The 21 Best Things to Do in Dallas, August 19-25

Monday, August 19

His Girl Friday
Ever noticed how fast people talked back in the black-and-white days of the '30s and '40s films? Turns out they weren't all jacked up on speed back then. (That came in the '50s.) For instance, director Howard Hawks deliberately sped up the dialogue in his rom-com His Girl Friday to create a film with record fast patter, according to the internet, which is never wrong. He picked the right movie for speedy chatter with his gender-switching take on the play The Front Page, about a scheming newspaper editor (Cary Grant) trying to con his star reporter (Rosalind Russell, in a role originally written for a man) to stay in the business by enticing her with a scoop about a pending unjust execution. (No, really, it's a comedy.) See the classic American comedy at 7 p.m. Monday at the Angelika Plano, 7205 Bishop Road. Tickets are $11 and can be purchased in advance at angelikafilmcenter.com/plano. Patrick Williams

Paul Slavens & Friends
Like on most Mondays, the spontaneous song generator, DJ and Ten Hands frontman Paul Slavens will take the stage at Dan’s Silverleaf. Slavens writes and performs songs on the spot, improvising about whatever comes to mind. Song title suggestions get thrown at him from the crowd and he just runs with them. Attendees might hear songs about escaping the spiraling vortex of Ikea, robot children or whatever else they can think of. If this isn’t part of your Monday music routine by now, it should be. The free show starts at 9 p.m. Monday at Dan's Silverleaf, 103 Industrial St., Denton. Jacob Vaughn

Tuesday, August 20

Dallas Cowboys Training Camp
Four months of inflated hopes, suspense, joy and, if history is a guide, ultimate disappointment move one tick closer to the starting line with the kickoff of Training Camp at The Star. It's your chance to see the Cowboys roll through five days of practices in preparation for their opening game against the Giants on Sept. 8. Fans can enjoy other family friendly events as well, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco. Other open practices take place Aug. 21-22 and 26-27. Admission and parking at The Star, 9 Cowboys Way, are free. Patrick Williams

The Free Loaders
If a movie was made about The Free Man, a Deep Ellum Cajun restaurant and live music venue, the soundtrack would consist of songs by one band: The Free Loaders. Luckily, a three-piece variation of the band plays at the venue every Tuesday, so there, you don’t have to wait for the movie to come out to hear its killer soundtrack. Just hop over to The Free Man on a Tuesday evening, order a po' boy and listen to frontman and venue owner John Jay Myers slam on his drums and bark into the microphone with keys and stand-up bass behind him. The free show starts at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 20, at The Free Man Cajun Cafe & Lounge, 2626-2630 Commerce St. Jacob Vaughn

Wednesday, August 21

Rangers' Dollar Hot Dog Night
Hot dogs taste better at the ballpark. Ballpark hot dogs for a buck each taste the best. Wednesday home games are when the Texas Rangers offer $1 dogs along with a chance for kids under 13 to get autographs from some of their favorite Rangers. Of those two enticements, the buck-a-dog deal is the one most likely to get us out to the field. The level of play in Arlington this season alone is certainly no reason to take the drive to Globe Life Park, but load your body with enough fat, salt and nitrates and you might even enjoy seeing the Rangers battle AL West rivals the Los Angeles Angels to determine whether either team will finish above .500 this season. Tickets to Texas Chili Company Dollar Hot Dog Night plus Dr Pepper Autograph Wednesday are $11 and up at mlb.com/rangers/tickets. Game time is 6:05 p.m. Autographs are available from 5:30 to 6 p.m. on the main concourse. The ballpark is located at 1000 Ballpark Way. Patrick Williams

