Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:
TODAY
Make & Take
Conway Alliance for the Arts, in collaboration with St. Peter's Artists Collective, hosts a Winter Make & Take event, 7-9 p.m. today in the Parish Hall at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 925 Mitchell St., Conway. Jazz-folk fusion ensemble Lady J and the Trebled Souls will perform as guests consume wine, cheese, crackers, coffee and dessert; artist Kristen Spickard and volunteers will lead a collage-making workshop. Admission is $30; you must be 21 or older to attend. Visit tiny.cc/cafta1212.
FRIDAY
'Striking' lecture
University of Arkansas graduate student Kyra Schmidt explores "The Fort Smith Women's Telephone Operator's Strike of 1917" in a Brown Bag Lunch Lecture, noon Friday at the Old State House Museum, 300 W. Markham St., Little Rock. Admission is free; attendees provide their own lunches and the museum provides soft drinks and water. Call (501) 324-9685 or visit oldstatehouse.org.
Keeping an 'eye out'
Young Ralphie Parker's quest to get a genuine Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas despite parental warnings that he'll only shoot his eye out is at the center of A Christmas Story, adapted by Philip Grecian from the 1983 film and the book by Jean Shepherd, Lee Clark and Bob Clark), which the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, 701 S. Main St., Pine Bluff, stages at 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Sponsor is Relyance Bank. Tickets are $17, $13 for center members, $8 for students and senior citizens. Call (870) 536-3375 or visit artssciencecenter.tix.com.
The center's Second Saturday Family Fun Day, 1-3 p.m., includes a Christmas Story-inspired ornaments arts project. Admission is free.
'Holiday Blast'
Jonesboro's Foundation of Arts presents "A Holiday Blast: FOA Music Show," 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and Monday , 2 p.m. Sunday at the Forum Theater, 115 E. Monroe Ave., Jonesboro. Tickets are $17 and $15, $15 and $13 for senior citizens, military and Arkansas State University students, faculty and staff, $8 for children 12 and younger. Monday's show is "Pay What You Can." Call (870) 935-2726 or visit foajonesboro.org/purchasing.
SATURDAY
'Taking the Stage'
The Arkansas Theatre Festival holds a fundraiser, "Taking the Stage," to officially kick off its inaugural year, 2 p.m. Saturday at Stickyz Rock 'n' Roll Chicken Shack, 107 River Market Ave., Little Rock. The program will include improvisation, monologues, scene performances, magic by Paul Prater, music by Rodney Block and announcements of shows and partners. Tickets are $10; donations of any size accepted. Visit facebook.com/events/443393412983509.
Weekend on 12/12/2019