Weekend Event Planner

These are the 14 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Although March had a few festivals, the month of April is when festival season kicks into high gear. This weekend will feature three of them in and around Dallas, along with two local theater productions, a symphony concert, three comedians, two dance productions, a quartet of art openings, and a concert from a Dallas favorite.

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, April 3

The Firehouse Theatre presents Godspell
Godspell was the first major musical theatre offering from Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Children of Eden), and it took the world by storm. Led by the international hit, "Day by Day," Godspell features a parade of songs, including "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord," "Learn Your Lessons Well," "All for the Best," "All Good Gifts," "Turn Back, O Man," and "By My Side." The production runs through April 19 at The Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3"
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra's Principal Harp Emily Levin will be front and center for Henriette Renié’s Concerto for Harp and Orchestra. Widely recognized for his dual career, John Storgårds both plays and conducts Beethoven’s Romance and Keith Jarrett’s Elegy. The concert is headlined by Sibelius’ Third Symphony. The concert will have three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Improv Addison presents Frank Caliendo
From his many appearances on late night shows to his weekly picks segment on the FOX NFL pregame show, comedian/actor/impressionist Frank Caliendo has been seen all over television. He's known for his impressions of John Madden, Jon Gruden, Al Pacino, and many others. He'll perform for one night only at Improv Addison.

Friday, April 4

Deep Ellum Community Arts Fair
The third annual Deep Ellum Community Arts Fair transforms Deep Ellum’s streets into a three-day celebration of art, music, community, and culture. Festival goers can discover booths from more than 120 fine and decorative artists, while enjoying sounds from more than 80 bands and performing artists spread across four stages. A wide variety of food and drink specials will be available throughout the weekend from the neighborhood’s restaurants and bars. The fair takes place through Sunday.

The State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine presents Swan Lake
The State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine will present Swan Lake, the most famous love story of all time. With completely new choreography and stage production by Andrei Litvinov, the classical score by Tchaikovsky comes to life. The performance, taking place at the Music Hall at Fair Park, features a ballet troupe of 50 dancers, and more than 200 new costumes created specifically for this production.

Lewisville Playhouse presents Uncle Vanya
Sonia and her uncle Vanya have devoted their lives to managing the family farm in isolation, but when her celebrated, ailing father and his charismatic wife move in, their lives are upended. In the heat of the summer, all the wrong people fall in love, desires and resentments erupt, and the family is forced to reckon with the ghosts of their unlived lives. Lewisville Playhouse will present an intimate, immersive new adaptation of Chekhov’s classic Uncle Vanya from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker. The production runs through April 20.

Saturday, April 5

Crow Museum of Asian Art exhibition openings
The Crow Museum of Asian Art will open three new exhibitions on Saturday. In the solo exhibition "Let One Bird Sing," Anila Agha addresses the violence and destruction of natural environments such as plants, trees, and entire ecosystems. "The Shogun’s World: Japanese Maps from The Maclean Collection" features ceramic plates that the Japanese used to give a worm's-eye view of the world. And Cecilia Chiang: "Don’t Tell Me What To Do" features work from the self-taught artist who operates beyond the confines of the traditional artistic canon, expressing her spontaneity and creativity across a broad spectrum of media.

Breakaway Music Festival
The Breakaway Music Festival is an electronic music event that will be headlined by Slander, Zedd, Afrojack, GRYFFIN, and Louis The Child. They will be joined by 16 national touring acts and four local DJs across two nights. The experience will also include a silent disco featuring local artists and brand activations. Originally scheduled to take place on Friday and Saturday at Fair Park, it will shift to Saturday and Sunday due to expected inclement weather on Friday.

Dallas Country, Blues & Red Dirt Festival
The Dallas Country, Blues & Red Dirt Festival will feature five different performers, including Jarrod Sterrett & The Hired Guns, Brennen Leigh, Jeremiah Johnson, Sundance Head, and headliner Wesley Pruitt. There will also be an arts & crafts marketplace and a gourmet food garden with craft beverages. It takes place at Flower Mound Riverwalk.

Nasher Sculpture Center presents "Otobong Nkanga" opening day
The Nasher Sculpture Center will present a new and re-envisioned work from the 2025 Nasher Prize laureate, Otobong Nkanga. The work of Nkanga reconsiders people's relationship with the land and the materials extracted from it. For this exhibition, Nkanga will engage with Texan history, material culture, ecology, and community through a process of deep research and an exchange of knowledge. The exhibition will remain on display through August 17.

Michael Blaustein: The Taste of Me Tour
Comedian Michael Blaustein has had appearances on the Comedy Central Campus Tour, The College Humor Tour, and the Oddball Comedy Fest. Along with his college campus experience, Blaustein performed at prestigious festivals such as Just For Laughs 42 and The New York Comedy Festival. He currently co-hosts the podcast Stiff Socks with Trevor Wallace. He'll perform at Majestic Theatre.

Ballet Ensemble of Texas presents Gaîté Parisienne and Other Works
Ballet Ensemble of Texas’ annual Celebration of Dance will feature a revival of Gaîté Parisienne, along with other works. The troupe is the official performing company of the Ballet Academy of Texas and trains dancers who are recognized by prestigious pre-professional training programs across the country. The production takes place at Irving Arts Center on Saturday and Sunday.

Sunday, April 6

Josh Johnson: The Flowers Tour
Josh Johnson is an Emmy-nominated writer, stand-up, actor, and NAACP award-winner from Louisiana by way of Chicago. He is currently a writer/correspondent on The Daily Show, and is a former writer and performer on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he made his late-night debut in 2017. Johnson’s most recent stand-up special, Josh Johnson: Up Here Killing Myself, premiered on Peacock. He'll perform twice on Sunday at Majestic Theatre.

St. Vincent in concert
Dallas can claim musician and songwriter Annie Clark - aka St. Vincent - as its own, as she spent her formative years here and was once a member of The Polyphonic Spree. One of the most distinctive artistic voices and original guitarists of her generation, she's collaborated with such big names as David Byrne, Taylor Swift, and The Chicks. She'll play at The Bomb Factory in support of her 2024 album, All Born Screaming.

Photo courtesy of Deep Ellum Community Arts Fair

The Deep Ellum Community Arts Fair takes place in Deep Ellum, April 4-6.

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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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