FUN
Wildwood Park for the Arts, 20919 Denny Road, Little Rock, holds its annual Lanterns festival, 6-9 p.m. Thursday, 6-10 p.m. Friday, 4-10 p.m. Saturday, 4-9 p.m. Sunday. Visitors can sample food and performances in six different “lands” or “vistas” on the park grounds — representing the countries of Italy, Egypt, China and Japan; and one U.S. city — Honolulu — plus a Fairytale Forest especially for children, inspired by the Land of Oz. The festival features, among other wonders, camel and balloon rides and live stage shows nightly. (501) 821-7275; wildwoodlanterns.org.
The Second National Tour of the musical “Wicked” closes out its two-week Little Rock sit-down with shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. at Broadway. It’s Celebrity Attractions’ season finale. (501) 244-8800; CelebrityAttractions.com; Ticketmaster.com.
The inaugural Arkansas Card Show takes place, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at the Statehouse Convention Center, Markham and Main streets, Little Rock. Vendors and dealers from across the region who specialize in sports cards and collectible card games, including Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering and Disney’s Lorcana will be on hand, along with “featured guests” baseball legend Dwight Gooden, voiceover performer Megan Hollingshead and basketball player Horace Grant. TheArkansasCardShow.com.
MUSIC
ZZ Top & Dwight Yoakam co-headline a concert at 7 p.m. Friday at Simmons Bank Arena. (501) 340-5660; simmonsbankarena.com.
Also on Friday, former teen sensation Tiffany performs at 7 p.m. at the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave., Little Rock. (501) 325-5715; ronrobinsontheater.org.
The Camerata Little Rock chamber orchestra, with mezzo-soprano Shannon Webb and guitarist Andrew Flory, offer a concert titled “Beyond Borders: Italian Composers Abroad,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 310 W. 17th St., Little Rock. The program includes music by Tomaso Albinoni, Pietro Antonio Locatelli and Francesco Geminiani, as well as the “Fandango” Quintet No. 4 by Luigi Boccherini, the one with the castanets in the last movement. gofundme.com/f/support-camerata-little-rocks-spring-concert.
The River City Men’s Chorus celebrates “FREEDOM!” with concerts of American music, 3 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Monday and April 23 at St. James United Methodist Church, 321 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. (501) 377-1080.
DANCE
Ballet Arkansas has a busy weekend scheduled, with two productions onstage at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock: “ICONS of American Dance,” 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, with three original modern works — “Birthday Variations” with choreography by Gerald Arpino; “Within Without,” choreographed by Andrea Schermoly; and the world premiere of “Stryga” by choreographer Noelle Kayser; and what it is billing as “the Arkansas premiere” of Adolphe Adam’s ballet “Giselle,” 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. onthestage.tickets/show/ballet-arkansas.
THEATER
The Arkansas premiere of “Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical” is onstage at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the Haislip Theatre, Center for Performing Arts, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock. As with “Stranger Things,” the TV show it spoofs, it’s set in 1983 in Hawkins, Ind., “when times were simpler, hair was bigger and unsupervised kids were getting snatched by inter-dimensional creatures.” The theater is rating the show PG-13. ualr.edu/theatre.
Actors Theatre of Little Rock is staging August Wilson’s “Fences,” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday through May 2 at Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, 1601 Louisiana St., Little Rock. The theater is rating the show PG-13. actorstheatrelr.org/tickets.
The Royal Players wraps up its run of “Annie Get Your Gun,” 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Royal Theatre, 111 S. Market St., Benton. onthestage.tickets/the-royal-theatre.
And at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock, closes out its run of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” continues onstage, 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Buffet opens 30 minutes before curtain time. (501) 562-3131; murrysdp.com.
ART AND EXHIBITS
“The Three SoMa Sisters: History, Nature, Wellness, and Anita Davis’ Mission to Thrive in SoMa” is on display through Aug. 30 at ESSE Museum & Store, 1510 Main St. in Little Rock’s SoMa neighborhood. The exhibit explores how Davis has created a community focused on her three SoMa enterprises: the museum, the Bernice Garden and The Authentic Self Collective. (501) 916-9022; essepursemuseum.com.
“Impressions of Spain,” paintings by Sean LeCrone inspired by a recent journey through the Iberian Peninsula, opens with a 5-8 p.m. reception Thursday at the Art Group Gallery, in the Pleasant Ridge Town Center, 11525 Cantrell Road, Little Rock. Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday or by appointment. (501) 690-2193; artgrouparkansas.com.
Hearne Fine Art, 1001 Wright Ave., Little Rock, holds a reception at 5:30 p.m. Friday for “Women Create Space. Grace. Power: A Multimedia Survey of Thirteen Black Women Artists,” on display through June 13. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday. (501) 372-6822; hearnefineart.com.
“Do You See What I See,” works from the Six Bridges Watercolor Group, opens with an Argenta Arts District Third Friday Art Walk, 5-8 p.m. Friday in the Argenta Library Gallery, 420 Main St., North Little Rock. The show remains on display through May 8. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. (501) 687-1061; NLRlibrary.org.
And speaking of watercolors, The Mid-Southern Watercolorists’ 56th annual juried exhibition is on display through May 1 at the William F. Laman Public Library, 2801 Orange St., North Little Rock. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday-Saturday. (501) 758-1720; NLRlibrary.org.
“Disfarmer: Portraits of Rural Arkansas,” early 20th-century black-and-white portraits of Arkansans by Mike Disfarmer, is up through June, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday, at the Old State House Museum in Little Rock. (501) 324-9685.
“Thomas Hart Benton,” a traveling exhibition of original artwork created by the artist during World War II, 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.
And “Kuimeaux’s World,” drawings and paintings by late Little Rock native Dwight “Kuimeaux” Drennan, is on display through spring 2027 at Little Rock’s Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. (501) 324-9351.