Tag Archives: Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre

Final weekend for CAT IN THE HAT at Ark. Arts Center Children’s Theatre

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IMG_5568Today and tomorrow at 2pm are the final two days to CATch the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre presentation of The Cat in the Hat.

“One of the most familiar and beloved picture books of the last half century will erupt with fun on the Children’s Theatre stage,” said Todd Herman, executive director of the Arkansas Arts Center.

“Young audiences and those young at heart will be transported into the world they’ve always imagined while seeing the classic book come to life.”

It’s a rainy day with nothing to do. Sally and her brother are miserable. Bored. Simply dying for fun. Then bump! Something quite unexpected. You guessed it. It’s a cat. In a hat. In fact, it’s the Cat in the Hat, and he’s just in time to show the kids a thing or two about fun. It’s just a matter of know-how, you know. So don’t listen to that fish! Jump in! The water’s fine! Just don’t tell mom!

The cast for The Cat in the Hat includes:

  • Ben Gibson of Little Rock as Boy
  • Sharon Combs of New York, N.Y., as Sally
  • Courtney Bennett of Little Rock as Cat
  • Mark Hansen of Little Rock as Fish
  • Aleigha Morton of Beebe as Kitten 1/Thing 1
  • Lauren Linton of Memphis as Kitten 2/Thing 2

Bradley Anderson is the artistic director and Katie Campbell is the show director. Costumes are designed by Erin Larkin; technical direction by Drew Posey; lighting design by Penelope Poppers; properties and set design by Miranda Young and Rivka Kuperman is the stage manager.

The Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre presenting sponsor is Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the season sponsor is Dr. Loren Bartole, ‘Family Footcare’.

Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).

The Cat in the Hat drops in at Arts Center Children’s Theatre

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The Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre presents The Cat in the Hat through March 29 with special spring break matinees March 24-27.

“One of the most familiar and beloved picture books of the last half century will erupt with fun on the Children’s Theatre stage,” said Todd Herman, executive director of the Arkansas Arts Center.

“Young audiences and those young at heart will be transported into the world they’ve always imagined while seeing the classic book come to life.”

It’s a rainy day with nothing to do. Sally and her brother are miserable. Bored. Simply dying for fun. Then bump! Something quite unexpected. You guessed it. It’s a cat. In a hat. In fact, it’s the Cat in the Hat, and he’s just in time to show the kids a thing or two about fun. It’s just a matter of know-how, you know. So don’t listen to that fish! Jump in! The water’s fine! Just don’t tell mom!

The cast for The Cat in the Hat includes:

  • Ben Gibson of Little Rock as Boy
  • Sharon Combs of New York, N.Y., as Sally
  • Courtney Bennett of Little Rock as Cat
  • Mark Hansen of Little Rock as Fish
  • Aleigha Morton of Beebe as Kitten 1/Thing 1
  • Lauren Linton of Memphis as Kitten 2/Thing 2

Bradley Anderson is the artistic director and Katie Campbell is the show director. Costumes are designed by Erin Larkin; technical direction by Drew Posey; lighting design by Penelope Poppers; properties and set design by Miranda Young and Rivka Kuperman is the stage manager.

The Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre presenting sponsor is Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the season sponsor is Dr. Loren Bartole, ‘Family Footcare’.

Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).

Tonight’s Local Live at South on Main: The Amy Garland Band

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Tonight at South on Main at 7:30 pm: the Local Live music series features the Amy Garland Band. 

Call (501) 244-9660 to ensure your seat at a table for this popular event. The Oxford American’s Local Live is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Cosmic Cowboy Music.

The Amy Garland Band, a six-member group formed in 2000, released its most recent album, Hang a Light, in June 2013. Earlier albums include Plays Well with Others (2000) and Angora (2004). Hailing from Little Rock, the band’s style blends folk, R&B, bluegrass, pop, and country for a deliciously unique sound. Members include: Amy Garland, vocals and guitar; Nick Devlin, guitar; Mike Nelson, bass; Bart Angel, drums; Jeff Coleman, keyboard; and Brad Williams, mandolin, guitar, and harmonica.

Amy Garland, who started playing guitar at the age of nine and began songwriting at ten, was a regular on the stages of the Louisiana Hayride and the Northern Louisiana Hayride as a young girl. After traveling and playing broadly during her high school and college years with prominent artists and at infamous venues—such as the Whispering Pines club in Ringgold, Louisiana, and honky tonks along the infamous Hwy 80 Bossier Strip—Garland moved to Arkansas in 1995.

