Play Here's Weekend Activity Picks for Nov. 10 and beyond

By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer

Celebrations of fall, theatrical productions, championship rodeo action, Veteran's Day commemorations and more are headed your way this weekend through Nov. 17.

Arts

• Amarillo Little Theatre's run of Conor McPherson's The Birds concludes with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the Amarillo Little Theatre Adventure Space, 2751 Civic Circle will not be staged this weekend following the death of star Jo Smith's mother. Additional performances will be staged at 8 p.m. Nov. 18 and 19. Tickets are $19 for adults, $16 for students and seniors, and $13 for children ages 13 and younger for Thursday and Sunday performances and $21 for adults, $19 for students and seniors, and $15 for children for Friday and Saturday performances. Here's my preview. Call 806-355-9991. 
• West Texas A&M University's production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible  opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Happy State Bank Studio Theatre on the WT campus. Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, and free for WT students, staff and faculty. Additional production dates are 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Nov. 18 and 19, plus 2:30 p.m. Sunday and Nov. 20. Here's my preview. Call 806-651-2804.
• Americans' continuing love of life on the endless highway is celebrated in two new exhibitions at Amarillo Museum of Art: The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip, on view through Jan. 1, and High Plains Highways, on view through Jan. 15. A combined opening reception is set for 7 p.m. Friday at the museum, 2200 S. Van Buren St.
• A production of the black comedy The House of Yes opens Friday for a two-weekend run at RR Bar, 701 S. Georgia St. It will be staged at 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Nov. 18 and 19 at RR Bar, 701 S. Georgia St. Tickets, which can be purchased at the bar, are $10, and seating is limited. Check out my preview.
• Another risqué offering this weekend comes from a new performance artist group, The Broken Belts Collective, which founder Allexa Campbell (who performs as Lascivious Lark) said is "a group of performance artists intent on liberating the oppressed people of the Bible Belt." Its first show, Intimate, will feature erotic spoken-word performances, burlesque, drag and more; "the theme is 'sacred sexuality,' and I really wanted them to dig deeper for this show, resulting in their baring their souls as well as their bodies," Campbell said. Show time is 10 p.m. Friday at The 806, 2812 S.W. Sixth Ave. Tickets are $15, plus fees; seating is limited. A scaled-back production (minus the spoken-word portions), entitled Rebirth, will be staged at 10 p.m. Nov. 17 at Leftwoods, 2511 S.W. Sixth Ave. Tickets are $10 at the door.
• It's Always the Year of the Cat, a new art exhibition opening Saturday at ArtGecko Studio and Gallery, will feature more than 40 works from local and regional artists through Dec. 3. A reception is scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday in the gallery, No. 35 at The Galleries at Sunset Center, 3701 Plains Blvd. A portion of proceeds will go to animal shelters. Call 806-433-9648. Opening Friday at R Gallery inside the Sunset galleries is a group art show featuring works by Jennifer Cabello, Jessie Story, Tiffany Creuzbaur and Clover33; a reception begins at 5 p.m. Friday.
• Michael Grauer, associate director for curatorial affairs and curator of art and Western history at Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, will discuss Southwestern art from prehistory to present during a presentation at Wildcat Bluff Nature Center, 2301 N. Soncy Road. The event, which includes a potluck dinner, begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the center. Admission is $3 for members and $5 for others, or $2 for members' children or $3 for nonmembers' children. Call 806-352-6007.

Events

• Veteran's Day commemorations include free admission for all military personnel (active and retired) and their immediate family at the Amarillo Zoo from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, free entrance for all visitors to Texas State Parks on Sunday, and West Texas A&M University's Military Ball at 5 p.m. Saturday. The ball will feature the traditional presentation of colors, a roll call, live and silent auctions, and dancing to music by Strange Saints. Tickets are $80 per military veteran couple and $45 for an individual veteran. Non-veterans pay $100 per couple or $60 per person, and students pay $50 a couple or $30 per person. Tables for eight are $1,000. Tickets are available at the circulation desk at Cornette Library on the WTAMU campus or by calling 806-651-2075 or 2067 between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets can also be purchased online at wtamu.edu/veteransball.
• Gamers of all kinds can take part in a 12-hour gaming marathon beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Sunset Event Center inside the Galleries at Sunset Center, 3701 Plains Blvd. The Extra Life gaming convention will raise funds for Children's Miracle Network of Amarillo via passes for gamers ($5 for a "casual gamer" pass and $15 for a "hardcore gamer" pass, which includes pizza and a drink) and by participants creating a fundraising page and seeking supporters through it (those pages are created at registration for Saturday's participants or can be created separately by those not attending). Extra Life began in 2008 to raise funds for CMN; Amarillo's Yellow City Comic Con joined with CMN last year to bring more support locally to the effort and helped plan this year's inaugural gaming convention. Extra Life attendees Saturday can participate in card games, roleplaying, tabletop games, classic video-game consoles and modern platforms.
• Working Ranch Cowboys Association World Championship Ranch Rodeo performances kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday and continue nightly through Sunday in the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Coliseum, 401 S. Buchanan St. Tickets are $32, $37 and $42, plus fees. Friday and Saturday performances are sold out, but a limited number of tickets will be available next week when unused tickets reserved for teams will be released. Tickets for Nov. 10 and 13 are available, but are selling fast, said WRCA's Randy Whipple. Check out my preview, in which I interview competitor Jet McCoy, a former professional rodeo athlete and three-time contestant on CBS's The Amazing Race. Also of note: the Budweiser Clysdales will participate nightly in the rodeo. The WRCA schedule includes a trade show, a ranch expo, junior ranch rodeo competitions and more daily; and competitions beginning at 7 p.m. nightly. For a full schedule, click here. Call 806-378-3096.
• Country singer Canaan Smith will headline the Amarillo Cattle Baron's Ball at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Rex Baxter Building on the Tri-State Fairgrounds. Tickets are $200 and benefit American Cancer Society. 
• Amarillo Botanical Gardens is giving away pumpkins between 4 and 7 p.m. Friday; the gourds are free, but gate fee is $5. Call 806-352-6513.
• Amarillo Community Market will hold a Fall Festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday inside Amarillo Performing Arts Center, 919 S. Polk St. More than 50 artisans, crafters and other vendors are expected.
• Get your drinks and sweets at Wine Down and Dessert Wars from 6 to 10 p.m. Nov. 17 in the Rex Baxter Building on the Tri-State Fairgrounds. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of; advance tickets are available at Taste Dessert Bar, 1909 S. Georgia St., or online at tastedessert.com. Call 806-355-9777.

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.