Weekend Event Planner

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

The slate of events in and around Dallas this weekend is almost evenly split between performing arts and music. Choices include a circus, four local theater productions, four concerts from big-name acts, and a special anniversary show for a local burlesque troupe.

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, August 6

UniverSoul Circus
UniverSoul Circus features an all-star cast, circus thrills, stunts, and interactive entertainment. Highlights include an Ethiopian pole act, a graceful ballerina act, an aerial lyra duo, an ultra-stylized roller-skating troupe, a strong-man hand-balance duo, a high-flying Zhukau Swing acrobatic act, and more. The circus runs through August 22 in a big tent in the parking lot at The Shops at Redbird.

The Firehouse Theatre presents Grease
It’s 1959 at Rydell High, and Danny and Sandy’s summer romance is about to face the ultimate test: senior year. Featuring beloved hits like “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightnin’,” and “You’re the One That I Want,” Grease is the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll party. The production runs through August 23 at The Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch.

Friday, August 7

Kesha in concert
Pop singer Kesha is putting her money where her mouth is, as her 2025 album, . (PERIOD), is her first release on her new independent music label, Kesha Records. And she's promising that this tour, aptly titled The Freedom Tour, will be a celebration for both her and her fans, featuring "surreal visuals, cathartic sing-alongs, and the kind of emotional release that transforms arenas into spiritual safe places." She'll perform at Dos Equis Pavilion.

NTPA Repertory Theatre presents Disney's Frozen
In the beautiful mountainous kingdom of Arendelle, Princesses Anna and Elsa grow up sheltered inside their castle, isolated from the world and increasingly distant from each other. When Elsa is crowned queen, the magical powers she’s desperately tried to conceal from her sister take control, and she flees into the mountains. As a ferocious winter descends on Arendelle, Anna sets off on an epic journey to find Elsa and bring her home with the help of hardworking ice harvester Kristoff, his loyal reindeer Sven, and a happy-go-lucky snowman named Olaf. The production runs through August 16 at North Texas Performing Arts in Plano.

The Core Theatre presents Tennessee Wet Rub
It’s January 30, 1951, and perhaps what is the worst winter storm in Tennessee’s history is burying the state under snow and ice. Roads have been shut down, and people are without power. As the storm rages, Bertha and Hank, an older white couple, huddle in their shuttered barbecue restaurant around a kerosene lantern when two young people, a white girl and a Black man, enter. The values and compassion of Bertha and Hank are put to the test when a deputy sheriff arrives, hunting for something — or someone... The production runs through August 30 at The Core Theatre in Richardson.

Richardson Theatre Centre presents See How They Run
In an English vicarage, the vicar and his wife are overwhelmed by a barrage of colorful guests, including an American actress, an American G.I., a cockney maid who has seen too many American movies, an old dowager who “touches alcohol for the first time in her life,” a sedate Bishop aghast at all these goings-on, and four men in identical clergyman suits, one of whom is an escaped prisoner. The production runs through August 30 at Richardson Theatre Centre.

Saturday, August 8

Lollie Bombs present 20th Year Anniversary Show
The 20th Year Anniversary Show for the burlesque troupe Lollie Bombs will highlight burlesque, aerials, sideshow, magic, clowning, chaos, horror, bad ideas, questionable decisions, and an alarming amount of T&A. The show will feature 12 current and former Lollies, joined by three spectacular guests. The show takes place at Theatre Three.

The Mavericks & Friends in concert
At this concert, The Mavericks will honor late lead singer Raul Malo and the music he left behind, performing classics like "Come Unto Me," "Back In Your Arms Again," and "As Long As There's Loving Tonight." Presented as "The Mavericks & Friends," the all-star show will feature a decade-spanning version of the band, along with guest singers like Emily West and James Otto. The concert will be at Majestic Theatre.

Ne-Yo and Akon in concert
Ne-Yo and Akon are both R&B icons, having each started in the early 2000s and notching multiple top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. After previously collaborated on the 2013 David Guetta song, "Play Hard," they've joined forces again as part of their Nights Like This tour. As neither singer is supporting new music — Ne-Yo's most recent album was Self Explanatory in 2022 and Akon's most recent album was Akonda in 2019 — fans will get a full night of their respective hits. They'll perform at Dos Equis Pavilion.

Sunday, August 9

The Black Crowes and Whiskey Myers in concert
This co-headlining concert pairs two rock bands from different eras. The Black Crowes were formed in 1984, releasing their standout debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, in 1990. Whiskey Myers, out of Palestine, Texas, isn't even at their 20-year mark, having released their debut album in 2008. They'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion as part of their Southern Hospitality Tour in support of their new releases: The Black Crowes' Pound of Feathers and Whiskey Myers' Whomp Whack Thunder.

Photo courtesy of Kesha

Kesha will play at Dos Equis Pavilion on August 7.

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Movie Review

Korean monster movie Hope delivers thrills despite its lengthy runtime

Photo courtesy of Neon

Hwang Jung-Min and Hoyeon in Hope.

Monster movies can take on all sorts of different flavors, from all-out mayhem to quieter ones where the monster can sometimes be the protagonist. The new South Korean film Hope splits the difference to a degree, delivering action-packed sequences while also attempting to understand the non-humans in a way.

The story starts in medias res, with an unseen creature having already done great damage to a huge bull and laying waste to much of a small Korean town. The local sheriff, Beom Seok (Hwang Jung-Min), tries to take control of the situation in the town, while a group of hunters led by Sung Ki (Zo In-Sung) travel into the nearby woods to see what they can find there.

Thus starts a nearly nonstop, 160-minute epic of each side trying (and mostly failing) to defend themselves against gigantic creatures who seem hellbent on destroying everything in their path. It’s not until 40 minutes into the film that the audience is shown one of the monsters in detail, and the less said the better about what it actually looks like, as the mystery behind it keeps the intrigue going.

That initial section of the film is the best, as Beom Seok — eventually joined by deputy Sung Ae (Hoyeon) — goes on a frantic hunt around the town, always just far enough behind the monster to keep from seeing it. The utter destruction he witnesses and his interactions with various locals are intense and oddly funny, with the hectic conversations he has laced with fear and incredulity over how different people choose to act.

Writer-director Na Hong-jin bounces back and forth between the people in the town and the group in the forest, doing his best to maintain the momentum of the first section. This approach works for a while as each group makes their own discoveries about the creatures and has run-ins with them that more often than not are ill-fated. Using a mixture of relatively good CGI, great production design, and an abundance of gore, the filmmaker shows he knows how to make an effective blockbuster-style film.

The trouble is, he doesn’t know when to stop. Somewhere around the two-hour mark of the movie, the story starts to become repetitive and Hong-jin introduces elements that don’t mesh well with what has come before. For some reason, he decides that some of the creatures should speak, a move that is baffling on several fronts. The biggest one is that they are voiced by English-speaking actors like Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Taylor Russell, but each speaks a non-human language, rendering their performances moot.

Jung-min puts in a fantastic lead performance, one that requires him to vacillate between abject terror and in-control leadership. In-Sung is almost as good, although his character requires him to play one note over and over again. Hoyeon, who some may recognize from Squid Game, delivers an extra shot of energy when she enters the film, something she keeps going despite her character being forced to say some bad lines.

If Hong-jin had kept the focus Hope a little tighter, the sci-fi thriller might have ended up toward the top of this year’s films. But by choosing to extend the story into territories that don’t add much to the plot or make much sense, the filmmaker puts a damper on what was a fun and brutal monster movie.

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Hope is now playing in theaters.

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