Category Archives: Theatre

Go “Behind the Theme” tonight at Arkansas Rep before next month’s THE LITTLE MERMAID

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LittleMermaidTonight, Monday, November 23, join the Arkansas Rep for its new event series, Behind the Theme, for a discussion of  The Origin of Fairy Tales!

The Little Mermaid is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s folktale of the same name.  Before you plunge into the colorful depths of the Rep’s production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, UCA professor Jay Ruud will lead a discussion on Tolkien’s theory on the nature of myth and ‘fairy-stories.’ Find out where fairy tales originated and how they’ve become the stories we know and love today. 

Monday, November 23, 6 p.m.

Foster’s, located on the first mezzanine

FREE and open to the public

Cash bar available

Please RSVP to Allyson Gattin

501.378.0445 ext. 125 | agattin@therep.org

T-H-E E-N-D of Rep’s SPELLING BEE

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Rep Spelling BeeToday marks the final two performances of the Arkansas Rep production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

From William Finn, the composer of Falsettos, A New Brain and Little Miss Sunshine, comes a Tony Award-winning look at the all-too-familiar world of adolescence, told with hilarity, catchy tunes and surprising poignancy. The musical features a Tony-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin.  It was conceived by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss.  The Rep’s production is directed by Nicole Capri.

The gloves are off in the take-no-prisoners, cold-blooded, dog-eat-dog world of competitive spelling as a menagerie of pre-pubescent misfits vies to d-e-c-i-m-a-t-e their young rivals on the cutthroat path to the national spelling bee championship.

Hormones rage and pulses pound as our awkward adversaries engage in feats of o-r-t-h-o-g-r-a-p-h-i-c prowess. The winner will receive a shining trophy and a luxurious DC hotel room with a big screen TV. The loser – nothing but a broken heart, a pat on the back and a juice box.

“A truly funny, unpredictable night of theatre,” said Bob Hupp. “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Beeis never the same musical twice. The actors’ wit and verbal agility are put to the test night after night as each new audience brings new hilarity to the performance. If you can spell “cow”, then this musical is for you.”

Join The Rep onstage (quite literally, since several lucky audience members will be asked to show off their spelling chops alongside the cast each night) as we bring you this sidesplitting, irreverent, interactive musical comedy hit!

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW presented by Sway

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RHS swaySway is providing the treats for Halloween!  The legendary ‘Rocky Horror Show‘ comes to Little Rock this Halloween weekend at the first ever Sway Presents: Rocky Horror Show – Live On Stage! featuring Queen Anthony James Gerard and a colorful cast of talented locals.  Performances started Thursday and wrap up tonight!

This simple and outrageously fun show is a fan favorite with a huge following of devoted fans who dress as their favorite characters and actively participate in the show. Audience participation is almost required!

Join in on the Time Warp in this cult classic, pop culture, science fiction glam rock, quirky comedy that is the Rocky Horror Show!

Showtime at 8:30 p.m. sharp. Guests to tonight’s performances will receive complimentary admission to a party following the final bows.

Creative Class of 2015: Frank Thurmond

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thurmond_frankFrank Thurmond is a writer-musician-actor-filmmaker-teacher. He is, in short, a multi-hyphenate!

Thurmond was born in Paragould and grew up in Crossett and Little Rock, where he attended Hall High School.  He studied English and music as a Donaghey Scholar at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and pursued graduate degrees at Southern Methodist University and Oxford University. Thurmond is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and has been a visiting writer in residence at Lyon College in Batesville.

 
Most recently, he released Ring of Five: A Novella and Four Stories.  Thurmond’s first book was a memoir entitled Before I Sleep: A Memoir of Travel and Reconciliation, which recounts his adult experience of meeting his previously unknown birth father.  He is a member of the bands ODYSSEY and JET420 and can often be found playing at local stages.
The film The Dealer’s Tale, which he wrote and produced (and is directed by Justin Nickels) will screen as an Official Selection at the Indie Memphis film festival on Friday, November 6th.  When it screened at the El Dorado Film Festival, Thurmond was awarded the Best Screenplay Award at the El Dorado Film Festival.
           
