It's an absolutely packed weekend in and around Fort Worth, with multiple big events, including a highly anticipated art opening, a major national theater tour, two local theater productions, and no fewer than four concerts featuring all the country music you can handle.
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, October 20
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents "KAWS: Where the End Starts"
You can expect big crowds as the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth hosts "Where the End Starts," a major survey exhibition of the work of Brooklyn-based artist KAWS. This presentation, which will be on display through January 22, 2017, features key paintings, sculptures, drawings, toys, and street-art interventions.
Performing Arts Fort Worth presents The Phantom of the Opera
With newly reinvented staging and stunning scenic design, this new version of The Phantom of the Opera is performed by a cast and orchestra of 52, making this one of the largest productions on tour in North America. The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical tells the story of a masked figure who lurks beneath the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, exercising a reign of terror over all who inhabit it. The production runs at Bass Performance Hall through October 30.
Circle Theatre presents Funnyman
Bruce Graham’s play Funnyman wraps up the 2016 season for Circle Theatre. Comedy is serious business to Chick Sherman. However, a lifetime of private and professional struggle rises to the surface, cracking the polished persona of the world's favorite "funny man." The production runs through November 19.
Amphibian Stage Productions presents Smart Pretty Funny
Smart Pretty Funny, playing at Amphibian Stage Productions through November 13, is a provocative and captivating comedy about love, loneliness, motherhood, and the idea that life never turns out the way you planned. When fate sends a letter to every person on Earth revealing their one true love, Meg is left alone, without a match. Confused and hurt while her boyfriend flies across the world to meet his new love, she turns to her family and finds that she may just be better off without a soul mate.
Friday, October 21
Magnolia at the Modern presents Author: The JT LeRoy Story
Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival for Best Documentary, Author: The JT LeRoy Story takes us down the infinitely fascinating rabbit hole of how Laura Albert — like a Cyrano de Bergerac on steroids — breathed not only words, but life, into the fictitious "it boy" wunderkind author JT LeRoy. The film screens six times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Suzy Bogguss in concert
Country singer Suzy Bogguss was arguably at her peak in the 1990s, scoring a string of top 10 hits like "Outbound Plane," "Letting Go," and "Hey Cinderella." But even though time and other acts have pushed her down in the pecking order, she's never given up, putting out new albums every two to four years, including 2016's Aces Redux, which offers reworked versions of songs from her 1991 breakout album. She's playing an intimate concert at McDavid Studio.
Tracy Lawrence in concert
Another country legend, Tracy Lawrence had an even stronger run in the 1990s, with each of his first 19 singles reaching the top 10 on the country charts, seven of them going all the way to No. 1. Lawrence hasn't released a new album since 2013, but with a bench that strong, there's really no need. He's playing at Billy Bob's Texas.
Saturday, October 22
2016 Ranch Bash
The 12th annual Ranch Bash, the largest single-day Texas music festival in North Texas, features performances from a variety of Lone Star artists, including William Clark Green, Sam Riggs, Austin Allsup, Parker McCollum, Dale Watson, Bonnie Bishop, Flatland Calvary, Kaitlin Butts, and more. The festival takes place at Panther Island Pavilion.
Luke Bryan in concert with Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town, Dustin Lynch, and DJ Rock
When you're a music superstar, there's only one venue in Dallas-Fort Worth at which you can really prove your worth: AT&T Stadium. The acoustics are god-awful, but the experience of singing to 60,000-70,000 of your fans is second-to-none. Bryan is joined by a multitude of opening acts, including Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town, Dustin Lynch, and DJ Rock.
Sunday, October 23
British Emporium presents 2016 Doctor Who Day
Grapevine’s British Emporium will be celebrating its sixth annual Doctor Who Day, a fan event featuring photo opportunities, costume contests, video screenings, and more. Attendees can meet and mingle, pose with props, dress as their favorite character, and even see a replica of TARDIS outside the Emporium.
The national tour of The Phantom of the Opera plays at Bass Performance Hall through October 30.
