Tag Archives: Academy Awards

Clinton School presents panel on Ark Rep’s A LOSS OF ROSES

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The University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service will host a panel discussion with Tony Award-nominated director Austin Pendleton and cast members of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s production of A Loss of Roses.  The panel will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, June 13 at 12 noon at Sturgis Hall in Clinton Presidential Park. The program is free and open to the public.

A Loss of Roses is a little-known William Inge masterpiece that tells the story of two women struggling to make their lives bearable in a small Kansas town. Penned in the intimate style of Tennessee Williams, who was Inge’s mentor, A Loss of Roses is a bittersweet romance about the loss of innocence which garnered a young Warren Beatty a Tony Award nomination in the 1959 Broadway production. The play will run on The Rep’s stage from June 13 to July 1.

Director Austin Pendleton starred in the original cast of Fiddler on the Roof (and can be heard on the original cast recording). Since the 1960s he has had successful careers as an actor, playwright, director, lyricist, teacher and administrator.  In addition to his Tony nomination for directing Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton in The Little Foxes, he has received the Clarence Derwent Award (for Hail Strawdyke) and Obie Award (The Last Sweet Days of Isaac).  Among his many films are What’s Up Doc? and the Academy Award winning My Cousin Vinny.

Sculpture Vulture: TESTAMENT

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Today’s highlighted sculpture sits on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol.  Testament honors the Little Rock Nine who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

The statues face the Arkansas State Capitol including the Governor’s Office. The irony is that, in 1957, then-Governor Orval Faubus led the efforts to keep Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls from entering the school.

Dedicated in August 2005, Testament was created by John Deering working with Kathy Deering and Steve Scallion.  The project was over seven years in the making from the original concept to the  unveiling.

The bronze sculptures are life-size and depict the students moving forward.  They are dressed in school clothes and carry their books.  Around the perimeter of the sculpture is a series of quotes, one from each of the nine.

(It is appropriate to discuss this sculpture today, since the Oscars are presented tonight (2/26/12). The 1964 Oscar for Best Documentary — Short Subject was awarded for the film Nine from Little Rock.)

 

Oscar winner Geena Davis at the Clinton School

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Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis founded is speaking tonight in Little Rock.  She is being hosted by the University of Arkansas Clinton School for Public Service and the William J. Clinton Foundation.

She founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004. The institute is the only research-based organization working within the media and entertainment industry to engage, educate and influence the need for gender balance, reducing stereotyping and creating a wide variety of female characters in entertainment. Davis won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Accidental Tourist” in 1988.

The lecture is being held in the Wally Allen Ballroom of the Statehouse Convention Center at 6:00 pm.  Seating is limited and reservations are required.  To make a reservation, email publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu, or call 501-683-5239.

Clinton School next week features filmmaker, Rep play

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The University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service speaker series brings a wide variety of engaging speakers to Little Rock throughout the year.  For example, next week features an Ambassador and a World Food Prize Laureate.

Two of the programs next week have a cultural bent.

On Monday, January 23 at 6:00pm, Louie Psihoyos will discuss “The Ultimate Weapon of Mass Construction.  He is director of the 2009 Oscar winning film for best documentary, “The Cove,” which uncovers how a small seaside village in Japan serves as a microcosm of massive ecological crimes happening worldwide.

At the Clinton School, Psihoyos will discuss the importance of using art to inspire activism and show clips from his next eco-thriller about the sixth mass extinction on Earth. The new film will feature Scientist Roger Payne, who declares that in the near future all the famines and world wars experienced by humanity will be a footnote compared to the destruction humanity is creating on the planet.
Fittingly, the Clinton School will host the Academy Award winner the night before this year’s Oscar nominations are announced.  The day after the Oscar nominations come out, the Clinton School will feature a program about a stage adaptation of an Oscar winning film.
The Arkansas Repertory Theatre is producing the stage version of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird (which won Oscars when it was made into a film).  On Wednesday, January 25 at 12 noon, Arkansas Repertory Theatre producing artistic director Bob Hupp will host the cast of The Rep’s upcoming production of the play for a panel discussion.
Hupp and the cast will discuss the history of the famous novel, its compelling themes of compassion, justice, integrity and courage and their work to bring the story to The Rep stage. As it is told through the eyes of Scout, the tomboyish young daughter of small-town lawyer Atticus Finch, it becomes clear that To Kill a Mockingbird is a love story: a father’s love for his children, their love for him and a love for the South.
Both programs will take place at Sturgis Hall.   Reservations can be made by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu, or calling 501-683-5239.