Weekend Entertainment Roundup for August 8, 2024

Here’s the latest Weekend Entertainment Roundup from Eric E. Harrison, culture reporter at the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

FUN

Area restaurants and vendors will put their best wing forward, vying for the People’s Choice Award and the Golden Wing Award, at the Poultry Federation’s Wingstock 2024 chicken wing festival, noon-3 p.m. Saturday Aug. 10 at North Little Rock’s Simmons Bank Arena. A ticket gets you all the wings you can eat; a variety of domestic and craft beers will be available for purchase. A Wing-I-P also provides access to the WIP Lounge with a private bar, private seating and exclusive restrooms and a 30-minute head start on grabbing wings. Ticketmaster.com

THEATER

A group of men trying to eke out a living by driving unlicensed taxis in Pittsburgh during the 1970s is at the core of “Jitney” by August Wilson, which is onstage at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 601 Main St., Little Rock, 7 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through Aug. 18. (501) 378-0405; TheRep.org

The Royal Players open their production of the musical “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (based on the Disney animated film and the novel by Victor Hugo), 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and Aug. 15-17 and 2 p.m. Sunday and Aug. 18 at the Royal Theatre, 111 S. Market St., Benton. The production has a strobe and haze warning. Ticketleap.com.

Red Curtain Theatre, 913 W. Oak St., Conway, continues its production of Frank Loesser’s musical “Guys and Dolls,” 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and Aug. 8-10 and 15-17 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday and Aug. 11 and 18. redcurtaintheatre.com

Actors Theatre of Little Rock puts on its third “Bard @ the Bar” production, a reduced version (approximately 60 minutes) of William Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors,” 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Aug. 14 at Camp Taco, 822 E. Sixth St., Little Rock. A cast of 13 plays a couple of dozen characters in Shakespeare’s tale of two pairs of identical twins, separated by a storm at sea, who 18 years later are consistently mistaken for one another on the streets of a beach community. It’s part of the company’s Shakespeare programing “aiming to make the Bard more fun and approachable,” according to a news release. Seating starts at 6 and is limited. Admission is free. actorstheatrelr.org or facebook.com/actorstheatrelr.

And “Jersey Boys,” the origin story of the Four Seasons, is onstage through Aug. 17 at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock. (501) 562-3131; murrysdp.com. Opening Aug. 21: “Steel Magnolias.”

MUSIC

Up Northwest Arkansas way, at the Walmart AMP in Rogers, country singer Lainey Wilson, with opening acts Ian Mun sick and Zach Top, performs at 7 p.m. Saturday. amptickets.com

AUDITIONS

“American Idol” holds an open audition call via Zoom in Arkansas on Monday. Potential contestants need to register (registration does not guarantee the opportunity to audition) and meet eligibility requirements (which include having been born between June 2, 1995, and Feb. 15, 2010 — sorry, no baby boomers allowed — and legal U.S. residency).

It’s the fifth year for the “Idol Across America” live virtual nationwide audition pro- cess that includes all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., through Sept. 17. Visit americanidol.com/auditions for more details, locations, full eligibility requirements, submission forms, terms and conditions.

Tune in every Thursday at 4:44pm to hear Eric’s roundup for arts and culture events in Central Arkansas during All Things Considered on Little Rock Public Radio.