Tag Archives: Denis O’Hare

AN ILIAD takes stage at Arkansas Rep in Black Box

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Rep IliadAudience favorite Joe Graves returns to The Rep for Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s production, An Iliad. This one-man production adapts Homer’s Trojan War epic into a compelling monologue that captures both the heroism and horror of warfare, and answers the question: “What has really changed since the Trojan War?”

Performances are February 24 through March 5. Showtimes are 7pm Wednesdays through Sundays with 2pm matinees on Sundays.

This production makes the western world’s oldest extant work of literature not only intelligible, but immediate, relevant and eerily fascinating—as if a storyteller were telling the oldest story in the book and making you believe it is being told for the very first time. Gods and goddesses, weak-tendoned heroes and the face that launched a thousand ships…it’s all just another (incredibly engrossing) yarn in O’Hare* and Peterson’s one-man adaptation, developed at the Sundance Theatre Institute.

Willamette Week calls Graves’ performance one “that can honestly be described as spellbinding.”

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, An Iliad will include Arkansas Stories of War, a series of six talkbacks featuring local service members and their families who will share their personal stories of war.

Grants for Rep, ASO, Oxford American announced by National Endowment for the Arts

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nea-logo-960Three Little Rock based cultural institutions were among the eight Arkansas recipients of National Endowment for Arts grants recently announced.

These were Art Works and Challenge America grants. Art Works grants supports the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts and the strengthening of communities through the arts. Challenge America grants offer support primarily to small and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics or disability.

The Arkanas Repertory Theatre received $15,000 to support a production of An Iliad by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare.  The playwriting team has adapted Homer’s Trojan War epic into a compelling monologue that captures both the heroism and horror of warfare. A key theme is the personal cost of war. The theatre will continue and deepen its ongoing partnership with the Little Rock Air Force base and will engage with the service members and their families during the project. During the performance run, veterans returning from service overseas will share their personal stories as part of a post-performance community conversation. Activities will occur in the theater’s newly constructed second stage and center for community engagement on the Main Street Creative Corridor.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra received $10,000 to support performances and educational workshops that will culminate in the world premiere performance of a composition by D.J. Sparr, featuring guitarist Ted Ludwig.  The composition is inspired by Ludwig’s flight from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In addition to performances, electric guitarists Ludwig and Sparr will lead workshops for student musicians and community members from central and southeastern Arkansas, including a high percentage of low-income residents.

The Oxford American received $20,000 to support the publication and promotion of the magazine.  Exploring the complexity and vitality of the American South, the magazine publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and criticism by emerging and established authors. The magazine will be promoted through social media, the magazine’s website, a weekly e-newsletter, and events throughout the South.

In addition, TheatreSquared in Fayetteville received $25,000 for its Arkansas New Play Festival. This is presented in Fayetteville and Little Rock. The Little Rock performances are in conjunction with the Arkansas Rep.

Other Arkansas recipients were the Walton Arts Center, Sonny Boy Blues Society (for the King Biscuit Blues Festival), Ozarks Foothills Film Festival and John Brown University.

THE PROPOSAL on tap tonight at Movies in the Park

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MITP061715 ProposalThanks to tonight’s sponsor, the Little Rock Marriott, filmgoers in Little Rock can say “I do” to The Proposal.

Little Rock’s own Movies in the Park, brought to you by the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City of Little Rock, continues its 11th annual season tonight, Wednesday, June 17 at the First Security Amphitheatre.

Movies are shown every Wednesday during the season and begin at sundown.

In this 2009 romcom, a pushy boss forces her young assistant to marry her in order to keep her Visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada.  Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds play the central pair.  (In a real-life reversal, Reynolds is actually Canadian and Bullock is American.) Central Arkansas’ own Mary Steenburgen is also a star of the film.  Others in the cast include Craig T. Nelson, Betty White and Denis O’Hare.

Families, picnics and pets are invited to the park to enjoy movies under the stars, no glass containers please. A parent or adult guardian must accompany all children and youth under the age of 18 and an ID is required. The amphitheater will open an hour before film showings and movies will start at sundown each week. For more information please visit http://moviesintheparklr.net.