ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Kusi Taki, an award-winning Lincoln-based Andean musical group, will present the 11th concert of the 2023-24 Grand Island Music Series.

The musicians will take the stage at 7 p.m. Sunday, July 21, on the grounds at Stuhr Museum. In case of inclement weather, the performance will be moved to College Park; there is no admission charge. Food and beverages provided by the Chocolate Bar will be available for purchase.

Kusi Taki (Quechua for “Enchanting Music”) will play traditional South American instruments including the Quena (flute), Zampoñas (panpipes), Charango (10-stringed small guitar) and Bombo (goatskin drum) and sing in Spanish and Quechua to bring alive the cultures and history of the indigenous people of the Andes.

Director Oscar Rios Pohirieth is a professional musician and has performed throughout Mexico, the United States and Europe. With more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in the music of the Andes. Pohirieth is also a traveling and teaching artist through the Nebraska Arts Council and Humanities Nebraska.

The current season will close out with the Kenny Janak Orchestra at 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, also at Stuhr Museum.

The musicians in KJO have extensive experience playing a wide variety of styles, but all share in the love of playing this European-inspired music known as dechovka (Czech), blasmusik (German) or simply polka music! KJO “aims to share their love of the music through carefully crafted arrangements of the songs played with energy and feeling.”

For more information on any of the performances, call College Park at 308-850-3307.

The Grand Island Parks and Rec Department’s summer concert series comes to a close tonight (Thursday, July 18) with a performance from the OK Sisters.

Kate Fly and Karen Lee have been performing acoustic music for more than 35 years together in mid-Nebraska along with close friend, Martin Tilley, who plays the blues harmonica. Their music is a mixture of blues, country, pop and Americana.

The music starts at 8 p.m. at Buechler Park, 2316 W. Division. There is no charge, but those attending should bring lawn chairs or blankets. (Insect repellent is also a great idea!)

For more information, call 308-385-0290 or check online at www.giparks.com.

World champion trick roper Joan Wells will present a free program for all ages at 10:30 a.m. Monday, July 22, at the Grand Island Public Library, 1123 W. Second St.

“History of Trick Roping and Wild West Shows” uses the vanishing folk art of trick roping to bring the color and history of the Old West alive. In a “dazzling and unique performance, she will follow the evolution of trick roping from charros creating rope spinning in Old Mexico through the heyday of Will Rogers and his affiliation with the Texas Jacks Wild West Show and the Ziegfeld Follies in the first decades of the 20th century.”

Wells says she wanted to be a cowgirl at an early age, after learning about horses and trick roping from her cousin, a rodeo cowboy and trick roper. She started roping at the age of 4 and then took further instruction from world champion trick roper Jim Eskew Jr.

A native Nebraskan, she has toured with her trick roping and western music for the National School Assemblies Agency of Hollywood, and won the title as Women’s World Champion Trick Roper at the Will Rogers Trick Roping Contest in Claremore, Oklahoma. In 1989, she was also inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth.

Wells continues to perform for western-themed events, conventions, schools, stage shows and Wild West show re-enactments. This program is free and open to the public and made possible through the support of Humanities Nebraska.

For more information, contact Laura Fentress at 308-385-533 or lauraf@gilibrary.org

HASTINGS — HCT Kids, part of the Hastings Community Theatre, will present “Mean Girls JR,” in several performances this weekend.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 19, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 20, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, July 21, at Hastings Community Theatre, 515 S. Fourth St. (inside Good Samaritan Village).

“Mean Girls JR” is a version of the hit musical “Mean Girls” that has been adapted for performance by students. “Quite a bit tamer but no less funny,” the musical features book by Tina Fey (“30 Rock”), lyrics by Nell Benjamin (“Legally Blonde”), and music by composer Jeff Richmond (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), and was adapted from Fey’s hit 2004 film.

Cady Heron (played by Hannah Javins) may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the wild and vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois.

How will this naive newbie rise to the top of the popularity pecking order? By joining forces with two quirky fellow outcasts, Janis Sarkisian (Arabella Limper) and Damian (Ezekiel Verhage) and taking on “The Plastics,” a trio of lionized “frenemies”: Karen Smith (Stella Thomsen), Gretchen Wieners (Gianna Rosnoe) and led by the charming but ruthless Regina George (Monroe Runcie).

But when Cady falls for Regina’s ex, Aaron Samuels (Logan Vaspir) and devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a queen bee without getting stung.

Tickets are $10. For more information and to purchase tickets visit out website at www.hctheatre.org.

WAYNE — Several artists from Central Nebraska are displaying their works in “Signs of Rural Life,” a juried exhibit no on display at the Blue Cat Gallery and Studio in Wayne.

The exhibit features artwork exploring rural themes created by artists from Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and the Canadian province of Quebec Mediums represented vary, including photography, mixed media, oil, watercolor, acrylic and more. The juror, Lori Elliott-Bartle, an artist based in Omaha, selected the works featured in the exhibit.

Area artists include Erin Koger of Grand Island; Emma Bermel of Columbus; Gabrielle Brosman, Madison Vetter and Tori Swanson of Aurora; Melinda Montoya of Hampton; and Sherian Craft of North Loup.

“Signs of Rural Life” will remain on display through Aug. 17, at the gallery, 113 W. Third St. in Wayne. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and by appointment.

For more information, contact Carolyn Albracht at 402-454-5144 or visit the gallery’s website at http://BlueCatGalleryStudio.com.

“Twisters” is showing this weekend at the Grand Theatre, 316 W. Third St. Showtimes are 7:15 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado, Kate Cooper gets lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi, to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. She soon crosses paths with Tyler Owens, a charming but reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures. As storm season intensifies, Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves in a fight for their lives as multiple systems converge over central Oklahoma.

This film is rated PG-13 for intense action and peril, some language and injury images. Running time is just shy of two hours.

Admission is $5 for adults and $4 for children and seniors. For more information call 308-381-2667 or visit grandmovietheatre.com.