FUN
Aerial performances by the Slayer Jet Car, Nexgen Eagles, Mini Jet and Bulldog Flight Formation Team, plus static aircraft displays, a car show by All ‘Bout Carz and a free kids zone with inflatables and STEAM activities, plus pay-extra options to ride in helicopters, monster trucks and Lamborghinis, are all part of the North Little Rock Airshow, 4:30-9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday at the North Little Rock Regional Airport, 8200 Remount Road, North Little Rock. A variety of food and drinks will be available for sale. Take your own lawn chair or buy reserved seating up front at the show center. Tickets are $20 weekend general admission, free for children 12 and younger. Visit nlrairshow.com.
Science After Dark
The Museum of Discovery, 500 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, reprises its evening of spooky science and hands-on activities for adults 21 and older with “Science After Dark: The Nightmare at the Museum: The Sequel,” 6-9 p.m. Thursday. The event allows “our inner mad scientists (to) explore the spooky side of science with eerie experiments and wickedly fun activities,” says Brittney Reynolds, the museum’s director of STEAM Initiatives, along with beer, wine, vodka cocktails and pizza. Admission is $5; drink and pizza tickets cost extra. Visit museumofdiscovery.org.
Dogtown Throwdown
The Argenta Arts District is going to the dogs for the year’s final Dogtown Throwdown, Friday-Saturday along North Little Rock’s Main Street between Broadway and Fifth Street. The street will close at 4 p.m. Friday through 10 p.m. Saturday so patrons and well-behaved, leashed dogs can traverse the restaurants and clubs without worrying about traffic. At 7 p.m. Friday, indie-pop-classic country act Whoa Dakota performs at Argenta Library, 420 Main; noon-3 p.m. Saturday, the North Little Rock Animal Shelter will have animals available for adoption. At noon, Argenta United Methodist Church, 317 Main St., will hold a special Blessing of the Animals. From 1-5 p.m., Flyway Brewing, 314 Maple St., a block west of Main, hosts a Flyway Fall Pop-Up Market with local vendors, craft beer and food. From 5-7 p.m., Chris “Bucket” Shelton performs an acoustic set at Blackberry Market, 315A Main St. And at 7 p.m. the Big Dam Horns take the main stage in the parking lot next to the library. Visit argentaartsdistrict.org.
On display during the 2023 Vintage Military Vehicle Show: a Humvee M998A1 truck, a 105mm howitzer and a pair of 1955 M170 ambulances. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/courtesy MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History)
Vintage military vehicles
The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 503 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, hosts its 11th Vintage Military Vehicle Show, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, with Jeeps and other vehicles from the Arkansas Military Vehicle Preservation Association, from World War II through Desert Storm, on display behind the museum in Little Rock’s MacArthur Park. Living-history exhibitors will also be on hand. Blue Bell Creameries will supply free ice cream and Central Arkansas Water will have free water. Home Instead and Pinnacle Legacy Law will provide grilled hot dogs and chips. Admission is free. Call (501) 376-4602 or visit littlerock.gov/macarthur.
MUSIC
Premiere piece
The Arkansas Chamber Singers perform the Arkansas premiere of “Dixit Dominus” by 18th-century composer Marianna Martines with members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and new conductor Lorissa Mason to open their 45th season, 7:30 p.m. Friday at St. James United Methodist Church, 321 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. The program also includes works by Martines’ contemporaries: “Te Deum” by Franz Joseph Haydn and “Regina Coeli,” K.276, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Admission is free. Visit ar-chambersingers.org.
‘Maestro’s Playlist’
The Little Rock Winds and conductor Israel Getzov open their 2024-25 season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock., with a program titled “The Maestro’s Playlist,” a selection of Getzov’s favorite wind band pieces the band has performed during his nine years as its conductor. Brent Shires will perform “Cape Horn” for solo horn by Otto M. Schwartz. The program also includes “October” by Eric Whitacre, “George Washington Bridge” by William Schuman, the Suite No. 1 in E-flat major by Gustav Holst, “Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Niccolo Paganini” by James Barnes and “Padstow Lifeboat” by Malcolm Arnold. Flag Day baton winner Georgia Seward will conduct John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” Sponsor is Bobbie Blackshear in memory of Dr. Jack Blackshear; guest artist sponsor is Chris Vanlandingham. Admission is $15, free for students. Visit lrwinds.org/tickets.
Coterie members perform
Members of the Little Rock Musical Coterie perform for the coterie’s next program, 2 p.m. Sunday at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1101 N. Mississippi St., Little Rock. Flute duet Sharon Burrall and Sally Martens perform an arrangement of the “Meditation” from “Thais” by Charles Gounod. Duo pianists Nancy Griffin and Pat Torvestad perform the first three parts of “Fantastiestucke” by Robert Schumann. Soprano Tressa Tiner sings “Ständchen,” “Meine Liebe ist Grün” and “Wie Melodien Zieht es Mir” by Johannes Brahms with Janine Tiner at the piano; the Trainers, this time with Tressa on the violin, perform “La Folia” by Arcangelo Corelli. And Janine Tiner plays Brahms’ Intermezzo in A major, op.118, No. 2. Admission is free. Visit littlerockmusicalcoterie.com.
