LITTLE ROCK — Tuna Does Vegas visits Texarkana
Joe Sears and Jaston Williams, two of the three creators of Greater Tuna, will bring the latest play in their series about the residents of the third smallest town in Texas, Tuna Does Vegas, by Williams, Sears, and Ed Howard, to Texarkana this weekend.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. today and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Perot Theatre, 219 Main St., Texarkana.
The touring production is under the auspices of the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council.
Tickets are $42, $37, $31, $25 and $6 for evening performances, $40, $35, $29, $23 and $6 for the matinees. Group and half-price student discounts are available. Call (903) 792-4992 or visit the Web site, www.trahc.org.
Saturday night ticket holders are invited to the free annual Women for the Arts Street Party at 6:30 p.m. in front of the theater, with refreshments and music.
At 10 a.m. today, the mayors of Texarkana, Texas, and Texarkana, Ark., will officially proclaim a change in the name of the border town, just for the weekend, to "Tunakana USA" at the downtown Texarkana post office, at the Texas/Arkansas sign. Sears will be on hand and in costume.
In conjunction with the show, the arts and humanities council will conduct a "Tuna for Troops" drive, collecting pouches of tuna (no cans, please) to send overseas to soldiers in Iraq, where tuna is apparently the easy, nutritious snack of choice for soldiers on patrol.
There will be drop-off pointsat the Perot Theatre box office, 221 Main St., and offices of Red River Credit Union, 4405 Summerhill Road and the Red River Army Depot; drop-off barrels will be available at all five performances of Tuna Does Vegas.
Theater patrons and Texarkana residents can also drop off canned goods (including canned tuna) at the box office or bring them to the Sunday performances to help the Harvest Texarkana food bank restock shelves depleted from hurricane relief efforts.
Little Rock Zoo hosts art contest
The Little Rock Zoo, at Zoo Drive off Fair Park Boulevard in Little Rock, is hosting its first-ever juried art event, "Salvador Monkey & Van Goat," Saturday at the zoo.
A professional art judge will have chosen 25 entries from artists from across the state for Saturday's show, on display during the zoo's normal hours, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily through March 31. Admission to the show is free with zoo admission: Adults $8, children 1-12 and adults 60 and older $6, and children under 1 free.
The first-place winner will receive $1,000 and the chance to have the artwork used in the zoo's 2009 marketing and promotion efforts. Second place will receive $500, third place $250 and "audience favorite" also $250. All prize winners will also receive a free family membership to the zoo.
The awards presentation will be at 6 p.m. Saturday during a reception in the zoo's Cafe Africa. There will also be a silent auction of paintings by animal artists. Tickets are $25. Call (501) 661-7208 or e-mailsaltrui@littlerock.org.
Drama Lughnasa on stage at ASU
The Arkansas State University Theatre will stage Brian Friel's Irish drama Dancing at Lughnasa at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday and Tuesday-Wednesday at the Fowler Center at ASU, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro.
A "meet the company" dessert reception will follow tonight's opening performance. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Call (870) 972-2781 or visit the Web site, tickets. astate.edu.
Musicians, dancers in Mena showcase
Saturday Night at the Lyric will showcase singers, dancers and musicians from Polk County at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Ouachita Little Theatre (formerly the Lyric), 610 Mena St., Mena.
Among the performers: guitarist Richie Owens, contemporary Christian musicians Jeremiah and Susan Brewer, gospel baritone Beauford Humphries, country singer Sharee Boyd and belly dancers Molly Thacker, C.C. Thanos-Wade and Kammie Sweeten.
Ouachita Little Theatre actors will perform a scene from their Oct. 17-Nov. 2 production of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap.
Tickets are $5. Call (479) 243-0186 or visit the Web site, www.ouachitalittletheatre. org.
Weekend, Pages 66 on 10/03/2008