He has been featured at both the Arkansas Literary Festival and the Little Rock Film Festival.  Previously, Thurmond’s writing has appeared in various publications, including the International Herald Tribune; The Best of Tales from the South, Volume 6; Toad Suck Review; and in William Safire’s language book, No Uncertain Terms.

Creative Class of 2015: Stephanie S. Streett

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StreettStephanie S. Streett is the executive director of the Clinton Foundation. In this role she oversees the day-to-day operations of the Clinton Presidential Center, including the development and implementation of its educational programs, special events, exhibits, and services as well as staff management. She establishes and cultivates strategic partnerships and cooperative arrangements with state and local governments, the non-profit and private sector, community groups and other organizations. Stephanie also serves as the corporate secretary for the Clinton Foundation Board of Directors.

Stephanie has used her position to broaden culture in Little Rock through the wide variety of exhibits which the Clinton Center has hosted. A wide variety of styles of visual arts, design, contemporary craft, sports, science and history have been showcased in exhibits at the Clinton Center.  She also was instrumental in planning the special events in conjunction with the Clinton Center 10th Anniversary in 2014.  In addition, she has been active in promoting partnerships with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Together with Kaki Hockersmith, she has facilitated several seminars which have brought key Kennedy Center leaders to Little Rock.

She is the president of the University of Arkansas Alumni Association National Board of Directors and is co-chair of the Board of Directors for City Year Little Rock. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Downtown Partnership of Little Rock and is a member of the International Women’s Forum Arkansas.

Creative Class of 2015: Stephanie Smittle

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resized_99263-smittle-v_47-16964_t300A few weeks ago, within the space of a few days, Stephanie Smittle went from originating two roles in an opera to singing with a Klezmer band.  This shows not only her versatility, but also the wide range of music offerings in Little Rock.

A lyric soprano, she is a native of Cave Springs and  holds a Bachelor’s of Philosophy degree from Hendrix College. Comfortable in a variety of genres, Smittle composes and performs her original work with the jazz-Americana group “The Smittle Band,” sings with acclaimed metal band Iron Tongue, leads an Arkansas-music-based duo called “Stephen y Stephanie,” and performs traditional Yiddish music with the Meshugga Klezmer Band.  From venues of a few seats to several hundred, there are few stages in Little Rock on which she has not performed.

Smittle’s operatic roles include: Fiordiligi in Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” with Opera in the Ozarks, Queen Anne and Queen Elizabeth Woodville in the premiere of Karen Griebling’s “Richard III: A Crown of Roses, A Crown of Thorns,” Second Lady in Mozart’s “Magic Flute” with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, performances with Opera in the Rock, as well as summer study in Italy as a scholar with the Oberlin Conservatory. Her oratorio performances include Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde,” Rutter’s “Requiem,” and Brahms’ “Ein Deutsches Requiem.”

Creative Class of 2015: Rebekah Scallet

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scalletRebekah Scallet is the producing artistic director of the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre.  A graduate of Parkview High School and Brandeis University, she has an MFA from Illinois State University.  In addition to being active in theatre at Parkview while a student there, she served as stage manager for productions of the former Shakespeare Festival of Arkansas while she was in college.

After working in several Illinois-based theatres, she returned to Arkansas in 2011 and took her position with the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre.  In addition to overseeing the artistic facets, she directs productions for AST.  In 2012, her first season, she directed Twelfth Night. The work on that garnered her an Arkansas Arts Council Fellowship in 2014.

In subsequent seasons, she has directed The Merchant of Venice, King Lear and Two Gentlemen of Verona for the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre. She also directed The Caucasian Chalk Circle and A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur at UCA, where she also serves as a lecturer in theatre.