Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

There might not be a ton of new events happening in and around Dallas this weekend, but the ones appearing below pack quite the punch. They include two comedians, a trio of concerts, a unique performing arts performance, a trio of local theater productions, and a huge baseball showcase.

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.

Thursday, July 11

Improv Arlington presents Marcello Hernández
Marcello Hernández is a Cuban/Dominican stand-up comedian, writer, and actor who's currently a featured player on Saturday Night Live. Doing stand-up since he was 18 years old in 2016, he has opened for headliners such as Tim Dillon, Jim Breuer, Mark Viera, Gilbert Gottfried, and more. He'll perform four times through Sunday at Improv Arlington.

Ben Platt in concert
These days, it seems like many singers want to be actors and vice versa, with Ben Platt as a prime example. To be fair, Platt has combined acting and singing from the start of his career, rising to fame with starring roles in Broadway musicals like The Book of Mormon and Dear Evan Hansen, as well as the Pitch Perfect film series. He's been pursuing a music career since 2019, releasing three albums, including the new Honeymind. He'll perform at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie, joined by special guest Brandy Clark.

Prism Movement Theater presents La Maupin: The French Abomination
La Maupin is a tale of love and tragedy set in 17th century France but wrapped up in a high-octane punk rock meets Vanity Fair package. It is based on the true story of Julie D’Aubigny, the bisexual duelist and opera singer who was famous for dueling men and wooing their women. Through a beautiful mix of sword fighting and dance, the show details her journey to find happiness as a queer woman way ahead of her time. The production, part of AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project, will have three performances through Saturday in Hamon Hall at Winspear Opera House.

Friday, July 12

Improv Addison presents Tommy Davidson
Tommy Davidson’s range, from stand-up comedy and acting to music accomplishments, have earned him a reputation as an extraordinary performer. Best known as one of the stars of the hit television show In Living Color, his visibility has allowed him to become a household name known for his innovative talent. He'll perform five times through Sunday at Improv Addison.

Dallas Theater Center presents Disney's The Little Mermaid
Dallas Theater Center presents a large-scale Public Works version of the classic Disney musical, The Little Mermaid, in a production uniquely created for the people of Dallas, with the people of Dallas, and by the people of Dallas. 200 community members of all ages, many appearing onstage for the first time, will come together with DTC’s professional artists to retell the beloved Hans Christian Andersen fairytale. The production runs through August 4 at Wyly Theatre.

Deana Carter in concert
Country singer Deana Carter isn't exactly a one-hit wonder; she's more like a one-album wonder. Her 1995 debut album, Did I Shave My Legs for This?, went five times platinum on the strength of three No. 1 hits: "Strawberry Wine," "We Danced Anyway," and "How Do I Get There." While her next two albums sold relatively well, she hasn't reached those heights since, and her last album, Southern Way of Life, came out in 2013. She'll play at Longhorn Ballroom.

Richardson Theatre Centre presents One Slight Hitch
When it comes to something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue, few brides expect the something old to be an uninvited ex-lover. It’s Courtney's wedding day, and her mom, Delia, is making sure that everything is perfect. The groom is perfect, the dress is perfect, and the decorations (assuming they arrive) will be perfect. Then, like in any good farce, the doorbell rings. And then all hell breaks loose. So much for perfect. The production runs through July 28 at Richardson Theatre Centre.

Uptown Players presents The Prom
The hit Broadway musical The Prom is an uplifting and heartwarming story that celebrates love, acceptance, and the transformative power of standing up for what is right. It follows the journey of Emma, a high school student who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom. However, when the school's conservative PTA board cancels the prom to avoid controversy, a group of eccentric Broadway actors decides to rally behind Emma and travel to her small town to help her fight for inclusion. The regional premiere of the musical runs through July 28 at Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Saturday, July 13

Major League Baseball All-Star Weekend
Globe Life Field in Arlington, the home of the Texas Rangers, will play host to its first MLB All-Star Game next Tuesday, and there will be multiple related events leading up to the game. Capital One All-Star Village at Choctaw Stadium (the Rangers' former stadium), running Saturday through Tuesday, will be a baseball theme park, where fans can immerse themselves in MLB activations and culture. Other official events at Globe Life Field include the HBCU Swingman Classic on Friday, featuring 50 HBCU players; MLB All-Star Saturday, featuring top prospects showing off their skills and the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game; and Gatorade All-Star Workout Day and T-Mobile Home Run Derby on Monday.

