10pm tonight – South on Main After-Hours features Bijoux and Tawanna Campbell

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som bijouxtawanna.jpg.190x140_q60_cropTonight (February 19) at 10pm at South on Main – Bijoux and Tawanna Campbell headline another After-Hours concert.

Two of Little Rock’s powerhouse vocalists will grace the stage for a night of music entertainment. Bijoux, a sultry, soul singer adept in various styles, has made a name for herself in the music scene, both locally and in surrounding areas.

Bijoux’s jovial spirit, endearing vocals, vibrant entertaining, and musical versatility make her a perfect artist for any atmosphere! Tawanna Campbell has been a beacon, leading the way for Arkansas’ growing music scene, and is an all-encompassing performer. Her musical acumen is eclectic and dynamic. Tawanna possesses an amazing stage presence and a style all her own. Backed by some of Little Rock’s greatest musicians, the two will deliver an eclectic mixture of your greatest tunes from almost every genre of music.

Doors open at 4:00 PM, show begins at 10:00 PM. Wristbands can be purchased for $15 after doors open. Call ahead to reserve a table (501) 244-9660. Call (501) 952-7501 for additional information about this event.

Organ recital by Patrick A. Scott tonight at 8pm

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cacago Scott-Photo-NCOIThe Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presents Patrick A. Scott tonight (February 19).

The recital will take place at St. James United Methodist Church at 8pm.

Patrick A. Scott is Assistant Organist-Choirmaster at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, appointed beginning in September 2014. A native of Picayune, Mississippi, he holds the Bachelor of Music degree in Organ Performance from Birmingham-Southern College where he studied with Dr. James Cook. As a student of world-renowned organists, Drs. Judith and Gerre Hancock, Patrick earned the Master of Music in Organ Performance and Sacred Music and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Organ Performance, both from the University of Texas at Austin. His other major teachers have included Betty Polk, Kathy Vail, and Betty Breland.

Dr. Scott is quickly becoming one of the nation’s prominent young organists having been awarded the first prize as well as the audience prize in the American Guild of Organists National Competition in Organ Improvisation held at the 2014 AGO National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. While in Boston, he was also awarded second prize in the Schoenstein Hymn Playing Competition, making him the only organist to be a finalist in multiple competitions at one convention.

An active recitalist and accompanist, Dr. Scott has appeared in concert throughout the United States, as well as in France, Prague, Austria, Scotland, England, and Ireland. Prior to his appointment in Atlanta, Dr. Scott served Myers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, University Christian Church in Austin, Texas, and First United Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Explore THE ODYSSEY for two weekends at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre

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The Odyssey

For two weekends only, the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre will bring Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, vibrantly alive in a fusion of music, dance, mime, masks and choral effects as part of the theatre’s Studio Show series. Running February 19-28, The Odyssey tells the story of King Odysseus who enduring Poseidon’s wrath, faces witches, sirens and a cyclops as he wends his way—literally through Hell and high water—to his home and the long-suffering love of his Queen Penelope.

The Odyssey will run February 19-28; Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

John Isner directed The Odyssey. It was adapted for the stage by Keith Smith who also designed the set. Costumes are designed by Erin Larkin, lighting design by Mike Stacks, properties design by Miranda Young, music composed by Lori Isner, choreography by Erin Fowler and Nicole Jovanovic is the stage manager.

The cast includes:

  • Paige Carpenter of Lonsdale as Penelope;
  • Aleigha Morton of Beebe as Calliope;
  • Margaret Lowry of Little Rock as Erato;
  • Samantha L. Harrington of Little Rock as Athena;
  • Mark Hansen of Little Rock as Odysseus;
  • Nick Spencer of Nashville, TN, as Poseidon;
  • Richard Nelson of Little Rock as Elpenor;
  • Geoffrey Eggleston of Sioux Falls, SD, as Telemachus and
  • Jeremy Matthey of North Little Rock as Eurylochus.

Show times: February 19-28; Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices: $10 General admission, $8 for Arkansas Arts Center members

Best enjoyed by children in third grade and up.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit ArkansasArtsCenter.org/theatre

 

This weekend the Rep presents An Evening with Rebecca Wells and the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

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resized_99263-wells_2_90-20728_t300This weekend, February 19 to 21, join actor and author Rebecca Wells for the debut performance of a new solo work for theater based on her #1 New York Times bestseller Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

Wells looks back at her beloved tale of lifelong friendship in the Deep South, and sees it anew. Rebecca brings the sassy, touching girls of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood into vivid view, then with humor and unflinching honesty chats about how she sees her own work twenty years later, sharing her changing views on racism, feminism and life. An utterly original storyteller, Rebecca will fold you into her inner circle, share the secrets behind the Divine Secrets, make you laugh, invite you to feel, and leave you talking. Intimate, hilarious, and unforgettable, this show has its fingers on the pulse.

A classic Southern tale of hilarity set in a sleepy Louisiana parish, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood follows a group of lifelong friends who stage a rather unorthodox intervention to help a young playwright unravel the truth about her complicated, eccentric mother. Along her journey, she finds forgiveness and acceptance, and learns to let go of her painful past.

