Weekend Entertainment Roundup for October 10, 2024

FUN

The 84th Arkansas State Fair gets under way Friday, with concerts, fair food, livestock competitions, carnival rides and unique attractions through Oct. 20. at the State Fairgrounds, 2600 Howard St., Little Rock. Gates open at 11 a.m. each day. Of particular opening-weekend note: the Bank OZK concert series, 7 p.m. each of the first three evenings at Barton Coliseum: Heavy metal on Friday with Stephen Pearcy of Ratt with Quiet Riot and Vixen; R&B on Saturday with Dru Hill and Ginuwine; and country on Sunday with Chase Rice and Ella Langley. ArkansasStateFair.com.

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, features aerial performances, static aircraft displays, a car show and a free kids’ zone, plus pay-extra options to ride in helicopters, monster trucks and Lamborghinis. nlrairshow.com.

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, featuring eerie experiments along with beer, wine, vodka cocktails and pizza. museumofdiscovery.org.

DANCE

Ballet Arkansas blends classical and contemporary styles in “a captivating tale of passion, betrayal, and desire” in the world premiere of a new ballet based on Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen,” 7 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the theater at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. balletarkansas.org/tickets.

MUSIC

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 Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Admission is free. ar-chambersingers.org.

The Little Rock Winds and conductor Israel Getzov open their 2024-25 season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Little Rock’s Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, with a selection of Getzov’s favorite wind band pieces the band has performed during his nine years as this band’s conductor. lrwinds.org/tickets.

THEATER

Celebrity Attractions brings in the national tour of “Dear Evan Hansen,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. (501) 244-8800; CelebrityAttractions.com or Ticketmaster.com.

Argenta Contemporary Theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock, stages Lerner & Loewe’s “My Fair Lady,” with a final preview performance at 7:30 p.m. today and full-fledged performances 7:30 p.m. Friday and Oct. 15-19, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Leading a cast of 20, Karen Q. Clark plays Cockney flower seller Eliza Doolittle and Greta Robinson as Henry Higgins, the linguist who “re-creates” her. argentacontemporarytheatre.org.

The 24 Hour Plays — six original short works by six writers involving six directors and 24 actors, conceived, written, rehearsed, and performed in a 24-hour period, take the stage at 7 p.m. Monday at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 601 Main St., Little Rock. therep.org/24hour/tickets.

A brutal murder interrupts a honeymoon cruise down the Nile and everybody on board the riverboat is a suspect in Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Nile,” onstage through Nov. 9 Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday (12:30 p.m. Wednesday matinees only, Oct. 23 and 30) and 12:45 and 6:45 p.m. Sunday. The buffet opens 90 minutes before curtain time. (501) 562-3131 or visit murrysdp.com.

EXHIBITS

“Two Minutes to Midnight and the Architecture of Armageddon,” photographic essays on the Cold War by Jeanine Michna-Bales and Adam Reynolds, on display through Jan. 5 at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 503 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. (501)-376-4602; littlerock.gov/macarthur.

And “Commanding the Screen: The American Presidency in Film and Television,” continues to offer a look at material from more than 30 movies and television shows portraying fictional and real-life U.S. presidents, through March 23 at the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. clintonpresidentialcenter.org/exhibits.