Tag Archives: Mary Poppins

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.

It is Spring – Fly a Kite (or see art about it)

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Today marks the first day of spring aka the Vernal Equinox.  It is a good day to go kite flying.

Next season the Arkansas Rep will be presenting Mary Poppins with its song about flying a kite.  The original Broadway Mary Poppins, Ashley Brown, will be performing with the Arkansas Symphony as well next season.

But this year, on the Arkansas Arts Center website, you can see art from their collection which features kites.

Alice Andrews - Kite Flying - from collection of Arkansas Arts Center

Alice Andrews – Kite Flying – from collection of Arkansas Arts Center

The first is Alice Andrews’ Kite Flying.  This 1978 watercolor on paper depicts a kite being flown in a field. The perspective is from above the kite looking down on it and the ground below. The artwork measures 21.5 by 29.5 inches.  It was a gift to the Arkansas Arts Center in 1978 by the Mid-Southern Watercolorists.

Alice Andrews lives in an old white farmhouse built in the 1800’s in the Boxley Valley in Newton County, Arkansas. Boxley is full of clear rocky creeks and pastures and is surrounded by mountains. It has the feeling of being back in time about one hundred years, and has more cow residents than people.

Alice works in both oils and pastels. Her subject matter ranges from landscapes and paintings of her home and garden, to paintings of dreams, of allegory and of pure abstraction. Alice has been awarded residency at The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico, and the respected pastel artist Wolf Kahn personally awarded her a residency at the prestigious Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont.

She is a graduate of Henderson State University and the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.

Lothar Krueger's Day of the Great Kite Race - from collection of Arkansas Arts Center

Lothar Krueger’s Day of the Great Kite Race – from collection of Arkansas Arts Center

Another piece in the Arts Center collection is Lothar Krueger’s Day of the Great Kite Race.  This 1980 drawing is chalk and colored pencil on paper. The art measures 21 7/8  by 34 inches.  It was purchased by the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation after the 13th Annual Prints, Drawings and Crafts Exhibition.

Lothar Krueger, was a native of Two Rivers, WI.  Born in 1909, he became interested in art in Washington High School where he was “considered one of the greatest all-round football players in that school’s history.” He received his B.S. degree in art from Milwaukee State Teachers College in 1942 when he was drafted into the army. After officers training he took part in the World War II.  In the war, he took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy and received two Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star.  In 1947, he had one of his first art shows at the Wisconsin Historical Museum in Madison.

Krueger joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas. During his tenure on the art faculty at the university, he established himself as a major artist in Arkansas and in the regional and national art scene by winning numerous awards and honors. He taught Art, Art Education, and Art Criticism from 1953 until 1981, and also served as acting chairman of the art department for a year. After his retirement from the university, he continued to live in Fayetteville.   He died in January 2009 at the age of 89.

ChildrenKites1960

Children Flying Kites by Manfred Schwartz – from collection of Arkansas Arts Center

Manfred Schwartz’s Children Flying Kites is also in the Arkansas Arts Center collection. This 1960 oil on canvas measures 42 by 34 inches. It was a gift to the Arkansas Arts Center in 2005 from Janice M. Ireland.

In Manfred Schwartz’s lifetime, he produced a significant and varied oeuvre, and was extolled by art critics and museums. Born in Poland in 1909, he emigrated to New York in 1920 at the age of 11, and was something of a child prodigy. Early in his career he showed side by side with Maurice Vlaminck, Bernard Buffet, Edward Hopper, and Andrew Wyeth.

In 1929 he moved to Paris. There his art gained a new sense of freedom, which he expanded for the next forty years.  Educated at the Sorbonne in Paris, the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, the Art Students League in New York, and the National Academy of Design in New York. Studied with Charles Hawthorne in Provincetown, John Sloan, and Bridgemen.

Manfred Schwartz created a sensational body of work; oils, pastels, lithographs, and we can see his evolution within three major periods that span fifty years of work.  His earliest paintings were portraits and still-lifes. The colors were deep and muted, he preferred the umbers to the yellows. By 1940 he began to paint in a more abstract manner. His colors intensified and his images seemed ahead of their time.

Schwartz died in New York in 1970.

 

Thrills and Chills, Fun and Dysfunction all part of Arkansas Rep 2014-2015 season

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A large and dysfunctional family, a flying nanny, a tall elf, a menacing thief, a post-Civil War trio and a Rock & Roll pioneer await audiences at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s 39th season in 2014-2015.

“The stories we’ll tell speak to the power of live theatre,” says Robert Hupp, Producing Artistic Director at Arkansas Repertory Theatre. “It’s a season of entertainment, for sure, but it’s also a season of firsts for The Rep and our audience: The new season features engaging plays and musicals, many brought to life for the very first time in our state, all created in our intimate home on Main Street. Three popular and crowd pleasing, over the top musicals complement three amazing plays that embody the best our art form.”

