Category Archives: Theatre

Pulitzers play Little Rock – Arkansas Rep’s CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

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cat20tin20roof-webMendacity hangs in the air through any production of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.   Since it premiered on Broadway in 1955, it has been performed in Little Rock numerous times.

In 2010, the Arkansas Repertory Theatre presented this play in a languid, steaming production.  Directed by Robert Hupp, the cast was led by Trista Moldovan, Michael Ellison, and Joe Vincent.  Rep favorites Amy Tribbey and Jeff Bailey were in the cast as well as Kathleen Doyle, Brian Wallace, and Roger Jerome.

The design team included Mike Nichols (sets), Margaret A. McKowen (costumes), Matthew Webb (lighting), Jason Pruzin (sound) and Lynda J. Kwallek (props).

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Pulitzer Prize for Drama being given. To pay tribute to 100 years of the Pulitzer for Drama, each day this month a different Little Rock production of a Pulitzer Prize winning play will be highlighted.  Many of these titles have been produced numerous times.  This look will veer from high school to national tours in an attempt to give a glimpse into Little Rock’s breadth and depth of theatrical history.

Pulitzers play Little Rock – UA Little Rock’s THE FLICK in 2017

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In 2UA Little Rock Flick014, Annie Baker’s The Flick won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play mixes dialogue with long moments of no spoken words as the characters perform tasks on stage.

It is set in a run-down Massachusetts movie theatre and focuses on three millennials as they endure modern-day situations of race, class, and economy, all while working as underpaid employees.  The three actors are tasked with performing the cleaning of the set, just as the characters would be doing in between showings.  The original production received mixed reviews and sharply divided the audiences who saw it.  Feelings that were expressed ranged from brilliant to boring.

In February 2017, UA Little Rock’s Theatre and Dance Department presented the play.  It may have been the first production of it in Arkansas, it was certainly the first in Little Rock.  Giving the students the chance to work on such a new and challenging play is an example of the value of educational theatre.

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Pulitzer Prize for Drama being given. To pay tribute to 100 years of the Pulitzer for Drama, each day this month a different Little Rock production of a Pulitzer Prize winning play will be highlighted.  Many of these titles have been produced numerous times.  This look will veer from high school to national tours in an attempt to give a glimpse into Little Rock’s breadth and depth of theatrical history.

Pulitzers play Little Rock – Arkansas Rep’s 2013 DEATH OF A SALESMAN

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Rep SalesmanOne of the seminal plays of the 20th century, Death of a Salesman explored and exploded the post-war view of the American Dream.  Arthur Miller won his only Pulitzer Prize for this play.

In 2013, Robert Hupp directed a production at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, where he was Producing Artistic Director at the time. It starred TV and stage actor Robert Walden, who was living in Arkansas then, and Broadway veteran Carolyn Mignini.  Avery Clark (who had starred in several Rep productions), Craig Maravich, William Metzo, Jay E Raphael and Joe Menino were also featured in key roles.

Members of the cast and creative team appeared in a panel as part of the Clinton School Speaker Series.  A video of that panel can be viewed here.

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Pulitzer Prize for Drama being given. To pay tribute to 100 years of the Pulitzer for Drama, each day this month a different Little Rock production of a Pulitzer Prize winning play will be highlighted.  Many of these titles have been produced numerous times.  This look will veer from high school to national tours in an attempt to give a glimpse into Little Rock’s breadth and depth of theatrical history.

Pulitzers play Little Rock – DRIVING MISS DAISY

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TWT DMDWith minimal set needs and only three actors, Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy has been popular with theatres of all levels since it premiered in 1987.  There have been numerous Little Rock productions over the past thirty years.

Actress and director Judy Trice starred in the Weekend Theater’s production in 2016.  Her costars were Jermaine McClure and Jay Clark.  The play was directed by Andy Hall (who is currently directing Assassins for the Weekend Theater).  The three actors obviously relished the chance to age several decades over the course of the play and mine Uhry’s script for its humor and humanity.

