Category Archives: Theatre

Little Rock theatre alums making National theatre news

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Some national theatre news with Little Rock connections:

ark repOn Monday, April 15, Douglas Carter Beane’s new play The Nance opened on Broadway.  Japhy Weideman, who was a lighting designer for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre a few seasons back, designed the lighting for this Lincoln Center Theatre production at the Lyceum Theatre.  Earlier this season, he designed lighting for a Broadway revival of Cyrano de Bergerac.  One of the cast members of The Nance was Mylinda Hull, who starred in the Rep’s production of Damn Yankees in 2000.

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Little Rock Hall High graduate David Auburn won a Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his play Proof.  His latest play, Lost Lake, was just selected for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2013 National Playwrights Conference in Waterford, CT. Wendy Goldberg, the artistic director of the Playwright’s Conference, will direct Auburn’s play on July 26 and 27.   Auburn was invited to submit a new play for this year’s Playwright’s Conference.   While he was growing up in Little Rock, he participated in the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre.

LR Film Fest Rooftop Screening of BLOODY MAMA

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lrff_mp_hdr_logoThe Little Rock Film Festival is hosting its first ever Rooftop Screening featuring ‘Bloody Mama’- a classic gangster film featuring Robert De Niro and Robert Walden. It will be tonight at 7pm atop the River Market Tower.

What better way to spend an evening under the stars than watching a movie with a star in the audience? Actor Robert Walden will join the audience on the rooftop for this special screening and will discuss his role in the film.

The event is free, but purchase of an 2013 LRFF pass is required to attend this screening.

Directed by Roger Corman, Bloody Mama was filmed in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas and tells the story of  machine gun totin’ Ma Barker, who lead her family gang (her sons) on a crime spree in the Depression era.Robert Walden plays Fred Barker in the film, who has just been released from prison, and Robert De Niro plays Lloyd Barker, a spaced-out drug addict who sniffs glue if nothing better is around.

During his long an successful career as a Hollywood actor, three time Emmy nominated actor Robert Walden has acted alongside many of the Hollywood greats including George C. Scott, Anthony Hopkins and Dusti Hoffman and has worked with director such as Woody Allen,, Martin Scorcese and Alan Pakula.

Walden currently stars in the new TV land sitcom, Happily Divorcedwith Fran Drescher and Rita Moreno. He will also star in the Arkansas Repertory Theater’s version of Death of a Salesman as Willy Loman, running April 24th to May 12th www.therep.org

 

Reel Classics with the Rep: DEATH OF A SALESMAN

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717deathLater this month, Robert Walden opens in Death of a Salesman at Arkansas Rep.  In conjunction with that, the Reel Classics with the Rep series returns for this month’s installment.

The monthly series showcases films which share connections with productions currently on stage at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.

Tonight’s film is the 1985 version of Death of a Salesman.  This version was filmed for television and is adapted from the 1984 Tony winning revival.  It stars Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman.  Kate Reid, John Malkovich and Stephen Lang play other members of the Loman family. Other standouts in the cast include Charles Durning and Louis Zorich.

The program begins tonight at 6pm with a discussion of the Rep’s production led by members of the Rep’s staff.  Following that, at 6:30, the film will be screened.  It takes place at Laman Library.

The Rep’s production, directed by Robert Hupp, begins performances on April 24 and runs through May 12.  Opening night is April 26.

New play reading of Judy Baker Goss’ LIFE SCIENCE today

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judygossLittle Rock playwright and educator Judy Baker Goss is working on a new play.  A public reading of the play will take place today at 4pm at Cabe Theatre on the campus of Hendrix College.

The play, Life Science, is set during the Arkansas trial contesting Act 590 in 1981, the play explores tensions outside the courtroom between parents and teens involved in the fight over what students should be taught in biology about evolution and who holds authority over their teaching.

Goss describes the play like this: In 1981, Phoebe is pressured beyond normal teen anxiety. Her mother, a biology teacher in remission from cancer, will testify against Arkansas’ “creation science” law, supported by Phoebe’s boyfriend, Paul, and his father, an evangelical pastor. Fearing, too, that her separated parents will divorce, she leans on Paul more, but college plans consume him.

Phoebe finds comfort from Victor, an African-American classmate and basketball player whose father also opposes mixing religion with science teaching. As Phoebe and Paul’s relationship buckles, she grows closer to Victor, but violence erupts between the boys. Parents and teens find that each alone can’t restore shattered self-respect, which is essential to surviving tests of faith in their shared environment.

Hendrix College Associate Professor and department chair Ann Muse will direct the performance with a cast of students and adult actors.