Thursday, August 22

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
Roald Dahl's Charlie & The Chocolate Factory is the title on the poster for the touring musical version of Dahl's story of golden tickets, Oompa Loompas and a magical confectioner. What that means, what it always means when a book author's name is included as a possessive in an adaptation's title, is that the musical is certainly not faithful to Dahl's book and poetry. The touring version of the short-lived Broadway musical is in ways both darker than the book while mixing in the schmaltz from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the 1971 film adaptation starring Gene Wilder. "Pure Imagination," a song that Wilder spun into magic, and "The Candy Man," a gag-inducing high-fructose-corn-syrup sort of cheeriness that probably has Dahl spinning in his grave, are included in the play list. That leaves the 2005 Johnny Depp/Tim Burton film the best and truest adaptation. (Yeah, that's right. The best.) Perhaps you disagree. Split the difference between schmaltz and Dahl-ian fidelity by checking out the musical, which comes to Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora St., Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 22-25. Tickets start at $25 at tickets.attpac.org for Thursday's 7:30 p.m. performance. Patrick Williams

Seratones
Out of Shreveport, Seratones have had a hectic few years spent contending with lineup and label changes since their 2016 debut album Get Gone. They originally formed in 2013 with an act that sounded a lot like a time capsule, fusing rock ‘n’ roll with doo-wop, punk and soul, marked especially by lead singer A.J. Haynes’ feats of vocal sorcery. Now the festival-favorite act is back with a new lineup, a new label and a new album. Power officially drops the day after the band’s Deep Ellum appearance and is a big step forward for the band. The loss of guitarist Connor Davis equates to a change in the band’s tone as profound as the addition of keyboardist Tyran Cocker, and the production provided by Brad Shultz of Cage the Elephant fame. The band is now sounding much larger in scope and sonic scale thanks to these additions, and an early track like “Power” is a good indication of success for Seratones’ new direction.  The show starts at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St. Tickets are $13-$15 at eventbrite.com. Nicholas Bostick

Pearl Earl
One of North Texas’ coolest psych-rock acts, Pearl Earl, headlines this stacked all-local show with two of Denton’s finest; Sunbuzzed and Felt & Fur. Billed as one of Pearl Earl’s final local shows of the year, and the last Denton show with all four band members being Dentonites. Pearl Earl’s inception traces to songs penned by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ariel Hartley in her bedroom. A couple of years later, Hartley formed the band with drummer and backing vocalist Bailey Chapman and bassist Stefanie Lazcano after the trio had a rollicking jam session. After performing and gaining a following as a three-piece for a couple of years, Pearl Earl later added the uber-talented multi-instrumentalist Chelsey Danielle on keys and more in 2017. Thursday night's show at Dan's Silverleaf serves as a going-away party for Chapman, who is about to move to Los Angeles. (And Hartley reportedly plans to join Chapman in L.A. sometime next year.) The audience is in for a captivating, truly memorable feast-for-the-eyes visual performance by Houston-based interdisciplinary visual artist Connor Mizell who is bringing along his mesmerizing "liquid light show," which often makes use of glass discs, transparencies, colorful liquids and other tricks of the trade. The show starts at 8 p.m. on Thursday at Dan's Silverleaf, 103 Industrial St., Denton. Tickets are $8 at prekindle.com. Daniel Rodrigue

NY Cat Film Festival
You might fancy yourself as just a sensitive soul with a soft spot for the most relatably antisocial of creatures, but science suggests that maybe you've contracted toxoplasmosis, a parasite that makes rats, at least, more cat friendly, according to research. That’s right, crazy cat ladies and gents: If what works on rats works on humans, cats are controlling human behavior. (Granted, rats aren't people — mostly.) If cat calendars, mugs and internet videos don’t satiate your feline dependency (not to mention your actual 10 cats), get your hairball fix at the annual NY Cat Film Festival, devoted entirely to showcasing short films about cats. The family-friendly event starts at 7 p.m. at the Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. Tickets are $8 at prekindle.com. Eva Raggio

Marc Maron: Hey, There's More Tour
Notoriously prickly and politically astute comedian, actor and writer Marc Maron returns to the stand-up stage. Perhaps now best known for his critically lauded, game-changing podcast WTF, which features unusually forthright interviews with actors, comedians and once even President Barack Obama, Maron tends to place candor and cynicism above polish and charm. His blunt comedic delivery and approach to interviews feel contemporary and honest in a way that’s surprisingly rare. Maron performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Majestic Theatre, 1925 Elm St. Tickets start at $35. More info at majestictheatredallas.com. Jonathan Patrick

