It's a full and eclectic weekend around Dallas, with events for all tastes. They include a big pickleball tournament, two concerts by a classic band, the first holiday lights of the season, four local theater productions, a big opera, a chef-turned TV star, and more. (UPDATE: Don't forget the Texas Rangers Championship Parade on Friday!)
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, November 2
Major League Pickleball Dallas
If you're not already into the growing sport of pickleball, the next two weekends will give you plenty of opportunities to start. This weekend will feature Major League Pickeball Dallas, a tournament featuring nearly 100 of the best athletes in the sport. The event goes on through Sunday at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Vienna Boys Choir
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will welcome in the Vienna Boys Choir for an evening that will feature a diverse and challenging array of vocal music spanning many centuries and the angelic voices of one of the most famous choirs in the world. The one-night-only performance takes place at the Meyerson Symphony Center.
Queen + Adam Lambert in concert
After a four-year-long hiatus, Sir Brian May, Roger Taylor, and frontman Adam Lambert will bring the Rhapsody Tour to Dallas. The 150-minute career-spanning set list celebrates the band’s extraordinary back catalogue, lining up wall-to-wall immortal anthems like “We Will Rock You,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Radio Ga Ga,” and “Somebody To Love” alongside classic deep cuts and vintage fan favorites. They'll play on both Thursday and Friday at American Airlines Center.
Friday, November 3
The Light Park
Yes, we've barely entered the month of November, but you can get in the holiday mood now by taking in the lights at The Light Park. At the mile-long, drive-thru spectacular, guests will witness millions of lights synchronized to a mix of music by DJ Polar Ice. Priced per vehicle, rather than per person, the more is truly merrier for visitors who want to travel through the longest light tunnel in the world, rock out to the coolest tunes, and celebrate the holiday season. For the first time, there are two options for Dallas-area residents, with one location at Riders Field in Frisco and another at Hurricane Harbor in Arlington. The event takes place daily through January 1.
Teatro Dallas presents Two Kids in the Universe
Teatro Dallas will present the English premiere of Two Kids in the Universe by Venezuelan playwright Gustavo Ott. Based on actual events, the production tells the story of an extraordinary friendship between two children from a primary school who, through solidarity and poetry, face the violence that threatens them and the prejudices that try to separate them. The play considers what it means for the school to be a protective castle of children's imagination. The production runs through November 19 at Latino Cultural Center.
Art Centre Theatre presents Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Miss Mona runs the Chicken Ranch, a brothel with a long history in a small Texas town. The locals have a good relationship with the institution, and Mona is respected in the community. The sheriff, Ed Earl Dodd, also looks out for the Chicken Ranch due to his past with Miss Mona. However, when pious reporter Melvin Thorpe exposes the brothel, outside interests want it shut down, putting the governor in a tough spot. The production runs at Art Centre Theatre in Plano through November 19.
The Fab Four: Rubber Soul & The Greatest Hits
The Fab Four is a Beatles tribute band that performs renditions of Beatles' classics. This concert will feature the Rubber Soul album, as well as hits like "Can't Buy Me Love," "Yesterday," "A Day In The Life," "Twist And Shout," "Here Comes The Sun," and "Hey Jude." Their stage performances include three costume changes representing every era of the Beatles ever-changing career. They'll play at Majestic Theatre.
Mainstage Irving-Las Colinas presents Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Lawrence Jameson makes his lavish living by talking rich ladies out of their money. Freddy Benson more humbly swindles women by fabricating stories about his grandmother's failing health. But the French Riviera isn’t big enough for both of them, so they agree on a winner-take-all wager: the first person to successfully steal $50,000 from the young heiress Christine Colgate will get to stay in town, while the loser has to leave. The production runs through November 18 at Irving Arts Center.
