ENTERTAINMENT NOTES

Walton Arts Center unveils renovation in daylong gala

Thom Hall of Little Rock
Thom Hall of Little Rock

Fayetteville's newly renovated and expanded (at a cost of $23 million) Walton Arts Center will hold a grand reopening event Saturday, starting at 9:50 a.m. with remarks and a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tyson Plaza, West Avenue and Dickson Street, Fayetteville.

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Sam and Barbara Tobias of Mena

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Freda Cruse Hardison of Mountain View

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Reese Rowland of Little Rock

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Johnelle Hunt of Rogers

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Max Elbo of Eureka Springs

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Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center, shown here in this artist’s rendering, reopens this week after a $23 million renovation and expansion.

"Behind the Curtain," a family open house, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., will feature music, food and interactive activities; light snacks and drinks will be available.

The evening "Encore!" celebration, 6-10 p.m., suggested for audiences 14 and older, will feature in Baum Walker Hall performances by the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas; Memphis a cappella group DeltaCappella, winners of the center's VoiceJam 2015 competition; and Chicago's Mucca Pazza; jazz by Champian Fulton in the jazz lounge in McBride Studio; and dance music by The Silvershakers and the Fayetteville Jazz Collective in Starr Theater. There will be a special lighting ceremony unveiling the new atrium lobby at 5:45 on Tyson Plaza.

Admission to all events is free. Visit waltonartscenter.org/grand-reopening.

Chimney capers

A newlywed wife who believes her husband, who has been moonlighting as a department-store Santa so he can buy her a fur coat for Christmas but has told her he has been working late at the office, is having an affair with their neighbor -- and that's only the start of a series of farcical mistaken marital identities -- in Sorry! Wrong Chimney! by Jack Sharkey and Leo W. Sears, Tuesday through Dec. 31 at Murry s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock.

Doors and buffet open approximately 90 minutes before curtain: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, (12:30 matinees only, Wednesdays through Nov. 30), 12:30 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. (No shows Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.) Tickets are $31-$35, $23 for children 15 and younger; show only, $25 and $15. A special New Year's Eve show will include dinner and breakfast buffets, party favors and champagne at midnight. Call (501) 562-3131 or visit murrysdp.com.

Comic Unemployment

Pulaski Technical College Theater will stage the world premiere of Unemployment, a full-length comedy by Arkansas playwright and Pulaski Tech faculty member Werner Trieschmann, 2 p.m. Wednesday, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Friday in the Center for Humanities and Arts, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock.

Sheila Glasscock directs a cast of six students in the story of a young couple who, through a series of outlandish lies and confrontations, find everything in their neat suburban world has turned upside down.

Tickets are $7, $5 for students. Call (501) 812-2324 or visit pulaskitech.edu/CHARTS.

UCA trombones

Students of trombone professor Justin Cook and the University of Central Arkansas' Trombone Studio will perform at 3 p.m. today in the Recital Hall, Snow Fine Arts Center, UCA, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway, playing pieces written specifically for solo trombone and featuring American pieces and songs written for the Paris Conservatory in the 1940s. Admission is free. Call (501) 450-5752.

UCA's BearBones trombone choir will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, also in the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall. Admission is free. Call (501) 450-3333 or visit ucatrombones.com.

Nutcracker Tea

Western Arkansas Ballet will hold its annual Sugar Plum Fairy Tea 2:30-4:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Riverfront Glass Pavilion, 100 N. B St., Fort Smith. Tickets are $30, $300 for a reserved table of 10. The tea is held in conjunction with the ballet company's production of P.I. Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10 and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 11.

The event will feature Nutcracker and Christmas crafts; children can have their photos taken with the Sugar Plum Fairy, her Cavalier, Clara and other Nutcracker characters. Call (479) 785-0152 or visit waballet.org.

Arts honorees

The Arkansas Arts Council has announced the recipients of the 2017 Governor's Arts Awards, recognizing individuals and corporations for their outstanding contributions to the arts in Arkansas:

• Lifetime Achievement Award: Thom Hall, Little Rock

• Arts Community Development Award: Sam and Barbara Tobias, Mena

• Arts in Education Award: Art Porter Music Education Inc., Little Rock

• Corporate Sponsorship of the Arts Award: Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP, Little Rock

• Folklife Award: Freda Cruse Hardison, Mountain View

• Individual Artist Award: Reese Rowland, Little Rock

• Patron Award: Johnelle Hunt, Rogers

• Judges Recognition Award: Max Elbo, Eureka Springs.

The Arts Council turns nominations from the public over to an independent panel of arts professionals from around the state. Time, date and place for a spring ceremony honoring the recipients are to be announced; each honoree will receive original artwork created by Springdale artist Elizabeth James.

Style on 11/13/2016

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