Weekend Event Planner

These are the 17 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

This weekend around Dallas will add a few more holiday events to the list that will grow exponentially over the coming weeks. (There's already a long list of local Christmas lights here.) Other choices include more pickleball, two new local theater productions, a big concert, a trio of comedy events, two dance productions, an aviation festival, and more.

Below are more 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, November 9

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden presents Holiday at the Arboretum
Holiday at the Arboretum features three large-scale outdoor exhibits, including The Christmas Village, The 12 Days of Christmas, and the 50-foot-tall Dazzling Musical Tree. The displays are creatively designed for the 66-acre garden and are open both in the daytime and evening. In the historic DeGolyer House, visitors can experience the epitome of holiday enchantment at the Christmas Classics exhibit. The event takes place daily through January 5.

2023 USA Pickleball National Championships
Don't get this event confused with last week's Major League Pickleball tournament - this is the premier event for all pickleball fans. Close to 4,000 amateur and professional pickleball players will compete for glory at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch through Sunday. As if to underscore the status of the tournament, it will feature live post-competition music from party band Le Freak on Thursday and former American Idol winner Phillip Phillips on Friday.

Undermain Theatre presents No Man's Land
Set against the decayed elegance of a house in London’s Hampstead Heath, in No Man’s Land two men face each other over a drink. Do they know each other, or is each performing an elaborate character of recognition? Their ambiguity - and the comedy - intensify with the arrival of two younger men, the one ostensibly a manservant, the other a male secretary. Undermain Theatre presents the regional premiere of the production through December 3.

WaterTower Theatre presents Chaplin: The Musical
Chaplin is based on the real-life story of Charlie Chaplin, the iconic film actor, writer, producer, and director. The new musical spans the comic’s entire career, from Chaplin’s first performance as a child in 19th-century London to his tearful acceptance of an honorary Academy Award in 1972, and dramatizes the making of his legendary films, including The Kid, The Circus, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator. The production runs through November 19 at WaterTower Theatre in Addison.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Strauss Don Juan"
"Strauss Don Juan," featuring conductor Kirill Karabits and cellist Inbal Segev, will feature selections like Strauss' Don Juan, the world premiere of Victoria Vita Poleva's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Anna Korsun's Terricone, and Strauss' Suite from Der Rosenkavalier. The latest Dallas Symphony Orchestra concert will have three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

The Flaming Lips in concert
There's no show quite like a Flaming Lips show. The famously flamboyant Oklahoma group goes all out, no matter the venue, bringing a glitz and glamour to their performances that often overshadows the music itself. This concert at the Music Hall at Fair Park will celebrate the 20th anniversary (ish) of their 2002 album, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.

Friday, November 10

Gaylord Texan presents ICE! featuring Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"
ICE! featuring Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" is an immersive, story-driven holiday showplace complete with larger-than-life ice sculptures, frozen slides, and tunnels. The chilly walk-through attraction will feature 10 scenes from the iconic Dr. Seuss story, and additional activities include an eight-lane tubing hill covered in real snow; ice skating; snowball build & blast; gingerbread decorating center; and more. The event takes place daily at Gaylord Texan in Grapevine through December 31.

The Colony Parks & Recreation Department presents American Heroes: A Salute to Veterans
The 15th annual American Heroes: A Salute to Veterans & First Responders festival is a two-day long Veterans Day celebration featuring live music, carnival rides, games and food, food trucks, fireworks, and more. Performers will include headliners Vertical Horizon and Chris Cagle, along with The Unlikely Candidates, The Chad Cooke Band, and Austin Snell. The festival takes place on Friday and Saturday at The Colony Five Star Complex. (For a long list of local places offering Veterans Day discounts, go here.)

The Music Hall at Fair Park presents Ali Wong
Ali Wong is a stand-up comedian, writer, and actress. She’s best known for her three Netflix specials, Baby Cobra, Hard Knock Wife, and Don Wong. She also voiced the co-lead on the Netflix animation show, Tuca and Bertie, and starred in the Netflix movie Always Be My Maybe, which she co-wrote with her longtime friend and creative collaborator, Randall Park. She'll perform at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

Joe Gatto’s Night of Comedy
Joe Gatto, a well-known comedian, actor, and producer, is best known for the hit TV shows Impractical Jokers and The Misery Index. He is one of the founding members of The Tenderloins Comedy Troupe. He'll present a special night of comedy at Majestic Theatre.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents Director's Choice
At Dallas Black Dance Theatre's Director's Choice, audiences can witness the endless possibilities of dance in the curated showcase featuring a diverse range of innovative talents, each with their own fresh perspective and voice. There will be two performances - one Friday and one Saturday - at Wyly Theatre.

Pegasus Contemporary Ballet presents The Perspective Project
Pegasus Contemporary Ballet will present their immersive season opener, The Perspective Project. The production will invite audiences to explore the topic of perspective and reassess their individual perceptions and biases. Two works will highlight how viewpoints, shaped by personal experiences and beliefs, can limit understanding and impact on daily interactions. The production will have three performances through Sunday at Arts Mission Oak Cliff.

Texas Trust CU Theatre presents This Is Important Live!
Adam Devine, Anders Holm, Blake Anderson, and Kyle Newacheck (co-creators and stars of Workaholics) will present a live version of their podcast, This is Important, diving deep into serious discussions about some of the most important topics facing the society today, such as grown men fighting children, diarrhea, boners, naked grandmas, and more. The event takes place at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.

Saturday, November 11

Commemorative Air Force presents Aviation Discovery Fest
Aviation Discovery Fest celebrates the wonder of flying. The event includes cockpit tours and rides on vintage aircraft, as well as activities for the whole family to enjoy including kid-friendly hands-on projects, educational exhibits, a classic car show, food truck, and more. The festival takes place at Dallas Executive Airport through Sunday.

The Trains at NorthPark
The Trains at NorthPark includes 1,600 feet of track rolling from coast to coast on a whimsical rail journey across America. The trains travel from the autumn foliage of New England to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge with stops along the way to see New York City, Washington DC, Dallas, and the desert Southwest, including the Grand Canyon and the Garden of the Gods. The exhibit will be open through January 5, 2024.

Get Happy: Michael Feinstein Celebrates the Judy Garland Centennial
Michael Feinstein rejoices in the songs and saga of “Miss Show Business,” Judy Garland, in his brand new concert. The multimedia live show features big-screen film clips, archival photos, rare concert footage, never-before-heard audio recordings, and incomparable music. The performance takes place at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

Sunday, November 12

Turtle Creek Chorale presents Border Songs
Three Turtle Creek Chorale ensembles – Chamber Chorus, Coloratura, and TerraVox – will return to the stage for this concert, Border Songs. The concert will feature powerful songs in English and Spanish, amplifying the stories of immigrants from the southern border. Turtle Creek Chorale aims to bring the stories of immigrants traveling to the United States to life with this program. The concert will be at Holy Trinity Catholic Church.

Photo courtesy of Gaylord Texan

Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, presents ICE! featuring Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!," November 10-December 31.

festivals holidays sports theater music symphony concerts kids families dance comedy podcasts history event-planner

Movie Review

The Magic Faraway Tree is a whimsical family lark that fails to take root

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.

With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.

The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids - Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) - are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.

Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.

Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.

Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.

There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.

A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.

With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.

---

The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.

movies film