Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:
TODAY
Potluck and poetry
For the October Potluck & Poison Ivy program, 7 p.m. today at The Joint, 301 Main St., North Little Rock, poet and publisher Bryan Borland, founder of North Little Rock-based Sibling Rivalry Press, will read poems by Karl Tierney, a graduate of the University of Arkansas' master's program in creative writing who in 1995 jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge after being rejected from a trial AIDS-treatment study that would have extended his life. Doors open at 6. Tickets, $35, include dinner. Call (501) 225-5600, email info@potluckandpoisonivy.org or visit potluckandpoisonivy.org.
Poets in residence
Poets Jessica Jacobs and Nickole Brown, Murphy Visiting Writers and a married couple residing in Asheville, N.C., will read from and discuss their work at 7:30 p.m. today in Reves Recital Hall, Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Ave, Conway. A reception and book signing will follow in the nearby Trieschmann Gallery. Sponsor is the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language. Admission is free. Their weeklong residency will include three writing workshops, one-on-one meetings with Hendrix students. Call (501) 450-4597 or email vanaman@hendrix.edu.
Music and meteorites
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Wind Ensemble hosts a concert, with associated astronomy lecture and a meteorite display, 7:30 p.m. today in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, Fine Arts Building, UALR, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock. The program, titled "To Boldly Go," includes Take Off by Daniel Weinberger, One Moment to Eternity by Stephen Melillo, Eternal Father, Strong to Save by John B. Dykes, All Stars Are Love by Steven Bryant and Open Space by Brian Balmages. At 7 p.m., Darrell Heath, host of The Night Sky, a monthly astronomy program on the university television channel (ualr.edu/tv/night-sky) will give a pre-concert astronomy lecture; the physics and astronomy department will display a collection of meteorites. Admission is free. Call (501) 569-3294.
Lyric Dracula
The Ozark Arts Council's production of Dracula, adapted by William McNulty from Bram Stoker's novel, will be onstage, 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and on Halloween (Oct. 31) and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Lyric Theatre, 113 W. Rush St., Harrison. Tickets are $12, $10 students and senior citizens, $8 chidlren. Call (870) 391-3504 or visit ticketpeak.co/lyrictheatre/events or ozarkartscouncil.org.
FRIDAY
Musical Matilda
An extraordinary little girl with extraordinary powers overcomes obstacles at home and at school while helping her teacher learn a powerful lesson about love in Matilda the Musical (music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, book by Dennis Kelly), which the Foundation of Arts stages, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and Monday and 28 and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Forum Theater, 115 E. Monroe Ave., Jonesboro. Tickets are $17 and $15; $15 and $13 for senior citizens, military and Arkansas State University students, faculty and staff; $8 for children 12 and younger. Call (870) 935-2726 or visit foajonesboro.org.
SATURDAY
Gatlins at Forrest City
The Gatlin Brothers perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the East Arkansas Community College Fine Arts Center, 1700 Newcastle Road, Forrest City, part of the college's 2019-20 Spotlight Series. Tickets are $39. Call (870) 633-4480, Extension 352, or visit EACC.edu.
Bluegrass band
Grammy-winning bluegrass fiddler Becky Buller and the Becky Buller Band perform twice on Saturday at the Ozark Folk Center State Park, 1032 Park Ave., Mountain View: a 2 p.m. acoustic set on the Blacksmith Stage in the Craft Village and at 7 p.m. at Ozark Highlands Theater. The shows are part of the center's 37th annual Bean Fest and Championship Outhouse Races, Friday and Saturday. Tickets to the evening show are $12; all-day passes are $19.50. Visit OzarkFolkCenter.Ticketleap.com. For more information, call (870) 269-3851 or visit OzarkFolkCenter.com.
Chili in Camden
The Camden Connections Foundation hosts the third annual Great Camden Chili Festival on Saturday, Washington Street in downtown Camden. Pots start simmering early in the morning; public tasting of teams' best recipes begins at 2 p.m. Admission is free; tasting tickets, $1, include chili and beverages. Awards go to first, second and third place overall, People's Choice and a Showmanship Award for best booth presentation at 6. The event also features a children's area on the Farmer's Bank parking lot; entertainment starts at 4 p.m. on the Postmaster's Grill Stage. Call (870) 807-6060 or visit facebook.com/camdenconnectionsfoundation.
