LITTLE ROCK — The Eureka Springs Blues Weekend will include a tribute to the late bluesman Michael Burks, who grew up in Camden and died May 6 in Atlanta at age 54, as part of a four-day collection of performances in and around the Carroll County city.
Formal performances (all ticket prices include a $5 processing fee):
The Cate Brothers will headline, with Marquise Knox as the opening act, 8 p.m. Thursday in the Barefoot Ballroom, Basin Park Hotel, 12 Spring St. $20
At 7 p.m. Friday, Tommy Castro will headline, following a “Tribute to the Legends” featuring the Blue Ice Band, at the City Auditorium, 36 S. Main St. $30
The Michael Burks Band will perform a “Tribute to Michael Burks,” 10 p.m. Friday in the Basin Park Hotel’s Barefoot Ballroom. $20
At 4 p.m. Saturday at the City Auditorium, Ruthie Foster headlines, preceded by Kenny Neal, Lazy Lester and the Ozark Blues Challenge winner, Nathan A & Max RPM. $30
Hadden Sayers headlines at 10 p.m. Saturday in the Barefoot Ballroom. $20
The Blues Picnic at Turpentine Creek gets under way at 2 p.m. June 3 at the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, on Arkansas 23 seven miles south of Eureka Springs, with the Super Reverbs featuring RJ Mischo & Jeremy Johnson, Marquise Knox and Jones van Jones. Take lawn chairs and sunscreen but leave the coolers home. At-gate admission is $5.
There will be free noon concerts Thursday-Saturday in Basin Street Park, and various performers will appear in other venues around town throughout the festival. Call (479) 253-7377 or visit the website, EurekaSpringsBlues.com.
Funeral preview
Center Stage at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church will offer a gala fundraiser preview of its production of Southern Fried Funeral by Little Rock native J. Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler, Wednesday at the church, 4823 Woodlawn Drive, Little Rock.
The event will consist of a 6:30 p.m. buffet of traditional Southern funeral foods and a 7:30 performance in the church’s Great Hall. Seating begins at 6. Osborne will be on hand as a special guest.
Tickets are $17.50, $35 per couple; seating is limited. All tickets must be bought in advance. Call (501) 218-6636.
The show runs 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2:30 p.m. June 3. Admission is “pay what you can”; those with reservations will be seated first.
Opera in repertory
Opera in the Ozarks, the Northwest Arkansas-based summer opera training program for young musicians, will stage The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim and La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini in repertory, June 22-July 20.
Most of the performances will be at 7:30 p.m. in the open air Opera in the Ozarks Theater, Inspiration Point, 16311 U.S. 62 West, a few miles west of Eureka Springs; there will be three 4 p.m. Sunday matinees at the Arend Arts Center, 1901 S.E. J St., Bentonville.
A complete performance schedule, ticket prices and additional details are available at the website, eurekasprings.org. Call (479) 253-8595.
Hairspray auditions
Community Theatre of Little Rock will hold open auditions for Hairspray - music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman, book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the John Waters film - at 2 p.m. Saturday and June 3 at the Public Theatre, 616 Center St., Little Rock.
Prepare a musical number and take two sets of sheet music, one for the accompanist. The audition will also include cold readings from the script.
Tom Crone is the director; music director is Jo Murry. The cast will consist of four principal men (plus one in drag), 10 principal women and an ensemble of performers of various ages.
Rehearsals begin June 4. Production dates are July 13-29. Call (501) 410-2283 (ACT3) or visit the website, www.ctlract.org.
Kids’ arts camps
The Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, 701 Main St., Pine Bluff, will hold June summer camps for children in theater, art and “tinkering.”
Actor/director Cheryl Collins will guide children 9-14 as they rehearse and perform a short play based on local Civil War history in the two-week Living History Theater Camp, 1-4 p.m. June 11-15 and 18-22, performances June 22-23.
Art Shop classes will teach basic drawing, painting, sculpting and more. Art Shop I, ages 6-10, will be 9 a.m.-noon June 25-29 with instructor Troy De-Bill. Art Shop II, ages 11-16, will be 9 a.m.-noon June 18-22 with instructor Carolyn Monk.
“Tinkering” camps, which the center describes as “your grandfather’s workshop meets Engineering 101,” will take place 1-4 p.m. after Art Shops. The idea comes through the center’s partnership with the San Francisco-based Exploratorium museum. Zac Ray will be the instructor for both camps: Tinkering I, ages 6-10, June 25-29, and Tinkering II, ages 11-16, June 18-22. The center will not provide lunch to the students who stay for both classes.
Scholarships are available. Session prices and registration information are available at the website, ArtsScienceCenter.org. Call (870) 536-3375.
Style, Pages 49 on 05/27/2012