Weekend Event Planner

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

Dallas typically only gets one Broadway tour at a time, but with two premier venues in the city, this Easter weekend will feature a rare double dip. Other choices include three local theater productions, a symphony concert, a stand-up comedy event, a concert celebrating an iconic venue, a beatboxing/popping performance, and a concert featuring the music from a popular anime.

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, as well as a list of places serving Easter brunch.

Thursday, April 17

Soul Rep Theatre Company presents Pretty Fire
Pretty Fire is a one-woman show that explores beautiful, funny, dark, and exhilarating vignettes tracing the life of playwright Charlayne Woodard from a premature birth to a joyous maturity at 11 years old. It is a powerful exploration of three generations of family love, struggle, and triumph. The production will have three performances through Saturday at Latino Cultural Center.

Plague Mask Players presents Alice
Alice by Ara Vito is a movement and storytelling-focused adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, told through the lens of a female playwright and ensemble cast of all female and non-binary performers. The Texas premiere of the new work, which is part of AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project, runs through April 27 in Wyly Theatre's Studio Theatre.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony"
Inspired by seeing the ruins and moors of Scotland, and especially Mary Queen of Scots’s Holyrood Castle on a walking tour, Mendelssohn created his aptly named Third Symphony. Also, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's principal winds will gather for the world premiere of a concerto commissioned for them from one of the most sought-after American composers, Sean Shepherd. The concert, conducted by Fabio Luisi, will have three performances through Saturday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Broadway Dallas presents Mamma Mia!
Set on a Greek island paradise where the sun always shines, a tale of love, friendship, and identity is told through the timeless hits of ABBA. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the father she’s never known brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited decades ago. The production runs through April 27 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

Broadway at the Center presents Mean Girls
Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. Soon, this naïve newbie falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. But when Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a Queen Bee without getting stung. The production will have four performances through Saturday at Winspear Opera House.

Friday, April 18

Killers of Kill Tony
Killers of Kill Tony is a standup comedy lineup featuring regulars and fan-favorites from the podcast Kill Tony. Building upon the success and energy of the original podcast, Killers of Kill Tony showcases the diverse talent pool of comedians and their wit, humor, and unique comedic styles. Performers will include Kam Patterson, Ari Matti, David Lucas, and Martin Phillips. There will be two performances at Majestic Theatre.

Saturday, April 19

Dallas Children's Theater presents James and the Giant Peach
Based on the novel by Roald Dahl, young James Henry Trotter's resilience is tested when he is sent off to live with his mean aunts, Spiker and Sponge, after a chain of unfortunate incidents. Life is no fun there until he accidentally spills some tiny green things on a tree, and … voilà, a giant peach. When James and his new oversized friends - Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybug, Earthworm, and Spider - snip the stem of the peach, the quest for happiness and great adventure lands them in New York City and at the center of attention. The production runs through May 24 at Dallas Children's Theater.

Longhorn Jubilee featuring St. Paul & the Broken Bones
To celebrate Longhorn Ballroom’s 75th anniversary, the venue is hosting a series of events to honor the iconic room's past, present, and future. Dubbed the Longhorn Jubilee, the all-genre-encompassing event will unfold both inside the Ballroom and outside in the Courtyard combining music with food trucks, local vendors, and more. This event will feature performances by Saint Paul & The Broken Bones, Abraham Alexander, The Suffers, and more.

Eisemann Center presents Beatbox Meets Popping featuring Amirah Sackett & Mr MiC
An internationally recognized hip-hop dancer, choreographer, and teacher, Amirah Sackett explores and embodies her Muslim American identity through combining hip-hop movement and Islamic themes. She is widely known for her creation of the choreography and performance group known as We’re Muslim, Don’t Panic. The performance takes place at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

Sunday, April 20

Attack on Titan: Beyond the Walls World Tour
Attack on Titan: Beyond the Walls World Tour is a celebration of music and anime, a concert experience that features a fusion of rock and orchestral music, vocal performances, and visuals that transports the audience straight into the heart of the universe of the anime series Attack on Titan. The concert will be performed by rock musicians joined by a symphonic orchestra, accompanied by synchronized scenes from the anime series. It takes place at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.

Photo by Joan Marcus

Broadway Dallas presents Mamma Mia! at the Music Hall at Fair Park through April 27.

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Movie Review

Andrew Garfield leads peasant rebellion in medieval film The Uprising

Photo by Betina La Plante/Focus Features

Andrew Garfield in The Uprising.

Writer/director Paul Greengrass made his name with a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking that brought immediacy and depth to three Jason Bourne films, United 93, Captain Phillips, and more. In The Uprising, he uses those skills to tell the story of the so-called Peasants’ Revolt in 14th century England.

Greengrass wastes no time starting the main plot as Ploughman (Andrew Garfield) and his fellow villagers object to onerous taxes put on them by the country’s nobility, led by the young King Richard II (Woody Norman), to fund an ongoing war. Ploughman initiates a violent response over the tone-deaf — and unseemly — way the king’s guard go about their business, and the rebellion soon starts to spread across the countryside, with the citizens looking for a degree of autonomy.

The ever-expanding group makes their way toward London to try to make their case to the king himself. Meanwhile, the king’s top advisors, including Archbishop Sudbury (Stephen Dillane) and Treasurer Hales (Tom Hollander), try to usurp power from the inexperienced monarch even as the king’s mother (Katherine Waterston) tries to get him to be more assertive.

The history of the English monarchy is long and lurid, as Shakespeare detailed in multiple plays, including Richard II. Though the events in the film took place almost 650 years ago, it’s easy to see parallels between what the peasants were fighting for and modern-day politics. Greengrass’ storytelling intent is solid, and the righteous anger the citizens feel is initially relatable and palpable.

But the populism theme of the story soon gets bogged down in drudgery and minutiae that is difficult to understand, especially when the details are lost in the thick regional English accents. The leaders of the rebels — including John Ball (Jamie Bell), Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), and Alyce (Thomasin McKenzie) — are shown doing a lot of planning, but the strong feelings they have about their quest don’t come across well, leaving the audience as passive observers.

When there is action, Greengrass and his team employ a frenetic style that is not great for comprehension. While the gist of what is happening and what side is winning is legible, individual moments go by so quickly so as to be nearly meaningless. Save for Ploughman, any connection that has been made with various characters proves futile, as Greengrass doesn’t seem to have any time for emotion. Scenes that should feel thrilling or heartbreaking instead come off as empty.

Garfield is a two-time Oscar nominee who has done great work across multiple genres. He’s fine in this role, but whether it’s the story, the filmmaking, or something else, he’s not as captivating as usual. The same goes for other strong actors like Bell, McKenzie, Dillane, Hollander, and Waterston, who each seem to be giving their all to their performances but are somehow muted in the process.

Done right, The Uprising could have been a rip-roaring account of people standing up against their oppressors. What Greengrass has made, though, is a film that can’t translate its medieval story for a modern audience and concentrates too much on unexciting elements and too little on thrilling ones.

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The Uprising is now playing in theaters.

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