Weekend Event Planner

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

This weekend in and around Dallas serves as both the introduction to June and the last one before the monthlong extravaganza that will be the World Cup. Choices include five local theater productions, a music festival, two concerts, an opera, a dance production, a big-name comedian, and the final days of a fun charity event.

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

Thursday, June 4

Kitchen Dog Theater presents Venus
Breakups are never fun. It’s easy to romanticize all of the good times: stargazing, waxing poetic about literature, that instant spark the first time your hands brushed. It’s even easier to forget about all of the bad times, like when they ghosted you after the perfect first date, or that one time you woke up in a shallow grave. Venus is a pitch-black comedy in which two women learn that true love isn’t the only thing that bonds two people together … forever. The production runs through June 28 at Kitchen Dog Theater.

Rover Dramawerks presents Laura
When Mark McPherson first falls in love with Laura, he knows he’s in love with a phantom — for Laura is dead, and he’s in charge of her murder investigation. When she appears in the midst of a thunderstorm, very much alive after all, it is revealed that Laura’s best friend (and rival) was the true victim of the crime. But now, all the evidence seems to point to Laura’s guilt. Is Mark going to have to pin the crime on the woman he’s falling in love with? The production runs through June 20 at Cox Playhouse in Plano.

Friday, June 5

KHYI 95.3 The Range Radio presents Texas Music Revolution
The 30th annual Texas Music Revolution will feature over 75 bands on 15 stages throughout downtown McKinney. Performers will include Shane Smith & The Saints, Randall King, Ray Wylie Hubbard, William Beckmann, Shelby Stone, Austin Meade, Matt Hillyer, The O's, Katrina Cain, Jake Ryan, and more. The music festival takes place on Friday and Saturday.

Yellowcard in concert
Rock band Yellowcard is sneaking up on its 30th anniversary, having formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1997. Their breakthrough didn't come until 2003 with their fourth album, Ocean Avenue, setting up a run of four straight top 20 albums on the Billboard 200. They'll play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in support of their 2025 album, Better Days, their first new release in nine years.

Opera Arlington presents Carmen
Inspired by the upcoming World Cup, Opera Arlington’s production of Carmen will reimagine Bizet’s classic in the vibrant atmosphere of 1920s Spain during the euphoric aftermath of the Spanish national soccer team’s historic Olympic medal victory. Escamillo, a dashing star footballer, has charisma and bravado as formidable on the stage as on the pitch. Carmen, an itinerant Romani worker as spirited as she is free, entrances the rigid and tradition-bound soldier Don José, and their connection ignites like a match struck in the dark. There will be performances on Friday and Saturday at Trinity United Methodist Church in Arlington.

Theatre Arlington presents The Wiz
A beloved Broadway gem, The Wiz infuses L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with a dazzling mix of rock, gospel, and soul music. The timeless tale of Dorothy’s adventures through the Land of Oz is a fun, family-friendly, modern musical. The production runs through June 21 at Theatre Arlington.

Richardson Theatre Centre presents Kong's Night Out
Kong's Night Out is the story of what happened in the hotel room next to the hotel room where Ann (played in the 1933 movie by Fay Wray) was whisked out of the bed and into the Manhattan night by King Kong. There's always a backstory. Myron Siegel is a low-end Broadway producer who desperately wants to be high end. Trouble is, he has, for his entire career, been sabotaged by his arch-rival, who is ultra-famous for making movies about scary jungle creatures. The production runs through June 28 at Richardson Theatre Centre.

Saturday, June 6

Junior Players presents PUP Fest
The 2026 edition of PUP Fest will highlight six plays written and performed by teenagers from across North Texas. A component of the Dallas Playwriting Arts Collective, a partnership between Junior Players, Kitchen Dog Theater, and the Dallas Independent School District, provides innovative programs and opportunities for high school playwrights. There will be two performances on Saturday at Dallas College Richland Campus.

TITAS/Dance Unbound presents MOMIX: Botanica
MOMIX is always a wild ride — trippy, magical, and downright unforgettable. Botanica is a stunning journey through the rhythms of the seasons, the ever-changing shapes of life on Earth in the magic of a single day unfolding. The show features jaw-dropping costumes, breathtaking projections, and larger-than-life puppets designed by the legendary Michael Curry. There will be two performances on Saturday at Winspear Opera House.

