Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:
THEATER: Fayetteville season I
Fayetteville's Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St., opens its six-show 2023-24 Procter & Gamble Broadway Series from Sept. 12-17 with "Six" (music, book and lyrics by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss), a musical in the form of a pop concert focusing on the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII.
- The rest of the season lineup:
- ◼️ Dec. 12-17: "TINA — The Tina Turner Musical" (songs by Tina Turner, book by Katori Hall)
- ◼️ Jan. 23-28: "Jagged Little Pill" (based on Alanis Morissette's world-changing music, book by Diablo Cody)
- ◼️ Feb. 20-25: "Company" (music and lyrics Stephen Sondheim, book by George Furth)
- ◼️ March 26-31, 2024: "Disney's Aladdin" (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin, book by Beguelin based on the 1992 Disney animated film)
- ◼️ April 16-21, 2024: "To Kill a Mockingbird," Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
- ◼️ There will also be three add-on shows on the schedule:
- ◼️ Nov. 19-21: "The Cher Show," which will hold technical rehearsals and launch the national tour from the Fayetteville center
- ◼️ Jan. 2-7: "Les Miserables"
- ◼️ May 3-5, 2024: "Hairspray."
Subscription packages are $326-$533; early subscribers get first crack at tickets to the add-on shows. Single tickets will be available later in the year. Call (479) 571-2785 or visit waltonartscenter.org.
Fayetteville season II
Fayetteville theater company TheatreSquared opens its 2023-24 season Aug. 16-Sept. 10 with the classic thriller "Dial M for Murder" by Frederick Knott, newly adapted by Jefferey Hatcher, at the theater, 477 W. Spring St., Fayetteville.
- The rest of the lineup:
- ◼️ Oct. 11-Nov. 5: "The Band's Visit," music and lyrics by David Yazbek, book by Itamar Moses, winner of 10 2018 Tony Awards, including Best Musical
- ◼️ Nov. 29-Dec. 24: "A Christmas Carol," adapted by Robert Ford and Amy Herzberg from the Charles Dickens classic
- ◼️ Jan. 17-Feb. 25: Heidi Schrek's 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalist, "What the Constitution Means to Me"
- ◼️ Feb. 28-March 24, 2024: "Cambodian Rock Band," Lauren Yee's play with music — a live band playing contemporary Dengue Fever hits and "classic Cambodian oldies"
- ◼️ March 27-May 5, 2024: "Laughs in Spanish" by Alexis Scheer
- ◼️ April 17-May 12, 2024: "Fat Ham" by James Ijames, a send-up of Shakespeare's "Hamlet," winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
- ◼️ June 5-30, 2024: The world premiere of Arkansas native Joseph Scott Ford's dark comedy "Responders."
Also in June, the 2024 Arkansas New Play Festival will offer two weekends of performances at TheatreSquared in Fayetteville and The Momentary in Bentonville.
Season packages are $80-$399. Call (479) 777-7477 or visit theatre2.org.
Shakespeare camp
The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre is offering a four-week summer theater camp at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway that will provide students in grades 2-12 with the opportunity to learn about theater from professional teaching artists as well as participate in workshops with professional actors with the theater's education team.
Camp dates are June 5-9, 12-16, 19-23 and 26-30 — 9 a.m.-noon for grades 2-8, 1-4 p.m. for grades 9-12. In addition to classes, students will have the opportunity to devise an original theater piece for performances June 30 and July 1.
Fee is $700 for first child, $550 per additional child — sign up before May 1 and get an " Early Bird Special" of $50 off per child. There are discounts for UCA faculty, staff and students. Visit arkshakes.com for registration information.
ART: Award-winning artist
Shelby Fleming is the recipient of the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts' Artist Award for 2023. The artist can use the award, which comes with a $4,000 stipend, for research, travel, training, studio time or equipment and supplies; Fleming says she intends to put it toward materials, equipment and renting a larger studio space to expand the next phase of her most recent project, "Gut Feeling: Phase 2." Visit acnmwa.org.
BOOKS AND LITERATURE: Visiting poets
Ilya Kaminsky and Katie Farris, the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation's visiting poets, will read and discuss their work at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Reves Recital Hall at Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Ave., Conway. A reception and book signing in Trieschmann Gallery will follow. Select titles are available for sale from WordsWorth Books of Little Rock. American sign language interpreting services will be provided by Communication Plus+. Admission is free.
Kaminsky, born in Odesa, Ukraine, is the author of "Deaf Republic," which won the National Jewish Book Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Farris is the author of the forthcoming book of poetry "Standing in the Forest of Being Alive," on sale April 4. (WordsWorth will sell advance copies of the book at Tuesday's public reading.)
This event is sponsored by the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language. Email McGill@hendrix.edu.
Don House, whose "Letters to Dan: A Philosophical Guide to the Ozarks" is the first recipient of the Ozark Society's Sassafras Award for Excellence in Environmental Writing, will read from and sign copies at a reception today at the Fayetteville Public Library. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette) Sassafras Award
The Ozark Society has selected "Letters to Dan: A Philosophical Guide to the Ozarks," a collection of essays and photos reflecting the Ozarks' heritage and modern culture by Fayetteville-based writer and photographer Don House, for its first Sassafras Award for Excellence in Environmental Writing. The society established the award to encourage innovative writing and new perspectives on conservation. It includes a $3,000 cash prize and publication of the new book. House will read from and sign copies at a reception, 2-4 p.m. today at the Fayetteville Public Library, 401 W. Mountain St. Visit ozarksociety.net.
Beer and books
Underbrush Books, with support from The Cozy Librarian and Ozark Beer Co., hosts the first NWA Book Fest, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday at the brewery, 109 N. Arkansas St., Rogers, and along Arkansas Street between Walnut and Chestnut streets. Two stages will feature 26 different local authors and representatives from six area independent bookstores; there will also be a market of over 30 small businesses, authors and local publishers. Admission is free. Visit fb.me/e/42xehr12D.