Category Archives: Theatre

Arkansas Rep 2012-2013 season

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It is Spring Break throughout Arkansas. So this is a good time to take a break from the current arts season and look ahead to next year.

Rich stories and rewarding shows are the bounty that awaits Arkansas Repertory Theatre audiences during the 2012-2013 season, the Rep’s 37th year. Robert Hupp, the Rep’s producing artistic director, recently announced the lineup.

The season kicks off on September 7 with William Shakespeare’s Henry V.  This will be the first of Shakespeare’s “History” plays to be staged at the Rep in its history.  Following the overwhelming success of Hamlet last season, it is pleasing to see the Bard return to the Rep’s lineup.  It will run through September 23, 2012.

Next up is the annual Young Artists’ production.  This edition of the revue is entitled Singin’ on a Star.  It will run from October 24 through November 3, 2012. Though the show is still being written, it promises to feature Arkansas’ best and brightest students in songs and dances which will enchant audiences of all ages.

It is guaranteed that Little Rock will see a White Christmas in December 2012 because the Rep will be producing the stage version of the Irving Berlin classic White Christmas from November 30 through December 30, 2012.  In addition to the classic Berlin tunes from the film, a treasure trove of other Berlin classics is also included.

As 2013 kicks off, the Rep presents the play Gee’s Bend.  Set in the eponymously named Alabama town, it tells the story of the women who make quilts there. The play is not about the quilts themselves (though they are works of art which have been displayed in many top art museums), it is instead about the remarkable lives of the women who make them.  Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder’s play will run from January 25 through February 10, 2013.

As the Rep marches into the third month of 2013, it will present the world premiere of a new musical version of Treasure Island.  This production, which emphasizes the adventure and mystery of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, features a book by Brett Smock (who will also direct) and Carla Vitale with songs by Corinne Aquilina (who served as musical director/conductor for last season’s Hairspray at the Rep).  It runs from March 8 through March 31, 2013. (This world premiere is the reason the title of this entry is written in “Pirate.”)

Arthur Miller’s prize winning Death of a Salesman is up next at the Rep.  This classic tale explores the American Dream in the middle of the 20th Century as the Loman family copes with hope and despair.  During its original Broadway run, it received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Best Play recognition from the Tony Awards and the New York Drama Critics Circle.  “Attention must be paid” from April 26 through May 12, 2013.

Avenue Q is one of the smartest, funniest, and bawdiest musicals over the last decade. Written by Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez, it irreverently tells the story of a group of 20 and 30somethings in New York City as they cope with the onset of adulthood. Some of the characters are played by humans while others are portrayed by puppets — but this is not for the kids; it is definitely an adult show (it includes full puppet nudity).  This 2004 Tony winner for Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score, ran for over 1000 performances on Broadway and is now enjoying a healthy Off Broadway run.  The Rep’s brand new production will run from June 7 – 30, 2013.

The Weekend Theater presents THE MIRACLE WORKER

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Nicholson and Sawyer (photo by Byron Taylor)

William Gibson’s Pulitzer and Tony winning play The Miracle Worker opened last weekend at the Weekend Theater.  It continues tonight and tomorrow as well as March 23 and 24.

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through March 24; there is also one matinee scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 18. Tickets, $16 for general admission and $12 for students and seniors age 65 and older, can be ordered online at the theater’s Web site, www.weekendtheater.org, or purchased at the door before each performance, based on availability.

Though the play is the story of Helen Keller (Sarah Nicholson) at the start of her remarkable life, it is also the story of her family and the indomitable Annie Sullivan (Hannah M. Sawyer).

The cast includes Byron Taylor and Patti Airoldi as Helen’s parents, Captain Arthur and Kate Keller, along with Drew Ellis, Zoe Dickerson, Diondre Wright, Patty German, Henry Melhorn, Donna Singleton, Patty Landry, Adrianne Owings, and Colin Boyd.

Andy Hall directs the production.

AAC Children’s Theatre: If You Take a Mouse to School

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The Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre is now presenting If You Take a Mouse to School through March 25, 2012.  Performances are Fridays through Sundays; during Spring Break there are special matinees throughout the week.

Based on the book If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff, this popular character returns to the Arts Center’s Children’s Theatre stage.  This is the fourth time a Numeroff book has been produced at the Arts Center. Previous productions have been If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (in 2008), Merry Christmas, Mouse! (in 2009) and If You Give a Pig a Pancake (in 2011).

The cast for this production includes Katherine Campbell, Josh Rice, Paige Herschell, Vanessa Sterling and Aleigha Morton.  Bradley Anderson directs this production, which was adapted by Katherine Campbell and Josh Rice.  The creative team also includes Miranda Young (scenery), Erin Larkin (costumes) and Penelope Poppers (lighting).

