Dallas, TX
These are the 14 best things to do in Dallas this weekend
Although March had a few festivals, the month of April is when festival season kicks into high gear. This weekend will feature three of them in and around Dallas, along with two local theater productions, a symphony concert, three comedians, two dance productions, a quartet of art openings, and a concert from a Dallas favorite.
Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city’s best events.
Thursday, April 3
The Firehouse Theatre presents Godspell
Godspell was the first major musical theatre offering from Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Children of Eden), and it took the world by storm. Led by the international hit, “Day by Day,” Godspell features a parade of songs, including “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord,” “Learn Your Lessons Well,” “All for the Best,” “All Good Gifts,” “Turn Back, O Man,” and “By My Side.” The production runs through April 19 at The Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents “Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3”
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Harp Emily Levin will be front and center for Henriette Renié’s Concerto for Harp and Orchestra. Widely recognized for his dual career, John Storgårds both plays and conducts Beethoven’s Romance and Keith Jarrett’s Elegy. The concert is headlined by Sibelius’ Third Symphony. The concert will have three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.
Improv Addison presents Frank Caliendo
From his many appearances on late night shows to his weekly picks segment on the FOX NFL pregame show, comedian/actor/impressionist Frank Caliendo has been seen all over television. He’s known for his impressions of John Madden, Jon Gruden, Al Pacino, and many others. He’ll perform for one night only at Improv Addison.
Friday, April 4
Deep Ellum Community Arts Fair
The third annual Deep Ellum Community Arts Fair transforms Deep Ellum’s streets into a three-day celebration of art, music, community, and culture. Festival goers can discover booths from more than 120 fine and decorative artists, while enjoying sounds from more than 80 bands and performing artists spread across four stages. A wide variety of food and drink specials will be available throughout the weekend from the neighborhood’s restaurants and bars. The fair takes place through Sunday.
The State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine presents Swan Lake
The State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine will present Swan Lake, the most famous love story of all time. With completely new choreography and stage production by Andrei Litvinov, the classical score by Tchaikovsky comes to life. The performance, taking place at the Music Hall at Fair Park, features a ballet troupe of 50 dancers, and more than 200 new costumes created specifically for this production.
Lewisville Playhouse presents Uncle Vanya
Sonia and her uncle Vanya have devoted their lives to managing the family farm in isolation, but when her celebrated, ailing father and his charismatic wife move in, their lives are upended. In the heat of the summer, all the wrong people fall in love, desires and resentments erupt, and the family is forced to reckon with the ghosts of their unlived lives. Lewisville Playhouse will present an intimate, immersive new adaptation of Chekhov’s classic Uncle Vanya from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker. The production runs through April 20.
Saturday, April 5
Crow Museum of Asian Art exhibition openings
The Crow Museum of Asian Art will open three new exhibitions on Saturday. In the solo exhibition “Let One Bird Sing,” Anila Agha addresses the violence and destruction of natural environments such as plants, trees, and entire ecosystems. “The Shogun’s World: Japanese Maps from The Maclean Collection” features ceramic plates that the Japanese used to give a worm’s-eye view of the world. And Cecilia Chiang: “Don’t Tell Me What To Do” features work from the self-taught artist who operates beyond the confines of the traditional artistic canon, expressing her spontaneity and creativity across a broad spectrum of media.
Breakaway Music Festival
The Breakaway Music Festival is an electronic music event that will be headlined by Slander, Zedd, Afrojack, GRYFFIN, and Louis The Child. They will be joined by 16 national touring acts and four local DJs across two nights. The experience will also include a silent disco featuring local artists and brand activations. Originally scheduled to take place on Friday and Saturday at Fair Park, it will shift to Saturday and Sunday due to expected inclement weather on Friday.
Dallas Country, Blues & Red Dirt Festival
The Dallas Country, Blues & Red Dirt Festival will feature five different performers, including Jarrod Sterrett & The Hired Guns, Brennen Leigh, Jeremiah Johnson, Sundance Head, and headliner Wesley Pruitt. There will also be an arts & crafts marketplace and a gourmet food garden with craft beverages. It takes place at Flower Mound Riverwalk.
Nasher Sculpture Center presents “Otobong Nkanga” opening day
The Nasher Sculpture Center will present a new and re-envisioned work from the 2025 Nasher Prize laureate, Otobong Nkanga. The work of Nkanga reconsiders people’s relationship with the land and the materials extracted from it. For this exhibition, Nkanga will engage with Texan history, material culture, ecology, and community through a process of deep research and an exchange of knowledge. The exhibition will remain on display through August 17.
Michael Blaustein: The Taste of Me Tour
Comedian Michael Blaustein has had appearances on the Comedy Central Campus Tour, The College Humor Tour, and the Oddball Comedy Fest. Along with his college campus experience, Blaustein performed at prestigious festivals such as Just For Laughs 42 and The New York Comedy Festival. He currently co-hosts the podcast Stiff Socks with Trevor Wallace. He’ll perform at Majestic Theatre.
