The U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers' Chorus will perform their "Let Freedom Ring" program in several Arkansas concerts this week (admission to all concerts is by free ticket):
• 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jones Performing Arts Center, Ouachita Baptist University, 410 Ouachita St., Arkadelphia. Call (870) 245-5555.
• 7 p.m. Saturday, Heber Springs High School Performing Arts Center, 1100 W. Pine St., Heber Springs. Call (501) 882-8855 or visit asub.ticketleap.com/usafb.
• 3 p.m. Oct. 27, Van Buren Fine Arts Center, 2001 Pointer Trail, Van Buren. Call (479) 471-4017.
And the U.S. Army Field Band offers a concert titled "This We'll Defend," 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Woodlands Auditorium, 1101 DeSoto Blvd., Hot Springs Village. Admission is by free ticket, limit four per order. Call (501) 922-4231.
Home from the Road
Singer-songwriter, producer, poet and Hot Springs native Linda Lowe marks the 30th anniversary of Women in the Round on the Road, a concert series she founded in 1990 to provide "a smoke-free, family-oriented, venue with a focus on songs and writers, rather than on selling alcohol," as well as the release of her latest CD, Barbwire Heart, 7 p.m. Monday at Low Key Arts, 118 Arbor St. Hot Springs. Doors open at 6:30. Tickets are $25. Call (501) 454-0323.
Bollywood stage show
Taj Express: A Bollywood Musical Revue, described in a news release as "a high-energy celebration of India's pop music, Bollywood culture and deep traditions" via film, dance and music, takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. Tickets are $30-$40, $10 for children, free for UCA students. Call (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012 or visit uca.edu/Reynolds.
Inflatable installation
El Dorado's Murphy Arts District is partnering with Bentonville's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art on an exhibit titled "AstroZone: An Interactive Art Experience," featuring large inflatable pieces in different shapes and colors by Chicago-based artist Claire Helen Ashley, Feb. 1-April 4 in the First Financial Music Hall, 101 E. Locust St., El Dorado.
Ashley will hold a special presentation on the exhibition in the hall at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Admission is free.
And Raven Cook, Crystal Bridges' community liaison, is seeking 16 paid participants for a special performance on the exhibition's opening night. No experience is required. Email her at raven.cook@crystalbridges.org for information and to sign up.
Blues at Blue Lion
Canadian soul-bluesman Matt Andersen, touring in support of his new album, Halfway Home by Morning (True North Records), performs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Blue Lion at UAFS Downtown, 101 N. Second St., Fort Smith. Monica Rizzio is the opening act. Tickets are $25. Call (479) 788-7300 or visit tinyurl.com/yycvrdnq.
Japanese dance
Japanese butoh dancer Ken Mai performs an excerpt from his new solo, "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death," as part of an evening of butoh dances, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Fenix Gallery, 16 W. Center St., Fayetteville. Lela Besom and Explorative Dancers will open the show; a dance party with DJ Sparkles follows at 8:30. Doors open at 7. Admission is $10 at the door. Visit facebook.com/fenixfayettevilleart.
Butoh is a dance form developed that Tatsumi Hijakata and Kazuo Ohno developed in the 1960s in Japan, employing elements that include "imagination, transformation, everyday life, street life, truth, violence, eroticism, connection to the body's inner world, Japanese body, and nature," according to a news release.
Mai will perform his work in its entirety at the Helsinki Butoh Festival in November.
Rogers auditions
Arkansas Public Theatre will hold auditions, based on readings from the script, for A Tuna Christmas by Ed Howard, Joe Sears and Jaston Williams, 7 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Victory Theater, 116 S. Second St., Rogers. An audition packet, including audition times, scenes, character descriptions and a rehearsal schedule, is available for download at arkansaspublictheatre.org. Doors open at 6:30. Callbacks, if necessary, will Nov. 5. Production dates are Dec. 13-15 and 19-22. Call (479) 631-8988.
Student poets sought
Nov. 1 is the deadline for Arkansas high schools to register for the Arkansas Arts Council's Poetry Out Loud, a statewide poetry recitation competition. The competition is open to public, private and charter schools and home-schooled students in grades 9-12. Call (501) 324-9769 or visit arkansasarts.org.
Competitions take place at the individual school level throughout the fall and culminate in the state-level competition March 14. The state champion gets the opportunity to compete in the National Poetry Out Loud event in Washington for a prize of $20,000.
Nonprofit budgets
The Arkansas Arts Council offers a workshop on nonprofit budgeting, titled "Develop the Budget You Need," 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Department of Arkansas Heritage, 1100 North St., Little Rock. Grant-writing consultant Brenda Mauldin will lead the workshop, part of Arts Council's GetSmART! Learning Series. Attendees should take calculators or a cellphone calculator app and their organizations' figures. Cost, $15, includes lunch. Oct. 28 is the deadline to register online at eventbrite.com/e/develop-the-budget-you-need-tickets-75191015351. For information, email janet.perkins@arkansas.gov.
At Murry's in 2020
Murry's Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock, opens its 2020 season Jan. 14-Feb. 8 with On Golden Pond by Ernest Thompson.
The rest of the lineup:
• Feb. 11-March 14: Things My Mother Taught Me by Katherine DiSavino
• March 24-April 25: Perfect Wedding by Robin Hawdon
• April 28-May 23: Deliver Us From Mama (Arkansas premiere) by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten
• May 27-July 3: Menopause the Musical by Jeanie Linders
• July 8-Aug. 15: Shrek the Musical, music by Jeanine Tesori, book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
• Aug. 18-Sept. 12: Squabbles by Marshall Karp
• Sept. 15-Oct. 10: A Comedy of Tenors, Ken Ludwig's sequel to Lend Me a Tenor
• Oct. 14-Nov. 14, 2020: The 39 Steps, original concept and production of a four-actor version by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon, rewritten by Patrick Barlow, adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan and the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film.
• Nov. 20-Dec. 31, 2020: The Little Mermaid, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman, additional lyrics by Glenn Slater, book by Doug Wright, based on the Disney animated film and the story by Hans Christian Andersen.
Season tickets are $180. Individual tickets are $35-$39 (dinner and show), $25 children 15 and younger and show-only. Call (501) 562-3131 or visit murrysdp.com.
Season of Hope
Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre's "reimagined," one-hour touring production of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet opens the Southwest Arkansas Arts Council's 2019-20 Performing Arts Series, 7 p.m. Tuesday at Hempstead Hall, University of Arkansas at Hope, 2500 S. Main St., Hope. Tickets are $20.
The rest of the lineup (except as noted, all shows, 7 p.m. at Hempstead Hall):
• Dec. 13: A cappella group M-Pact's White Christmas Holiday Show
• Feb. 21: Ice Creative Entertainment's Cinderella and Peter Pan on Ice
• May 2: The Four Tops, 8 p.m.
• May 28: The Glenn Miller Orchestra, 7:30 p.m.
Season passes are $99 and $145 through Tuesday. Individual tickets are $20-$75. Call (870) 722-8565 or visit hempsteadhall.com.
Style on 10/20/2019