Tag Archives: Ron Robinson Theater

Arkansas Sounds and Arkansas Times present premiere of URANIA DESCENDING film tonight

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urania_descendingThe U.S. premiere of a film by Arkansas’s Tav Falco, a musician, artist, author, and filmmaker, who will hold an audience discussion after the screening. The film’s length is 1 hour, 8 minutes. This event is presented by Arkansas Sounds in partnership with the Arkansas Times.

The screening is free and open to the public.  It begins at 7pm in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

Urania Descending is described as “a black and white film poem infused with metaphor and mood, where the past overtakes the present…the story of an American girl on a one-way ticket to merry/sinister old Vienna who becomes embroiled in an intrigue to uncover buried Nazi plunder.”

Tav Falco has created films for over fifteen years, working with performers, artists, and directors such as Winona Ryder, Bruce MacDonald, Jean Michel Basquiat, and Iggy Pop.

Senator David Pryor in conversation with Skip Rutherford at today’s Legacies & Lunch

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CALS PryorLegacies & Lunch: Senator David Pryor
Senator David Pryor, founding dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, will be interviewed by Skip Rutherford, current dean of the Clinton School. Topics will include Pryor’s interest in history including his founding of the Pryor Center at the University of Arkansas, his life in politics, and his work at the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics at Harvard and at the Clinton School.  Senator Pryor will also discuss his late colleague Senator Dale Bumpers.

The conversation will take place today, January 6, at 12 noon at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

Pryor is the only person in Arkansas political history to have served in the Arkansas State Legislature, the United States House of Representatives, as governor of Arkansas, and in the U.S. Senate.
As a student at the University of Arkansas, Rutherford supported Pryor in his 1972 U.S. Senate campaign against Senator John McClellan. When Pryor was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978, Rutherford joined his staff and served there for almost six years. When Pryor stepped down as dean of the Clinton School in 2006, Rutherford succeeded him.
Legacies & Lunch is free, open to the public, and sponsored in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided.
They are expecting a large turnout for Legacies & Lunch . Parking at the CALS Main Library campus, where the Ron Robinson Theater is located, is very limited. Please plan to arrive early to allow ample time for parking and walking to the theater. Attendees may park for $2/hour per vehicle at the River Market Parking Deck, 500 East 2nd Street, which is operated by the City of Little Rock. This is the closest paid parking option. Attendees may also park for free at the Clinton School of Public Service and walk to the theater (approx. 0.5 mile, 10-15 min. walking distance).

Hear the sounds of Arkansas at Arkansas Sounds Holiday Concert tonight

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RRT holiday concertThe Dave Rosen Big Band and the Maumelle High School Jazz Band will play Christmas and holiday favorites with jazz and swing arrangements at this free concert.

The Dave Rosen Big Band, led by local musical instrument store owner Dave Rosen, is an 18-piece big band jazz powerhouse. These top-notch musicians have been playing classics from the Big Band and Jazz eras since 2004.

Led by band director Carl Mouton, the Maumelle High School Jazz Band plays a variety of music, representing different styles of music and cultures. MHS Jazz Band students learn to improvise within a song using the given chords as a guide. They put these skills to work by performing at local holiday and spring concerts, as well as community events.

Friday, December 11, 7:00 p.m.
CALS Ron Robinson Theater
100 River Market Avenue
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Tonight at CALS Ron Robinson Theater, Jonathan Karl delivers JN Heiskell Distinguished Lecture

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jonathankarlJonathan Karl, ABC News’ chief White House correspondent, will present the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) J.N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture on Monday, December 7, at 6:30 p.m. in the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave. This event was previously scheduled for October but was rescheduled due to Mr. Karl having to cover breaking news.
 The event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the program. Seating is general admission. Reservations are appreciated, but not required. RSVP at lellis@cals.org, or 918-3024.
Jonathan Karl, ABC News’ chief White House correspondent, covers the White House for World News Tonight, Nightline, and Good Morning America. Karl joined ABC News in January, 2004, and has also served as the network’s Senior Congressional Correspondent, Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Senior National Security Correspondent, and Senior Political Correspondent.
Karl has covered political campaigns in virtually every state and has reported from more than 30 countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, and Sudan. He traveled internationally with the President, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense to cover topics such as three presidential elections, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the intelligence community, and Congressional reaction to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Jonathan Karl’s extensive experience and political knowledge allow him to discuss foreign affairs, America’s role in the post-September 11 world, national politics, and current events with insight and expertise. Karl also elaborates on what he has learned as moderator and organizer of Sustaining Democracy, a series of panel discussions on America’s changing political landscape. In 2001, Karl won the National Press Foundation’s Everett McKinley Dirksen Award, the highest honor for Congressional reporting and in 2013 was awarded with a Walter Cronkite Excellence in Journalism award.
The Heiskell Distinguished Lecture is named for J.N. Heiskell, the longest-serving member of the Library’s Board of Trustees and editor of the Arkansas Gazette for more than seventy years. J.N. Heiskell was the longest-serving member of the Library’s Board of Trustees, serving from 1910-1972, and he served as President from 1950 until his death in 1972. Speakers and programs honor Heiskell’s commitment to excellence in journalism as well as his support of the library. Past speakers include Helen Thomas, Ernest Dumas, Walter Mears, David Pryor, Dexter Filkins, and John O’Hara.

