Auditions will be held Saturday, April 13, at noon, in the Franklin High School Fine Arts Center, for home school and private school students wishing to perform in Showcase of Talent 2013. Participation is open to actors, dancers, gymnasts, instrumentalists, and vocalists in the third to 12th grades. Solo, duo, and ensemble acts are welcome. A piano and CD player will be provided. Students should arrive between noon and 1 p.m., and will perform on a firstcome basis; there is no pre-registration. (Public school students are chosen through their schools.)

The Showcase of Talent is an annual non-competitive, countywide student talent show, to be held Saturday, April 27, at 7 p.m., in the Franklin High Fine Arts Center.

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“Poetic Voices of North Carolina,” a program by actress and playwright Connie Clark, will be presented Thursday, April 18, at 7 p.m., in the Macon County Public Library. The free program commemorates National Poetry Month, focusing on the works of many of North Carolina’s 20th Century poets. Light refreshments will be served.

Connie Clark, a North Carolina Humanities Council Road Scholar, has written and performed plays on Emily Dickinson and Sarah Bernhardt. She holds a Master of Arts in Theater and Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Purdue University, and has taught at Purdue and Furman Universities. In “Poetic Voices,” Clark shares a hundred years of Tar Heel thoughts and feelings, from profound social issues to the quietest personal moments, as she performs poems with rich emotions expressed by many gifted North Carolina poets.

“The Drowsy Chaperone,” a playful take on classic musicals of Broadway, will stage Thursday, April 11, through Sunday, April 14, at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Western Carolina University.

The family friendly musical comedy, presented by the WCU School of Stage and Screen’s Musical Theatre Program and the final offering of the 2012-13 Mainstage Series, will begin at 7:30 p.m. April 11-13 and 3 p.m. April 14. A silent auction and the raffle of a getaway for two to New York City are planned in conjunction with the performance.

In the mountains of North Georgia on the campus of Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, students are flying high above the stage training for the school’s annual Cirque program.

This year’s performance, Cirque Ened Kemen, is a reimagining of Tolkien's “The Hobbit.”