The show will go on! Ark Rep production of PETER AND THE STARCATCHER opens tonight

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 Despite the snow which caused many cancellations this morning, the Arkansas Repertory Theatre production of PETER AND THE STARCATCHER opens tonight.  Think you know all there is to know about Peter Pan? Think again.

This Tony winning play by Rick Elice is based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.  In this swashbuckling prelude to J. M. Barrie’s fantasy classic, the secret history of the Boy Who Would Never Grow Up is revealed with theatrical panache.

Based on the popular Dave Barry books, and mixing British pantomime with playful elements of childhood make-believe, this raucous adventure journeys into the forgotten realms of the imagination filled with mermaids, fierce natives, pirates and magic. 

Embark upon a treacherous ocean voyage as Molly, a young Starcatcher aboard the good ship Neverland, races to escape the comical clutches of the dread pirate Black Stache. Accompanied by a trio of Lost Boys from a British orphanage, she is soon marooned on a not-so-deserted island filled with otherworldly enchantments and exhilarating danger around every turn. Each breathtaking adventure leads them closer to the mysterious origins of the Peter Pan you know and love.

Peter and the Starcatcher will be presented as a co-production with TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, Ark. The Rep presents the regional premiere of this award-winning play as a perfect outing for young and old alike. It opens tonight and runs through Februry 14. 

The cast includes Seth Andrew Bridges, Marc Carver, Patrick Halley, Carey Hite, Garrett T. Houston, Bryce Kemph, Hugh Kennedy, Steve Pacek, Faith Sandberg, Jason M. Shipman, Nathaniel Stahlke and Bruce Warren.  Moriah Patterson and Garrett L. Whitehead are understudies. 

The production is directed by Mark Shanahan.  Other members of the creative team are Music Director: Mark Binns; Fight Director: D.C. Wright; Set Designer: James J. Fenton; Properties Designer: Brodie Jasch; Lighting Designer: Martin E. Vreeland; Costume Designer: Trish Clark; and Sound Engineer: Allan Branson.

Arkansas Sounds and Arkansas Times present premiere of URANIA DESCENDING film tonight

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urania_descendingThe U.S. premiere of a film by Arkansas’s Tav Falco, a musician, artist, author, and filmmaker, who will hold an audience discussion after the screening. The film’s length is 1 hour, 8 minutes. This event is presented by Arkansas Sounds in partnership with the Arkansas Times.

The screening is free and open to the public.  It begins at 7pm in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

Urania Descending is described as “a black and white film poem infused with metaphor and mood, where the past overtakes the present…the story of an American girl on a one-way ticket to merry/sinister old Vienna who becomes embroiled in an intrigue to uncover buried Nazi plunder.”

Tav Falco has created films for over fifteen years, working with performers, artists, and directors such as Winona Ryder, Bruce MacDonald, Jean Michel Basquiat, and Iggy Pop.

Something New at tonight’s Arkansas Symphony Intimate Neighborhood Concert

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Stained GlassThe Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, presents”Something New” tonight (January 21) as the 2015-2016 Intimate Neighborhood Concerts series continues.

The concert begins at 7PM at St. James United Methodist Church.

PROGRAM:
FINE – Suite for Strings
RILEY – In C
MENDELSSOHN – Symphony No, 1

Grammy winner Michael Fine’s chamber version of “Suite for Strings” will receive its premiere performance at this concert.

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 100.

ASO, I.N.C.: Intimate Neighborhood Concerts presents gorgeous and acoustically unique venues and music selected specifically to explore the spaces of the concerts. Patrons can get up-close and personal with musicians in chamber orchestra ensembles performing pieces in the settings intended by the composers.

Arts+History Throwback Thursday: Arsenal Building in 1942

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Associated Press photo

Associated Press photo

On February 9, Little Rock voters will have the chance to say Yes to improving the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, Arkansas Arts Center, and MacArthur Park.

Leading up to that election is a good time to look back at the development of these two MacArthur Park sited museums.

This is a 1942 Associated Press photo of the Arsenal Building.  Completed in 1840, it was decommissioned in 1890 after fifty years as a military arsenal and later officer barracks.  In 1893, the land on which it sits was transferred from the Federal Government to the City of Little Rock. The land became Little Rock’s first public park.  Briefly known as Arsenal Park, it was known as City Park until 1942, when it was renamed MacArthur Park after the five star general who was born there in 1880.

From 1942 until 1996, it was home to the Museum of Science and History (under several different names). The building was restored in preparation for the museum moving in.  After the building was vacated again in 1997 (when the museum moved to the River Market to become the Museum of Discovery), it stood vacant in preparation for a proposed military history museum. In 1999, the building was hit by a tornado which severely damaged part of the roof and caused some interior flooding.  The building was repaired and restored while plans for the new museum were underway.  In May 2001, the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History opened.

Tonight’s Movies at MacArthur is “4-4-43” about a daring escape from a POW camp

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The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History will host a screening of the documentary 4-4-43. The screening starts at 6:30pm tonight at the museum in MacArthur Park.

Free admission. Free popcorn and beverages provided.

On April 4, 1943, ten American prisoners-of-war and two Filipino convicts broke out of an escape-proof Imperial Japanese Army prison plantation in the Philippines. The secret that they carried out with them would shock the world. Called the “Greatest Story of the War in the Pacific” by the U.S. War Department in 1944, the full, uncensored true action adventure tale has been lost to history for nearly seven decades – until now.

The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History is a program of the City of Little Rock’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Arts+History campaign event this evening from 4:30 to 6:30

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CfAandHGrab a drink, listen to some music and learn about how you can support Arts + History in Arkansas. Donations of all levels will be appreciated.

When: Wednesday, January 20 at 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Where: Arkansas Arts Center Lobby

The Committee for Arts and History is a group of citizen advocates campaigning for Little Rock residents to vote FOR a bond issue backed by an already approved hotel tax on out-of-town visitors to improve the Arkansas Arts Center, MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, and MacArthur Park in a special election on February 9, 2016.

The improvements are of vital importance for the Arkansas Arts Center to keep its accreditation in 2016, to preserve a National Historic Landmark, and for Little Rock citizens to protect our cultural attractions.

Grammy winner Michael Fine speaks with ASO Music Director Philip Mann at Clinton School today

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Michael Fine, Composer featured on Something NEWArkansas Symphony Orchestra Music Director Philip Mann will moderate a wide-reaching discussion with seven-time Grammy Award winner and Classical Producer of the Year, Michael Fine.

Widely acknowledged as one of the top classical recording producers in the world, Fine has held the post of Vice President of Artists & Repertoire at Deutsche Grammophon – the first American to hold the post of Artistic Director in its hundred-year history. Highlights of Fine’s producing career include work with Andrea Bocelli, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the London Symphony. Fine will premiere the chamber orchestra version of his “Suite For Strings” with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra on its Intimate Neighborhood Concerts Series at 7:00 p.m. on January 21 at St. James United Methodist Church.

The conversation will take place at noon today (January 20) at the Clinton School.