Little Rock’s historic Sanders/Darrow debate recreated tonight at CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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Rabbi Sanders (top) and Mr. Darrow (bottom)

Tonight the Central Arkansas Library System offers a chance to go back 85 years and one month to November 3, 1930.

On that date the nationally-known religious skeptic Clarence Darrow debated immortality with Rabbi Ira Sanders at Little Rock High School in an auditorium packed with more than 2,000 people. This event will be explored anew as the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) 2015 Sanders Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, December 3, at 6:30 p.m. in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Avenue. The event is free and open to the public, and will include a reception. The reenactment is in conjunction with Temple B’nai Israel’s sesquicentennial anniversary.

Jason Thompson (Rabbi Sanders) spent ten years acting, writing, and directing for Red Octopus. At Arkansas Repertory Theatre he was featured in The Comedy of Errors, Barefoot in the Park, Wit, and One Ninth. Thompson has trained in improvisation, toured as a stand-up comedian, and performed in films, voice overs, and commercials.

Mark Johnson (Clarence Darrow) has appeared in many plays at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, including Kiss of the Spider Woman, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. His film work includes A Time to Kill, The Last Ride, and the forthcoming God’s Not Dead 2. His paintings are shown at Stephano’s Galley in the Heights. He lives in Hillcrest with his son.

The Sanders Distinguished Lecture was established in 2000 to commemorate Rabbi Sanders’ forty years of service on the Boards of Trustees of Little Rock Public Library and CALS, the lectures include topics that support Rabbi Sanders’ commitment to intellectual freedom. Past speakers include Taylor Branch, Alex Kurzem, James Cone, John M. Barry, Ron Mallett, Bobby Roberts, and Lilly Ledbetter.

Reservations are requested, but not required. RSVP online via Eventjoy. For more information contact 918-3000.

Arkansas Sounds brings legendary Cate Brothers Band to Ron Robinson Theater tonight

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cate_brothersArkansas Sounds music series brings Arkansas music legends The Cate Brothers Band to the Ron Robinson Theater stage tonight.  The band reunites for a special performance of their biggest and best songs.

Arkansas music legends Earl and Ernie Cate, twin brothers from Fayetteville, Arkansas, performed southern soul music in the mid-1960s at clubs throughout the South. Both are singers, with Earl on guitar and Ernie on piano. Since the mid-1970s, they have been prolific performers and recording artists of their signature blued-eyed soul and rock music.

At this special performance, they will perform their biggest and best songs, including their Top 25 hit, “Union Man.”

Admission is $20, the concert starts at 7pm.

Arkansas Sounds is a project of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, a department of the Central Arkansas Library System. Focused on Arkansas music and musicians both past and present, Arkansas Sounds presents concerts, workshops, and other events to showcase Arkansas’s musical culture.

KONG is King at CALS Ron Robinson Theater tonight in screening of 1933 classic

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Before the ill-advised remakes and schlocky sequels, there was the original 1933 RKO classic KING KONG.  This movie defies genres: it is not really a horror film, an action film, or a romantic film – though it has elements of all three.

Tonight at 8pm at the Ron Robinson Theater, take the opportunity to enjoy the Big Ape on the Big Screen.  Admission is $5.

Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot star in this film which used the tagline, “A Monster of Creation’s Dawn Breaks Loose in Our World Today!”  Though listed as a “Cooper-Schoedsack Production” neither Merian C. Cooper nor Ernest B. Schoedsack were credited as directors.  Cooper and Edgar Wallace did receive credit for conceiving the movie.  The film’s screenplay credits went to James Creelman and Ruth Rose, though Cooper, Wallace and Leon Gordon also contributed to the script.

This film helped make the Empire State Building famous with its climactic action sequence.

Carl Denham needs to finish his movie and has the perfect location; Skull Island. But he still needs to find a leading lady. This ‘soon-to-be-unfortunate’ soul is Ann Darrow.  No one knows what they will encounter on this island and why it is so mysterious, but once they reach it, they will soon find out. Living on this hidden island is a giant gorilla and this beast now has Ann in it’s grasps. Carl and Ann’s new love, Jack Driscoll must travel through the jungle looking for Kong and Ann, whilst avoiding all sorts of creatures and beasts.