Weekend Event Planner

9 best things to do in Dallas on 4th of July weekend

With the 4th of July falling on a Friday this year, the selection of non-Independence Day events around Dallas is sparser than usual, but there will still be fun things to do. They include two theater productions, three comedians, a music festival with some notable performers, and the final days of a significant art exhibition.

Photo by Catherine Downes

July 4th-themed events, like Addison Kaboom Town!, abound in and around Dallas on July 3 and 4.

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, July 3

Independence Day Eve events
As is tradition, many cities put on Independence Day events the day before the 4th of July. You can find events in Grand Prairie, Garland, Addison, Denton, Frisco, Arlington, Dallas, Irving, and Carrollton.

Friday, July 4

4th of July events
For traditionalists who like to wait until the actual day to celebrate the 4th of July, there will naturally be events all over the place, including Irving, Arlington, McKinney, The Colony, Grand Prairie, Rowlett, Little Elm, Dallas, Frisco, Plano, and Grapevine.

American Chronicle Theatre Co. presents King Kirby
King Kirby follows legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby from the tough Jewish ghetto of Hell’s Kitchen in New York, to the harrowing battlefields of Normandy during WWII, to tense Senate hearings in the 1950s. Audiences will watch as he creates some of the most iconic heroes in pop culture: Captain America, Thor, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, the New Gods, and countless others. The hero's journey shows Kirby pouring his quintessentially Twentieth Century life into his comics, only to make a fateful mistake that sends him into obscurity while his creations become among the most recognizable in the world. The production runs through July 12 at Cox Playhouse in Plano.

Improv Addison presents Chingo Bling
Chingo Bling is known for his insightful, unapologetic stand-up comedy, and multiple viral videos. He has appeared in everything from feature films, Netflix, and MTV shows, to comedic web series, musical parodies, and live stand-up comedy shows. His podcast, Red Pill Tamales, can be heard on all listening platforms. He'll perform six times through Sunday at Improv Addison.

Art Centre Theatre presents Girls Weekend
In this lightning-quick farce, four women travel to Dot’s Northwoods cabin to consume copious amounts of wine, laugh at their lives, trade stories and chat about their book club’s latest selection. However, after the third case of wine comes through the door, it becomes clear there will be more stewing than reviewing. The production runs through July 19 at Art Centre Theatre in Plano.

Improv Arlington presents Benji Brown
Benji Brown began his career in radio while honing his skills as a stand-up comedian with a unique voice and hilarious characters. He became a key fixture on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show, and went on to work with such A-list headliners as Smiley, Chris Rock, Steve Harvey, and Monique. He's also appeared in a number of TV specials and commercials. He'll perform five times through Sunday at Improv Arlington.

Saturday, July 5

Outlaw Music Festival
The 10th anniversary tour of the Outlaw Music Festival will feature a lineup of legends and superstars, including Willie Nelson (whose discography, with the new Oh What a Beautiful World, now numbers 103) & Family, Bob Dylan, The Avett Brothers, The Mavericks, and Tami Neilson. The festival takes place at Dos Equis Pavilion.

Dallas Comedy Club presents Jazmyn W
Jazmyn W is a stand-up comedian, content creator, host, and actress. She left her career in tech to pursue comedy full-time and was named one of BET’s 2021 "Influencers To Watch." She was a featured comedian in Martin Lawrence’s Lit Tour, Kevin Hart’s LOL Radio Presents: Hot Mic, and Keep Your Distance presented by Kevonstage. She'll perform twice on Saturday at Dallas Comedy Club.

Sunday, July 6

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Marisol: A Retrospective" closing day
Sunday is the final day to view "Marisol: A Retrospective" at the Dallas Museum of Art, the most significant retrospective to date dedicated to the art of Marisol, known one of the most influential artists of the mid-1960s for her delightfully satirical and deceptively political life-size totemic figures. The exhibition showcases more than 250 artworks and documents, including 39 making their public debut with the exhibition tour, that contextualize Marisol’s powerful body of work and demonstrate the extraordinary relevance of her unique vision of culture and society.

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Movie Review

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney go off in trashy film The Housemaid

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

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The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

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