Yearly Archives: 2013

April 23 Architeaser

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IMG_4944In 1936 a City Garage was constructed behind City Hall (on the north side of the property).  Previously there had been a non-City factory on this site.

It was built in a very utilitarian style with a brick facade on the east and west faces and a curved Quonset roof atop brick walls on the north and south faces.  Over the years the building has been modified repeatedly (as is evidenced by the various shades of buff bricks visible not only in this picture but also throughout the actual building).

At one time offices were put in part of the building but they have been removed.  Today it is used to store City vehicles.

 

On Shakespeare’s birthday, a look at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre events

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AST_logoToday is the traditionally accepted birthday of the Bard of Avon.  He also died on this date in 1616 at the age of 52.  The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre has an event later this week and is preparing for the 2013 season.  In honor of William Shakespeare’s birthday, today’s entry looks at some upcoming AST events.

On Wednesday, April 24, Robert Quinlan, who directed Richard III last season for AST, will speak in the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center on the UCA campus (next to Reynolds Performance Hall) at 7 p.m. about his particular process and explorations involved in directing Shakespeare.  The event is sponsored by the UCA Foundation.

Quinlan is a freelance director based in Chicago. His other recent directing credits include the world premiere of The Magic Bicycle, #thisrocks, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Illusion, Iphigenia, Other Daughters, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, and Killer Joe.

He was the assistant director to Tina Landau on productions of Superior Donuts on Broadway and The Tempest at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Internationally, he has directed The Maids and Proof at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore. He holds an MFA in directing from Illinois State University.

The 2013 Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre season will open on June 6 with a production of Much ado About Nothing.  The other productions this summer, which will alternate in rotating repertory, are Oliver!, King Lear and a special one-hour version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

April 22 Architeaser

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IMG_4937Last week’s Architeasers focused on the 1908 Little Rock City Hall.  This week’s will look at the five other buildings which have are connected to City Hall.  The first opened in 1913 and the most recent structure opened in 1986.

Today’s feature looks at some of the detail on the frieze above the former Central Fire Station.  The building was constructed in 1912 and opened in 1913.  When the Fire Department moved out in the 1970s (and moved to their current site at 7th and Chester), it was used for storage and a few City offices.

This building was designed in the Beaux Arts Classicism style by Charles Thompson (designer of City Hall) and his associate Tom Harding (who would later design several other Little Rock fire stations).

Following the mid-1980s renovations, it was retrofitted to house more City offices and is now known as the City Hall West Wing (the name predated the TV show by a dozen years). The cornice work and wrought-iron on the front facade reflect the original use of the building as a fire station.

Ark Rep’s DEATH OF A SALESMAN this week!

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Salesman (1)Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer, Tony and New York Drama Critics Circle winning Death of a Salesman opens at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre this week.  Previews are Wednesday and Thursday night before Friday’s opening night.  The production runs through May 12.

Death of a Salesman has been hailed as the greatest American play.  The central character, Willy Loman, has been compared to heroes in Aristotlean proportions.

But at the heart of all the hype is family bound by love and crushed by disappointments as they struggle to make sense of life.  Though set in the post World War II era, these themes resonate today.

Arkansas Rep Producing Artistic Director Robert Hupp is directing this production.  He has assembled a powerhouse cast led by Robert Walden as Willy Loman.  In her Arkansas Rep debut, Broadway vet Carolyn Mignini plays Linda Loman, his wife.  Their two sons are played by Avery Clark and Craig Maravich.  Clark has quickly become a Rep audience favorite through his performances in Hamlet, The 39 Steps and Henry V.  Maravich is making his Rep debut.

Others in the cast are Broadway vet William Metzo, Arkansas Rep vets Jay E. Raphael and Joe Menino, and Christopher Ryan and Kevin Sebastian, Stephanie Gunderman , Rachael Small and Andi Watson.

The design team includes Mike Nichols (sets), Rafael Colon Castanera (costumes), Allan Branson (sound), Lynda J. Kwallek (props) and Kenton Yeager (lighting).

