Weekend Event Planner

These are the 12 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Comedy and theater will be the headliners of the weekend around Dallas, as the two art forms combine for six of the 12 events on our list. Other choices include a visit from UFOlogists, a huge college football game, a mixed-media production, a disco symphony concert, a multilingual concert, and a Michael Jackson tribute band.

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. We're also tracking weather-related cancellations and closures in this story.

Thursday, January 9

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch
Fans can dive deeper into The History Channel’s The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch at this special event. Members of the Skinwalker Ranch team will discuss their ambitious scientific study of the world’s most mysterious hot spot for UFO and "High Strangeness" phenomena. The live experience celebrates the long-running program as the team reveals never-before-heard details about their experiments and dissects the new data they have collected during their fifth season. The event takes place at Majestic Theatre.

Shakespeare Dallas presents Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure is Shakespeare Dallas' first indoor winter production since 2020. Considered one of Shakespeare’s “tragicomedies” due to the shift in tone, the play follows a Duke providing divine intervention as Vienna is beset with brothels and loose morality. The production runs through January 26 at Theatre Three.

Rover Dramawerks presents The Shakespeare Conspiracy
Shakespeare’s characters are real, the RSC is a branch of the government (a bit like MI6 but with better costumes), Iago is trying to destroy the world, and mankind’s last hope is a travel agent named Martin. The Shakespeare Conspiracy dives into a most lamentable, epic, comic, romantic tragic comedy in a world where Shakespeare’s heroes and villains have been waging a secret war for over 400 years. The production runs through January 25 at Cox Playhouse in Plano.

Friday, January 10

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
The 2025 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic will serve as one of the semifinals in the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff. After winning their quarterfinal games, the Texas Longhorns - newly of the Southeastern Conference - will take on the Big 10's Ohio State Buckeyes, with the winner advancing to the national championship game on January 20 in Atlanta. The game takes place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington and will go on despite the looming winter storm.

Improv Addison presents Adam Conover
Adam Conover is a comedian and the creator, writer, and star of the hit series Adam Ruins Everything, an educational comedy that dispels common misconceptions. His Netflix series, The G Word - produced in partnership with Barack Obama’s Higher Ground Productions - pulled the curtain back on how the federal government works using comedy and documentary storytelling. He'll perform five times through Sunday at Improv Addison.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Disco Fever"
"Disco Fever" will be a groovy trip down memory lane to the ‘70s, featuring disco tunes like “We Are Family,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “I Will Survive,” “The Hustle,” and more, made famous by the Bee Gees, ABBA, and Saturday Night Fever. Singers will include Maiya Sykes from NBC’s The Voice and Grammy-nominee B. Slade, and there will even be an on-stage “dance-off,” featuring a couple of lucky audience members who can strut their disco stuff. There will be three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Improv Arlington presents D.L. Hughley
One of the most popular and highly recognized stand-up comedians on the road today has also made quite an impression in the television and radio arena. D.L. Hughley is known for his sitcom, The Hughleys; as host of his own late night talk show on CNN, D.L. Hughley Breaks the News; and as one of the Original Kings of Comedy. Hughley will perform five times through Sunday at Improv Arlington.

Pink Martini with China Forbes in concert
Pink Martini, the world-famous “little orchestra” featuring original lead singer China Forbes, is celebrating its 30th anniversary as part of its current tour. They will present a cocktail of multi-lingual delights, from music of Brazilian Samba to jaunty Parisian café songs to retro jazz and old-fashioned pop. The concert will be at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience
Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience highlights all seven books of the boy-who-lived’s saga in just 70 minutes of laughter, magic, and mayhem. With beloved characters, iconic props, and a live Quidditch match, it’s a must-see for wizards, witches, and muggles of all ages. The production will have six performances through Sunday at Wyly Theatre.

Saturday, January 11

Artstillery presents Welcome Mat 2 - People 0
Artstillery will present its latest production, an immersive, interfaith exploration of resilience and solidarity, a timely reflection on the challenges and hopes of today’s diverse communities. Through the voices of individuals from varied backgrounds and faiths, audiences of Welcome Mat 2 - People 0 will experience a profound convergence of personal narratives, sound meditations, music, puppetry, and projection mapping, all within an evocatively designed space. The production will run through January 26 in the Embarcadero Building at Fair Park. (NOTE: A planned performance on January 10 was postponed due to expected inclement weather.)

Who's Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience
Who’s Bad is the longest-running Michael Jackson tribute band, the only one to predate his untimely passing. Having just passed its 20th anniversary, the show features a power-packed performance of Jackson’s expansive catalog. The concert takes place at The Echo Lounge & Music Hall.

American Airlines Center presents Shane Gillis
Comedian Shane Gillis has been performing since 2012, but it's only in the last four years or so that he's made it big. He has released two specials: His 2021 self-funded debut Shane Gillis: Live in Austin, and Beautiful Dogs on Netflix in 2023. He also stars in Tires on Netflix and is the co-creator and star of the web sketch series, Gilly & Keeves. Gillis co-hosts the comedy podcast, Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, with comedian Matt McCusker. He'll perform at American Airlines Center.

$Who\u2019s Bad$

Photo courtesy of Who’s Bad

Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Tribute will perform at Echo Lounge & Music Hall on January 11.

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Movie Review

Michelle Pfeiffer is an unappreciated mom in Oh. What. Fun.

Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Michelle Pfeiffer in Oh. What. Fun.

Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.

That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.

Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.

Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.

The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.

The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.

Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.

Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.

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Oh. What. Fun. is now streaming on Prime Video.

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