THE WEEKEND TEN

The top things to do and places to be

1 PLANET It’s a party for the planet as Heifer International, 1 World Ave., hosts Arkansas Earth Day, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. This year’s event includes an aquarium exhibit, Jump Zone area, food, music by Interstate Buffalo and educational booths. Parents are invited to take part in The Great Cloth Diaper Change at 11 a.m. General admission is free, but there are fees for some activities. Call (870) 316-1516 or visit arkansasearthday.org.

2 PAGES Writers and readers will find a haven in downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock as the Arkansas Literary Festival returns, today-Sunday. A lineup of writers, including Kevin Brockmeier, Ayana Mathis and Richard Ford, will participate in a weekend of signings, readings, workshops, performances and more. Most events are free. Call (501) 918-3000 or visit arkansasliteraryfestival.org.

3 PLUCK Head for the hills and a weekend full of old-fashioned music and crafts.

Downtown Mountain View will once again celebrate the annual Arkansas Folk Festival through Sunday with most activities taking place on Saturday. In addition to scheduled performances on the courthouse square and at the Ozark Folk Center, visitors will find informal jam sessions going on all over town.

General admission is free, though there are fees for Folk Center performances. Call (888) 679-2859 or visit arkansasfolkfestival.com.

4 PARTIES Fundraisers are all the rage this weekend. The Old State House Museum hosts its annual Southern-style party, the Seersucker Social, 6 p.m. today at the museum. Tickets are $50. Call (501) 324-9685.

Nearby at the River Market Pavilions, radio station KKPT-FM, The Point 94.1, presents the Bugs & Beer Crawfish Boil with food, music and children’s activities, 6 p.m. Friday.

Tickets are $40 in advance, $50 the day of the event. Call (501) 265-0585 or visit kkpt.com. On Saturday, Camp Aldersgate presents Carousel After Dark, 7 p.m. at Twin City Limo, 901 Main St. Tickets are $50. Call (501) 225-1444 or visit campaldersgate.net.

5 PERSPECTIVE This year’s Arkansas Symphony Designer House, at 9 Bella Rosa Court, opens this weekend. The ribbon-cutting ceremony and Crescendo party starts at 6:30 p.m. today and tickets are $125. After that, the house will be open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday through May 12. Tickets are $20 per day or $35 for the run of the event. Call (501) 666-1761 or visit arkansassymphony.org.

6 PIANIST Jazz patriarch and pianist Ellis Marsalis heads up the Ellis Marsalis Quartet - also including Derek Douget, saxophone; Jason Stewart, bass; and son Jason Marsalis on drums. They’ll perform at 8 p.m. Friday in the Lucy Lockett Cabe Festival Theatre at Wildwood Park for the Arts, 20919 Denny Road, Little Rock. (Tickets are $60; $100 VIP tickets include admission to a post-show reception. And there will be a limited number of $15 student tickets. Call (501) 821-7275 or visit wildwoodpark.org.

7 PITCH Former Metropolitan Opera baritone Edward Crafts will sing Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs with the Little Rock Wind Symphony and conductor Karen Fannin in a concert titled “Songs and Dances,” 7:30 p.m. today at Second PresbyterianChurch, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. The program will also include the world premiere of In Tran(s) - Phenomena II by Arkansas composer Ryan Gaston and works by Arturo Marquez, Percy Grainger, Brian Balmages, Eric Whitacre and Johan de Meij. Tickets are $10, $8 for senior citizens, free for students. Call (501) 666-0777 or visit lrwindsymphony.org.

8 PLAYHOUSE A “scandalous” American actress becomes a “farce” to be reckoned with as four guys dressed as clergymen (one of them an escaped prisoner) turns a British vicarage into a madhouse in See HowThey Run by Philip King, on stage through May 18 at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock. Dinner is at 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Sunday; showtimes: 7:45 p.m.

Tuesday-Saturday (matinees only, April 24 and May 1), 12:45 and 6:45 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $31-$35, $23 for children 15 and under, $25 and $15 for children show only.

Call (501) 562-3131 or visit the website, murrysdinnerplayhouse.com.

9 PERFORMANCES The University of Arkansas at Little Rock theater arts and dance department’s annual spring dance concert, “Bodyworks 2013,” will feature original works created by faculty and students, a parody of a famous ballet, numbers from the Broadway musical Chicago. Curtain times are 8 p.m. today-Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the UALR Center for Performing Arts, Theater Building, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock. Tickets are $7, $5 for students.

Call (501) 569-3456 or e-mail kethomas@ualr.edu .

The Arkansas Tech University Theatre will stage William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (with its original “frame” involving a troupe of misfit actors playing a practical joke on a penniless drunk) at 8 p.m. today-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Doc Bryan Lecture Hall, Arkansas Tech, Russellville. A 7:30 pre-show will feature Tech librarian Lowell Lybarger on the sitar.

Tickets are $8, $5 for students with ID (no credit cards accepted). Call (479) 964-0890.

10 PLAYTHINGS There are two opportunities in Jacksonville on Saturday for fans of vehicles large and small: People who love tinkering and miniatures are invited to the Arkansas Plastic Model Championship, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at the Jacksonville Community Center, 5 Municipal Drive. There will be models on display and for sale, as well as a model competition and some award winners. Admission is free. Registration is $5 for the first model, $2 for each additional, $20 maximum. Model entry is free for children and teens. Call (501) 681-9980 or (501) 772-1483.

Street rods, antique cars, motorcycles and tractors will line up at Goodsell Truck Accessories, 401 Municipal Drive, Jacksonville, for the annual Car and Truck Show to benefit the Boys & Girls Club, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged. Call (501) 982-2245.

Weekend, Pages 31 on 04/18/2013

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