Weekend Event Planner

These are the 16 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

You might think you're seeing double on this weekend's list of events in and around Dallas, as there are two separate events for both Harry Potter and Dracula, just in time for Halloween. Other choices include a quartet of throwback concerts, two big-name comedians, an autumn festival, a big country star, a B-movie festival, and more.

Of course the biggest event in DFW will be the Texas Rangers taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks in the World Series at Globe Life Field. Didn't get World Series tickets? No worries.

Below are more 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.

Thursday, October 26

Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts presents The Manhattan Transfer
The Grammy Award-winning vocal group The Manhattan Transfer comes to Richardson as part of its final tour. As they celebrate their 50th anniversary, the group looks back on a career that has spanned genres from pop to jazz to rock and roll and more. Trist Curless, Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, and Cheryl Bentyne will be joined by guests The DIVA Jazz Orchestra at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

Lyric Stage presents Little Shop of Horrors
Lyric Stage gets spooky for Halloween with their production of Little Shop Of Horrors, a delectable sci-fi horror musical. Seymour is a meek and dejected assistant at a floral shop who happens upon a strange plant. Little does Seymour know that this strange and unusual plant will develop a soulful R&B voice, a potty mouth, and an unquenchable thirst for human blood. The production runs through Sunday at Majestic Theatre.

Dane Cook: The Perfectly Shattered Tour
Dane Cook, a comedy trailblazer and actor known for his stand-up comedy specials and observational humor, comes to Dallas on his Perfectly Shattered Tour. Combining energetic physical comedy, clever wordplay, and trenchant observations about human behavior, Cook's unique brand of stand-up and accessible guy-next-door attitude have galvanized audiences of all ages. He'll perform at Texas Trust CU Theatre.

Friday, October 27

Ennis presents 21st Annual Autumn Daze
Autumn Daze in Ennis is back for its 21st year with more than 15,000 pumpkins. With the theme of "Season of Harvest," it will feature a giant pumpkin house, corn husk tepees, a corn display, pumpkin walk, and professional carvers. The star of the festival is the Giant Hay Maze and Pumpkin Patch. Along with the main attractions, kids will enjoy pumpkin painting, carnival rides, climbing on the life-size tractor made from haybales, a gigantic harvest moon, and the huge corn pit. The festival takes place in downtown Ennis through Sunday.

Chris Stapleton in concert
When country star Chris Stapleton comes to town, it's always a big deal in the literal and metaphorical sense. In 2021, he brought his All-American Roadshow to Globe Life Field in Arlington. He sized down the next year to Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, but it was his only stop in Texas that year. And now he's returned to play back-to-back nights at Dos Equis Pavilion right before the release of his fifth album, Higher. He'll be joined by Charley Crockett and Nikki Lane.

Avant Chamber Ballet presents Dracula
The first of two Dracula ballets this week is this world premiere production from Avant Chamber Ballet. It features a dramatic score created by Philip Glass to accompany the 1931 horror film classic, and tells the suspenseful and gripping story reimagined to reflect modern times. The production, recommended for audiences 10 years and older, will have three performances through Saturday at Moody Performance Hall.

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Johnny Cash - The Official Concert Experience
In this multi-media celebration, Johnny Cash’s rich, iconic baritone has been lifted from archival concert footage and recordings, enabling the "Man in Black" to perform his biggest hits, including "I Walk the Line" and "Ring of Fire," with a live band again. In addition to never-before-seen footage and on-screen narration by Cash’s only son, John Carter Cash, male and female vocalists will split singing duties to perform even more Cash hits, as well as tunes by artists of the time, including The Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins, and June Carter Cash. The concert takes place at Strauss Square.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Concert
Audiences can relive the magic of their favorite wizard in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Concert. The thrilling tale, accompanied by the music of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, follows Harry from when he uses the Marauder’s Map to when the Patronus Charm bursts from his wand. There will be three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

The Temptations and The Four Tops in concert
Motown legends The Temptations and The Four Tops will bring an electric evening of elegant harmonies and smooth-stepping moves to Grand Prairie. For more than 50 years, both The Temptations and The Four Tops have prospered, propelling popular music with a series of smash hits and sold-out performances throughout the world. They'll perform at Texas Trust CU Theatre.

Saturday, October 28

Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience
It's a very Harry weekend, as The Forbidden Forest Experience opens up in Little Elm. Inspired by the iconic Forbidden Forest and featuring creatures from the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts series, visitors will see lights morph the landscape into a magical outdoor trail. Visitors will be able to discover some of their favorite moments from the Forbidden Forest, encounter mystical creatures such as Hippogriffs, unicorns, and Nifﬂers, and practice casting their very own spells. The event takes place daily at Little Elm Park through January 13, 2024.

It Came from Texas Film Festival
The It Came from Texas Film Festival will feature B-movies that were shown at drive-in movie theaters around the country in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s — quirky, campy films made in Texas that fit the horror/sci-fi genre. Highlights include 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Mocky Horror Picture Show making fun of Ray Kellogg's 1959 cheesy horror classic, The Giant Gila Monster. The festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday at Plaza Theater in Garland.

