ENTERTAINMENT NOTES

Christmas play from notes of soldiers at Walton venue

Men’s a cappella group Cantus and Theater Latte Da join forces for All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 at 7 p.m. Thursday Baum Walker Hall, Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville.

Using information from soldiers’ letters, playwright/ director Peter Rothstein put together the script about the Christmas 1914 truce between Allied Forces and German soldiers in no man’s land during World War I. Cantus performs new arrangements of European carols and war songs.

The performance is part of the center’s 10x10 Arts series. Tickets are $10-$25. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit the website, waltonartscenter.org.

Rocking robots

Thirty-five robotics teams that have emerged from eight local hub competitions in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma will be participating in the 2012 Frontier Trails BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) Regional Robotics Competition, Friday and Saturday at the Fort Smith Convention Center, 55 S. Seventh St., Fort Smith.

Each team designs and operates a robot with a supplied kit, based on this year’s theme, “Warp XX,” which involves using a space elevator to resupply a “mid-way station” at the edge of the earth’satmosphere.

Four Arkansas multi-team assemblages are involved: Crowley’s Ridge BEST of Jonesboro (Arkansas Northeastern College, Burdette; Buffalo Island Central High School, Leachville; Hillcrest High School, Strawberry; Ridgefield Christian School, Jonesboro; West MemphisChristian School, West Memphis; White Station High School, Memphis), Little Rock BEST (Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts and National Park Technology Center, Hot Springs; Parkview and Central High schools, Little Rock), Northark BEST of Harrison (Hass Hall Academy, Fayetteville; Valley Springs School, Valley Springs; Pershing Middle School, Springfield, Mo.; Lead Hill High School, Lead Hill) and River Valley BEST of Fort Smith (Chaffin Junior High School and Western Arkansas Technical Center, Fort Smith; Muldrow/Gans Public Schools, Muldrow, Okla.; Fayetteville Public Schools, Fayetteville).

Opening ceremony is at 7:45 a.m. Saturday; the awards ceremony will be at 5 p.m. Saturday. The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith is the host. Admission is free. Call (479) 788-7772.

Seasonal special

Little Rock lawyer Phil Kaplan and advertising executive Leslie Singer once again team up with public radio station KUAR FM, 89.1, for the 12th annual Jewish Guys Hanukkah Special, 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock.

Musical guests will be the Meshugga Klezmer Band and the Bauman Brothers, with “special guest” Eli Evans ofNew York, author of The Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South. KUAR will record the show with an audience for broadcast at 7 p.m. Dec. 10, with a 1 p.m. Christmas Day reprise.

A reception, sponsored by the center and the Clinton Museum Store, will precede the show at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $4.99; pre-paid reservations are required. Call (501) 569-8485 or visit the website, kuar.org.

Bluegrass Monday

Missouri-based traditional Ozark bluegrass band Cedar Hill - Frank Ray, mandolin; Jimmy Bunch, banjo; Shannon Cox, guitar; Patti LaFleur, bass; and Pete Brown, fiddle - will perform at 7 p.m. Monday at the Collins Theatre, 120 W.Emerson St., Paragould. The concert is part of Jonesboro radio station KASU-FM, 91.9’s Bluegrass Monday concert series. The station will pass the hat to pay the band; suggested donation is $5. Doors open at 6 p.m. Call (870) 972-2367, email [email protected] or visit the Bluegrass Monday Facebook page.

Style, Pages 41 on 11/25/2012

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