Weekend Events Planner

These are the 11 best things to do in Dallas this Thanksgiving weekend

Holiday event season always reaches its peak at Thanksgiving, and this year is no different, with seven different holiday-themed events starting or taking place this weekend. You can also get the weekend started early with a national theater production, an ice skating extravaganza, and two concerts.

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

Wednesday, November 22

Broadway Dallas presents MJ the Musical
The music. The moves. The icon. Now, the unparalleled artistry of the greatest entertainer of all time is featured in MJ, the Tony Award-winning new musical centered around the making of the 1992 Dangerous World Tour. The production goes beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star, offering a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Michael Jackson into legendary status. The production runs through December 3 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

Disney On Ice presents Find Your Hero
Disney On Ice returns with a new magical adventure, Find Your Hero, where audiences will discover what it truly means to be a hero as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and friends from around the Disney Kingdom come together to take families on a journey through timeless tales. The show features Mirabel from Encanto; Moana and Maui from Moana; Anna, Elsa, and Olaf from Frozen; and more. The production has eight performances through Sunday at Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen.

Joshua Ray Walker and Vandoliers present Friendsgiving with Jaret Ray Reddick
Joshua Ray Walker and Vandoliers will present a special co-headlining Friendsgiving concert. Walker is touring in support of his new album, What Is It Even?, while Vandoliers are touring in support of their new album, The Vandoliers. They'll be joined by Jaret Ray Reddick at Longhorn Ballroom.

The Polyphonic Spree in concert
It may be the holiday season, but the real reason for celebration for fans of The Polyphonic Spree is the release of their eighth album, Salvage Enterprise. This special show at Granada Theater will celebrate that album's release, although lead singer Tim DeLaughter and the choral rock group will surely delve into their deep catalog, too.

Thursday, November 23

Grand Prairie Parks, Arts and Recreation presents Prairie Lights
Prairie Lights is a two-mile, drive-through holiday park experience that showcases a display of more than 4 million lights arranged in hundreds of festive holiday scenes throughout the park. At the halfway point, guests can exit their vehicle to enjoy carnival rides, concessions, photos with Santa, the magical walk-thru forest, and holiday shopping. The second half of the drive ends with the new and improved light tunnel. The event takes place at Lynn Creek Park at Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie. (For a long list of the best Christmas lights this year, check out this story.)

Friday, November 24

Texas Christkindl Market
The 13th Annual Texas Christkindl Market is a traditional European-style market that brings the charm of German Christmas markets. Visitors will be immersed in a world of twinkling lights, decorations, food, and musical performances. The event takes place in the North Plaza at Globe Life Field through December 23.

Galleria Dallas presents Grand Tree Lighting Celebration
Galleria Dallas will present its annual Grand Tree Lighting Celebrations. Every show features the Missile Toes, Galleria’s ice-skating, back-flipping, pyrotechnic Santa Claus, live performances by Olympic and National Champion-ranked skaters, and local children who introduce the lighting of the country’s tallest indoor tree. There will be performances on both Friday and Saturday.

Heritage Farmstead Museum presents Lights on the Farm
At Lights on the Farm, guests will walk along a quarter-mile trail showcasing holiday light creations, animated displays, a 20-foot Christmas tree, refreshments, and a chance for the youngest guests to visit with Santa. There will also be plenty of selfie photo opportunities throughout the farm property of the Heritage Farmstead Museum in Plano. The event runs on weekends through December 30.

Chamberlain Ballet presents The Nutcracker
Chamberlain Ballet's annual production of The Nutcracker will feature guest artists Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia from The New York City Ballet as The Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. Guests can immerse themselves in a world of waltzing snowflakes, marching toy soldiers, and the timeless tale of Clara and her Nutcracker Prince. There will be three performances through Sunday at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Stravinsky The Firebird"
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra's Thanksgiving concert, "Stravinsky The Firebird," features conductor Gustavo Gimeno and violinist Alexander Kerr. The program will include Tchaikovsky's Selections from The Nutcracker, Mozart's Concerto No. 5 for Violin and Orchestra, “Turkish,” and Stravinsky's Suite from The Firebird (1945 Revision). There will be three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Texas Ballet Theater presents The Nutcracker
Featuring dazzling choreography and exquisite sets, The Nutcracker celebrates the season with enchantment, snowflakes, and sweets. Audiences can experience the most magical Christmas tradition of the season as Clara and her Nutcracker Prince battle an army of mice and travel through a winter wonderland to meet the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Kingdom of Sweets. The production runs through December 3 at Winspear Opera House.

Photo by Steven Visneau

Texas Ballet Theater presents The Nutcracker at Winspear Opera House, November 24-December 3.

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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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