Things To Do In Dallas This Memorial Day Weekend: May 24-27

Mozart’s Requiem, choreographed by Ben Stevenson.

Hello long weekend, what a pleasure it is to finally shake your hand. Have a good one, and spare a thought for the military men and women who gave their lives in service of this country.

Friday

This is a good weekend for catching up on some theater. The Dallas Theater Center’s Fly By Night closes on Sunday, so you should definitely, definitely see it before then. And if you’ve been a good Liz’s Picks reader and already seen it, Kitchen Dog starts their yearly New Works Festival this evening with the opening night of Se Illama Cristina. The fest’s headliner is written by the San Francisco-based playwright Octavio Solis and the plot revolves around a man and woman who wake up in a room and have no idea who they are or how they got there. Spooky, scary. And since it is opening night, your theater ticket includes the reception.

Don’t forget that the festival also includes a one man cabaret show, six staged readings of plays chosen from hundreds of submissions from across the country, and the PUP (Playwrights Under Progress) Fest, an afternoon of short plays written and performed by local high school talent. You can go back again and again.

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Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 23

All that glitters.

I can’t even handle how great these photos are from last night’s 100 Best Restaurants event.

Following in Fort Worth’s footsteps, the Dallas Symphony puts their own spin on Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, an audience-pleaser of a piece composed of (mostly) Medieval Latin poems set to music. If you thought the Middle Ages were a dark and dreary time and that Catholic clergymen were not very much fun, Carmina Burana illustrates otherwise. These poems are satires of moral teachings and songs about romance and drinking. I’ll let our classical critic, Wayne Lee Gay, tell you more:

It’s a very easy piece to criticize, with its simplistic strophic structures, reliably thumping rhythms, and sometimes remarkably ungrateful writing for the solo voices. Still, its distillation of subtle and not-so-subtle eroticism and acceptance of human fate is understandably compelling to audiences.

Rounding out the program is soloist Alexander Kerr, performing Barber’s Violin Concerto. The concerts will continue through Sunday, but just know that Sunday’s matinee is just Carmina Burana, not the concerto. Meanwhile, here’s the official list of our top 10 restaurants in town. Snag a seat at Tei An‘s bar before the concert, order a beer and that seaweed salad, and congratulate them on on their No. 3 spot.

Also tonight, Priscilla Queen of the Desert continues on its wacky way at Music Hall in Fair Park. Our critic, Lindsey Wilson, calls the musical “zany” and “uneven” in her FrontRow review, but if you like glitter, disco, and men in heels, this just might be for you. This show also marks the return of Wade McCollum, who was fantastic as the Emcee in the Dallas Theater Center’s production of Cabaret. I want pizza tonight, so, Pizza Lounge it is.

For more to do tonight, go here.

Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 22

Photo by Kevin Marple.

Nancy Nichols just gave the D TV interview of a lifetime. Nancy, I’m sorry, but I didn’t hear a word you said. I was too busy admiring the pig costume. Now I’m just waiting for the video to be posted online.

You can see this same outfit at tonight’s Best Restaurants party at 3015 at Trinity Groves, where an amazingly dedicated Miss Piggy and the rest of us Muppets will unveil the 100 best restaurants in Dallas. She says she’s never making a list like this again, so consider it a one-of-a kind-opportunity. There will be food—an eclectic spread created by our top chefs, and by that we mean you’ll find everything from fine dining to barbecue (really, really good barbecue)—and drinks. Lots of drinks. You can still purchase tickets online, and Nancy is offering the chance to throw a pie in her face for an extra $20 donation to the North Texas Food Back. Be there or be a square piece of toast.

More food-centric activities tonight include Private Social’s menu revamp, in which chef Najat Kaanache invites you to try the “new Texas food” and drinks on the house. Over on SideDish, Nancy has chronicled the evolution of the Uptown restaurant and the changes that have been par for the course since the departure of original chef Tiffany Derry. Regardless, this is pretty much a no-risk way to see if you like what’s happening there.

For more to do tonight, go here.

Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 21

Fly By Night.

If you are feeling sad about this, or this, as I am, I don’t think you can go wrong with a little extra dose of the arts.

The Dallas Theater Center’s new musical, Fly By Night, is entering the final week of its run. Seeing this piece of theater will cheer you, and then make you sad again. But it’s worth it, because it’ll be the hopeful kind of sad. The plot works up to New York City’s massive power outage in 1965, and concerns two sisters and a “luckless sandwich maker.” It’s a love triangle, of course. I reviewed the show for FrontRow here. But the upshot is that it’s really good, and funny, and sweet. And you should see it, because the next opportunity to do so will be in New York. Just note that the show is playing at the Kalita Humphreys Theater on Turtle Creek, not at the Wyly.

Also this evening, the Dallas Opera hosts one of their Composing Conversations in Hamon Hall of the Winspear Opera House. This one features Jennifer Higdon., a prolific, award-winning classical composer in the middle of a commission to turn Cold Mountain, Charles Fraziers’ book about a Civil War deserter and his one true love, into an opera. It’s kind of a unique opportunity to hear someone talk about his or her work while they’re right in the thick of it. Higdon will chat with the Dallas Opera’s general director, Keith Cerny, while Art&Seek’s Jerome Weeks moderates.

For more to do tonight, go here. Or you could just spend hours on this interactive Arrested Development joke chart.

Things To Do in Dallas Tonight: May 20

Dem bones, from news.com.au.

Oh hey, have you bought a ticket to our Best Restaurants party on Wednesday? I know it’s Monday and I’m usually your advocate for last minute follies, but your should really plan for this one. Tickets are here.

Tonight, we have a stage reading of Richard III, part of the five-year collaboration between Shakespeare Dallas and the AT&T Performing Arts Center. For the past few months, we’ve seen staged readings of the plays that make up what’s commonly referred to as Shakespeare’s War of the Roses play cycle—Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III. Up until now, we’ve been concerned with King Henry and the civil war between the noble houses of York and Lancaster. Enter a new villain, the hunchbacked Richard III, whose bones were recently dug up under a parking lot in Leicester. No joke. Anyway, I don’t want to spoil the end of Henry VI, Part III too much, but obviously Richard’s got big, bloody plans to supplant the current king and install himself on the throne. So there you go. A little scheming for your Monday night. Head to Sunset Lounge for happy hour and tacos. The cute umbrella in your drink will help you forget that it’s only Monday.

As Carol notes, Trinity Groves offers an Indian cooking class this evening. Minal Jhaveri, an native of India recently transplanted to Dallas, will guide attendees through the six spices used in everyday cooking, how to prep veggies, and how to cook Basmati rice without it getting sticky, and then teach the class how to prepare seven different vegetarian dishes. Yum. Call 214-939-3015 to register.

For more to do tonight, go here.

Things To Do In Dallas This Weekend: May 17-19

You know how you have a particular image of a musician in your head? Yeah, this is not what I thought Allen Stone looked like. But his song, “Sleep,” is great, and he’ll be at the Fort Worth Music Fest on Saturday.

Mostly I’m just excited that this is the weekend before the nice long Memorial Day weekend. Let’s get moving.

Friday

How we know it’s officially summer: ‘Til Midnight at the Nasher is back. Wolfgang Puck and his general chokehold on the Arts District forbids you from bringing your own picnic, so your food choices are kind of limited, but do bring your party pants. Air Review is playing, and then they’ll screen Life of Pi. It’s free, too, which means you can splurge on Samar for an actual human-sized dinner.

Meanwhile, if you didn’t make it Homegrown Fest in Main Street Garden last weekend, the Fort Worth Music Festival kicks off two days of bands and beer this afternoon at at the Panther Island Pavilion. Worth sneaking out of work early? Obviously. Our music critic, Christopher Mosley, writes a bit about the fest’s line up over on FrontRow:

The Fort Worth Music Festival quite ambitiously tackles everything from a mariachi act (Mariachi Quetzal); to a New Orleans brass combo (Dirty Dozen Brass Band); to the somehow still hip indie act, The Walkmen. The decision to throw jazz in with current popular music is a respectably risky one, though Fort Worth’s rich jazz history has always given it a one-up on looking down its nose a little at the rest of North Texas. Which is fine with me, since Ornette Coleman was born there, and he should really have an entire jazz and avant-garde festival named in his honor.

