Weekend Event Planner

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

It will be a nice, diverse weekend in and around Dallas, with events to please many different tastes. Choices include a tribute to a late acclaimed author, a dance production, a visit from a famous comedian, two new local theater productions, a symphony concert, five other concerts with acts of varying genres and popularity, and the start of a notable art exhibition.

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.

Thursday, September 7

Dallas Contemporary presents An Evening Remembering Larry McMurtry
The author of treasured novels such as Lonesome Dove and The Last Picture Show, and co-author of the screenplays for Brokeback Mountain and Streets of Laredo, Larry McMurtry was one of America’s most revered writers. The new book Pastures of the Empty Page brings together nearly 40 fellow writers to honor the man and his impact on American letters. At this event at Dallas Contemporary, editor George Getschow and various book contributors will discuss their respective relationships to McMurtry and his work.

Friday, September 8

Ballet Papillon presents Revival
Ballet Papillon will present Revival, the commencement of their inaugural 2023-2024 season. The production is a choreographic creation of six original, never-before-performed works that exemplify the versatility and unique personalities of the company's artists, choreographers, and artistic staff. There will be two performances through Saturday at Latino Cultural Center, and a third performance on September 23 at Addison Conference and Theatre Centre.

Anthony Jeselnik: Bones and All
Comedian Anthony Jeselnik's recent stand-up special, Fire in the Maternity Ward, premiered on Netflix to critical acclaim. In addition to Comedy Central podcasts and roasts, Jeselnik has performed on Conan, The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. He'll bring his latest show, Bones and All, to Majestic Theatre for two performances.

Garland Civic Theatre presents Crimes of the Heart
The three MaGrath sisters are back together in their hometown for the first time in a decade. One is the caretaker of the sisters’ cantankerous Old Granddaddy, another left home to pursue stardom as a singer in Los Angeles, and the youngest has just been arrested for the murder of her abusive husband. Past resentments bubble to the surface and each sister must come to terms with the consequences of her own “crimes of the heart.” The production runs through September 24 at Granville Arts Center in Garland.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Prohibition: The Music of Moulin Rouge, Boardwalk Empire and More!"
This concert from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra will take audiences on a journey through the 1920s, from Rudy Vallée to Josephine Baker, from Kurt Weill to King Oliver, featuring the top hits of the decade authentically arranged for orchestra by conductor Jeff Tyzik, accompanied by vintage imagery and video from the period. There will be three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Lyric Stage presents The Great American Trailer Park Musical
There’s a new tenant at Armadillo Acres - and she’s wreaking havoc all over Florida’s most exclusive trailer park. When Pippi, the stripper on the run, comes between the Dr. Phil-loving, agoraphobic Jeannie and her tollbooth collector husband, the storms begin to brew. The production, Lyric Stage's first in their brand new Studio Space in the Design District, runs through October 14.

Joshua Radin in concert
Folk rock musician Joshua Radin is the epitome of a music lifer. He earned acclaim in the early 2000s, getting his songs played on TV shows like Scrubs and Grey's Anatomy. But, despite appearing multiple times on Ellen, he's never truly achieved breakout status, with his biggest success coming on the Billboard Indie or Folk charts. But he remains undaunted, continuing to churn out music like his two 2023 EPs, Though the World Will Tell Me So, Vol.1 and 2. He'll play at The Kessler.

Maná in concert
Mexican pop-rock band Maná has been making music for over 40 years, and for the last 30 they've been at or near the top of the Billboard Latin charts. Every album since 1992's ¿Dónde Jugarán Los Niños? has reached at least the top 6 on both the Latin and Latin Pop charts, with the last five, including 2015's Cama Incendiada, going to No. 1 on both. They'll play at American Airlines Center on both Friday and Saturday as part of their México Lindo Y Querido tour.

Saturday, September 9

Kraig Parker: Symphonic Tribute to Elvis
Despite dying in 1977, Elvis Presley has remained a musical icon because of numerous tribute acts who refuse to let him and his music fade into oblivion. Kraig Parker returns to the Eisemann Center in Richardson with Symphonic Tribute to Elvis, which features a full 18-piece orchestra conducted by Dallas’ own Bryan English.

Marisela in concert
The Latin Madonna, "The diva of romantic music," and "La Dama de Hierro" are some of the titles that Marisela has received throughout her career. The Mexican-American singer reached fame in the 1980s, selling more than 25 million records. She is the only singer in Spanish to take over the Top 10 of Billboard magazine with all the songs from the same album. She'll perform at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.

Sunday, September 10

Dallas Museum of Art presents Abraham Angel: "Between Wonder and Seduction" opening day
Assembling nearly all his known surviving works, Abraham Ángel: "Between Wonder and Seduction" introduces U.S. audiences to this legendary artist with the first major survey of his work in over 35 years. During his brief three-year career, Ángel developed a unique artistic style that successfully captured the rapidly changing society and culture of Mexico in the early 20th century. The exhibition will remain on display at the Dallas Museum of Art through January 28, 2024.

5 Seconds of Summer in concert
Australian pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer long ago shed the erroneous "boy band" title, thanks to their distinct rock sound and the fact that, unlike most boy bands, they actually play their own instruments. Each of their five albums have landed at either No. 1 or No. 2 on the Billboard 200, including their latest, 2022's 5SOS5. They'll play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Photo courtesy of Marisela

Marisela will perform at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie on September 9.

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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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