Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment:

• With snow on the ground and more in the forecast, this announcement was a welcome reminder of better weather ahead.

Youngstown State University is seeking artists for its 27th Summer Festival of the Arts, which returns to the campus on July 12 and 13 after four years at downtown Youngstown’s Wean Foundation Park.

The juried vendors market is open to all mediums, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, glass, textiles, jewelry and photography.

All entries will be juried based on originality, creativity, craftsmanship, and professionalism, as well as expression of a unique vision and style and the mastery over the artist’s chosen medium.

The application fee is $25 for those who submit an application by Feb. 28, and $35 for those who submit by the March 31 deadline. To access the application or for more information, go to sfa.ysu.edu.

• Spirit of the Bear provided a life update and a music update this week in an email to followers.

Last November singer and guitar player James Harker talked with me about his health issues, starting 2024 with doctors suspecting he had leukemia only to be diagnosed months later with HLH, an immune deficiency disorder.

At the time of the band’s Black Friday show at Westside Bowl, Harker was optimistic about resuming a full schedule in 2025. Instead, he was diagnosed earlier this year with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to the email.

The good news? “I’m very close to being able to say I’m in remission after nearly 2 months of chemotherapy,” Harker writes.

The bad news? Playing live shows is unlikely “for the majority of this year.”

However, the album that Harker said last year they hoped to release by this summer still is planned for 2025. The first singles should be coming soon, and the band at least hopes to do a livestream show closer to the full album’s release.

Here’s hoping that future emails from the band only have to address album plans instead of medical diagnoses.

• The full schedule for Playhouse Square’s 2025-26 KeyBank Broadway Series was announced this week.

Instead of announcing the full season all at once, the schedule kind of trickled out, in part because two of the touring productions on the schedule are launching their tours in Cleveland and made early tour announcements.

“The Notebook,” featuring music by Ingrid Michaelson and a book by Bekah Brunstetter, will launch its tour and open the season Sept. 6 to 27.

The Alicia Keys’ musical “Hell’s Kitchen,” which received 13 Tony nominations in 2024, follows from Oct. 10 to Nov. 1.

“Stereophonic,” the most Tony-nominated play of all time, will be the first show of 2026 with performances Jan. 6 to 25. It won five 2024 Tonys, including best play. And while it is the only play on the seven-show season, it does include original music by Arcade Fire’s Will Butler.

“Suffs,” which won 2024 Tonys for best book and best score, runs Feb. 3 to 22, 2026, followed by the musical “Water for Elephants” from March 10 to 29, 2026.

“The Outsiders,” which won the Tony last year for best musical, runs April 28 to May 2026, and the season concludes with a musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” from June 9 to 28, 2026.

Season tickets range from $165 to $775 and will go on sale at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.