Little Rock Look Back: OKLAHOMA! comes to Little Rock for the first time

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Program cover from OKLAHOMA!’s February 1948 visit to Little Rock. From the collection of Mary and Booker Worthen.

On February 9, 1948, as the original Broadway run was about to mark five years on Broadway, the national tour of Oklahoma! made its way to Little Rock for eight performances. The week-long stay it had in Little Rock at Robinson Center was a record for that building that would last until Wicked came in 2010.  (Hello, Dolly! in 1966 and Beauty and the Beastin 2002 had both equalled the record.)

By the time Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s first show made it to Little Rock, they were working on their fourth stage show, South Pacific, which had a leading character from Little Rock.

To get Robinson Auditorium ready for Oklahoma!, the Auditorium Commission had to spend $2,000 on upgrades.  That would be the equivalent of just under $21,000 today.

Oklahoma! opened at Robinson on Monday, February 9, 1948.  With eight performances, approximately 24,000 tickets were on sale during the run of the show.  There was a cast of 67 actors and 28 musicians.  The cast was led by Ridge Bond, Carolyn Adair, Alfred Cibelli Jr., Patricia Englund, and David Morris.  Mr. Bond had relatives who lived in Little Rock.  He was a native of Claremore, Oklahoma, which was the town in which the story took place.

OkAdLR

Ad in ARKANSAS GAZETTE on February 8, 1948.

While they were in Little Rock, the stars of the show made an appearance at Reed Music on February 10.  The music store (located at 112 and 114 East 7th Street–across the street from the Donaghey Building) was promoting the sale of the Oklahoma! cast albums, sheet music, and recordings of songs from Oklahoma! by other singers.

Both the Arkansas Gazette and Arkansas Democrat carried reviews of the show.  Another item, which appeared in the paper that week was a syndicated column which noted that the film rights for the show had been sold. It was speculated that the star would be Bing Crosby.  It would actually be 1955 before the film was made, and Mr. Crosby had no connection to that movie.  By the time it was made, the stars were Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones.  Mr. MacRae would appear in Little Rock for the 1963 opening of the Arkansas Arts Center.  Ms. Jones has made several concert appearances in Little Rock over the years.

Little Rock had seen its fair share of top Broadway shows on tour.  Prior to Robinson’s opening and since then, many well-known actors and popular shows had played Little Rock.  But just as it had been on Broadway, Oklahoma! in Little Rock was more than a show — it was an event!

Over the years, Oklahoma! has been performed by schools, churches, community theatres, dinner theatres, and colleges.  National tours have come through Arkansas again.  People have become jaded or dismissive of it, because they have seen it performed so often — and sometimes badly.  So it is hard to understand the excitement that was felt by Little Rock audiences in 1948 when they first saw it on the stage of Robinson Center.

This weekend, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra is bringing Oscar “Andy” Hammerstein III, grandson of the beloved librettist and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, to host a celebration of some of America’s most cherished music from the stage.

2nd Friday Art Night at CALS Library Square

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On Friday, February 8, the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) will open three exhibitions, Back to the Garden, Made in America: Vintage Film Posters from the Ron Robinson Collection, and Au Pair Don’t Care, and host one of the authors ofAbandoned Arkansas: An Echo From the Past.

Events will be held at the CALS downtown Little Rock campus, Library Square, 100 Rock Street, and are free and open to the public.

The Galleries at Library Square (formerly Butler Center Galleries) will host the opening reception for Paintings by Charles Henry James: Back to the Garden with featured musician Bluesboy Jag (solo acoustic and cigar box blues guitar & vocals). Artist and musician Charles Henry James, who has split his time between Little Rock and his native New York for nearly thirty years, takes a humorous, free-wheeling approach to socio/political engagement, filtered through the lens of pop culture tropes, op art, surrealism, and psychedelia. The exhibition is on view in the Concordia Hall Gallery through April 27, 2019.

Also opening is Made in America: Vintage Film Posters from the Ron Robinson Collection, in the Loft Gallery. The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, a department of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS), holds an extensive collection of Arkansas-related and other movie posters. The late Ron Robinson of Little Rock, an avid collector who was the president of Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods (CJRW) and also served as a U.S. Air Force officer in Vietnam, generously donated these film posters, which are mostly related to Arkansas history, U.S. politics, and American popular culture. The exhibition is on view through May 25, 2019.

