ENTERTAINMENT NOTES: Bluegrass, fried chicken are festival’s features at Ozark Folk Center park

The Po' Ramblin' Boys headline Friday-Saturday shows at the Ozark Folk Center. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
The Po' Ramblin' Boys headline Friday-Saturday shows at the Ozark Folk Center. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)

Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:

Bluegrass & fried bird

Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View will host the Bluegrass & Fried Chicken Festival, Friday and Saturday.

The music festival will feature shows each night and a Saturday matinee at the park's 1,000-seat indoor Ozark Highlands Theater; the Saturday night show will feature area and nationally touring bluegrass bands. Headliners The Po' Ramblin' Boys and Fast Track will each perform two sets on Friday and Saturday.

Mountain View youth bands include Sylamore Special and Ozark Legacy, featuring 16-year-old multi-state fiddle champion Mary Parker and 17-year-old national banjo champion Lillyanne McCool. Veteran Mountain View musicians include multi-instrumentalist Pam Setser; mandolinists Brad Apple and Sam Cobb; and Redmond Keisler.

Tickets are $25 for Friday night, $35 for Saturday. Visit OzarkFolkCenter.Ticketleap.com. Sponsors are Stone Bank and the Arkansas Arts Council. Concert ticket holders get free admission to the at the Ozark Folk Center Craft Village, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The park's Skillet Restaurant will serve fried chicken throughout the festival, including a dinner buffet, 4-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and a chicken-and-waffles breakfast buffet, 8-11 a.m. Saturday. Cost is $10 for breakfast, $12 for dinner. Special chicken items will also be available in the Ozark Highlands Theater concession stand.

Singing '9 to 5'

The Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, 701 S. Main St., Pine Bluff, stages "9 to 5 The Musical" (songs by Dolly Parton, book by Patricia Resnick, based on her screenplay for the 1980 movie), 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Aug. 13-14 and Aug. 20-21 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15 and Aug. 22 in its Catherine M. Bellamy Theater. Masks are required for all attendees. Sponsor is Simmons Bank. Tickets are $25, $20 for members and people 65 and older. Call (870) 536-3375 or visit asc701.org.

Shakespeare auditions

The Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas will hold auditions for William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" Aug. 15-17 by appointment only at center's Art Works facility, 627 S. Main St., Pine Bluff. Auditioners 18 and older should familiarize themselves with Shakespearean speech and prepare a one- to two-minute monologue from the play. Register and find additional resources at asc701.org/auditions. Callbacks are scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 19. Production dates are Oct. 22-24 and 29-31. Martin Carty directs.

'Artist's Journey'

“To Want Nothing” by Danielle Hatch is part of the “Resilient Together: The Artist’s Journey through Liminal Space” exhibition at Fenix Arts in Fayetteville. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
“To Want Nothing” by Danielle Hatch is part of the “Resilient Together: The Artist’s Journey through Liminal Space” exhibition at Fenix Arts in Fayetteville. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)

"Resilient Together: The Artist's Journey Through Liminal Space," works by nine artists "who committed to journey together as a group to create a collective body of work," according to a news release, opens with a reception 5-8 p.m. Friday at Fenix Arts, 150 Skyline Drive, Millar Lodge, Fayetteville. The reception will feature performances by musician Ozark Daughte (Traci Rae Manos) and artist Danielle Hatch. The exhibition will remain up through Sept. 25. Gallery hours are 3-7 p.m. Friday, noon-7 p.m. Saturday. Admission to the reception and the gallery are free Visit Facebook.com/fenixfayetteville.

Community concert

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra previews its 2021-22 season in a free concert "for the community," 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16 at Little Rock's Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. The program, titled "Celebrate Little Rock Together!" will include the final movement from Antonin Dvorak's "Symphony No. 9," "From the New World"; pianist Karen Walwyn performing the "Piano Concerto in One Movement" by Florence Price; singer Genine LaTrice Perez performing songs from an Aretha Franklin-focused pops concert; and the Overture to "Candide" by Leonard Bernstein. Geoffrey Robson will conduct.

Sponsor is the Stella Boyle Smith Trust. A very limited number of tickets are available, on a first-come, first-served basis — request them by Aug. 13 at arkansassymphony.org/together. Any tickets remaining after Aug. 13 will be given away on the Robinson Center Performance Hall steps at 10 a.m. Sept. 2.

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