While many plays may fall out of favor over time, it is likely that Driving Miss Daisy will continue to be performed repeatedly.

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Pulitzer Prize for Drama being given. To pay tribute to 100 years of the Pulitzer for Drama, each day this month a different Little Rock production of a Pulitzer Prize winning play will be highlighted.  Many of these titles have been produced numerous times.  This look will veer from high school to national tours in an attempt to give a glimpse into Little Rock’s breadth and depth of theatrical history.

Pulitzers play Little Rock – OF THEE I SING

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OfTheeISingBefore Robinson Auditorium opened, the stage of Little Rock High School (now Central High) was the prime performance location in Little Rock.  In 1933, it welcomed the national tour of the Pulitzer Prize winning musical Of Thee I Sing.

This was the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  In fact, because no musical had won the award before, the jury appeared to not know how to handle a composer in a writing category.  Librettists Morris Ryskind and George S. Kaufman and lyricist Ira Gershwin were named as recipients. But composer George Gershwin did not receive the Pulitzer.  (In 1998, he received a posthumous Special Pulitzer.)

The musical, a satire of politics and popular culture, was directed by Mr. Kaufman.  The tour came to Little Rock for one performance on February 9, 1933. The Broadway production had closed less than a month earlier after 441 performances (a very long run at the time).

The tour starred Oscar Shaw (who had played the male lead in the original production of the Gershwins’ Oh Kay!) and Harriette Lake.  She would later change her name to Ann Sothern.  Other main roles were played by Donald Meek and Cecil Lean.   A few months after Little Rock, the tour played a month on Broadway.  Miss Lake continued in her role, but the men were replaced by their original Broadway counterparts.

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Pulitzer Prize for Drama being given. To pay tribute to 100 years of the Pulitzer for Drama, each day this month a different Little Rock production of a Pulitzer Prize winning play will be highlighted.  Many of these titles have been produced numerous times.  This look will veer from high school to national tours in an attempt to give a glimpse into Little Rock’s breadth and depth of theatrical history.

Little Rock Look Back: SPRINGTIME FOR HENRY plays Robinson

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On Monday, April 1, 1940, Edward Everett Horton came to Little Rock in the comedy SPRINGTIME FOR HENRY.  This was a play in which he had appeared regularly on tours and in summer stock. He would create productions of it in between film roles from the 1930s to the 1950s.

The play concerned a industrial heir whose dalliances put his family’s business in jeopardy.  It was a boulevard comedy (or a sex comedy—without the sex).  Originally performed on Broadway in 1931, it was written by Benn W. Levy.  He would later serve as a member of Parliament.

By the time Horton arrived in Little Rock, he was an accomplished stage and screen actor.  He was a staple of many Astaire-Rogers films.

The performance at Robinson did not go off without a hitch.  Because Spring had arrived in Little Rock, it was warmer outside.  This necessitated the air conditioner being turned on.   The fans rumbling through the vents made such a noise that it was difficult for the audience to hear the actors.  The air cooler was turned off for the remainder of the performance.  In the days after the performance, the Auditorium staff put buffering in the vents in the muffle the noise.

Pulitzers play Little Rock – HARVEY

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harveybrown3

Joe E. Brown in HARVEY

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Pulitzer Prize for Drama being given. It went to Jesse Lynch Williams’ Why Marry?  To pay tribute to 100 years of the Pulitzer for Drama, each day this month a different Little Rock production of a Pulitzer Prize winning play.  Many of these titles have been produced numerous times.  This look will veer from high school to national tours in an attempt to give a glimpse into Little Rock’s breadth and depth of theatrical history.

First up – an appropriate on Easter Sunday, a look at Mary Chase’s HARVEY.  Though not the Easter bunny, it does revolve around a rabbit—or does it?

The winner of the 1945 Pulitzer came to Little Rock in 1948 on its national tour.  Comedian Joe E. Brown was playing the leading role when the show came to Robinson Auditorium.  That same year, Brown received a special Tony Award for starring in the Harvey tour.