Category Archives: Holidays

Christmas Day birth of Eli Colby, youngest person to serve as Little Rock Mayor

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On Christmas Day in 1814, future Little Rock Mayor Eli Colby was born in Warner, New Hampshire.

At the age of 23, he moved to Little Rock in 1838.  After arriving, he soon became the editor and publisher of the Times and Advocate newspaper.  As a publisher and printer, Colby also had the contract to print official state notifications and documents in the early 1840s.

Politically, Colby served as a Justice of the Peace for several years.  In September 1843, he was elected Mayor of Little Rock in a special election to fill a vacancy. He was 28 years and nine months old, making him the youngest mayor in Little Rock’s history.  He left office in January 1844.  He died March 15, 1844, at the age of 29 after a long illness and was buried with Masonic honors.

No image of him is known to exist.

An early Christmas present in 1937, Robinson Auditorium groundbreaking on Christmas Eve

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On December 24, 1937, at 11:30 a.m., Little Rock Mayor R. E. Overman, Ewilda Gertrude Miller Robinson (the widow of Senator Joseph Taylor Robinson) and  Alexander Allaire of the PWA turned dirt to participate in the brief groundbreaking ceremony for Little Rock’s municipal auditorium.

That morning, the Arkansas Gazette ran a brief story on the upcoming groundbreaking.  The story mentioned that the building would be named in memory of the late beloved Arkansas politician.  This appears to be the first public pronouncement of the Robinson name for this civic structure.

Among others in attendance at the groundbreaking were Mrs. Charles Miller (sister-in-law of Mrs. Robinson), Mr. and Mrs. Grady Miller (brother and sister-in-law of Mrs. Robinson), the mayor’s wife, the three architects (George Wittenberg, Lawson Delony and Eugene John Stern), and D. H. Daugherty and Will Terry of the City’s Board of Public Affairs.

Construction had to start by January 1, 1938, in order to receive PWA funds.  By breaking ground on December 24, there was over a week to spare.  The site had been selected in late October 1937, and the purchase had not been finalized.  But the PWA did give permission for the City to let a contract for excavation, demolition and filling on the site.

The groundbreaking took place at the corner of Garland and Spring Streets which was on the northeast corner of the block set aside for the auditorium.  Today, Spring Street does not extend north of Markham; the street was closed to make way for the parking structure and what is now the Doubletree Hotel.  That section of Garland Street is basically an alley that runs parallel to Markham north of City Hall, Robinson Auditorium and the Doubletree Hotel.

Happy Festivus! Prepare for those Feats of Strength and Airing of Grievances

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In honor of Festivus 2019, here is a photo of Jason Alexander (aka George Costanza) when he was at Arkansas Rep in January 2016 to conduct auditions for the play WINDFALL which he directed at the Rep.  He is pictured with Bob Hupp, who was then Producing Artistic Director of Arkansas Rep.

Alexander has continued collaborating with Hupp at Syracuse Stage, where the latter went in 2016.

Little Rock resident Judge Reinhold was not in THAT “Seinfeld” episode, but did star in another iconic epsiode as “The Close Talker.”

Kevin! The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra is presenting HOME ALONE with live orchestra this weekend!

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Home Alone PosterThe Arkansas Symphony Orchestra presents the first concert of the 2019-2020 Acxiom Pops! Live concert series: Home Alone: Film with Orchestra, Saturday, December 21th at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 22th at 3:00 p.m. in the Robinson Center. The Pops! Live concert series is sponsored by Acxiom.

A true holiday favorite, this beloved comedy classic features renowned composer John Williams’ charming and delightful score performed live to picture by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

Macaulay Culkin stars as Kevin McCallister, an 8-year-old boy who’s accidentally left behind when his family leaves for Christmas vacations, and who must defend his home against two bungling thieves. Hilarious and heart-warming, Home Alone is holiday fun for the entire family!

The Symphony, under the direction of Geoffrey Robson, will be playing John Williams’ Oscar-nominated score as the film plays.

Joining Culkin (whose aunt Bonnie Bedelia is a star in another Christmas move: DIE HARD) in HOME ALONE are a group of seasoned veterans.  While the adults are meant to be more cartoonish, they still keep the film grounded.  Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern have wonderful chemistry as the Wet Bandits.  John Heard’s slightly befuddled father is an apt foil for Catherine O’Hara’s intense mother. The latter displays much warmth when needed, as well. John Candy turns in a fun cameo in the first film. If you blink, you may miss future Tony nominee and The Newsroom actress Hope Davis as a French ticket agent.

Tickets are $16, $36, $57, and $70; active duty military and student tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the Robinson Center street-level box office beginning 90 minutes prior to a concert; or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 1. All Arkansas students grades K-12 are admitted to Sunday’s matinee free of charge with the purchase of an adult ticket using the Entergy Kids’ Ticket, downloadable at https://www.arkansassymphony.org/freekids.

Go “Home for the Holidays” with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra tonight

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Home for the HolidaysTonight, December 19, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will present its traditional holiday concert Home for the Holidays

ASO’s traditional holiday show is back for a one-night-only performance including music from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, Holst’s In the Bleak Midwinter, music from the hit film Polar Express, and your favorites like “O Holy Night”, “Sleigh Ride”, and “It’s Beginning to look a Lot like Christmas!”

Vocalist Stephanie Smittle will be performing with the ASO for “It’s Beginning to look a Lot like Christmas,” “This Christmastide (Jessye’s Carol),” “O Holy Night,” and “Mary Did You Know.”

Tickets are $16, $36, $57, and $70; active duty military and student tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the Robinson Center street-level box office beginning 90 minutes prior to a concert; or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 1.

Artists
Israel Getzov, conductor
Stephanie Smittle, vocalist

Program
HOLST – In the Bleak Midwinter
TCHAIKOVSKY – Nutcracker Suite, Op 71a, “Waltz of the Flowers”
Arr. O’Loughlin – Christmas Canticles
WILLSON/Arr. Holcombe – It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas*
FRASER – This Christmastide (Jessye’s Carol)*
SILVESTRI/Brubaker – Polar Express Concert Suite
ANDERSON – Sleigh Ride
TORME/ Lowden – A Christmas Song
ADAM/ Ryden – O Holy Night*
LOWRY/SCHRADER – Mary Did You Know?*
O’NEILL/Phillips – Mad Russians’ Christmas
O’NEILL/Phillips – Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24

*denotes a song that Stephanie Smittle will be performing with the ASO

Explore George Bailey’s life as CALS Ron Robinson Theater shows IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE tonight

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It's a Wonderful Life PosterBefore or after seeing It’s a Wonderful Life on stage at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre (now through December 29), you can see the movie on the big screen tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

Produced and directed by Frank Capra, It’s A Wonderful Life is based on the short story and booklet The Greatest Gift, which Philip Van Doren Stern wrote in 1939 and published privately in 1943.

The 1946 film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his dreams to help others, and whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers). Clarence shows George all the lives he has touched, and how different life in his community of Bedford Falls would be if he had never been born.

Joining Oscar winner Stewart in the film are Oscar winners Lionel Barrymore and Thomas Mitchell, future Oscar winners Donna Reed and Gloria Grahame, along with Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, future TV executive Sheldon Leonard (who inspired the names of the two leading characters in TV’s BIG BANG THEORY), and H. B. Warner.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!