides, but when it comes to movies A.I. is almost always seen as a threat, including in the new film Mercy.

The audience is thrown headlong into the slightly futuristic story involving LAPD Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt), who finds himself strapped in a chair in a sparse room, being told that he is on trial for killing his wife. Turns out he’s in a court dubbed “Mercy,” which is overseen by an AI judge named Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson). By the rules of the court, Raven has 90 minutes to provide reasonable doubt of his guilt, or he will be executed on the spot.

Raven is in a multi-pronged quandary: Not only does he believe he’s innocent despite a trove of evidence pointing to his guilt, but he’s also the poster boy for the law enforcement side of the equation, having arrested the first man who went to Mercy. Anger and disbelief for Raven turn into acceptance, which then turns into him tapping into his detective skills, scrutinizing every shred of evidence the court provides him in a desperate attempt to save his own life.

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov and written by Marco van Belle, the film is a relatively propulsive thriller despite having a so-so story and even worse acting. The film is told in real time (with a few fudges here and there), so the concept alone of a man trying to prove his innocence in a short amount of time provides good intrigue. Bekmambetov’s use of digital elements as Raven scrolls through files or calls potentially exculpatory witnesses like his partner, Jaq Diallo (Kali Reis), keeps the film visually interesting.

On the other hand, the swift viewing of videos and documents by Raven, not to mention the high degree of cooperation by Judge Maddox, opens up more than a few plot holes. The filmmakers try to explain away a few leaps in logic by having Raven falling off the sobriety wagon the night before, but they can only use that excuse for so long. They also have the AI judge experience technical glitches along the way, errors that seem to point toward a wider conspiracy until they’re completely forgotten.

More than anything, it’s difficult to get over the wooden acting of Pratt and the misuse of other usually reliable actors. Pratt has no real presence, especially when he’s confined to a chair, so any emotion he tries to conjure up comes off as contrived. Ferguson is done no favors by a role that shows only her upper body and has her alternating between robotic and oddly sympathetic. Reis earned an Emmy nomination for True Detective: Night Country, but has little to do here, a fate that also takes out Chris Sullivan as Raven’s AA sponsor.

If you’re okay with turning off your brain for a little while, Mercy can be an enjoyable watch. But if you find yourself scrutinizing why characters make the odd decisions they do, or the wishy-washy way the film approaches AI in general, then you’re likely to find the whole thing lacking.

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Mercy is now playing in theaters.

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