It's a packed weekend around Fort Worth, with the usual slate of holiday events taking a backseat to non-holiday happenings. Choices include a classic Broadway musical, four different holiday concerts, two college basketball games at the city's newest venue, a country music celebration, and more.
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, December 5
Casa Mañana Theatre presents A Dean Martin Christmas
Audiences can celebrate the stories and songs of the “King of Cool” with A Dean Martin Christmas. Singer Joe Scalissi will perform favorite Martin songs like “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” and “Marshmallow World,” among others. Taking place in the Reid Cabaret Theatre at Casa Mañana, the show will run through December 21.
Broadway at the Bass: Miss Saigon
The acclaimed new production of the legendary musical Miss Saigon is the epic story of a young Vietnamese woman named Kim. In a bar run by a notorious character called The Engineer, Kim meets an American G.I., an encounter will change both of their lives forever. The production, running through Sunday at Bass Performance Hall, features spectacle, a cast of 42, and a score including hits like “Last Night of the World,” “The Movie in My Mind,” and “The Heat is On in Saigon.”
Friday, December 6
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Handel's Messiah
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra is taking its performance of Handel's Messiah on the road this holiday season. The thrilling choruses, soaring solos, and triumphant orchestration will be a joyful and powerful beginning to holiday celebrations when the orchestra performs at UNT's Murchison Performing Arts Center in Denton. If you'd rather stay close to home, they'll also perform the same program at Bass Performance Hall on December 9.
Christmas with the Fort Worth Chorale
The Fort Worth Chorale will celebrate the holiday season with an abundance of familiar carols in fresh arrangements and Stephen Paulus’ "Three Nativity Carols" with harp and oboe. Like the FWSO, the chorale will turn this into a traveling show, performing at St Vincent's Cathedral in Bedford on Friday, Keller United Methodist Church in Keller on Saturday, and TCU's Carr Chapel on Sunday. They will be joined by various high school choirs at each show.
TCU Horned Frogs vs. USC Trojans
The TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball team will take on the USC Trojans in the first-ever sporting event at Dickies Arena. Both teams have started out well this season and will look to continue that success in this non-conference matchup. This will be the second game in a two-year home-and-home agreement between the teams; TCU played at USC in 2018.
Stolen Shakespeare Guild presents Miss Bennet: Christmas At Pemberley
The Stolen Shakespeare Guild presents the regional premiere of Miss Bennet: Christmas At Pemberley. A sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Miss Bennet continues the story, only this time with bookish middle-sister Mary as its unlikely heroine. Mary is growing tired of her role as dutiful middle sister in the face of her siblings’ romantic escapades. When the family gathers for Christmas at Pemberley, an unexpected guest sparks Mary’s hopes for independence, an intellectual match, and possibly even love. The production will run at Fort Worth Community Arts Center through December 22.
Wynonna & The Big Noise Rockin' Christmas
Wynonna and her band, The Big Noise, will bring their brand new “Rockin’ Roots Christmas Tour” to Arlington Music Hall. The show will feature incomparable musical arrangements from The Big Noise, putting Wynonna’s voice front and center for what promises to be a truly memorable evening of music and holiday magic.
Saturday, December 7
Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents Scott and Stuart Gentling: "Tracing the Past" opening day
"Tracing the Past" is the second of two exhibitions dedicated to the Gentling brothers’ watercolors of birds that were featured in their 1986 portfolio of prints, "Of Birds and Texas." Consisting of 21 original watercolors and drawings by the Gentlings, as well a comparative selection of books and works on paper by prominent artist-naturalists from the 19th and 20th centuries, this exhibition explores how the brothers looked to historical imagery by prior generations of artists to create their own works of Texas birds. The exhibition will be on display at Amon Carter Museum of American Art through March 8, 2020.
Amphibian Stage Productions presents The Way North
On a very cold, early winter night, a traveler stumbles onto Freddy Hansen’s property. Agnes Kuur, a Sudanese refugee, is trying to get across the border and is dismayed that she’s only gotten as far as this Northern Minnesota cabin. Now Freddy — a former sheriff — is forced to choose between what’s lawful and what’s right to find the way north again. This staged reading will be performed at Amphibian Stage Productions on both Saturday and Sunday.
Travis Tritt in concert
During the country music boom of the 1990s, Travis Tritt stood tall among his fellow singers. His first five albums all reached the top 10 on the Billboard country charts, and he scored No. 1 hits with "Help Me Hold On," "Anymore," "Can I Trust You with My Heart," and "Foolish Pride." His career has been up and down since then, but he still knows how to bring it. He'll perform at Billy Bob's Texas.
Sunday, December 8
Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents "Set in Motion: Camille Utterback and Art That Moves" closing day
"Set in Motion: Camille Utterback and Art That Moves" pairs an interactive installation by new-media artist Utterback with a century of art depicting motion from the Carter’s collection. In Utterback’s Untitled 5 (2004), visitors’ movements in the gallery space are run through computer software written by the artist that translates them into an animated digital painting that constantly evolves. "Set in Motion" also includes a selection of work by women who experimented to pursue this difficult goal, including Georgia O’Keeffe, Helen Frankenthaler, Barbara Morgan, and Anne Ryan. The exhibition closes on Sunday.
Lone Star Showdown: Texas A&M vs. University of Texas
Two days after hosting its first sporting event, Dickies Arena will host a renewal of one of the most heated Lone Star State rivalries, Texas A&M and Texas. The Longhorns are off to a 7-1 start and a No. 22 ranking, while the Aggies are struggling at 3-4, so the odds would tell you this won't be much of a game. But with fans on both sides eager to see the two schools face off again, anything could happen.
99.5 The Wolf’s 10 Man Jam
99.5 The Wolf’s 10 Man Jam is a country music celebration that will feature performances by Jake Owen, Jon Langston, Russell Dickerson, LANCO, Randall King, Ashley McBryde, Trea Landon, Chris Young, Chase Rice, and a surprise special guest who will be announced at the show. The concert will take place at Billy Bob's Texas.
Casa Mañana Theatre presents A Dean Martin Christmas, starring Joe Scalissi, through December 21.