Performances are at 7pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Black History Month Spotlight – Central High School Neighborhood

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CHS neighborhoodThe new Arkansas Civil Rights History Audio Tour was launched in November 2015. Produced by the City of Little Rock and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock allows the many places and stories of the City’s Civil Rights history to come to life an interactive tour.  This month, during Black History Month, the Culture Vulture looks at some of the stops on this tour which focus on African American history.

The Central High School Neighborhood Historic District developed in the late 1880s, after a streetcar company built West End Park there in 1885. The area was a middle-class, interracial, mixed-use neighborhood with large homes and cottages and several schools and churches. Union and Capitol Hill schools educated the African American residents. St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church and school served an African American congregation. African American and white residents worked as clergymen, barbers, chauffeurs, mail carriers, clerks, and with the railroad and service industries. The neighborhood was also home to white and black lawyers, doctors, teachers and businessmen.

By 1894, West End Park included a baseball field, becoming home to the city’s first minor league baseball team, the Little Rock Travelers. Negro League teams, including the Little Rock Reds, Cadets, and Greys, also played there. In the late 1920s, the park site was chosen for the new Little Rock High School for white students. Quigley Stadium, the school’s football field, was built in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), replacing Kavanaugh Baseball Field. The neighborhood continues to have a vibrant mix of working class blacks and whites.

The app, funded by a generous grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council, was a collaboration among UALR’s Institute on Race and Ethnicity, the City of Little Rock, the Mayor’s Tourism Commission, and KUAR, UALR’s public radio station, with assistance from the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau.

This weekend – Lanterns festival at Wildwood Park

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Lanterns_07-1500x630Wildwood’s annual deep-winter festival celebrates the first full moon of the lunar new year. Held over three magical evenings – February 19 – 21, 2016 – guests are transported to far away lands and times as they stroll through the beautifully lit pathways of Wildwood’s gardens.

Cultural vistas feature live entertainment, food, drink, games and more throughout the Park’s Butler Arboretum and inside the Lucy Lockett Cabe Festival Theatre. This year’s featured locations are Australia, Brazil, China, Greece, Hawaii and the UK.

Shuttles run from the Kroger on Chenal Parkway beginning at 6 pm nightly until 30 minutes past the Festival’s closing. Limited parking is also available at Wildwood.

Tickets are $8 for adults online and $10 at the gate. For children ages 6-12 tickets are $4 online and $5 at the gate, and children 5 and under attend FREE!

Arf – Celebrity Attractions brings ANNIE here this weekend

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AnnieCelebrity Attractions is proud to present the new U.S. National Tour of ANNIE February 19-21 at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center.   Directed by original lyricist and director Martin Charnin for the 19th time, this production of ANNIE is a brand new physical incarnation of the iconic Tony Award®-winning original.

ANNIE has a book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin. All three authors received 1977 Tony Awards® for their work.   Choreography is by Liza Gennaro, who will incorporate selections from her father Peter Gennaro’s 1977 Tony Award®-winning choreography.

The production features a 25 member company: in the title role of Annie is Heidi Gray, an 11-year-old actress from the Augusta, GA area, making her tour debut. Gilgamesh Taggett stars as Oliver Warbucks.  In the role of Miss Hannigan is Lynn Andrews.  Also starring in the tour are Chloe Tiso as Grace, Garrett Deagon as Rooster, Lucy Werner as Lily and Jeffrey B. Duncan as FDR.  Macy and Sunny, rescue terriers, star as Sandy.

The orphans are Sage Bentley as Tessie, Bridget Carly Marsh as July, Molly Rose Meredith as Pepper, Emily Moreland as Kate, Annabelle Wachtel as Molly and Casey Watkins as Duffy.

The original production of ANNIE opened April 21, 1977 at the Alvin Theatre and went on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, seven Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical, the Grammy for Best Cast Show Album and seven Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, Best Book (Thomas Meehan) and Best Score (Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin).  The show remains one of the biggest Broadway musical hits ever.  It ran for 2,377 performances after it first opened, and has been performed in 28 languages and has been running somewhere around the world for 37 years.

The beloved score for ANNIE includes “Maybe,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” “Easy Street,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You” and the eternal anthem of optimism, “Tomorrow.”

Welcomed by the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, ANNIE takes the stage February 19-21 at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center, located on the campus of Maumelle High School.  The performance schedule is Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2 pm and 8 pm, and Sunday at 2 pm. Tickets are now on sale and are priced $32, $52, and $67.  Tickets are available by phone at (501) 244-8800 or (800) 982-ARTS (2787) or online at www.ticketmaster.com.  Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more by calling (501) 492-3312.

Get social with Celebrity Attractions by becoming a fan on Facebook.com/BWayLR.  Follow the Little Rock engagement of ANNIE on Twitter.com/BwayLittleRock or join the conversation using #AnnieLR.  ANNIE is a part of the 2015-2016 Broadway Season which concludes with RAGTIME.   Celebrity Attractions is proud to have KATV and the Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce as sponsors for this spectacular season.  For more information, visit www.CelebrityAttractions.com.