Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:
TODAY
Improv for Teens
The William F. Laman Public Library Main Branch, 2801 Orange St., North Little Rock, hosts "Improv Theatre for Teens," 4 p.m. today. Members of the library's Teen Center staff will help 12- to 18-year-olds put together skits and sketches. Admission is free and there is no advance registration required. Call (501) 758-1720 or email robin.campbell@lamanlibrary.org.
Universal language
Singer/actor Robert Edwin will give a lecture and perform at 7:30 p.m. today in McBeth Recital Hall, Mabee Fine Arts Center at Ouachita Baptist University, 410 Ouachita St., Arkadelphia. The lecture-performance, titled "Is Music Really a Universal Language?," explores Edwin's career as a voice teacher, professional singer and actor. It's part of OBU's Birkett Williams Endowed Lecture Series. Admission is free. Call (870) 245-5134 or email secrestj@obu.edu.
Visiting playwright
Naomi Wallace, Hendrix College's Murphy Visiting Playwright, will read from and discuss her work at 7:30 p.m. today in Reves Recital Hall at Hendrix, 1600 Washington Ave., Conway. A reception and book-signing follows in the Trieschmann Gallery. Sponsor is the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language. Admission is free. Call (501) 450-4597 or email vanaman@hendrix.edu.
ASU art exhibit
"Nexus: Selections from the Permanent Collection," works — including six large scale prints by Marisol Escobar and Robert Rauschenberg and works by Alexander Calder, Joan Miro, Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso — donated to the Arkansas State University Collection from the 1960s through the end of last year, goes on display with a 5-6:30 p.m. reception today at the Bradbury Art Museum at ASU's Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro. The exhibition remains up through April 9. Museum hours are noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, noon-7 p.m. Thursday, noon-5 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. Call (870) 972-3687 or visit BradburyArtMuseum.org.
Small Works tour
The touring 2020 Small Works on Paper exhibition, 39 Arkansans' artworks that are no larger than 18 by 24 inches, opens at 8 a.m. today in the Student Commons Building, National Park College, 101 College Drive, Hot Springs. It'll be up through March 27; gallery hours are 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Admission is free. Call (501) 324-9767 or email cheri.leffew@arkansas.gov.
FRIDAY
Historic house
The Baker House, 501 Main St., North Little Rock, is the site of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program's Sandwiching in History tour, noon Friday. The Queen Anne-style house, constructed by A.E. Colburn and Henry Glenn from 1897-99, was the property of the Baker family from 1916-77. After a 1980s restoration it was a bed-and-breakfast during the 1990s and is now a boutique hotel. Admission is free. Call (501) 324-9150 or email info@arkansaspreservataion.com.
Architects' sketches
The "AMRtists Drawing Exhibition," more than 400 quick sketches by architects and designers at AMR Architects Inc., goes on display with a 5 p.m. reception Friday at Thea Foundation, 401 Main St., North Little Rock. Admission is free. Sponsors are Lost Forty Brewing, Heritage Catering, Mountain Valley Spring Water and Colonial Wines & Spirits, all of which are providing in-kind support for the reception. The exhibition will be on display through March 27; gallery hours are 9 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. All of the drawings will be for sale during the reception; all of the proceeds benefit the foundation's statewide programming. Call (501) 379-9512, email amanda@theafoundation.org or visit theafoundation.org.
SATURDAY
Crossroad Festival
The third annual Crossroad Festival, 1—8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, 701 S. Main St., Pine Bluff, focuses on contributions by area women with an overarching theme of family ties. Sessions include "Family Stories and Family Movie Maker," 1-3 p.m.; "Women of the Arkansas Delta," 3:30-5 p.m., a look at the Pine Bluff Women's Center's 1976 oral history and photography project; and "Gospel Women in Harmony: A Legacy of Female Quartets in Pine Bluff" — 6:30-8:30 p.m., with Jimmy Cunningham of the Delta Rhythm & Bayous Alliance leading an exploration of the tradition of female gospel singers in Jefferson County and Southeast Arkansas and with performances by area gospel groups the Spiritualettes, Sweet Melody and the Williams Singers. Admission to all festival events is free. Call (870) 536-3375 or visit asc701.org.
Cherry Blossom Fest
Wine, silent and live auctions, cultural demonstrations, Japanese-inspired heavy hors d'oeuvres, Japanese traditional dance; a kimono fashion show; koto and dance performances; interactive cultural demonstrations; a sake tasting and Japanese cultural displays are all part of the Hot Springs National Park Sister City Foundation's third annual Cherry Blossom Festival, 6 p.m. Saturday in the second-floor community room at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 228 Spring St., Hot Springs. Tickets are $40, $10 for students 11-18, free for children 10 and younger. Proceeds benefit the Sister City Student Scholarship Fund, which helps support the next student delegation visit to Hanamaki, Japan, in June. Call (501) 545-6960 or visit tinyurl.com/uv8hq77.
Archaeology Day
Archaeological-type activities for adults and children, designed to inform and broaden interest and appreciation for Arkansas' archaeological resources, will be on tap for "Archaeology Day at Hot Springs National Park," 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday on the lawn of the Arlington Hotel and Spa, 239 Central Ave., Hot Springs. It's part of Arkansas Archeology Month, in partnership with the Arkadelphia Research Station of the Arkansas Archeological Survey, the Ouachita Chapter of the Arkansas Archeological Society and Ouachita National Forest. Admission is free. Call (501) 620-6715 or email tom_hill@nps.gov.
Saturday star-gazing
American Indian tribes' tales about constellations — of three hunters tracking the great bear across the sky, seven sisters foraging for a mystery plant and the great dog standing guard at the gate to the otherworld — form the backdrop to an evening of star-gazing, 7-8 p.m. Saturday at Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park, 490 Toltec Mounds Road, Scott. Admission is $4, $3 for children 6-12, free for kids under 6. Call (501) 961-9442 or visit arkansasstateparks.com/parks/toltec-mounds-archeological-state-park.
SUNDAY
Coterie concert
Coterie Award winners perform for the Little Rock Musical Coterie's monthly meeting, 2 p.m. Sunday at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, 4823 Woodlawn Ave., Little Rock. Admission is free. Call (501) 350-8988. Pianist Alexander Rupert performs the first movement of the Piano Sonata No. 1, op.2, No.1, by Ludwig van Beethoven and the Mazurka, op.7, No. 2, and a Nocturne, op.37, by Frederic Chopin. Baritone Kyle Forehand will sing "Come Paride Vezzoso" from L'Elisir d'Amore by Gaetano Donizetti; two songs from Celebri Stornelli E Canti Populari Toscani by Vincenzo Billi; four of the Songs of Travel by Ralph Vaughn-Williams; the aria "O du mein holder Abendstern" from Tannhauser by Richard Wagner; and "Oh, Stay My Love, Forsake Me Not" by Sergei Rachmaninoff. And baritone Evan Moore will sing "It Is Enough" from Elijah by Felix Mendelssohn.
Weekend on 03/05/2020