WEEKEND TEN
1 CONFECTION CONNECTION
Th Candy Man can — and does — distribute a quintet of Golden Tickets to bring five youngsters to his chocolate factory in Willy Wonka Jr ., 7 p.m. Friday and June 27-28, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and June 29 and 2 p.m. Sunday and June 30 at he Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 601 Main St., Little Rock. An entirely local cast of 39 young actors takes on the Leslie Bricusse-Anthony Newley musical (adapted for the stage by Bricusse and Timothy A. McDonald, based on Roald Dahl’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factor ). Tickets are $15-$30. ll 501) 78-0405 visit TheRep.org.
2 FRAMPTON ‘FAREWELL’
Rocker and 1970s heartthrob Peter Frampton hits Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, West Markham Street and Broadway, 7:30 p.m. today on his “Finale: The Farewell Tour.” Tickets are $39-$300. Call (800) 745-3000 or visit ticketmaster. com. See Music Scene on Page 5E.
3 OPERA OPERATION
The tunes of Mozart, Puccini and Adamo will ring through the Northwest Arkansas hills as Opera in the Ozarks opens its 2019 season with Mark Adamo’s Little Women, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Opera in the Ozarks Theater, Inspiration Point, 16311 U.S. 62, Eureka Springs. Opening night for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio is 7:30 p.m. Saturday and for Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme is 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The three operas run in repertoire through July 19, with cabaret and chamber music performances at locations around Northwest Arkansas. Tickets are $10-$30. Call (479) 253-8595 or visit opera.org.
4 BLUES BELTER
The Flight Plan Jazz Ensemble opens the 2019 Murphy USA Summer Concert series, 7 p.m. Saturday at the Murphy Arts District amphitheater, 105 E. Locust St., El Dorado. Singer-song-writer-multi-instrumentalist Emi Sunshine plays at 8:30 p.m, followed by the headliner, blues singer, guitarist and songwriter Nikki Hill at 9:45 p.m. Admission is free, plus free activities preceding the concert will include the MAD Farmers Market, “Grill Wars,” a Baggo tournament, horse-and-carriage rides and the “Showdown at Sunset.” Call (870) 863-4547 or (870) 862-4747 or visit eldomad.com.
5 BLOODY BARD
The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre doubles its toil and trouble with the Bard of Avon’s bloody tragedy Macbeth, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, June 27, July 3 and 5, and 2 p.m. June 29 and July 7 in Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. Tickets are $34, $28 for students, senior citizens and military. Also this weekend: a performance of Shakespeare’s
The Comedy of Errors, 7:30 p.m. Sunday on the lawn in front of UCA’s McAlister Hall. Admission is pay-what-you-can; suggested donation is $15. Call (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012 or visit arkshakes.com.
6 PARK PARTY I
The Plantation Agriculture Museum State Park, 4815 Arkansas 161 S. in Scott, is 30 years old and it’s celebrating with an anniversary party, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. The museum’s exhibits and grounds, which focus on Arkansas agriculture premechanization, will be open for touring and there will also be family-friendly activities and free watermelon. Admission is free. Call (501) 961-1409 or visit arkansasstateparks.com. See story on Page 4E.
7 PARK PARTY II
Summer officially begins on Friday and on Saturday, Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park, 490 Toltec Mounds Road, Scott, hosts its Summer Solstice Celebration, 6-8:30 p.m. Attendees can try out primitive weapons and crafts, go on a guided sunset tour of the prehistoric mounds and take part in a sunset viewing. Admission is $4, $3 for children 6-12. Call (501) 961-9442 or visit arkansasstateparks.com.
8 FORWARD FEST
Kingfish Ingram, Anthony Hamilton, Southern Avenue and five other performers will fill the afternoon and evening with tunes as Go Forward Pine Bluff and the Pine Bluff Convention Center present the second annual Forward Fest: Blues, Batter and Brew, Saturday at Hestand Stadium, 420 N. Blake St., Pine Bluff. Gates open at noon, music starts at 1:30. The event will also feature food trucks, retail vendors, a kids’ zone and fireworks. Lawn chairs or blankets are welcome; coolers and backpacks are not allowed. Admission is $10, free for children 5 and younger and parking is $10; VIP tickets are $20-$70, with VIP parking $20. Call (800) 965-9324 or visit forwardfestpinebluff.com.
9 SOONER SINGING
The wind comes sweeping down the River Valley as the River Valley Arts Center stages Oklahoma! (music by Richard Rodgers, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, based on Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs), 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday and June 28-29, 2 p.m. Sunday and June 30 at the Center for the Arts, 2209 S. Knoxville Ave., Russellville. Tickets are $18, $10 for children, with discounts for arts center members. Call (479) 968-2452 or visit rivervalleyartscenter.org.
10 ARGENTA GUITARISTS
Fingerstyle guitarists Travis Bowman (a Little Rock native) and Blake Goodwin, founders of Fret Monkey Records, perform for the Argenta Acoustic Music Series, 7:30 p.m. today at The Joint, 301 Main St. in North Little Rock’s Argenta Arts District. Tickets are $30. Call (501) 425-1528, email steve@stevedavison.com or visit argentaacoustic.com.