ENTERTAINMENT NOTES: Laughter to fill Simmons Arena as shows return

"Maurice's Musings," works by Cantrell Gallery founder N. Scott, opens Friday at the Little Rock gallery.
(Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
"Maurice's Musings," works by Cantrell Gallery founder N. Scott, opens Friday at the Little Rock gallery. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)

Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:

'Maurice's Musings'

On Friday, Cantrell Gallery, 8208 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, starts showcasing paintings and drawings by its founder, N. Scott (1939-2010), in an exhibition titled "Maurice's Musings." Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, March 19–May 15; call (501) 224-1335 to arrange a private viewing. The exhibit will also be available virtually through a video tour on YouTube and the gallery's Facebook page.

Documentary showings

Arkansas Cinema Society, in conjunction with Just Communities of Arkansas, the Arkansas Peace and Justice Memorial Movement and Washitaw Foothills Youth Media Arts & Literacy Collective, will screen, virtually, "The Story of Plastic," a look at the world's plastic crisis, at 6 p.m. Sunday. A question-and-answer conversation will follow with Emmy Award-winning director Deia Schlosberg and Marty Matlock, executive director of the University of Arkansas Resiliency Center and professor of ecological engineering at the university. It's free; register at tinyurl.com/wh5b8vfh.

And the Cinema Society will screen the documentary "Kiss the Ground" at 6 p.m. Wednesday virtually via tinyurl.com/zy7tancz. Woody Harrelson narrates and is featured in the film, which posits that, by regenerating the world's soils, it is possible to completely and rapidly stabilize Earth's climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Register at tinyurl.com/ tmfdmxkw.

A question-and-answer session will follow with "Kiss the Ground" executive director Ryland Englehart in California and, in Arkansas, Rusty and Sue Nuffer of Armstead Mountain Farms and Cody Hopkins of Falling Sky Farms and Grass Roots Farmers Cooperative in Arkansas, moderated by Jack Sundell of Little Rock's Root Cafe. It is the society's first screening as part of the Coolidge Corner Theatre's Science on Screen series. Support comes from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Comedy coming

Actor and comedian Mike Epps brings his “In Real Life”cq EH comedy tour to North Little Rock’s Simmons Bank Arena June 4. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
Actor and comedian Mike Epps brings his “In Real Life”cq EH comedy tour to North Little Rock’s Simmons Bank Arena June 4. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)

Actor and comedian Mike Epps brings his "In Real Life" comedy tour, with comedians Michael Blackson, DC Young Fly, Karlous Miller and Kountry Wayne, to North Little Rock's Simmons Bank Arena, 7 p.m. June 4. Tickets for the reduced-capacity show — $63-$129 plus fees — go on sale at 11 a.m. today at Ticketmaster.com. Covid-19 safety measures will be in place.

Theater classes

Argenta Community Theater is offering, via Zoom, four- to six-week virtual classes in theater dance, musical theater, acting, improvisation and film acting techniques for children, teenagers and adults, March 29-May 8. Tuition is $75-$100 per once-a-week session. For full class descriptions or to register, visit tinyurl.com/3w6kaaby.

The theater will also offer its ACTing Up Summer Performing Arts Camp, including classes in music, theater dance, acting for stage and acting for the camera, June 7-18 and July 12-23, in-person at the theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock. To maintain limited class sizes and optimal spacing, the theater will offer two identical sessions of the the two-week day camp, 8 a.m.- 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Lunch is included. A final friends-and-family performance will conclude each two-week session. Tuition is $250; need-based scholarships are available. Visit tinyurl.com/3w6kaaby.

Kids' concert

The Arkansas Symphony's annual children's concert, "Peter and the Wolf," 10 a.m. April 1, will be available virtually for free via tinyurl.com/a46ppkwh. Interim Artistic Director Geoffrey Robson will conduct Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" with narrator LaSheena Gordon. Samuel Garcia will be the violin soloist in Antonio Vivaldi's "Spring" Concerto, part of "The Four Seasons." The program will be available to watch until May 1.

Gordon is a Little Rock-based singer, actress and teacher. Garcia — a 15-year-old homeschooler from Crossett and Monroe, La. — was the 2018 overall winner of the Stella Boyle Smith Young Artist Competition, sponsored by the ASO Orchestra Guild, and a 2019 soloist with the orchestra, in the first movement of Felix Mendelssohn's "Violin Concerto" in e minor.

Gilbert festival

The town of Gilbert is seeking vendors and musicians for its second Greater Gilbert Arts & Crafts Festival, Memorial Day Weekend, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. May 28-29 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 30 at 42 N. Frost St., Gilbert. Organizers say the festival reflects the Buffalo River town's art explosion over the last five years.

Spaces are available for vendors offering, among other items, wood crafts, handmade jewelry, stained glass, rock art, fine art, folk art, repurposed antiques, signs, coins, door hangers, handmade textiles, pyrography, charcuterie boards, driftwood art, baked goods, fried pies, and food and beverages. Call (870) 692-0844 or email [email protected].

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