Shakey Graves
Alejandro Rose-Garcia already had a pretty interesting musician's name, but he adopted the moniker Shakey Graves after a Native American guide name, in 2007, during a music festival. It certainly sticks, and since then the heavily blues- and roots-influenced Austinite has gone on to release five full-length albums. His latest, Can't Wake Up, was released last spring but bears not even a hint of Rose-Garcia's earlier folksy sound that made him famous. Trading his one-man-show set using a modified suitcase that included a kick drum and tambourine, and releasing music independently in those earlier days of his career, a full-fledged band on the Nashville-based record label Dualtone Records shows his evolution as an artist. And fans should keep pace. Although his music has taken an edgier, more electric sound (think Bob Dylan's "Maggie's Farm"), Graves' songwriting remains dreamy and nostalgic — likely recalling warm summer nights of times past. The show starts at 8 p.m. Thursday at The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St. Tickets are $15-$35 at ticketfly.com. Diamond Rodrigue

Chris Redd
Chris Redd is one of those comedians you know you’ve seen before. It’s not just the SNL gig, which he’s had since 2017. He was in Andy Samberg’s under-appreciated Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Netflix’s Love and all manner of Comedy Central series. Despite a slew of TV and movie roles, stand-up is where he’s most at home. He’s a lively and gifted solo performer; his energy crackles, propelling his audience into convulsive laughter during entirely relatable yet drop-dead-funny narratives. If you haven’t heard But Here We Are, his debut comedy album, give it a spin, and then treat yourself to a couple of tickets to his upcoming appearance at the Addison Improv, 4980 Belt Line Road. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22; 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23; and 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24. Tickets are $20 to $30 at improvtx.com/addison/comic/chris+redd. Jennifer Davis-Lamm

Friday, August 23

Brighton Beach Memoirs
Theatre Arlington, 305 W. Main St., Arlington, is performing Brighton Beach Memoirs, first in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach comedy trilogy about a baseball-obsessed Jewish teenager who yearns to escape his mundane family life in Brooklyn in the 1930s. The show, directed by Megan Haratine, runs through Aug. 31. Tickets are $26. Call 817-275-7661 or go to theatrearlington.org. Friday's performance begins at 8 p.m. Reba Liner

Rosegarden Funeral Party
Even as the band amps up the release of its forthcoming debut full-length album, Rosegarden Funeral Party has decided to embark on a new adventure. Days after the band put out the first single off the album MARTYR, frontwoman Leah Lane announced that Rosegarden Funeral Party will be opening its doors once a month in order to host a "traditional goth night" in their home. More details on the monthly event and the band's new album are sure to spill out over the next few weeks, but you don't have to wait that long to hear from the band. Rosegarden Funeral Party will play one of its regular spots, Armoury D.E., this Friday. The band sounds like they were pulled right out of the ’80s. But with every release and every show played, they become bigger than the era itself. The locals will be playing with California acts Silence in the Snow and Thief. The free show starts at 9 p.m. on Friday at Armoury D.E., 2714 Elm St. Jacob Vaughn

Ignite!: Steve Dorff
Ignite!, an event benefiting Watertower Theatre’s education programs, will offer a performance by Steve Dorff (not to be confused with his son, angsty '90s actor Stephen Dorff), a Grammy- and Emmy-winning songwriter who’s written hits for Cher, George Strait and Whitney Houston. Tickets are $150 and include a performance by Dorff and friends, plus a wine and dessert reception. VIP tickets, for $500, also include a meet-and-greet with Dorff, a book-signing for his autobiography I Wrote That One, Too ... plus a cocktail hour before the show. The performance begins at 8 p.m at 15650 Addison Road, Addison. For more information visit watertowertheatre.org. Eva Raggio

Baby Snooks and Daddy
An old-time radio show from the 1940s and '50s gets a new life onstage as Hip Pocket Theatre in Fort Worth premieres Baby Snooks and Daddy, an adaptation and arrangement of scripts from The Baby Snooks Show. Former vaudevillian Fanny Brice created the character of Snooks Higgins, a sort of female, proto-Bart Simpson  with a widdle girl's voice who tormented her father, Lancelot. Friday's opening night performance begins at 9 p.m. at 1950 Silver Creek Road, Fort Worth. Tickets are $20 with discounts for seniors, kids, teachers and members of the military. The show runs through Sept. 15 with 12 performances. Visit hippocket.org for tickets and other showtimes. Patrick Williams

