ENTERTAINMENT NOTES

'Champion Trees of Arkansas' opens Tuesday

Drawings by Linda Williams Palmer — including Bald Cypress (above) — are on display as part of “Champion Trees of Arkansas” in the Windgate Gallery, Center for Humanities and Arts, at University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock.
Drawings by Linda Williams Palmer — including Bald Cypress (above) — are on display as part of “Champion Trees of Arkansas” in the Windgate Gallery, Center for Humanities and Arts, at University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock.

"Champion Trees of Arkansas," a collection of drawings by Linda Williams Palmer, goes on display Tuesday in the Windgate Gallery, Center for Humanities and Arts, University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, in North Little Rock.

A 5-8 p.m. Friday reception will include a screening of the AETN documentary Champion Trees in the CHARTS Theater at 5 p.m., and by a gallery talk after with the artist at 6:30. Palmer will sign copies of her book, Champion Trees of Arkansas: An Artist's Journey, which will be for sale (cash or checks only). Saxophonist Barry McVinney and pianist Ron Hall will perform.

The exhibit will remain up through July 27. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Admission to the exhibit and reception are free. Call (501) 812-2715 or email dwood@uaptc.edu.

'The hills are alive ...'

A new touring production of The Sound of Music (music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse) will be onstage, 7 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, 1:30 and 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. May 20 at Fayetteville's Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St. The show is the final production in the center's Procter & Gamble Broadway Series. Tickets are $36-$80. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit the website, waltonartscenter.org.

Chorus pops concert

The Conway Men's Chorus and a subsidiary barbershop quartet will offer songs -- from sacred and patriotic to classical and popular -- at its spring pops concert, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. Doors open at 6:30. Admission and parking are free. Call (501) 327-5151 or visit conwaymenschorus.org.

Dance concert

Fort Smith-based Western Arkansas Ballet's 32nd annual Spring Dance Concert showcases the work of the academy and pre-professional company's classes, 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Van Buren Fine Arts Center, 2001 Pointer Trail, Van Buren. Tickets are $5 (cash only), maximum $20 per household. Call (479) 785-0152.

The company will also hold open auditions for company positions for its 2018-19 season May 24 at its studio, 4701 Grand Ave., Fort Smith -- 4-5:30 p.m. for ages 11-13, 6-8 p.m. for dancers 14 and older. There is a $25 audition fee. Arrive 30 minutes before class time to register. A list of requirements and dress-code specifications is available at waballet.org/company/auditions. Call (479) 785-0152.

Heritage posters

Free commemorative posters marking May as Arkansas Heritage Month and featuring a photograph by Steven Hunter depicting Cherokee Prairie Natural Area in Franklin County in full bloom, are available through the Department of Arkansas Heritage website, tinyurl.com/DAHposter, or by calling (501) 324-9150.

Summer operas

A company of 42 singers from 17 states and approximately 30 instrumental musicians will gather for Opera in the Ozarks, a summer music festival and training program for emerging opera professionals. Opera in the Ozarks offers 22 fully staged and costumed opera performances during its 2018 summer season, its 68th, June 22-July 20.

Nineteen will be in repertory at the Inspiration Point Fine Arts Center, 16311 U.S. 62 West, west of Eureka Springs. Opening night, 7:30 p.m. June 22, will feature Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss Jr. (sung in English), with additional performances at 7:30 p.m. June 27, 30, July 3, 13 and 18.

Giacomo Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, sung in Italian with English supertitles) will be onstage, 7:30 p.m. June 23, 28, July 5, 7, 11, 14 and 19.

And the company premiere performances of Douglas Moore's English-language opera The Ballad of Baby Doe will be at 7:30 p.m. June 26, 29, July 2, 6, 12 and 20.

There will be three 3 p.m. matinees at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, 214 S. Main St., Springdale: July 1: Il Barbiere di Siviglia; July 8: Die Fledermaus; and July 15: The Ballad of Baby Doe.

The festival will also include a 7:30 p.m. July 10 "Broadway Cabaret" at Eureka Springs' Basin Park Hotel; a 7:30 p.m. July 16 chamber music concert at the Eureka Springs Auditorium; a selection of opera scenes at 7:30 p.m. July 17 at Inspiration Point; and, at 5 p.m. July 18, "A Taste of Opera" at the Crescent Hotel.

The season also includes opera events and outreach productions at various Northwest Arkansas venues. Among them:

• June 16 in Bentonville at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art's fourth Annual Garden Party (part of Walton Arts Center's Artosphere Festival)

• Free or low-cost public performances of Cinderella, including music by Rossini and Jules Massenet, conceived and directed by David Ward, including one at "Opera in the Garden," 7-9 p.m. June 5 at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks in Fayetteville, and at area libraries and community venues, to be announced.

Three-ticket packages for Inspiration Point performances are $70 and $80; for the Springdale performances, $60. Individual tickets to mainstage productions are $25 and $30, $10 for children and students with valid ID. Call (479) 253-8595 or visit opera.org.

Starrlight series

Saxophonist and composer George Brooks and his ensemble ASPADA, which bridges jazz and Indian classical music, opens the 2018-19 Starrlight Jazz Series on Oct. 12 in the Starr Theatre at Fayetteville's Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St.

The rest of the lineup:

• Dec. 1: John Patitucci Electric Guitar Quartet

• Feb. 8: Alfredo Rodriguez and Pedtiro Martinez Duo (Cuban-born pianist and percussionist)

• March 15: Peter Bernstein (guitarist), Larry Fouldings (organist) & Bill Stewart (drummer) Trio

• April 19: Benny Green Trio with Veronica Swift.

Five-show packages are $130 for stadium seating, $215 for cabaret seating. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit the website, tinyurl.com/WACjazz18. Single tickets will be go on sale this summer.

Jazz Celebration

The Arkansas Jazz Heritage Foundation will hold its Jazz Celebration, including the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Ceremony, 8-11 p.m. June 18 in the ballroom of the Capital Hotel, 111 W. Markham St., Little Rock.

Following the installation of the 2018 inductees -- Bob Boyd, Brian Brown, Red Holloway, Rose Marie McCoy, Snub Mosley, Nan Maureen Renaud, George Ryan and Henry Shead -- will be performances by guest artists (some of whom have been or will be inducted into the Hall of Fame) with a combo including 2014 Hall of Fame inductee Joe Vick (upright bass), Julia Buckingham (keyboards), Sim Flora (trombone, flute) and Bryan Withers (drums).

Admission is adults-only (with cash bar); seating in the ballroom is limited to approximately 100. Tickets are $20 (cash/check at the door), waived (and table-seating reserved) for current/former/new foundation members who submit 2018-19 dues ($20) by June 1. Email info@arjazz.org or visit arjazz.org.

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A touring production of The Sound of Music will be onstage this week at Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center.

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A photograph by Steven Hunter depicting Cherokee Prairie Natural Area in Franklin County in full bloom is the basis for commemorative posters marking May as Arkansas Heritage Month.

Style on 05/13/2018

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