Weekend Event Planner

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

It's a relatively big weekend across Dallas, with six high-profile concerts leading the way, including a huge country event and a festival-style concert led by a renowned guitarist. Other choices include two comedy events, a local production of a historic play, and the opening of two new art exhibitions (and closing of another).

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Friday, August 16

An Unfunny* Evening with Tim Minchin and his Piano
An Unfunny* Evening with Tim Minchin and his Piano comes with the strongly worded disclaimer that "this is not a comedy gig," although there are no guarantees about the absence of amusement. Minchin will perform songs drawn from his 2020 studio album, Apart Together, his musicals, Matilda and Groundhog Day, his TV and film writing, and his early song-writing days around the turn of the century. The event takes place at Majestic Theatre.

Uptown Players presents The Boys in the Band
Set in New York City, The Boys in the Band takes place in the apartment of Michael, a witty and sharp-tongued host who throws a birthday party for his friend Harold. As the evening unfolds, a group of diverse gay friends gathers, and the celebrations quickly become a rollercoaster of emotions, revealing hidden desires, unresolved conflicts, and the complexities of their individual journeys. Uptown Players will the groundbreaking play through August 25 at Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Hyena's presents Tim Meadows
Tim Meadows is an actor, comedian, and writer who was one of the longest-running cast members on Saturday Night Live, where he appeared for 10 seasons from 1991 to 2000. Meadows has appeared in a number of movies over the years, most recently the musical version of Mean Girls. He'll perform four times through Saturday at Hyena's Comedy Nightclub.

Saturday, August 17

Arlington Museum of Art presents "She Said, She Said: Contemporary Artists from the Rubell Museum" opening day
Arlington Museum of Art continue its ongoing collaboration with Miami's Rubell Museum through the presentation of "She Said, She Said," a new exhibition of work by women artists curated from the Rubell Museum’s expansive contemporary art collection. Curated by the Rubell Museum’s Alexandra Perez, the exhibition features over 50 works spanning painting, photography, sculpture, video, and installation by more than 30 artists of different generations, cultures, and disciplines. It will remain on display through November 3.

Slash presents S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival
Iconic guitarist Slash will host the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival, an acronym that stands for Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Peace, Equality N’ Tolerance. Slash will perform alongside his Blues band, and the festival will feature an all-star Blues lineup, including Warren Haynes Band, Keb’ Mo', Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Robert Randolph, Samantha Fish, Eric Gales, ZZ Ward, Jackie Venson, and Larkin Poe. The festival will be at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.

Zach Bryan in concert
In five short years, Zach Bryan has become one of the biggest stars in country music. After self-releasing his first two albums, Bryan broke out in 2022 with his major label debut, American Heartbreak, and he hasn't looked back since. That album and the following two, including the new The Great American Bar Scene, each went to No. 1 on the Billboard Country chart. The fervor around him has gotten so big that only one venue, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, is appropriate for this concert. He'll be joined by Matt Mason and Levi Turner.

PJ Morton in concert
PJ Morton comes to Dallas as part of his Cape Town to Cairo tour in support of the album of the same name. The soul singer, songwriter, performer, and producer, who's had a long tenure as Maroon 5's keyboardist, will perform music inspired by his cross-country journey through Africa. He'll perform at Winspear Opera House, joined by special guest Kenyon Dixon.

The Roots in concert
Hip hop band The Roots have been releasing music for over 30 years, and even though they gained much acclaim in the first half of their career, they're now arguably best known as the house band for Jimmy Fallon, both when he hosted Late Night and now at The Tonight Show. They'll play at The Pavilion At Toyota Music Factory in Irving as part of their Hip-Hop Is The LOML Tour, joined by Digable Planets.

Sunday, August 18

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Frida: Beyond the Myth"
"Frida: Beyond the Myth" brings together approximately 60 works by Frida Kahlo and her contemporaries to explore the life of one of the most revered artists of the 20th century. Lifting the veil of myth that obscures the understanding of the artist as an individual, the exhibition delves deeper into the defining moments of Kahlo’s life as depicted through her self-portraits, still life pieces, key biographical drawings, and captured in photographs by the friends and fellow artists who knew her best. The exhibition will remain on display through November 17.