Saturday, August 24

Mogwai
Still touring off its 2017 album Every Country's Sun, Scottish band Mogwai will hit the stage at Canton Hall to give Dallasites an earful of multi-instrumental, face-melting music bordering on space-rock and psychedelic shoegaze. To quote some of the first words of the band's first album "If someone said that Mogwai are the stars, I would not object. If the stars had a sound, it would sound like this." The band has been critically acclaimed since the release of its 1997 debut album Young Team, which reached No. 75 on the U.K. Albums chart. Nine albums and several soundtracks later, the band has maintained its explosive, and at times intimate, sound over the years. If you miss the band's show this weekend, you'll have to catch them somewhere else along their North American tour. Save the gas money and see them at Canton Hall at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Canton Hall, 2727 Canton St. Tickets are $25 at ticketfly.com. Jacob Vaughn

Bumped Off at the Bump and Grind
What could possibly be more thrilling than a murder mystery? A naked murder mystery, of course. Viva Lounge clearly knows how to make any scenario sexy. Bumped Off at the Bump and Grind’s plot might sound faintly familiar. It centers on 1960s club owner Jac...queline Ruby, whose business feud turns to murder. Guests are to solve the interactive burlesque whodunit through clues and interviews. As far as we know, there’s no naked Lee Harvey, thank God. The show, which takes place at 8 p.m. Saturday at 1350 Manufacturing St., is for ages 18 and up. Tickets start at $22 at vivadallasburlesque.com. Eva Raggio

Boris
For the second day of their grand reopening weekend, legendary local music venue Rubber Gloves has invited Japanese trio Boris back to Denton, a call back to their incendiary 2013 performance at the same location. Adjacent to stoner metal mainstays like Sunn O))), Earth and Sleep, Boris condense shoegaze, psych, ambient, noise and metal into one depthless, blissed-out void. Emblazoned with sheet after sheet of sludge, distortion and feedback, their panoramic compositions forge arty rock from brute textures, and guitar riffs the size of galaxies. Over the years, pop structures and melodies have sneaked in here and there, but their music remains at its best when it’s disorienting and abstract. A big, blank canvas, capable of swallowing listeners, and seemingly everything else, whole. The show, now sold out, starts at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, 411 East Sycamore St., Denton. Jonathan Patrick

Sunday, August 25

Big Tex Choice Awards
If the words Southern Fried Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo Ball make you go mmmmm, then you're in luck, if not on a respirator. That's one of the finalists in this year's Big Tex Choice Awards. (If those same words have you Googling new BMW models, then congratulations. You're a cardiologist.) The 15th Annual Big Tex Choice Awards is your chance to avoid the crush at the State Fair of Texas and get an early taste of some of the new mostly fried fair fare in store this year. The awards ceremony takes place at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Tower Building in Fair Park, 3809 Grand Ave. Tickets are $125 and include a ticket to the fair, which begins Sept. 27. If that price sounds steep, consider that it's probably way less than you'd spend getting the same food using fair coupons, plus the proceeds go to fair's scholarship money. (Besides, it's not likely you're going to need money for old age.) Patrick Williams

Hawthorne Heights
Well into their existence as one of the leading lights of the pop-emo movement, Ohio's Hawthorne Heights have taken a nifty detour this year in their approach to music. For their most recent release, the gloriously titled Dads of Sad EP, the quintet decided to cover tracks by two of the leading ladies in contemporary music, Kacey Musgraves and Billie Eilish. It's an interesting exercise, in that both tracks offer slightly darker interpretations of both Musgraves' "Butterflies" and Eilish's "8." It's also a great way to bring attention to the band's own rich catalog, highlighted by 2006's chart-topping If Only You Were Lonely and accentuated by last year's Bad Frequency. All of these treats should be on display as the band pulls into the venerable Trees, 2709 Elm St., on Sunday night. The show starts at 8 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15.75-$25 at ticketfly.com. Jeff Strowe