Elsewhere in entertainment and the arts:
Verizon SmackDown
The WWE SmackDown returns at 7 p.m. today to North Little Rock's Verizon Arena. Tickets are $17.50-$97.50; there's an eight-ticket limit. The lineup (subject to change) will include Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth "Mr. Money in the Bank" Rollins, Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family, and the Divas and Big Show. Call (800) 745-3000 or visit the website, ticketmaster.com.
Museum grants
The Department of Arkansas Heritage and the Arkansas Humanities Council have awarded Small Arkansas Museum grants of between $2,119 and $2,500 to 22 Arkansas organizations: the Desha County Museum in Dumas; the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History in Little Rock; Scott Connections in Scott; Cross County Historical Society in Wynne; Delta Gateway Museum in Blytheville; Mississippi County Historical & Genealogical Society in Osceola; the Tontitown Historical Museum in Tontitown; Faulkner County Museum in Conway; Ashley County Historical Society & Museum in Hamburg; the City of Monette Buffalo Island Museum; the Museum of the Arkansas Grand Prairie in Stuttgart; the Dallas County Museum in Fordyce; the Calico Rock Museum; the Arkansas Country Doctor Museum in Lincoln; the Walnut Ridge Flying School/Wings of Honor Museum; the Dermott Historical Museum; Johnson County Historical Society in Clarksville; Eureka Springs Historical Museum; the Altus Historical Society; the Central Delta Historical Society in Brinkley; the Fort Smith Heritage Foundation; and the Peel Compton Foundation in Bentonville.
Deadline for applications for the next funding cycle is May 1.
Applicants must be nonprofit museums or historical societies with annual operating budgets of up to $250,000 and at least one staff person -- paid or unpaid -- and the museum must be open to the public at least 90 days a year. Call (501) 320-5761.
Choir auditions
The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas Singers will hold auditions Saturday at Bentonville High School, 1801 S.E. J St., Bentonville. Singers should prepare a solo (preferably an oratorio, aria or art song; an accompanist will be provided); the audition will also include pitch memory exercises, intervals and major and minor scales.
The ensemble performs a cappella and orchestral-choral works and serves as the core of the larger SoNA Chorale, which performs choral masterworks with the orchestra.
Terry Hicks is the director. Rehearsals take place Sunday afternoons, generally in Bentonville. The concert schedule so far includes "A Very SoNA Christmas" with the orchestra Dec. 13 and a spring concert to be announced.
Email Hicks at thehicks14all@me.com to set up an audition time.
Pageant auditions
The Lantern Theatre and Conway Community Arts will hold auditions for Pageant Play by Matthew Wilkas and Mark Setlock at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Lantern Theatre, 1021 Van Ronkle St., Conway. Director Liz Parker will be casting three women and four men, 18 and older. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script.
Production dates are Nov. 14-16 and 21-23. Call (501) 450-6247 or email ConwayLanternTheatre@gmail.com.
Competition finalist
Caitlin Secrest, a 2014 graduate of Ouachita Baptist University and an Arkadelphia native, was one of eight finalists in the National Association of Teachers of Singing's 2014 National Music Theatre competition July 6 in Boston.
She didn't place among the top three -- the winner, Michael Maliakel of New York took home more than $5,000 in cash and prizes -- but she nearly followed in the footsteps of OBU alumnus Jacob Watson, who won the inaugural competition in 2012.
Memphis matinee
Citing popular demand, the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Sixth and Main streets, Little Rock, has added an additional "Ladies Day Out" performance of the musical Memphis at 2 p.m. Saturday. Ticketholders 21 and older can get complimentary mimosas. Those who show school spirit by wearing team colors will be entered into a raffle for a one-hour massage. Tickets are $55 and $40. Call (501) 378-0405 or visit therep.org.
Casting call
The Hot Springs Arts and Film Institute and The Hot Springs International Horror Film Festival will hold an open casting call for the short film Howl of a Good Time and Theater of Horror, "part movie, part play and part walk-through haunted attraction," 1-4 p.m. Saturday at the Central Theater, 1008 Central Ave., Hot Springs. The film will be shot during the Hot Springs Horror Film Festival, Oct. 23-26, and actors must be available Oct. 23-27. Theater of Horror, open throughout October, requires several actors for each of several male and female roles. Provide a current photo; parents and guardians of underage actors must be present for the auditions. For more information, email tam@hshff.com.
Style on 09/23/2014