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.
Saturday
Once upon a time, the Dallas International Festival was a fixture in the Arts District. But it got a bit too big for its britches, and therefore made the wise decision to move to Fair Park in order to avoid displaying its underoos. Or something. This annual day-long celebration of our global citizenry offers three stages for traditional music and dance performances, a food court serving cuisine from Taiwan, El Salvador, Mexico, and Jamaica, to name just a few, a craft and activities area for kids, a drum circle, and more.
Meanwhile, back in the Arts District, the Texas Ballet Theater is performing a very Memorial Day-weekend-appropriate series at the Wyly. The program pairs George Balanchine’s high-flying Theme and Variations, a glitzy, technically tough composition that recalls the glory days of the Imperial Ballet, with TBT artistic director Ben Stevenson’s Mozart’s Requiem. Mozart died working on Requiem; it was performed at his own funeral mass and countless others. The ballet, which Stevenson premiered in 2007, is hardly some stuffy dirge. It’s performed by only the male members of the TBT, and it’s an intense, emotional, 14 movement plunge that pays tribute to our military.
Sunday
Beer plus barbecue = Brew-B-Q. Easy math. The guys at Deep Ellum Brewing Company do these long weekends right. They’ll have Pecan Lodge barbecue (number nine on our Best Restaurants list) and a selection of their beers, plus live music. Get your tickets. All the VIP tickets are sold out.
Monday
Now, there’s no word on an official bash happening here, but you can count on the Fraternal Order of the Eagles swimming pool for a good time. Go get splashy. The happy hour is amazing.
For something a bit more family-oriented, I’d pack up a picnic for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s annual Memorial Day concert at Flagpole Hill on White Rock Lake. It’s free.
For more to do with your weekend, go here.
