THURSDAY 7/10

‘GLEN CAMPBELL … I’LL BE ME’ 7 p.m. Ron Robinson Theater. $25.

Advertisement

The Arkansas Motion Picture Institute will host a preview screening of the new documentary “I’ll Be Me … Glen Campbell” at the Ron Robinson Theater, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers (including director James Keach) and members of the Campbell family. Advance tickets are $25 and available at arkansasmpi.org. The film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Nashville Film Festival, focuses on Campbell’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease and his 151-show “Goodbye Tour,” and includes interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Bill Clinton, Paul McCartney, Steve Martin and others. Campbell, born in Pike County, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2011. He resides in an assisted living facility in Nashville. WS

THURSDAY 7/10

Advertisement

PSYCHIC JOHN EDWARD

7 p.m. Embassy Suites Little Rock. $150-$225. Sold out.

Advertisement

I’m getting something. Yes, the visions are coming. I’m seeing a letter “M.” Has anyone passed on whose first, middle or last name starts with an “M”? Your grandmother’s name was Nancy? That’s it! N, for Nancy! I was only one letter off, and an N kinda looks like an M! I’m seeing lungs. Did she pass of a respiratory illness? A heart attack? Well, the heart is close to the lungs! She’s here with us now. She’s right behind you, pointing to your wallet. She wants you to make sure you buy several overpriced books on your way out of the event that’s being put on by “psychic” John Edward. She’s showing me a clip of Edward’s old SyFy TV show “Crossing Over,” in which Edward convinced grieving people that he was talking to their dead relatives, using many of the same “fish-’til-you-get-it-right” Jedi mind tricks that phony psychics have used since Harry Houdini was running around debunking them. Wait. I’m getting another vision. It’s dollar signs! I’m seeing your checking account balance shrinking by somewhere between $150 and $225, which is how much tickets to Edward’s show cost per person. Wait … she’s leaving! Come back, Nancy! Quick, get out a hundred-dollar bill! The smell of hard currency is the only thing that attracts the dead, and you don’t want Grandma to go away before she can tell me to tell you how much she loves you, right? DK

THURSDAY 7/10

Advertisement

MARK EDGAR STUART

8 p.m. South On Main. Free.

Advertisement

You’ve probably seen Pine Bluff native Mark Edgar Stuart playing bass alongside John Paul Keith or Cory Branan or Jack Oblivian or Alvin Youngblood Hart, but it doesn’t especially matter. He’s an impressive songwriter in his own right, author of maybe the best Arkansas anthem of the past couple of years: “Arkansas Is Nice,” off his 2013 solo record, “Blues for Lou.” The album followed a rough few years for Stuart, who was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2010 and lost his father the following year (“We laugh a while, but things ain’t fine,” as he puts it, summing it up on one of the album’s best songs, “Things Ain’t Fine”). The title track, an ode to his dad, is staggering, a Laurel Canyon take on unspeakable loss. WS

THURSDAY 7/10

Advertisement

PJ MORTON

9 p.m. Juanita’s. $20.

PJ Morton is angling for that Frank Ocean career arc, the phantom songwriter-turned-R&B auteur. Having written and produced for Jermaine Dupri, LL Cool J, Jagged Edge, India.Arie (for which he won a Grammy) and having played keyboards for, oddly enough, Maroon 5 for several years, Morton has been signed by Lil Wayne’s Young Money label. He kicked things off last year with “New Orleans,” featuring guest spots by Wayne, Busta Rhymes, Adam Levine and Steve Wonder (playing harmonica on the pretty good single “Only One”). It wasn’t bad, but there was something vaguely suspicious about the thing; it was too well funded, well connected and glossy to be so out-of-left-field. Still, you can’t help but appreciate songs like “Work It Out” and the title track, the video for which features footage of an 8-year-old Morton messing around with keyboards with a dated, reverb-y voiceover by his dad, the gospel singer Paul S. Morton. WS

FRIDAY 7/11

Advertisement

JEFF KOONS

7 p.m. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. $15 ($12 members)

Jeff Koons, he of the stainless steel inflatable bunnies, Popeye sculptures, balloon dogs (“Balloon Dog Orange” is the most expensive work by a living artist ever sold at auction — $58.4 million) and, at Crystal Bridges Museum, a big gold heart, will give a lecture on his work. You just don’t get any more famous in the art world than Jeff Koons. From Versailles to Bentonville! Crystal Bridges bought Koons’ “Hanging Heart (Gold/Magenta),” which hangs in Eleven, the museum’s restaurant, directly from the artist, so maybe Alice W. and Jeff are pals. You will need to sign up in advance (call 479-657-2335) to hear Koons because this event will be packed. A booksigning will follow. LNP

FRIDAY 7/11

2nd Friday Art Night

5-8 p.m. Downtown galleries. Free.

While folks in Northwest Arkansas rub shoulders with one of contemporary art’s most controversial figure (see item above), art lovers here can hop the trolley to see the work of Arkansas artists at various downtown venues. Highlights: paintings by Katherine Strause; a group show by Matt McLeod, Tod Switch and Robert Bean, and a mixed media exhibit by Kateri Joe. In “Home Demonstration Clubs or How Women Saved the South” Strause, chair of the department of art at Henderson State University, pays tribute to the home demonstration movement of the early part of the 20th century; see it at the Butler Center Galleries in the Arkansas Studies Institute, 401 President Clinton Blvd. “Bold Contrasts,” at the Arkansas Capital Corp., 200 River Market Ave., features paintings by McLeod, sculpture by Switch and ink drawings by Bean. Joe’s “Thank Your Lucky Stars,” at the Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St., draws on the artist’s background in psychology. She teaches at The Art School in Conway. Gallery 221 & Art Studios 221 will showcase new galleries on the second floor at its Pyramid Place location at 221 W. Second St., and the Old State House Museum will feature live music from Tim Anthony and Friends on the grounds. Also new at the HAM: “A Beauty on It Sells: Advertising Art from the Collection of Marsha Stone.” Nary an inflatable in sight, but plenty to enjoy. LNP

FRIDAY 7/11 – SUNDAY 7/27

‘NEXT TO NORMAL’

7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays. The Weekend Theater. $20.

I’m no musical theater expert, but a close relative happens to be, so rather than Wikipedia the thing and try to fake my way through an endorsement, I asked his opinion on “Next To Normal,” which opens Friday at the Weekend Theater. “In my humble opinion,” he wrote, “it is the deepest, most thought-provoking and innovative musical in the past 10 years … I actually teared up the first couple of times I listened to the soundtrack and read the plot notes.” He probably didn’t expect I would publish the part about him tearing up, but I had to. Billing itself as both a “rock musical” and a starkly realistic take on bipolar disorder seems confusing to me, but I should also mention that it earned three Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize (only the eighth musical in history to have done so). So there’s your endorsement. WS

50 years of fearless reporting and still going strong

Be a part of something bigger and join the fight for truth by subscribing or donating to the Arkansas Times. For 50 years, our progressive, alternative newspaper in Little Rock has been tackling powerful forces through our tough, determined, and feisty journalism. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 email subscribers, it's clear that our readers value our commitment to great journalism. But we need your help to do even more. By subscribing or donating – as little as $1 –, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be supporting our efforts to hire more writers and expand our coverage. Take a stand with the Arkansas Times and make a difference with your subscription or donation today.

Previous article Main Street block recommended for LR Tech Park: UPDATE Next article Alcohol petitions pass first hurdle; checks continue on minimum wage