Dallas Opera presents The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
In The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby awakes from a coma unable to move or speak, “locked-in” like a diver at the bottom of the sea. But his mind is as brilliant as ever, and with the help of his assistant, he creates his memoir - an extraordinary story of strength and imagination. The world premiere production will have four performances through November 11 at Winspear Opera House.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Vengerov Plays Brahms"
Superstar violinist Maxim Vengerov will dazzle with the technical fireworks of Brahms’s Violin Concerto that has inspired the admiration and awe of audiences for well over a century. Sibelius’s First Symphony, painting with darker shades of the musical palette and evoking the atmosphere of his beloved Finland, rounds out this concert. Conductor Mark Wigglesworth will lead the orchestra for the performances, taking place at Meyerson Symphony Center through Sunday.
TITAS/Dance Unbound presents Les 7 Doigts' PASSAGERS
The Montreal-based Les 7 Doigts, making their Texas debut, is an arts collective of writers, directors, choreographers, producers, technical directors, multimedia experts merging acrobatics and theatre, dance and multimedia, music and storytelling. PASSAGERS is a work of dance and circus exploring life and the happenings along this track of sorts, twisting and turning through valleys and plains. The production will have performances on Friday and Saturday at Moody Performance Hall.
Theatre Frisco presents The Sweet Delilah Swim Club
Five Southern women, whose friendships began many years ago on their college swim team, set aside a long weekend every August to recharge those relationships. Free from husbands, kids, and jobs, they meet at the same beach cottage, the "Sweet Delilah" on North Carolina’s Outer Banks to catch up, laugh, and meddle in each other’s lives. The production runs through November 19 at Frisco Discovery Center.
Bombshell Dance Project presents In the Conservatory with the Knife
During Bombshell Dance Project's In the Conservatory with a Knife, audience members can venture freely through the billiard room, the ballroom, the library, and the dining room to gather clues as they watch the story unfold. In this eerie dance-theater crossover, all the dinner guests have something to hide and none of them are safe. The production, part of AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project, will have three performances through Saturday at Wyly Theatre.
Saturday, November 4
City of Carrollton presents 13th Annual Festival at the Switchyard
At the City of Carrollton's 13th annual Festival at the Switchyard, rock band Collective Soul will be the headlining entertainment, joined by alt rockers Fuel. Along with other performers like multiple cover bands, the one-day festival will also feature live children’s entertainment, front-of-stage community performances, rides and games, face painting and balloon art, a beer garden, and an array of food vendors and festival booths. The festival takes place at Carrollton Square.
Ms. Pat: Ya Girl Done Made It
Patricia Williams (aka Ms. Pat) is a comedian, author, podcaster, and actress who brings a raw, in your face, and hilarious perspective to her work. She has appeared on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central’s This Is Not Happening, Netflix’s Larry Charles’ Dangerous World of Comedy, and can be seen on the Netflix series The Cabin with Bert Kreischer. She'll perform at Majestic Theatre.
DMA Arts & Letters Live: Erin French
Magnolia Network viewers know and love Erin French, head chef and owner of The Lost Kitchen, a 40-seat restaurant in Freedom, Maine that was named one of Time magazine’s World’s Greatest Places. She comes to Dallas to talk about her latest cookbook, Big Heart Little Stove, a go-to inspiration for cooking thoughtful and refreshingly simple meals. French will be in conversation with Chad Houser, Founder & CEO of Café Momentum, at McFarlin Auditorium.
Sunday, November 5
Eddie Izzard: The Remix Tour
British comedian/actor Eddie Izzard, also known as Suzy Izzard, has lived quite the life, becoming famous as a comedian, moving into acting, running marathons for charity, and proclaiming herself transgender over 30 years ago. She comes to Dallas as part of her The Remix Tour, featuring a remix and re-imagination of some of her favorite material from her first 35 years of comedy. She'll perform at Majestic Theatre.
Eddie Izzard will perform at Majestic Theatre on November 5.
Chris Penn, left, with Alice Cooper, whose reunion he helped instigate.Courtesy photo