THE WEEKEND TEN

The top things to do and places to be

— 1 CATS

The Little Rock Zoo, 1 Jonesboro Drive in Little Rock’s Fair Park, will open its longawaited Laura P. Nichols Cheetah Outpost and debut two cheetahs, 11-year-old Zazi and her 18-month-old daughter, Maggie, at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, showing off the new habitat (part of the zoo’s African Savannah area). Grand opening events also include a 2 p.m. presentation in the education building by Anne Schmidt-Kuentzel, research geneticist and assistant director for animal health and research at the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Zoo hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (last admission at 4). Admission: $10, $8 senior citizens 60 and older and children 12 and under. Call (501) 666-2406. See story Page 4D.

2 COUNTRY Country singer Gretchen Wilson, known for her hits “Redneck Woman” and “Here for the Party,” will sing her way around the Timberwood Amphitheater stage, 8 p.m. Saturday at Magic Springs Water and Theme Park, on U.S. 70 (East Grand Avenue), Hot Springs, as the latest performer in the park’s 2012 Pepsi Concert Series. Opening act Riverbilly starts at 7 p.m. Admission is $44.99, $29.99 if you’re age 55 and older or 48 inches or under. Reserved seating is an additional $5 or $10. Call (501) 624-0100 or visit magicsprings.com.

3 CAPITAL Hot Springs celebrates its brief tenure as a seat of Arkansas government with A Capital Weekend, Friday-Sunday. The Confederate government moved from Little Rock to Hot Springs in 1862 to avoid advancing Union troops. There will be a display of Civil War artifacts, Civil War-era music and dancing, living history re-enactors, a roundtable discussion and guided tours of the former Army-Navy Hospital. Admission to all those activities is free; $75 to the Magnolia Ball, 7-10 p.m. Saturday. Call (501) 624-2701 or visit nps.gov/hosp.

4 CONCLUSION Improvisational troupe ImprovLittleRock ends its seventh season with two unpredictable, off-the-wall shows at 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday at the Public Theatre, 616 Center St., Little Rock. Friday’s show, ReQuest 20/90, will feature 20 scenes in 90 minutes; Saturday’s Oregon Trail will take the audience on a trip across the great frontier. Tickets are $8. Call (501) 374-7529.

5 COMEDY

Former Houston comedy impresarios Steve and Vicki Farrell now operate The Joint, 301 Main St., North Little Rock, and their Main Thing sketch comedy team presents the original comedy Little Rock and a Hard Place at 8 p.m. Friday and 8 and 10:15 p.m. Saturday. The show involves a man who dies and is sent to Little Rock to earn his wings into heaven. Tickets are $20. Call (501) 372-0205 or visit thejointinlittlerock.com.

6 CONCERT The North Little Rock Community Concert Band will close out its 2012 outdoor concert series at 7 p.m. Friday under the canopy at Lakewood Village on McCain Boulevard in North Little Rock. Music Director Rico Belotti will conduct the band in an hour-long performance he calls “An Old-Fashioned Concert in the Park,” to include music by John Philip Sousa, Karl King and Carl Teike, movie and early 1900s medleys and an audience sing-along. Admission is free; take lawn chairs and blankets. Call (501) 758-2576 or visit northlittlerockband.com.

7 CHORDS Little Rock-based band The Tricks — Gabe Smoller (vocals, guitar), Alexander Jones (vocals, bass) and Jason Griswold (drums) — is releasing its self-titled debut album with a show at 9:30 p.m. today at the White Water Tavern, 2500 W. Seventh St., Little Rock. Conway multi-instrumental sextet Don’t Stop Please will open the show. Cover is $5. Call (501) 375-8400 or visit whitewatertavern.com. See story Page 4D.

8 CRUISE It’s an evening of reggae on the river as One Love presents the Reggae Hip Hop & Old Skool Cruise, 10 p.m.-1 a.m. Saturday on the Arkansas Queen riverboat (board at 100 Riverfront Park Drive, North Little Rock), with performers Tha Soul Bros, DJ K-One and Ras Levi. Tickets are $25. Call (501) 372-5777 or (501) 940-4915.

9 CALS It’s not quite Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but Harry Potter fans can revel in “Harry Potter’s World,” a traveling exhibit using materials from the National Library of Medicine, on display through Aug. 11 at the Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library, 100 Rock St., Little Rock. A complete list of all of the programs and links to the National Library of Medicine’s website is at cals. org. Call (501) 918-3086.

10 CARDINALS With the Major League Baseball All-Star game approaching, the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, continues to pay tribute to the 2011 World Series champions in “Play Ball! The St. Louis Cardinals,” on display through Sept. 16. Saturday, Little League baseball teams and coaches who visit the center in uniform will receive a free tour of the exhibit, a photo with the 2011 World Series Trophy, Cracker Jacks and commemorative baseball cards. For everybody else, admission is $7; $5 for college students, retired U.S. military and visitors ages 62 and older; $3 for children 6-17; free for active U.S. military and children under 6. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Call (501) 374-4242 or visit clintonpresidentialcenter.org.

Weekend, Pages 23 on 07/05/2012

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