The Best Things to Do in Dallas, July 26 – Aug. 1

Wednesday, July 26

If you’ve ever needed to take the edge off the start of a hard day, a cup of weapons-grade coffee and a ride to work with a good singalong can bring you down to Earth. Chances are that you’ve fired up your streaming service and called up one of the smooth, punchy and easy-going sounds of Grammy winner Jason Mraz. Songs such as “I’m Yours” and “The Remedy” are like aural downers without the chemical withdrawal. Even guys and gals who need a heavy dose of speed metal on their ride to work will leave his songs on if they pop up on a random playlist. The singer is currently on tour after the release of his eighth album, Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride. He’ll be at the Music Hall at Fair Park at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 26. Tickets are $49.95–$79.95 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com.

Thursday, July 27

Everyone knows there’s beauty in natural scenery but it takes a talented artist with an eye for detail and dedication to enhance and reshape its beauty on canvas. Painter and muralist Patricia Rodriguez has been honing her artistic talent for two decades and beyond painting pretty pictures of flowers and trees, she weaves them into intricate patterns to create breathtaking new visions of natural beauty. Like nature itself, her work isn’t confined to flat surfaces. Rodriguez’s art grows like the untamed shape of wild plant life to show the uplifting elegance and power of Mother Nature. The Kessler will put some of Rodriguez’s works of art on display as part of a special exhibition called Homegrown that runs until Tuesday, Aug. 15. Admission is free.

Friday, July 28

Just because a stage is big doesn’t mean that only big names should be on it. The AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project has been giving local artists with innovative vision a place to perform and present their works on one of the biggest and best stages in Dallas. The DASH Ensemble and its director Gregory Dolbashian have traveled the world to perform and captivate with their complex blending of dancing and light that creates something magical and wondrous. Their latest production, The Power of Collision, continues to enhance the reputation of this renowned dance and visual arts group that explores “the intricate dynamics of human relationships, emotions and the universal theme of transformation,” according to the DASH Ensemble’s website. The group’s Power of Collision show is returning to its hometown for three shows at 8 p.m. on Friday, July 28 and Saturday, July 29; and 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 30, at the Wyly Studio Theatre. Tickets are $29.50 and can be purchased at the box office or online at attpac.org.

Comedian Mitch Fatel has a disarming smile and natural charm, but that’s just the bait he uses to lure in his audience so he can strike when they least suspect it. Just listen to one of his Comedy Central specials or three best-selling albums and hear it for yourself. Fatel has a fearless wit and a gift for going wherever an audience takes him. All you have to do is hang on for dear life. He’s performing four shows at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Friday, July 28, and Saturday, July 29, at the Dallas Comedy Club in Deep Ellum. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the box office or online at dallas-comedyclub.com.

Saturday, July 29

It takes guts to get on a stage and let whatever’s on your mind spill out in front of an audience. The Talking Dirty After Dark live storytelling series has been giving writers and performers a place to weave their most personal and revealing tales to a live audience at The Wild Detectives for the last two years, and this week they celebrate their anniversary with a special show. Each storyteller goes on stage and tells a true, personal story with live musical accompaniment. The stories can be funny, scary or even sad but they’re all true and delivered with passion, humor and love. The show kicks off at 9 p.m. on Saturday, July 29. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Eventbrite.com.

Thanks to the internet and the awesome power of global broadcasting, you can watch a magician or illusionist pull off an amazing trick anytime and pretty much anywhere. The only thing a smart TV or the YouTube app can’t do is replicate the feelings of confusion and awe when the trick plays out right in front of your eyes. Magician Rob Lake has performed his craft all over the world and on television shows such as NBC’s America’s Got Talent. He’s even created original stage illusions and special effects for several Broadway broadcasts and for Adele’s Las Vegas residency show. See what he can do right in front of your eyes at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 29, at the Winspear Opera House Tickets are $39.25–$89.25 and can be purchased online at attpac.org.

