Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Fort Worth this weekend

The last weekend in June — seriously, the year is half gone already? — sees a nice variety of events around Fort Worth, including the conclusion to a major competition, three more Concerts in the Garden, a late-night host in a different role, and more beer from a favorite local band.

Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Sunday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, June 23

The Seventh Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition
The weeklong Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition comes to a close on Thursday and Saturday. Thursday's semifinals at Van Cliburn Recital Hall winnows the field down from 12 musicians to six. Those competitors then move on to the Saturday finals at Bass Performance Hall.

Do It for Durrett Texas' Got Talent
The Do It for Durrett Foundation, dedicated to honoring late sports reporter Richard Durrett, branches out with Do It for Durrett Texas’ Got Talent, mixing baseball and music to find out who has the top talent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Judges for the event at Globe Life Park in Arlington include Texas country star Randy Rogers and Texas Rangers pitchers Colby Lewis and Derek Holland.

Friday, June 24

Magnolia at the Modern presents L'Attesa (The Wait)
The latest in the Magnolia at the Modern series is L'Attesa (The Wait), a story of a young woman who waits for the arrival of her boyfriend in Sicily. Unbeknownst to her, the man is dead, and his grieving mother (Juliette Binoche) is unable to inform her of his death. The film screens six times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Concerts in the Garden: Lake Street Dive
Led by powerhouse singer Rachael Price, Lake Street Dive make their Concerts in the Garden debut at Fort Worth Botanic Garden, fresh off the February release of their newest album. The Boston-based indie pop band delights with their bright, fresh, and charming blend of jazzy pop/rock, full of R&B and soul flavors.

Saturday, June 25

Sid Richardson Museum presents Legacy
Sid Richardson Museum opens up its newest exhibition, Legacy, featuring iconic paintings by Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell, and their contemporaries. Legendary Texas oilman and philanthropist Sid W. Richardson amassed one of the most significant private collections of Remington and Russell paintings in the nation. The exhibit runs through at least the end of 2016.

National Theatre Live presents One Man, Two Guvnors
Prior to his current stint as host of the The Late Late Show, James Corden was best known for his Tony Award-winning performance in the uproarious One Man, Two Guvnors in 2012. If you didn't get a chance to see the show on London's West End or on Broadway, it lives on thanks to this National Theatre Live screening, which is being shown by Amphibian Stage Productions at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Concerts in the Garden: Green River Ordinance
Local boys Green River Ordinance make their third appearance in the FWSO Concerts in the Garden lineup. With chart-topping songs like "Rise Up," "Heart of Me," and "She Is in the Air," Green River Ordinance’s heart-warming lyrics and soaring melodies bridge pop, rock and country for a night you’ll never forget at Fort Worth Botanic Garden.

Sara Evans in concert
Country singer Sara Evans had a slower build to her career than many stars. It wasn't until her third album, Born to Fly, that she gained true popularity, and she hasn't slowed down since, with each of her subsequent albums, including 2014's Slow Me Down, reaching the top three on the Billboard country charts. She'll play a late-night show at Billy Bob's Texas.

Sunday, June 26

Toadies Hell Below & Stars Above Beer Launch
Hell Below, a strong black ale, and Stars Above, a refreshing sour ale brewed with raspberries, are the new Toadies beers that have been created with the help of Martin House Brewing Company. This event at Martin House features tastings of the new beers, which can be combined for a third flavor, followed by a performance by the Toadies.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Concerts in the Garden: Rock On!
The final Concert in the Garden of the weekend is Rock On!, a musical journey through the ages from the '60s to today. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, with the help of three standout vocalists, pays tribute to a variety of styles by playing the music of The Who, Carole King, Aretha Franklin, Queen, Styx, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, and more.

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Lake Street Dive plays a Concert in the Garden at Fort Worth Botanic Garden on June 24.

Photo by Shervin Lainez

Lake Street Dive plays a Concert in the Garden at Fort Worth Botanic Garden on June 24.

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Movie Review

Nostalgic film Saturday Night peeks behind-the-scenes at SNL's debut

Photo by Hopper Stone

Saturday Night recreates the hours leading up to the debut episode of Saturday Night Live.

Saturday Night Live is a comedy institution that just started its historic 50th season, a show that is ingrained into American pop culture in a way that few things have ever been. Of course, it wasn’t always that way, especially at the beginning. The tumultuous time leading up to its 1975 debut is the focus of the new film, Saturday Night.

The frenetic film mostly follows Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) as he tries to herd a bunch of disparate pieces into the semblance of a TV show. Not only must he deal with the varying personalities of the show’s stars - Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn), John Belushi (Matt Wood), Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris, no relation), and Jane Curtin (Kim Matula) - but also a constant barrage of questions from writers, producers, studio executives, and more.

The camera is in almost constant motion as Michaels moves from one part of Studio 8H in New York City’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza to another, putting out fires (sometimes literally), approving changes (up to literally the last second), and trying to display confidence in a product that had never been tested before.

Directed by Jason Reitman and written by Reitman and Gil Kenan, the film is best viewed as what it is, a dramatization of events on that first fateful night. Although there have been various accounts of what the early days of SNL were like (most notably Live From New York by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales), only those who were there in person know what it was truly like to launch the show.

The film definitely fudges and conflates certain things, but it’s the general feeling that it gives off that matters the most. The pace is such that it’s nearly impossible to catch everything put on screen or understand the importance of every character. But what is readily apparent is the passionate-if-slapdash way Michaels and his crew are trying to organize the show, as well as the seemingly never-ending well of humor possessed by everyone on its staff.

Still, it’s fair to wonder for whom exactly the film is being made. While many of the people in the film are iconic and well-known, just as many are not, and only SNL superfans will know everyone who makes their way on screen. The speed of the film’s storytelling is great for the atmosphere it creates, but it doesn’t stop to explain who anyone is, so viewers who don’t have a good grasp of mid-’70s pop culture may find themselves a little lost.

The film is so packed full of people that you can’t give everyone their just due. LaBelle, who was a great stand-in for a young Steven Spielberg in The Fabelmans, proves just as adept in his portrayal of Michaels, save for the distinctive voice. Among the multiple other notable performances are Smith, Morris, Rachel Sennot as Michaels’ then-wife Rosie Shuster, and Nicholas Braun as both Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson.

Saturday Night is a loving tribute to a show with which most Americans have at least a passing familiarity, even if it sometimes feels like it was made just for the show’s most ardent viewers. The level of detail spent recreating the look and feel of SNL’s early days makes it a fun and compelling film, no matter if what it shows is completely true or not.

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Saturday Night opens in theaters on October 11.

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