Tag Archives: Arkansas Repertory Theatre

Shake a spear, it’s Will’s 451st Birthday

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william-shakespeareToday is the traditionally observed birthday of William Shakespeare. It is known he was born in 1564, which makes this the 451st birthday.

The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre earlier announced the lineup for the 2014 season.   The dates have now been announced.

The Merry Wives of Windsor – Love and deception are the name of the game in the small town of Windsor when Shakespeare’s famous larger-than-life anti-hero Falstaff comes for a visit. Falstaff sets out to woo the Housewives of Windsor for some quick cash, but finds himself outfoxed by the wise Windsor Wives, becoming the buffoon instead of the leading man in his own ambitious tale of romance.  The entire family will laugh their way through this energetic and charming farce.

Presented outdoors at the Village at Hendrix and on the ground of the Argenta Farmers’ Market.  All performances are “pay what you can,” with a suggested donation of $15. Performances are June 4, 5, 6, 11, 13, 25, 26 & 28

 

 The Merchant of Venice – Comedy and tragedy collide in this story of lovers united and families torn apart.  At the center is Shylock, the Jewish moneylender. When the Venetian merchant Antonio is forced to seek a loan from Shylock, a man he despises for his religion and profession, he is asked to enter into an impossible contract: he must give a pound of flesh if unable to pay back the borrowed sum. What follows is a complex and challenging exploration of love, mercy, integrity, and justice that reminds us that, “all that glisters is not gold.”

Presented on-stage at Reynolds Performance Hall, Conway. Performances are June 19, 20, 23, 27 & 28.

 

As You Like It – For All Ages! This one-hour Family Shakespeare adaptation takes you on a comedic romp through the Forest of Arden, an enchanting world in which nothing is quite what it seems.  Rosalind is our bold and witty heroine who discovers her true nature and the nature of love when forced into disguise as a boy. This play reveals the potential of poetry to make things happen—to transform and reform, to turn longing into love, and to reveal wisdom through silliness.

 

Presented on-stage at Reynolds Performance Hall, Conway. Performances are June 23, 25, 26 & 27.

 

Also available to tour to communities across the state through July 5. All you need is a space—we’ll provide the rest.  For more information about how to bring As You Like It to your town, e-mail Mary Ruth Marotte at mrmarotte@arkshakes.com.

 

 

 

 

Fiddler on the Roof – This classic beloved musical tells the story of Tevye the dairyman who takes ultimate joy in his family and traditions. He works to raise his five daughters and see them married well, but must struggle against modern ideas and the rising tide of anti-Semitism in 1900s Russia that threaten to destroy his family and their way of life.

 

Presented on-stage at Reynolds Performance Hall, Conway. Performances are June 10, 12, 14, 21, 24 & 27.

 

 

The Arkansas Repertory Theatre will kick off their 2015-2016 season with the Scottish Play running from September 11 – 27.

Murder, madness and magic haunt every shadowy corner in the most powerful of William Shakespeare’s great tragedies.

After receiving an ominous prophecy on a blood-soaked battlefield, Macbeth and his ambitious wife claw their way to the Scottish throne, and damned be all who stand in their way! Each step closer to fulfilling his royal Fate leads Macbeth deeper and deeper into a fiendish quagmire of carnage and corruption, from which none can survive; not even him.

“The original House of Cards. It’s fitting to start off a milestone season with the English language’s greatest author,” said Bob Hupp, Producing Artistic Director at Arkansas Repertory Theatre. “Shakespeare keeps us honest, and tests our mettle when we seek to tell great stories that demand to live on a stage. I’ve been reading and seeing productions of The Scottish Play for more than 30 years, now I’m ready to direct it for you this fall.”

ARKANSAS GIVES today!

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Arkansans have a heart for giving. On April 2, 2015, let’s join together to grow the love for our state’s nonprofit organizations. Between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., we’re challenging all Arkansans to give to the charities of their choice.

During this one-day event, each donation you give will help your favorite nonprofit organizations qualify for additional bonus dollars from Arkansas Community Foundation. All participating nonprofits will receive a portion of a $250,000 match pool; the more a nonprofit raises, the more of the bonus dollars it will receive.

There are many worthwhile non-profits participating.  But since this is a Little Rock culture blog, here is a listing of cultural non-profits serving Little Rock which are participating.

MARY POPPINS cast entertains tonight at fundraiser cabaret

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The actors who perform at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre are multi-talented.

Tonight they get the chance to showcase their singing as members of the Mary Poppins cast perform some of their favorite songs in cabaret style!

The evening is a relaxed, casual atmosphere as the actors display a variety of song styles.

The doors open at 6:30 with the performance beginning at 7 at the Rep.

Tickets are $35 a person or $50 a couple. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 501.804.8916 or emailingbaharpool@comcast.net

Ticket sales from this event support the volunteer auxiliary group, The Stagehands, whose mission is to welcome and provide hospitality to The Rep’s visiting actors, directors and technical crew.

Mary Poppins Flies into Arkansas Rep

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When a mysterious young woman named Mary Poppins appears on their doorstep, the family finds that she’s the answer to all their prayers. While Mary Poppins takes the children on many fantastic adventures, Jane and Michael aren’t the only ones she changes.

With music and lyrics by the Academy Award-winning Sherman Brothers (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Jungle Book, Charlotte’s Web, The Aristocats), with additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe (Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure) and a book by Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey), Disney’s stage musical Mary Poppins is based on the similarly titled series of children’s books by P. L. Travers and the 1964 Disney film.

 

Including a score filled with timeless classics such as “Feed the Birds,” “Jolly Holiday,” “Step in Time,” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and the Academy Award-winning “Chim-Chim Cher-ee,” the Broadway production opened in November 2006 and received nominations for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, six Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical and nine Olivier Award nominations. 

