Category Archives: Theatre

What Dreams Are Made Of – COMPLEAT WRKS OF WLLM SHKSPR ends run at Ark Rep today

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WllmShksprToday is the final chance to experience what Shakespeare has in common with football, cooking shows, rap and psychology.  The Arkansas Repertory Theatre production of The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) plays at 2pm and 7pm today.

Life is short. The complete works of Shakespeare are long. Now all of the bard’s most familiar pieces are condensed into one hilarious rollercoaster spoof! Ending The Rep’s season is an entertaining romp where audiences will see all of Shakespeare’s plays, reduced in madcap fashion, in less than two hours.

Written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield (former founding members of the Reduced Shakespeare Company) and first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987, The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) later played at the Criterion Theatre in London, where it ran for nine record-breaking years.

The cast includes Rep favorites Avery Clark (Hamlet, Henry V, Death of a Salesman, The 39 Steps) and Ethan Paulini (The Full Monty, Avenue Q, White Christmas, Tommy) and Rep newcomer Patrick Halley.  The show is directed by Resident Director Nicole Capri. The design team includes Costume Designer: Shelly Hall, Set Designer: Chris Pickart, Lighting Designer: Dan Kimble, Sound Designer: Allan Branson and Properties Designer: Lynda J. Kwallek.

The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) is a parody of the plays of William Shakespeare, with all of them being performed in shortened and sidesplitting form.

It has become one of the world’s most popular shows, playing frequently in a variety of languages, and is most notable for holding the (self-proclaimed) world record for the shortest-ever performance of Hamlet, clocking in at just 43 seconds. You don’t have to be a fan of Shakespeare, or even familiar with his plays, to enjoy this inventive, fast-paced comedy!

 

 Avery Clark, Patrick Halley and Ethan Paulini. Photography by John David Pittman.

Little Rock Look Back: Richard Rodgers

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richard_rodgersOn June 28, 1902, Richard Rodgers was born.  He grew up to become a composer, producer and arts educator. For his talents he was recognized with two Pulitzer Prizes, a Kennedy Center Honor, and seven Tony Awards.

He is featured on this blog, because one of his shows was the musical South Pacific.  The fictional heroine was Little Rock native Nellie Forbush.  Through the success of the show, this “cock-eyed optimist” represented Little Rock to the world.  Rodgers composed a song called “My Girl Back Home” which contained references to Little Rock.  It was cut from South Pacific before it opened on Broadway in April 1949.  However it was used in the movie version and appeared in the 2008 Broadway revival.

The works of Rodgers have been performed by the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Arkansas, Wildwood Park for the Arts, Little Rock Wind Symphony and many other cultural organizations.  Numerous tours of Richard Rodgers musicals have been performed at Robinson Center Music Hall since it first opened in 1940.

ArtPlace America Awards $345,000 to Little Rock for Main Street

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ArtPlace_MAP_OCD_trans-520x337ArtPlace America announced today that the City of Little Rock has been awarded a $345,000 grant to enhance its creative placemaking project on Main Street Creative Corridor – a four block area of Main Street where arts organizations are relocating.  Little Rock is one of only 55 of 1,300 communities selected to receive 2014 funding.

In Little Rock the money will be used in a four block area of the Creative Corridor to enhance streetscapes, signage, artwork and an opening celebration.

“We are delighted to share this exciting news with our community. While we know first-hand that deploying the arts can transform communities, having our work recognized by a generous grant from ArtPlace further supports and validates our efforts to use the arts to revitalize our city,”  said Mayor Mark Stodola.

“Investing in and supporting the arts have a profound impact on the social, physical, and economic futures of communities,” said ArtPlace Executive Director Jamie L. Bennett. “Projects like these demonstrate how imaginative and committed people are when it comes to enhancing their communities with creative interventions and thoughtful practices.”

About ArtPlace America

ArtPlace America (ArtPlace) advances the field of creative placemaking, in which art and culture plays an explicit and central role in shaping communities’ social, physical, and economic futures.  To date, ArtPlace has awarded $56.8 million through 189 grants to projects serving 122 communities across 42 states and the District of Columbia.

ArtPlace is a collaboration among the Barr Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The William Penn Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Surdna Foundation, and two anonymous donors.

ArtPlace seeks advice and counsel from its close working relationships with the following federal agencies: the National Endowment for the Arts, the US Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council.

ArtPlace has additional partnership from six major financial institutions: Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife and Morgan Stanley.

Little Rock Creative Corridor schematic designs for Main Street are on the City’s website: http://www.littlerock.org/!userfiles/editor/docs/The%20Creative%20Corridor_Final%20Report.pdf.

 

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre

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PrintFor the past several years, the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre has created a condensed version of one of the Bard’s tales geared specifically for younger audiences.  This production tours the state as well as playing at the AST home on the UCA campus.

