Alaska News

Arts Scene: 'Seventymile Kid,' Concert Chorus recital, Reading Rendezvous, 'Beverly Hillbillies'

Climbing high

Author Tom Walker will talk about his book "The Seventymile Kid," a fascinating account of the first expedition to reach the summit of Mount McKinley. Timed for the 100th anniversary of the event next month, Walker's well-illustrated and meticulously researched history examines the contributions of Harry Karstens, the man who did more than anyone else to make the climb a success of historic proportions -- though his contributions have been overlooked. Walker will speak 7 p.m. Monday at the Anchorage Museum, 625 C St.

Celebrate books

The 13th Annual Reading Rendezvous takes place from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday on the lawn of Loussac Library. The free outdoor family event will kick off Anchorage Public Library's "Dig Into Reading" summer reading celebration. You can sign up for the program, visit various activity booths and earn prizes. Entertainment will include musicians Fiddle De Dee, magician Don Russell, juggler Jim Kerr and a petting zoo. If you miss the Saturday event, you can still sign up at any Anchorage public library. More information is available at anchoragelibrary.org.

Top young talent

Prize-winners from a host of local music competitions will perform 7 p.m. Saturday in the UAA Fine Arts Building Recital Hall. Winners of the Alaska Piano Competition, Anchorage Symphony Casetta Competition, Anchorage Concert Chorus Vocal Scholarship Competition and the Music Teachers National Association, these performers, ages 10-25, are incredibly good. The program is free and a reception after the show gives fans the chance to congratulate them in person. This has turned out to be one of the most important concerts in Anchorage, year after year.

Settle down, Granny

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Valley Performing Arts presents a theatrical version of the long-running hit television sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies." The oil-rich Clampetts are just as hilarious -- and on target -- as you remember as they stomp their mountaineer family values into the pretentious social milieu of mendacious Californians. Larry Burton directs, with showtimes 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through May 26 at the Machetanz Theatre in Wasilla. In Anchorage, the final performances of Jack Dalton's "The Last of His Kind" happen 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at Out North. The thought-provoking play involves the last indigenous person stuck in a lab where it's hoped his diverse DNA will save humanity facing genetic collapse. A review is posted at adn.com/artsnob.

Compiled by arts reporter

Mike Dunham

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