Sunday, July 14

Photo courtesy of Dallas Theater Center

Dallas Theater Center presents Disney's The Little Mermaid, July 12-August 4 at Wyly Theatre.

New Kids on the Block in concert
It'll be an '80s music extravaganza at Dos Equis Pavilion, as former boy band New Kids on the Block headlines the "Magic Summer" Tour. They'll be performing their greatest hits, unexpected fan favorites, and magical surprises. They will be joined by fellow '80s icons Paula Abdul and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

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Movie Review

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma gives horror a surreal twist

Photo courtesy of MUBI

Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson in Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.

The horror genre really ramped up in the 1970s and ‘80s, bringing with it a new subgenre - the slasher - that gave audiences new visuals of gore, but also a reliance on sexism and homophobia that would come to define the era. The new film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma wrestles with that legacy in ways that are funny, thought-provoking, and downright strange.

Kris (Hannah Einbinder) is a queer filmmaker who has been hired to reboot the moldy IP that is the Camp Miasma franchise, one that was fresh in the 1970s but which numerous shlocky sequels have rendered irrelevant. In an attempt to get to know the property better, Kris has scored a meeting with the reclusive Billy (Gillian Anderson), the star of the original film who has shunned the public eye for decades.

Turns out that Billy lives deep in the woods at Camp Rivoli, which served as the location for the first film. As Kris tries to get to know Billy and convince her to be a part of the new film, she starts to fall under Billy’s spell and the lore of the franchise as a whole. That includes believing that the movie’s villain, Little Death - a transgender person who has an air conditioning vent as a head/mask - may not just be a character created for the movies.

Written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow), the film at first feels like it’s going to go the straight-up comedy route, with comic explosions of blood, a strange fascination with candy brands, and a production design that does nothing to hide that the two main actors are on a movie set with painted backdrops. This is backed up by Kris’ phone conversations with her girlfriend, Mari (Jasmine Savoy Brown) and her agent (Sarah Sherman), as well as numerous other details.

But the film starts to go down the surreal route the longer Kris stays at the camp with Billy, especially when they sit down to watch the original Camp Miasma. An extended sequence shows a good amount of that film-within-the-film, demonstrating why Kris and Billy have a love/hate relationship with the property. For Kris, though, the lines between the film and the real world start to blur, and Schoenbrun uses a variety of out-there elements to drive the point home.

The final act of the film can barely be described as Kris goes deeper down the rabbit hole, with Schoenbrun using her film to comment on the horror genre as a whole, its treatment of women and LGBT people, the movie industry, and more. All the while the “camp” of Camp Miasma maintains a presence, with candy wrappers showing up everywhere and the tongue-in-cheek references to Little Death (the French term La petite mort, which means “the little death,” is a euphemism for orgasm).

Einbinder, an Emmy winner for Hacks, is the perfect person to inhabit her role. Her established real-life and fictional personas color everything she does in the film, with her enthusiasm and curiosity shining through. Anderson leans heavily into another reference - Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard - to create a character that is as mysterious as she is alluring. Supporting actors like Brown, Sherman, Patrick Fischler, Dylan Baker, and Eva Victor keep the movie at the right pitch all the way through.

While other films have made fun of horror movie tropes before, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma finds a wholly unique way of doing so. It’s a funny and daring trip into the psyches of two women who may be victims of their own obsessions, and of the movies that made them that way.

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Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is now playing in select theaters

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