Monthly Archives: November 2011

Weekend Theatre explores THE QUALITY OF LIFE

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This weekend is the final chance to catch the latest show at the Weekend Theater.  Jane Martin’s The Quality of Life plays Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm.

Directed by Allison Pace, this play explores two couples who are at once polar opposites and facing similar situations.  The cast includes Stephanie Gunderman, Scott Minor, Fran Jameson and Alan Douglas.

The play has been described as “this magnetic work of theater, filled with compassion, honesty and humor” which “explores a myriad of ethical, religious, and moral beliefs, as well as personal rights issues concerning life and death.”

Arkansas Symphony Orchestra River Rhapsodies

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The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra River Rhapsodies chamber series continues tonight.  Since it takes place at the Clinton Library, which was designed to evoke the Bridge to the 21st Century and is next to the new Clinton Presidential Park Bridge, it is fitting that this entry is entitled Bridging New and Old.

The program not only bridges new and old pieces of music, but it spans a variety of instruments. 

Haydn’s String Quartet No. 63 in Bb-Major “Sunrise”

Griebling’s Chiaroscuro for Viola, English Horn and French Horn

Dvorak’s Piano Quartet in Eb-Major, Op. 87

The performance begins at 7:00pm.  Tickets may be ordered online here.

UALR Artspree: Ben and Brad in a Tribute to Fred Astaire

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UALR Artspree returns with its second offering of the season.  Tonight at 7:30 at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall on the UALR main campus, Benjamin Sears & Bradford Conner will perform Ben & Brad: A Tribute to Fred Astaire.

The duo have been hailed by critics and audiences nationwide and received awards for their evening of American popular song and show tunes.  The Boston Globe notes “both Sears and Conner are helplessly gaga over this music. They just radiate happiness when they perform it, and you get happy too.”

Sculpture Sunday: Stars and Stripes

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As part of the Veteran’s Day weekend, today’s Sculpture Sunday showcases Kathleen Caricof’s Stars and Stripes in the Sturgis Veterans Plaza at War Memorial Park.  This 36 by 40 feet stainless steel sculpture welcomes visitors to the park and was dedicated in 2008 in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of War Memorial Stadium.

 

 

There are five interlocked stars which represent the five branches of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard – both the active duty and the reserve segments of each branch as well as their affiliated guard units.

 

 

The gleaming stainless steel is both light and durable to represent the strength and vitality of the men and women who protect the United States and have done so for centuries.

 

 

Caricof, a member of the National Sculptors Guild, was selected for the commission after a national competition by the War Memorial Stadium Commission.  She has several other pieces in Little Rock which will be featured in future entries.

 

Beethoven, Blue Jeans, Brats and Beer

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Which of the words in the title doesn’t go with the other?  Trick question.  All go together this weekend at the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

Under the direction of Music Director Philip Mann, the ASO brings back Beethoven and Blue Jeans this weekend. It is a mix of musical styles all united by a flair for entertainment.  The program includes Beethoven’s Lenore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b, Roumain’s Voodoo Violin Concerto No. 1, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Beethoven’s Egmont: Overture.

Daniel Bernard Roumain aka DBR and his electric violin are the featured guest artist for this concert.

Prior to the concert, ticket-holders are encouraged to partake of FREE brats, $2 Diamond Bear Beer, and music by The Episcopal Collegiate School Steel Drum Band on Markham in front of Robinson before the concert!

Art and Dance HAM It Up at 2nd Friday Art Night

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Dance and Art intersect at Historic Arkansas Museum during the monthly 2nd Friday Art Night. 

At Historic Arkansas Museum, there will be a reception for Tesseract Dancing: Brett Anderson and Emily Galusha, a new exhibit opening in the Trinity Gallery for Arkansas Artists. Outside the north entrance, at 6 pm, the pARTy for Peg sculpture will be lit; and a blacksmith will demonstrate his trade in the new Shop on the Log House grounds. Throughout the evening, in various locations, Arkansas Festival Ballet will preview upcoming performances.

Started in 2005, this downtown art gallery walk in the River Market District vicinity showcases a variety of museums and galleries.  In addition to viewing art, there are refreshments and usually live music at the various stops along the way.  There is also a free art shuttle to take visitors from location to location. The event runs from 5pm to 8pm.

Among the various participating sites are Arkansas Studies Institute, Christ Episcopal Church, Hearne Fine Art, Mediums Art Lounge, Copper Grill, Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro, Lulav and Third Street merchants of the River Market District.

Clinton School presents “A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America” at Butler Center

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In a collaboration between the Clinton School of Public Service and the Butler Center of Arkansas Studies, author Greg Robinson will discuss his book A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America on Thursday, November 10.

The book looks at the transnational history of the wartime confinement of people of Japanese ancestry. Winner of the 2009 History Book Prize for Asian American Studies, the book offers newly uncovered material that extends existing accounts of the camp experience of Japanese Americans during World War II and breaks new ground by examining those events alongside the treatment of ethnic Japanese in Canada, Mexico, and Latin America. An associate professor of history at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Robinson is also author of By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans.

The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies will host a pre-reception at 5:00 p.m. in Concordia Hall at the Arkansas Studies Institute, where The Art of Living, an exhibit featuring art from the World War II Japanese American internment camp in Rohwer, Ark., is currently on display.

Thursday, November 10, 2011
5:00 p.m.-Pre-reception at Concordia Hall in the Arkansas Studies Institute (across the street from the CALS Main Library)
6:00-7:00 p.m.-Lecture at the Darragh Center at the Main Branch of the Central Arkansas Library System

*Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu, or calling 501-683-5239.