ENTERTAINMENT NOTES : Piano quintet, poetry lecture, Pinocchio on palette
Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008
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Pianist Krishna Thiagarian will join the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Sturgis Quartet — Joanna Whang, violin; Tatiana Kotcherguina, viola; Will Preece, cello; and guest violinist Andrew Irvin, the orchestra’s co-concertmaster — to perform the Piano Quintet, op. 57, by Dmitri Shostakovich at 7 p. m. Tuesday in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock.
The concert concludes the orchestra’s 2007-08 River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series.
Also on the program, the orchestra’s Rockefeller Quartet — Christian Baker and Darby BeDell, violins; Katherine Reynolds, viola; and Daniel Cline, cello — will perform I Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums ) by Giacomo Puccini and the String Quartet No. 2 in a minor, op. 13, by Felix Mendelssohn.
Tickets are $ 27. Call (501 ) 666-1761, Extension 21, or visit the Web site, www. arkan sassymphony. org.
Cafe 42, the center’s restaurant, will offer a special pre-concert dinner beginning at 5: 30 p. m. Cost is $ 39. 99 and reservations are required; call (501 ) 537-0043. Exploring Yeats
Stanford University professor Eavan Boland will examine the works of Irish poet W. B. Yeats at 6: 30 p. m. Thursday in the Darragh Center of the Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library, 100 Rock St., Little Rock.
Boland, who has taught at Trinity College, University College and Bowdoin College and was a member of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, is the author of nine books of poetry and a nonfiction work, Object Lessons: The Life of the Woman and the Poet in Our Time.
Admission is free. The program is part of “Branching Out: Poetry for the 21 st Century, Series Two,” made possible through a grant from Poets House and the Poetry Society of America, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Little Rock is one of seven U. S. cities participating in the project. For reservations or additional information, call (501 ) 918-3032. ‘Spring Songfest’
The Arts Center of the Ozarks Chorale will give its “Spring Songfest” concert at 3 p. m. today at the center, 214 S. Main St., Springdale.
Tickets are $ 7, $ 4 for students; center members receive a discount. Call (479 ) 751-5441. Handbell reflections
The Arkansas State University Ringers handbell choir will present their spring concert, “In His Footsteps: Reflections on the Passion of Christ,” at 7: 30 p. m. Monday in Riceland Hall of the Fowler Center at ASU, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro.
The program traces the events of Holy Week from the procession into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday through the Crucifixion and Resurrection. M. Ellis Julien will direct.
Admission is free. Call (870 ) 972-2094. Operatic Pinocchio
The Young Company of the Opera Theater at Wildwood Park — Danny Moore and Amanda Boyd of Conway and Kara Rainey of Little Rock — will stage Pinocchio: The Opera by John Davies at 7 p. m. Tuesday at the Ritz Civic Center, 306 W. Main St., Blytheville.
Davies uses music from operas by Mozart, Rossini, Offenbach, Donizetti and Pergolesi to re-create the classic Carlo Collodi children’s tale in music.
When it wraps up in May, the company’s four-month tour will have visited more than 100 schools and reached more than 20, 000 elementary school students across the state.
Admission is $ 10, free for children under 12. Call (870 ) 762-®4. UA orchestra
The University of Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will give a concert at 8 p. m. Thursday in Baum Walker Hall of Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville.
Stephen Gates will be the cello soloist Kol Nidre by Max Bruch and the orchestra will also perform the Symphony No. 10 in e minor, op. 93, by Dmitri Shostakovich. Robert Mueller conducts.
Tickets are $ 10, $ 5 for senior citizens, $ 1 for UA students. Call (479 ) 575-4701. Horticulture magic
Conway-based Children’s Theatre to Go will premiere Hocus Pocus Horticulture by Bob May at 10 a. m. and 1 p. m. Wednesday and 10 a. m. and 7 p. m. Thursday at the Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway.
Whiskers the Rabbit (Katie Oslica ) leads a group of animals to escape from the evil magician Mysterio (Ben A. Scheuter ); they create a magic garden, growing food while learning about botany and ecology.
The cast also includes Dahren White, Brent Wood, Katie Barber, Abby Shourd, Jace Motley, Kevin Glover, Taryn Imamura, Marshall Bellando, Treslyn Fletcher, Chrissy Bagwell, Darrius Davis, Clay Stubbs, Sam Coker, Miki Brewington, Ian Turpin, Maddie Moss, Kendrick Scorza and Amanda Matthews.
Tickets are $ 5. Call (501 ) 455-6222 or (501 ) 690-6322 or visit the Web site, www. chil drenstheatretogo. com. OBU band at HSV
The Ouachita Baptist University Jazz Band will perform at 7: 30 p. m. Thursday in Woodlands Auditorium, Ponce de Leon Center, DeSoto Boulevard and Balboa Drive, Hot Springs Village.
The concert is sponsored by the Hot Springs / Hot Springs Village Symphony Guild.