Martin Lawrence: Y’all Know What It Is! Tour
Comedy legend Martin Lawrence comes to Grand Prairie as part of The Y’all Know What It Is! tour, featuring an all-new stand-up show and fresh one hour set where Lawrence brings the real talk and finds the funny in everything from family to culture as only he can. Lawrence's career dates back to 1989, with his heyday coming in the 1990s with the TV show Martin and the start of the Bad Boys franchise. He'll perform at Texas Trust CU Theatre.

Sunday, June 7

Dallas CASA presents Parade of Playhouses closing day
Sunday will be the final day to view the Parade of Playhouses at NorthPark Center. The annual fundraiser for Dallas CASA features a colorful display of imaginative, one-of-a-kind children’s playhouses designed and built by architects, builders, local companies, and talented community members. Visitors can purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win one; tickets are sold both onsite at NorthPark Center and online.

Liverpool Legends: The Complete Beatles Experience
The Liverpool Legends are four musicians and actors handpicked by Louise Harrison, sister of George Harrison, to honor her brother’s legacy and re-create the band that changed the world forever. The audience will experience the complete history of the Beatles, from the early mop-top hits, to the Magical Mystery Tour, through the psychedelic era, and other classics. The concert takes place at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

Photo courtesy of MOMIX

TITAS/Dance Unbound presents MOMIX: Botanica at Winspear Opera House on June 6.

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Movie Review

Masters of the Universe is powered by nostalgia over good filmmaking

Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Nicholas Galitzine in Masters of the Universe.

If you grew up in the 1980s, chances are you were either a fan of or knew about Masters of the Universe. The property, based on a line of toys from Mattel, spawned a popular-if-short-lived animated TV series, comic books, a comic strip, magazines, and a 1987 live action film starring Dolph Lundgren. It is now the latest ‘80s IP to get a nostalgic reboot in the form of a new blockbuster film.

Nicholas Galitzine stars as Prince Adam of the planet Eternia, who as a child is exiled to Earth to protect the Sword of Power from invaders led by the evil Skeletor (voiced by Jared Leto). Years later, Adam is now working in the human resources department of a generic company, well-versed in corporate speak but disconnected from his heritage other than a never-ending desire to find the sword he lost when he crash-landed on Earth.

Spoiler alert, he recovers the sword and is soon thereafter rescued from Earth by childhood friend Teela (Camila Mendes). Adam’s return to Eternia is less-than-stellar, as the citizens have difficulty believing he’s the long-lost prince, especially because he initially can’t harness the power of the sword. Naturally, he figures it out eventually, leading to a number of face-offs between him and Skeletor’s minions.

Directed by Travis Knight (Bumblebee) and written by a four-person writing team, the film is yet another cynical attempt at exploiting a certain group’s nostalgia without putting any effort into actually making a good movie. The very first scene of the film is a CGI-filled battle between characters that have barely been introduced, much less explained to the audience. For longtime fans, this will be no issue. For everyone else, though, it immediately signals that the filmmakers don’t care about making them care about anyone or anything in the story.

Instead, they substitute actual character development with a campy and self-deprecating vibe that’s in line with the original series. That’s all well and good if the intended audience was solely 50-year-olds, but for a movie that presumably wants to bring in younger audiences, it’s a choice that never fully comes through. Some characters try to be funnier than others, and most of the “jokes” land with a thud since the tone hasn’t been properly established.

Worst of all, there are never any meaningful stakes in the film. Adam is impervious to damage, something that would have been truly funny if commented upon, but instead is just treated as fact for no good reason. Skeletor is not intended to be a fearsome villain, as he often bumbles through scenes or line deliveries, but the lack of a truly terrible enemy keeps the story stuck in neutral. Combined with bloodless PG-13 fight scenes with no sense of realness to them, there is rarely anything about which to get excited.

Galitzine has turned heads as both a gay (Red, White & Royal Blue) and straight (The Idea of You) romantic interest, but he can never find his footing as the leading man here. The film never allows him to develop into a true action hero, so instead he comes across as a pretender most of the time. Mendes is okay, but she, too, isn’t given the opportunity to become much more than a sidekick. Idris Elba is entirely wasted as Teela’s father Duncan. Leto lets loose, which works because he’s the only character without a recognizable face.

There may be a world in which rebooting Masters of the Universe makes sense, but it does not exist when the film that is offered doesn’t even try to appeal to anyone who doesn’t have a deeply ingrained knowledge of the decades-old property. By relying on nostalgia instead of good filmmaking, the film may get good box office returns on opening weekend, but it’s difficult to imagine that it will endure.

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Masters of the Universe opens in theaters on June 5.

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