Weekend Event Planner

Theater shows top the 14 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Theater lovers will have a lot to choose from in and around Dallas this weekend, with half of the slots on the list occupied by local theater productions. Other choices include an annual exhibition of playhouses, four well-known comedians, a dance production, and a Hall of Fame band in concert.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. If you want more options, check out the calendar for an even longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, June 12

Undermain Theatre presents An Iliad
An Iliad, a modern-day retelling of Homer's classic. Poetry and humor, the ancient tale of the Trojan War and the modern world collide in this theatrical experience. The setting is simple: the empty theater. The time is now: the present moment. The lone figure onstage is a storyteller, possibly Homer, possibly one of the many bards who followed in his footsteps. He is fated to tell this story throughout history. The production runs through June 29 at Undermain Theatre.

Lewisville Playhouse presents Ragtime
Ragtime is set in the volatile melting pot of turn-of-the-century New York, three distinctly American tales are woven together - that of a stifled upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant, and a daring young Harlem musician - united by their courage, compassion and belief in the promise of the future. Together, they confront history's timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and what it means to live in America. The production runs through June 29 at Lewisville Playhouse.

Shakespeare Dallas presents The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest is a witty romantic comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed in 1895, that tells the story of two men who assume the identities of a fictional man named Ernest. This leads them to fall in love and encounter an assortment of comical problems along the way. The Shakespeare in the Park production runs through July 18 at Samuell-Grand Amphitheater.

Friday, June 13

Dallas CASA presents Parade of Playhouses
Dallas CASA's annual Parade of Playhouses celebrates imagination while raising funds and support for children living in foster care. The event features 11 custom-designed and -created, one-of-a-kind children’s dream playhouses donated by generous architects, builders, and friends. Visitors can enter to win one of the various houses at the end of the fundraising event, which runs through June 29 at NorthPark Center.

Mic Drop Comedy presents Andrew Dice Clay
Andrew Dice Clay is proud to be one of America’s most controversial and outrageous comics. And it’s that persona that has made him a comedy legend. When he released his debut album, Dice, the parental advisory label simply read “Warning: This album is offensive.” He became the first comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden two nights in a row, as well as sporting arenas all across the country and was the only performer ever banned for life from MTV. He'll perform four times through Saturday at Mic Drop Comedy in Plano.

Family Music Theatre presents Hairspray
It's 1962 in Baltimore, and the lovable plus-size teen, Tracy Turnblad, has only one desire - to dance on the popular Corny Collins Show. When her dream comes true, Tracy is transformed from social outcast to sudden star. She must use her newfound power to dethrone the reigning Teen Queen, win the affections of heartthrob, Link Larkin, and integrate a TV network ... all without denting her 'do. The production runs through June 28 at New Vida Church of God.

North Texas Performing Arts Repertory Theatre presents Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s first collaboration, is set in a Western territory just after the turn of the 20th century. A high-spirited rivalry between local farmers and cowboys provides a colorful background for Curly, a charming cowboy, and Laurey, a feisty farm girl, to play out their love story. Their romantic journey contrasts with the comic exploits of brazen Ado Annie and hapless Will Parker in a musical adventure embracing hope, determination, and the promise of a new land. The production runs through June 22 at North Texas Performing Arts in Plano.

Dallas Theater Center presents Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, the classic Broadway musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, is based on the Bible’s Book of Genesis. It tells the journey of Joseph, son of Jacob, his 12 brothers, and his coat of many colors. Filled with catchy songs and dances, the musical is one of the most enduring shows of all time. The production runs through July 13 at Wyly Theatre.

Pegasus Contemporary Ballet presents Synergy 2025
Pegasus Contemporary Ballet will present the third edition of their signature annual production blending music and dance. The production unites local musicians from various genres and dancers on a single stage. The event will include three world-premiere choreographic commissions, each created in collaboration with Dallas-based musicians performing live, including singer/songwriter Jacob Metcalf, multi-genre musician Martin Morgan, and experimental violinist Leoncarlo Canlas. There will be performances on Friday and Saturday at Moody Performance Hall.

Theatre Coppell presents Annie
Based on the 1924 comic strip Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray, Annie is celebration of family, optimism and the American spirit remains the ultimate cure for all the hard knocks life throws your way. Theatre Coppell's production of the musical runs through June 29 at Coppell Arts Center.

