FUN
The Cat Fanciers' Association puts on its Gulf Shore Regional Cat Show, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday in the Hall of Industry at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds, 2600 Howard St., Little Rock.
Theme for this year's competition is "Rock Around the Clock"; judges from across the United States and Europe will evaluate pedigreed cats representing more than 40 breeds as well as household pets on criteria that includes health and appearance in six rings, in four different divisions, including Championship (breeding cats), Premiership (spayed and neutered pedigreed cats), Kittens (pedigreed cats 4-8 months old) and Household Pets (mixed breeds and companion cats). Vendors and artisans will sell items for cats and their humans; there will also be a Feline Agility Competition and a Cat Costume Contest and rescue organization Community Cats of Central Arkansas will have cats available for adoption.
Admission is $12, $10 for senior citizens, $8 for children 5-12, $30 for a Family 4-Pack (includes a minimum of two children). Visit gulf-shore-region.ticketleap.com/lr-cats.
Shayla Copas and her Bengal cat, Prada, show off their stripes at the 2023 All-Breed Cat Show at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)
'Dark Matter'
Comedian Matthew Starr kicks off his touring "Dark Matter" show -- "part stand-up, part science," as he puts it -- along the path of totality of the April 8 solar eclipse, at 8 p.m. Friday at The Joint, 301 Main St., North Little Rock.
"I've been working on this show since 2018," Starr explains. "I was all set to record a version of it in April 2020 but it was canceled because of covid. I thought the show was done, but then it was given a second chance because of a solar eclipse. I've entirely revamped the show and cannot wait to perform again."
The tour is in partnership with the Simons Foundation as part of its "In The Path of Totality" initiative. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Visit thejointargenta.com/events/matthew-starr-dark-matter.
Comedian Matthew Starr kicks off his "Dark Matter" tour Friday at The Joint in North Little Rock. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
MUSIC
'Song Without Words'
"Song Without Words," the third concert in the 2023-24 Steinway Salon Chamber Series, features chamber music for two, three and four players, 3 p.m. Sunday at Steinway Piano Gallery of Little Rock, 657 Arkansas 365, Mayflower. Stephen Feldman, cello; and Naoki Hakutani, piano, will perform Six Lieder for Cello and Piano by Johannes Brahms. Feldman joins clarinetist Andrew DeBoer and pianist Lei Cai for the Trio in B-flat major, op.11, "Gassenhauer," by Ludwig van Beethoven. And Hakutani joins Meredith Maddox Hicks, violin; Timothy MacDuff, viola; and David Gerstein, cello, to play the Piano Quartet in E-flat major, op.47, by Robert Schumann. Tickets are $25. Call (501) 940-1562 or visit steinwaylr.com/close-up.
THEATER
'She Loves Me'
Amalia (Gabrielle Neasfey) and Georg (Matthew Burns), squabbling shop clerks in a 1930s European perfumery, respond to a "lonely hearts advertisement" in the newspaper and start exchanging anonymous love letters in "She Loves Me," (music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, book by Joe Masteroff, based on Mikos Lazlos' play "Parfuemerie"). The Royal Players stage the musical at 7 p.m. today-Saturday and Feb. 22-24 and 2 p.m. Sunday and Feb. 25 at the Royal Theatre, 111 S. Market St., Benton. Sponsor is the W.W. and Anne Jones Trust. Tickets are $18; $15 senior citizens 60 and older, members of the military and college students with valid ID, $8 K-12 students. Visit theroyalplayers.ticketleap.com. For questions or more information, email theroyalplayers@gmail.com.
'Little Women' musical
Touring company Big League Productions stages "Little Women -- the Musical" (music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, book by Allan Knee, based on the Louisa May Alcott classic), 7:30 p.m. Friday in Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. Hannah Taylor plays Jo, with Rachel Pantazis as Meg, Noa Harris as Amy, Camryn Hamm as Beth and Aaron Bower as Marmee. Tickets are $30-$50, $10 for children and students. Call (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012 or visit uca.edu/reynolds.
"Little Women — the Musical" is onstage Friday at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Pamela Raith Photography-Aria Entertainment Production)
ART
Native American art
"Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1940s to 1970s," a traveling exhibition of 52 works by 36 artists that highlight modern Native American art through the lens of 20th-century Abstract Expressionism, Color Field and Hard-Edge Painting, opens Friday in the Harriet and Warren Stephens Galleries at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. The exhibition, drawn from the collection of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M., includes works by George Morrison, Fritz Scholder and T.C. Cannon, as well as work from the museum's collection by Raven Halfmoon (Caddo), Dawn Walden (Ojibwe) and Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee). It'll remain on display through May 26. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. Visit arkmfa.org.
"New Mexico #40" by Fritz Scholder and "Geometric #4" by Harvey Herman are part of the "Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1940s to 1970s" exhibition opening Friday at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
ETC.
Military Gear Show
The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 503 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, hosts a Vintage Military Gear Show in its upstairs Arsenal Gallery, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Living historians will put their collections of weapons, uniforms and other accoutrements on display and will be available to answer questions. Admission is free. Call (501) 376-4602.
Little Rock's MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History hosts a Vintage Military Gear Show Sunday. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)