Weekend Event Planner

These are the 13 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

There are a couple of top shelf music headliners leading the way this weekend around Dallas. Joining them will be two stand-up comedy performances, four separate local theater productions, a chance to win the playhouse of your kids' dreams, a trio of other concerts in varying genres, and the final days of a historical exhibition.

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.

Thursday, June 13

Majestic Theatre presents B. Simone and Friends
B. Simone, a comedian, actress, and businesswoman originally from Dallas who now resides in Atlanta, will headline a night of comedy with a some of her comedian friends. B. Simone is a long-standing cast member of MTV's Wild N' Out. She's also appeared in multiple feature films as well as dozens of appearances on BET, MTV, and VH1. The event takes place at Majestic Theatre.

Theatre Three presents Pirates of Penzance
Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan's hilarious, hopeful musical, follows young love-struck Frederic, who has mistakenly been apprenticed to a raucous band of pirates. A smash hit on Broadway in the 1980s, the comical operetta is a colorful, playful romp about love, honor, and cleverness. The production runs through July 14 at Theatre Three.

Shakespeare Dallas presents Scenes from The Odyssey
Scenes from The Odyssey is a show about a modern young woman who is struggling to understand Robert Fitzgerald's translation of Homer’s The Odyssey when suddenly a Greek muse appears, and the young woman becomes the goddess Athena and a tireless advocate for Odysseus in his struggle to get home. The production highlights the epic story of Odysseus' 10-year journey with characters such as Circe, the Cyclops, Poseidon, Calypso, the Sirens, and more. The production, which will run in repertory with Twelfth Night, runs through July 19 at Samuell-Grand Amphitheater.

Friday, June 14

Dallas CASA presents Parade of Playhouses
The annual Parade of Playhouses highlights imaginative children’s playhouses to help child victims of abuse or neglect. The 2024 parade will feature 16 children’s dream playhouses, including cottages, a castle, a pink paradise, a basketball shoe, an ice cream stand, and more. Taking place at NorthPark Center through June 30, visitors can buy raffle tickets to try to win one of the playhouses and raise funds for Dallas CASA.

Family Music Theatre presents The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame brings Victor Hugo’s epic novel to life in a theatrical story-telling experience. Featuring songs from the Disney animated feature, the production intertwines the beauty of the film's score with a new book by Peter Parnell that embraces the essence of story theatre. Combining narration, live action, and choral commentary, the musical transports audiences to 15th-century Paris, where the bells of Notre Dame toll and Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer, yearns to venture "Out There." The production runs through June 29 at New Vida Church of God.

NTPA Repertory Theatre presents Anastasia
Anastasia transports its audience from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s, as a brave young woman sets out to discover the mystery of her past. Pursued by a ruthless Soviet officer determined to silence her, Anya enlists the aid of a dashing con man and a lovable ex-aristocrat. Together, they embark on an epic adventure to help her find home, love and family. The production runs through June 23 at North Texas Performing Arts.

Majestic Theatre presents Jared Freid
Jared Freid is a stand-up comedian based out of New York City with a strong focus on dating and relationships. His comedy is current and reflects the ordinary daily thoughts of everyone you know, especially if you know a lot of millennials that are obsessing over dating apps, trying to be real adults, and worrying about their bodies. He'll perform at Majestic Theatre.

Robert Earl Keen in concert
Even through Texas legend Robert Earl Keen brought his touring days to a close in 2022, he - like fellow legend George Strait - has continued to play one-off concerts and release new music. His 2023 album, Western Chill, the 20th release of his career, is part of a special boxed collector's set. A member of the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame, he has written songs for music superstars like George Strait, The Chicks, The Highwaymen, and Nanci Griffith. He'll play at Texas Trust CU Theatre.

Alanis Morissette in concert
It's just shy of 30 years since Alanis Morissette became one of the most iconic singers in the 1990s with her now-classic album, Jagged Little Pill. Since then she's released seven more albums, most recently The Storm Before the Calm in 2022, and even had Jagged Little Pill turned into a Tony Award-winning musical. She'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion as part of The Triple Moon Tour, joined by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and Morgan Wade.

Saturday, June 15

Chris Stapleton in concert
When country star Chris Stapleton comes to town, it's always a big deal in the literal and metaphorical sense. In 2021, he brought his All-American Roadshow to Globe Life Field in Arlington for the first time. In 2023, he played back-to-back nights at Dos Equis Pavilion right before the release of his fifth album, Higher. And now he's back at Globe Life Field again, this time joined by Charley Crockett and Nikki Lane.

Sunday, June 16

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza presents "Two Days in Texas" closing day
Sunday will be the final to to view "Two Days in Texas," an exhibition commemorating the 60th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination. It sheds new light on the President’s final campaign, tracing his journey through the state and highlighting its impact on everyday Texans. The exhibition at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza follows in the President’s footsteps as he made campaign stops in San Antonio, Houston, and Fort Worth before his untimely death in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

A Night of R&B with Babyface, Tamar Braxton, and El DeBarge
R&B fans will be in for a full night of great music as Babyface, Tamar Braxton, and El DeBarge team up for a special concert. Babyface has released 11 albums in his career, most recently Girls Night Out in 2022. Braxton has released five albums in her career, most recently Bluebird of Happiness in 2017. El Debarge has released five albums in his career, most recently Second Chance in 2010. They'll perform at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.

Itzy in concert
Ever since K-Pop band BTS got big in the late 2010s, the world has opened up to a host of other K-Pop bands. After releasing their debut album, Crazy in Love, in 2021, Itzy made their first appearance in the U.S. with a tour in 2022 that stopped at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving. They're back there again in support of their new mini-album, Born to Be.

Photo courtesy of Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette will play at Dos Equis Pavilion on June 14.

comedy theater kids families music concerts history event-planner

Movie Review

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney go off in trashy film The Housemaid

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

---

The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

movies film