The Bookstore at Library Square (formerly River Market Books & Gifts) is proud to present the new show, Au Pair Don’t Care, by artist Amily Miori. Also in the bookstore, visitors will be able to talk with Ginger Beck, co-author of Abandoned Arkansas: An Echo from the Past. Copies of the book will be available for purchase. Events at the Galleries and the Bookstore are part of 2nd Friday Art Night (2FAN), 5:00-8:00 p.m.

Call the Butler Center at 320-5700, the Galleries at Library Square at 320-5790, or the Bookstore at Library Square at 918-3093 to learn more about the concert and exhibitions. View the full calendar at www.cals.org.

2nd Friday Art Night – Doris Williamson Mapes retrospective at The Rep

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Image may contain: mountain, cloud, sky, nature and textOne of the newer venues participating in 2nd Friday Art Night is the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.  While one thinks of The Rep as a performing arts venue (and it certainly is), the Rep has also long been a promoter of the visual arts.

Drop by The Rep and enjoy paintings by late Arkansas artist, Doris Williamson Mapes. Known for her brilliant use of color, Doris described herself as a mixed media artist, using watercolors, acrylic, pencil, ink, gouache, casein, pastel, crayons, etc.

She studied design and encaustic painting under Townsend Wolfe at the Arkansas Arts Center and advanced painting with Edwin Brewer in the Adrian Brewer Studio. In 1970, Mapes, along with four other artists, founded and incorporated the Mid-Southern Watercolorists (MSW) in Little Rock. Mapes was elected as the organization’s founding president and served until 1972.

Doris was a long-time supporter of The Rep. The collection hangs in her memory

Rock the Oscars 2019: Mary Steenburgen

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It is Oscar month, so it is fitting to highlight at Arkansas’ own Academy Award winning actress, Mary Steenburgen on her birthday.  She was born on February 8, 1953, in Newport, Arkansas.  After moving to North Little Rock as a schoolgirl, she had her first starring role as Emily in the 1971 Northeast High School production of Our Town, which was the new school’s first play.

Her big break in the movies came when Oscar winner Jack Nicholson picked her to star opposite of him in Goin’ South.  This was followed by Time after Time before she appeared in Melvin and Howard.  For that film, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.  It also marked the first of three times she starred with Jason Robards (the other two being Parenthood and Philadelphia).  Over the years, her films have run the gamut from period piece (Ragtime, Cross Creek) to sophisticated comedy (Romantic Comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy) to fantasy (Back to the Future III) to holiday comedy (Elf).  She has been hard to pigeonhole into a specific “type” of actor because she has played so many different types of roles.

Throughout her career, Mary Steenburgen has been a champion of the arts in Central Arkansas.  In 1986, she starred in and was executive producer of End of the Line, filmed in Central Arkansas, directed and co-written by Arkansan Jay Russell, and also starring Kevin Bacon, Wilfred Brimley, Levon Helm, Barbara Barrie and Holly Hunter.  More recently, Steenburgen has also been an active supporter of the Oxford American magazine as well as South on Main restaurant and performance venue.

She has been an active supporter and a board member of the Arkansas Cinema Society.  During the 2018 FILMLAND she appeared in panel discussions on comedy and on her TV show “The Last Man on Earth.”

Organist Jonathan Ryan in concert tonight

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Acclaimed as “one of the brightest younger artists in the field today” (The Diapason), Jonathan Ryan will be presenting a concert at 8pm tonight at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church. It is sponsored by the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Mr. Ryan has the rare distinction of holding six First Prize awards from major international and national organ competitions. He most notably entered the international spotlight when awarded First Prize in the 2009 Jordan II International Organ Competition, one of the most substantial First Prize awards of any organ competition at the time.

He was additionally awarded the only auxiliary prize at the Jordan Competition, the LeTourneau Concerto Prize, given for the best performance of a newly commissioned work for organ and percussion ensemble. Additional First Prize awards include the 2006 Arthur Poister National Organ Competition, the 2006 John Rodland Scholarship Competition, the 2004 Albert Schweitzer National Organ Competition (Young Professional Division), and the 2003 Augustana Arts-Reuter National Organ Competition.

Jonathan Ryan’s newest recording entitled Influences, recorded on the Stahlhuth-Jann organ at St. Martin’s Church, Dudelange Luxembourg, was released in December, 2015 on the independent boutique label, Acis. The recording features major works by Dupré and Willan, a premiere recording of Ad Wammes, and a commissioned piece by renowned English composer Philip Moore.

