Tag Archives: Emmy Awards

The 2014-2015 Acxiom Pops Live Series of Arkansas Symphony Orchestra kicks off with Bill Conti’s Academy Awards Show

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ASO ContiThe Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (ASO), Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, opens the 2014-2015 Acxiom Pops Live! Series with Bill Conti’s Academy Awards Show. The concert is held at the Pulaski Academy Connor Performing Arts Center, 12701 Hinson Road, Little Rock, AR, on  Saturday, October 4, 2014 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, October 5, 2014 at 3:00 p.m.

Oscar and five-time Emmy-winner Bill Conti – conductor of the Academy Awards Orchestra and composer of film scores “Karate Kid” and “Rocky”  – leads the ASO in a celebration of the big screen. In addition to the lush sounds of live symphonic orchestra, patrons will be treated to an exciting multimedia experience. Patrons of all ages are invited to get popcorn, find a seat, and settle in for an evening of movies, music, and silver screen glitz and glamour.

The Pops Live! Series is sponsored by Acxiom.

 

Tickets are $19, $35, $49, and $58; active duty military and student tickets are $10 are can be purchased online at http://www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the Connor Performing Arts Center box office beginning 90 minutes prior to a concert; or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 100. All Arkansas students grades K-12 are admitted to Sunday’s matinee free of charge with the purchase of an adult ticket using the Entergy Kids’ Ticket, downloadable at the ASO website.

ARTISTS
Bill Conti, guest conductor

PROGRAM

  • CONTI: “Fanfare  –  “The  Final  Bell”  from  Rocky
  • CONTI:  “Television  Medley”  –  Olympics  ’88,  Falcon  Crest,  Lifestyles  of  the  Rich  and  Famous,  Dynasty,  Cagney  and  Lacey
  • CONTI:  “North  and  South”  –  Theme  from  the  TV  mini-series  North  and  South
  • CONTI:  “An  Unmarried  Woman”  –  Theme  from  An  Unmarried  Woman
  • CONTI  (Arr.): “Czardas”  –  Dueling  violins  from  Unfaithfully  Yours
  • CONTI  (Arr.): “Salute  to  the  Cinema”  –  Academy  Award  Show

INTERMISSION

  • CONTI  (Arr.): “A  Tribute  to  Walt  Disney”
  • CONTI:  “The Adventures of Huck Finn”  –  Theme  from  The Adventures of Huck  Finn
  • CONTI:  “For  Your  Eyes  Only”  –  Theme  from  For  Your  Eyes  Only
  • MORODER: “Oh  What  A  Feeling”  –  Theme  from  Flashdance
  • CONTI:  “The  Right  Stuff”  –  Music  from  The  Right  Stuff
  • CONTI:  “Gonna  Fly  Now”  –  Theme  from  Rocky

ABOUT THE ARKANSAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 49th season in 2014-2015, under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann. ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, and performs more than sixty concerts each year for more than 165,000 people through its Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series, ACXIOM Pops LIVE! Series, River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series, and numerous concerts performed around the state of Arkansas, in addition to serving central Arkansas through numerous community outreach programs and bringing live symphonic music education to over 26,000 school children and over 200 schools.

 

Broadway, Movie and Holiday Music all part of Ark Symphony 2014-15 Acxiom Pops Live lineup

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ASO_2-colorMusic of the Silver Screen, Great White Way and boughs of green highlight the 2014-2015 Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Acxiom Pops Live! Series.

Next year is the first of their two-year hiatus from Robinson Center Music Hall (as it gets transformed into a true music hall instead of a civic gathering room).  To entice audience members to go along for the journey of the new, temporary location, ASO Music Director Philip Mann has created a lineup of spectacular music performed by powerhouse talent as well as the phenomenal musicians of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

The Acxiom Pops Live! Series will be performed at the Pulaski Academy Connor Performing Arts Center.  (Think: Maumelle=Masterworks, PA=Pops)  The series will kick off on October 4 & 5 with Bill Conti’s Academy Awards.  Oscar and Emmy winner Bill Conti (who also is conductor of the Academy Awards orchestra) will lead the ASO in a celebration of songs from the movies. As a composer, Conti has won an Oscar for his score to The Right Stuff and was nominated for Rocky and For Your Eyes Only. Other movies and TV include Private Benjamin, “Dynasty,” “Cagney & Lacey,” “Falcon Crest,” The Karate Kid, “North & South,” and Broadcast News.

The ASO Holiday Extravaganza is an Arkansas tradition in December.  In 2014 it will take place on December 19, 20 & 21.  It will feature Christmas carols, sing-alongs, and some of Arkansas’ outstanding musicians and singers. There are always traditional favorites and new surprises thrown in.  This will help audiences relax after completing their shopping – or take a break from the last minute shopping frenzy. (Tickets also make a great early-Christmas present, and it falls in the middle of Hanukkah and makes a wonderful present for that too.)

Another ASO tradition is the Broadway Valentine’s concert. It will take place on February 14 and 15.  The music of Broadway and Hollywood will be the framework for an evening of song and dance by Broadway vets Joan Hess and Kirby Ward. Their singing and dancing will remind audiences (or introduce younger audiences to the mastery) of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly and Eleanor Powell.