Ballet Ensemble of Texas presents Gaîté Parisienne and Other Works
Ballet Ensemble of Texas’ annual Celebration of Dance will feature a revival of Gaîté Parisienne, along with other works. The troupe is the official performing company of the Ballet Academy of Texas and trains dancers who are recognized by prestigious pre-professional training programs across the country. The production takes place at Irving Arts Center on Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday, April 6
Josh Johnson: The Flowers Tour
Josh Johnson is an Emmy-nominated writer, stand-up, actor, and NAACP award-winner from Louisiana by way of Chicago. He is currently a writer/correspondent on The Daily Show, and is a former writer and performer on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he made his late-night debut in 2017. Johnson’s most recent stand-up special, Josh Johnson: Up Here Killing Myself, premiered on Peacock. He’ll perform twice on Sunday at Majestic Theatre.
St. Vincent in concert
Dallas can claim musician and songwriter Annie Clark – aka St. Vincent – as its own, as she spent her formative years here and was once a member of The Polyphonic Spree. One of the most distinctive artistic voices and original guitarists of her generation, she’s collaborated with such big names as David Byrne, Taylor Swift, and The Chicks. She’ll play at The Bomb Factory in support of her 2024 album, All Born Screaming.
Dallas, TX
Game Day Guide: Stars at Wild | Dallas Stars
First Shift 🏒
For the past four regular seasons, the Stars have the best road record in the NHL.
Through 164 games, Dallas tops the league with a .655 points percentage away from home. It also leads in goals per game at 3.40 and in GAA at 2.70. That spans two different head coaches and several different players, but there is a culture that the team hopes to tap into Wednesday when the best-of-seven playoff series moves to Minnesota for Game 3.
“You have to be able to play on the road,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “Since my time here, our guys feel really comfortable.”
The Stars were tied for second in road points percentage this season at .683, so an actual improvement over their previous average. They were third in GAA at 2.73 and sixth in scoring at 3.41, so the league has improved. That said, the new coaching staff has also embraced a sound road strategy.
Like Pete DeBoer before him, Gulutzan doesn’t worry too much about matching lines – at home or on the road. The road matching can create some real gymnastics, as the home team gets second change. But the fact that a team chooses not to chase that part of the game.
“That’s why you program your guys to play in those situations and not yank them off every time something happens,” Gulutzan said. “That way they have the confidence to play in all of those situations.”
The Stars coach did make some tweaks after a disappointing team performance in Game 1. Arttu Hyry jumped in for Adam Erne and played center on a line with Jamie Benn and Sam Steel. The right-handed Hyry was a solid complement to lefties Steel and Benn. That allowed Hryckowian to move up to the top line in place of Steel. The left-handed Hryckowian is good balance to right-handed center Johnston.
Again, when you have those options, you are comfortable with whatever line is on the ice.
“I like our combinations right now,” Gulutzan said. “One of the things you worry about is the hands of your centermen, and on each line we have a righty and a lefty that are more than capable. Plus, all of the guys know their systems and their jobs, and they’ve been doing it all year.”
The Stars have had several injuries this season to key players, and that means everyone has played everywhere with everyone else. That’s big this time of year.
“I definitely think that helps,” said Colin Blackwell. “It just makes everything flow. If the coaches shuffle things up, you usually land with someone you have played with before.”
And that means playing on the road isn’t as difficult. The biggest challenge might be fact that Minnesota will be fired up by its home crowd and will be looking to make a point about grievances they perceived in Game 2.
“I don’t know if we need a bulletin board,” Gulutzan said when asked about the Wild making “bulletin board” statements Monday. “We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing and grind this thing to where we need it to go.”
Dallas, TX
The Brandon Aubrey Deal | DZTV
The Dumb Zone hosts analyze the record-breaking contract extension for Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey, critiquing the team’s media narrative regarding the negotiations and debating the kicker’s value in a “fourth-down revolution” era.
Dallas, TX
Johnston scores twice, Stars hold off Wild in Game 2 to even West 1st Round | NHL.com
Johnston gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 8:58 of the first period. His slap shot from above the right face-off circle deflected off Wild forward Danila Yurov and then bounced off the end boards and in off Wallstedt’s left arm.
“I’ve had a goal like that go in on me, too, that’s a tough bounce,” Oettinger said. “Like I said in Game 1, we got some bad bounces. We got a nice bounce there. We had one where I was behind the net, and the guy was shooting it in the net and our (defense) stopped it, so we got some good bounces. The way we played the last 40 minutes of the game, I think, didn’t give up much, had a ton of good chances offensively. The power play, we got looks and our (penalty kill) was great. If we kind of build off the game that we played the last 40 minutes, I think we should feel very good for the next few games.”
Faber tied it 1-1 at 11:33. He took a pass from Hughes, skated around Robertson in the left circle and cut to the slot, where his wrist shot ramped up and in off Oettinger.
Duchene put the Stars back up 2-1 with a power-play goal at 4:02 of the second period. Mikko Rantanen gained the offensive zone along the right boards and sent a backhand pass to Duchene, who snapped the puck between Wallstedt’s pads from in front.
Robertson made it 3-1 at 7:09 of the third period when he tipped Lundkvist’s wrist shot from the blue line past the right pad of Wallstedt.
“I think we got to do a better job, I mean, the odd-man’s, right? I thought we played a really good game. Probably their best game, you know, meaningful game. And, yeah, we didn’t get fazed by it. Was really good by us. Just got to be smarter in some areas, and we get to go back home and in front of our crowd,” Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno said. “They want (penalties). I mean, they’re looking to play 5-on-4. I mean, that’s their game. They can’t hang with us 5-on-5. We got to just be smarter, and myself included. But it’s a heated game out there. You’re gonna have emotional swings and learn from it. We got a split series.”
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