The Weekend Ten: Top things to do, places to be

1 BALLOONS

If you’re curious about hot air balloons and how they work, head over to War Memorial Park for the Great War Memorial Balloon Race, where experts will have their colorful balloons on display. There will also be food trucks, children’s activities and a splash fountain for nonballoon fun.

Festival hours are 4-10 p.m. Friday, 6:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.

Admission, which is good for all three days, is $5 and children 12 and under are free. Parking is $5 per day. (501) 351-9478 or visit greatwarmemorialballoonrace.com. See story Page 5E.

2 BOYS

Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons are crooning to the rafters in Jersey Boys at Robinson Center Music Hall. Remaining performances of the Tony-winning musical are 2 and 7:30 p.m. today and Sunday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $38-$143.50. Call (501) 244-8800 or visit ticketmaster.com.

3 BIG

Grammy-winning country artists Little Big Town, the latest in the Magic Springs Water and Theme Park Concert Series, roll in to the Timberwood Amphitheater at 8 p.m. Saturday. Admission to the theme park, 1701 E. Grand Ave. in Hot Springs, is $49.99 in advance, $54.99 at the gate, $33.99 for ages 55 and older or those under 48 inches tall. For the concert, there’s free seating on the lawn, with reserved seating an additional $5 and VIP seating $10. Call (501) 624-0100 or visit magicsprings.com. See story Page 4E.

4 BUSTS

Pick up a new piece of art for the living room at the annual Arkansas Sculpture Invitational. The preview party for the sculpture-only show and sale is 6-9 p.m. Friday. The show itself will be 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday at the Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock.

Admission is free. Call (501) 991-3886.

5 BILL (SHAKESPEARE)

An old king gives up control of his kingdom to his two scheming daughters and finds himself helpless, homeless and descending into madness in William Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear. The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre production opens at 7:30 p.m. today, with the audience on stage with the actors at Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. Henson Keys plays the title role, with Rachael Fox as his “good” daughter, Cordelia, and Heather Dupree and Paige Reynolds as his ungrateful daughters, Goneril and Regan, respectively. Additional performances are at 7:30 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday and June 27 and 29 and 2 p.m. June 30. Tickets are $27; seating is limited to 200. Call (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012 or visitarkshakes.com.

The company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing moves this weekend to the Argenta Community Theatre, 405 Main St., North Little Rock, 7:30 p.m.

Friday-Saturday (admission is pay what you can) and the musical Oliver! will close out its run at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Friday (tickets are $27).

Puppets, fairies and actors run amok in Little Rock’s River Market for Shakespeare in the Park, 6 p.m. Sunday. The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre Bottom’s Dream production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is condensed and designed to appeal to families. Admission is $7, $5 for children 12 and under. Call (501) 375-2552.

6 BUTTERFLY

The Ozarks will echo with the sounds of Puccini, Donizetti and Gilbert and Sullivan as Opera in the Ozarks begins its 2013 season 7:30 p.m. Friday. This year’s productions are Madama Butterfly, The Pirates of Penzance and Elixir of Love as well as a special chamber music concert and a performance of Famous Opera Scenes. Performances will be spread between the 7:30 p.m. evening shows at Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony Theatre in Eureka Springs with 4 p.m. Sunday performances in July at The Arend Arts Center, 1901 SE J St., Bentonville. Tickets are $20-$25. Call (479) 253-8595 or visit opera.org.

7 BANJO

Southern Crossroads, a small-scale musical stitching together inspirational songs with the story of a Depression-era traveling family of singers and musicians putting on an impromptu show, is onstage through July 20 at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock - dinner at 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Sunday; show time is 7:45 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday (except matinees only, June 26 and July 3), 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.

8 BAUM

The Wicked Witch and some of the flying monkeys actually fly (so do Glinda and Dorothy) in the River Valley Arts Center’s production of musical The Wizard of Oz (John Kane’s stage adaptation for the Royal Shakespeare Company from the 1939 MGM classic, with songs of Harold Arlen and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, based on L. Frank Baum’s classic tale), 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and June 28-29 and 2 p.m. Sunday and June 30 at The Center for the Arts, Russellville High School, 2209 S. Knoxville Ave., Russellville. Tickets are $16, $12 for senior citizens over 60, students 13-17 (and Arts Center members), $8 for children 4-12, free for kids 3 and younger. A pre-opening party, 6-7 p.m. Friday in the center’s Black Box Theatre, will feature heavy hors d’oeuvres; the $25 ticket ($18 for ages 4-17, also free for kids 3 and younger), includes admission to the play. Call (479) 968-2452, e-mail artscenter@centurytel.net or visit arvartscenter.org.

9 BETSE, ETC.

Fiddlers Betse Ellis and Violet Hensley, the former a founding member of Kansas City “hillbilly riot” band The Wilders, the latter a 96-year-old fiddle maker known as the “Whittling Fiddler” and the “Stradivarius of the Ozarks” and the Arkansas Arts Council’s 2004 Arkansas Living Treasure, will put on a two-hour concert, 7 p.m. Saturday at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View. Doors open at 6. Tickets are $12, $7 for children. Call 870-269-3851 or (870) 269-3871 or visit ozarkfolkcenter.com.

10 BAWDY

Puppeteer-actors depict young adults and monsters coping with unemployment, relationships, lack of fulfillment and identity issues in a rundown part of New York in the musical Avenue Q (music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, book by Jeff Whitty), onstage at 7 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday through June 30 at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 601 Main St., Little Rock. Tickets are $30-$60 and, puppets notwithstanding, the show is considered not appropriate for children due to adult situations and language. Call (501) 378-0405 or visit therep.org/attend.

Weekend, Pages 33 on 06/20/2013

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