Category Archives: Holidays

12 Days of Christmas Movies: CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT

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Before there was Martha Stewart, there was Gladys Taber of Family Circle magazine. A lifestyle columnist, Ms Taber lived on a farm in Connecticut.

In 1945, Warner Bros. released a comedy which wondered what would happen if a food writer for a magazine really couldn’t cook. Barbara Stanwyck played the domestically-challenged writer who must fake her way through a Christmastime while playing hostess to a WWII veteran as part of a publicity stunt.

Dennis Morgan plays the veteran and Sydney Greenstreet portrays Stanwyck’s editor. Neither visitor has any idea she is a single NYC woman who cannot cook, not the Connecticut housewife and mother her column depicts. As she tried to fake her way through the holidays, much merriment ensues, as does romance.

This light, smart comedy was released in summer 1945 just as the war was ending in Europe and winding down in Japan. It was a combination screwball comedy, wartime distraction, and romance. Stanwyck and Greenstreet were better known for dramas. Morgan had started in a series of war-set movies thoughout WWII. This comedy also gave the actors a chance to be a bit more carefree and represented the optimism Americans were feeling as the war was finally ending.

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Art of the Bar, a handmade holiday market at South on Main today

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South on Main presents
Art of the Bar : A Handmade Holiday Market
Sunday, December 14
2 – 8 PM

Festive Cocktails crafted by Barman David Burnette
Christmas Carols from John Willis & Friends
Holiday Treats from Chef Matthew Bell & Chef Matthew Lowman

Featuring Work From:
Altered Polishes
Art by Lois/Painted by Fire
Bang-Up Betty
Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium
Dimestore Diamonds
Erin Lorenzen
Hunter-May Pottery
Artist Jason Jones
Little-Biscuits Illustrated Portraits
Little Rock Bottle Co
Morgan Hill Creative
Postmodern Press
Roll&Tumble Press
Sew Arkansan
Sulac

Among the musicians performing with John Willis (from 6pm to 8pm) will be Amy Garland, Amy McBryde, Late Romantics, Sarah Stricklin, Phillip Rex Huddleston, Bryan Frazier, Mitchell Crisp, Stephanie Smittle, Heather Smith, Will & Maddie, Paula Gribble, Genine Perez of Lagniappe, Isaac Alexander and Jason Weinheimer

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12 Days of Christmas Movies: CHRISTMAS VACATION

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Christmas-VacationChristmas Vacation is definitely a modern classic. This movie aptly captures all that the holidays can be about: spending too much money, spending too much time with relatives (not that I have ever felt that), spending too much effort on decorating.  This is the one “Vacation” movie in which Clark, Ellen, Rusty and Audrey are presented as the relatively sane ones surrounded by craziness.

It is hard to pick a favorite scene, there are so many wonderful ones.  From Aunt Bethany reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in lieu of saying grace, to the cat and the tree, to Clark’s efforts to decorate the house, to the obnoxious neighbors, to Cousin Eddie, to …. well the list goes on and on.

How the actors kept straight faces throughout the filming of this movie is beyond me. But they did, and the reward is a fun movie that never disappoints to delight.

NUNCRACKERS on stage today

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nuncrackersToday is the final chance to catch the Community Theatre of Little Rock on stage in the Studio Theatre with NUNCRACKERS, The Nunsense Christmas Musical (book, music, and lyrics by Dan Goggin).

“NUNCRACKERS, The Nunsense Christmas Musical” is presented as the first TV special taped in the Cable Access Studio built by Reverend Mother in the convent basement. It stars the nuns you love, plus Father Virgil, and four of Mount Saint Helen’s most talented students. Featuring all new songs including “Twelve Days Prior to Christmas,” “Santa Ain’t Comin’ to Our House,” “We Three Kings of Orient Are Us” and “It’s Better to Give than to Receive,” this show is filled with typical NUNSENSE humor, some of your favorite carols, and a “Secret Santa” audience participation.

The cast includes Cheryl Troillett, Roben Sullivant, Courtney Speyer, Miki Thompson, Liz Turner, Harold Dean, Drew Clark, Molly Kate Fuller, Matthew Lamb, Adelyn Eilere and Skye Sebring.  It is co-directed by Jerry Woods and Michael Henderson, with Jo Murry and Dawne Carroll serving as co-music directors.  Jerry Woods and Liz Clark were the producers.

The performance is at 2pm.

12 Days of Christmas Movies: THE BISHOP’S WIFE & THE PREACHER’S WIFE

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the-bishops-wife-posterI will admit I have unique taste in movies veering from the ridiculous to the sublime.  This extends to my Christmas movie viewing.

It is not that I dislike It’s A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story or Miracle on 34th Street, it is that they have become cliché. I long since tired of watching them.  Christmas movies should make me laugh, think, and/or feel.