Revisions to Life Science continue, after it was discussed by Lee Blessing, Dan O’Brien and contributors in the Sewanee Writers’ Conference playwriting workshop in 2009 and again by Daisy Foote and Sewanee playwriting workshop participants in 2012.

“Fool”ish Fun at SPAMALOT

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Better SpamalotA great way to spend April Fools Day evening (or the day after) is at Robinson Center Music Hall.  Celebrity Attractions is bringing the national tour of Spamalot to Little Rock.  Performances are at 7:30pm tonight and tomorrow.

Spamalot opened on Broadway in 2005 at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre. Following the trend of other musicals in the 2000s, this show was based on a movie and a spoof of musical theatre.  Featuring a book and score by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, this stage version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail skewered not only the Arthurian legend, but also Broadway, popular culture and Spam.  At the 2005 Tony Awards, it was nominated for fourteen Tony Awards. It won three Tony Awards including Best Musical.

On tour, the cast is led by Arthur Rowan as King Arthur.  Others in the cast include Abigail Raye, Glenn Giron, Adam Grabau, Kasidy Devlin, Thomas Demarcus, Joshua Taylor Hamilton and Joe Beuerlein.  The ensemble includes Barbara Jo Bednarczuk, Kimber Benedict, Jason Elliott Brown, Melissa Chaty, Carl Deforrest Hendin, Andrew Leggieri, Amy Owens, Alec Varcas and Ryan Jacob Wood. B. T. McNicholl recreates Mike Nichols Tony winning direction for this production.   Scott Taylor recreated the Broadway choreography.

Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre for 2013-14

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AACCT1314The Arkansas Arts Center has announced the 2013-2014 Children’s Theatre season lineup.

The season will open with Pinkalicious the Musical, running from September 20 through October 6.  Based on the popular children’s book about a girl who turns pink, it is written by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann (based on their book).  The songs are written by John Gregor.

Next up will be The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, just in time for Halloween.  It will run from October 25 through November 10.  Alan Keith Smith has adapted Johann Wolfgang van Goethe’s poem of magic and imagination.  In this version, a modern young girl is taken on a mystical journey where she meets a medieval sorcerer’s apprentice.

The holiday show at the Children’s Theatre will involve a train filled with toys.  From November 29 through December 15, The Engine That Thought It Could will take the stage.  Alan Keith Smith has adapted Rev. Charles S. Wing’s 1906 story to create this tale of hope and determination — with plenty of holiday fun thrown in.

The winter blues will melt like butter with Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. From January 24 through February 7, this comical romp through the barnyard will be on stage.  It involves Farmer Brown, typing cows, striking foul, and learning about compromise.  It is adapted from Doreen Cronin’s book with illustrations by Betsey Lewin.

The familiar tale The Boy Who Cried Wolf will premiere at the Children’s Theatre from March 7 through 23.  Based on Aesop’s story, Alan Keith Smith has adapted this timeless classic about honesty.

The 2013-14 season will conclude with Sleeping Beauty.  Based on the Brothers Grimm folk tale, it will be on stage from April 25 through May 11, 2014.  This classic tale of love, courage and the triumph of good over evil is sure to delight audiences of all ages.

Bradley Anderson is the artistic director of the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre, and Dr. Todd Herman is the executive director of the Arkansas Arts Center.

 

8 THE PLAY tonight at Argenta Community Theatre

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8 The Play“8” The Play is not a prequel to the musical Nine.  It is a documentary play written by Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black which chronicles the federal Proposition 8 court case in California.

Since premiering in a one-night only all-star reading on Broadway in 2011, “8” The Play has been performed all over the country to wide acclaim.  It speaks to issues which are not just about California or about gay rights.  It discusses human rights and equality.  The play is written in the style of  verbatim theatre using transcripts from the federal trial, journalist records and media interviews from the plaintiffs, defendancts and proponents involved.

This reading of “8” The Play features community leaders, professional and local actors and is directed by Arkansas Repertory Theatre Producing Artistic Director Bob Hupp.

There will be a pre-show reception at 6:30pm. The performance starts at 7pm.  Following the performance, there will be a post-show discussion led by Just Communities of Arkansas.

Tickets are $20 and are available at the Arkansas Rep box office in person, by phone (501-378-0405) or online at www.therep.org.

The performance will be at the Argenta Community Theatre on Main Street in North Little Rock.  The presenting sponsor is the Tenenbaum Foundation.  Judy Tenanbaum and Vincent Insalaco are producers of this production of “8” The Play.