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 NorthPark Center

The Trains at NorthPark will be at NorthPark Center, November 11-January 5.

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

Movie Review

Lust eclipses romance in new adaptation of 'Wuthering Heights'

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights.

Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights is one of those classic books assigned in high school English classes, and it has received a number of film adaptations over the years, each of which differ in numerous ways from the source material. Purists won’t receive any reprieve from Emerald Fennell’s 2026 adaptation, with a title that is stylized as "Wuthering Heights” for good reason.

Cathy (played as an adult by Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) have known each other their entire lives, with Cathy’s alcoholic and inveterate gambler father (Martin Clunes) taking in Heathcliff on a whim when he was a boy. The two bond as they grow up together, although Cathy always seems to have an eye on moving up in society from their relatively impoverished lifestyle.

Cathy finally gets her wish when the rich Linton familyled by Edgar (Shazad Latif), moves in down the road, Despite discovering she has feelings for the now grown-up Heathcliff, Cathy sees Edgar as her way out and agrees to marry him. A scorned Heathcliff flees, returning years later as mysteriously wealthy. His reappearance ignites something in Cathy’s soul, and the two engage in a perhaps unwise affair.

Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn) infuses the dusty material with an energy that’s not typically present in stories set in this particular time and place. Aside from the occasional Charli XCX song (the singer created a whole concept album for the film), the film looks and feels like a period piece, albeit one that doesn’t get bogged down in the drudgery that can sometimes come from films set in the distant past.

Much of that has to do with the lust the filmmaker puts into the story. Even if you’re not familiar with Brontë’s book, you can rest assured that Fennell has strayed far from the text, giving Cathy and Heathcliff thoughts and actions unthinkable in the 19th century. Fennell plays with expectations by opening the film with audio featuring creaking noises and a man grunting, conjuring up a situation far different than what is actually happening, and she also makes liberal use of rain, sweat, and tears to make the actors enticing.

What she can’t do, however, is make the two lead characters compelling. Cathy is a striver who never seems to know what she wants out of life, and Heathcliff goes from a bore to a brute over the course of the film, with no clear indication that he likes anybody, much less Cathy. Anyone expecting some kind of grand romance will be disappointed as Fennell is much more interested in making the film weird, like having the walls of Cathy’s room look like her skin, complete with freckles.

Robbie and Elordi do well enough with the material, and it’s clear that both of them are committed to bringing Fennell’s vision to life. Their styles tend to balance each other out, and if the story had been committed to their characters’ relationship, they might be lauded for their chemistry. In the end, though, the supporting actors feel more interesting, including ones played by Hong Chau, Alison Miller, and Clunes.

This version of Wuthering Heights should never be construed as an alternative to reading the book for any high schoolers out there. While Fennell makes the film interesting with her technical filmmaking choices, the story never finds its footing as it fails to sell the one thing that it seems to promise.

---

Wuthering Heights opens in theaters on February 13.

movies film