THEATER
‘Christmas Story’ redux
The Argenta Contemporary Theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock, reprises its 2024 production of “A Christmas Story: The Musical” (music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, book by Joseph Robinette, based on the screenplay for the film by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark, based in turn on Shepherd’s “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash”), 7 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and Dec. 16-18, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and Dec. 20 and 2 p.m. Dec. 14 and 21. Tickets are $33.74-$93.19. Visit universe.com/events/a-christmas-story-the-musical-tickets-R4MHGX.
Meanwhile, the theater has announced its 2026 season, including:
◼️ Feb. 18-March 7: “Always, Patsy Cline” by Ted Swindley
◼️ April 22-May 9: “Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Whitman with Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newly songs from the 1971 motion picture “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”; book by David Greig, based on Dahl’s children’s classic
◼️ July 10-July 25: “The Cake” by Bekah Brunsetter
◼️ Aug. 26-Sept. 12: “Hands on a Hardbody,” music by Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green, lyrics by Green, book by Doug Wright
◼️ Oct. 14-Nov. 1: “Misery” by William Goldman, based on the novel by Stephen King
◼️ Dec. 1-19: “A Christmas Carol,” the return to ACT of Judy Goss’ adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic.
Season tickets are $245-$320 through Dec. 31, $275-$360 thereafter. Visit argentacontemporarytheatre.org/what-s-on#2026-season.
Dolly’s ‘Christmas Carol’
Right Angle Entertainment puts on its touring “Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol,” featuring songs by the 11-time Grammy winner with a book by David H. Bell, adapted for the stage by Bell, Paul T. Couch and Curt Wollan, 7 p.m. Wednesday in Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway.
Set in the 1930s in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, the show imagines Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge as the owner of a mining company town where his callous greed blinds him to the joys and gifts of the season. As a Christmas Eve snowstorm approaches, Scrooge receives a visit from his deceased business partner and three ghosts who compel him to see life anew and discover that love is the greatest gift.
It’s part of the UCA Public Appearances series. Tickets are $34.50-$57.50, $11.50 for children and students. Call (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012 or visit uca.edu/publicappearances.
‘Kimberly Akimbo’ at WAC
The national tour of “Kimberly Akimbo” (music by Jeanine Tesori, book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire) — winner of five 2023 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book — is onstage at 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. 14 at Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St.
Kimberly (Ann Morrison), about to turn 16, has recently moved with her family to a new town in suburban New Jersey and is forced to navigate family dysfunction, a rare genetic condition, her first crush … and possible felony charges.
Tickets are $48.30-120.75. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit waltonartscenter.org.
MUSIC
‘Voices of Angels’
The Muses Project offers up its “Voices of Angels” concerts:
◼️ 6 p.m. Monday at the Muses Cultural Arts Center, 428 Orange St., Hot Springs. Student show, admission free for all artists, musicians, students and teachers with advance registration — call (501) 609-9811.
◼️ 7 p.m. Thursday at First Presbyterian Church, 516 Pecan St., Texarkana. Sponsor is the Patterson-Troike Foundation. Admission is free. Call (870) 774-6453.
◼️ 7 p.m. Friday at the Woodlands Auditorium, 1101 DeSoto Blvd., Hot Springs Village.
◼️ 3 p.m, Saturday and Dec. 14 at the Muses Cultural Arts Center.
Tickets for the Friday-Dec. 14 concerts are $35. Call (501) 609-9811 or visit themusesproject.org.
In a program titled “All Bells in Paradise,” named for a piece by John Rutter, the troupe of professional singers, instrumentalists, a mixed-voice chorus and dancers cover 400 years of sacred classical compositions by George Frideric Handel, Benjamin Britten, Felix Mendelssohn, Edwin R. Fissinger, Rutter, Eric Whitacre and others in contemporary arrangements with lyrics in English, Latin and German.
‘Gifts From the Heart’
Opera in the Ozarks celebrates the season with “Gifts from the Heart,” billed as “a brand-new musical experience (combining) opera, song and storytelling,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Dec. 14 at its new theater at Inspiration Point Center for the Arts, 16311 U.S. 62 West just west of Eureka Springs.
Four singers from the 2025 Opera in the Ozarks summer season will perform “Lucinda y las Flores de la Nochebuena” (“Lucinda and the Flowers of Christmas Eve”), a one-act opera in English — music by Evan Mack, libretto by Joshua McGuire — inspired by the Mexican legend of a young girl’s humble gift that becomes the first poinsettia. The second half of the program will feature performances of carols and seasonal music by Ralph Vaughan Williams “and other holiday favorites” with piano accompaniment.
Local nonprofits will share displays in the theater lobby; seasonal treats and festive concessions will also be for sale and the theater and grounds will be decorated for the holidays.
Tickets are $20-$40, $10 for children under 18. Call (479) 253-8595 or visit opera.org.
DANCE
Fort Smith ‘Nutcracker’
Western Arkansas Ballet stages its 40th annual performance of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Dec. 14 at the ArcBest Corp. Performing Arts Center, 55 S. Seventh St., Fort Smith. Artistic director Jared Mesa leads a cast of more than 115 area children and adults with Western Arkansas Ballet alumna and River Valley native Kelsey Corder in the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Casey Kelley, a dancer with American Midwest Ballet, as her Cavalier. Tickets are $35, $20 for children and students (with a valid student ID). Call (479) 785-0152 or visit waballet.org.
ART
Artist Award
Jan. 31 is the deadline for Arkansas female visual artists to submit applications to the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts for its annual $4,000 Artist Award. Criteria and application are available online at acnmwa.org/programs/artist-award. The recipient will be announced in March.
The award helps “an accomplished woman artist realize her vision and increase the visibility of her achievements,” according to a news release. “The recipient can use the award for any purpose, including studio expenses, equipment or supplies, child care, research, travel or study.” The 2025 recipient was Tram Colwin, a Northwest Arkansas-based, Vietnamese-American watercolor artist, educator and small-business owner.
ETC.
‘Radiolab’ taping
“Radiolab,” a public radio show produced by New York station WNYC, which its website describes as “an experiential investigation that explores themes and ideas through a patchwork of people, sounds, and stories,” will be in Little Rock this week to record a show titled “Radiolab Presents: Viscera,” 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave., Little Rock. It’s under the auspices of Little Rock Public Radio’s “The Signal,” its year-end celebration.
Hosts Latif Nasser and Dr. Avir Mitra will examine antibiotic-resistant bacteria, “from the emergency room to the farm, and back to the human body,” with Steffanie Strathdee, an epidemiologist at University of California San Diego and Johns Hopkins and author of “The Perfect Predator,” and Dr. Myles Keck, assistant professor, clinical pharmacy specialist and infectious disease and antimicrobial stewardship pharmacist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Tickets are $22.10 general admission, $106.34 VIP (includes a post-event reception with the hosts). Visit simpletix.com/e/the-signal-featuring-radiolab-tickets-239602.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.arkansasonline.com ’