The classic songs of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin have stood the test of time and are definitely timeless. The great vocalist Sylvia McNair will offer her take on these standards while accompanied by Jeffrey Biegel on piano.  This concert promises to be a feast for the eyes as well as the ears because it will also feature rare video clips, family photos and state-of-the art visuals to help share the story of the Gershwins and their music.

The Pops Live! Series for 2014-2015 will conclude with Ashley Brown’s Broadway.  Miss Brown was the original Mary Poppins when the eponymously entitled musical opened on Broadway.  For her work in the production, she received Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League nominations. She made her Broadway debut as Belle in Beauty and the Beast.  Backed by the ASO, she will sing Broadway favorites such as “Nothing Like a Dame,” “People,” and “Tonight” as well as Disney classics such as “Spoonful of Sugar” and “Someday My Prince Will Come.”

All Acxiom Pops Live! concerts will be performed at 7:30pm on Saturday evenings and 3pm on Sunday evenings.

Culture Vulture Quiz – The Rock and Oscar

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the-oscars-logoThe Oscars are tonight.  In honor of that, here is a Culture Vulture Quiz to explore the connection between the Oscars and Little Rock (with a few other Arkansas connected films thrown in).  In honor of the 86th Oscars, here are 86 questions; hopefully it won’t take as long to complete as it will to watch the entire ceremony tonight.

To get more in the mood for movies, be sure and visit the Old State House Museum for their Lights! Camera! Arkansas! exhibit and visit screenings at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

Answers will be published tomorrow. Email your guesses to lrculturevulture@aol.com.

1.  Which Oscar winner gave future Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen her first break in the movies?
A – Woody Allen
B – James Cagney
C – Jack Nicholson
D – Jason Robards

Ben in Tree2.  In which category was The Hanging Tree (which starred Little Rock native Ben Piazza) nominated for an Oscar?
A – Cinematography (Color)
B – Film Editing
C – Song
D – Sound

3.  Which former Little Rock resident won an Honorary Oscar in 1958?
A – Julie Adams
B – Gilbert “Broncho Billy” Anderson
C – Jay C. Flippen
D – Dick Powell

4.  The Oscar winning documentary short “Nine from Little Rock” was narrated by which member of the Little Rock Nine?
A – Minnijean Brown
B – Ernest Green
C – Jefferson Thomas
D – Carlotta Walls

5.  In addition to receiving an Oscar for the live action short “The Accountant,” Ray McKinnon has appeared in several Oscar winning films.  In which of these Oscar winners did he NOT appear?
A – Apollo 13
B – The Blind Side
C – Driving Miss Daisy
D – Sling Blade

6.  Arkansas actor Rick Dial acted with many heavyweights during his film career. With which of these Oscar winners did he NOT appear?
A – Michael Caine
B – Chris Cooper
C – Robert Duvall
D – Timothy Hutton

7.  Twice nominated for an Oscar, Arkansan Melinda Dillon is perhaps best known for appearing in which iconic holiday film?
A – A Christmas Story
B – Elf
C – Home Alone
D – It’s a Wonderful Life

8.  How many Oscar nominees and winners starred in The Firm, which was filmed partially in Arkansas?
A – 1
B – 4
C – 5
D – 7

9.  Little Rock Film Festival honorees Harry and Linda Bloodworth Thomason produced the Arkansas-set TV show “Evening Shade.” Which Oscar nominated actor did NOT appear in that show?
A – Charles Durning
B – Hal Holbrook
C – Burt Reynolds
D – Billy Bob Thornton

The_War_Room_FilmPoster10.  The song “Get Back to Little Rock” is featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary The War Room.  Who sang the song in the film?
A – The Groan Ups
B – The Philander Smith Gospel Choir
C – Jason D. Williams
D – Lucinda Williams

11.  Leo Robin and Jule Styne, who wrote the song “Little Girl from Little Rock” each won Oscars.  For which song did Robin win a Best Song Oscar?
A – “Beyond the Blue Horizon”
B – “Blue Hawaii”
C – “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”
D – “Thanks for the Memory”

12.  For which song did Styne win a Best Song Oscar?
A – “I Fall in Love Too Easily”
B – “It’s Magic”
C – “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
D – “Three Coins in the Fountain”

13.  Prior to receiving four Academy Award nominations, Beasts of the Southern Wild was a hit at the Little Rock Film Festival.  Quvenzhané Wallis, the film’s star, made Oscar history by becoming the youngest Best Actress nominee.  How old was she?
A – 7
B – 9
C – 11
D – 13

14.  The late Bob Ginnaven was a Little Rock adman and actor.  In addition to Steel Magnolias, in which Oscar- nominated film, did he also appear with Dolly Parton?
A – The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
B – Nine to Five
C – Rhinestone
D – Straight Talk

15.  Little Rock native George Newbern (and Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre alum) has twice appeared on film as the son-in-law of which Oscar winning actress?
A – Goldie Hawn
B – Diane Keaton
C – Barbra Streisand
D – Dianne Wiest

16.  Little Rock Hall graduate, Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre alum and Pulitzer Prize winning writer David Auburn has written three movies. Which of the following Oscar winners has NOT starred in one of his movies?
A – Adrien Brody
B – Anthony Hopkins
C – Gwyneth Paltrow
D – Christopher Plummer

