Weekend Event Planner

These are the 17 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

It's another huge weekend of events across Dallas, although the slate has such a variety that it's tough to break them down by categories. Among the many options include a big golf tournament, a major awards show, hot male dancers, a tour of a Broadway musical, a visit from a famous music couple, a rare concert by an iconic band, and more.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events. Still looking for a restaurant to treat Mom for Mother's Day? Find that list here.

Thursday, May 11

AT&T Byron Nelson
The PGA Tour will make its annual stop in the Dallas area with the AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney. Although the PGA's star power has been diminished somewhat with the defection of many top players to the LIV Tour, this tournament will still feature two-time defending champion K.H. Lee, hometown hero Jordan Spieth, world No. 2 Scottie Scheffler, Hideki Matsuyama, and a slew of other top PGA golfers. The tournament takes place through Sunday.

Mother's Day with the Housewives
The Real Housewives series is one of the most popular reality franchises in the world, with over 30 different shows taking place around the world over the past 17 years. Three notable stars from the New York version - Luann De Lesseps, Ramona Singer, and Dorinda Medley - will take questions from the audience and share some of their favorite times on television in this special event at House of Blues Dallas.

Academy of Country Music Awards
The 58th annual Academy of Country Music Awards will come to Frisco for the first time, taking place at the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility, Ford Center. The ceremony, hosted by country music legends Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton, will feature performances by Carly Pearce and Trisha Yearwood; Ashley McBryde featuring Brandy Clark, Caylee Hammack, Pillbox Patti, and John Osborne; Ed Sheeran; Cole Swindell and Jo Dee Messina; and solo performances by Hardy and Jordan Davis.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Carmina Burana
Arguably the most iconic choral work of the 20th century, Carmina Burana’s unforgettable opening, “O Fortuna,” has become a pop culture phenomenon. The concert will also include Orff's Catulli Carmina, brought to life by four critically acclaimed soloists, the Dallas Symphony Chorus, the Dallas Symphony Children’s Chorus, and the DSO. There will be four performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Magic Mike Live: The Tour
The North American touring production of Channing Tatum’s Magic Mike LiveMagic Mike Live comes to Stonebriar Centre in Frisco, featuring professional dancers delivering a thrilling 90-minute show that packs in daring dance routines, acrobatics, live music, comedy, and more in a 360-degree venue. The production runs through June 11.

The Firehouse Theatre presents Saturday Night Fever
In this beloved ’70s throwback, Tony Manero, a 19-year-old Brooklynite paint store clerk, spends his weekends at a local disco, where he moonlights as the king of the dance floor. When he and mesmerizing dancer Stephanie enter a dance competition, the pair’s professional partnership blossoms into a deep friendship, and challenges both to reflect on what’s important in life amidst rising social tensions and disillusionment. The production runs through May 28 at The Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch.

Broadway at the Center presents Fiddler on the Roof
Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher brings his fresh take on a beloved masterpiece to life as Fiddler on the Roof comes to Dallas. A wonderful cast and a lavish orchestra tell this heartwarming story of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and the timeless traditions that define faith and family. The production will have four performances through Saturday at Winspear Opera House.

mixtamotus presents #Filtered
Materializing out of mixatmotus’ obsession with the human-machine relationship and social media, #Filtered explores the age-old idiom "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" in a tongue-in-cheek journey of perfectionism between the digital and real self. Part of AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project series, the production will have three performances through Saturday at Wyly Theatre.

Teatro Dallas presents The 22+ Weddings of Hugo Multiple
Why in the world does Hugo, a simple postal clerk, keep getting married so many times? The 22+ Weddings of Hugo Multiple is based on the true tale of a "beautiful crime." It's a humorous story that delves into hidden themes of our day, from empathy and immigration, to love in times of hatred, and our common need to find refuge. The production runs through May 27 at Latino Cultural Center.

Friday, May 12

99.5 The Wolf and New Country 96.3 Country Fest
The 2023 Country Fest, presented by 99.5 The Wolf and New Country 96.3, will feature performances by a variety of established and up-and-coming country singers, including Justin Moore, Eli Young Band, Priscilla Block, and Chris Cagle. The festival-style concert will be at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.

Candlelight: 100 Years of Warner Bros.
In celebration of Warner Bros. Studios’ 100th anniversary, Candlelight: 100 Years of Warner Bros. features music from award-winning films and unforgettable television shows from the Warner Bros. library. Audiences will hear music from The Lord of The Rings, The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Friends, Batman, Harry Potter and more. There will be two performances on Friday in a candlelit setting at the Frontiers of Flight Museum.

Theatre Frisco presents Rounding Third
Don is a coach who believes that winning is what is most important in baseball. Michael, his assistant coach, believes that kids should have fun when they play. Don's kid is the star of the team, and Michael's kid can barely remember to keep his shoelaces tied. In addition, there are extramarital affairs going on (though the truth of them is well-hidden), and Michael's job is not all that it seems. The production runs through May 28 at Frisco Discovery Center.