Samantha Bee: Your Favorite Woman
Samantha Bee has established herself as having one of the most unique and sharp comedic voices on television. After 12 years as the longest-serving regular Daily Show correspondent of all time, she got her own weekly late-night comedy series, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, which ran for seven seasons on TBS. Bee is the author of the essay collection I Know I Am, But What Are You? and she and her husband Jason Jones also co-created the half-hour comedy series, The Detour. She'll perform at Texas Theatre.

Raphael Saadiq and Tony! Toni! Toné in concert
The standing joke with the '80s/'90s R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné! is that none of them are actually named Tony (or Toni or Toné). Raphael Saadiq, his brother D'Wayne Wiggins, and Timothy Christian Riley will perform as a group for the first time in nearly 25 years. The Tonys' set will feature hits like "Feels Good," "Anniversary," and "It Never Rains (In Southern California)," brand-new material, and Saadiq performing his solo songs. They'll perform at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

Ochre House Theater presents Kaput
Kaput is a seafaring comedy featuring the adventures of Captain Chuck, a Nazi hunter, Tappy, his ever-faithful Tugboat, Tulip, the French revolutionary in search of justice for her little brother Poppy, who wants to be a girl. These three Misfits set out together, seeking safe harbor in a cruel, fascistic world, on the world’s most mysterious and dangerous island called Kaput. The production runs through November 18 at Ochre Houe Theater.

Sunday, October 29

Ballet Ensemble of Texas presents Dracula
Ballet Ensemble of Texas' version of Dracula features unique twists to the traditional story. Patrons may also participate in The Vein Drain, Drinks with Dracula prior to the performance, and a Fiendish Frock Fashion Fantasy, a costume parade for the audience at the performance. The one-night-only performance takes place at Irving Arts Center.

Luis Miguel in concert
Mexican singer Luis Miguel has been one of the top-selling Latin artists for decades, dating back to his 1982 debut album, El Sol, released when he was just 11 years old. Now a fully mature 53-year-old, Miguel has gone on to release 21 albums in his career, most recently 2017's ¡México Por Siempre! As a testament to his continuing popularity, he'll perform at American Airlines Center not just on Sunday, but again a little more than six months later on May 8, 2024.

Courtesy photo

Chris Stapleton will play at Dos Equis Pavilion on October 27 and 28.

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Movie review

Over-the-top The Bride! makes other Frankenstein movies seem subtle

Photo by Niko Tavernise

Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley in The Bride!.

The story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster is now over 200 years old, with Mary Shelley’s book having been adapted or referenced in close to 500 films. Less common is the character of The Bride of Frankenstein, which existed in the original text but has more often than not been excised in adaptations. Writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal has tried to rectify that by giving the character a big showcase in her new film, The Bride!.

Gyllenhaal has reimagined the story as one in which a woman named Ida (Jessie Buckley) becomes possessed by the spirit of Shelley (also Buckley). At the same time, the already-existing Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) approaches Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening), who specializes in reanimation, with the request to make him a wife. When Ida falls to her death in an “accident” involving her boyfriend (John Magaro), the ideal corpse becomes available.

After Ida’s resurrection, she and the monster become restless being studied by Dr. Euphronius and decide to break out to experience the world. The world, naturally, is not exactly welcoming to them, and soon the couple are on the run for causing mayhem, including a few murders. In hot pursuit are detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his assistant, Myrna Mallow (Penélope Cruz), as well as other authorities.

It’s clear that Gyllenhaal wanted to merge the Frankenstein story with Bonnie & Clyde, especially since she sets the film in the mid-1930s. And that wouldn’t have been a bad idea if having the monster and The Bride going on a crime spree was truly the focus of the movie. But most of the time there’s less intentionality in their misdeeds and more confusion, leading to a muddled plot with no clear direction or end goal in mind.

One of the biggest problems is that Gyllenhaal starts the energy of the film at an 11, giving her and everyone else nowhere to go but down. She dabbles in multiple different tones, at times going the straight drama route and other times making what seems like full-on camp. At one point, she even has the monster and the Bride in a dance sequence set to “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” which would be hilarious as an homage to Young Frankenstein if the film weren’t so disjointed.

Most baffling of all is what Gyllenhaal wants from The Bride character. She morphs multiple times over the course of the film, from close to unintelligible at the beginning to rough-and-tumble at the end. There are hints at the lack of control she has over her autonomy, including Shelley’s possession of her and the monster lying to her about her past, but any commentary that Gyllenhaal might be trying to make gets lost amid the oddity of the film as a whole.

Both Buckley and Bale are all-in for their performances, which definitely fall in the “love it or hate it” dichotomy. Each scene is pitched so high that there’s little nuance to either of them, and neither is on par with their previous Oscar-caliber roles. The high-powered supporting cast of Bening, Sarsgaard, Cruz, and Jake Gyllenhaal is watchable based on previous roles, but none of them elevate this particular movie.

Whatever intentions Maggie Gyllenhaal had in making The Bride! are only halfway legible in a film that can never find its tonal footing. There has rarely been subtlety in movies featuring Frankenstein’s monster and related characters, but this one makes all the others seem like stuffy dramas in comparison.

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The Bride! is now playing in theaters.

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