Folk Center festival
Live string band music, dancing and handcrafted arts are the focus of the Stringband Music & Arts Festival, Friday-Saturday at the Ozark Folk Center, 1302 Park Ave., Mountain View. Lineup for the 7-9 p.m. Friday show in the park’s Ozark Highlands Theater: Salem Plateau and headliners Dirk & Amelia Powell. For Saturday’s 1-4 p.m. matinee: The Bug Shuffle Stringband, the Riggsville Ramblers and The Creek Rocks. And those attending Saturday’s 7-9 p.m. show will hear the Music Roots Ensemble and the Lonesome Ace Stringband. Tickets are $25 for Friday, $35 all-day Saturday, $50 for both days in advance (visit OzarkFolkCenter.TicketLeap.com), $2 more day-of. Tickets include entry to the Ozark Folk Center Craft Village, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Visit OzarkFolkCenter.com.
Brock Keating plays Romeo, one of the striking newsboys in 1899 New York, in “Newsies” at Little Rock’s Wildwood Park for the Arts. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Matthew Sewell Photography)
THEATER
Wildwood ‘Newsies’
An 1899 strike by singing and dancing newsboys temporarily cripples New York’s two biggest newspapers in “Newsies” (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the screenplay by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White for the 1992 Disney film), onstage 7:30 p.m. Friday and Oct. 17-18, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Oct. 19, 2 p.m. Sunday and Oct. 20 in the Lucy Lockett Cabe Festival Theatre at Wildwood Park for the Arts, 20919 Denny Road, Little Rock. Tickets are $35. Call (501) 821-7275 or visit wildwoodpark.org.
Kenzie Burks (from left), Dominique Lane and Patricia Lora play roommates faced with a tough choice regarding a would-be rapist in “Extremities” at the Weekend Theater. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
Weekend ‘Extremities’
The Weekend Theater, 1001 W. Seventh St. at Chester Street, Little Rock, stages “Extremities” by William Mastrosimone, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday through Oct. 27. The play is intended for an adult audience. The play contains strong language, sexual content and discussion and scenes of violence that could be triggering to some audience members. Tickets are $20, $18 for senior citizens and students. Visit CentralArkansasTickets.com. For more information, call (501) 374-3761 or visit WeekendTheater.org.
ART & EXHIBITS
‘Good Energy’
“Good Energy,” photographs by Del Boyette, goes on display with a reception with refreshments and music, 5-7 p.m. Friday in the Parish House Gallery of Christ Episcopal Church, 509 Scott St., Little Rock. The show will be on display and artworks will be available for sale through Dec. 31; 100% of the proceeds goes to the church’s Capital Campaign. Meanwhile, the church’s parlor will feature the annual Youth of Christ Church art show. Hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-noon Friday and 7:30 a.m.-noon Sunday. Email lallyrbrown@gmail.com.
Crafting Community
A new Crafting Community exhibit, showcasing textiles, knives, printed materials, leatherworks, joinery and woven cane furniture, opens with a 5-8 p.m. 2nd Friday Art Night reception Friday in the Trinity Gallery for Arkansas Artists at Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St., Little Rock. The reception will feature music by Ain’t Got Nothin’ and refreshments, including Arkansas-made beer from Norfork Brewing in Norfork. The exhibit will be up through Jan. 26, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the reception and gallery is free. Call (501) 324-9351 or visit tinyurl.com/y297z4st.
“Eye Fish” by Michele Noiset is on display through Oct. 25 in the Windgate Center of Art + Design at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
UALR exhibitions
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Art and Design holds a reception at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Windgate Center of Art + Design, 5617 W. 28th St., Little Rock, for three current exhibitions: “Creative Currents: Faculty Biennial,” on display through Nov. 3 in the Brad Cushman Gallery; “Emily Moll Wood: New Work,” watercolor portraits by Wood, a UALR alumna, on display through Nov. 1 in the Focus Gallery; and “Michele Noiset: Analogies and Absurdities,” a selection of Noiset’s drawings, on display through Oct. 25 in the Ann Maners and Alex Pappas Gallery. Admission to the galleries and the reception is free. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Call (501) 916-5101 or email kncrow@ualr.edu.
‘Natural State in Four Seasons’
“The Natural State in Four Seasons,” 33 photographs that North Little Rock native Brian Cormack took over 14 years that capture the beauty of Arkansas through the changing seasons, opens Friday, with a 5-8 p.m. reception Oct. 18 at the William F. Laman Public Library, 2801 Orange St., North Little Rock. The exhibit will be up through Nov. 27. Admission is free. Library hours are 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Call (501) 758-1720 or visit NLRlibrary.org.
