Weekend Event Planner

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

Thanks to local theater companies, it's another busy weekend in and around Dallas, with eight different groups premiering new productions. Music dominates the other half, featuring another theater company putting on a concert with Broadway songs, a visit from a well-known author, a symphony concert, three "regular" concerts featuring popular artists, a Mavericks fan celebration, and an anniversary screening of a certain romantic vampire movie with its score played live.

Photo by Jeffrey Schmidt/Theatre Three

Theatre Three presents The Trade: A Tragedy in Four Quarters through November 2.

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

Thursday, October 9

Theatre Three presents The Trade: A Tragedy in Four Quarters
In this fast-paced, highly unauthorized, foam middle-fingered satire, the Dallas Mavericks are on the brink of greatness - so, naturally, Nico slams the self-destruct button. With a Greek chorus narrating the tragic downfall, a Kiss Cam, “Luka Doncic,” “Mark Cuban,” and a cameo from “Anthony Davis’s Hernia,” The Trade skewers the madness behind the moves, the myth that millionaires and billionaires must know what they’re doing, and the heartbreak of loving something that doesn’t love you back. The production runs through November 2 at Theatre Three.

Soul Rep Theatre Company and Bishop Arts Theatre Center presents King Hedley II
Set in 1985 Pittsburgh, August Wilson's King Hedley II follows an ex-convict's fight to rebuild his life and reclaim his future amid hardship, hope, and the weight of the past. The drama, co-produced by Soul Rep Theatre Company and Bishop Arts Theatre Center, runs through October 26 at Bishop Arts Theatre Center.

WaterTower Theatre presents BWY x NTX
In this bold new concert, the voice becomes the storyteller, revealing how musical theatre’s beloved archetypes have transformed over time. From timeless ballads to show-stopping anthems, every song unlocks a different chapter. There will be four performances through Sunday at Courtyard Theater in Plano.

DMA Arts & Letters Live presents Good Things: An Evening with Samin Nosrat
Samin Nosrat comes to Dallas to discuss her new book, Good Things. Nosrat will share stories around the inspiration for the cookbook, her development and selection of the recipes, and the culinary rituals she shares with close friends. Nosrat, best known for the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, will be in conversation with Hrishikesh Hirway, singer/songwriter, podcast creator, and composer. The event takes place at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Respighi’s Fountains of Rome"
The latest concert from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra will feature a double helping of Respighi: The Fountains of Rome, in which he focuses on four magnificent aquatic landmarks, and Church Windows, in which pays homage to a powerful figure in the history of church music. The concert also include Saint-Saëns’ Fifth Piano Concerto and the DSO premiere of What do flowers do at night? by Composer-in-Residence Sophia Jani. The concert, conducted by Fabio Luisi and featuring pianist Bruce Liu, will have three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Djo: Another Bite Tour
Many actors also dream of being musicians, and Djo (aka actor/musician Joe Keery of Stranger Things fame) is actually making it happen. He released two albums as part of the band Post Animal, and three more as a solo artist, most recently The Crux earlier this year. The indie rocker will stop at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving in between performing at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

Friday, October 10

Dallas Mavericks present Fan Jam
At the Dallas Mavericks' annual Fan Jam, fans will get a first look at the 2025-26 Dallas Mavericks team - including No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg - at an open practice on the main court at American Airlines Center. The free event will also feature the Mavs entertainment teams, exclusive giveaways, merchandise discounts, and concession specials.

Repertory Company Theatre presents The Wedding Singer
The Wedding Singer takes audiences back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room. Based on the hit Adam Sandler movie, The Wedding Singer's score does for the '80s what Hairspray did for the '60s. The production runs through October 26 at Repertory Company Theatre in Richardson.

Lyric Stage presents The Rocky Horror Show
In this cult classic, sweethearts Brad and Janet, stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker and a creepy butler. Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-N-Furter unveils his latest creation: a muscular man named “Rocky.” The production runs through October 26 at Lyric Stage in Dallas.

Garland Civic Theatre presents The Mousetrap
A timeless tale of “whodunnit,” Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap strands seven strangers at Monkswell Manor during a blizzard. A police sergeant unexpectedly arrives, but before he can investigate, one of the guests is killed, starting an investigation into the lives and histories of everyone there. One of them is the killer, and another one of them may be next. The production runs through October 26 at Granville Arts Center in Garland.

GEA Live presents Twilight in Concert: 15th Anniversary Celebration
Twilight in Concert offers a unique opportunity for fans to relive the story that started the phenomenon in a cinematic live experience. A 12-piece ensemble of rock and orchestral musicians will take the stage to perform the film score in synchronization with the original movie, presented in its entirety on a full-size cinema screen. The event takes place at Majestic Theatre.