Sunday, July 30

If you’ve had a drunken night at a piano bar or at a catered wedding reception, then you’ve heard at least one song by the Steve Miller Band. Now you’ll get the chance to see them perform live at the Dos Equis Pavilion. The group formed during the height of the San Francisco music scene of the late 1960s, the same one whose influence can be traced to pretty much every major modern rock genre. Their psychedelic sound mixed with the soul of blues music morphed into the popular sound that produced chart-topping hits such as “The Joker,” “Take the Money and Run,” “Fly Like an Eagle” and “Jungle Love.” The show starts at 7 p.m. Sunday, July 30. Tickets are $31–$838 and can be purchased online at ticketnetwork.com.

You don’t need us to tell you that Texas has some of the best food on the face of the planet. Wouldn’t it be awesome if some of the state’s greatest culinary minds got together and cooked up some of their best dishes? The Texas Food Fest can make that happen. Over 30 food vendors from across the state will offer up their best fried, grilled, sauteed, chopped and sliced goodies and keep serving it up until you or your stomach cries uncle. This popular food festival runs from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 30, at Dallas City Hall Plaza. If you move now, you can get a free pass at Eventbrite.com until Thursday, July 27. The price jumps to $8 per person for general admission and $79.99 for VIP fast pass tickets that will get you to the head of every line. Kids 14 and under get in for free.

Monday, July 31

School will be starting soon, and if you’re a kid, you know just how fast your free time can run out the clock. Before you know it, you’ll be back at your locker or sitting at one of those desk-chair hybrids wishing you had taken advantage of the summer when you had the chance. Don’t let regret happen to you. That’ll happen way later. Make plans to be at one of the Alamo Drafthouse theaters for its semi-regular Kids Camp movie series, which shows classic flicks in the morning hours so you can put that sugar cereal you downed to good use before the rush wears off. Catch a screening of Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 31, at the Alamo Drafthouse Richardson and the Cedars location or Hotel Transylvania 2 at 10 a.m. on Monday at the Lake Highlands theater (6770 Abrams Road) and the Denton theater (3220 Town Center Trail), with additional screens Aug. 1–3. Tickets are just $5 and can be purchased at the box office or online at drafthouse.com/dfw.

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The Tony-winning musical The Book of Mormon returns to Dallas for a six-night run at Music Hall at Fair Park.

Julieta Cervantes

Tuesday, August 1

If you haven’t seen The Book of Mormon by now, what the hell are you waiting for already? It’s insanely great. The story, crafted by the creator of TV’s South Park and the hit Broadway musical Avenue Q, tells the adventures of a pair of Mormon missionaries’ trip to an African village stricken by disease, starvation and the violent whims of a bloodthirsty warlord. It’s profane, sacrilegious and cringey and sometimes it dares you to laugh. The dialogue and even the songs feature the word “fuck” a lot. Like a LOT.  Then when your guard is up, it turns into a heartbreaking and even touching tale about the strength of faith and the spirit of humanity as you melt into its true beauty and genius eye for humor in the darkest of times. The touring stage production of this Tony-winning classic will perform eight shows at Music Hall at Fair Park at 7:30 p.m. from Tuesday, Aug. 1, through Sunday, Aug. 6, and at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5, and Sunday Aug. 6. Tickets start at $50 for the 7:30 p.m. performances and $55 for the 1:30 p.m. performance and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.

Don’t you just hate paying for a movie and it turns out to be a complete waste of your time? Some movies (ahem-Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey) are so awful (cough-Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania-cough) that it feels like someone owes you a few extra hours on your expiration date (cough-cough-choke-Transformers: Rise of the Beast-cough). Man, there must be some pollen in the air or something. The Texas Theatre knows this feeling all too well, and that’s why it hosts a special Tuesday Night Trash screening every week where the movies may be subpar at best but at least you don’t have to pay to watch them. This week’s screening at 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 1, will feature the weird ’90s martial arts movie The Roller Blade Seven, which is weird because we’re not sure how you practice martial arts when you have a pair of wheels strapped to your feet. Laugh and squeal at this bizarre cult classic with an audience. Admission is free.