Three men, baby grand add up to music tribute
Lee Lessack, Brian Lane Green and John Boswell, who bill themselves as “3 Men and a Baby … Grand,” and whose shows pay tribute to Broadway, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mercer and the “fabulous ’50s and ’60s,” kick off the 2013-14 series Trinity Presents Performance Series at 6 p.m. today at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1101 N. Mississippi St., Little Rock. Admission is free. Call (501) 666-4318.
Cher and Cher alike
Tickets — $36.50, $61.50, $104.50 and $127 inclusive — go on sale at noon Oct. 25 at the Verizon Arena box office and all Ticketmaster outlets for Cher’s “Dressed to Kill Tour” concert, March 28 at the arena in North Little Rock. There is an eight-ticket limit and the arena is using its paperless ticket system. Call (800) 745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com.
‘Beastly’ musical
NETworks Presentations’ national touring company of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman, additional songs with music by Menken and lyrics by Tim Rice, book by Linda Woolverton) will be onstage at 7 p.m. Friday and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Oct. 20 at Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. Tickets are $39-$73. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit waltonartscenter.org.
Organist at OBU
James David Christie, the Boston Symphony’s organist since 1978, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at a concert honoring recently retired Ouachita Baptist University faculty member Russell Hodges and marking the 25th anniversary of the installation of the Reuter Organ in McBeth Recital Hall, Fine Arts Center, OBU in Arkadelphia.
Christie’s program will include his own Elegie and his transcription of Antonio Vivaldi’s Lute Concerto in D major; a contrapunctus from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Art of the Fugue; and works by Jean Langlais and Alexandre Guilmant.
The concert is also sponsored by the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Admission is free. Call (870) 245-5352 or email kecko@obu.edu.
Journalism lecture
Thomas Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and author of Informing the News: The Need for Knowledge-Based Journalism, will discuss the rise of misinformation among the American public in the Central Arkansas Library System’s J.N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center, 4800 W. 10th St., Little Rock.
Patterson is calling his lecture “Informing the News: America’s Need for Trustworthy and Relevant News, and Why We’re Not Getting It.” A book signing and reception will follow. Admission is free; the library will take, but does not require, reservations. Call (501) 918-3009 or email pedwards@cals.org.
Benton auditions
The Royal Players will hold auditions for A Christmas Story by Philip Grecian at 4:30 p.m. today and 7 p.m. Monday at the Royal Theatre, 111 S. Market St., Benton. There are parts for adults and for children 5-12; tryouts will consist of cold readings from the script. Production dates are Dec. 6-8 and 13-15. Call (501) 315-5483 or visit the website, theroyalplayers.com.
Murry’s 2014 lineup
Two plays by the comedy writing team of Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, two comedies by Ken Ludwig and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! are on the 2014 schedule at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock. The lineup: Jan. 14-Feb. 8: Mama Won’t Fly by Jones, Hope and Wooten
Feb. 11-March 8: Weekend Comedy by Sam and Jeanne Bobrick
March 18-April 19: Ludwig’s The Fox on the Fairway
April 22-May 17: Come Blow Your Horn by Neil Simon
May 20-June 21: A Second Helping: The Church Basement Ladies Sequel by Greta Grosch, inspired by the books, including Growing Up Lutheran by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson; music and lyrics by Drew Jansen and Dennis Curley
June 24-July 19: Jones-Hope-Wooten’s Always a Bridesmaid
July 22-Aug. 30: Oklahoma!, music by Richard Rodgers, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, based on Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs
Sept. 2-Oct. 4: Rough Crossing by Tom Stoppard
Oct. 7-Nov. 8: Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot
Nov. 18-Dec. 31: Don’t Dress for Dinner by Marc Camoletti, adapted by Robin Hawdon.
The season also includes four interstitial musical acts, not part of the season ticket package: March 11-12: The Van Dells March 13-15: Elvis “tribute artist” Travis Ledoyt Nov. 11-12: Hank and My Honky Tonk Heroes Nov. 13-15: Eddie Miles. Ten-show season tickets are $160. Call (501) 562-3131 or visit the website, murrysdinnerplayhouse.com.
Tour roster
Deadline is Oct. 25 for performing and visual artists and art groups to apply for the Arkansas Arts Council’s 2014-15 Arts on Tour roster, a list of solo and ensemble performers, individual visual artists and prepared art exhibitions available for touring within the state. The Arts Council reimburses 40 percent of the contract costs to nonprofit presenters. Download applications at arkansasarts.org (click on “Programs”); call (501) 324-9766.
Poetry Out Loud
Deadline is Nov. 1 for Arkansas high schools to sign up for the Arts Council’s 2014 Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest for students in grades 9-12, March 1 at Pulaski Technical College’s North Little Rock campus. The competition, created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, encourages students to memorize and perform great poems. The winner and his teacher receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington to compete in the national finals. For more information or to receive an entry form, call (501) 324-9769 or email cynthia@arkansasheritage.org.
Buddy turns 25
A 25th anniversary tour brings the musical Buddy — The Buddy Holly Story to the Orpheum Theatre, 203 Main St., Memphis, for performances at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 and 7 p.m. Oct. 20. Tickets are $15-$80. Call (901) 525-3000 or (901) 743-2787 (ARTS) or visit orpheum-memphis.com or ticketmaster.com.