17.  Which Oscar winner starred in the TV movie Crisis at Central High?
A – Jessica Lange
B – Vanessa Redgrave
C – Jessica Tandy
D – Joanne Woodward

18. The Oscar nominated film The Story of Dr. Wassell starred Gary Cooper as World War II hero and Little Rock native Dr. Corydon M. Wassell (who was related to two Little Rock mayors).  It was directed by which Oscar winner?
A – Cecil B. DeMille
B – Howard Hawks
C – Billy Wilder
D – William Wyler

ark rep19.  Which Oscar winning actress appeared on stage at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre?
A – Kathy Bates
B – Mercedes McCambridge
C – Sissy Spacek
D – Hilary Swank

20.  Which film starring former Little Rock resident Dick Powell won 5 Oscars?
A – The Bad and the Beautiful
B – 42nd Street
C – Golddiggers of 1933
D – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

21.  Scenes from A Soldier’s Story were filmed at Lamar Porter Field in Little Rock.  Which of the following Oscar winning or nominated actors did not appear in that movie?
A – Adolph Caesar
B – Morgan Freeman
C – Howard E. Rollins Jr.
D – Denzel Washington

22.  Which movie filmed in Arkansas boasted an Oscar winner and Oscar nominee as well as a future Oscar winner and future Oscar nominee among its cast?
A – Bloody Mama
B – Shotgun Stories
C – White Lightning
D – The White River Kid

23.  Ted Danson, Emmy winning actor and co-owner of Little Rock restaurant South on Main, appeared in which Oscar winning film?
A – Black Hawk Down
B – The Hurt Looker
C – Saving Private Ryan
D – Zero Dark Thirty

24.  In addition to Mary Steenburgen, Central Arkansas-filmed End of the Line boasted several award winning (and future award winning) actors.  Which of the following cast members has not, to date, been nominated for an Oscar?
A – Kevin Bacon
B – Bob Balaban
C – Barbara Barrie
D – Holly Hunter

25.  Oscar nominated Michael Shannon has appeared in each of the movies to date directed by Little Rock native Jeff Nichols. Several other Oscar winners and nominees have appeared in Nichols’ films. Which of the following have not yet appeared in a Jeff Nichols production?
A – Jessica Chastain
B – Matthew McConaughey
C – Amy Ryan
D – Reese Witherspoon

26. Oscar winner Gregory Peck appeared on the silver screen as which political candidate with a Little Rock connection?
A – Orval Faubus
B – Douglas MacArthur
C – Joseph Taylor Robinson
D – Winthrop Rockefeller

27. Arkansan Jason Moore directed a recent Broadway revival of Steel Magnolias. Which Oscar nominated actress from the 1970s appeared in it?
A – Jill Clayburgh
B – Melinda Dillon
C – Barbara Harris
D – Marsha Mason

28. Arkansas native John Grisham was an early supporter of the Oxford American. Many of his novels have been turned into feature films. In addition to The Firm, which other Grisham-based film, has earned an actor an Oscar nomination?
A – The Chamber
B – The Client
C – The Pelican Brief
D – A Time to Kill

Mayor J V Satterfield escorting actress Maureen O'Hara at the Movie Ball (photo from Arkansas Democrat)

Mayor J V Satterfield escorting actress Maureen O’Hara at the Movie Ball (photo from Arkansas Democrat)

29. Shortly after appearing in Little Rock for an event around the opening of Robinson Auditorium, Maureen O’Hara filmed which Best Picture Oscar winner?
A – How Green Was My Valley
B – The Lost Weekend
C – Mrs. Miniver
D – Rebecca

30. Oscar winner Lisa Blount made a name for herself in An Officer and a Gentleman. Which of her costars won an Oscar for appearing in that film?
A – Richard Gere
B – Louis Gossett, Jr.
C – Robert Loggia
D – Debra Winger

31. Carol Channing, who played “Little Girl from Little Rock” Lorelei Lee on stage, received an Oscar nomination for which movie?
A – Hello, Dolly!
B – Mame
C – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
D – Thoroughly Modern Millie

32. Which multiple Oscar nominee has been a featured speaker at the Clinton School?
A – Ed Harris
B – John Lithgow
C – Sigourney Weaver
D – Debra Winger

33. South Pacific‘s heroine, Nellie Forbush, is from Little Rock. The film was nominated for three Oscars, receiving a win in one of the categories. In which of the following categories was the film NOT nominated?
A – Cinematography, Color
B – Film Editing
C – Scoring of a Motion Picture
D – Sound

34. Delight native Glenn Campbell, who recently gave his farewell Little Rock performance at Robinson Center Music Hall, co-starred with which actor who received an Oscar for that performance?
A – Lee Marvin
B – George C. Scott
C – Rod Steiger
D – John Wayne

35. Oscar winner Shirley Jones is appearing with Celebrity Attractions in Central Arkansas next season and has appeared previously with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. For which film did she win her Oscar?
A – Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
B – Carousel
C – Elmer Gantry
D – The Music Man