Singer Angela Bloodworth will join the 20-piece jazz ensemble for a program that will include “Vertigo” by Doug Beach; “Count Bubba” by Gordon Goodwin; three Duke Ellington tunes — “Cotton Tail,” “ Don’t Get Around Much Anymore ” and “C-Jam Blues”; “Sweet Georgia Brown” by Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard and Kenneth Casey, in an arrangement by Sammy Nestico; “That Old Black Magic” by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen, arranged by Mark Taylor; “Log Rhythm” by Les Hooper; and “Jiver’s License” by Howard Rowe. Craig Hamilton conducts.
Tickets are $ 10. Call (501 ) 922-2475. Wine, food and art
The Friends of the Fordyce and Hot Springs National Park Inc. will host the 12 th annual Wine, Food & Art Extravaganza, 4: 30-8 p. m. May 4 along Bathhouse Row, Central Avenue, Hot Springs.
Thirteen restaurants and caterers will set up in the restored lobbies of bathhouses; attendees can sip Mountain Valley Water and wines from 70 vineyards around the world. Representatives of distributors will be on hand to discuss the wines amid art from six Hot Springs galleries. Hot Springs artist Darrell Loy Scott will offer an original painting as a door prize.
Food will come from the Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa, Chef Paul’s, Hamilton House, Central Park Fusion Cuisine, Brickhouse Grill, Pompeii, Special Touch Catering, Fuji, La Hacienda, Haute Chocolatier, SurfasOnLine. com, Belle Arti and Porterhouse.
Tickets are $ 100 through May 1, $ 125 at the door (if any remain — admission is limited to 350 ). Check in at the Fordyce Bathhouse during a 4: 30-5: 30 p. m. champagne reception. Proceeds benefit the national park. Call (501 ) 624-6020 or (501 ) 767-3388. ‘Books in Bloom’
Three best-selling authors — medical-theme novelist Michael Palmer, mystery author J. A. Jance and fantasist Stephen R. Donaldson — will be on hand for the fourth “Books in Bloom” literary festival, noon-5 p. m. May 4 at the Crescent Hotel, 75 Crescent Ave., Eureka Springs,
Other authors expected to take part, including Carolyn Hart and Donald Harington, will meet fans, sign books and give readings.
Admission is free. The festival is the project of the Carroll and Madison Public Library Foundation. Call (870 ) 423-5300 or visit the Web site, www. Booksin-Bloom. org. Guys, Dolls sought
Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock, will hold auditions at 6: 30 p. m. May 5 for Frank Loesser’s musical Guys and Dolls.
Auditioners — no one under 18, please — should prepare a song and a monologue (a minute and a half in length each, maximum ). An accompanist will be provided. Also bring a head shot and a resume.
Production dates are July 15-Aug. 24. Call (501 ) 562-3131. Weekend’s season
The Weekend Theater’s 2008-09 season, its 16 th, will offer six full-length plays, including the world premiere in March 2009 of Truth ! Reconciliation ? by Little Rock author and playwright Grif Stockley, plus four musicals and five single-weekend black-box shows.
After the previously announced summer musicals — Sweeney Todd June 6-22, and Godspell July 11-27 — the theater will stage Southern Baptist Sissies by Del Shores Aug. 22-23, 29-30 and Sept. 5-6.
Stockley’s play, on stage March 27-28 and April 3-4 and 10-11, examines Arkansas’ racial history from the slavery era to the present.
The remainder of the season: Sept. 12-13: Vital Signs by Jane Martin (black-box show ) Sept. 26-27, Oct. 3-4, 10-11: The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh Oct. 17-18: for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange, one-woman black-box show starring and directed by Felicia Richardson Nov. 7-9, 14-16, 21-23: Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, music by Janet Hood, lyrics and additional text by Bill Russell Dec. 5-6, 12-13, 19-20: The History Boys by Alan Bennett Jan. 16-17, 23-24, 30-31, 2009: Joe Egg by Peter Nichols Feb. 6-7: The Fever by Wallace Shawn, one-man, black-box show starring Alan Douglas Feb. 20-21, 27-28, March 6-7: The Last Five Years, musical by Jason Robert Brown March 13-14: Lonely Planet by Steven Dietz April 24-25: Vincent by Leonard Nimoy, one-man, black-box show starring Tom McLeod May 8-9, 15-16, 22-23: Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire
Season tickets for the 10 mainstage shows are $ 125; for the five black-box shows, $ 50. Call (501 ) 374-3761. Summer youth theater
The Youth Theatre of Central Arkansas is accepting registrations for its forthcoming summer program June 2-25 at the University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. The program is open to students entering grades 3-12; no previous theatrical experience is required.
Sessions will be 10 a. m.-3 p. m. Monday-Friday, culminating in a play production June 24-25. The program is also open to students interested in technical theater, who can work backstage in stage management, props, operating a light board and other technical areas.
Ruth Curry Browne is supervising the Youth Theatre, which is sponsored by UCA Theatre and the UCA Theatre Foundation.
Fee is $ 250 by May 28, $ 275 if you register between May 29 and June 2. Call (501 ) 450-5092, e-mail Liz Parker at LizP@uca. edu or visit the Web site, www. uca. edu / the atre, and click on the “Youth Theatre” link.