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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Animal News

Latest animal to die at Dallas Zoo is young male gorilla named Zola

Dallas Zoo

Zola RIP

Another animal at the Dallas Zoo has died an untimely death: Zola, a young Western lowland gorilla, died on Wednesday, November 5, at age 23.

The zoo does not know why Zola died. According to their post, he showed symptoms of lethargy, reduced appetite, and signs of discomfort at the end of October. A necropsy will be performed.

"Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to begin breathing on his own afterward, despite the extraordinary efforts of our veterinary and animal care teams," their post says. "With his comfort as our priority, we made the difficult decision to let him go peacefully."

The zoo did not announce Zola's death immediately, instead waiting two days until Friday afternoon at 3 pm. Politicians and government agencies prefer to choose Friday afternoons to post news that is negative or controversial, since fewer people, and definitely fewer journalists, are online on Friday afternoons. It's called the "Friday news dump."

The death is very inconvenient for the Dallas Zoo since they were just about to ship off their male gorillas, which also include Juba, B'Wenzi, and Zola's half-brother Shana, to the San Antonio Zoo. Animals are very dear to the zoo — until it's time to ship them off to another zoo.

For now, the relocation of the other three male gorillas is "temporarily on hold" but the zoo says they will be moved "when the time is right," and that is all you need to know about that.

The zoo has already said that they'll be shipping in other gorillas to replace them — although we do not know which gorillas and from where. The Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the overseeing body for zoos, only divulges that kind of intel on a "need to know" basis. Right now, you and I do not need to know. If we did know which gorillas were coming and where they were coming from, we might ask questions that would force the zoo to explain what it's up to.

Zola was born at the Bronx Zoo in 2002 and became internet famous as the "breakdancing gorilla" for splashing in pools and puddles. Some animal experts attributed his actions to frustration at being locked inside a zoo. He was relocated to the Calgary Zoo in 2009 when he was only 7 years old — zoos always play up what great bonds and family ties their animals have, until it's time to ship them somewhere else, and then suddenly the bonds and family ties don't matter.

Unfortunately, Zola did not "integrate well" at the Calgary Zoo, so he got shipped off to the Dallas Zoo in 2013.

At least now he won't have to be relocated again.

Death count
Zola's death is one more in a long-running series of deaths at the Dallas Zoo in recent years, the most previous being Jata, a 7-year-old painted dog who died in June 2024. Jata also showed signs of lethargy and decreased appetite, reportedly due to kidney disease.

Whenever a death occurs, they always wax on about their "extraordinary" veterinary and animal care teams — and yet, so many of these deaths were either unexplained or completely caught their teams by surprise.

Zola the Western lowland gorilla is the latest to join this death march of animals at the Dallas Zoo:

Jata, one of the zoo's three African painted dogs, died in June 2024, at seven years old.
Ferrell, a 15-year-old giraffe, died in December, 2023, following "an unexpected fall in the barn" that injured the giraffe's jaw so badly, they were forced to euthanize him.
Ajabu, a 6-year-old African elephant who died on May 8, 2023, from the herpes virus.
Pin, a 35-year-old lappet-faced vulture, died on January 22, 2023, cause unknown.
Jesse, a 14-year-old giraffe, died on October 29, 2021, cause unknown.
Auggie, a 19-year-old giraffe, died in late October 2021 of liver failure.
Marekani, a 3-month-old baby giraffe, sustained a mysterious injury and was euthanized on October 3, 2021.
Kirk, a 31-year-old chimpanzee, died in August 2021 due to "surprise" heart disease.
Keeya, a 6-year-old Hartmann's mountain zebra, died in March 2021 due to a mysterious unexplained head injury.
Subira, a 24-year-old silverback gorilla, died suddenly in March 2020, due to a cough, or maybe cardiovascular disease. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hope, a 23-year-old Western lowland gorilla, died suddenly in November 2019 after being at the zoo for only two years.
Ola, an 8-year-old female African painted dog, was killed in July 2019 by two other painted dogs, less than a month after she was transferred to the zoo.
Witten, a 1-year-old giraffe, died in June 2019 during a physical exam under anesthesia when he suddenly stopped breathing.
Adhama, a baby hippopotamus, mysteriously died in 2018.
Kipenzi, a baby giraffe, died in 2015 after running in her enclosure.
Kamau, a young cheetah, died of pneumonia in 2014.
Johari, a female lion, was killed in front of zoo spectators in 2013 by male lions with whom she shared an enclosure.

And in February 2021, they lost a crow called Onyx who was part of their "animal ambassador team," "participating in a training session" for a bird show. He was never found.

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