Weekend Event Planner

These are the 9 best things to do in Fort Worth this weekend

It's a relatively light holiday weekend for new events around Fort Worth, but the ones on the list are more than worth the effort of leaving the house. They include a Disney On Ice spectacular, two comedy events, screenings of an intriguing new movie, two dance events, and a trio of concerts.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events. Still looking for a great restaurant for Easter brunch? Find that list here.

Thursday, April 6

Photo courtesy of Ballet Frontier

Ballet Frontier presents The Sleeping Beauty at Will Rogers Auditorium on April 7 and 8.

Disney On Ice presents Frozen & Encanto
Disney On Ice will present the magical adventures of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Frozen and Encanto as they come to life like never before. This adventure on ice transports fans into two of the most popular Disney films; audiences can sing along to their favorite songs while embracing world-class ice skating, aerial acrobatics, and more. There will be eight performances through Sunday at Dickies Arena.

Whose Live Anyway?
Whose Live Anyway? is 90 minutes of hilarious improvised comedy and song all based on audience suggestions. Cast members Dave Foley, Greg Proops, Jeff B. Davis, and Joel Murray perform witty scenes they invent before the audience's eyes. The live event showcases some of the improv games made famous on the long-running TV show, as well as some exciting new ones. The event will be at Murchison Performing Arts Center in Denton.

Improv Arlington presents Clayton English
Originally from Atlanta, Clayton English is a stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He first came to national attention as the winner of NBC's Last Comic Standing competition in 2015, and he has since headlined in clubs, colleges, and festivals throughout the country. He has also featured for comedy greats including Dave Chappelle and Bill Burr. He'll perform five times through Saturday at Improv Arlington.

Friday, April 7

Magnolia at the Modern: Paint
In Paint, Owen Wilson portrays Carl Nargle, Vermont’s No. 1 public television painter, who is convinced he has it all: a signature perm, a custom van, and fans hanging on his every brushstroke ... until a younger, better artist steals everything (and everyone) Carl loves. The film will screen six times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Ballet Frontier presents The Sleeping Beauty
A fairytale comes to life in Ballet Frontier's production of The Sleeping Beauty. Theballet is based off of the classic story and is filled with brand-new sets and costumes from New York City, dancing, and storytelling. There will be two performances - one Friday and one Saturday - at Will Rogers Auditorium.

Charlie Robison in concert
Anyone who knows Texas country music knows the name of Charlie Robison, as he's the brother of singer/songwriter Bruce Robison and the ex-husband of Emily Strayer of The Chicks. His last album was 2013's High Life, and in 2018 he retired after complications from surgery left him unable to sing at the time. Things have clearly improved in the years since, and fans can see the result when he plays at Billy Bob's Texas.

Saturday, April 8

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents Dance at the Modern: Mimicry
Alexandra Light will present her latest choreography piece, Dance at the Modern: Mimicry. The performance, taking place in the Grand Lobby, is inspired by The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth’s exhibit, "I’ll be Your Mirror," as well as the concept of biomimicry. Light’s choreography explores the intersection of the natural and digital world through the lens of an abstract narrative. There will be two performances, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

Reverend Horton Heat in concert
Dallas-Fort Worth music fans are very familiar with Reverend Horton Heat, the stage name of Jim Heath and his rockabilly trio, which have been performing in the area and around the world for over 30 years. They've released 12 albums in that time, including 2018's Whole New Life. They'll play at Tannahill's Tavern & Music Hall.

William Beckmann in concert
Born and raised in the small border town of Del Rio, Texas, William Beckmann plays classic country and American roots music that was influenced by his early immersion in Mariachi and Norteño music. He delivers evocative, literate tunes, kind of like fellow Del Rio native Radney Foster, who’s helped mentor him since high school. He'll play at Billy Bob's Texas in support of his 2022 EP, Faded Memories.

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Movie Review

A-list actor Saoirse Ronan confronts addiction in new film The Outrun

Photo by Yunus Roy Imer/courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

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In Hollywood, there are two levels of being an A-lister, with occasional overlap between the two. There are the movie stars who can be counted on time and again to deliver at the box office, and there are the actors who put on Oscar-level performances in nearly every film they’re in. Saoirse Ronan resides firmly in the latter category, which she proves yet again in The Outrun.

The first time we see Rona (Ronan), she is drunk in a pub in London, so far gone that she has to be thrown out by security. In quick succession, she is shown with a severe black eye while giving a police report, and then working on her family farm on Scotland’s Orkney Islands, accompanied by text stating simply “117 days.” With a modicum of storytelling, it’s readily apparent that Rona is an alcoholic, and that the film will spend time with her at various stages of her tumultuous life.

The “present” of the film is her time on the Orkney Islands, with Rona helping her dad, Andrew (Stephen Dillane), run the farm, putting up with her overtly religious mom, Annie (Saskia Reeves), and doing her level best to stay sober. The fact that the 29-year-old has no clue what to do with her life and that she’s still pining over her old boyfriend, Daynin (Paapa Essiedu), doesn’t exactly help her predicament.

Directed by Nora Fingscheidt and adapted by Fingscheidt and Amy Liptrot from Liptrot’s memoir of the same name, the film treads familiar ground seen in other movies about alcoholism, with the biggest difference being the setting. The harsh beauty of the landscape where she spends most of her time seems to be a metaphor for her life, a place that can be unforgiving but also capable of the occasional positive surprise.

Fingscheidt eschews a straightforward narrative in favor of one that offers glimpses of Rona’s life throughout her drunkenness and sobriety. While she is able to keep Rona’s story legible for most of the film, there are times when the back-and-forth takes extra effort to understand. A clever marker the film uses to help viewers track time is Rona’s changing hair color, which is bright blue when she’s in her drinking phase in London, with only blue tips remaining during her time of recovery.

The film contains other elements to try to enhance the central story, some of which are more successful than others. Rona recounts various Scottish legends through voiceover, most notably one about selkies, shapeshifters that can change between seal and human form. The idea is interesting, but the connection between the legend and Rona is not strong. A subplot involving her dad’s lifelong mental health issues hits a bit harder, although it rightly is not explored all that much.

Ronan is, as always, an acting force. When an actor plays an alcoholic, it can be easy for them to fall into clichés, but Ronan manages to avoid most of them. Her skills have always been in the smaller, quieter moments anyway, and it’s when her character has to delve into self-reflection that she shines the most. Dillane and Reeves are veteran actors who complement Ronan well, and Essiedu does nicely in a role that is chopped up.

The Outrun - named for a certain part of the landscape on Rona’s family farm - doesn’t necessarily have a lot of new things to say about the states of addiction or soberness, but the personal story is compelling enough to hold interest. And with Ronan in the lead, moviegoers are in good hands, as her performance proves to be award-worthy once again.

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The Outrun opens in theaters on October 4.

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