Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:
THEATER: Out of 'The BOX'
A formerly incarcerated playwright and a nine-member company of formerly incarcerated performers, on a 10-city "End of Isolation Tour" in a converted school bus, perform "The BOX," billed as "an immersive, transformative play" set in solitary confinement cells, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday at the Arkansas Air and Military Museum, 4290 S. School Ave., Fayetteville. The performances are in partnership with DecARcerate and Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition.
Playwright and director Sarah Shourd, who was held in solitary confinement for more than 400 days as an American political prisoner in Iran, based her script on correspondence with incarcerated people; the setting is the solitary unit of an unnamed prison, where men are confined 23 hours a day to 6-by-9-foot cells.
Tickets are $35-$50, $20 for students and senior citizens. Visit tinyurl.com/yn4mmuhd.
MUSIC: 'Peculiar' performance
Singer-songwriter-storyteller Willi Carlisle puts on a one-person show, "Peculiar, Missouri: A Love Story in Folksongs," 8 p.m. Friday at Fenix Gallery at Mt. Sequoyah Center, 150 N. Skyline Drive, Fayetteville. The show is in conjunction with the gallery's current exhibition, titled "Queer," on display through July 30. Seating is limited. Tickets are $15. Visit FenixArts.org.
Astronomer Phil Plait will discuss the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse Wednesday July 20 at the Ron Robinson Theatre in Little Rock's River Market. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
ASTRONOMY: Eclipse explained
Astronomer Phil Plait will discuss the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse — viewable across much of Arkansas — for "Phil Plait Presents Eclipse Across America," 7 p.m. Wednesday, at the Ron Robinson Theatre, 100 River Market Ave., Little Rock. It's a joint presentation of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Arkansas Space Grant Consortium and the Central Arkansas Library System. Plait, who spent a decade working on Hubble Space Telescope data and promoting science from a half dozen different NASA astronomical satellites, produces a blog, "Bad Astronomy," that covers scientific events on Earth all the way out to the edge of the observable universe. Admission is free. Plait will sign copies of his books after the presentation. Visit cals.org/event/phil-plait-presents-eclipse-across-america.
HISTORY: '761st' on screen
The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 503 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, screens the documentary "761st," about the first unit to enlist Black American soldiers to operate armored vehicles, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. It's part of the museum's "Movies at MacArthur" series. Admission, popcorn and beverages are free. Call (501) 376-4602.
MAGIC: 'Wacky Magic'
"Tommy Terrific's Wacky Magic Show" sails into the North Little Rock Public Library's "Oceans of Possibilities" Summer Reading Program, 10 a.m. Tuesday at the William F. Laman Children's Library, 2801 Orange St., North Little Rock. The show is aimed at children 10 and younger; admission is free. Call (501) 758-1720 or visit NLRLibrary.org.
ETC.: Singers seek director
The Arkansas Chamber Singers' board of directors is mounting a formal search process to replace the ensemble's artistic director and conductor, John Erwin, who is leaving the Chamber Singers podium after 22 years. Details about the position and the application process are at ar-chambersingers.org/artistic-director-search.html. Erwin, who also taught for many years at the University of Central Arkansas, was the ensemble's fourth director, following Rosella Duerksen, John Yarrington and founder Barbara Levy.
Arts awards
Sept. 9 is the deadline to nominate people, organizations and businesses for the Arkansas Arts Council's 2023 Governor's Arts Awards, via arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-art-council/aac-home. The annual program recognizes outstanding contributions to the arts in Arkansas. An independent panel of arts professionals sifts nominations from the public in these categories: Arts Community Development, Arts in Education, Corporate Sponsorship of the Arts, Folklife, Individual Artist, Patron and Lifetime Achievement. A spring ceremony will honor the winners. Nominees must be current Arkansas residents or Arkansas-based corporations or organizations. For more information, email cheri.leffew@arkansas.gov.