BENEFIT WILL ASSIST CHILDREN'S CENTER.

Byline: Joanne Crawford Education

The Children's Center of the Antelope Valley will benefit from a country concert headlined by the Bellamy Brothers on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center, 750 W. Lancaster Blvd.

The Heartsounds ``A Little Bit Country'' fund-raiser, chaired by Ron and Karen Emard, also will feature celebrity impersonators appearing as Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and Shania Twain, said Ingrid Chapman, the director of resource development.

``We're just real excited about everything that's coming together,'' Chapman said. ``We're hoping that a lot of people will join us for this country evening which will benefit the children's center and contribute to our program treating child abuse.''

Tickets are $60 for the general floor, $35 for balcony seating, $150 for VIP seating and $200 for front row VIP seats.

Dress for the event is ``Texas tuxedo,'' meaning either dressy country or traditional black tie, Chapman said.

``A scrumptious country gourmet buffet will be offered by Alyee's Fine Foods, which can be enjoyed while shopping the silent auction of more than 200 celebrity items, as well as outstanding contributions from local merchants,'' Chapman said.

Both the lower and upper lobby will be chock full of items. Guests can also be photographed with the look-alikes before the show.

The Bellamy Brothers have a string of hits such as ``Over the Line,'' ``Old Hippie,'' ``Redneck Girl,'' ``Reggae Cowboy'' and ``Beautiful Body.''

Donated items for the auction have come from celebrities such as Troy Aikman, Joan Baez, Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, the country band Sawyer Brown, Jimmy Buffet, Carol Burnett, James Caan, Nicolas Cage, Bill Cosby, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, David Duchovny and Vice President Al Gore, Chapman said.

Items have also come from Salma Hayek, Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, Ashley Judd, Naomi Judd, Lisa Kudrow, authors Dean Koontz and Michael Crichton, Matthew McConaughey, Willie Nelson, Eddie Murphy, Joan Rivers, cartoonist Charles Schulz, Susan Sarandon, Steven Spielberg, Elizabeth Taylor, John Travolta, golfer Lee Trevino, Denzel Washington and hundreds more, Chapman said.

``The evening's live auction in the theater . . . will feature two heirloom, signature quilts designed and created by the children's center's Jennifer Layman,'' Chapman said. ``One titled `God Bless America' is a quilt of the USA with each state signed by a celebrity from that state, including such luminaries as poet Maya Angelou, Bob Dole, Johnny Carson, Glenn Close, Katie Couric, Andy Williams and more. The `Sound of Country' is a quilt of hearts with country singers on it. That quilt has names such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tim McGraw, Ray Stevens, Travis Tritt, Hank Williams Jr. and more.''

For more information on the concert, call the center at [phone] or the LPAC at [phone].

LANCASTER- The Antelope Valley Ballet will give its opening performance Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center.

The new group will perform five ballets at the premiere with a company of 14 dancers between the ages of 12 to 24, organization president Rick Roemer said.

In addition, there will also be seven young dancers ages 6 to 9 featured in one of the ballets, Roemer said.

All performers are from local dance studios in the Antelope Valley, including A.V. Dance Studio 81, Dancin' in Acton, Extensions Performing Arts Academy and Pearblossom Dance Studio, Roemer said.

Tickets, now on sale at the center box office, are $12 for adults and $8 for youths ages 17 and under.

Performances will include an excerpt from Prokofiev's ``Romeo and Juliet,'' the classic children's story ``Peter and the Wolf,'' ``Sports,'' a comic ballet about sportsmanship and the fun of athletics, ``Encounters,'' where characters interact in a 1940s train station and ``A Dancer's Life,'' tracing the life of a young dancer, Roemer said.

To charge tickets by phone, call [phone] or go to the Lancaster Performing Arts Center box office at 750 W. Lancaster Blvd.