This weekend's events in Fort Worth touch on multiple subjects that will entertain in different ways. You can attend a play with a 22-word name, a festival of hot rods, an Oscar-winning film, animation brought alive by classical music, a water circus, a well-known country singer, fishing in the Trinity, 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, March 8
Stage West Theatre presents A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York City
A slouchy, foul-mouthed young comedian and an overwhelmed middle-aged man embroiled in a nasty divorce are brought together unexpectedly when their cancer-stricken mothers become roommates in the hospital. Through confessions, fights, and uproariously inappropriate jokes, the two unwittingly invest in each other and help to pick up the pieces of their broken lives. The play will run at Stage West through April 1.
Cliburn Sessions: The Westerlies
Formed in 2011, The Westerlies are a self-described “accidental brass quartet” who take their name from the prevailing winds that travel from the West to the East. The group explores jazz, roots, and chamber music influences with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along. They'll play at Scat Jazz Lounge.
Friday, March 9
Goodguys Spring Lone Star Nationals
The Goodguys 8th Spring Lone Star Nationals is a giant three-day American hot rodding festival featuring over 2,000 hot rods, customs, classics, street rods, muscle cars, and trick trucks through 1987 vintage nestled into the infield of the Texas Motor Speedway. The event, taking place through Sunday, will include live music on Saturday and Sunday, a kids zone, and more.
Magnolia at the Modern: A Fantastic Woman
In a bit of fortuitous timing, the Magnolia at the Modern series will feature screenings of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner, A Fantastic Woman. The film, which is in Spanish with English subtitles, is about a transgender singer (Daniela Vega) who faces scorn and discrimination after the sudden death of her older boyfriend. It will screen seven times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Disney's Fantasia: Live in Concert
Mickey Mouse calls to the magic in all of us in this high-definition screening of scenes from Walt Disney’s immortal films Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. You can see Donald Duck’s ark, the hippopotamus in a tutu, Mickey as the sorcerer’s apprentice, and more when Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra performs a live soundtrack to the scenes under the direction of Ted Sperling. There will be three performances through Sunday at Bass Performance Hall.
Wayne Newton in concert
Entertainer Wayne Newton is such a longtime Las Vegas institution that you'd think he doesn't go on the road at all anymore. But he'll come to Arlington Music Hall to sing songs from his illustrious career, during which he has released 30 albums. If you feel like seeing him twice, he'll also play at the Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson on Thursday.
Cirque Italia Aquatic Spectacular
Cirque Italia's Aquatic Spectacular is a water circus that features aerialists dazzling and shimmering on a chandelier high above the ground, contortion in a bubble, a Venetian aerial duo, and even someone hula hooping while in the air. The company will perform 16 times through March 18 inside tents erected in the parking lot at North East Mall in Hurst.
Mark Chesnutt in concert
Mark Chesnutt was among the wave of male country vocalists who rose to fame in the early 1990s, scoring eight No. 1 hits in as many years, including "Brother Jukebox," "I'll Think of Something," and "It's a Little Too Late." He's no longer at the top of the charts, but he's still prolific, releasing five albums in just the past two years. He'll play at Billy Bob's Texas.
Saturday, March 10
Tarrant Regional Water District Flyfest
TRWD Flyfest is a family-friendly day of fly fishing challenges, presentations and tutorials, cooking demonstrations, and kids' activities in and along the rippling waters of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River. The one-day event, taking place at the River Park Trailhead, is designed for both experienced anglers and those who have never touched a fly rod.
National Theatre Live: Young Marx
It's 1850, and Europe’s most feared terrorist is hiding in Dean Street. Karl Marx (Rory Kinnear), the 32-year-old revolutionary, is a frothing combination of intellectual brilliance, invective, satiric wit, and child-like emotional illiteracy. His writing blocked, his marriage dying, his friend Engels in despair at his wasted genius, his only hope is a job on the railway. The London production of this play will screen at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Cirque Italia Aquatic Spectacular runs through March 18.