Look, all I want is for the Old 97′s to play “New Kid” in honor of my precious Veronica Mars movie.

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Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 16

Yes.

I spent some time in my closet last night. I’m not ashamed. As Krista noted in Leading Off today, you can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to the relief fund for Hood, Johnson, and Ellis counties.

Hopefully tonight will be marked not by a dozen deadly twisters and window-breaking ice balls, but by a flurry of idioms. The public radio program A Way With Words is doing a live show at the Lakewood Theater, benefiting the Aberg Center for Literacy, which helps adults reach English fluency and obtain a GED. That means tickets are a little pricey, but if you’re a big fan, it’s co-hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett’s first visit to Texas. We want to make a good impression. And this may come as a surprise to absolutely no one, but I love A Way With Words. It’s an educational radio show about the nuances and cultural influence of language. It’s also an endless source of amusement, since you get to learn fun new slang terms (such as “gone pecan” and “high lonesome”) and try them out on your friends. KERA’s Krys Boyd moderates the interactive evening of quizzes and questions with participants Mayor Mike Rawlings and Dallas Morning News columnist Jaquielynn Floyd.

Get a burger and onion rings from Lakewood Landing. It’s comforting— a big greasy hug from someone you actually like. Perfect for a rainy, disgustingly humid night. Honestly, I’d recommend this even if you can’t make to the Aberg benefit.

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Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 15

Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel, par Marc Chagall.

Man, Irving is having a bang up day today. Have I mentioned lately how much I adore/abhor my hometown? Mostly the second one.

It’s a very Arts District-centered evening, since we’ve got cool events at Booker T. Washington and the Dallas Museum of Art. As most of my friends know, I own a pretty decent camera. I do not really know how to use it, and I also don’t use it enough. A much more talented friend argues that those two things go hand in hand. All of this doesn’t stop me from being interested in tonight’s Take the Lens Cap Off panel discussion at Booker T., in which several knowledgeable guests will talk about photography trends with DMA curator Jeffrey Grove. Panelists include Kael Alford, documentary photographer, writer, and journalist; Deborah Bell, a curator and dealer who serves as vice president and head of Christie’s photographs department in New York; Dorinth Doherty, a professor of photography at UNT and a 2012 Guggenheim Fellow; and Wendy Watriss, and photographer and founder of Fotofest Houston.

Also tonight, the Dallas Museum of Art is offering their own event in conjunction with the gorgeous Marc Chagall exhibit, which is only around for another week or so. Anyway, tonight’s program is a “serenade” to the versatile, imaginative artist, and features live music and dance performance inspired by his life and work. You also get a special tour of the exhibition.

All the familiar Arts District haunts are open for dinner tonight, such as Cafe des Artistes and The Greek. I’d go with Cafe des Artistes, in honor of Chagall’s Belarusian-French heritage

For more to do tonight, go here.

Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 14

Three men are disenchanted with life and try to recapture the glory of their college days.

Have you ever taken the subway? Read this.

This evening, we have the season finale of Oral Fixation, the storytelling series at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary. The theme is “Old School,” and as luck would have it, features a tale from Old 97′s guitarist Ken Bethea. Go to Union Bear after for a late dinner and drinks.

Over in Fair Park, the Dallas Summer Musicals starts its run of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert tonight. It’s a campy and colorful riff on the movie, and you already know most of the songs. Two drag queens, Tick/Mitzi and Adam/Felicia, and an aging transsexual, Bernadette, land a gig in the middle of the Australian desert. The trio has been together for awhile, performing a glittery stage act that consists of piling on the make up and lip-syncing to Madonna and Cyndi Lauper. Bernadette is getting tired, but when Tick and Adam pick up the show at a remote resort, she decides to hop on their lavender bus for one last hurrah. Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday evening. And since I’ve only peeked inside Craft and Growler (it was so close to closing time, I would have felt like a jerk if I went in), that’s a good option for socializing before the show.