The season kicks off with a regional theatre premiere of a Tony winning Best Musical. Memphis will run from September 5-28. It features a Tony-winning tuneful score by David Bryan which melds rock, blues, gospel and soul. The Tony-winning book is by Joe DiPietro.

“When I first saw Memphis on Broadway, I couldn’t wait for the day we could tell this story on our stage,” says Hupp. “Imagine how pleased I was when the producers contacted us about creating one of the first regional theatre productions of Memphis in the country. It’s a story we all know; it’s the telling of it that will get you on your feet: brash and exciting with music and dancing that will reach and grab you from start to finish.”

Next up, is Frederick Knott’s classic thriller Wait until Dark from October 24 through November 9. Though perhaps best known for the film version starring Audrey Hepburn, it first starred Lee Remick on Broadway (earning her a Tony nomination).

A sinister con man and two ex-convicts are about to meet their match. They have traced the location of a mysterious doll to the Greenwich Village apartment of Sam Hendrix and his wife, Susy. With murder afoot, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, as Susy discovers the only way to play fair is to play by her rules.

“It’s been years since we’ve had a thriller in our line-up,” says Hupp. “This retro suspense classic still packs a punch, still brings a gasp, still gets you clutching the arm of the person sitting beside you. Wait Until Dark is scary fun.”

A recent addition to the canon of holiday classic films has been turned into a musical. At the holiday season, Elf will be on stage from December 5 through the 28th. With a book by Tony winners Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers) and Bob Martin (The Driwsy Chaperone) and a score by Tony®-nominated songwriting team of Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer), Elf turns one of Hollywood’s most beloved holiday hits into a hilarious and heartwarming musical that towers above the rest.

“Funny and touching, Elf is a musical with a big heart that is just perfect for families this holiday season,” says Hupp.

The year 2015 marks the sesquicentennial of the end of the Civil War. The Rep kicks off 2015 with Matthew Lopez’s award winning play The Whipping Man from January 23 through February 8.

An extraordinary tale of loyalty, deceit and deliverance, The Whipping Man opened off-Broadway in 2011 to critical acclaim, winning the 2011 John Gassner New Play Award from the NY Outer Critics Circle and becoming one of the most produced plays in the country.

On Passover, 1865, the Civil War has just ended and the annual celebration of freedom from bondage is being observed in Jewish homes across the country. A Jewish confederate officer returns from the war, badly wounded, to find his family missing and only two former slaves remaining. As the three wait for the family’s return, they wrestle with their shared past as master and slave, digging up long-buried family secrets as well as new ones.

“Make The Whipping Man a new discovery. It will challenge your assumptions about our history, and the plot twists and turns will keep you on the edge of your seat,” says Hupp. “You’ll want to see why The Whipping Man has established itself as one of the most produced plays in the country.”

Everyone’s favorite British nanny will arrive at the Rep as Mary Poppins takes the stage from March 6 through April 5. With songs by the Academy Award-winning Sherman Brothers (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Jungle Book) and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe it has a book by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey, Gosford Park). 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.

The Broadway production opened in November 2006 and received nominations for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It won a Tony Award, a Theatre World Award and two Drama Desk Awards. The Broadway production ran formover 2600 performances.

“Bringing Mary Poppins to the stage for the first time for Central Arkansas audiences is a special thrill,” says Hupp. “Like most of us, Mary Poppins has been a part of my life since I was a kid; we all remember the first time we met her and, even today, how many times do we wish someone would drift in from the sky to set everything right? Mary Poppins will be one of the biggest musicals we’ve ever undertaken, and will be a special treat in our intimate theatre.”

The dysfunctional family to end all dysfunctional families will conclude the Rep’s season when the Pulitzer and Tony winning August: Osage County runs from June 5 through 21, 2015.

One of the most bracing and critically acclaimed plays in recent Broadway history, August: Osage County is a darkly comedic portrait of an extended family coming apart and trying to hold itself together. Written by Tracy Letts, August: Osage County was the recipient of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It won five 2008 Tony Awards, including Best Play, three 2008 Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Play, the 2008 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play, the 2008 Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Play and the 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Broadway Play.

“In my opinion, August: Osage County is the best play written in the last ten years,” says Hupp. “We’ve had the rights for a few years but feel we’re now ready to bring this dynamic, funny and powerful new play to life for our audience. Maybe you saw the movie, but you need to meet this family at The Rep.”

In between Mary Poppins and August: Osage County, the stage at the Rep will feature both performances by Ballet Arkansas as well as the Rep’s educational program’s Project Élan.