36. The Arkansas Rep production of Les Miserables runs from March 5 through April 6.  Last year a film version of this classic musical received 8 nominations. How many Oscars did it win?
A – Zero
B – Three
C – Five
D – Seven

lrff_mp_hdr_logo37. The Little Rock Film Festival honored Arkansas native Hal Needham in 2011. He received Scientific and Technical Oscar in 1987 and an Honorary Oscar in 2013. Which of the following Oscar winners did NOT appear in a movie directed by Needham?
A – Sally Field
B – Jack Lemmon
C – Shirley MacLaine
D – Frank Sinatra

38. John Corigliano will be featured with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in the 2014-2015 season. For which film did he win an Oscar?
A – Altered States
B – Amadeus
C – The Red Violin
D – Reds

39. In the 1990s, Wildwood Park for the Arts featured several performers who have also been subjects of Oscar winning films. Which of the following Oscar winning or nominated movies is about someone who performed at Wildwood?
A – Coal Miner’s Daughter
B – Dreamgirls
C – Sweet Dreams
D – What’s Love Got to Do with It?

40. As a young actor, which future Oscar nominee performed scenes from Shakespeare on the stage of Little Rock Central auditorium as part of a national tour?
A – Alan Alda
B – Ed Harris
C – Hal Holbrook
D – Ian McKellen

41. Nominated for tonight’s Oscars for the song from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Bono and The Edge performed in the rain at the opening of the Clinton Presidential Center. For which film were they previously Oscar nominated?
A – The Devil Wears Prada
B – Gangs of New York
C – Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
D – Short Cuts

42. Dave Brubeck performed at Wildwood several times. Which 2013 Oscar winner featured music by Brubeck?
A – Argo
B – Django Unchained
C – Silver Linings Playbook
D – Zero Dark Thirty

43. Which Oscar winner appeared in Little Rock for a fundraiser for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre?
A – Julie Andrews
B – Holly Hunter
C – Kevin Kline
D – Gregory Peck

44. Political writer Joe Klein appeared at the third Arkansas Literary Festival. His novel Primary Colors (published with the author name “Anonymous”) was made into an Oscar nominated movie. Which of the following stars of the movie has not won an Oscar?
A – Kathy Bates
B – Emma Thompson
C – Billy Bob Thornton
D – John Travolta

45. Which Little Rock actor has served as an Oscar co-host?
A – Gil Gerard
B – Ben Piazza
C – Dick Powell
D – Mary Steenburgen

ASO_2-color46. Which Oscar winner and Oscar host has performed with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra?
A – Whoopi Goldberg
B – Goldie Hawn
C – Shirley MacLaine
D – Liza Minnelli

47. Which Oscar nominated or winning actor, who has been acclaimed for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, appeared at the Clinton School in 2009?
A – Daniel Day-Lewis
B – Hal Holbrook
C – Gregory Peck
D – Sam Waterston

48. The works of former Little Rock resident and acclaimed composer William Grant Still have been featured in many movies. Which Oscar winning screwball comedy featured the music of Still?
A – The Awful Truth
B – It Happened One Night
C – The Philadelphia Story
D – You Can’t Take It with You

49. Which writer, whose writings have inspired two Oscar nominated movies, has been featured in Little Rock-based Oxford American?
A – Dee Brown
B – James Goldman
C – William Goldman
D – Charles Portis

50. In which movie did Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen NOT appear with back-to-back Oscar winner Jason Robards?
A – Melvin and Howard
B – Parenthood
C – Philadelphia
D – Time After Time

51. What happened to Oscar winner Elia Kazan in Little Rock?
A – He was born
B – He graduated from college
C – He was married
D – He became a father

52. Oscar nominated actor Roy Scheider died in Little Rock. In the 1970s, he received two Oscar nominations. In addition to a nod for The French Connection, for which other film did he receive a nomination?
A – All that Jazz
B – Jaws
C – Klute
D – Marathon Man

53. Paris, Ark. native and UCA alum James Bridges was an acclaimed director and screenwriter. In addition to receiving an Oscar nomination for writing The Paper Chase (which earned a Supporting Actor Oscar for John Houseman), for which other project did Bridges receive an Oscar nomination?
A – Bright Lights, Big City
B – The China Syndrome
C – September 30, 1955
D – Urban Cowboy

54. Bill Clinton is one-fourth of the way to EGOT status.  Which award has he received?
A – Emmy
B – Grammy
C – Oscar
D – Tony

55. Brinkley native Louis Jordan’s song “Stone Cold Dead in the Market” appears in which Oscar winning movie?
A – Apocalypse Now
B – Raging Bull
C – Rocky
D – 10

56. Congressman John Lewis is one of the featured speakers at the 2014 Arkansas Literary Festival. In which Oscar-nominated documentary is Rep. Lewis featured?
A – Eyes on the Prize
B – An Inconvenient Truth
C – Paradise Lost 3
D – The War Room

mavis57. Mavis Staples, who appeared at Little Rock’s Christ Episcopal Church in 2013, can be heard on the soundtrack of which Oscar-winning film?
A – The Color Purple
B – The Help
C – Saturday Night Fever
D – Shaft

58. Arkansas native Tess Harper received an Oscar nomination for her performance in Crimes of the Heart. Which Oscar winning actress did not play one of her cousins in that film?
A – Sally Field
B – Diane Keaton
C – Jessica Lange
D – Sissy Spacek

