Weekend Event Planner

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

The pace of events in and around Dallas has been relentless in recent weeks, and even though things slow down a bit this weekend, there are still a lot of big things to do. They include a pair of local theater productions, five concerts, the return of a favorite opera, a live podcast, a dance production, a comedian, and a visit from an eccentric filmmaker.

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, October 12

Cara Mía Theatre presents Barrio Daze
Barrio Daze is a solo Latino comedy show by Adrian Villegas that tells the story of a fateful Election Day in the barrio through the lives of nine very different characters. The communities under attack strike back against a rabidly conservative politician in the heated Senatorial race. At the frontline is the hood's very own Chicano school teacher's inspiring grass-roots campaign. Cara Mía Theatre presents the production at Latino Cultural Center through Sunday.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2"
"Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2" presented by Dallas Symphony Orchestra will feature conductor Fabio Luisi and pianist Rudolf Buchbinder. Selections will include the world premiere of Snapshots, the DSO-commissioned work by Jessie Montgomery; Antheil's A Jazz Symphony (1925); David Chesky's American Bluegrass; and Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2. There will be three performances through Sunday at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Rover Dramawerks presents Bernhardt / Hamlet
In 1899, legendary leading lady Sarah Bernhardt’s decision to assume the title role of Shakespeare’s Hamlet left critics and patriarchs aghast and indignant. Laced with forbidden romance and backstage gossip, this behind-the-scenes look at Bernhardt’s most ambitious role is a dynamic character study of one of the most famous actresses - and infamous divas - in the world. The production runs through October 28 at Cox Playhouse in Plano.

Friday, October 13

Dallas Opera presents Tosca
A bold and passionate opera singer, Tosca fights to save the life of her beloved even if it means sacrificing herself - or whoever gets in her way. The grand production of power, desperation, and betrayal is brought to life by The Dallas Opera Orchestra and Chorus, featuring some of the most electrifying voices in opera today. The production will have four performances through October 21 at Winspear Opera House.

Welcome to Night Vale
Welcome to Night Vale is a twice-monthly podcast in the style of community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events. The live event will take place at Texas Theatre.

TITAS/Dance Unbound presents Sankai Juku
Tokyo’s Sankai Juku is known worldwide for its elegance, precision, and emotional depth, led by choreographer/founder Ushio Amagatsu. With KŌSA, Amagatsu has built an evening-length work in an effort to present the most essential elements of his vision. It is an immersive experience, rich with Japanese culture, artistic excellence, and the power of creativity. There will be performances on both Friday and Saturday at Moody Performance Hall.

Saturday, October 14

Mark Normand: Ya Don't Say Tour
Through his relentlessly punchy writing and expert delivery, Mark Normand is has become one of the most talked-about comedians on the scene. He most recently self-released a one-hour special, Out To Lunch, on YouTube. A veteran of the late night shows, Normand also has his own podcast, Tuesdays with Stories. He'll bring his new show, Ya Don't Say, to Majestic Theatre.

Longhorn Ballroom presents John Waters: End of the World
John Waters’ spoken word show, End of the World, is a fast-moving, comic monologue about today’s despair and diseases, desires and desperation with an insane optimism that welcomes all audiences into a new dawn of depravity. Waters talks about how to reinvent the movie business, embrace stupidity in an intellectual way, and go beyond the limits of sexual transgression. The event takes place at Longhorn Ballroom.

Enhypen in concert
Dallas-Fort Worth has played host to a host of K-pop bands in recent years, as a series of Korean boy and girl bands have performed at venues around the area. The latest to come to town is Enhypen, which was formed through, of all things, a survival competition show called I-Land. In the past three years they've put out two albums and four EPs, including the recent EP, Dark Blood, and each has been rapturously received around the world. They'll play at American Airlines Center.

Sting in concert
Sting’s My Songs tour features his most beloved songs, written throughout his illustrious career both with The Police and as a solo artist. The concert is an exuberant and dynamic show featuring hits like "Fields of Gold," "Shape of my Heart," "Roxanne," "Englishman In New York," "Every Breath You Take," "Roxanne," "Message In A Bottle," "Demolition Man," and more. He'll play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory.

Sunday, October 15

Noah Kahan in concert
Folk-pop singer Noah Kahan has been slowly but surely working his way to success. Neither his 2019 debut album, Busyhead, nor his 2021 sophomore effort, I Was / I Am, made a dent on the charts, but the critical acclaim he received and the word-of-mouth from his growing fanbase made his third album, 2022's Stick Season, a smash, coming in at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. His rise to fame is such that he went from playing House of Blues Dallas this past January to this concert at American Airlines Center, with another at Dos Equis Pavilion coming next year.

Kesha in concert
After waiting 11 years after her 2010 debut No. 1 album, Animal, to headline a concert in Dallas, Kesha is back a couple years later with top billing for this concert at The Factory in Deep Ellum. The singer, best known for hits like "Tik Tok," "We R Who We R," and "Die Young," comes to town in support of her latest album, Gag Order.

Photo by Martin Kierszenbaum

Sting will play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory on October 14.

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Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first but not by much

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films likeM3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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