Monthly Archives: May 2019

Memorial Day – Remember the Fallen

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Today is Memorial Day – a time to pay tribute to the men and women in uniform who died in service to their country.

As a way to give this recognition, today would be a good day to visit a cemetery. One of Little Rock’s most storied cemeteries is Mount Holly Cemetery. There are numerous persons buried there who died while in service to their country.

One of them is 2Lt Carrick W. Heiskell, son of Arkansas Gazette editor J. N. Heiskell.  2Lt Heiskell died while flying for the Air Transport Command in the Himalayas during World War II.  He was posthumously the recipient of the Distinguished Unit Emblem, Purple Heart, and the Air Medal.

Founded in 1843, Mount Holly has been called “The Westminster Abbey of Arkansas.” Thousands of visitors come each year. Those interested in history come to see the resting places of the territorial citizens of the state, including governors, senators, generals, black artisans, and even a Cherokee princess. For others the cemetery is an open air museum of artistic eras: Classical, Victorian, Art Deco, Modern––expressed in gravestone styles from simple to elaborate. Some come to read the epitaphs that range from heartbreaking to humorous to mysterious.

Though a City of Little Rock facility, the cemetery is maintained by the Mount Holly Cemetery Association, a non-profit organization with a volunteer Board of Directors. The cemetery is located at 1200 South Broadway in Little Rock. Gates are open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. in the summer and from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the winter.

2019-2020 OXFORD AMERICAN music series at South on Main

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One of the best music series in the South takes place in Little Rock as the Oxford American brings musicians to South on Main. It is actually three different music series: Americana, Jazz, and Archetypes & Troubadours. Tickets are already on sale, and many of the concerts will sell out. So do not delay!

Up first is Amy Helm in the Americana Series. She will perform on Thursday, August 22 at 8:00pm. “One of Americana’s most impassioned, soul-stirring singers.” —Rolling Stone Country

First in the Jazz Series is Peter Martin & Romero Lubambo featuring Erin Bode. They’ll be in Little Rock on Thursday, September 5 at 8:00pm. “One of the most underrated pianists in jazz today … Martin plays with the kind of daring and excitement that marks a distinctive personality on the keyboard.” — Washington Post

The first in the Archetypes & Troubadours Series is Rev. Sekou on Thursday, September 26 at 8:00pm. “Rev. Sekou delivers the spiritual performance we need now.”—Paste

Next in Americana is Chatham County Line on Thursday, October 17 at 8:00pm. “What initially drew me to this Raleigh, North Carolina-based quartet is that in addition to the unique mix of bluegrass, folk and Americana tunes they harmonize so beautifully on is the fact that they typically crowd around a single, large, silver radio microphone. And that’s not the band’s only nod to the past.” — Huffington Post

Marsalis is a name synonymous with jazz. The Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet is next in the Jazz Series on Thursday, November 14. “[Marsalis’s] playing is eccentric within graceful boundaries, concerned with polyrhythm as science, history and gamesmanship, full of technique used to non-slick ends … Discipline and strategy are written deeply into the band.” — New York Times

Next in the Archetypes & Troubadours Series is Catherine Russell on Thursday, December 5, at 8:00pm. “A wonderfully charismatic performer with a show­stopping voice and an unabashedly old-fashioned repertoire.” — The Washington Post

The Fred Hersch Trio takes the Oxford American stage for the Jazz Series on Thursday, January 30 at 8:00pm. “An elegant force of musical invention, Fred Hersch cannot be discounted in any discussion of the top contemporary jazz pianists.” —LA Times

Jon Cleary is next in the Americana Series.  He’ll be on stage on Thursday, February 20 at 8:00pm. “Cleary embodies the heart and soul of the Crescent City, keeping the sound and the fury of its legendary piano pounders alive and kicking.”— No Depression

John Fullbright will be next in the Archetypes & Troubadours Series on Thursday, March 12 at 8:00pm. “In a short-­attention-­span world overloaded with sensory stimulation, there aren’t many artists who can stop you in your tracks with a single song.” —American Songwriter

The final 2019-2020 Americana Series entry is Mary Gauthier on Thursday, March 26 at 8:00pm.  “…[Mary Gauthier’s] Rifles and Rosary Beads, is not only one of the most arresting American singer-songwriter records in recent years, but one of the most vital pieces of art to come out of those two wars.” — Rolling Stone Country

Ranky Tanky closes out the 2019-2020 Archetypes & Troubadours Series on Thursday, April 16 at 8:00pm. “Ranky Tanky proved that exotic music can be both unfamiliar enough to be surprising, and yet familiar enough to provoke swinging hips and nodding heads. When it works, it’s the best of both worlds.” —Paste

The final Jazz Series concert is on Thursday, April 23 at 8:00pm. It features the Miguel Zenón Quartet. “This young musician and composer is at once reestablishing the artistic, cultural, and social tradition of jazz while creating an entirely new jazz language for the 21st century.” —MacArthur Foundation

Little Rock’s La Harpe Boulevard opened on May 25, 1959

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Knoop, Parkin and Remmel in this DEMOCRAT staff photo

Not all events in Little Rock on May 25, 1959, were school-related.

