Franklin’s own Overlook Players have announced the cast for this spring’s large scale performance of Rogers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. The play will be presented April 14-17 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts and will be directed by the Center’s Artistic Director, Scotty Corbin. This show is sponsored by The Christian Training Center International in Franklin.

This beloved musical set in Austria during World War II, tells the story of a young woman, Maria (played by Heather Lenox), who is struggling to find her way as a nun.

CULLOWHEE – Students from the Western Carolina University dance program will team up with the university’s own Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet to present a free concert of various musical and dance styles at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, in the Coulter Building recital hall.

The program will feature songs from several eras, including Strauss’s “Blue Danube Waltz,” the jazz standard “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “America” from the Broadway musical “West Side Story.” A wide range of dance styles also will be demonstrated, including bal let, swing and tango. Several pieces were choreographed especially for the students by Karyn Tomczak, WCU’s dance program director.

CULLOWHEE – The annual Spring Literary Festival at Western Carolina University will be held this year from Sunday, April 3, though Thursday, April 7, on the WCU campus.

The festival, in its ninth year, has a long tradition of bringing established and emerging literary talent to Western North Carolina. All Spring Literary Festival events are free and the public is invited. Unless otherwise noted, events take place in the theater of the A.K. Hinds University Center. Authors will sign works after each reading.

It’s a busy spring at the Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University, with exhibits, receptions and a sale of handmade items all in April. The annual juried exhibit of artwork by WCU students will run from Thursday, April 7, to Friday, May 6, at the museum. An opening reception and award ceremony for that exhibit will be held at 4 p.m. April 7 in the Star Lobby adjacent to the museum, located in the Fine and Performing Arts Center.