By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
Here's a roundup of activities to keep you busy on the last weekend of June, including a classic musical, Pride celebrations and more.
The Music Man
A cast of about 60 young actors will star in Amarillo Opera's Summer Youth Musical production of The Music Man, opening today for a four-day run in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Buchanan St. Performances will be staged at 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20.
Spencer Stribling, a 15-year-old incoming junior at Tascosa High School stars as Harold Hill, a traveling con man who arrives in River City, Iowa, with a plan to hustle some money from the town's parents by convincing them that a new pool hall will lead to the delinquency of their children. The only solution? To buy expensive musical instruments and learn to play them through Hill's altogether fake "think system."
For more, check out this feature from earlier this week.
Panhandle Pride Festival
Amarillo LGBT and allies will celebrate at the Panhandle Pride Festival from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday in Memorial Park, 28th Avenue and Washington Street.
The party runs from noon to 6 p.m. and will feature a parade in the park at noon, a drag show put on by 212 Club at 1:30 p.m. and live music from Mike Fuller at 12:15 p.m., Mary Lyn Halley and Dean Yates of Insufficient Funds at 2:30 p.m. and Amarillo/Denver folk-rock band Dear Marsha at 4 p.m.
The free festival also will feature a potluck picnic, free food from several vendors, a bouncy house, a silent auction, a volleyball tournament, free and confidential HIV testing and more.
Weekend activities also include a free screening of The Danish Girl, the Oscar-winning film about transgender pioneer Lili Elbe, at 7 p.m. Friday at Amarillo Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 4901 Cornell St., featuring a post-film discussion led by Amarillo transgender activist Sandra Dunn, as well as food and beverages; and the Miss Gay Top of Texas at Large pageant at 10:30 p.m. Sunday at 212 Club, 212 S.W. Sixth Ave.
For more information, check out this feature.
Night Hike at the Zoo
Wander through the Amarillo Zoo after sunset to get a new view of life inside its walls.
Night Hike at the Zoo runs from 9 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at the zoo, 700 Comanchero Trail.
VIsitors will learn about the zoo's nocturnal animals, including a tarantula, opossum, skunk, salamander, scorpion and more. Special exhibits and discovery stations will be available as well.
Admission is $5. Call 806-381-5605.
Final Friday Art Bazaar
Artists Ric Farley and Israel Guajardo will be featured at the Gallery on 7th's monthly Final Friday Art Bazaar.
The party runs from 5:30 to 10 p.m. at the gallery, 513 S.W. Seventh Ave.
Farley and Guajardo's works will be featured in a show entitled "Sinners and Saints," and vendors Clover 33, Usborne Books, Tiffany Long and others will have items for sale.
Delta Psi Omega Double Feature
Amarillo College theater students in Delta Psi Omega will stage a pair of one-act comedies in weekend performances.
AC student Connor Downs wrote Guy Talk, which will be staged with Allison Williams' Mmmbeth, which spoofs the theatrical superstition about not saying the word "Macbeth" backstage.
Guy Talk is inspired by dark comedies like Fargo, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown, Downs said.
"People should expect very dark comedy mixed with some helpful relationship advice from the most least likely person," Downs said.
Performances are set for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in the AC Experimental Theatre on the Washington Street campus.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for students and seniors and $4 for theater students.
Call 806-371-5359.
Pints for Pups
A Saturday event at Long Wooden Spoon Brewing, 4098 Business Park Drive, will raise funds for the Amarillo-Panhandle Humane Society.
Pints for Pups will feature beer from the homegrown brewing society, music from Maggie Burt and Ray Wilson and the Pit Stop food truck, as well as raffle and door prizes.
The $15 admission includes a pint glass and the first beer.
Well-behaved, leashed dogs older than 6 months are welcome.
Boots vs. Badges
Coffee Memorial Blod Center's annual donation duel between fire fighters and law enforcement officers kicks off with a Friday blood drive.
The center will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. for blood donations; donors at this event receive a Boots vs. Badges T-shirt, a gallon of milk and a pint of ice cream.
The event also will feature a hamburger cookout at 11 a.m. for donors and a display of emergency vehicles from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Call 806-331-8872.
Other activities and events
The Old Santa Fe Lounge, 4901 S. Western St., will throw a luau for its annual customer appreciation party. A horseshoe tournament starts at 11 a.m., followed by a pool tournament at 3 p.m. The party also will feature drink specials, raffle prizes and more. … The Illustrated Lady Tattoo & Piercing Studio, 500 S.W. Sixth Ave., will host its fifth annual Bike Fest, Motorcycle Show and Bike Run on Sunday. The party kicks off at 11 a.m. and will feature bike games, silent auctions and more. The bike run runs from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Proceeds will benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. … Performances of Texas continue at 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Visit www.texas-show.com. … Song of the Eagle performances continue at Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian, 9151 E. Interstate 40. Performances are set for 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with dinner at 6 p.m. Performances continue at 7 p.m. July 1, 9, 16 and 23, as well as 1 p.m. July 21. Tickets are $9 for adults, $7 for seniors and $5 for students; meals are $12 each. Call 806-335-3175. ... Outdoor activities include regular hours at Amarillo Zoo, Wonderland Park and Sports World, as well as at parks across town.
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and at www.facebook.com/chipchandlerwriter on Facebook.
