Foreigner staged at Murry’s; AMP has boy band, rockers
A pathologically shy Englishman (Greg Robinson) staying in a Southern boarding house pretends to be a foreigner who doesn’t understand English with hilarious results — particularly when it comes to stopping a nefarious plot by the Klan — in The Foreigner by Larry Shue, Tuesday-Oct. 20 at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 12:45 and 6:45 p.m. Sunday — 12:45 p.m. Wednesday matinees only (no Wednesday evening shows) through Oct. 10. Doors open and meals start 90 minutes before curtain. Tickets are $33-$35, $23 for children 15 and under; show-only tickets are $25 and $15. Call (501) 562-3131 or visit murrysdp.com.
AMP concerts
This week at the Walmart AMP, 5079 W. Northgate Road, Rogers, part of the amphitheater’s 2018 Cox Concert Series:
5 Seconds of Summer, on its “Meet You There” tour, 8 p.m. Wednesday. Gates open at 7. Tickets are $29.50-$79.50; four lawn tickets bought at the same time become a “LAWN 4-PACK,” discounted to $22.50 each. The ticket price includes a copy of the band’s forthcoming album.
Rock band Needtobreathe, 7 p.m. Thursday. Doors open at 6. Tickets are $30-$60.
Lynyrd Skynyrd, 7 p.m. Friday. Gates open at 5:30. Tickets are $34.50-$99.50.
All prices are plus fees. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit amptickets.com.
Distinguished Lecture
James Fallows, author and correspondent for The Atlantic, will give the Central Arkansas Library System’s Heiskell Distinguished Lecture, 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 Rock St., Little Rock. He will discuss his book (co-written with his wife, Deborah), Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America, an account of his cross-country journey with his wife in a single-engine prop plane and the basis of a pending HBO documentary. Fallows, the chief White
House speechwriter for Jimmy Carter, is a former editor of U.S. News & World Report.
The lecture is named for former Arkansas Gazette editor J.N. Heiskell, the longest-serving member of the library system’s Board of Trustees. It’s in partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service. Admission is free; advance registration is required. Call (501) 918-3098, email bmooy@cals. org or visit cals.org.
Architecture lecture
El Dorado native Trinity Simmons, executive director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, will give a talk titled “City Leaders as Urban Designers: Planning for Rapid Change,” 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Lower Lobby Lecture Hall, Arkansas Arts Center, MacArthur Park, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. It’s part of the Architecture and Design Network’s June Freeman Lecture Series: The Art of Architecture. A 5:30 reception will precede the lecture. Admission is free. Call (501) 372-4000 or visit ArkansasArtsCenter.org.
Bonneville live
Singer/songwriter Ray Bonneville performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the 801 Media Center at 5 Star Productions, 801 N. A St., Fort Smith, part of the Artist, Audience & Community Live! series. Tickets are $40. Call (479) 719-8931 or visit AACLive.com.
Bluegrass Monday
Bluegrass duo Lee Street Lyrical (fiddler, vocalist and guitarist Casey Penn and guitarist and vocalist Buddy Case) and guests bassist Will Penn, banjo player Johnny Garrett, mandolinist Tim Burcham and rhythm guitarist Stan Townsend perform at 7 p.m. Monday at the Collins Theatre, 120 W. Emerson St., Paragould, part of Jonesboro public radio station KASU-FM, 91.9’s Bluegrass Monday concert series. The station will “pass the hat” to pay the group; suggested donation is $5 per person. Doors open at 6. Call (870) 972-2367, email mscarbro@astate.edu or visit the Bluegrass Monday Facebook page.
Argenta ‘Dark Night’
The Argenta Community Theater will honor three members of the central Arkansas theatrical community with its 2018 Dark Night “Nellie” Awards (named for the nurse character Nellie Forbush, a Little Rock native, from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical South Pacific), 7 p.m. Oct. 15 at the theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock.
The honorees: StageWorks founder John Cooke; Duane Jackson, actor, director and artistic director at the Weekend Theater; and Daphne Shoppach, artistic director for the Young Players Division of the Royal Players in Benton. The recipient of the inaugural Dr. Carol Channing Award (named for the actress who sang “Little Girl From Little Rock” in the play Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes), to a person or organization that has made a difference in theater arts education, will be announced at the ceremony.
A 6 p.m. reception will feature hors d’oeuvres and performances by central Arkansas community theaters. Tickets are $20 for actors and crew, $50 for patrons. Call (501) 353-1443 or visit argentacommunitytheater.com.
Harding lectures
Former Federal Reserve Chief Economist Michael Cox, founding director of the O’Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom at Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business, kicks off the 2018-19 American Studies Institute Distinguished Lecture Series, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Benson Auditorium, Harding University, 915 E. Market Ave., Searcy.
The rest of the lineup (all talks 7:30 p.m., Benson Auditorium):
Nov. 5: C.S. Lewis scholar Devin Brown, including a discussion with Douglas Gresham, stepson of C.S. Lewis
Feb. 7: Former NASA mathematician Christine Darden, featured in the book and movie Hidden Figures
March 28: Hall of Fame pro football coach and NBC sports analyst Tony Dungy.
Admission to all lectures is free. Call (501) 279-4497 or visit harding.edu/asi.
South Arkansas music
The South Arkansas Symphony opens its 2018-19 season, its 62nd, with Jeans ’n Classics joining the orchestra and conductor Kermit Poling for “Back-to-Back: The Music of Billy Joel & Elton John,” 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Murphy Arts District’s Griffin Music Hall, 101 E. Locust St., El Dorado.
The rest of the lineup (except as noted, all concerts, 7:30 p.m., Griffin Music Hall):
Dec. 8: “Christmas Holiday Pops”
Jan. 19: “Winds of Change,” First United Methodist Church, 320 W. Main St., Magnolia
Feb. 23: “Heroes, Monsters & Madmen with Craig Schulman,” including songs from Schulman’s Broadway shows (Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera)
March 23: Piano Extravaganza with Wideman Piano Competition Gold Medalists, El Dorado Municipal Auditorium, 100 W. Eighth St., El Dorado
May 11: “Mozart & More,” El Dorado Municipal Auditorium
May 25: Symphony on the Square, Union County Courthouse Steps, North Jefferson Street, El Dorado. Free.
Tickets are $15-$40. Call (870) 863-4547 or visit eldomad.com or southarkansassymphony.org.