THEATER
‘Tina Turner Musical’
“The Tina Turner Musical” (book by Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins) is onstage, 7 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, 1:30 and 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Dec. 17 at Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St.
Ari Groover and Parris Lewis head the cast of the North American tour, each playing Turner in four (of the eight) performances, with Deon Releford-Lee as Ike Turner, Roz White as Zelma Bullock, Wydetta Carter as Gran Georgeanna and Sarah Bockel as Rhonda.
Tickets are $42-$103; for an additional $49, a “VIP experience” includes a private VIP room open before the show and at intermission, with two drinks of choice, a dedicated bar, hors d’oeuvres, desserts and a themed photo booth. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit waltonartscenter.org.
‘Les Mis’ tickets
Walton Arts Center is also the venue for Cameron Mackintosh’s revival production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s “Les Misérables,” onstage 7 p.m. Jan. 2-3, 1:30 and 7 p.m. Jan. 4, 8 p.m. Jan. 5, 2 and 8 p.m. Jan. 6 and 2 p.m. Jan. 7. Tickets are $53-$119. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit waltonartscenter.org.
DANCE
Fort Smith ‘Nutcracker’
New Orleans dancers Taylor Sambola and Arcadian Broad will dance the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier in Western Arkansas Ballet’s 38th performance of Peter Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” with a cast of more than 125 area children and adults, 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the ArcBest Corp. Performing Arts Center, 55 S. Seventh St., Fort Smith. Tickets are $30, $20 for children and students (with a valid student ID). Call (479) 785-0152 or visit waballet.org.
ART
‘Delta Triennial’ details
The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts will accept entries online from Jan. 1-Feb. 11 via Call for Entry (tinyurl.com/4v9tx5da) from artists born in or currently working in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas for the first “Delta Triennial” exhibition, on display June 28-Aug. 25 in the Harriet and Warren Stephens Galleries at the museum, 501 E. Ninth St. in Little Rock’s MacArthur Park.
Details and requirements are also available at the submission site and at arkmfa.org/art/exhibitions/delta-triennial-2024.
Jurors Amy Kligman, executive director of the Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City, Mo.; Alexis McGrigg, a former “Delta Voices” participating artist from Mississippi; and Takako Tanabe, founding director of Ulterior Gallery in New York, will choose one $5,000 grand prize winner; while the exhibition is on display, members of the public will vote for a $1,500 “People’s Choice” award. The exhibition will feature at least one artist from each of the participating states. Submitting artists will be notified of the jurors’ selections for the exhibition by March 29. Artists whose work the jurors select will receive a stipend to offset the delivery of their artwork based on their distance from the museum.
ETC.
Arts awards winners
Little Rock artist and gallery owner Garbo Hearne will receive the Arts Community Development Award, one of eight 2024 Governor’s Arts Awards, from the Arkansas Arts Council at a March 8 ceremony in Little Rock.
The other recipients:
◼️ Arts in Education Award: North Little Rock artist Virmarie DePoyster
◼️ Corporate Sponsorship of the Arts Award: General Mills in Rogers
◼️ Folklife Award: Mountain View folk musician and singer Pam Setser
◼️ Individual Artist Award: Potter Stephen Driver of Ozark
◼️ Judges Recognition Award: El Dorado artist, curator and art educator Gay Bechtelheimer
◼️ Patron Award: Tony Waller, vice president of Constituent Relations and Racial Equity for Walmart in Bentonville
◼️ Lifetime Achievement Award: Mountain View storyteller, songwriter and historian Charley Sandage.
The annual awards program has recognized individuals, organizations and businesses for outstanding contributions to the arts in Arkansas since 1991, via first public nominations and subsequent selection by an independent panel of arts professionals. Visit tinyurl.com/mdwku9zk.
Parris Lewis and Ari Groover divide performances as Tina Turner in “The Tina Turner Musical,” onstage this week at Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Matt Murphy for MurphyMade)
The touring production of “Les Miserables” will be at Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center Jan. 2-7. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)
