Weekend Event Planner

These are the 13 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

It's another solid weekend of events across Dallas, with a nice mix of traveling and local performers. Choices include two well-known comedians, a national tour of a Broadway musical, three local theater productions, a circus, a symphonic celebration of a movie composer, a dance production, St. Patrick's Day celebrations, and more.

Below are more 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. Want some local spring break ideas? That list is here.

Thursday, March 14

Improv Addison presents Melissa Villaseñor
Comedian Melissa Villaseñor is best known as a former featured cast member on Saturday Night Live. She made her television debut on America's Got Talent and does extensive voiceover acting on Fox’s Family Guy, Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time, and Comedy Central’s Triptank. She'll perform five times through Saturday at The Addison Improv.

Trevor Noah: Off the Record Tour
Comedian Trevor Noah comes to Dallas as part of his Off The Record Tour, his first tour since leaving The Daily Show. In addition to hosting the The Daily Show on Comedy Central for seven years, he's also the author of Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, and has a new book, Into the Uncut Grass, scheduled for release in 2024. In Noah's newest Netflix comedy special, I Wish You Would, he shares revelations about learning to speak German, modern communication, and his love for curry. He'll perform on both Thursday and Friday at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

Broadway at the Center presents Annie
Holding onto hope when times are tough can take an awful lot of determination, and sometimes, an awful lot of determination comes in a surprisingly small package. Little Orphan Annie has reminded generations of theater goers that sunshine is always right around the corner, and now the best-loved musical of all time is set to return in a new production. The celebration of family, optimism and the American spirit remains the ultimate cure for all the hard knocks life throws your way. The production runs through Sunday at Winspear Opera House.

Friday, March 15

Repertory Company Theatre presents Titanic the Musical
An operatic recount of the events of the maiden voyage of the proclaimed unsinkable ship, the Titanic, Titanic the Musical follows a selection of guests from the first three classes and a handful of crew members as they recount their hopes and dreams, and come to grip with their ultimate mortality for those 1,500 souls that perished. The production runs through March 24 at Repertory Company Theatre in Richardson.

Circus Vazquez
Circus Vazquez blends the modern with the traditional, featuring a new cast of circus superstars led by third-generation performer and Ringmaster, Memo Vazquez. Performers include Boris Nikishkin, a Russian clown, comedian, and acrobat, The Bone Breakers quartet, daredevils Duo Vanegas, Ricardo and Alejandro, gymnastics troupe The Liazeed Angels, and handbalancing Duo Marruffo. They'll be at Riders Field in Frisco through April 1.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "A Night at the Movies - Music of John Williams"
"A Night at the Movies - Music of John Williams" will pay tribute to the iconic composer with pieces from classic movies like Superman, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, The Patriot, Jaws, E.T., Star Wars, and more. The concert will be led by conductor Sarah Hicks. There will be three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Lyric Stage presents Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd, an unjustly exiled barber, returns to 19th century London, seeking vengeance against the lecherous judge who framed him and ravaged his young wife. The road to revenge leads Todd to Mrs. Lovett, a resourceful proprietress of a failing pie shop, above which he opens a new barber practice. Mrs. Lovett’s luck sharply shifts when Todd’s thirst for blood inspires the integration of an ingredient into her meat pies that has the people of London lining up. The production runs through April 7 at Lyric Stage in Dallas.

TITAS/Dance Unbound presents Parsons Dance
Known for its energized, athletic, and joyous style, Parsons Dance is internationally renowned for creating and performing contemporary American dance. Their bold works and distinctive style have solidified them as one of the world’s leading dance companies. Works like Caught, one of the world’s most famous solos, exemplify this company’s innovation and huge audience appeal. They'll perform on Friday and Saturday at Moody Performance Hall.

Saturday, March 16

Lower Greenville Avenue St. Patrick’s Day Block Party
At the annual Lower Greenville Avenue St. Patrick’s Day Block Party, taking place between Vanderbilt Avenue and Vickery Boulevard, guests 21 and older are encouraged to dress in green and come prepared for a day full of music, beer, and plenty of St. Patrick’s Day cheer. The event features three music stages with DJs. Participating bars include Stan’s Blue Note, The Dubliner, Dodie’s Reef, Terilli’s, Halcyon, Christies, and Sisters.

Dallas St. Patrick's Day Parade & Festival
A few miles up Greenville Avenue will be the annual Dallas St. Patrick’s Parade & Festival, the largest St. Patrick’s Parade in the Southwest. Starting at Greenville Avenue and Blackwell Street and ending at SMU Blvd. and Central Expressway, the parade draws upwards of 125,000 people along the two-mile route to see more than 90 floats, 1,700 participants, bands, and more.

Dallas Children's Theater presents Life Doesn't Frighten Me: I Am Fearless Royalty
Life Doesn't Frighten Me: I Am Fearless Royalty stars four heroes as they conquer their fears using heart, soul, body, and mind. With original music from Grammy-nominated Kris Funn and themes inspired by actual students across the country, the show is a moving multicultural performing arts experience. The production runs through March 30 at Dallas Children's Theater.

Old Crow Medicine Show in concert
The name of the band Old Crow Medicine Show immediately conjures up a certain type of music. And since their debut in 2000, the string band that used to busk in Nashville has lived up to that idea, playing original country and bluegrass songs like their hit "Wagon Wheel" alongside old blues and folk songs. They'll play at Longhorn Ballroom.

Sunday, March 17

Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts presents Cenicienta
Ten-year-old Belinda is a budding poet and loves to tell stories, but when she’s stuck in the basement preparing for a party upstairs that her stepmother and stepsisters will host, she’ll have to get creative. It’s a story within a story; Belinda lives out her version while also re-enacting the classic tale of Cinderella. But to do that, she must learn to stand up for herself and take charge of her life and dreams. The one-day-only production will take place at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

Greenville Avenue St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dallas

Photo by Jerry McClure

The Dallas St. Patrick's Day Parade & Festival takes place on Greenville Avenue on March 16.

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Movie Review

Film sequel Avatar: Fire and Ash is a technical and visual feast

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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