Monthly Archives: January 2015

Best Song Oscar nomination for Arkansan Glen Campbell

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Glen_Campbell_I'll_Be_Me_PosterLost in the shuffle of Oscar nominations was the fact that Arkansan Glen Campbell received his first Oscar nomination. It was for co-writing the song “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from the documentary Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me.  Unfortunately, due to the ravages of Alzheimer’s this plaudit comes too late in his career for him to relish it.

In 2014, the documentary was screened at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater with members of Campbell’s family and the filmmakers present. It later opened the 2014 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival before it was commercially released.

Though not featured in the film footage, Campbell’s last performance in Arkansas was at Robinson Center Music Hall to a sold out, lovingly appreciative and emotional audience.

Campbell’s previous closest brush with Oscar was as a co-star to John Wayne in the original True Grit, for which the Duke took home the trophy.

 

Next at Weekend Theater – Sartre’s NO EXIT

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No Exit at The Weekend Theater in Little Rock, ARJean-Paul Sartre’s existential World Ward II era play No Exit is the next offering at the Weekend Theatre.

If you’ve asked the question, “Why am I here?” or “What is my purpose?” then this play is for you. Sartre attempts to answer the age old question, “What happens after life?” in his New York Drama Critics Circle winning play, No Exit.

Imagine yourself in a room with two people whom you’ve never met. There is no darkness, only light. Each of your thoughts and actions affect the other. You reflect on the past while seeing the present in a world you are no longer a part. Is this Heaven or Hell? You decide. Come see how three souls deal with the afterlife and each other in this dark dramedy.No Exit

This production is from a script adapted from French by Paul Bowles.  Directed by Tommie Tinker, the play runs Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm through January 31.  There may not be an exit in the play, but the production will exit with the month of January.

Tickets are $16 for adults and $12 for students & seniors.  Tonight (January 17) is “Roll-Back Saturday Night” with a $2 discount from the regular price.

The cast includes Kayla Esmond, Claudia Moskova-Cremeens, Jacob Sturgeon and Brittany Cook.

 

Fund set up to ensure sustained support of July 4th Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Pops on the River featuring ASO

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popsonriverAccording to an article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a fund has been set up to ensure long-term sustained support of the paper’s Pops on the River music and fireworks spectacle.  The Pops on the River Charitable Fund has been established at the Arkansas Community Foundation. The first gift was a donation of $100,000 by the Hussman Foundation.

The state’s largest Fourth of July celebration, Pops on the River is a day-long observance that draws around 30,0000 people to the River Market district and First Security Amphitheater in downtown Little Rock. Fireworks and a free concert by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra highlight the celebration.  The celebration was started in 1983 by the then-Arkansas Democrat just as Riverfront Park was first developing.

“The idea is to try to set up an endowment fund over the years that will generate enough income so that it could pay for Pops on the River,” Democrat-Gazette Publisher Walter E. Hussman Jr. said in the article.  He envisions that the fund will build year by year toward a goal of $1 million.  The goal amount would generate $50,000 per year to cover the costs of Pops on the River.  Though the Hussman Foundation plans on annual donations of $100,000 as economically feasible, the fund is set up to take donations from other foundations as well as corporations and individuals.

Little Rock Look Back: Martin Borchert, LR 57th Mayor

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Martin John BorchertOn January 16, 1916, future Little Rock Mayor Martin Borchert was born in Stuttgart.  After graduating high school he moved to Little Rock.  He started work at ACME Brick and spent 21 years there before engaging in other business interests.  Among these businesses were Martin Borchert Co., ASCO Hardware, Dtection Systems Inc. and Component Systems Inc.  In 2005 he was inducted into the Arkansas Construction Hall of Fame.

Mayor Borchert was elected to the Little Rock City Board of Directors in 1964 and served from January 1965 through December 1968. He chose not to seek a second term.  In 1967 and 1968 he served as Mayor of Little Rock. During this time, he laid out the vision for what has become Riverfront Park along the Arkansas River.

Other civic achievements included being a member of the Board of the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, being on the Governor’s Citizens Advisory Committee, a member of the Pulaski County Quorum Court, vice chairman of the Arkansas Planning Commission, and being on the Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council. In 1967 he served on the President’s National Advisory Council to the Small Business Administration. Mayor Borchert served on the Little Rock Water Commission, including a tenure as chairman. In 1985, he was chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Policy Board and as chairman oversaw the transfer of the Central Arkansas Transit system to the Central Arkansas Transit Authority. One of the achievements of which he was very proud of was that he was one of the very first in Arkansas to receive an Adopt the Highway road.

Mayor Borchert was married for 57 years to Rosemary “Biddy” Branch Borchert.  They had two children, a son, John “Topper” Borchert and a daughter, Leslie Borchert Wilson.  He died on May 11, 2007.