Nasher Sculpture Center presents Sarah Sze closing day
Sunday will be the final day to view a solo exhibition by Sarah Sze at Nasher Sculpture Center, showing new works created specifically for the Nasher’s Renzo Piano-designed building by one of the most celebrated artists of recent years. Sze’s installation at the Nasher integrates painting, sculpture, images, sound, and video engaging with the surrounding architecture to create intimate systems that reference the rapidly changing world.

Jane's Addiction and Love and Rockets in concert
For a band that's only released four studio albums in its career, Jane's Addiction is considered one of the most influential alternative rock groups, inspiring everyone from Tool to Smashing Pumpkins to Incubus to System of a Down. Jane's Addiction was itself influenced by English band Love and Rockets, who released seven albums between 1985 and 1998. The two bands will lead fans through a variety of their notable songs at this concert at The Pavilion At Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Christopher Cross in concert
2024 marks the 45th anniversary of Christopher Cross' 1979 debut self-titled album, which yielded two of his best known songs, "Ride Like the Wind" and "Sailing." His first two albums, plus his contribution of "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" to the 1981 film Arthur, would prove to be the high point of his career, although he went on to release another 13 albums, most recently Take Me As I Am in 2017. He'll perform at Majestic Theatre.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Museum of Art

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Frida: Beyond the Myth" starting on August 18.

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Movie Review

Jessica Chastain drama Dreams stumbles through steamy romance

Photo courtesy of Teorema

Isaac Hernández and Jessica Chastain in Dreams.

The opening scenes of the new drama Dreams are bracing, fictional sequences that call to mind real-life scenarios. In them, a young Mexican man named Fernando (Isaac Hernández) goes through a somewhat harrowing journey from the back of a semi truck in South Texas all the way to San Francisco. It’s a familiar immigrant story that seems to set the stage for a film with something interesting to say.

It turns out, however, that Fernando has not made the long and arduous trek for a job. Instead, it’s to be with Jennifer McCarthy (Jessica Chastain), a rich woman who helps lead a foundation dedicated to multiple things, including funding dance academies. Fernando, a talented dancer, and Jennifer have been in an off-and-on affair for years, with Jennifer wanting to keep their relationship a secret.

Although both are drawn to each other in an inexplicable, lustful way, their bond is tenuous, with each of them dissatisfied for different reasons. Fernando clearly sacrifices much more of himself than Jennifer, who wants for nothing except maybe more affection from her father, Michael (Marshall Bell), and brother, Jake (Rupert Friend).

Writer/director Michel Franco seems to try to inject tension into Fernando and Jennifer’s relationship from the start, an attempt that is only halfway successful. It’s clear from the way they greet each other - not to mention a steamy sex scene shortly thereafter - that they have known each other for a good length of time. Franco is able to get across this familiarity with an economy of scenes, and the intensity of their bond holds for a while.

But as the film progresses and both of them grow disenchanted with their arrangement, Franco starts taking the story in some odd directions. The biggest issue is that it’s never clear at what point in time the story is taking place. Fernando ends up making multiple trips back and forth across the border, with Jennifer doing the same at one point, and Franco’s use of flashbacks muddies the waters, wrong-footing the audience when he should be trying to draw them further into Fernando and Jennifer’s complications.

Revelations in the final act make the story even more confusing, as both main characters start saying and doing harsh things that seem to come out of nowhere. That would be all well and good if Franco actually committed to their changes of heart, but he keeps things wishy-washy for most of the final 15 minutes, resulting in an ending that makes little sense for either character.

Despite the story issues, both Chastain and Hernández give compelling performances. Chastain has been a little under the radar since winning an Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, but she keeps this character interesting longer than it should have been. Hernández has limited credits and appears to have been cast for his dancing ability, but he goes toe-to-toe with Chastain on more than one occasion and acquits himself well.

Dreams had all of the ideas to explore a more in-depth story about the complicated immigration policies between Mexico and the U.S., or how wealthy people take advantage of those less fortunate. But Franco never finds the right footing, settling instead for a titillating and somewhat mystifying relationship story that feels half-baked.

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Dreams is now playing in select theaters.

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