ART
“Field Notes,” photographs that “explore the collision between human disruption and nature’s resilience” by Gary Cawood, faculty member emeritus at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, opens with a Third Friday Art Walk reception, 5-8 p.m. Friday at the Argenta Library, 420 Main St., North Little Rock. The exhibition remains up through June 6 during regular library hours, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Admission to the reception and the library is free. Call (501) 687-1061 or visit NLRlibrary.org.
Early-morning sketches
“Scenes from the 5 a.m. Studio,” drawings by Robert Bean, the former chair of the Painting and Drawing department at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts’ Windgate Art School and a former instructor at University of Arkansas Little Rock’s School of Art, opens with a 5-8 p.m. reception Friday at Acansa Gallery, 413A Main St., North Little Rock. The show consists of 70 works, including quick gesture drawings that Bean created in his studio after waking up long before the crack of dawn and drawings he created later in the day for his art students at Mills University Studies High School in Little Rock. The exhibition will be up through June 13. Gallery hours are 9:30 s.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Call (501) 416-0973 or visit ACANSA.org.
THEATER
Comedy in Conway
Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre stages a one-act adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” 6:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday and Tuesday-May 23 in the Market Square, The Village at Hendrix, 1705 Altus St., Conway. Pre-show music starts at 6. Admission is pay what you can, with a suggested donation of $25 per person. Visit tinyurl.com/yc38x84d.
Broadway Bound
Sascha Bass and Collin Carlton, both students at Pulaski Academy, are the winners of the Broadway Bound Awards of Central Arkansas and will represent the region at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (aka the Jimmy Awards) on June 23 in New York.
Both appeared in the school’s production of “Alice By Heart” — Bass, a sophomore, played Alice; Carlton, a junior, played Alfred, the White Rabbit and the March Hare. Both are also members of the Pre-Professional Company that the Arkansas Repertory Theatre and Argenta Contemporary Theater share.
Theatrical presenter Celebrity Attractions and the Argenta theater are collaborating on the regional program, in its first year, that highlights and awards excellence in high school musical theater. It concluded with a May 5 showcase at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall.
The program sends to New York the area’s best female and male performers, as decided by a panel of performing arts educators and professionals who have seen a season of shows at Beebe, Bryant, Conway, El Dorado, Fountain Lake, Hot Springs World Class, Little Rock Central, Maumelle, North Little Rock and Parkview Arts & Science Magnet, Episcopal Collegiate School and Pulaski Academy.
They’ll spend 10 days in New York ahead of the awards presentation, culminating in a talent showcase in front of an audience on a Broadway stage at the 15th Jimmy Awards ceremony, June 23 at New York’s Minskoff Theatre.
The awards program, named for Broadway impresario James M. Nederlander, involves more than 130,000 students in 51 regional high school musical theater competitions sponsored by presenters of touring Broadway productions throughout the United States. The program has been the catalyst for more than $6 million in educational scholarships since its debut in 2009. Visit JimmyAwards.com.
Five other students received special accolades at the May 5 showcase:
◼️ Spirit of Broadway: Liv Robertson, Bryant High
◼️ Rising Star: Lucy Beaumont, Little Rock Central
◼️ Director’s Award for Vocal Excellence: Annie Zimmerman, Episcopal Collegiate
◼️ Director’s Award for Choreography: John Sullivan, Hot Springs World Class High
◼️ Director’s Award for Theatrical Performance: Eli Lancaster, North Little Rock High.
MUSIC
‘Salome’ on screen
The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Richard Strauss’ “Salome” will be “cinecast” live to more than 1,800 movie theaters worldwide, including the Movie Tavern in Little Rock, at noon Saturday, part of the “Met: Live in HD” series. Soprano Elza van den Heever sings the title role, with baritone Peter Mattei as Jochanaan (aka John the Baptist). Mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung is Herodias, with tenor Gerhard Siegel as Herod and tenor Piotr Buszewski as Narraboth. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
Aigul Akhmetshina hosts the transmission, sharing exclusive behind-the-scenes content and interviews during the intermission. The Met advises viewers that the opera “contains adult themes and disturbing imagery.”
For ticket and other information, visit metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/2024-25-season/salome.
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