LITTLE ROCK — Elsewhere in entertainment and the arts: Rock in North Rock

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson headlines the WWE Smackdown at 7 p.m. today at North Little Rock’s Verizon Arena. The lineup, subject to last-minute change, also includes current heavyweight champion The Big Show (billed as “The World’s Largest Athlete”), Sheamus, Randy “The Viper” Orton, Alberto Del Rio, current tag team champions “Team HELL NO,” the Rhodes Scholars, Brodus Clay, Wade Barrett and the WWE Divas. Tickets are $17-$97 plus Ticketmaster handling charges. Call (800) 745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com.

South: Shakespeare

Starving Artist Cafe teams up with the Arkansas Shakespeare Theater for Shakespeare in the South, a Tales From the South program featuring writers Greg Brownderville, Hope Coulter and Jay Jennings telling stories about finding themselves, others and even the South in the works of the Bard, 7 p.m. today at the restaurant, 411 Main St., North Little Rock. Doors open at 5 p.m. for dinner, drinks and music by Austin, Texas-based roots-blues singer/songwriter Shelley King. The show is being taped for broadcast at 7 p.m. March 7 on Little Rock public radio station KUAR-FM, 89.1, and World Radio Network. Tickets are $7.50, plus the cost of dinner and drinks. Seating is very limited. Visit the website, talesfromthesouth.com.

Doctors in the house

The Three Doctors - Sampson Davis, Remeck Hunt and George Jenkins, authors and motivational speakers from Newark, N.J., where they were childhood friends - will give a talk under Philander Smith College’s “Bless the Mic” banner at 7 p.m. today in the M.L. Harris Auditorium at the college, 900 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive, Little Rock.

The Clinton School of Public Service is a co-sponsor. Admission is free. Call (501) 370-5279 or e-mail, [email protected].

On the hoof

Former Broadway hoofer and Bob Fosse protege Bill Hastings returns to Fayetteville, offering two modern dance classes - one for experienced dancers and one for beginners - and a Broadway-style class Feb. 23-24 at the Fayetteville Dance Center, 25 E. South St., Fayetteville:

Modern Dance, 2-3:45 p.m. Feb. 23, requires three or more years of dance experience. $25.

Introduction to Modern Dance, 4:15-5:15 p.m. Feb. 23, open to dancers at all levels, beginners welcome. $15.

Broadway Style Dance, 2-3:45 p.m. Feb. 24, requires three or more years of dance experience. $25.

Dancers must be 16 or older to enroll and must sign up and pay in advance. Call (479) 521-2453 or visit the Fayetteville Dance Center’s Facebook page.

Hats! auditions

Conway Community Arts and the Lantern Theatre will hold auditions for Hats! The Musical (book by Marcia Milgrom Dodge and Anthony Dodge, with additional material by Rob Bartlett, Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Sharon Vaughn, and songs by “various composers,” including Melissa Manchester, Pam Tillis and Kathie Lee Gifford) at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Lantern Theatre, 1021 Van Ronkle St., Conway.

Auditions will consist of cold readings from the play, singing one of the songs from the score (available online at conwayarts.org) and executing a simple dance routine (dress appropriately for movement).

Roles are available for several women, ages 35-75. All auditioners must be able to sing solo and in harmony. Liz Parker will direct. Production dates are April 19-21 and 26-28. Call (501) 450-6247 or visit conwayarts.org.

Artist winners

“Looking Up,” Dylan Eakin’s ceramic and acrylic torso, won Best of Show honors Feb. 3 in the Arkansas River Valley Arts Center’s Collegiate Competition and Exhibition. Eakin, a student at University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, received $150 and the opportunity to have a December show in the Arts Center gallery.

First place and a $100 cash award went to Arkansas Tech University student Amber Naylor for her watercolor painting, “Clyde.” “Womanly Round,” an alabaster sculpture by Arkansas Tech student Charlcy Nedeau, won second place and $50.

Tech student Faith Whittle took third place and $25 for her multimedia painting, “Trumpet Trompe l’Oeil.” Honorable mention went to Karstein Keck, a University of the Ozarks student, for a ceramic piece titled “Catastrophe Wonderland.”

Style, Pages 31 on 02/12/2013