Yearly Archives: 2014

For Arkansas Rep’s MEMPHIS tonight, it is Pay What You Can night, presented by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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MemphisAs the Arkansas Rep kicks off 2014-2015 with Memphis, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette presents The Rep’s “Pay What You Can Night.”

Patrons can pay any amount they wish for their ticket.  Tickets must be purchased in person at the Box Office located 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.

Kicking off Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s 2014-2015 MainStage Season is Memphis, an electrifying musical that bursts off the stage with explosive dancing, roof-raising rock ‘n’ roll and a thrilling tale of fame and forbidden love.  With high-energy music by David Bryan of Bon Jovi fame, this hard-hitting story of love is loosely based on Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips, one of the first white DJs to play black music on the radio in the 1950s.

Winner of four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, the New York Times says Memphis “evokes the powerhouse funk of James Brown, the hot guitar riffs of Chuck Berry, the smooth harmonies of The Temptations, [and] the silken, bouncy pop of the great girl groups of the period.”

In the Beale Street nightclubs of 1950s Memphis simmers a new sound, born of the blues, gospel and rock ‘n’ roll and birthed in the Delta.  It takes a young white DJ, a white man in a black world, to catapult this new sound to the airwaves of Memphis radio and into the living rooms of white Memphis.  What follows is a love story that pushes the racial boundaries of the times and ignites a musical revolution that grips the entire country.

“We Wanna Boogie” at Legacies & Lunch Today

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we_wanna_boogieRockabilly great Sonny Burgess, of Newport, Arkansas, and his band the Legendary Pacers are the topic of We Wanna Boogie, a new release from Butler Center Books by Marvin Schwartz, who will speak at Legacies & Lunch, the Butler Center’s monthly lecture series, on Wednesday, September 3, at noon in the Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street. Books will be available for purchase; Schwartz, Burgess, and band members Jim Aldridge, Fred Douglas, Bobby Crafford, and Kern Kennedy will sign copies after the talk.

In We Wanna Boogie, Burgess and his band members tell of their original recordings for Sun Records in the 1950s and their shows with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others. Burgess, whose music evolved in the Silver Moon and other clubs around the Arkansas delta, has influenced rock and roll music internationally and has led the contemporary rockabilly revival in the U.S. and overseas. The book also tells the history of a once prominent and high spirited delta community of extensive agricultural wealth. Newport was home to numerous music clubs, which often housed both performances by national artists and illicit back-room gambling.

Legacies & Lunch is free, open to the public, and sponsored in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Attendees may bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided. For more information, contact 501-918-3033.

Last Week to see First Ladies Gowns

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OSH GownsThe Old State House Museum’s First Ladies’ Gown collection, which contains over 120 years of inaugural gowns worn by Arkansas’s First Ladies, will temporarily close to the public on September 8, 2014, so the gowns can be assessed for conservation needs. The last day to see the collection before the assessment is September 7, 2014.

“The Arkansas First Ladies Gowns at the Old State House Museum are, through the years, our most popular artifacts,” said Bill Gatewood, director of the Old State House Museum. ”Our responsibility to preserve the gowns yet make them accessible to the public creates a very challenging situation.  The Museum staff’s decision to begin conservation of the gowns exhibit must balance both considerations.”

During routine assessments this summer, Old State House Museum staff began noticing deterioration of many gowns. Two gowns were immediately removed from display for conservation, and internal discussion began about the futures of every gown. The decision was made to quickly move to have the gowns assessed.

“During a routine survey of artifacts on exhibit I noticed signs of stress on certain gowns in our First Ladies gowns exhibit,” said Jo Ellen Maack, curator at the Old State House Museum. “Upon closer inspection I determined a conservator specializing in textiles should examine the collection. My goal is to create a prioritized list of conservation needs for gowns in the exhibit. Once these needs have been identified, treatment will begin. The challenge is to do this while keeping as much of the exhibit as possible open to the public.”

The assessment will take place at the Old State House Museum beginning September 8 and the exhibit will be closed during this process. The collection will be examined by Textile Conservation Services and handled by Harold Mailand, who first examined the gowns in 1983. Mailand will examine the condition of each gown and work with the professional staff at the Old State House Museum to create a preservation strategy, and may include immediate removal of some gowns from display. The exhibit will then re-open. At a later date, more gowns may be removed from exhibit at the Old State House Museum to an off-site location to make changes in casework and lighting in the exhibit. The exhibit would be closed for several months if the Museum feels it necessary to make those upgrades..

“Even though the physical gowns may not be on permanent display at the Old State House Museum, we’re committed to providing access to information, photos and educational programs about the gowns through the Web, our publications, and any emerging media that becomes available” Gatewood said.

The First Ladies’ Gowns collection was the first exhibit to showcase Arkansas history at the Old State House Museum, debuting in 1955. The oldest gown in the collection is from 1889 and belonged to Mary Kavanaugh Oldham Eagle, the wife of Arkansas’s 16th Governor James Philip Eagle. The collection contains 30 inaugural dresses, including four from former Arkansas First Lady and United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Currently, visitors to the Museum are able to view all 30 gowns, minus the two removed earlier this year, belonging to Elizabeth Little and Ewilda Robinson. After the assessment, the ability for visitors to view all the gowns at once may change.

The First Ladies’ Gowns collection is just one of many collections the Old State House Museum is tasked with maintaining and preserving. Other textile collections curated by the Museum include Civil War flags and quilts sewn by black Arkansans.  The Old State House Museum will provide updates about the gowns on social media including Facebook, Twitter and e-mail lists.

