Preservation Alliance plans trip to Northwest Arkansas
The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas will take a one-day trip through the Arkansas River Valley and into Northwest Arkansas with the “Vines That Bind Ramble,” focusing on communities built by German, Italian and Swiss immigrants, departing Little Rock at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 19 and returning that evening.
The ramble will include transportation by motor coach; brunch at a historic diner in Russellville, with a program by Arkansas Capitol Historian David Ware on Prohibition in Arkansas; a tour of Subiaco Abbey; a tour and tasting at the Cowie Wine Cellars and Vineyards and Arkansas Wine Museum in Paris with founder Bob Cowie; a tour of the 1906 St. Boniface Catholic Church in Bigelow; and a traditional spaghetti supper prepared by parishioners of the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Little Italy, paired with a program on the history of the community by Christopher Dorer, author of Boy, the Stories I Could Tell: A Narrative History of the Italians of Little Italy, Ark.
Tickets are $125, $100 for alliance members, $200 for sponsors. Reservation deadline is Oct. 11. Call (501) 372-4757, email ayancey@preservearkansas.org or visit the website, PreserveArkansas.org.
Cos it’s a sellout
Bill Cosby’s Sept. 26 oneman comedy show, “An Evening With Bill Cosby: 50 Years of Making You Laugh, Smile and Feel Good,” at the University of Central Arkansas has sold out. Some dayof-show tickets may become available an hour before the concert; if so, they’ll be $30$40, $27-$37 for senior citizens (with discounts for UCA alumni, faculty and staff), $10 for children, free for UCA students with a current ID. Call (501) 450-3682 or email ahorton@uca.edu.
Winn Dixie tryouts
The Arkansas Repertory Theatre will hold open auditions by appointment starting at noon Saturday, with Sept. 22 callbacks, for actors over 18 for the musical Because of Winn Dixie (music by Duncan Sheik, book and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, based on the book by Kate DiCamillo) at the theater, 601 Main St., Little Rock.
An Irish wolfhound has already been cast to play the show’s central character, Winn Dixie; auditioners should not have any dog allergies and should be comfortable working with dogs. A complete list and description of roles (all paid) and “sides” from the script and musical selections for the auditions are available at the website, therep.org/work-with-us/auditions. Rehearsals begin Nov. 12; production dates for the world premiere production are Dec. 6-29.
To schedule an appointment, email Company Manager Peter Mensky at pmensky@therep.org; type “Winn Dixie Local Appointment” in the subject line.
Concerts, lectures
Ozark folk band National Park Radio and gypsy jazz group Cutthroat Trout will open the Arkansas State University-Mountain
Participants Home’s 2013-14 Arvest Concert Series at 4 p.m. Oct. 20 in the university’s Vada Sheid Community Development Center, 1600 S. College St., Mountain Home.
The other program on the series, 7 p.m. April 12 at the Sheid, will feature “An Evening With Elvis” with Sirius XM’s “Elvis Radio” DJ Argo.
The university’s 2013-14 Gaston Lecture Series kicks off at 7 p.m. Oct 22 with a talk at the Sheid by Roy Hallums, author of Buried Alive: The True Story of Kidnapping, Captivity and a Dramatic Rescue, the retired naval commander’s account of his abduction in Baghdad.
V.J. Smith, author of The Richest Man in Town, will give a lecture at 7 p.m. April 8 on the book, about a Wal-Mart cashier he befriended.
Admission to both shows and both lectures is free. Call (870) 508-6109 or visit the website, asumh.edu.
SAU season
Southern Arkansas University’s theater and mass communications department will open its 2013-14 season with I Hate Hamlet by Paul Rudnick, 7 p.m. Oct. 8-12 in the Harton Theatre at the university. The rest of the lineup: Nov. 19-23: Proof by David Auburn
April 23-26: Seussical the Musical, music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Flaherty and Ahrens
Season passes are $20, $10 for students. A family pass for a family of four is $60, $8 for each additional family member. Individual ticket prices are $6, $15 for the musical, $3 and $7.50 for students. Call (870) 235-4256 or visit the website, showtix4u.com.
Orpheum Flashdance
NETworks Presentations Inc.’s national tour of Flashdance – The Musical (music by Robbie Roth, lyrics by Roth and Robert Cary, book by Cary and Tom Hedley, who co-wrote the Flashdance movie screenplay with Joe Eszterhas) will be onstage 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Sept. 24-25; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1:30 and 7 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Orpheum Theatre, 203 S. Main St., Memphis. Tickets are $20- $90. Call (901) 525-3000 or (901) 743-2787 (ARTS) or visit the website, orpheum-memphis.com.
Meanwhile, the Orpheum is selling tickets — $45.75 and $75.75 — for a show by comedian Chris Tucker, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12.
And the Orpheum’s 201314 Family Series of touring shows will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 1 and 11 a.m. Nov. 2 with The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Eric Carle Favorites.
The rest of the lineup (all Friday shows at 6:30 p.m., Saturday shows at 11 a.m.): Nov. 26: Stuart Little Jan. 24: Sid the Science Kid Feb. 21-22: Frogz! Feb. 28: Black Violin, violinists Kev and Wil B fusing classical, jazz, hip-hop, blues and R&B
April 1: The Intergalactic Nemesis
May 1: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, adaptation from Michael Rosen’s book
Season tickets are $160; individual tickets are $15-$20. Call (901) 525-3000 or visit the website, orpheum-memphis.com.
Teacher awards
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is seeking nominations for the 2014 Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Awards, annual grants that recognize inspiring teachers in any field of education across the United States. The center is also accepting nominations for a new posthumous teachers award.
Make nominations via the website, kennedycenter.org/ sondheim teacher awards, by Dec. 15. Those nominating a teacher posthumously recognition must designate a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization or fund within a K-12thgrade school, school system, college or university to receive the $10,000 award in the teacher’s name.
The awards are presented each year on Sondheim’s birthday, March 22. Last year, six teachers each received a $10,000 prize for their outstanding influence on students and their stories, as told by the nominating student, appeared on a website dedicated to inspirational teachers.