Tag Archives: Ron Robinson Theater

Explore George Bailey’s life as CALS Ron Robinson Theater shows IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE tonight

Posted on by

It's a Wonderful Life PosterBefore or after seeing It’s a Wonderful Life on stage at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre (now through December 29), you can see the movie on the big screen tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

Produced and directed by Frank Capra, It’s A Wonderful Life is based on the short story and booklet The Greatest Gift, which Philip Van Doren Stern wrote in 1939 and published privately in 1943.

The 1946 film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his dreams to help others, and whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers). Clarence shows George all the lives he has touched, and how different life in his community of Bedford Falls would be if he had never been born.

Joining Oscar winner Stewart in the film are Oscar winners Lionel Barrymore and Thomas Mitchell, future Oscar winners Donna Reed and Gloria Grahame, along with Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, future TV executive Sheldon Leonard (who inspired the names of the two leading characters in TV’s BIG BANG THEORY), and H. B. Warner.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!

Yippee-ki-yay – DIE HARD is being shown at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater tonight

Posted on by

Die Hard PosterThe Nakatomi Plaza Christmas Party of 1988 was one to remember!

Relive it all as the CALS Ron Robinson Theater shows Die Hard tonight at 7pm for only $5.

Facing Christmas 3,000 miles from his estranged wife and two children, New York policeman John McClane flies to Los Angeles bearing presents and hoping to patch up his marriage. He then becomes the only hope for a small group of hostages, one of whom is his estranged wife, trapped in a Los Angeles high-rise building when it is seized by terrorists on Christmas Eve.

The film stars Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, Paul Gleason, William Atherteon, Hart Bochner, James Shigeta, Alexander Godunov, De’voreaux White, and multiple Tony nominee Alan Rickman.  Directed by John McTiernan, it was was written by Jeb Stuart and  Steven E. de Souza based on a novel by Roderick Thorp (which was originally intended to be for Frank Sinatra.)  It was nominated for four Oscars: Sound, Film Editing, Sound Effects and Visual Effects.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!

Discover your inner ELF tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater

Posted on by

Elf Poster

Will Ferrell stars as the ultimate fish out of water, Buddy, who as a baby crawls into Santa’s toy bag and is whisked off to the North Pole, where he is raised as an elf.

This 2003 holiday movie is being shown at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater tonight (December 10).

A misfit who grows to be three times the size of his elf family, Buddy ultimately heads to his birthplace of New York City to seek out his roots. Unfortunately, they turn out to be a “Scrooge”-like father (James Caan) and a cynical eight-year-old stepbrother who doesn’t believe in Santa.

Worst of all, everyone seems to have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. But using his simple elf ways, Buddy sets out to single-handedly win over his family and save Christmas in New York, hoping to at last find his true place in the world.

The movie also includes Arkansan Mary Steenburgen along with Bob Newhart, Edward Asner, Zooey Deschanel, Daniel Tay, Peter Dinklage, Michael Lerner, Amy Sedaris, and Andy Richter.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions (and COCOA!) will be available!

Blues legend Bobby Rush in concert at the Ron Robinson Theater tonight, presented by CALS Arkansas Sounds

Posted on by

CALS Arkansas Sounds presents an intimate solo show with blues legend BOBBY RUSH!

Bobby Rush is a Grammy Award winner, a Blues Hall of Fame member, a 12-time Blues Music Award winner and B.B. King Entertainer of the Year.

Bobby Rush was actually born as Emmett Ellis, Jr. outside Homer, La. His daddy was a preacher and knew enough about a harmonica to pass along a few riffs to his progeny, who twanged a diddley bow before picking up a guitar around age 11. The senior Ellis relocated his family to Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1948. When young Bobby went professional as a blues musician, he changed his moniker to not disrespect his devout dad. And Bobby Rush was born.

Bobby started playing with Delta blues guitarists Boyd Gilmore and Elmore James in Arkansas during the early ’50s before migrating to Chicago. There he assembled a band with an equally young Freddie King on guitar and Arkansan Luther Allison came into the combo later. Rush gigged around the West Side and in the southern suburbs of the Windy City, but it took until 1964 for him to debut on record with the tough downbeat blues “Someday” for the Jerry-O label.

And now, jumping forward to 2019, after decades of tearing up the chitlin’ circuit on a nightly basis with his sweaty, no-holds-barred funk-fests, Bobby has thoroughly broken through to the mainstream. He won a long-overdue 2017 Grammy for his spectacular album Porcupine Meat and consistently tours the globe as a headliner. What’s more, Bobby’s brand-new album Sitting on Top of the Blues on his own Deep Rush imprint promises to further spread the news that this revered legend, well past his 85+ years of age even if his stratospheric energy level belies the calendar, is bigger, badder and bolder than ever.

Don’t miss this chance to see BOBBY RUSH perform a special SOLO SHOW on Friday, December 6 at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater in downtown Little Rock! That’s right, you’ll see and hear Bobby Rush singing, playing guitar and harmonica, and telling stories-all by himself!

Tickets are $30 for general admission seating. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the concert starts at 8:00 pm.

I Triple Dog Dare You to miss A CHRISTMAS STORY at CALS Ron Robinson Theater tonight

Posted on by

Image result for a christmas story movie poster"Spend time with Ralphie, Randy, the Old Man, Mother, Flick, and even Santa Claus tonight with the CALS Ron Robinson Theater shows A Christmas Story.

This beloved holiday movie follows the wintry exploits of youngster Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), who spends most of his time dodging a bully (Zack Ward) and dreaming of his ideal Christmas gift, a “Red Ryder air rifle.”

Frequently at odds with his cranky dad (Darren McGavin) but comforted by his doting mother (Arkansas native Melinda Dillon), Ralphie struggles to make it to Christmas Day with his glasses and his hopes intact.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!

Play BingoFlix tonight as CALS Ron Robinson Theater shows SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS

Posted on by

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians PosterJoin the Central Arkansas Library System for BingoFlix!

Play bingo to some of the most hilarious movie cliches during a screening of the so-bad-it’s-good film, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians! Win prizes including free movie and event tickets to upcoming shows at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater!

Martians come to Earth to kidnap Santa Claus because there is no one on Mars to give their children presents. Earth kids Billy and Betty set out to save Santa and return him to Earth. The film is a baffling mixture of sci-fi, Christmas cheer and childish slapstick!

Filmed mostly in an old airport hangar on Long Island, it features a cast culled largely from Broadway shows at the time. Among the cast are future Tony winner Bill McCutcheon (who also played Shirley MacLaine’s suitor in Steel Magnolias) and Pia Zadora in her film debut.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!

Relive THE LAST WALTZ tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater

Posted on by

The Last Waltz PosterOne of the seminal North American music groups in the 1970s to 1990s was simply named The Band.  Relive The Band in its glory tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater as it screens the 1978 movie The Last Waltz.

This film screening celebrates “one of the most important cultural events of the last two decades” (Rolling Stone).

Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz looks at The Band’s historic 1976 farewell concert and features Arkansas music legends Levon Helm and Ronnie Hawkins.

The Band was a Canadian-American roots rock group including Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and Levon Helm. Their time backing Bob Dylan was when they first reached prominence, but they were originally formed as The Hawks, a backing band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins.  Following the Farewell Tour, as did so many other groups, The Band reconstituted itself from 1983 to 1999. And Levon Helm made music up until his final days.

In addition to featuring the members of The Band, The Last Waltz contains appearances by Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Ringo Starr, Dr. John, and Van Morrison, among others.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!