Family Music Theatre presents Into the Woods
In Into the Woods, James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim take everyone's favorite storybook characters and bring them together for a timeless, yet relevant piece. The story follows a Baker and his wife, who wish to have child; Cinderella, who wishes to attend the King's festival; and Jack, who wishes his cow would give milk. When the Baker and his wife learn they cannot have a child because of a Witch's curse, the two set off on a journey to break the curse. The production runs through October 25 at New Vida Church of God.

Richardson Theatre Centre presents Let's Murder Marsha
A happy housewife named Marsha, hopelessly addicted to reading murder mysteries, overhears her loving husband discussing her upcoming birthday surprise. To her ears, though, it sounds like they are planning to murder her. With the assistance of her next-door neighbor, she tries to turn the tables on them. The production runs through November 2 at Richardson Theatre Centre.

Theatre Coppell presents Rumors
Playwright Neil Simon's Rumors brings four couples together in one townhouse to celebrate the 10th wedding anniversary of the Deputy Mayor of New York City. But the party never begins because the host has shot himself and his wife is missing. His lawyer's cover-up gets progressively more difficult to sustain as the other guests arrive and nobody can remember who has been told what about whom. The production runs through October 26 at Coppell Arts Center.

Megan Moroney in concert
Country singer Megan Moroney has quickly caught the attention of fans of the genre. She released her debut album, Lucky, in 2023, which went to No. 10 on the Billboard 200 thanks to hits like "Tennessee Orange" and "I'm Not Pretty." She quickly followed that up in 2024 with Am I Okay?, which went even higher, finishing at No. 3. She'll play on three straight nights through Sunday at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.

Saturday, October 11

Trey Songz & Friends in concert
R&B singer Trey Songz and a few of his friends will put on a special concert, including K. Michelle, Calvin Richardson, and Ball Greezy. Songz has released eight albums in his career, most recently Back Home in 2020. The concert takes place at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

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Movie Review

The Dink aces pickleball with funny, star-filled comedy

Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

Mary Steenburgen and Jake Johnson in The Dink.

While the sport of pickleball was invented way back in the 1960s, it has exploded in popularity in the 2020s. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out a way to make a movie about the craze, and a comedy like the new Apple TV+ film The Dink provides the best way to honor and make fun of the divisive sport at the same time.

Dusty Boyd (Jake Johnson), aka The Hammer, is a former tennis phenom who’s now working as an instructor at a club owned by his dad, Chuck (Ed Harris). While the two don’t always see eye-to-eye, they have a mutual hatred for pickleball, which they have begrudgingly allowed on the property by giving it the worst court.

Dusty is hoping to stop all future pickleball expansion by winning a one-on-one grudge match, but when he injures his wrist, he’s given a prescription of pickleball as a form of rehab. Older women like Candace (Mary Steenburgen) are the only people he can find to play with, and despite his disdain for the sport, he soon falls prey to its low-key charms.

Directed by Josh Greenbaum (Will & Harper) and written by Sean Clements, the film is probably the best advertisement pickleball will ever have. Dusty’s introduction to the sport serves as a lighthearted tutorial for the uninitiated while still getting in some nice digs at its expense. The other players - Candace, Gail (Cleo King), and Judy (Lynn Marie Stewart) - are equally welcoming and critical of Dusty, who initially has trouble adjusting to the game’s different rules.

The film’s approach to the story is silly but never stupid. Dusty is a blowhard, but he’s also able to admit when he’s wrong, especially when Candace introduces him to multiple things he had never considered before. A long-standing feud between Dusty and Andy Roddick provides more than just a goofy cameo for the real-life tennis star. The film also pushes right to the edge of being over-the-top before pulling back, allowing it to keep a semblance of reality to it.

Clements’ story follows a tried-and-true formula, making the film very predictable but enjoyably so. Where it earns its comedy credentials is in its finer details, like Dusty’s love for his 1999 Buick LeSabre with under 200,000 miles on it, his trunk full of old VHS tapes, or his interactions with his assistant PJ (Aaron Chen), who manages to be the comic relief in an already funny film.

Johnson, probably best known for starring in the sitcom New Girl in the 2010s, has the right amount of smarm and niceness to pull off the role, letting viewers laugh at and root for him at the same time. The film is full of comedy all-stars in small roles like Oswalt, Chris Parnell, and Ben Stiller, but Harris steals everyone’s thunder. The line readings by the four-time Oscar nominee give an extra punch to his character’s jokes, especially one that hints at the sordid history of the tennis club.

It’s a shame that The Dink is only playing on a streaming service as there’s a dearth of good comedies like this in movie theaters. With a solid joke-telling approach, a respect for its subject matter, and a cast who all play off each other well, this is a film that deserves to be seen by more than just those with an Apple TV+ subscription.

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The Dink is now streaming on Apple TV+.

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