Monticello concert
The University of Arkansas at Monticello Chamber Choir and Music Theatre Workshop presents a dinner pops concert, 6 p.m. Saturday in the Green Room, Gibson University Center, UAM, U.S. 425, Monticello. The program includes W.S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan's Trial by Jury and songs from Stephen Sondheim's musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Tickets are $30. Call (870) 460-1060.
Smoke in El Dorado
Barbecuers vie for a total of $20,000 in cash prizes in the Smoke on the Square grilling competition, part of the Smoke on the Square Fall Festival, 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday on the El Dorado Courthouse Square, centering on Main Street. The competition is in four categories: chicken, ribs, brisket and pork butt, plus sauces; a Backyard Battle contest with chicken and ribs; or a People's Choice Pork contest. The product will be available for sale to the attendees. It's a Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned event; the winner will receive an invitation to the Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn. Visit smokeonthewaterbbq.com.
Other food vendors will sell carnival and festival fare. A $20 wristband allows all-day admission into the Kids Fun Zone. Families can "Strut on the Square," a children-and-pets costume contest sponsored by the Union County Animal Protection Society. Pumpkins will be the featured flavor in Pie Wars pie-baking and -eating contests. There will be music by Anna Vinson, the lead singer of Mustang Mafia, and tribute bands Escape (Journey) and The Breeze (Lynryd Skynyrd). A Budweiser Build-A-Bar will also be available with bar seats and TV screens.
Sponsors are Main Street El Dorado and Murphy USA. Admission is free; there will be a charge for some festival activities. Tickets for the VIP Concert Experience are $25 and include access to the VIP room and pit area for the concerts. Call (870) 862-4747 or visit the Main Street El Dorado Facebook page.
SUNDAY
'Devilish Delights'
Violinist Meredith Maddox Hicks and pianist Julie Cheek perform a program of Halloween-inspired "spooktacular" music, titled "Devilish Delights":
• 3 p.m. Sunday at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 228 Spring St., Hot Springs, under the auspices of the Hot Springs Music Festival. Admission is free but the festival will accept donations to its Mark Ayers Scholarship, which funds summer-festival student apprentices. Call (501) 623-1653, Extension 16, or email lynn@hotmusic.org.
• 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 4106 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock, part of the church's Festival of the Senses series. A reception follows in the church's parish hall. Admission is free. Call (501) 753-3578 or email baxternan@aol.com.
The program: the Violin Sonata No. 21 in e minor, K. 304, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens; "Transylvanian Lullaby" from the Young Frankenstein film score by John Morris; Escualo by Astor Piazzolla; Graceful Ghost Rag by William Bolcom; and "The Devil's Dance" from The Witches of Eastwick score by John Williams.
Horns aplenty
Steven Cohen, a New York-based freelance orchestral, Broadway and chamber-music horn player, will be the featured guest artist for the University of Central Arkansas Horn Event, noon-7 p.m. Sunday in the Recital Hall, Snow Fine Arts Center at UCA, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway.
The daylong event culminates in a 6 p.m. public concert featuring Cohen, UCA faculty member Brent Shires and the UCA Horn Ensemble, performing works by Samuel Scheidt, Daniel Baldwin and Bruce Broughton. The UCA Community School of Music is providing a light pre-concert meal.
Cohen will also play, with pianist Terrie Shires, works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Eugene Bozza, Olivier Messaien, James Naigus and Johannes Brahms, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Reves Recital Hall at Hendrix College. Admission is free.
The event is open to students, band directors and amateur and professional horn players. Sponsors are the Arkansas Horn Club, UCA Horn Studio, UCA Department of Music, UCA Community School of Music and the International Horn Society. Call (501) 450-5768, email bshires@uca.edu or visit the Facebook event page, facebook.com/events/469465800568290.
Weekend on 10/24/2019