\u2018Homecoming\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\nThe St. Olaf College Band, with conductor Henry L. Dorn, a Little Rock native and Parkview High graduate, performs at 7 p.m. Monday in the James H. Clark Auditorium at Conway High School, 2300 Prince St., Conway. The concert will also feature students from Conway, Parkview and Little Rock Southwest high schools. It\u2019s part of the band\u2019s winter tour.<\/p>\n
The program includes works for concert band that center on the theme of \u201cAmerican Graffiti,\u201d including music by Jodie Blackshaw, Norman Dello Joio, Henry L. Dorn and Eric Whitacre, and the premiere performance of \u201cAmerykahn Graffiti\u201d by Katahj Copley, which the composer describes as \u201ca reimagining of Mussorgsky\u2019s \u2018Pictures at an Exhibition,\u2019 painted in sound and soul, \u2026 a journey through the Black experience \u2014 our joy, our wounds, our beauty, our rage.\u201d Tickets are $10, free for students and educators. Visit stolaf.edu\/tickets\/band.<\/p>\n
Dorn, who played trombone at Parkview, is in his third year as conductor and faculty member at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn.<\/p>\n
THEATER<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\u2018Beauty, Beast\u2019 at WAC<\/strong><\/p>\nDisney Theatrical Group\u2019s touring production of\u00a0\u201cDisney\u2019s Beauty and the Beast\u201d\u00a0(music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, book by Linda Woolverton based on the screenplay for the 1991 animated film) is onstage, 7 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday and Friday, 1:30 and 7 p.m. Thursday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Feb. 8 in Baum Walker Hall at Fayetteville\u2019s Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St. Remaining tickets are $90.85-$119.60. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit waltonartscenter.org.<\/p>\n
London troupe<\/strong><\/p>\nActors From the London Stage\u00a0will stage three performances of William Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cAs You Like It,\u201d 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday in the Cabe Theatre at Hendrix College, 1600 Washington St., Conway.<\/p>\n
The five actors use minimal props and costumes and direct themselves with each actor portraying multiple roles. The actors also lead classes and workshops during a residency week to connect with students, faculty and staff at the host college or university.<\/p>\n
The troupe, which recently celebrated its 50th year, was founded in 1975 at the University of California, Santa Barbara, by Professor Homer \u201cMurph\u201d Swander and stage and screen actor Patrick Stewart. Its mission is \u201cto interpret Shakespeare\u2019s text as a blueprint for performance, lifting the words off the page as Shakespeare originally intended,\u201d according to a news release.<\/p>\n
The Hendrix-Murphy Foundation and the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance are sponsoring the group\u2019s residency. Admission is free, but reservations are strongly encouraged, via bit.ly\/ASYOULIKEITTIX. Call (501) 450-1343 or visit hendrixmurphy.org\/aftls.<\/p>\n
DANCE<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nVenue change<\/strong><\/p>\nBallet Arkansas is moving\u00a0\u201cOrigins,\u201d\u00a0the closing production in its contemporary season, May 1 and 3, from its home venue on Little Rock\u2019s Main Street to the North Little Rock Event Center, 120 Main St. The center, completing construction on the site of the former North Little Rock City Services Building, is due to open soon.<\/p>\n
The program will feature premieres of entirely new works created by company dancers Murray McCormack, Deanna Stanton, McKenna Ulbrick, Liev Ewart and Kerridwyn Schanck, and also reprising some of the past season\u2019s offerings.<\/p>\n
Admission is free; tickets will be required for a season-closing reception that will follow the final performance May 3 and include a dancer meet-and-greet and additional performance repertory. Visit balletarkansas.org\/tickets.<\/p>\n
ON THE PODIUM<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nShowbiz stories<\/strong><\/p>\nAward-winning composer, lyricist and music producer\u00a0Marc Shaiman, whose work across film, television and theater prominently includes the musical \u201cHairspray,\u201d will share stories from his new book, \u201cNever Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner,\u201d 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. In the book, Shaiman \u201clooks back on five decades of Broadway triumphs, Hollywood hijinks and unforgettable collaborations \u2014 from \u2018Hairspray\u2019 and \u2018Sister Act\u2019 to \u2018Mary Poppins Returns\u2019 and \u2018Smash,\u2019\u201d according to a news release, and \u201ccharts the personal highs and heartbreaks that have shaped him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaiman received Oscar nominations for songs and scores for \u201cMary Poppins Returns,\u201d \u201cSouth Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut,\u201d \u201cThe First Wives Club\u201d and \u201cPatch Adams.\u201d He composed the scores for \u201cThe Addams Family, \u201cAddams Family Values,\u201d \u201cA Few Good Men\u201d and \u201cThe American President.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program is in partnership with the Arkansas Cinema Society, Arkansas Repertory Theatre and Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n
Tickets, $30 plus fees, include a hardcover copy of the book, which Shaiman will sign following the program. Visit clintonfoundation.org\/events\/clinton-presidential-center\/a-conversation-with-marc-shaiman. It will also be available the following day on the Clinton Center\u2019s YouTube channel, youtube.com\/@ClintonPresidentialCenter.<\/p>\n
ETC.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nEducation endowment<\/strong><\/p>\nArkansas State University has established a new endowed fund \u2014 the\u00a0Dixon, McDonald and Turnbow Sisterhood Endowed Enrichment Fund\u00a0\u2014 to support students pursuing vocal music education. The fund will provide annual financial assistance for full-time vocal music education majors who participate in professional development experiences, including regional or national conferences in choral music or choral music education.<\/p>\n
The fund was created through a $25,000 gift and will generate $1,000 annually to support two $500 enrichment awards each year, available to students in the music department. Criteria for recipients include academic standing, financial need and \u201ctheir pursuit of experiences that enhance their development as future educators,\u201d according to a news release.<\/p>\n
The fund honors the lifelong bond of A-State alumnae Venus Dixon Hamilton of Paragould, Janeene McDonald Lee of Brinkley and Sherry Turnbow Phillians of Wynne, who met as vocal music education students in the 1980s, performed in university choirs and participated in Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity. All three went on to teach and perform throughout eastern and northeast Arkansas. Four of their total of five children have participated in the university\u2019s choral music program.<\/p>\n
Call (870) 972-3940 or email development@AState.edu.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.arkansasonline.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Let us read it for you. Listen now. Your browser does not support the audio element. MUSIC \u2018Divas of Soul\u2019 Singer CeCe Teneal takes audiences on a musical journey through 50 years of chart-topping hits, \u201cfrom the powerhouse anthems of Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner to the disco grooves of Donna Summer and the pop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2260044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2260043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ENTERTAINMENT-Singer-pays-tribute-to-\u2018Divas-conductor-comes-\u2018home.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2260043"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2260045,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260043\/revisions\/2260045"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2260044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2260043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2260043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2260043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}