Saturday, June 14

Majestic Theatre presents Cristela Alonzo
Cristela Alonzo made history in 2014 when she became the first Latina to create, produce and star in her own network sitcom, Cristela, for ABC. During that same year, she split her time between LA and NYC to serve as one of ABC’s favorite guest hosts on their hit daytime talk show, The View. In 2017, Cristela made history again when she became the first Latina lead in a Disney Pixar film, voicing the part of “Cruz Ramirez” in Cars 3. She'll perform twice on Saturday at Majestic Theatre.

Heart in concert
There are very few bands whose impact has been big enough for them to be well-known for 50 years, but Heart is one of them. Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson released their debut album, Dreamboat Annie, in 1975, and went on to craft indelible hits like "Crazy on You," "Barracuda," "Alone," and more. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 and were awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2023. They'll play at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.

Eisemann Center presents Paula Poundstone
Iconic comedian Paula Poundstone is known for her smart, observational humor and legendary spontaneous wit. She is the star of several HBO specials, including Cats, Cops and Stuff, and Paula Poundstone Goes to Harvard. She is also a regular panelist on NPR’s comedy news quiz, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, and can be heard weekly on her comedy podcast, Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone. She'll perform at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

Sunday, June 15

Kevin James: Owls Don’t Walk
Comedian Kevin James began his career as a stand-up on the Long Island comedy scene. After being discovered at the 1996 Montreal Comedy Festival, he created his own sitcom, The King of Queens, which ran for nine seasons on CBS. James brought his stand-up act to TV with Sweat the Small Stuff, a one-hour special for Comedy Central. His second comedy special, Never Don’t Give Up, premiered on Netflix. He'll perform at Majestic Theatre.

Photo by Rosanne Lewis

Dallas CASA presents Parade of Playhouses at NorthPark Center, June 13-29.

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Movie Review

Wicked: For Good loses cinematic magic in rushed second-act sequel

Photo by Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Wicked: For Good.

Splitting the film adaptation of the musical Wicked into two parts makes a certain kind of sense beyond the financial incentive of making fans pay for two films. Like most stage musicals, there’s a definitive break between the two acts, and it’s hard to resist going out on the high note of “Defying Gravity” for the first film. And expanding the story for the films puts the entire story at around 5 hours, much too long for one sitting.

However, separating them puts a spotlight on the strengths and weaknesses of each act of the musical, and it's a popular opinion that the second act is inferior to the first act. In the awkwardly-named Wicked: For Good, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is firmly ensconced as the Wicked Witch of the West, striking fear in people across Oz. Meanwhile, Glinda (Ariana Grande) has ascended as the protector of the land’s citizens, even as she hides the fact that she doesn’t possess the powers that Elphaba does.

The story speeds through a number of different arcs, including Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), becoming governor of Munchkinland; Glinda essentially forcing Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) to commit to marrying her; even more bad revelations involving the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh); and more. Hanging over all of it is the tenuous bond between Elphaba and Glinda, which is tested on multiple occasions.

Director John M. Chu, working from a script by original musical writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, leads the way on the faithful adaptation that is perhaps a bit too faithful. Chu helmed the memorable adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights that brought more life to an already lively production. He accomplished similar results in Wicked part one, but For Good often feels less than cinematic, with many scenes coming off as static and too much like a stage production.

The second film contains a lot of story movement, including the vague or explicit introduction of the four main characters from The Wizard of Oz, providing plenty of opportunity for creative staging or deeper storytelling. Instead, things just sort of happen, with Holzman and Fox failing to see the necessity of connecting story dots in a movie setting. With lots of extra time to work with (the run time is 2 hours and 17 minutes), giving more information about significant events shouldn’t have been an issue, and yet the filmmakers rarely give the audience that luxury.

The songs, as they should be, are the showcase of the film, and yet none of the sequences measure up to the ones in the first film. The rushed storylines make it difficult to connect with emotionally-resonant songs like “As Long As You’re Mine” and “No Good Deed.” “No Place Like Home” and “The Girl in the Bubble,” new songs created for the film for Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, are decent but lack power. “For Good” is the one everyone is waiting for, but it too fails to land properly.

Erivo and Grande certainly give it their all, and when they’re allowed to dig deep into their characters, they make as much of an impact as they did in the first film. Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near as often, and their characters’ bond suffers. Most of the other actors are done no favors by the whirlwind storytelling, but Goldblum still stands out in his various scenes.

Creating a whole film for the second act of Wicked gave Chu and his team a perfect chance to slow things down and give the events it contains extra meaning. Unfortunately, they turned For Good into something that feels less like an expansive movie and more like a slightly more interesting version of the stage production.

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Wicked: For Good opens in theaters on November 21.

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