This is where we make a choice. The crossroads of the internet. What sort of weekend are we having?
Friday
As Carol mentioned over on SideDish, you can still get tickets to Good vs. Evil: An Evening with Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert at Bass Hall in Fort Worth. If you recognize neither of those names, this is perhaps not for you. But if you’re a fan of Bourdain’s No Reservations, you can see him face off (and presumably talk food) with friend and chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernadin in poor ravaged New York. You can still get tickets.
Kitchen Dog Theater’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane heads into its opening weekend. I’ll be seeing it soon enough, but I feel pretty confident recommending it on spec. McDonagh is a bit of a master of the dark arts (remember In Bruges? That’s this guy.) and Leenane is a black comedy that centers around Maureen, a plain 40-year-old woman who has led a rather sequestered life in the small Irish village of Connemara, and her dependent relationship with her mother. When Maureen’s first (and perhaps only) chance for love appears, just remember that there’s no such thing as happily ever after here. It should be fun, funny, and more than a little screwed up. Basically, a good play for anyone interested in dipping a toe into the great roiling theater ocean.
Saturday
ArtCon. It’s at the Goodyear Retread Plant in the Design District this time around. I’ll be there, and you should be too if you’re interesting in spending a Saturday evening with 150 artists and three bands that benefits two good causes: Girls Rock Dallas and W. T. White Academy of Visual and Performing Arts Ceramics Program. Bid on the donated artwork that catches your eye (all done on 18×18-inch plywood boards) or just drink, wander, and listen. Tickets are ten bucks at the door, but you can get them online if you’re a planner.
There’s also some new James Bond movie out, and seriously, I don’t know why anyone would want to see this. It’s not like Daniel Craig is crazy attractive in custom Tom Ford. Anyway, the Texas Theatre, in their infinite wisdom, have a 35 mm copy of the Sam Mendes-directed Skyfall, and then they’re throwing a big fancy dance party after the final screening Saturday night. It’s called The World is Not Enough, and attendees are encouraged to either suit up or come dressed as his or her favorite Bond character (which might involve a suit, anyway).
Sunday
UPDATE 1:15 p.m.: White Rock Lake Festival is cancelled. From the Granada folks:
The 10th Annual White Rock Lake Festival Presents: Trucks & Tunes on November 10 & 11 has been cancelled due to the weather. “I’m sorry to say but the Festival this weekend is cancelled due to rain on Sunday and the wind today which was blowing over porta pottys and the forecast says the wind will be twice as strong tomorrow. The stage company said 25 plus mile an hour wind would take the stage down the way it is right beside a lake. Setting up today and the wind was really howling…when it comes across that entire lake from the south it almost knocks a guitar out of your arms.  So sad. We are going to look at a reschedule next year,” said Mike Schoder.
Last but absolutely not least, there’s the White Rock Lake Festival which, surprisingly, will take place at White Rock Lake. It all starts Saturday, but the family-friendly fun continues through Sunday. Celebrate the lake (and efforts to keep it beautiful) with “tunes and trucks,” which means a full line up of musical acts (booked by The Granada’s Mike Shoder, no less) and food trucks parked along the shoreline. There will also be pet adoption, arts and crafts, a petting zoo, and face painting.
Since lakeside outdoor activities are out, how about something inside, away from the elements? It’s your last opportunity to catch the Dallas Opera’s Aïda, Giuseppe Verdi’s exotically-set drama of love, loyalty, and power, and the opera’s first production in the Pursuits of Passion Season.
For more to do this weekend, go here.
