It's a theater-heavy slate in and around Fort Worth this weekend, as we're recommending no fewer than four different productions, ranging from a national tour to a staged reading of a new musical. Other events include movies at the Modern, two big-name concerts, and one great opportunity to enjoy the nice weather.
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, August 18
Performing Arts Fort Worth presents The Sound of Music
Nine months after Dallas Summer Musicals hosted the national tour of The Sound of Music, it finally makes its way 35 miles west to Bass Performance Hall. The spirited, romantic, and beloved musical story of Maria and the Von Trapp Family, running through August 21, features all your favorite tunes, including “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” “Edelweiss,” and the title song.
Theatre Arlington presents Calendar Girls
Adapted from the 2003 movie of the same name, Calendar Girls is the cleanest play ever made about women getting naked. That's because it follows a group of older British women who raise money for a local hospital in an unanticipated manner: Posing nude for a calendar. The show is now in its final weekend at Theatre Arlington, so catch it while you can.
Circle Theatre presents The Taming
In a presidential election year, politics are all the rage, and Circle Theatre is taking advantage of that atmosphere with The Taming, written by Lauren Gunderson. The all-female “power-play” is a raucous political comedy about what happens when two political opposites wake up and discover themselves locked in a hotel room with a beauty queen. The play runs through September 17.
Friday, August 19
Magnolia at the Modern presents Don't Think Twice
The real nuts and bolts of the comedy world don't often get explored in movies, which is what makes Don't Think Twice, the latest in the Magnolia at the Modern series, so interesting and entertaining. Starring a bunch of comedians you already know, the story follows what happens when a member of a popular New York City improv troupe gets a huge break, and the rest of the group starts to realize that not everyone is going to make it after all. The film screens six times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa in concert with Kevin Gates, Jhene Aiko, Casey Veggies, and DJ Drama
When you're known for two things, there's no sense in hiding them. Noted marijuana enthusiasts and rappers Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa understand this, which is why their co-headlining tour, which makes a stop at Gexa Energy Pavilion on Friday, is called The High Road Tour. Joining them for rhymes and maybe more are opening acts Kevin Gates, Jhene Aiko, Casey Veggies, and DJ Drama.
Summerland Tour 2016: Sugar Ray, Everclear, Lit and Sponge
From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, Sugar Ray, Everclear, Lit, and Sponge were at or near the top of the rock world. The fortunes of all four bands have dipped ever since, but as evidenced by them teaming up for the Summerland tour, they're all still out there fighting. They are rocking out in the heart of local country music, Billy Bob's Texas.
Saturday, August 20
West 7th presents 2nd Annual Chalk Art Festival
Back by popular demand is one of the most creative and popular festivals in Fort Worth, West 7th’s second annual Chalk Art Festival. The event features three commissioned street-painting artists who will spend hours creating colorful visual masterpieces from chalk. There's also an amateur contest where anyone who is creatively inclined can create chalk art during the event, with prizes awarded by a panel of celebrity judges.
2016 Texas Home & Garden Show - Fort Worth
The Fort Worth Convention Center is full of home and garden experts during this two-day show, featuring interactive workshops, landscape professionals to answer all your lawn and garden questions, and aisles upon aisles of products and services to improve, inspire, or innovate your home or garden area. There's also a KidsZone to distract the kids.
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents Anime at the Modern
The final two films of the Anime at the Modern series are Whisper of the Heart and its comedy sequel, The Cat Returns. Whisper is the one and only feature film by Miyazaki protégé Yoshifumi Kondo, before his sudden death at the age of 47. You can see both films back-to-back at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Sunday, August 21
Amphibian Stage Productions presents Music City, USA
It's not often theater fans get to witness a new production while it's still being made, but you can do just that when Amphibian Stage Productions hosts staged readings of the new musical Music City, USA on Sunday and Monday. With songs from hit country songwriter JT Harding, the production tells the story of two young Nashville songwriters who are willing to do whatever it takes to make it big.
The national tour of The Sound of Music plays at Bass Performance Hall through August 21.
