Author to discuss Bullets at ‘Legacies & Lunch’
Guy Lancaster will discuss his newly released book, Bullets and Fire: Lynching and Authority in Arkansas, 18401950, at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies’ “Legacies & Lunch,” noon Wednesday in the Darragh Center, Central Arkansas Library System Main Library, 100 Rock St., Little Rock.
Lancaster’s book covers the lynching of slaves in antebellum Arkansas through the role the state’s prominent U.S. congressional representatives played in derailing anti-lynching legislation.
Co-sponsor is the Arkansas Humanities Council. Admission is free; attendees should take a sack lunch and the Butler Center will provide drinks and dessert. Call (501) 918-3033 or visit butlercenter.org.
Blackbird field trips
Blackbird Academy of Arts in Conway is offering field trips for central Arkansas K-12 students for two of its Conway productions in early 2018: a ballet version of Peter Pan, 10 a.m. Jan. 26 at Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., and the play Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 1 p.m. March 9. The academy will provide participating teachers with teaching tools and classroom activity guides that relate the stories to state literacy standards.
It’s free, but make reservations as soon as possible by contacting Ann Turney — (501) 472-7303 or via email, ann@blackbirdacademy.org. Schools will need to provide their own transportation. Visit blackbirdacademy.org.
Assassins auditions
The Weekend Theater, West Seventh and Chester streets, Little Rock, will hold auditions, 10 a.m. Jan. 13 and 6 p.m. Jan. 14 for the musical Assassins (music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by John Wiedman). Co-directors Andy Hall and Jamie Scott Blakey and music director Jeannie Scott Cross will cast 11 principals (men and women age 20 and up with one “boy” role, age 8-12) and an ensemble; come prepared to sing (and supply sheet music for an accompanist) and read from the script. A list of available roles and their vocal ranges is available online at weekendtheater.org/news-events/ auditions. Production dates are April 6-8, 13-15 and 20-22.
Argenta auditions
The Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock, will hold open auditions Jan. 20-21 for two productions:
To Kill a Mockingbird, adapted by Christopher Sergel from the novel by Harper Lee, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Jan. 20, 2-4 p.m. Jan. 21. Director Vincent Insalaco will cast principals and ensemble roles either from “sides” (excerpts from the script — auditioners are encouraged to locate lines from other variations of the show to prepare) and cold readings from the script. Production dates, April 18-28, will include three daytime student shows.
Big River, music and lyrics by Roger Miller, book by William Hauptman, based on Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 2-5 p.m. Jan. 20, 5-8 p.m. Jan. 21, including a dance call. The director is Brandon Box-Higdem. Prepare 16 bars of a song in the style of, but not from, the show (preferably older country or gospel music); the audition will also include readings from the script. Production dates are July 18-28.
Complete lists and descriptions of available roles (including Big River voice parts and ranges) are available online at argentacommunitytheater. com. Email casting@argentacommunitytheater.com (if possible) to confirm audition plans; they’ll also take walkins. Call (501) 353-1443.
INC concerts
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will open its 2018 Intimate Neighborhood Concerts Series with a concert titled “Picture Perfect,” 7 p.m. Jan. 18 at Calvary Baptist Church, 5700 Cantrell Road, Little Rock.
Soprano Keely Futterer will join conductor Philip Mann and orchestra players for Knoxville: Summer of 1915 by Samuel Barber; the program will also include Trittico Botticelliano by Ottorino Respighi and the Much Ado About Nothing Suite by Erich Korngold.
The other two concerts (both at 7 p.m.):
March 8: “Strings Attached,” Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 310 W. 17th St., Little Rock. Katherine Reynolds and Ryan Mooney, viola; Trisha McGovern Freeney, Meredith Maddox Hicks and Katherine Williamson, violins; Geoffrey Robson, conductor. Adam Schoenberg: Slo-Mo; Henri Vieuxtemps: Elegy for viola and strings; J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6; Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in F major for three violins.
May 3: “Around the Horn, St. James United Methodist Church, 321 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. Ed Owen, tuba; Philip Mann, conductor. George Frideric Handel: Overture to Samson; Jan Koetsier: Concertino for tuba and string orchestra; Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 31, “Horn Signal.”
For ticket information, call (501) 661-1761 or visit arkansassymphony.org.