Your usual guide to the comings and goings of Dallas fun is frolicking in the “City of the Big Shoulders” this week — or at least until tonight — that is, unless Second City can convince him to toss his Plano love to wind and double down with some of his We Shot Jr compatriots who decamped Dallas years ago for the capital of the Midwest (highly doubtful). So that leaves me, I suppose, to step in and offer an evening tour of our fair burg. We should be able to find a few titillations and stimulations for a run-of-the-mill Tuesday in July. Let’s see.
First off, a non sequitur: Am I the only out-of-touch person who has never heard the Silver Jews’ song “Dallas” before? “O Dallas you shine with an evil light / How’d you turn a billion steers / into buildings made of mirrors, / and why am I drawn to you tonight?” Forget the fact that Dallas never had any steers – let alone a billion – wandering through its streets paved with cotton, oil, merchandising, and financial services. But still, let that little gem be your soundtrack for the evening. Just ‘cause.
Onward.
So, sure. George Tandy Jr. lands at the House of Blues tonight, and if you’ve already bought your tickets to that one, you’ll be safe in his loving hands. But I think you’ll be better off picking up your significant other and blasting Tandy on the way to Curren$y at Trees. Think of the New Orleans rapper show as a welcome party for the arrival of Obama’s fundraising tour, steeped in a biting and sarcastic flow of prescient social commentary.
But, okay, I get it. A night in a sweaty club grinding to one of the better song smiths of the moment isn’t your thing. That’s fine, because it’s summer, and that means you can pack a picnic and head over to Samuell Grand Park to catch Shakespeare Dallas’ Much Ado About Nothing. Sure, the DMN and Theatre Jones weren’t exactly thrilled by the current production, but every breathing adult needs a summer Shakespeare fix and you could probably use a more traditional staging of Much Ado to help flush out Joss Whedon’s Dogma 95-esque/ish adaptation from a few years back.
Or, why not head down to the Texas Theater and catch a double feature? Texas filmmaker Kat Chandler’s Hellion is playing. It’s a “devastating” story about a two brothers in a shipwrecked family, and it stars Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul. RogerEbert.com was impressed with its slate of performers. Afterwards, stick around for a Texas Theatre classic: Tuesday Night Trash, featuring The Cop in Blue Jeans, an Italian poliziottesco.
Food and drink:
George Tandy Jr. at House of Blues: Pair with happy hour on the roof at NYLO
Curren$y at Trees: Pair with happy hour in the Lobby Bar at Joule
Shakespeare in the Park: It’s wine week at Central Market – pack your picnic!
Movies at the Texas Theater: Pair with an early dinner at Mesa, naturally.
