ENTERTAINMENT NOTES
Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:
TODAY
Craft-item giveaway
Starting today and through the month of August, the master craftsmen at the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View will give away one handcrafted item to a park visitor Tuesday-Saturday.
Each of the 20 studios features a master craftsman, demonstrating, creating and selling. The crafts include pottery, knife making, candle making, weaving, leather work, basket making, quilting, broom tying, printing, painting, scrimshaw, copper flame painting, chair caning and woodcarving.
The daily drawing will take place at 3:15 p.m. at the Blacksmith Stage before the final music performance of the day. Every visitor over 18 gets an entry ticket for the prize with paid admission to the Craft Village ($12, $7 for children 6-12; free for children under 6). For additional drawing tickets, fill in your favorite items in each shop’s passbook and share your favorite thing in the park on social media.
Craft Village hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Call (870) 269-3851 or visit OzarkFolkCenter.com.
FRIDAY
Gallery anniversary
Justus Fine Art Gallery, 827A Central Ave., Hot Springs, marks its 15th anniversary and the 30th anniversary of the Spa City’s monthly Gallery Walk with a reception, 5-9 p.m. Friday. It also introduces an exhibit including works by Randall Good, Robyn Horn, Dolores Justus, Sammy Peters, Tony Saladino, Sandra Sell, Gene Sparling, Rebecca Thompson and Steven Wise, on display through Aug. 31. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and by appointment. Admission to the reception and gallery are free. Call (501) 321-2335 or visit justusfineart.com.
SATURDAY
Bear’s birthday
Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 501 W. Ninth St., Little Rock, celebrates Smokey Bear’s 75th birthday — with the birthday bear in attendance — 2-4 p.m. Saturday. Guests can take take photos with Smokey, consume party-style treats, participate in games and activities and explore the museum’s “Finding Freedom in the Forest” exhibit. The U.S. Forestry Service and the Ad Council created Smokey Bear on Aug. 9, 1944, as part of a joint effort to promote forest fire prevention. Admission is free. Call (501) 683-3592 or email education@mosaictemplarscenter.com.
ETC.
BKA back
New York-based Broadway Kids Auditions will help central Arkansas youngsters with audition techniques and materials, agents, information on the theater/film business and college preparation, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Aug. 2425 at North Little Rock High School, 101 W. 22nd St., North Little Rock.
Youngsters age 8-18 of all skill levels are welcome; there’s a limit of 80 students, who will be split up into groups of 15-20, based on age and ability, for song and scene workshops.
Students will receive oneon-one coaching within a group format on audition techniques for Broadway musicals, plays and on-camera commercial work; the sessions will also include dance classes, scene study and individual audition song coaching. Coaches include Broadway actors and directors and Anna Kimmell, director, choreographer and director of education at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.
Students should provide two, 16-32 measure “cuts” of an audition song with sheet music in the correct key and placed in a hard-cover binder. Students should also take comfortable clothes to move in, jazz shoes or sneakers. Pizza will be provided for lunch both days but students should take snacks and water.
Cost is $249. Register online at tinyurl.com/BroadwayKids.
AUDITIONS
Chamber Singers
Arkansas Chamber Singers will hold auditions for its 40th anniversary season, “Sing Me the Universal,” by appointment, starting at 3 p.m. Aug. 11 at St. James United Methodist Church, 321 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. The 10-minute auditions will consist of a prepared solo, vocalization, evaluation of pitch memory and sight-reading. Rehearsals are Tuesday nights at the church, end of August through March; performances are Oct. 11 and 13; Dec. 10 and 13-15; and March 19. John Erwin is the artistic director and conductor. Visit AR-ChamberSingers.org.
TICKETS
‘Rock the Arts!’
The Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Celebrity Attractions, Ballet Arkansas and Opera in the Rock have formed a collaboration they’re calling “Rock the Arts!”
The special $223, five-ticket season-sampler package, available through Aug. 26, provides one ticket to one performance by each of the five organizations:
■ The Arkansas Repertory Theatre production of Million Dollar Quartet, 2 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Rep, 601 Main St., Little Rock.
■ The Arkansas Symphony’s “Beethoven & Blue Jeans” concert, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9 at Robinson Center Performance Hall, West Markham Street and Broadway, Little Rock.
■ The Celebrity Attractions touring production of the musical Wicked, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 2 at Robinson Center Performance Hall.
■ Ballet Arkansas’ “Master/ Works” concert, 2:30 p.m. April 26 at the Center for the Humanities and Arts Theater, University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College, 3000 W. Scenic Ave., North Little Rock.
■ Opera in the Rock’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, 2:30 p.m. May 31, with the Arkansas Symphony in the “pit,” at the Rep.
The Arkansas Symphony is handling the ticket-sale package. Call (501) 666-1761, Extension 1, or visit ArkansasSymphony.org.
McLean in Eureka
Tickets — $45, $65 and $85 — are available for a concert by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18 the Eureka Springs Auditorium. 36 Main St., Eureka Springs. Visit theaud.org.