During her years in the Natural State, Garland has become a regular host of KUAR’s “Arkansas Flyer,” and she began hosting the weekly Americana-flavored “Backroads” radio show on Little Rock’s KABF, greatly expanding her musical footprint. While touring the South, Garland has proudly collaborated with some of the best musicians in the region.

Straw Gets Spun into Gold as RUMPELSTILTSKIN takes stage at Arts Center Children’s Theatre

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AACCTrumpThe Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre presents Rumpelstiltskin through February 8, 2015.

“The magical tale of Rumpelstiltskin takes the audience on an action-packed journey that is familiar to so many generations,” said Todd Herman, executive director of the Arkansas Arts Center. “We invite the community to experience the enchantment of this wonderful play.”

Once upon a time, there was a dwarf who tried to take things that just weren’t his. Now, this dwarf lived in a land that was ruled by a king whose greed was as grand as his kingdom. And in that kingdom, there lived a miller whose bragging mouth was nearly as grand as the king’s greed. And it so happened that this miller had a lovely daughter who was kind and good, but one day she did a very bad thing –  she made a promise she could not keep. Now, the king is angry, the miller is frightened, and the dwarf is simply out of control.

Wheels spin and straw flies as the miller’s daughter works madly to make things right again, but the only way she can is by discovering the mean old dwarf’s secret true name. In searching for that, she discovers the only power in the world that will help her. The most magical power of all: love.

This production is adapted for the stage by Keith Smith from the Brothers Grimm.

The cast for Rumpelstiltskin includes:

  • Nate Plummer as Rumpelstiltskin
  • Lauren Linton as The Miller’s Daughter
  • Mark Hansen as The King
  • John Isner as The Miller

Bradley Anderson is the artistic director and Keith Smith is the playwright and set designer for the production. Costumes are designed by Erin Larkin; technical direction by Drew Posey; lighting design by Penelope Poppers; properties design by Miranda Young and Sarah Gasser is the stage manager.

Last chance to see VELVETEEN RABBIT on stage at Arkansas Arts Center

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aac velvrabWhat is real?” the Velveteen Rabbit asks his strange new friend. “Real is something that happens to you when a child loves you for a long, long, time—not just to play with—but really loves you,” the old Skin Horse replies. From this moment on, the timid toy bunny longs for only one thing in the world—to become real.

But how can he become real when the boy doesn’t play with him or even notice him, let alone love him? Then one day, the Velveteen Rabbit is taken from the dark toy cupboard and finds himself in the warm arms of a sleeping child. And so he begins his journey down the long, long road to real.

This classic tale has been made “real” at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre.

This is adapted by Keith Smith from the classic story by Margery Williams.

The final performance is at 2pm today.

Classic tale THE VELVETEEN RABBIT comes to life at Ark Arts Center Children’s Theatre

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aac velvrab“What is real?” the Velveteen Rabbit asks his strange new friend. “Real is something that happens to you when a child loves you for a long, long, time—not just to play with—but really loves you,” the old Skin Horse replies. From this moment on, the timid toy bunny longs for only one thing in the world—to become real.

But how can he become real when the boy doesn’t play with him or even notice him, let alone love him? Then one day, the Velveteen Rabbit is taken from the dark toy cupboard and finds himself in the warm arms of a sleeping child. And so he begins his journey down the long, long road to real.

This is adapted by Keith Smith from the classic story by Margery Williams.

The show opens on November 28 and runs through December 21.  Performances are at 7:00 pm on Fridays, 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Saturdays, and 2pm on Sundays.

LR Hall graduate David Auburn’s new play opens tonight in NYC

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mtc lost lakeDavid Auburn, an alum of the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre and a 1987 graduate of Hall High School, won the Pulitzer Prize and Tony for Best Play for his play Proof. Tonight, his latest play opens in New York City at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

The team behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning Proof and The Columnist returns to MTC with LOST LAKE, a riveting and spirited world premiere play by Tony®-winner David Auburn and directed by Tony-winner Daniel Sullivan. The play stars John Hawkes and Tracie Thoms.

The lakeside rental Veronica has managed to afford is a far cry from the idyllic getaway she and her children so desperately need. And the disheveled property owner, Hogan, has problems of his own – problems that Veronica is inevitably – and irrevocably – pulled into.

An engrossing and revealing portrait of two strangers bound together by circumstance, LOST LAKE is a vivid new work about the struggle for connection in an imperfect world.

LOST LAKE is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award.