Arts scene: (12/12/08)

Another free day at the museum

Another free day at the Anchorage Museum allows one and all to share the good cheer of the season during a day of holiday activities, concerts and goodies from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

The afternoon of music includes performances by the Anchorage Concert Chorus, Arctic Flute Choir and the Anchorage Keyboard Teachers Association from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Find out more about AT&T Family Day and the season of exhibits on the museum's Web site, www.anchoragemuseum.org.

-- Dawnell Smith

THEATER

'Ballyhoo' for the holidays

Nothing generates chatter at the coffee pot quite like bragging rights over the latest, greatest holiday party. Anchorage Community Theatre's production of "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" unearths just such social obsession in a script that explores anti-Semitism through comic banter and characterization that captures humans at their best, worst and funniest.

Set in Atlanta in December 1939, the play trails the German-Jewish upper class as they concern themselves over who's going to the Ballyhoo, the social event of the season. The backdrop? Hitler's invasion of Poland.

"Ballyhoo" will show at 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through Jan. 11 at ACT (1133 E. 70th Ave.) Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students, seniors and military members, and $8 for kids 12 and under (www.actalaska.org, 868-4913).

-- Dawnell Smith

VISUAL ARTS

'Box art' explores constraint

You've got boxes to send, boxes to open, Boxing Day to look forward to, so why not check out the "Box/ed" show at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art. Gallery members produced art that reveals the utility, formality and constraints of the world's mightiest shipping container.

The exhibit includes work by old-timers and newcomers alike in pieces made of clay, wood, mixed media and more. All sales will support the gallery.

Several other shows also appear this week, including prints and drawings by Ed Crittenden and pottery by Sadie Block. Her ceramic ware has a nature vs. man theme, she said, "to convey a sense of life and freedom while contrasting it with constraint and death."

Work by Meg Fowler and Jackie Robinson will also show this month. All exhibits open from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today and run through Dec. 28 at the International (427 D St., 279-1116, www.igcaalaska.org). Hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

-- Dawnell Smith