 

PEANUTS exhibits next up at the Clinton Library

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CPC PeanutsNEW TEMPORARY EXHIBIT “PIGSKIN PEANUTS” & “HEARTBREAK IN PEANUTS”
January 17 – April 5, 2015

In honor of the 65th Anniversary of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, we will be hosting two new exhibitions that will premiere at the Clinton Center from the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California. “Pigskin Peanuts” will feature Schulz’s football-themed Peanuts comic strips. It will also highlight how Charles Schulz often explored the theme of fairness in his comic strip and believed in giving everyone equal opportunity. “Heartbreak in Peanuts” underscores the prevalence of love in the comic strip. Students will experience the joys and sorrows of unrequited love Peanuts-style. Both exhibitions will feature reproductions of Charles Schulz’s original Peanuts strips, student activities within the exhibition, 5-foot sculptures of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, and themed objects and ephemera.

 

“PIGSKIN PEANUTS” & “HEARTBREAK IN PEANUTS” FAMILY-FRIENDLY EXHIBIT OPENING & RECEPTION

January 16, 2015
5:30 p.m. Doors Open
6 p.m. Program Begins

To celebrate the grand opening of “Pigskin Peanuts” & “Heartbreak in Peanuts,” the Center invites guests of all ages to a very special reception. Our guest host, Snoopy, will be serving some of his favorite foods: pizza, chocolate chip cookies, hot chocolate, and root beer! Our other special guest, Karen Johnson, executive director at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, will lead an interactive discussion about the artist, the exhibits, and his wonderful cast of characters. Be one of the first to see this exciting tribute to Charles Schulz and his beloved Peanuts gang.

Saturday, January 17, 2015
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Clinton Presidential Center

The Clinton Center will host family programming on Saturday, January 17, in coordination with the grand opening of our newest exhibitions, “Pigskin Peanuts” and “Heartbreak in Peanuts” from the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rose, California. The curator of the exhibition will kick-off the program with an interactive discussion and prize giveaways. Snoopy will also make appearances for guests to have photos taken. There will also be “Peanuts”-themed activities  for the family to enjoy.

Snoopy Appearances:
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
11:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Noon – 12:30 p.m.
1:00 – 1:30 p.m.
All appearances will be in the lobby of the Clinton Center.

This event is FREE and open to the public, but regular admission is required to tour the exhibitions.

Little Rock Look Back: Little Rock Council Meets for First Time in 1832

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TowncouncilplaqueOn January 16, 1832, Mayor Matthew Cunningham MD presided over Little Rock’s first council meeting. Since Little Rock did not yet have a government hall, the Mayor and his wife hosted the meeting at their house. The Cunninghams owned the entire block which was bordered by what is now Main Street, 3rd Street, Louisiana Street and 4th Street.

A plaque at 3rd and Main Street commemorates this meeting and was placed there in the 1930s. The Cunningham’s house was likely closer to the southwest corner of the block. The plaque is on the Fulk building which once housed Bennett’s Military Supply. Currently the plaque is covered as the building undergoes renovation in preparation of it housing CJRW.

The block also includes the Mann on Main project, which is comprised of the buildings originally constructed for the Gus Blass Department store.  Bruno’s and the new Samantha’s are also on the block.

Little Rock was chartered as a town in 1831 and elections were subsequently held. Dr. Cunningham outpolled Rev. W. W. Stevenson to become the first Mayor.

Joining Mayor Cunningham at the first meeting were the original four Town Council members – Charles Caldwell, Benjamin Clemens, David Holt and John McLain.

In 1931 a plaque, as part of Little Rock’s Centennial, a plaque was erected to note the first meeting. The plaque erroneously implies that the first meeting was in 1831. This mistake is understandable since the legislation incorporating Little Rock was approved in November 1831. The plaque also refers to the body as the City Council. It was, in fact, the Town Council. There would not be a City Council until 1835 when Little Rock was elevated to City status.

THE LAST FIVE YEARS for 5 performances only at the Studio Theatre

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last-five-years-musical-54There are always at least two sides to every story.  In Jason Robert Brown’s musical The Last Five Years, the audience get the “his” and “her” perspectives of a relationship. But there is a twist. One is told forwards, while one is told backwards with the characters meeting in the middle.  It is a funny, charming, heartwarming, heartbreaking look at life, love and loss.  Jamie is a rising novelist and Cathy is a struggling actress.  The challenges of their two careers add a layer to the complexities of their relationship.

The Studio Theatre is presenting this two character musical January 16, 17, 23, 24 & 25.  The Friday and Saturday performances are at 7pm and the Sunday performance starts at 2pm.

Ryan Whitfield directed Jeremy Hall and Erin Martinez in the production. Mark Binns in the musical director.

The Studio Theatre is connected to the Lobby Bar which provides opportunities for libations (beer, wine and non-alocholic) before the show, at intermission and after the show.