Mr. Ryan’s current performance projects include recitals of J.S. Bach’s monumental Clavier-Übung III in a tour on historically-based organs throughout the United States, including Stanford and Pacific Lutheran universities, St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus OH, St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston TX, Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale AZ, Church of the Transfiguration in Dallas TX, Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland OH, and Christ Church Christiana Hundred in Wilmington DE.

Born into a musical family in Charlotte NC, Ryan first started playing the organ at age eight. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree with academic honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied organ, improvisation, and church music with Todd Wilson. During his undergraduate studies, he was awarded the Henry Fusner Prize for outstanding achievement in the Cleveland Institute of Music’s organ department, and also assisted Todd Wilson at The Church of the Covenant as Student Intern in Music. As a student of David Higgs, Ryan received a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music where he also studied improvisation with William Porter and conducting with William Weinert. Additionally, he holds the highest-ranking professional certification from the American Guild of Organists, the revered Fellow certificate, as well as the Choirmaster certificate for which he received the Choirmaster Prize.

Ryan serves as Director of Music and Organist at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas, TX where his passions for conducting, performing and teaching combine with his love of sacred music at the country’s second largest Episcopal church.

2nd Friday Cinema at Old State House: THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON

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In 2013, the Old State House played host to Little Rock native Julie Adams where she discussed her work in the film The Creature from the Black Lagoon.  Miss Adams died earlier this month. As a tribute to her, the Old State House is screening her seminal film.

This 1954 movie tells the tale of a strange prehistoric beast which lurks in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. A group of scientists try to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study. The explorers capture the mysterious creature, but it breaks free. The Gill-Man returns to kidnap the lovely Kay (played by Adams), fiancée of one in the expedition, with whom it has fallen in love.

 

3 Exhibits open on 2nd Friday Art Night at 1 Historic Arkansas Museum

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Join Historic Arkansas Museum for a reception for the openings of “Flourish,” “Olivia Trimble: Ozark Comforts” and “Featured Focus from the Permanent Collection.” Tonya Leeks and Company will be the evening’s live entertainment. New Province Brewing Company will be the evening’s featured brewery.

The reception is sponsored by the Historic Arkansas Museum Foundation, with special thanks to 107 Liquor. Beverages and appetizers will be served in the Stella Boyle Smith Atrium. The exhibits and reception are free and open to the public.

• • •

“Flourish”
Jessica Mongeon and Cara Sullivan
Trinity Gallery, February 8 – April 7, 2019

Mongeon’s inspiration comes from the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest and Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas. She creates her paintings on stone paper, an eco-friendly tree-free material made of calcium carbonate and resin. She says, “I hope that by capturing the unique landscapes of these protected natural areas, I will have encouraged people to support policies which fund their protection and to oppose decisions which may threaten them.”

Sullivan’s recent paintings pay homage to the overgrowth. Her spray painted surfaces reserve attention for the cast-aways: the uncultivated blooms of common weeds. She says, “More than a nod to the lowly weed, these paintings are for me a meditation on the irreverent, persistent nature and joy of rebellion.”

“Olivia Trimble: Ozark Comforts”
Second Floor Gallery, February 8 – May 5, 2019

Olivia Trimble cares about her community, and she understands the power of words and images to lift people up or tear them down. Using the tools of a traditional sign painter, she aims to improve the urban landscape and positively impact the people of Northwest Arkansas. Trimble opened her business, Sleet City Signs, determined to recapture the excitement and individuality common to hand-painted signs of times past. The quilt square paintings she is now known for began as a simple craft project to produce a gift for a friend, but as she made more of them, the meaning of her painted quilts became more significant. Olivia appreciates the long history of quilting in Arkansas, and the many hours of hidden work contained within a completed quilt. She was invited to paint quilt squares at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art for their American Made exhibit in 2016, and her work has appeared outside the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Perrodin Supply Co. in Springdale, and on many hand-painted signs around Northwest Arkansas.

“Featured Focus from the Permanent Collection”
Foyer of Cabe Gallery, Feb. 1 – 28, 2019

In honor of Black History Month, the Cabe Gallery foyer will display a selection of contemporary fine art by influential African American Arkansas artists during the month of February. The focused look includes an iconic delta landscape by Henri Linton, Larry Wade Hampton’s impressionistic scene of daily life, a country church by Glenda McCune and the delicate silverpoint realism of a Marjorie Williams-Smith still life.