Prior to the performances on Wednesday, April 24 and Thursday, April 25, a preshow talk will take place on the set with Hupp and members of the creative team. It will be from 6:15pm to 6:45pm.  There will be another opportunity to learn more about the production on May 1 at the Clinton School at 12 noon.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette presents The Rep’s “Pay What You Can Night” on Wed., April  24 Patrons can pay any amount they wish for their ticket. Tickets must be purchased in person at the Box Office at 601 Main Street the day of the performance. The Box Office will be open from 9 a.m. until curtain. Tickets are limited to (2) two per person. Offer is based on seating availability.

Performance times are Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7pm, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm and 7pm.

Purple Moon Dance Project performs in gallery of Arkansas Arts Center

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purple-moonThe Arkansas Arts Center presents a one-of-a-kind experience today at 2pm in the Townsend Wolfe Gallery which is currently displaying the exhibit Wendy Maruyama: Executive Order 9066.

In a special collaboration, emerging within the gallery installation, Purple Moon Dance Project and Artistic Director Jill Togawa will present When Dreams Are Interrupted, a riveting site-specific performance that uncovers the profound imprint left on a neighborhood by the forced removal and mass evacuation of Japanese American communities in 1942.

Dancers Jill Togawa, Ruth Ichinaga and Sharon Sato will explore and infuse with the “Tag Project” to draw out the stories and memories amassed by artist Wendy Maruyama and to highlight local history and stories.

This production captures the painful experiences of hundreds of thousands of Americans of Japanese ancestry forced into concentration camps during World War II through a poignant and stunning combination of original choreography, music, visual art and poetry. It is through artistic and historically authentic expressions such as these that we remember, pay tribute to and honor those who suffered this unspeakable injustice, in hopes that we may prevent such a dark episode in America’s history from ever happening again.

Christi Shannon Kline one of Ark Lit Fest authors

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kline_christi_shannonThere are many wonderful authors coming to Little Rock for the 10th annual Arkansas Literary Festival.  (Including one with whom I went to college and one being brought in by my church.) But only one of them has been a friend of mine since elementary school.

Christi Shannon Kline and I had numerous classes together in school over the years.  We also participated in several school musicals, student council and other clubs while growing up.

She is now a New York resident, poet, playwright, and performer. Her debut book, No Child More Perfect & Other Poems, was endorsed by National Book Critics Circle winner Marie Ponsot, who said, “Watch out! Kline’s poems are original. She speaks her mind: frank, unfaked, and full of feeling. The poems sing!”

Christi will be appearing at 10am on Saturday, April 20, on the 3rd floor of the Cox Creative Center (at President Clinton and River Market).  She is part of a program entitled “Perfect Daydream” which also features poet Steve Kistulentz.  Marck Beggs is the moderator.

April 19 Architeaser

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IMG_4907The City Hall 105 week of the Architeaser wraps up with this unique perspective of City Hall.  Though there are offices on four levels of City Hall, there is only one spot where one can see all four levels.  The western edge of the central staircase affords the only view from the basement to the third floor.  The central staircase is symmetrical from the first floor up to the third floor. But from the first floor to the basement, there is only one flight of stairs going down (on the west side).

Today’s Architeaser goes from the basement up to the third floor of Charles Thompson’s edifice.  When the building opened, the basement was used but most of the third floor was unfinished.  The ceramic tile pattern on the third floor is different from the other floors.  The eastern stairwell went to the third floor balcony which overlooked the City Council chambers.

Over time a few offices started migrating up there.  In 1929, when the Museum of Antiquities and Natural History (now Museum of Discovery) was “given” to the City and moved into City Hall, the museum had to finish out its own space.  It was not until New Deal programs needed local offices and took up residence on the third floor that all of City Hall was occupied.  At that point the building was over 25 years old.

The balcony in the City Council chambers was removed in the 1960s when additional office space was needed.  At that point in time, the high ceiling in the chambers was lowered and more offices were installed on what had been the balcony level.

Unfortunately photos of the old Council chambers do not seem to exist.