ENTERTAINMENT NOTES

— Elsewhere in entertainment and the arts this weekend:

MUSIC

Pair of pianists

Duo Arete - duo pianists Tatiana Roitman Mann and Kristina Marinova, both on the faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock - will give a recital at 7:30 p.m. today in W. Francis McBeth Recital Hall, Mabee Fine Arts Center, Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia. The program will include the Fantasie, op.103, by Franz Schubert; Allegro Brilliant, op.92, by Felix Mendelssohn; Suite No. 1, Fantaisie-Tableaux, op.5, by Sergei Rachmaninoff; Variations on a Theme by Paganini for two pianos by Witold Lutoslawski; and Tangata by Astor Piazzolla. Admission is free. Call (870) 245-5352 or (870) 245-5129.

Crossroads Christmas

Irish ensemble Celtic Crossroads, seven musicians playing more than 20 instruments, including the uilleann pipes, mandolin and accordion, and a corps of highkicking dancers, will take their Christmas concert to two Arkansas campuses this weekend:

7:30 p.m. Saturday at Arkansas State University’s Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro. Sponsor is Jonesboro Occasions. Tickets are $30 and $20, $23 and $15 for senior citizens and students, with discounts for ASU faculty, staff and students with a current ID. Call (870) 972-2781 (ASU1) or (888) 278-3267 (ASU FANS) or visit www2. astate.edu/tickets or yourfowlercenter.com.

3 p.m. Sunday in the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave .,Conway. Tickets are $23-$40, $10 for students, free for UCA students.

Call (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012 or visit uca.edu/reynolds.

Pine Bluff program

The Pine Bluff Symphony Orchestra will offer a concert titled “Home for the Holidays: Music of the Season,” 4 p.m. Sunday at the Pine Bluff Convention Center, 500 E. Eighth Ave., Pine Bluff. Selections from P.I. Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker will feature Arkansas Festival Ballet dancers; the program will also include excerpts from George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, performances by the Episcopal Collegiate School “Steelcats” Steel Drum Band and soprano (and Pine Bluff native) Eleanor Pearl and a Christmas-carol sing-along. Preferred-seating tickets are $30, $12 K-12 students; general admission, $25 and $8.

Call (870) 536-7666 or visit pinebluffsymphony.com.

Jazz tribute

Pianist Chris Parker, bassist Joe Cripps and drummer Brian Withers will give a concert “remembering and celebrating” the late jazz pianist Charles Thomas on behalf of the Mosaic TemplarsCultural Center and Friends of Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 7 p.m. today at the center, 501 W. Ninth St., Little Rock. Doors open at 6. Thomas, who accompanied Tony Bennett and replaced Duke Ellington at the piano in his band after Ellington’s death, frequently played at jazz venues in Little Rock and New York. He died in 1999. Admission and refreshments are free; donations to the center’s music education program will be accepted.

Call (501) 683-3593.

Songwriter finals

Ten finalists in the Alchemy Songwriting Competition will perform for the competition’s second annual showcase at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Ford Theater’s Brick Room, 1020 Front St., Conway.

The grand prize, provided by the Music Empowers Foundation, is a trip to Los Angeles and the opportunity to recordthe winning song with producer Tim Pagnotta. Prizes will also go to the top song in each genre and age division.

The finalists (groups and solo performers): Arkatext and Half Priced Hearts from Conway; Tom Mix and Shawn Keeter from Mt. Vernon; Sally Howell from Benton; Jordan Anderson from Lonoke; Austin Jones and Allison Pierce from Little Rock; Brandon Alanis from Cabot; Rachel Pearl from Springhill, Tenn.; and The Outset from Tulsa. Adam Hambrick, who won the 2011 Alchemy Grand Prize, will also perform. Judges are Oscarwinning actress and Arkansas native Mary Steenburgen, Music Empowers Foundation founder Andy Davis and songwriter Treva Blomquist.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10; a limited number of $75 VIP tickets include an early-entrance reception with the judges, reserved seating and complimentary beverages. Proceeds go to scholarship and education programs at Blackbird Academy of Arts, a Conway nonprofit. Call (501) 336-8200.

Navy band

The 23-member Navy Band Mid-South Ceremonial Band will give a concert of Christmas melodies and ceremonial military band music at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Ritz Civic Center, 306 W. Main St., Blytheville, under the auspices of the Arts Council of Mississippi County. Admission is by free ticket; call (870) 762-1744 or visit artsmissco.org.

THEATER

Annie in Benton

Makayla Shipe, 9, of Bryant, plays the title role in the Royal Players production of Annie (music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, book by Thomas Meehan), 7 p.m.

today-Saturday and Dec. 13-15 and 2 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 16 at the Royal Theatre, 111 S. Market St., Benton. Tickets are $12, $10 for senior citizens, $5 for students. Call (501) 315-5483 or visit theroyalplayers.com.

Perfect Christmas?

The Vagabond Theatre Company will stage Spectacular Exploding Christmas by Courtney Bennett, 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday at the Public Theatre, 616 Center St., Little Rock. Bennett also plays the central character, Bobo, “in her ridiculous attempts to make Christmas perfect.” The company rates the show R and suggests leaving the kids at home.

Tickets are $8; there will be a prize raffle with all proceeds going to the Arkansas Foodbank.

Call (347) 450-8242 (VAGA) or visit vagabondtheatrecompany.org.

Weekend, Pages 34 on 12/06/2012

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