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.

Babyface Facebook

Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds will headline A Night of R&B at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie on June 16.

comedy theater kids families music concerts history event-planner

Movie Review

Michelle Pfeiffer is an unappreciated mom in Oh. What. Fun.

Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Michelle Pfeiffer in Oh. What. Fun.

Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.

That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.

Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.

Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.

The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.

The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.

Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.

Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.

---

Oh. What. Fun. is now streaming on Prime Video.

movies film