A Conversation with Rocco Landesman this afternoon

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Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will be making his first visit to Arkansas. Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will be making his first visit to Arkansas today.

As a part of that visit, he will be participating in a Please join us for a very enlightening panel discussion at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. It is being co-hosted by The Rep and the Oxford American. Arkansas First Lady Ginger Bebee will introduce the conversation.

Visiting Arkansas for the first time, Chairman Landesman will participate in a panel discussion with Rep Producing Artistic Director Bob Hupp and Oxford American Publisher Warick Sabin. Arkansas Arts Council Executive Director Joy Pennington will moderate the panel on “Creative Placemaking in Little Rock.”

The panel discussion will take place in the Rep’s Cindy Murphy Theatre at 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Following the panel, there will be a reception at 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
The panel discussion and lobby reception are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Rocco Landesman was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 7, 2009 as the tenth chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Prior to joining the NEA, he was president of Jujamcyn Theatres, which owns five Broadway theatres. A Broadway theater producer and multiple Tony winner, he has brought Big River (1985 Tony Award for Best Musical), Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (1993 Tony Award for Best Play), Angels in America: Perestroika (1994 Tony Award for Best Play), Into the Woods, and The Producers (2001 Tony Award for Best Musical) to Broadway.

Wiz Biz at Ark Rep

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Melson, Williams, Stewart and Alexzander (photo by Cindy Momchilov, courtesy of the Arkansas Rep)There will be a whirlwind of activity as the Arkansas Rep opens The Wiz tomorrow night. This Tony Award winning super soulful retelling of The Wizard of Oz features a witty book by William F. Brown and a score by Charlie Smalls that is infused with blues, R&B, gospel, disco, jazz and good old fashioned razzmatazz.

This production (which runs through April 1 – no fooling, it closes that day) is directed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, who has directed A Raisin in the Sun and Dreamgirls at the Rep.  The cast includes Carla Stewart at Dorothy, Nik Alexzander as the Scarecrow, Tony Melson as the Tin Man, Darryl Jovan Williams as the Lion, and Baci as Toto.  Sinclair Mitchell plays both Uncle Henry and the title character, while Zoie Morris plays both Aunt Em and Glinda.  Jennifer Leigh Warren, who was in the original New York casts of Little Shop of Horrors and Big River will be playing Addapearle (a good witch) and Evilene (the wicked witch).

The creative team for this production includes Set Designer: Mike Nichols, Lighting Designer: Douglas Cox, Costume Designer: Rafael Colon Castanera, Properties Designer: Lynda J. Kwallek, Sound Designer: M. Jason Pruzin, Music Director: Charles Creath and Choreographer: James Harkness.

It’s Fronkensteen!

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The classic Mel Brooks movie is ALIVE…and it’s headed to Robinson Center Music Hall under the auspices of Celebrity Attractions.  The original Broadway production was the winner of the 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award and the Broadway.com Audience Award for BEST MUSICAL!

The show includes all the favorite moments from the classic film, plus brand-new show-stopping numbers for the stage, including “Transylvania Mania,” “He Vas My Boyfriend” and of course “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”

This wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend follows bright young Dr. Frankenstein (that’s Fronkensteen) as he attempts to create a monster–but not without scary and hilarious complications. The brains behind the laughter is mad genius and three-time Tony winner Mel Brooks himself–who wrote the music and lyrics and co-wrote the book- along with his record-breaking team from The Producers: five-time Tony-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman and three-time Tony-winning writer, Thomas Meehan.

Performances begin tonight and continue Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm.

Rep Receiving Recognition

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Arkansas Business Publishing Group has announced the nominees for the 2012 Arkansas Business of the Year Awards.  Most years, cultural organizations and leaders appear in the non-profit categories.  2012 is no exception.

This year the Arkansas Repertory Theatre is nominated as Non-Profit Organization of the Year.  Also nominated this year is Robert Hupp, the Rep’s Producing Artistic Director in the category of Non-Profit Executive of the Year.

Many of the businesses nominated in the categories are also supporters of cultural organizations in the metropolitan Little Rock area.  At the risk of an omission, this entry won’t try to enumerate the nominees and the cultural institutions they support.  But without the support of the business community and business leaders, non-profit cultural institutions could not survive.

The awards will take place on Tuesday, February 21.  To purchase tickets, visit here.

 

Hupp to be honored by PR professionals

Earlier this month, the Arkansas Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) announced that Hupp will received the Diamond Award on March 16 at the Little Rock Club.

The Diamond Award is Arkansas PRSA’s highest honor for contributions made during a career to enhance the image of Arkansas through work consistent with the principles of public relations.

The awards ceremony will be at 11:30 a.m., Friday, March 16, at the Little Rock Club. The event will be free to PRSA members, $40 for nonmembers and $20 for students. Reservations should be submitted by March 14.   Visit the PRSA website here.