Majestic Theatre presents An Intimate Evening with David Foster and Katharine McPhee
Musician, composer, and producer David Foster and acclaimed singer, television, and Broadway star Katharine McPhee will bring a version of their viral Instagram show to Dallas. The intimate show with the powerhouse duo - and married couple - will be packed with Foster‘s hits from Chicago, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, and more, McPhee’s biggest songs from American Idol, Smash, and Waitress, and other favorites. The concert takes place at Majestic Theatre.

Saturday, May 13

Nasher Sculpture Center presents Thaddeus Mosley: "Forest" opening day
Thaddeus Mosley: "Forest" is an exhibition that features five large-scale wooden sculptures, all made after 2015 by the still-practicing 96-year-old artist. Mosley has been making carved and joined wood sculptures since the 1950s. Largely self-taught, the artist works with arborists and local sawmills in the Pittsburgh area to find felled trees which he sculpts using mallets and chisels. The exhibition will be on display through August 20 at Nasher Sculpture Center.

The Cure in concert
Fans of The Cure in the U.S. have had precious few opportunities to see them live, as this is just their third North American tour since 2008. This year marks the 45th anniversary for the band, which rose to fame in the late '80s/early '90s with top-selling albums Disintegration and Wish, featuring indelible hits like "Lullaby," "Lovesong," and "Never Enough." They'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion in support of their new album, Songs of a Lost World.

Sunday, May 14

Godsmack in concert with I Prevail, The Struts and The Warning
Some music pundits like to proclaim that "rock is dead," but Godsmack has been proving them wrong for the past 25 years, releasing a string of top 10 albums and consistently topping the rock charts in recent years with hits like "Bulletproof," "Unforgettable," and "Surrender." They'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion with I Prevail, The Struts, and The Warning.

Chelcie Lynn: 2 Fingers And A 12 Pack Tour
Chelcie Lynn is a comedian, actress, and internet personality extraordinaire. She started building a fan base in 2014 when her sketches featuring her alter ego, Trailer Trash Tammy, went viral. She can be seen in the Duplass Brothers feature film Tangerine, and recently starred in the digital series Coach Von Pidgeon for Funny or Die & Facebook Watch. She'll perform at Majestic Theatre.

Courtesy photo

"An Intimate Evening with David Foster & Katharine McPhee" will be at Majestic Theatre on May 12.

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Movie Review

Wes Anderson shows off comedy chops in stylish The Phoenician Scheme

Photo courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features

Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, and Michael Cera in The Phoenician Scheme.

If you were to do a poll of the best comedy filmmakers of the 21st century, writer/director Wes Anderson is not the obvious choice to come out on top, but there’s an argument to be made for him. His quirky style doesn’t yield the guffaws that more broad comedies do, but the absurd situations he creates in his films are often more consistently funny than anything else.

Anderson’s inimitable approach is once again on full display in The Phoenician Scheme. At its center is Zsa-Zsa Gorda (Benicio Del Toro), a much-hated businessman who’s looking to complete a number of big projects in the fictional country of Phoenicia. As he seems to be the target of multiple assassination attempts, he appoints his daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), as his heir to try to ensure his legacy.

Both she and his new assistant, Bjorn (Michael Cera), accompany him around the country as he tries to enact a scheme to have others cover the bulk of the cost for the various projects. Those he attempts to convince include Phoenician Prince Farouk (Riz Ahmed), brothers Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston), fellow businessman Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric), ship captain Marty (Jeffrey Wright), his Cousin Hilda (Scarlett Johansson), and Uncle Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch).

Put in Andersonian terms, the film is a mix between the madcap antics from The Grand Budapest Hotel and the impenetrable storytelling of Asteroid City. If you were to try to understand every detail of what’s going on in the story of The Phoenician Scheme, it might take three or more viewings to do so. But the film is still highly entertaining because Anderson fills its frames with his typical visual delights, great wordplay, and his particular version of slapstick.

Much of the comedy of the film derives from Anderson inserting moments that initially come as a surprise and then utilizing them as running jokes. The film features more blood than usual for the filmmaker, but each time a character gets wounded (or worse), it gets funnier. The assassination attempts get broader as the film goes along, and the matter-of-fact way in which they’re treated by Gorda and others is also hilarious.

Of course, Anderson is the cinephile’s comedy director, so the film is also full of high-brow things like allusions to paintings, tributes to other filmmakers, and classical music. Each time Gorda has an attempt on his life, he briefly finds himself in a version of limbo, depicted in black-and-white by Anderson. The cast of characters Gorda finds there - including Bill Murray as God - could come straight out of a 1950s Ingmar Bergman movie.

Del Toro has delivered some great performances over the years, but this one is near the top for him. This is his second Anderson film (following The French Dispatch) and he nails the deadpan method. Also great is Cera, who uses a ridiculous accent to make a big impression. Threapleton, the daughter of Kate Winslet, makes the most of her first big film role. The list of supporting actors is too deep to properly laud everyone, but they all fit in seamlessly.

Opinions will differ, but for this critic’s money, Anderson is at his best when he fully leans into the comedy of his films. He does just that in The Phoenician Scheme, to the point that it doesn’t matter that the story is overly complex. The combination of his eye for visual detail, a witty script, and committed performances make it a success.

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The Phoenician Scheme is now playing in theaters.

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