In this gleeful adaptation especially for young audiences, The Comedy of Errors offers double the fun as two sets of of long-lost twins cause chaos and comedy by ending up in the same place at thesame time.  Their grossly mistaken identities lead to trouble in love and with the law.  This hour-long production will be great fun for the family to enjoy together.

The cast for this comic romp includes: Adam Frank (Aegeon, a merchant from Syracuse looking for his sons; Dr. Pinch, a schoolmaster engaged as an exorcist);  Matthew Kyle Holcomb (Antipholus of Syracuse, traveler in search of his mother and his twin brother; Antipholus of Ephesus, a citizen of Ephesus);  Hannah Moulder (Luciana, Sister to Adriana; Lady Abbess Aemelia, head of a priory in Ephesus);  Jordy Neil (Dromio of Syracuse, servant to Antipholus of Syracuse; Dromio of Ephesus, servant to Antipholus of Ephesus) and  Jessica Dean Turner (Solinus, Duke of Ephesus; Adriana, Wife to Antipholus of Ephesus; Angelo, goldsmith in Ephesus).

Performances are at 2:30pm today, Thursday the 26th and Saturday the 28th.

PIPPIN to do, just for you at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre

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PrintThe Broadway smash hit Pippin is coming to central Arkansas!  This winner of the 2013 Tony for “Best Musical Revival” is the story of a young man (who happens to be the son of the great King Charlemagne) and his  journey to find where he belongs in the world, his “Corner of the Sky.”  With a cast of colorful characters, lively dancing, soulful tunes from Stephen Schwartz (Wicked), and direction and choreography by North Little Rock-native Jeremy Williams, this musical will have you mesmerized from beginning to end.

Performances started earlier this month and continue today at 2pm, at 2pm & 7:30pm on Wednesday, June 25 and 2pm & 7:30pm on Friday, June 27. It is performed at the Reynolds Center on the UCA campus.

Garrett Whitehead plays the title role. Others in the cast are Evan Tyrone Martin, Dan Matisa, Matthew Holcomb, Holly Ruth Gale, Laurie Pascale, Kelly Karcher, Drew Price, Jonathan Altman, Rebecca Kuo, Hannah Moulder, Moriah Patterson, Fernando Quinones, and Benjamin Stidham.

HAMLET takes stage at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre

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PrintMurder, grief, love, betrayal, humor, madness, and revenge–this renowned story of mystery and intrigue has it all!  Prince Hamlet, haunted by his father’s suspicious death and his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle, seeks truth and justice in a fallen world.  In the process, he learns not only what it means to be a man, but what it means to be human.

This production welcomes back Robert Quinlan (director of AST’s acclaimed Richard III, 2012), whose stunning vision of Shakespeare’s most celebrated tragedy gives you a glimpse of the backstage drama of Denmark that will leave you breathless.

This production is mounted in a three-quarter setting on the stage of Reynolds Center. Seating is limited so be sure tickets are purchased in advance.  It opens tonight at 7:30 at the Reynolds Center on the UCA campus and continues at 2pm Saturday the 21st, 7:30pm on Tuesday the 24th, 7:30pm on Thursday the 26th and 7:30pm on Saturday the 28th.  The final performance is at 2pm on Sunday the 29th.

Jordan Coughtry essays the title role with Paige Reynolds as his mother Gertrude, Dan Matisa as Claudius and the Ghost, Robert Gerard Anderson as Polonius and the Gravedigger, Kelly Karche ans Ophelia, and Brendan Marshall-Rashid as Laertes.  Others in the cast are Benjamin Stidha, Garrett Whitehead, Matthew Schmidli, Jonathan Altman, Keving Browne, Holly Ruth Gale, Chris Fritzges, Andrew Martin, Jordan Breckenridge, Evan Tyrone Martin, Sarah Guinee, Elena Wiltgen, Aaron Eley and Joey Whisenhunt.

 

TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA continues at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre

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PrintSet in Italy in the early 1960s, this lively production will bring music and romance to one of Shakespeare’s rarely-produced comedies. Two Gents has all the familiar Shakespearean surprises we love:  a crossdressing heroine, fickle young lovers, and a dangerous escape into the forest.  Add to that hilarious comedy from two clownish servants, along with Shakespeare’s most famous dog, and you know this is a must see! AST Artistic Director Rebekah Scallet directs this delightful exploration of lasting love and true friendship.

The cast includes Jordan Coughtry, Brendan Marshall-Rashid, Caroline Brooks, Paige Martin Reynolds, Jordy Neill, Andrew Martin, Laurie Pascale, Jesica Dean Turner, Robert Gerard Anderson, Kevin Browne, Christ Fritzges, Jordan N. Breckenridge, Salem Anderson, Zeke Whisenhunt, Anna Caroline Gregg, Mary Dean Johnston and Olivia Marotte.

The production has played several performances at the Hendrix Village.  Starting tonight, it is performed by the Argenta Library. Performances are tonight, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m.  Admission is “pay what you can.”