About the Old State House Museum

The Old State House Museum is a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and shares the goal of all seven Department of Arkansas Heritage agencies, that of preserving and enhancing the heritage of the state of Arkansas. The agencies are Arkansas Arts Council, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Historic Arkansas Museum, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, and the Old State House Museum.

On Labor Day – Enjoy the Fruits of Sculptors Labors in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden

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Little Rock 2011 040Located along the banks of the Arkansas River in the heart of Riverfront Park, the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden has more than 70 pieces of public sculpture.

This premiere sculpture garden is made possible through the support of the Vogel Schwartz Foundation. The art in the sculpture garden is acquired annually from proceeds of the Sculpture At The River Market Show and Sale held each April.

Little Rock 2011 044The sculpture garden features natural terraces and walkways designed by City of Little Rock’s Leland Couch, Mark Webre and John Kinkade of the National Sculptors’ Guild. The design creates a more intimate space to view smaller works within the Riverfront Park and is ideal for hosting receptions, as well as allowing visitors to enjoy the sculptures in solitude. This dynamic sculpture garden is located north of the Little Rock Marriott Hotel and east toward the River Market.

Sculpture at the River Market will present its next annual Show and Sale on April 24-26, 2015.  The Preview Party, a ticketed event held on Friday night (April 24), will introduce hundreds of sculptures from internationally recognized artists chosen for the 2015 Show and Sale in a party setting in the River Market Pavilions.  This exquisite evening, featuring food, libations, live entertainment and more, allows party guests the first opportunity to meet and visit with the artists while viewing and purchasing works.  Additionally all patrons at the Preview Party will vote for their favorite proposal from the semi-finalists works.

On Saturday and Sunday (April 25-26) admission to Sculpture At The River Market Show and Sale is free. Thousands of visitors populate the Pavilions to see and purchase works of all media, style, subject matter, and size. The sculptures will be on display in the River Market Pavilions and in the adjacent area of Riverfront Park.

Still Time to Purchase Tickets for Oxford American’s Jazz on Main

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oa_jazz_series_logo_hi-resJoin the Oxford American magazine for the inaugural 2014-15 jazz series at South on Main for four concerts featuring acclaimed artists! Doors for each show open at 6:00pm, with dinner and drinks available for purchase at that time. Concerts begin at 8:00pm.

The series includes:

Ticket packages for the entire jazz series range from $120 to $80. Purchasing a series package provides a discount on service charges. Single tickets to individual concerts are available beginning September 1 at noon at $30 for reserved seats at tables and $20 for general admission.

Additional information:

  • Doors open at 6pm, show at 8pm.
  • Reserved seating assigns you to the same table for all 4 shows. Choice of chairs at those tables is first-come-first-seated.
  • Seating at tables is “family style.” If you do not purchase all the seats at your table, you will be seated with other patrons.
  • General Admission seating is barstools and standing room only, no tables. General admission seating is first-come-first-seated.
  • The venue does not have an on-site box office. Tickets will only be sold at the venue on the night of the show, if any remain.
  • Will Call tickets will be available for pickup only on the night of the show.
  • Shows are all ages. Everyone must have a ticket to attend.
  • Free surface lot parking is available.

THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE continues at Weekend Theater

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Beauty-Queen_smThe Lortel and Tony winning dark comedy The Beauty Queen of Leenane continues its run at the Weekend Theater tonight.

Written by Oscar winner Martin McDongah, this play is set in the mountains of Connemara County, Galway, Ireland and tells the darkly comic tale of Maureen Folan, a plain and lonely woman in her early forties, and Mag, her manipulative aging mother, whose interference in Maureen’s first and possibly final chance of a loving relationship sets in motion a train of events that leads inexorably towards the play’s terrifying dénouement.

Director, Deb Lewis, explains that she chose to direct The Beauty Queen of Leenane because, “It’s a very intriguing story; it touches people on a lot of emotional levels. Everybody has experienced some kind of abuse in their lives . . . this play will resonate with people. Abuse is sadly pervasive, and my hope is that through this story people will be more aware of what’s going on.”

“It’s got love, comedy, violence, tragedy, sex . . . There’s everything in this show. ” Explains actor Tommie Tinker. “It’s like a dark, absurdist thriller,” adds actor Jacob Sturgeon. In summing up the play and the struggles the characters face, actress Amy Young says, “No matter how bad things are, it can get worse.”

The cast features Amy Young, Elizabeth Reha, Tommie Tinker and Jacob Sturgeon.

The show plays at 7:30 tonight.  It will also be performed on Friday, September 5 and Saturday, September 6.

Ben Nichols in concert tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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ben_nichols2Fans of gritty alt-country band Lucero may flock to the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave., to see the band’s front man Ben Nichols perform for the Arkansas Sounds concert series on Friday, August 29, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20, general admission, and available at www.arkansassounds.org and Butler Center Galleries, 401 President Clinton Ave. The Ron Robinson Theater’s entrance may be accessed from the Main Library’s parking lot, 100 Rock Street.

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Ben Nichols has earned critical praise for his emotive, whiskey-soaked vocals. The Austinist has described him as “a blistering diesel train of a singer and a songwriter of rare versatility.” During breaks from Lucero, Nichols has recorded acoustic-based material, including an EP featuring Nichols on acoustic guitar, Rick Steff (of Cat Power) on accordion and piano, and Todd Been (of Glossary) on pedal steel and electric guitar. This EP, The Last Pale Light in the West, comprises songs based on characters and situations from Cormac McCarthy’s novel, Blood Meridian.
This concert is presented by Arkansas Sounds, a project of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies focusing on Arkansas music and musicians both past and present. For more information, call 501-918-3033 or visit www.arkansassounds.org.