FUN
The North Little Rock Public Library System will present Laman Con 2025: Worlds of Wonder, 5-7 p.m. Friday at the Argenta Public Library, 420 Main St., North Little Rock, and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at the William F. Laman Public Library, 2801 Orange St., North Little Rock.
Friday’s lineup features a Wizarding Workshop, with “maker activities designed for teens and adults,” according to a news release. Admission is free. Saturday’s main convention offers “ComiCon style activities for all ages throughout the day,” including gaming opportunities, creative workshops, vendor and artist booths, live quests and scavenger activities, themed stations and, at 11 a.m., Fantastic Friends Photos: Live Character Encounters in the Children’s Department (“young attendees can meet fully costumed storybook heroes for photos, high-fives, and magical moments”). Admission is free.
Laman Con concludes with an adults-only after party, 4:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Innovation Hub, 204 E. Fourth St., North Little Rock, with a cosplay contest, trivia, crafts and “activities geared toward attendees ages 18 and older.” Admission is free.
Call (501) 758-1720 or visit NLRlibrary.org/laman-con.
MUSIC
Maroon 5, with Claire Rosinkranz, 8 p.m. Sunday at North Little Rock’s Simmons Bank Arena. (501) 975-9000. $63-$283. Ticketmaster.com.
The Claremont Trio — Emily Bruskin, violin; Julia Bruskin, cello; and Sophiko Simsive, piano — performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 4106 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock, under the auspices of the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock. The program: the Piano Trio No. 1 in E-flat major, op.1, No. 1, by Ludwig van Beethoven; “Soliloquy” by Shulamit Ran; and the Piano Trio in a minor by Maurice Ravel. Tickets are $25, free for students. Visit chambermusicLR.com/tickets.
The Metropolitan Opera “cinecasts” its production of Giacomo Puccini’s “La Bohème,” “Live in HD,” from the stage of the Met in New York, noon Saturday at the Movie Tavern, 11300 Bass Pro Parkway, Little Rock, and the Razorback Cinema, 956 N. Steele Blvd., Fayetteville. Ticket information is available at metopera.org/season/in-cinemas. Soprano Juliana Grigoryan sings the role of Mimì with tenor Freddie De Tommaso as Rodolfo, soprano Heidi Stober as Musetta, baritone Lucas Meachem as Marcello, baritone Sean Michael Plumb as Schaunard, bass Jongmin Park as Colline and baritone Donald Maxwell as Benoit and Alcindoro. Keri-Lynn Wilson conducts.
THEATER
A young orphan child mistakenly crawls into Santa’s sack of toys one Christmas Eve and is thus transported to the North Pole, but once he discovers he is human, not an elf, he heads back to New York City to find his birth father and, subsequently, helps the Big Apple rediscover the true meaning of Christmas in “Elf the Musical,” based on the 2003 film, 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. at Broadway. (501) 244-8800; CelebrityAttractions.com or Ticketmaster.com
The University of Central Arkansas Theatre Program stages William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” reimagined through through a vaudeville-esque lens, 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday and Nov. 14-15 and 2 p.m. Sunday and Nov. 16 in the James M. Bridges Black Box Theatre at the Windgate Center for the Fine and Performing Arts, 2150 Bruce St. at Donaghey Avenue, Conway. (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012; web.ovationtix.com.
And Mel Brooks’ musical “Young Frankenstein” is onstage through Saturday at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock. Buffet opens 90 minutes before the 7:30 p.m. curtain. (501) 562-3131; murrysdp.com. Opening Wednesday and onstage through Dec. 31: “Frozen: The Musical.”
ART AND EXHIBITS
New this week:
Works by more than 60 student, alumni, faculty and staff artists, including prints, photography, jewelry, ceramics, textiles, sculpture, furniture and graphic design will be available for sale as the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s School of Art and Design hosts its 2025 Holiday Sale and Open House, 3-8 p.m. Friday in the Windgate Center of Art and Design, 5617 W. 28th St., Little Rock. Cocoa, coffee and cookies will be served. (501) 916-5101.
Also at the Windgate Center, “Nicole Seisler — Some Truths About Clay,” works by ceramicist Nicole Seisler, on display Friday-through Dec. 12 in the North and South Galleries. And “Naima Green: Seismic Feelings,” photographs by Green, the Windgate Center Artist-in-Residence for the fall 2025 semester, that “examine the nature of intimacy, sensuality, and self-recognition,” are on display through Dec. 8 in the Focus Gallery. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
“Slow Down. Look Closer.,” watercolor paintings by Matt TerAvest “exploring themes of introspection, solitude and vulnerability,” goes on display with a 5-7:30 p.m. reception Thursday at Thea Foundation, 401 Main St. in North Little Rock’s Argenta District. It’s upthrough Nov. 27, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 5-8 p.m. Nov. 21 during Argenta’s Third Friday Art Walk. theafoundation.org.
“Thomas Hart Benton,” a traveling exhibition of original artwork created by the artist during World War II, opens Friday and is up through July 31 at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 503 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. (501) 376-4602; littlerock.gov/macarthur.
CONTINUING:
“Our Pale Blue Dot,” recent paintings by Benton artist Kae Barron inspired by “the famous ‘Pale Blue Dot’ photo of Earth from space (taken by Voyager spacecraft, as it exited the solar system in 1990),” up through Jan. 17 at Cantrell Gallery, 8202 Cantrell Road, Little Rock. It’s remains, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday or by appointment. Admission to the reception and the gallery is free. Call (501) 224-1335 or visit cantrellgallery.com.
Paintings and sculptures by Mark Blaney, ceramics by Soyoon Ahn and abstract works by Sharon Locke are on display through Nov. 22 at Boswell Mourot Fine Art, 1501 Main St., Little Rock. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and by appointment. (501) 454-6969; boswellmourot.com.
At the ESSE Purse Museum & Store, 1510 Main St., Little Rock, “Henry and Nolan,” photographs by Rita Henry and Nancy Nolan along with their collections of cameras, photography tools and materials, as well as a special art installation, on display through Feb. 1. (501) 916-9022.
“GhosArt: Ye Art Gods,” works in acrylics, oils, graphite, charcoal, watercolor pencils, colored pencils and ink alongside recorded music by Elvin Bishop, aka Poppa Ghos, is on display through Nov. 29 at the William F. Laman Public Library, 2801 Orange St., North Little Rock. (501) 758-1720; NLRlibrary.org.
“Under A Restless Sky,” a new site-specific installation by Boston-based artist Nathalie Miebach, on display through April 4 in the Jackson T. Stephens Gallery of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. The three-dimensional art installation, created with paint, paper, wood, ropes and other materials that explores how various species — birds and humans — move and adapt due to environmental and climate changes, (501) 372-4000; arkmfa.org.
CLOSED ON ACCOUNT OF THE GOV’T SHUTDOWN
And “Portraits From a Presidency,” the exhibition of more than 50 paintings, sculptures, engravings and photographic portraits of members of the Clinton family, up through Dec. 7 at the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. clintonpresidentialcenter.org/exhibits.