LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock lawyer Phil Kaplan and advertising executive Leslie Singer once again team up with public radio station KUAR FM, 89.1, for the 12th annual Jewish Guys Hanukkah Special, 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock.
Musical guests will be the Meshugga Klezmer Band and the Bauman Brothers, with “special guest” Eli Evans of New York, author of The Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South. KUAR will record the show with an audience for broadcast at 7 p.m. Dec. 10, with a 1 p.m. Christmas Day reprise.
A reception, sponsored by the center and the Clinton Museum Store, will precede the show at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $4.99; pre-paid reservations are required. Call (501) 569-8485 or visit the website, kuar.org.
Christmas calm
Men’s a cappella group Cantus and Theater Latte Da join forces for All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 at 7 p.m. Thursday Baum Walker Hall, Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville.
Using information from soldiers’ letters, playwright/ director Peter Rothstein put together the script about the Christmas 1914 truce between Allied Forces and German soldiers in no man’s land during World War I. Cantus performs new arrangements of European carols and war songs.
The performance is part of the center’s 10x10 Arts series. Tickets are $10-$25. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit the website, waltonartscenter.org.
Bluegrass Monday
Missouri-based traditional Ozark bluegrass band Cedar Hill — Frank Ray, mandolin; Jimmy Bunch, banjo; Shannon Cox, guitar; Patti LaFleur, bass; and Pete Brown, fiddle — will perform at 7 p.m. Monday at the Collins Theatre, 120 W. Emerson St., Paragould. The concert is part of Jonesboro radio station KASU-FM, 91.9’s Bluegrass Monday concert series. The station will pass the hat to pay the band; suggested donation is $5. Doors open at 6 p.m. Call (870) 972-2367, email mscarbro@astate.edu or visit the Bluegrass Monday Facebook page.
Bellamy ‘Ballroom’
The Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, 701 Main St., Pine Bluff, will turn its Catherine M. Bellamy Theatre into a grand ballroom for its biennial Potpourri fundraiser 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday.
Guests can preview the artwork, jewelry and other items that will be available at the sold-out Saturday-night silent and live auctions, while consuming heavy hors d’oeuvres and margaritas and listening to the music of Big Phil and the Chill.
Saturday’s black-tie-optional evening will open with a cocktail hour and silent auction followed by dinner and the live auction.
Tickets are $60 Friday; there is a waiting list for Saturday’s $100 tickets. Call (870) 536-3375 or visit the website, ArtsScienceCenter.org.
ASU-Beebe feaste
The Arkansas State University-Beebe music department will hold its annual Yuletide Madrigal Feaste at 7 p.m. Thursday and Saturday at the University Cafe, Student Center, on 610 N. Pecan St., Beebe.
The evening will begin with wassail; musical entertainment will accent each course of the feast. Timothy Bartlett is the director; Brent Bristow conducts the instrumentalists. Tickets are $20 and must be bought in advance. Call (501) 882-8951.
Rocking robots
Thirty-five robotics teams that have emerged from eight local hub competitions in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma will be participating in the 2012 Frontier Trails BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) Regional Robotics Competition, Friday and Saturday at the Fort Smith Convention Center, 55 S. Seventh St., Fort Smith.
Each team designs and operates its own robot with a supplied kit, based on this year’s theme, “Warp XX,” which involves using a space elevator to resupply a “midway station” at the edge of the earth’s atmosphere.
Four Arkansas multi-team assemblages are involved: Crowley’s Ridge BEST of Jonesboro (Arkansas Northeastern College, Burdette; Buffalo Island Central High School, Leachville; Hillcrest High School, Strawberry; Ridgefield Christian School, Jonesboro; West Memphis Christian School, West Memphis; White Station High School, Memphis), Little Rock BEST (Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts and National Park Technology Center, Hot Springs; Parkview and Central High schools, Little Rock), Northark BEST of Harrison (Hass Hall Academy, Fayetteville; Valley Springs School, Valley Springs; Pershing Middle School, Springfield, Mo.; Lead Hill High School, Lead Hill) and River Valley BEST of Fort Smith (Chaffin Junior High School and Western Arkansas Technical Center, Fort Smith; Muldrow/Gans Public Schools, Muldrow, Okla.; Fayetteville Public Schools, Fayetteville).
Opening ceremony is at 8 a.m. Saturday; the awards ceremony will be at 5 p.m. The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith is the host. Admission is free. Call (479) 788-7772.
Style, Pages 51 on 11/25/2012