59.  Little Rock Film Festival honoree Jay Russell is branching out into theatrical producing.  Which Oscar nominated Hitchcock film is the inspiration for his upcoming Broadway production?
A. Psycho
B. Rear Window
C. North by Northwest
D. Vertigo

60. In addition to being married to former Little Rock resident Helen Gurley Brown, David Brown was a movie producer. For which of these Oscar nominated films did he, himself receive an Oscar nomination?
A. Angela’s Ashes
B. Cocoon
C. The Player
D. The Verdict

61. Which Oscar nominated Documentary Feature was honored at the 2013 Little Rock Film Festival?
A. The Act of Killing
B. Dirty Wars
C. The Square
D. 20 Feet from Stardom

62.  Which Oscar winning director helmed The Last Waltz, a documentary which featured Arkansan Levon Helm?
A – William Friedkin
B – George Lucas
C – Martin Scorsese
D – Steven Spielberg

63. John Glenn, who was featured guest at the Museum of Discovery during the Clinton Library opening, was also a character in the Oscar winning film The Right Stuff.  Which actor portrayed him in that film?
A – Tom Hanks
B – Ed Harris
C – Sam Shepard
D – Gary Sinese

64. The work of which fashion icon, whose dresses often adorn Oscar ceremony attendees, was featured at the Clinton Presidential Center in 2013?
A – Christian Dior
B – Alexander McQueen
C – Oscar de la Renta
D – Valentino

65. Little Rock District Judge Vic Fleming appears in the documentary Wordplay. Another person who is featured is which Oscar host?
A – David Letterman
B – Steve Martin
C – Chris Rock
D – Jon Stewart

66. Part-time Little Rock resident Judge Reinhold spoofed an Oscar winning Best Picture as part of his appearance as the iconic “close talker” on Seinfeld. Which movie was it?
A – Braveheart
B – Dances with Wolves
C – Schindler’s List
D – Unforgiven

AST_logo67. This summer the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre will present Hamlet. The 1948 version of this movie is, to date, the only filmed version of a Shakespeare play to win Best Picture. Which actor won an Oscar for appearing in this movie?
A – Stanley Holloway
B – Laurence Olivier
C – Anthony Quayle
D – Jean Simmons

68. Mary Steenburgen starred in the Oscar nominated film Cross Creek, which was a biopic of the author of which novel?
A – The Exact and Very Strange Truth
B – Old Yeller
C – To Kill a Mockingbird
D – The Yearling

69. On which TV show hosted by an Oscar host, did Governor Bill Clinton appear in 1988?
A – Johnny Carson
B – Chevy Chase
C – Ellen Degeneres
D – Bob Hope

70. Hot Springs native Alan Ladd is perhaps best remembered for essaying the title role in Shane. The film was nominated for six Oscars and received one.  For which category did it win the Oscar?
A – Cinematography, Color
B – Director
C – Screenplay
D – Supporting Actor

71. Edward Everett Horton starred in the first play to be booked into Robinson Auditorium in April 1940. With a long and varied film career, he appeared in many Oscar nominated and winning films. Which of the following Horton films did NOT win an Oscar?
A – The Front Page
B – Here Comes Mr. Jordan
C – It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
D – Lost Horizon

72. Gordon MacRae was the featured performer at the 1963 opening of the Arkansas Arts Center. Which of his films won two Oscars?
A – Carousel
B – Look for the Silver Lining
C – Oklahoma!
D – The West Point Story

73. Which Oscar nominee appeared in Little Rock in conjunction with Ballet Arkansas?
A – Fred Astaire
B – Mikhail Barishnikov
C – Leslie Browne
D – Natalie Portman

74. The main branch of the Central Arkansas Library System has the names of authors inscribed around the top, one of which is Harper Lee.  Not only was her To Kill a Mockingbird turned into an Oscar winning movie, an actress received an Oscar nomination for portraying Lee in a film.  Which actress?
A – Amy Adams
B – Cate Blanchett
C – Catherine Keener
D – Melissa Leo

75. Charles S. Dutton recently appeared at Philander Smith College’s Bless the Mic series.  In which Oscar nominated sci-fi film was he a performer?
A – Alien
B – Alien 3
C – Terminator
D – Terminator 2: Judgment Day

gilg76. Little Rock Catholic High grad Gil Gerard appeared in which Oscar nominated 1970s disaster film?
A – Airport
B – Airport 75
C – Airport 77
D – Concorde: Airport 79

77. With which two time Oscar winner who was the daughter of an Oscar winner did Ben Piazza twice share the stage?
A – Mia Farrow
B – Jane Fonda
C – Liza Minnelli
D – Sigourney Weaver

78. Little Rock native Frank Bonner guest starred on a variety show hosted by which Oscar winner?
A – George Burns
B – Red Buttons
C – Goldie Hawn
D – Cloris Leachman

79. Which Little Rock museum recently hosted an exhibit on Gone with the Wind?
A – Arkansas Arts Center
B – Clinton Presidential Center
C – Historic Arkansas Museum
D – MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History

80. Which Oscar nominated actress was featured in the Disney Channel movie The Ernest Green Story?
A – Diahann Carroll
B – Ruby Dee
C – Cicely Tyson
D – Alfre Woodard

81. Bruno, which starred Joey Lauren Adams was the feature film directorial debut of which Oscar winning performer?
A – Shirley Jones
B – Shirley Knight
C – Shirley MacLaine
D – Shirley Temple

