THEATER
Immersive ‘Dreamgirls’
An all-girl Motown singing group rises from obscurity to superstardom in the 1960s and ’70s in “Dreamgirls” (music by Henry Krieger, book and lyrics by Tom Eyen), which Actors Theatre of Little Rock stages at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 6 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 21 at Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, 1601 Louisiana St., Little Rock. Audiences can choose from “general” and “immersive” seating, with performers and action throughout the church’s basement space, and, according to a news release, “(f)or select guests, there’s even a chance to step into the spotlight and join the magic!”
A 20-minute pre-show will mimic “Amateur Night at the Apollo,” with local singers and other performers taking part in a talent competition in which the audience decides who wins. The theater group rates the show PG-13. Tickets are $30-$35, with discounts for students, senior citizens and military. Visit actorstheatrelr.org/tickets.
El Dorado ‘Carol’
The South Arkansas Arts Center stages John Jakes’ adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 8. Jim Henderson plays Ebenezer Scrooge, with Hayden Nooner as Dickens, Mike Means as Jacob Marley, Mary Catherine White as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Brandon Johnson as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Steven Vick as Bob Cratchit. Tickets are $15, $10 for center members, $5 for students. Call (870) 862-5474 or visit saac-arts.org or buy.ticketstothecity.com/venue.php?org_id=610.
The SoNA Singers join the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas Saturday for “A Very SoNA Christmas” at Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
MUSIC
SoNA celebrations
The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and Music Director Paul Haas are programming for Christmas next weekend at Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St.:
◼️ “A Very SoNA Christmas,” 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, featuring the SoNA Singers, Bentonville High School Chamber Choir, singer Barbara Padilla, guitarist TJ Scarlett, narrator Randy Wilburn and student oboe soloist Annabeth Jones. The program, “a mix of holiday favorites,” according to a news release, includes Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride,” selections from Peter Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” the “Hallelujah” Chorus from George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah,” “Christmas Overture” by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the first movement of the Oboe Concerto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an arrangement of “O Holy Night” and a Christmas sing-along. Tickets are $37-$62 with discounts for students, free for children under 18 with the purchase of an adult ticket.
◼️ “The Snowman: A Family Concert,” 2 p.m. Dec. 8, with the orchestra playing live to a screening of the animated film. Tickets are $10.
Call (479) 443-5600 or visit sonamusic.org.
The winning artworks from the Pine Bluff’s ARTx3 Campus’ 2024 Delta Upcycle Challenge Project are (from left) “Wordly” by Jasmine Lover (first place), “Harry the Reading Robot” by J’Ceri Gray (third place) and “After A Hard Day’s Work” by Torrence Rainey (second place). (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
ART
UA art market
The University of Arkansas School of Art hosts its school-wide Winter Art Market, featuring artwork available for purchase from art and design students and registered student organizations, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Studio and Design Center, 696 Praxis Lane, Fayetteville. Admission is free. Call (479) 575-7930 or email kaylac@uark.edu.
Pine Bluff project
April 1 is the deadline to sign up for Pine Bluff’s ARTx3 Campus’ 2025 Delta Upcycle Challenge Project, which challenges students in grades 3-12 to create artwork from materials that would ordinarily head to the landfill, according to a news release.
Each creation must consist of at least 75% recycled or reused materials. Participants will display their creations in a public showcase April 22 at the ARTx3 Campus on South Main Street, coinciding with Earth Day. Judges will evaluate the entries and cash prizes will be awarded for first, second and third places in three categories:
◼️ Grades 3-5 — “Creature Creations,” crafting unique animal sculptures using only recycled materials.
◼️ Grades 6-8 — “A Guiding Light,” inviting students to use recycled materials to craft sculptures and artwork “that shine a light on creativity and sustainability.”
◼️ Grades 9-12: — “Bags of Imagination,” inviting students to transform trash bags and recycled materials into “striking sculptures and artwork.”
Find details, rules and a registration form at artx3.org/delta-upcycle-challenge. For more information, call (870) 395-7009 or email bgere@artx3.org.
AT THE PODIUM
‘Citizen’ Clinton
As part of the 20th-anniversary celebration of the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, former President Bill Clinton will take part in a discussion on his pending book, “Citizen: My Life After the White House,” at 7 p.m. Friday in the Wally Allen Ballroom at the Statehouse Convention Center, 101 E. Markham St., Little Rock. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Emmy-nominated and Tony Award-winning actor and host of the podcast “Dinners On Me,” will moderate. Tickets, $38 plus fees, include a copy of the book. Visit clintonpresidentialcenter.org/20.
“Citizen” is Clinton’s “front-row, first-person chronicle of his post-presidential years and the most significant events of the 21st century, including 9/11 and the run-up to the Iraq War, the Haiti earthquake, the Great Recession, the Jan. 6 insurrection and the enduring culture wars of our times,” according to a news release.
Ferguson made his Broadway debut at 21 in the revival of “On the Town” and originated the role of Leaf Coneybear in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” In 2023, he returned to Broadway in the revival of Richard Greenberg’s Tony-winning play “Take Me Out,” earning a Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play. He also played Mitchell Pritchett on ABC’s “Modern Family” and is an advocate for marriage equality and LGBTQA+ rights.
Legacies & Lunch
Wayne A. Wiegand discusses his book “In Silence or Indifference: Racism and Jim Crow Segregated Public School Libraries” for the Central Arkansas Library System’s Legacies & Lunch, noon-1 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Downtown, 333 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. Wiegand will appear virtually; an in-person panel discussion will feature Jay Barth, Guy Lancaster and Rhonda Stewart. Admission is free. Visit events.cals.org/event/12206117 or facebook.com/share/ANTLeou7wN8dCqqj.
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