This weekend across Fort Worth features four big concerts, headlined by a huge Hip Hop collaboration. Other choices include two new theater productions, screenings of a new film and a London theater production, a one-night-only symphony concert, and a flurry of movement at an art museum.
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.
Thursday, August 24
Lyle Lovett and His Large Band in concert
A singer, composer, and actor, Lyle Lovett has broadened the definition of American music in a career that spans 15 albums over three decades. Coupled with his gift for storytelling, the Texas-based musician fuses elements of Americana, swing, jazz, folk, gospel, and blues in a convention-defying manner that breaks down barriers. He'll perform at Bass Performance Hall in support of his 2022 album, 12th of June.
Circle Theatre presents The Other Josh Cohen
Josh Cohen just can’t get a break. He’s single, broke, and to top it all off, his apartment’s been robbed of everything but a Neil Diamond CD. Soon though, his luck takes a turn when a mysterious envelope arrives that changes his life forever. Thus begins the hilarious and quirky romantic comedy about a good guy caught in a lifelong battle with bad luck. The play, making its regional premiere at Circle Theatre, runs through September 16.
LL Cool J: The F.O.R.C.E. Live with The Roots, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and more
Just two weeks after the official 50th anniversary of Hip Hop, some of the biggest stars in the world come to town for a unique collaborative concert. LL Cool J will be the headliner, but he'll be joined by The Roots, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and DJ Z-Trip, as well as Rakim, Big Boi, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Juvenile, Goodie Mob, and MC Lyte. Unlike the traditional “opening act – headliner” format, the show will be a nonstop musical mash up with artist performances interwoven within one continuous musical set backed by The Roots.
Friday, August 25
Magnolia at the Modern: Shortcomings
A struggling filmmaker who works for a local Asian American film festival spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend, a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When his girlfriend moves to New York for an internship, he is left to his own devices, and begins to explore what he thinks he might want. The film will screen seven times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Theatre Arlington presents Avenue Q
Avenue Q is a puppet-filled comedy (for adults) that follows a group of twenty-somethings seeking their purpose in big-city life. The laugh-out-loud musical tells the timeless story of a recent college grad named Princeton, who moves into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on Avenue Q. He soon discovers that, although the residents seem nice, it’s clear that this is not your ordinary neighborhood. The production runs through September 10 at Theatre Arlington.
Granger Smith featuring Earl Dibbles Jr. Farewell Tour
For years, country singer Granger Smith has used his alter ego, Earl Dibbles Jr., to explore a more brash and humorous side to his music. Now, however, Smith has decided to retire both the alter ego and his regular personality to devote more time to his other passion, the ministry. He'll play two special shows at Billy Bob's Texas in support of his 2022 album, Moonrise.
Saturday, August 26
National Theatre Live: Best of Enemies
David Harewood and Zachary Quinto play feuding political rivals in James Graham’s new drama, Best of Enemies. In 1968 America, as two men fight to become the next president, all eyes are on the battle between two others: the cunningly conservative William F. Buckley Jr., and the unruly liberal Gore Vidal. During a new nightly television format, they debate the moral landscape of a shattered nation. This screening of a previously recorded event will be at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents "Stars of the Symphony"
"Stars of the Symphony" is an evening celebrating the talent of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra musicians collaborating together in virtuosic roles. In this performance at Bass Performance Hall, members of the orchestra take the spotlight, from clarinetist Stas Chernyshev and bassoonist Josh Elmore in Strauss’ Duett-Concertino and percussionist Nick Sakakeeny in Toshio Mashima’s Marimba Concerto to Shields-Collins “Buddy” Bray with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
Sunday, August 27
Amon Carter Museum of American Art openings and closings
Sunday is moving day at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, with two exhibitions opening and one coming to a close. Opening is "Come to Colorado," which showcases 19th-century photographs, including work from W. J. Carpenter, Joseph M. Collier, and William Henry Jackson; and "The World Outside: Louise Nevelson at Midcentury," one of the first exhibitions examining Louise Nevelson’s midcentury sculptures and works on paper through the lens of the artistic and cultural landscape that shaped her vision. Both will run through January 7, 2024. Closing is Arthur Dove: "Miniature Laboratories," which examines a selection of work from the last years of Dove’s life, hundreds of works on paper, most measuring three-by-four-inches, that experimented with various mediums and techniques.
Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake in concert
Christian worship leaders Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake will play at Dickies Arena as part of the Summer Worship Nights tour, joined by KB. Wickham’s eighth album, Hymn of Heaven, was released in 2021 with a special guest appearance by Lake. Lake is touring in support of his 2022 album, Help!
Photo courtesy of LL Cool J
LL Cool J will headline The F.O.R.C.E. Live at Dickies Arena on August 24.