82. Which cast member from the 2000 Best Picture winner had previously acted on local Little Rock stages?
A. Joey Lauren Adams
B. Wes Bentley
C. Matt Besser
D. George Newbern

83.  James Earl Jones has appeared in Central Arkansas several times including with the Arkansas Symphony and at UCA.  For which movie did he receive an Oscar nomination?
A. Coming to America
B. Conan the Barbarian
C. The Empire Strikes Back
D. The Great White Hope

DD-SC-93-0462284. Which multiple Oscar nominated performer was appointed to head a federal agency by President Clinton?
A. Jane Alexander
B. Jane Fonda
C. Peter Fonda
D. Jon Voight

85. Oscar nominated film So This Is Washington focused on which Arkansas duo?
A. Thaddeus and Hattie Caraway
B. Bill and Hillary Clinton
C. Lum and Abner
D. Wilbur Mills and Fanne Fox

86. Ben Piazza’s final feature film appearance was a Darryl F. Zanuck in the film Guilty by Suspicion. Zanuck was a recipient of the Irving Thalberg Award. Which of the following is true about Zanuck?
A – First Thalberg Award recipient
B – Only three time Thalberg Award recipient
C – Only Thalberg recipient to also be the father of a Thalberg recipient
D – Last person to receive a Thalberg who was a previous recipient

Lineup for April’s 11th Annual Arkansas Literary Festival Announced

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1359064160-litfest_logoAs winter drones on, a person’s fancy may turn to thoughts of spring. Or to a good book to read by candlelight to pass the time in winter.

In any way, a certain harbinger of warmer weather will be the presence in April of the 11th annual Arkansas Literary Festival.

Prestigious award-winners, big names, writers for television shows, journalists, and artists are among the diverse roster of presenters who will be providing sessions at the eleventh annual Arkansas Literary Festival, April 24-27, 2014. The Central Arkansas Library System‘s Main Library campus and many other Little Rock venues are the sites for a stimulating mix of sessions, panels, special events, performances, workshops, presentations, opportunities to meet authors, book sales, and book signings. Most events are free and open to the public.

The Arkansas Literary Festival, the premier gathering of readers and writers in Arkansas, will include more than 80 presenters including featured authors Catherine Coulter, who has more than seventy million books in print; Congressman John Lewis, one of the key figures in the civil rights movement; best-selling authors Mary Roach, ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Curtis Sittenfeld, and artist/illustrator Kadir Nelson; musician Rhett Miller; and education expert David L. Kirp.

This year’s Festival authors have won an impressive number and variety of distinguished awards, including ten Emmy awards, multiple National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and grants, two Pulitzer Prizes, the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (the Genius Grant), the National Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, the Caldecott Honor, an NAACP Image Award, an Eisner Award, a Ford Foundation Fellowship, the American Book Award, the O. Henry Prize, recognition as one of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35, and much more.

Their works have been included in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Bon Appétit, Glamour, Playboy, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Slate, Mother Jones, and the Washington Post, among others.

Special events for adults during the Festival include a cocktail reception with the authors, a writing workshop with Catherine Coulter, a concert by Rhett Miller, and a presentation by an art historian which includes an Artists Buffet. Panels and sessions include genres and topics such as chocolate, lucid dreaming, graphic novels, the war in Iraq, short stories, Arkansas food, murder mysteries, football, dinosaurs, and gangsters.

Children’s special events include a storytime on the lawn of the Governor’s Mansion, a treasure hunt, a play based on The Little Engine That Could, and a Lego exhibit. Festival sessions for children will take place at both the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center, 4800 10th Street, and the Youth Services Department at the Main Library, 100 Rock Street.

At Level 4, the Main Library’s teen center, special events for teens include a robotics demonstration and a panel on comic book conventions.

Through the Writers In The Schools (WITS) initiative, the Festival will provide presentations by several authors for Pulaski county elementary, middle, and senior high schools and area colleges.

Support for the Literary Festival is provided by sponsors including Central Arkansas Library System; Friends of Central Arkansas Libraries (FOCAL); Arkansas Humanities Council; Department of Arkansas Heritage; Fred K. Darragh Jr. Foundation; Mosaic Templars Cultural Center; ProSmart Printing; KUAR FM 89.1; Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau; Arkansas Democrat Gazette; Sync; Arkansas Life; William J. Clinton Presidential Center; Oxford American; Landers FIAT of Benton; MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History; Arkansas Times; Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP; University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service; Historic Arkansas Museum ; Christ Church, Little Rock’s Downtown Episcopal Church; Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center; Arkansas Library Association; Goss Management Company, LLC; Henderson State University; Hendrix College Project Pericles Program; Pulaski Technical College; Arkansas Arts Center; River’s Edge Media; Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; Rockefeller Elementary School; Gibbs Elementary School; Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center; Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow; Arkansas Governor’s Mansion; Hendrix College Creative Writing; University of Arkansas at Little Rock English Department; University of Arkansas at Little Rock Department of Rhetoric and Writing; Pyramid Art, Books & Custom Framing/Hearne Fine Art; Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack; Literacy Action of Central Arkansas; National Park Service Central High School National Historic Site; Tales from the South; and Power 92 Jams. The Arkansas Literary Festival is supported in part by funds from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Author! Author!, a cocktail reception with the authors, will be Friday, April 25, at 8 p.m.; tickets are $25 in advance, and $40 at the door, and go on sale at ArkansasLiteraryFestival.org beginning Tuesday, April 1. Author! Author! tickets will also be available for purchase at the Main Library and River Market Books & Gifts, 120 River Market Avenue.