For more to do this evening, go here.

Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 13

An excuse to drink every night this week, if you really needed one besides, you know, “life.”

In case you hadn’t heard, AT&T Performing Arts Center is opening the doors to its new box office/info center today. It has a Pearl Cup, which should be nice, since it’ll stay open until 9 p.m. I like the idea of getting coffee before a show.

It’s also American Craft Beer Week, so let the celebrations commence. The Libertine has been stirring up competition all month between local breweries Community and Lakewood, and the finale is tonight. It’s lager versus lager, and the winning beer is the one that gets tapped. Meanwhile, the Flying Saucer in Addison puts Lakewood Brewing Company in the solo spotlight. They’ll have Rock Ryder Cask, a special version of their regular American rye/wheat with lychee and citra hops, Till and Toil, a saison, and the original Rock Ryder on tap, and Temptress, a milk stout, in bottles.

Other goings-on this evening include a studio class at Oil & Cotton. It’s about time we had some May flowers, so Shannon Driscoll will teach you how to make your own everlasting blooms with folding techniques that can be used on a variety of papers, from book pages to tissue paper. It’s all very pretty, and I keep killing my plants. I need something decorative that’s a bit more resilient, but there’s a fine line between “hardy” and “tacky.”

For more to do tonight, go here.

Things To Do In Dallas This Weekend: May 10-12

Locally cultivated.

Show of hands, who’s seeing Gatsby this weekend? I get the general sense that not everyone is a huge fan of what Baz Luhrmann’s done, but I’ll reserve my opinion until I can see it myself.

Friday

The Dallas Museum of Art’s Arts & Letters Live event, an evening with Temple Grandin, is sold out. If you’re desperate, you can start pestering will call (214-922-1818) at 6:30 p.m.

However, tonight is the 24 Hour Video Race, which always sounds like so much fun. In fact, a friend and I talked about finally, finally participating this year, but alas. It’s just not in the cards. But there is still plenty of time to register, both online and this evening at the Angelika before the clock strikes midnight and you’re off. Registering online saves you $5, though.

Anyway, you can work as a team or as an individual, and at 11:59 p.m., all the participants receive the theme, prop, location and line of dialogue assignment for the film. You have 24 hours to make a movie, edit it, and turn it back in. As long as Mom is cool with you yawning through Mother’s Day brunch, you should be golden.

Also this evening, there’s a pre-Homegrown Fest party at the Granada featuring all-Texas acts: Austin’s Sons of Fathers, Fort Worth’s Telegraph Canyon, and Dallas’ Goodnight Ned. See, no one gets left out.

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Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 9

What you know about sexy aerobics?

Watch the weather. Plenty of al fresco activities tonight, but storms are looming and you may want your umbrella-ella-ella. Folks with tickets to the sold-out Barefoot at the Belmont concert should note that the show will be moved to the Kessler in the case of crash-kaboom.

If the rain/lightning/thunder holds off, there’s the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Patio Sessions tonight outside the Winspear featuring Lily Taylor for the early set followed by Sucré. [UPDATE: Sorry, folks, it has been cancelled due to the weather.] Fans of Eisley will recognize Sucré’s singer, Stacy King, and perhaps the band’s drummer, her husband, Mute Math’s Darren King. Give their debut album a listen. And there’s always food trucks and things out there if you get hungry.

Also tonight, happily, cozily indoors, the Texas Theater  has The Found Footage Festival, a goofy collection of the latest VHS footage that the organizers dug up in thrift stores and garage sales. Hosts Joe Pickett of The Onion and Nick Prueher from the Late Show with David Letterman will be there in person to provide commentary. At least one of the tapes has something to do with ferret grooming. Lots of people with strange exercise habits. And pets.

For more to do tonight, go here.

Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 8

Matt Shelley?

As summer approaches, I really miss Beers With Friends. It made people so mad, but we had so much fun.

One of our for-the-future ideas was to do a blind test, but looks like the Gin Mill is beating us to the punch with their event tonight. It’s a big blind taste test hosted by brewers from Franconia and Stone Brewing Company, and features four rounds and light bites to cleanse the palate in between. It’s $30 to compete, and there’s still some space left. If my friend Michael, a founding member of Beers With Friends, still lived here, I’d make him participate. And by make I mean I ask nicely. But it sounds like a fun time for someone with the knowledge (or the finely-honed guessing skills) to participate. And the good news is that Gin Mill serves pretty decent food, too.

Also this evening, a whole bunch of smart and creative folks are gathering at the Lakewood Theater for another American Institute of Graphic Arts DFW and PechaKucha night, this one revolving around the theme “This is My City.” PechaKucha is that presentation format invented by two Tokyo-based architects that allows for 20 PowerPoint slides with 20 seconds devoted to each one. Wired’s headline on their story about the method is great. I mean, David Hopkins is participating in this, and who wants to hear that guy talk about anything for more than six and a half minutes anyway? I kid. Other presenters tonight include the new Arts District director, Catherine Cueller, and the always-fashionable Fred Holston, son of our favorite law man and human rights advocate, Bill Holston. Arcade Bar‘s next door, in case stimulating conversation makes you thirsty.

For more to do tonight, including the start of Chinese Folk Art Week at the Crow Collection, go here.

Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 7

Fela.

I’ll just leave this textbook definition of a smackdown here.

It should be absolutely wonderful weather this evening, which makes it a perfect night for one of the Arboretum’s plein air concerts. I’m a little surprised that you can still get tickets to this evening’s Brave Combo performance, but in fact, you can. Pack up a blanket and a picnic, and Goodfriend awaits you nearby if you wish to continue your Tuesday elsewhere after the concert.

It’s also opening eve for FELA!, the Jay-Z, Will Smith, and Jada Pinkett-Smith-produced musical about the life of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. The story follows Kuti’s journey as an artist and human rights activist, all dramatized by his musical creation, Afrobeat, a hybrid of traditional Yoruba, jazz, funk, percussion, and chanted vocals. It’s had a popular touring run as it is, but in case you need extra incentive to check it out, this particular production features Michelle Williams, one-third of supergroup Destiny’s Child. Just note that once again the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s online ticketing system isn’t working. It says tickets for every night of the show’s run are “not available.” This isn’t true. Just call the box office. They have limited seats on just about all the levels for tonight. Update 11:56 a.m.: AT&T PAC folks say their website is working again. So purchase tickets online to your heart’s content.

For more to do tonight, go here.

Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 6

Chad Valley. Photo by Lucy Bridger.

I’m not sure whether that whole “follow” thing on Spotify is a blessing or a curse. Occasionally I’ll make a session private so I could listen to Selena Gomez in peace, but I really enjoy seeing what my various friends hither and yon are listening to.

Anyway, I’ve been watching my friend Mark listen to Chad Valley for the last few days, which is actually the stage name of Oxford-based pop producer Hugo Manuel, and got interested myself.  He’s finishing out his United States tour by traipsing all over Texas, which brings him to his set at Three Links tonight. I haven’t been to this venue since it was La Grange, so really my only quibble right now is the terrible-looking logo. But hey. Probably still a good spot to hear some music. Try Valley’s “Fall 4 U,” though I do enjoy the random “Wannabe” lyric he appropriates for “My Girl.”  Ski Lodge and Diamond Age support, and tickets are just $12.

Also this evening, the Dallas Museum of Art opens up on a Monday for their Arts and Letters Live Texas Bound II event. The program features Dallas theater veterans such as Raphael Parry (who also happens to be the director of Texas Bound), James Crawford, and Cindy Beall reading stories by Betty Wiesepape, Alix Ohlin, Patricia Highsmith, and Jack Handey. Tickets are still available online.

For more to do tonight, go here.