 

The Banks family live in a big house in London on Cherry Lane, and things are not going well. The children, Jane and Michael, are out of control and in need of a new nanny. While the children have their own ideas about what sort of caretaker they should have, their parents—and in particular Mr. Banks—prefer someone strict for the job.

 

The production is directed by Donna Drake and choreographed by Rhonda Miller.  The cast is led by Elizabeth DeRosa, Brian LeTendre, Tom Souhrada and Karen Q. Clark. 

 

Mary Poppins opens tonight and runs through April 12.  

Black History Month Spotlight: Phyllis Yvonne Stickney

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mtcc nps stickneyPhyllis Yvonne Stickney is a world-class artist, producer, director, author, motivational speaker, clothing designer, community activist, businesswoman and surrogate mother to many.

Born in Little Rock, Stickney was raised in the various US cities to which her father, a YMCA executive, was transferred. However, she settled in Harlem, where her theater work began at the Frank Silvers Workshop, and the New Heritage Theater, under the late playwright/director Robert Furman.

Her theatrical performances were before sell-out crowds in the 1998 National Black Arts Festival, where she also served as performing arts curator and starred in Nathan Ross Freeman’s The Contract. She  made her national television debut as single mother Cora Lee in the ABC miniseries The Women of Brewster Place, which also starred Oprah Winfrey and Cicely Tyson. Her subsequent television credits include sitcoms New Attitude, The Cosby Show and A Different World, PBS ‘ Great Performances production of The Colored Museum. Ms Stickney has also appeared on the silver screen in such notable movies as New Jack City Jungle Fever, Talkin’ Dirty, Malcolm X, The Inkwell; What’s Love Got To Do With It, Die Hard With A Vengeance and How Stella got Her Grove Back.

Ms Stickney’s Conscious Comedy Concerts have been featured in a number of venues across the country, including Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Concert show titles include, Live and in Chocolate, All That and Brains Too, and An Evening, With An Endangered Species. Her written work appears in an anthology of nine black comedy plays, edited by Pamela Faith Jackson. She also created The Crystal Pyramid, a chorepoem for children.

In addition, she served as the first solo female host for Essence’s 1997 Music Festival and was a speaker for the 1998 African American Women on the Tour.In 1983 she won the Audelco Award for her performance in Furman’s adaptation of Moliere’s Tartuffe, and later won a second Audelco for her original on-woman show, Big Mama an Nem. 

Though she has had success worldwide, she often returns to Little Rock to share her talents. She also played Lena in Lorraine Hansberry’s award-winning play A Raisin in the Sun at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. The play was produced in January 2011 and received great reviews and exceeded box office expectations. Earlier this month, she headlined an event at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center highlighting the works of Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Ruby Dee and Beah Richards.

In 1998, she was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.  For more on Phyllis Yvonne Stickney and other inductees into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, visit the permanent exhibit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. That museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Laughter and Lyrics tonight featuring Phyllis Yvonne Stickney

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mtcc nps stickneyThe Central High School National Historic Site and Mosaic Templars Cultural Center present a special program tonight.  The program is “Laughter & Lyrics” and stars acclaimed actress, comedienne and author Phyllis Yvonne Stickney.  The event starts at 6:30 pm tonight at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

Drawing from the words of some of the leading African American female writers and thinkers in the second half of the 20th Century, Stickney has created an evening of thought provoking spoken word, social commentary, live music, and Conscious Comedy. This 90 minute theatrical presentation will draw on the body works of Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Ruby Dee and feature excerpts from Beah Richards’ “A Black Woman Speaks.”

Phyllis Yvonne Stickney is a world-class artist, producer, director, author, motivational speaker, clothing designer, community activist, businesswoman and surrogate mother to many. Ms. Stickney is best known and respected for her work in film, stage, television and comedy. Her portrayals range from articulate attorney to feisty comedy club diva, to a Jamaican mother of class. She is regarded as one of the most intelligently hilarious comic talents and was recognized by HBO in THE HISTORY OF BLACKS IN COMEDY. Her film credits include NEW JACK CITY, DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK, THE INKWELL, WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?, MALCOLM X, and the “ABC Afterschool Special,” DADDY’S GIRL. She made television history by portraying an Afrocentric character on THE COSBY SHOW spinoff, A DIFFERENT WORLD.

She also played Lena in Lorraine Hansberry’s award-winning play A RAISIN IN THE SUN at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. The play was produced in January 2011 and received great reviews and exceeded box office expectations.

 

A Mary Birthday

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MarySteenburgenDec09It 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.

After moving the start of a successful film career, she started returning to the stage in a London production of Holiday in 1987.  In 1993, she made her Broadway debut in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Candida (during Roundabout’s initial season with a Broadway house).  Her costars included Robert Foxworth and Robert Sean Leonard.

The next year, she starred in Marvin’s Room in Los Angeles.  She returned to the New York City stage with 2000′s The Beginning of August at the Atlantic Theater Company.  Steenburgen has remained an active supporter and is now a member of Atlantic.  In 2007, she and husband Ted Danson were honored by the Atlantic Theater Company.

Throughout her career, Mary Steenburgen has been a champion of the arts in Central Arkansas.  She has long been a supporter of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, where she and Danson served as honorary chairs of the Rep’s recent successful capital campaign.  In addition, she has been very involved in two other Central Arkansas arts endeavors.  Steenburgen has spoken at acting workshops and lent her support in many other ways for The THEA Foundation (which encourages arts education in Arkansas).

Steenburgen has also been an active supporter of the Oxford American magazine as well as South on Main restaurant and performance venue.