On that day, Harry W. Parkin, a member of the Arkansas Highway Commission was joined by Little Rock Mayor Werner Knoop and Pratt Remmel, a former mayor of the city,  in a brief ceremony.

With Mayors Knoop and Remmel standing by, Mr. Parkin snipped the ribbon to officially mark the opening of LaHarpe Boulevard in Little Rock.  Owner of Parkin Printing Company in LR, he had been appointed  to the Highway Commission in 1957.

Mr. Knoop was the current mayor of the City, having been chosen by his colleagues on the initial City Board in November 1957. He was re-selected in January 1959 to a second stint as mayor.  Mr. Remmel had been mayor in 1952 when Little Rock voters approved bonds to pay for their portion of the $3million project.

In February 1957, the street was named in honor of the explorer Jean-Baptiste Benard de La Harpe, who had first claimed the area for the French.

Laugh. Cry. Think. Act. with 2019-2020 season of The Weekend Theater.

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The Weekend Theater’s 27th season kicks off with AVENUE Q (June 14-30).  The winner of the 2004 Tony Award for Best Musical (as well as Tonys for Book of a Musical and Score), tells of life on Avenue Q for a group of twenty something humans and puppets.This is definitely NOT like puppet shows from childhood.

Next is the Arkansas premiere of Stephen Adley Guirgis’ Pulitzer Prize winning play BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY (July 26 to August 11).   Ex-cop and recent widower Walter “Pops” Washington and his newly paroled son Junior have spent a lifetime living between Riverside and crazy.

Anthony Mariani’s THE ROOSTER REBELLION (August 30 to September 8) is up next.  The story takes place in fall 2015 and summer 2016 in London. Reese Anne, a London teenager, runs away from home to help her ex-history teacher, Shell, who is homeless. They busk by day and at night seek to create a utopian homeless society, which falls apart on the eve of the Brexit vote.​​​​​

Cult classic SIDE SHOW (October 11 – 27) tells the story of Daisy and Violet. Conjoined twins, they are forced to be entertainers in a side show. As they struggle with very human emotions, they also must grapple with the fact that people see them as freaks.  With a lush score and colorful characters, it is a show that stays with audiences long after the lights come up.

2019 marks the 60th anniversary of Lorraine Hansberry’s A RAISIN IN THE SUN (December 5-21). It tells the story of the Younger family as they make decisions about the best way to use money left to them.  Each member of the three generations has their own dreams, and sometimes they clash with the wishes of others.    This moving, explosive, and often humorous play seeks to answer the question, “what happens when a dream is deferred.”

2020 gets going with GOOD KIDS. by Naomi Iizuka (January 9 – 26).  Something happened to Chloe after that party last Saturday night. Something she says she can’t remember. Something everybody is talking about. Set at a Midwestern high school, in a world of Facebook and Twitter, smartphones and YouTube,It explores a casual sexual encounter gone wrong and its very public aftermath.

Lynn Nottage’s SWEAT (Feb 14 – 29) won the Pulitzer Prize in 2017. It looks at the toll a factory closure has on a town and the friendships of the people who once worked in it.  Filial and familial bonds are tested as loyalties come into question and long-held beliefs are questioned. This gritty and compelling play has been described as one of the best ways to understand the different views voters held in the 2016 elections.

Regina Taylor’s CROWNS (March 20 – April 5) is a celebration of hats and the women who wear them.  Each hat holds a story of a wedding, funeral, baptism as a group of women share their stories of how they moved through life’s struggles. The hats aren’t just a fashion statement – they are testimonies of sisterhood – they are hard earned Crowns.

Paul Rudnick’s hilarious comedy of manners REGRETS ONLY (APril 24 to May 3) explores the latest topics in marriage, friendships and squandered riches. The setting: a Park Avenue penthouse. The players: a powerhouse attorney, his deliriously social wife and their closest friend, one of the world’s most staggeringly successful fashion designers. Add a daughter’s engagement, some major gowns, the president of the United States, and stir.

David Mamet’s RACE (May 15 – 24) explores and explodes various perspectives on race and justice.   Two lawyers find themselves defending a wealthy white executive charged with raping a black woman. When a new legal assistant gets involved in the case, the opinions that boil beneath explode to the surface. Mamet turns the spotlight on what we think but can’t say, dangerous truths are revealed, and no punches are spared.

More informaiton can be found at the Weekend Theater website.