heartbreakers welcome

Country pop duo Dan + Shay will bring heartbreak to Houston on new tour

Dan + Shay will tour this spring and summer.

Photo courtesy of Dan + Shay

Country act Dan + Shay are coming to Houston: The duo has extended its 2024 The Heartbreak On The Map Tour, and will now include a stop at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Saturday, August 31.

Originally scheduled to run from February 29-April 13 and to hit only 19 cities, the tour has been extended through the summer, picking up on July 18 in Cincinnati, Ohio, then traveling to 30 more cities over two months, before ending on September 12 in Denver, Colorado.

Houston is one of two new dates added in Texas, along with Dallas the day before, on on August 30.

Texas stops will now include:

Austin (March 7)
Fort Worth (March 8)
Dallas (August 30)
The Woodlands (August 31)

The tour is named after the third single, “Heartbreak On The Map,” from Dan + Shay's fifth album, Bigger Houses, which was released in September 2023.

They will also soon be returning to NBC's The Voice, this time as the first-ever coaching duo in the show’s history. They'll be joined on season 25 - which starts on February 26 - by Reba McEntire, John Legend, and Chance the Rapper.

Tickets for the tour will be available starting with presales beginning February 20 at 11 am, and a Dan + Shay presale at 12 pm. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on-sale beginning on February 23 at 10 am.

The Heartbreak On The Map Tour dates

Thu, Feb 29: Greenville, SC - Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Fri, Mar 1: Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
Sat, Mar 2: Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum Complex
Thu, Mar 7: Austin, TX - Moody Center ATX
Fri, Mar 8: Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena
Sat, Mar 9: Oklahoma City, OK - Paycom Center
Thu, Mar 14: Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena
Fri, Mar 15: Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena
Sat, Mar 16: Knoxville, TN - Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center
Wed, Mar 20: Savannah, GA - Enmarket Arena
Thu, Mar 21: Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
Fri, Mar 22: Chicago, IL - United Center
Thu, Apr 4: Milwaukee, WI - Fiserv Forum
Fri, Apr 5: Saint Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
Sat, Apr 6: Omaha, NE - CHI Health Center Omaha
Sun, Apr 7: Kansas City, MO - T-Mobile Center
Thu, Apr 11: Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
Fri, Apr 12: Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
Sat, Apr 13: Boston, MA - TD Garden
Thu Jul 18: Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
Fri Jul 19: Noblesville, IN - Ruoff Music Center
Sat Jul 20: St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Thu Jul 25: Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage
Fri Jul 26: Syracuse, NY - Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview
Sat Jul 27: Gilford, NH - BankNH Pavilion
Thu Aug 01: Clarkston, MI - Pine Knob Music Theatre
Fri Aug 02: Burgettstown, PA - The Pavilion at Star Lake
Sat Aug 03: Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
Fri Aug 09: Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center
Sat Aug 10: Wantagh, NY - Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
Sun Aug 11: Bangor, ME - Maine Savings Amphitheater
Thu Aug 15: Charleston, SC - Credit One Stadium
Fri Aug 16: Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion
Sat Aug 17: Raleigh, NC - Coastal Credit Union Music Park
Thu Aug 22: West Palm Beach, FL - iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
Fri Aug 23: Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Sat Aug 24: Alpharetta, GA - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Thu Aug 29: Rogers, AR | Walmart AMP
Fri Aug 30: Dallas, TX | Dos Equis Pavilion
Sat Aug 31: Woodlands, TX - The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Thu Sep 05: Phoenix, AZ - Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
Fri Sep 06: Chula Vista, CA - North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
Thu Sep 12: Ridgefield, WA - RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
Fri Sep 13: Bend, OR - Hayden Homes Amphitheater
Sat Sep 14: Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sun Sep 15: Stateline, NV - Lake Tahoe Harveys Outdoor Arena
Thu Sep 19: Nampa, ID - Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater
Fri Sep 20: West Valley City, UT - Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater
Sat Sep 21: Denver, CO - Fiddlers Green Amphitheater

concerts music

Movie Review

Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

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Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

movies film