The Blue Barn Theatre in Port Gibson is seeking actors and actresses for “You Can’t Take It With You.” Auditions will be at 7 p.m. Monday.

The play is a comedy about two families with two different values and lifestyles. Production dates will be June 12-14 and June 19-21. Needed are nine men, seven women and a few extras.

For information, call 601-437-9054.

Fair aims to raise Red Cross funds

Shape Up Sisters will host its second annual Health and Wellness Fair from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday at its Plaza Drive facility.

The fair will include health vendors, information on domestic abuse and a fashion show. Blood glucose and blood pressure checks will be available, and guests will be allowed to try the fitness facility for free. Also part of the activities will be a Zumba Thon dance event to raise money for the Vicksburg Area Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Admission is free. For information, call 601-529-6120.

Civil rights sketches on display

Courtroom sketches from the trials of Byron De La Beckwith and Sam Bowers will be shown Wednesday through June 12 at a Flowood gallery.

P. Sanders McNeal was hired by ABC in 1994 to document the trial of Beckwith, convicted in the 1963 murder of Jackson civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Four years later, she was hired by CNN to document the trial of Bowers, convicted in the 1966 death of Forrest County NAACP president Vernon Dahmer.

McNeal is a recipient of the Governor’s Award in the Arts. Eight of her sketches will be shown at Bryant Galleries, 3010 Lakeland Cove, Suite A. The complete collection of more than 50 works will be presented in a formal ceremony in July at the University of Mississippi.

An opening reception will be from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the gallery. For information, call 601-932-5099 or e-mail sylvia@bryantgalleries.com.

Online article traces parkway’s roots

Mississippi History Now, an online publication of the Mississippi Historical Society, features an article this month about the origins of the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Written by Jack D. Elliott Jr., Paving the Trace is available at www.mshistory.k12.ms.us/.

Elliott is a historical archaeologist for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The article is condensed from his “Paving the Trace,” which ran in the fall 2007 edition of The Journal of Mississippi History.

Mississippi History Now, launched in 2000, is the online publication of the Mississippi Historical Society, a nonprofit organization.