The Arkansas Literary Festival is a project of the Central Arkansas Library System. The Festival’s mission is to encourage the development of a more literate populace. A group of dedicated volunteers assists Festival Coordinator Brad Mooy with planning the Festival. Jay Jennings is the 2014 Festival Chair. Other committee chairs include Katherine Whitworth, Talent Committee; Lisa Donovan, Youth Programs; and Amy Bradley-Hole, Moderators.

For more information about the 2014 Arkansas Literary Festival, visit ArkansasLiteraryFestival.org, or contact Brad Mooy at bmooy@cals.org or 501-918-3098. For information on volunteering at the Festival, contact Angela Delaney atadelaney@cals.org or 501-918-3095.

DOLLY turns 50 in Little Rock this week

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It was fifty years ago this week, on January 16, 1964, that HELLO, DOLLY! opened on Broadway.  The 50th anniversary national tour is playing in Little Rock tonight through Thursday (the actual 50th anniversary date).

Winner of ten Tony Awards including Best Musical, Hello, Dolly! is one of the most enduring Broadway classics. Emmy- award winning Sally Struthers (All In the Family, Gilmore Girls) stars as the strong-willed matchmaker Dolly, as she travels to Yonkers, NY to find a match for the ornery  “well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder. Featuring an irresistible story and an unforgettable score including the title song, “Put on Your Sunday Clothes,” “It Only Takes A Moment,” and the show-stopping “Before the Parade Passes By,” Hello, Dolly! has been charming audiences around the world for 50 years.

Joining Struthers in the cast are John O’Creagh as Horace Vandergelder, Matt Wolfe as Cornelius Hackl, Lauren Blackman as Irene Molloy, Garett Hawe as Barnaby Tucker, Halle Morse as Minnie Fay, Brad Frenette as Ambrose Kemper and Hilary Fingerman as Ermengarde.  Others in the cast are Michael Baxter, Zachary Berger, Erin Chupinsky, Joseph Cullinane, Brooke Robyn Dairman, Lucas Fedele, Michael Gorman, Jamey Hood, Liesl Jaye, Louis Jones, Lauren Krautmann, Joseph Nicastro, Michael J. Rios, Lisa Rohinsky, Taylor Schramm, Tony Triano and Paige Wheat.  Also in the cast is A.J. Hughes who played one of the leading roles in the 2012 Arkansas Rep production of White Christmas.

The production is directed by Jeffrey B. Moss and choreographed by Bob Richard.  Others on the creative team include Charlie Morrison (lighting design) and Peter Fitzgerald (sound design).  The production is produced by Big League Productions/Daniel Sher and is brought to Little Rock by Celebrity Attractions.

Hello, Dolly! features a score by Jerry Herman and book by Michael Stewart.  It is based on Thornton Wilder’s 1955 play The Matchmaker, which was a reworking of his earlier effort The Merchant of Yonkers (which played roughly a month in 1938).  Wilder based his play on Johann Nestroy’s Einen Jux Will Sich Machen (which is loosely translated as “He Wants to Have a Lark”).  Nestroy’s play is based on the English play A Day Well Spent by John Oxenford.  Wilder took the minor character of the matchmaker and named her Dolly Gallagher Levi for The Merchant of Yonkers.  He expanded the part (though he himself termed it “minor revisions”) for the reworking of the play in the 1950s.  The new play starred Ruth Gordon as the meddling matchmaker.  And the rest, as they say, is history.

It is appropriate that Hello, Dolly! be one of the final touring shows to play Robinson Center Music Hall before it is closed for renovation.  Original star Carol Channing brought the production to Little Rock on her national tour, one of the first times an original Broadway star brought a show to Robinson.

Charles S. Dutton “Bless the Mic” tonight at Philander Smith

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Charles S. Dutton kicks off the 2013-14 Bless The Mic Lecture Series at Philander Smith College tonight.

This award winning actor, director and inspirational speaker will appear at 7pm.  

pscduttonA graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Tony nominee Charles S. Dutton’s career spans theater, television and film. From 1991 to 1994 he starred in the title role and executive produced the critically-acclaimed Fox comedy/drama Roc, for which he received several NAACP Image Award nominations. Dutton has numerous other television credits, having won Emmy Awards for his guest starring roles in Without a Trace and The Practice.  He also won an Emmy for directing the movie The Corner for HBO.  Most recently he can be seen in guest star roles on top shows Criminal Minds and American Horror Story as well as Longmire and Zero Hour.

The Baltimore native is also a veteran of numerous feature films, including Aliens 3; Cry, The Beloved Country; A Time to Kill; Get on the Bus; and Cookie’s Fortune. On Broadway he has starred in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Piano Lesson.  He received Tony nominations for the original productions of those titles. He also won both a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.  In 2003, he starred in a revival of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom on Broadway.