In the final Twelve Days to Christmas, I’ll share my favorite Christmas movies. Some are designed to be Christmas movies, others simply take place at the Christmas season.  In a few instances, I feature two movies because they are linked to each other (doing so allowed me to include 5 more). They are largely in alphabetical order because I could not rank them.  The one exception is perhaps my favorite Christmas movie.

To get things started The Bishop’s Wife and The Preacher’s Wife.

I remember first seeing The Bishop’s Wife when I was a child visiting my grandparents at Christmas.  My uncle loved old movies so he would watch them a great deal.  Back then, there were only five cable stations and the 4 Arkansas broadcast stations (if you count AETN).  But there seemed to be more on TV worth watching then with fewer choices.  Anyway, I remember seeing this movie.

What’s not to love?  Cary Grant, David Niven, Loretta Young?  Any movie with two future Oscar winners and Cary Grant has to be good.  Perhaps it was this movie that planted the seeds of Episcopalianism in my then-Baptist head.  There is much humor and heart in this movie, but it does not hit you over the head with its message.

It was remade as The Preacher’s Wife with Tony winners Denzel Washington and Courtney B. Vance, Tony nominee Loretta Devine and the incomparable Whitney Huston.  Yes, it is inferior to the original, but it is still fun to watch.

THE NUTCRACKER this weekend performed by Ballet Arkansas with music by the ASO

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nutcracker_1Celebrate the season with your professional ballet company as we continue a favorite Christmas tradition performing The Nutcracker accompanied by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Geoffrey Robson. The Nutcracker tells the story of Clara and her magical nutcracker doll and their wondrous journey to the Land of Snow and Kingdom of Sweets. Every year this fun filled production creates lifelong memories for hundreds of Arkansas families.

Under the direction of Artistic Director Michael Bearden with choreography by ballet mistress Marla Edwards and choreographers Allison Stodola Wilson, Jana Beard, and Traci Presley, Ballet Arkansas’ Nutcracker will be the highlight of the holiday season. Accompanied by the largest ever cast of local actors and dance students from across Arkansas, this year’s production will feature Ballet Arkansas company members Leslie Dodge, Toby Lewellen, Justin Metcalf-Burton, Lauren McCarty Horak, Paul Tillman, Amanda Sewell, Lauren Bodenheimer, Deanna Karlheim, Megan Hustel, Tony Sewer, Hannah Bradshaw and apprentice Georgia Quinn. This year’s guest artists include audience favorites UALR professor Stephen K. Stone as Herr Drosselmeyer and Eric Harrison as Mother Ginger, Tom Mattingly appearing courtesy of Visceral Dance as Cavalier opposite Leslie Dodge as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Colin Hathaway appearing courtesy of Ballet West as Snow King opposite Megan Hustel and in Arabian.

The Nutcracker is the perfect yuletide gift, the ideal means of introducing children to the power and beauty of classical dance, and a delightful way for the entire family to ring in the holiday season. Make Ballet Arkansas’ Nutcracker part of your holiday celebration this December! To purchase tickets for the December 12th, 13th or 14th public shows to The Nutcracker, visit balletarkansas.org or call 501-666-1761. Tickets range from $20-$52.

Performances began last night and continue today at 2pm and 7:30pm and tomorrow at 2pm.  This year The Nutcracker is being performed at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center.

Shopping, Klezmer Music and Big Band Sounds all part of Butler Center fun tonight

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holiday_concertCelebrate the season with holiday shopping at Second Friday Art Night in the Butler Center Galleries, 401 President Clinton Avenue, and holiday music presented by Arkansas Sounds at the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Avenue, on Friday, December 12.

Second Friday Art Night will be held 5-8 p.m.

The Arkansas Sounds holiday concert will be held at 7:30 p.m.; the theater doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

At Second Friday Art Night, the Butler Center Galleries will offer hand crafted art by numerous Arkansas artists, perfect for holiday gifts. Refreshments will be served, and one-man-band Paul Morphis will play music in the galleries. Second Friday Art Night is a free, monthly opportunity to visit downtown Little Rock’s businesses, museums, and galleries for an after-hours gallery walk.

The Arkansas Sounds holiday concert in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater will feature Meshugga Klezmer Band and the Dave Rosen Big Band.

Meshugga Klezmer Band, now including Stephanie Smittle on vocals, has performed with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, at venues such as Wildwood Park, the Afterthought Lounge, and Juanita’s Cantina, and at bar/bat mitzvahs, weddings, and Jewish food festivals since 1999. Klezmer music has eastern European Jewish folk roots and is characterized by its cantorial vocal style reminiscent of Jewish prayer.

Dave Rosen Big Band, a 17-piece band, will play Christmas and Hanukkah favorites with jazz and swing arrangements. Songs will include Jingle Bells, Let It Snow, The Christmas Waltz, and Christmas Time Is Here, made famous in the long-running Peanuts Christmas special.

Arkansas Sounds is a project of the Butler Center focusing on Arkansas music and musicians past and present. For more information, visit www.arkansassounds.org or call 501-918-3033.