ENTERTAINMENT NOTES
Elsewhere in entertainment and the arts:
TODAY 10-minute plays
Seven original short plays by area playwrights, performed by area actors and staged by area directors will be onstage, under the aegis of the Acansa Arts Festival and The Yarn Storytelling, in “The Ten-Minute Play Showcase,” 7 p.m. today, Center for the Humanities and Arts, University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College main campus, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock. Tickets are $10-$20. Call (501) 8122715 or visit uaptc.edu/acansa.
‘Dust and Dreams’
Poet and novelist Genaro Ky Ly Smith will lecture on “America and Vietnam: Countries of Dust and Dreams,” 7:30 p.m. today in Reves Recital Hall, Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Ave., Conway. A reception and book signing will follow in the nearby Trieschmann Gallery. Sponsor is the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language. Admission is free. Call (501) 450-4597 or email vanaman@hendrix.edu.
HSU winds
Henderson State University’s Wind Ensemble will perform at 7:30 p.m. today in the Arkansas Hall Auditorium at HSU, 1118 Henderson St., Arkadelphia. The “American Voices” program will include
Spangled Heavens by Donald Grantham, On This Bright Morning by David Maslanka,
Hymn for the Innocent by Julie Giroux, Suite from Mass by Leonard Bernstein (arranged by Michael Sweeney) and Variations on a Shaker Melody Poet and novelist Genaro Ky Ly Smith lectures today at Hendrix College in Conway.
by Aaron Copland. Steven M. Knight conducts. Admission is free. The concert will also stream via Facebook Live (facebook.com/HSUBand). Call or email knights@hsu.edu.
UAM winds
The University of Arkansas at Monticello Wind Symphony and Concert Band will perform at 7:30 p.m. today in the Fine Arts Center auditorium at the university, U.S. 425 in Monticello. Justin Anders conducts the Wind Symphony; John Webb conducts the Concert Band. The program includes
The Thunderer by John Philip Sousa, Dedicatory Overture by Clifton Williams and works by Robert Sheldon and John Mackey. Anders will give a pre-concert lecture at 6:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center’s Spencer Gallery. Admission is free. Call (870) 460-1060.
Meanwhile, the university’s 17-piece Jazz Band I and 38-piece Wind Ensemble will record a series of jazz scores and traditional concert literature, respectively, that Twin Towers Music Publishing will use as demos on the company’s website. Purchasers of each score will also receive a copy of the recording.
FRIDAY ‘Shifting Gears’
“Shifting Gears,” sculptures from Little Rock artist Robyn Horn’s “Industrial Series” that incorporate found metal objects into salvaged pine beams, go on display Friday at Justus Fine Art Gallery, 827A Central Ave., Hot Springs, with a 5-9 p.m. reception in conjunction with the Spa City’s monthly Gallery Walk. Horn and curator Rachel Golden will give a gallery talk at 5 p.m. Saturday. The exhibit will remain up through March 31; gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday or by appointment. Call (501) 3212335 or visit justusfineart.com.
SATURDAY Tragedy recalled
“59 since ’59: Remembering the Tragedy at Wrightsville,” 1 p.m. Saturday at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 501 W. Ninth St., Little Rock, will mark the 59th anniversary of the March 5, 1959, fire that claimed 21 lives at the Boys Industrial School in Wrightsville. A brief presentation regarding the fire and surrounding events will precede a reading of the names of those who lost their lives. Admission is free. Call (501) 683-3593 or visit MosaicTemplarsCenter.com.
Art and music
The Conway Symphony Orchestra will perform
Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Reynolds Performance Hal, University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. Projections of artwork by professional artists Steve Griffith, Vivian Noe and Matthew Lopas, matched to each movement of the piece, which in turn was inspired by the work of the 19th-century Russian composer’s friend, Victor Hartmann, will appear on screens above the orchestra.
UCA Concerto Competition winner Paden Sharp will solo in the second and third movements of Launy Grondahl’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra. Israel Getzov conducts.
A pre-concert art fair, 6-7:15 p.m. in the performance hall lobby, will offer hands-on activities and a display of artwork by local schoolchildren. A lecture on the art of the period will be in the upstairs lobby from 6:45-7:15 p.m. The paintings by the invited artists will be on display at a post-concert reception in the Mirror Room of McAlister Hall and guests can take a behind-the-scenes tour of the university’s Baum Gallery.
Tickets are $20-$38, $5 for children and students of all ages with ID. Call (501) 450-3265 or visit ConwaySymphony.org.
SUNDAY Irish dancers
A band, three tenors and 22 dancers will present Rhythm
of the Dance, exploring the thousand-year journey of the Irish Celts through dance and music, at 3 p.m. Sunday, Ed Coulter Performing Arts Center, Vada Sheid Community Development Center, Arkansas State University-Mountain Home, 1600 S. College St., Mountain Home. Tickets are $30, $15 for students. Call (870) 508-6109 or visit thesheid.com.
ETC. Director steps down
Jamie Scott Blakey is stepping down as artistic director of the Weekend Theater, and its board is searching for her replacement. Blakey, in her third season as the theater’s third artistic director, will remain at the helm while the theater closes out its 25th anniversary season and finalizes its 2018-19 lineup. She will continue to serve on the theater board, which she joined in 2006. In 20 years as a volunteer, she has directed, produced, stage-managed and/ or acted in approximately 100 productions and mentored volunteers.
March 31 is the deadline to apply for the theater’s vacancies as artistic director and technical director. The Weekend Theater stages shows year-round and typically produces five plays and four musicals each season. Both jobs are volunteer positions. Job descriptions are available at weekendtheater.org.
TICKETS Metallica at Verizon
Tickets — $65 and $135 plus service charges — go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday for Metallica’s “Worldwired Tour” show, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at North Little Rock’s Verizon Arena. There is a four-ticket limit per household. The show will be in the round and tickets on the floor will be general admission. Call (800) 745-3000 or visit ticketmaster. com or livenation.com.