Bless The Mic is a contemporary spin on the traditional President’s Lecture Series. These events, held on hundreds of campuses across the country, have been a way to stimulate the intellectual discourse on the campus. Even today, these series seek to bring in noted scholars, authors, politicians and public intellectuals to expose not only the campus community to their ideas and concepts, but the broader community in which the institution resides.

Philander Smith 2013-2014 “Bless the Mic” Series announced

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???????????Philander Smith College has announced the 2013-14 schedule for its BlessThe Mic Lecture Series, set to kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19 with award-winning actor, director and inspirational speaker Charles S. Dutton.

Bless The Mic is a contemporary spin on the traditional President’s Lecture Series. These events, held on hundreds of campuses across the country, have been a way to stimulate the intellectual discourse on the campus. Even today, these series seek to bring in noted scholars, authors, politicians and public intellectuals to expose not only the campus community to their ideas and concepts, but the broader community in which the institution resides.

pscduttonA graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Tony nominee Charles S. Dutton’s career spans theater, television and film. From 1991 to 1994 he starred in the title role and executive produced the critically-acclaimed Fox comedy/drama Roc, for which he received several NAACP Image Award nominations. Dutton has numerous other television credits, having won Emmy Awards for his guest starring roles in Without a Trace and The Practice. Most recently he can be seen in guest star roles on top shows Criminal Minds and American Horror Story.

The Baltimore native is also a veteran of numerous feature films, including Aliens 3; Cry, The Beloved Country; A Time to Kill; Get on the Bus; and Cookie’s Fortune. On Broadway he has starred in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Piano Lesson.

PSCjohnOn Thursday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m., Daymond John, entrepreneur, investor, author and cast member of ABC’s Shark Tank will speak. John is perhaps best known for being one of the creators of the global fashion brand FUBU. As founder and CEO, FUBU has amassed over four billion dollars in worldwide retail sales. As a consultant and business/motivational speaker, John works with products and celebrities to create awareness of marketing and entrepreneurship opportunities, and brand extension projects. In 2009, he joined the cast of Shark Tank, a show in which he and other business executives listen to the business pitches of aspiring entrepreneurs to decide whether to invest in their projects.

pschuddlestonA native of Imboden, Ark., TV producer Bryant Huddleston, will appear at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14.  Huddleston began his broadcast career in Fayetteville, Ark., at KHOG-TV. In 1998, he relocated to Los Angeles and began producing news, specials and live red carpet events for the E! Network. In 2004 he joined NBC’s Access Hollywood where he spent eight years. Huddleston recently helped launch the Bravo network’s new series Property Envy. The single father of a young son, Huddleston is also an ardent advocate for equality and adoption rights for LGBT citizens and speaks frequently on those issues.

pscsmithJudy Smith, the real-life inspiration behind ABC’s hit political thriller series Scandal, will lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014.  The founder and president of Smith & Company, a strategic and crisis communications firm with offices in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, Smith has honed her skills through experiences guiding her clients through some of the most sensational events of our time, including the Iran Contra investigation, the Los Angeles riots, President Clinton’s involvement with Monica Lewinsky and the congressional inquiry of Enron, to name a few. Celebrities she has consulted in times of crisis include actor Wesley Snipes, NFL quarterback Michael Vick, and more recently, celebrity chef Paula Deen. She has also worked with Fortune 500 companies such as BellSouth and Wal-Mart.

In 1991, Smith joined the White House with her appointment as special assistant and deputy press secretary to President George H. W. Bush. During her tenure she provided the president and his cabinet with communications advice on a wide range of foreign and domestic issues.  Smith earned her B.S. in public relations from Boston University and graduated from the American University Washington College of Law where she was the first African American woman to serve as executive editor of the Law Review. The author of Good Self, Bad Self: Transforming Your Worse Qualities into Your Biggest Assets, Smith’s writing her been featured in numerous publications and she frequently appears on major TV networks offering commentary on topical issues of the day.

pscdelvalleThe series continues at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13 with poet and spoken word artist Mayda del Valle.  Chosen by O Magazine as one of 20 women on the first “O Power List,” the Chicago native is the youngest poet and first Latino to win the 2001 National Poetry Slam Individual Championship. Soon after she was chosen to perform on the first season of the HBO’s Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, followed by a stint as an original cast member and contributing writer of the critically acclaimed Tony award winning production of Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. Del Valle, who has been featured in numerous publications including Urban Latino, Latina magazine and the New York Time, holds a B.A. in Art from Williams College.

pscwhiteTeacher, pastor and international evangelist Paula White will visit Philander Smith College at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 20.  White is senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Fl., “a non-traditional church with a multicultural mission” whose membership ranges in the thousands. Through her Paula White Ministries, she works to support hundreds of local, international and global outreaches, and presently is focused on building orphanages, schools, churches, clean-water wells and feeding stations around the world; providing medical care and ministerial training internationally; and organizing crusades in areas such as Haiti, Africa and India.  Host of the nationally-syndicated television program Paula Today, White is the former senior pastor of Without Walls International Church of Tampa, Fl., a ministry she co-founded with her former husband, Randy White.

Free and open to the public, all lectures are held in the M.L. Harris Auditorium. Tickets are not required; seating is first-come, first-serve. For more information, call 370-5354.