University of Arkansas at Little Rock

UALR Opera Theatre presents a new performing version of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, written by director Edward Crafts, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 30, and 3 p.m. Sunday, May 2.

Dr. Bevan Keating, music director of the UALR Opera Theatre, conducts soloists, orchestra and chorus for the performances at Wildwood Park for the Arts.

The opera is suitable for all audiences. General admission tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students or children. Premium seating, including a champagne reception, is available for $25. For ticket information, please call the Music Department Box Office at 501-569-8993.

This contemporary English translation of Mozart’s classic is set in the New York subways.

“The Magic Flute is a classic tale of good and evil, light and dark, so I thought that urban tunnels were a perfect setting to begin this story,” Crafts said. “Later scenes move to an airy corporate atrium, which will underline the contrast. In The Magic Flute, Mozart created some fun characters that immediately appeal to children, but his music is so sublime that it will charm even the most sophisticated music-lover.”

The UALR cast of singers includes Jeremy Kinchen of Little Rock and James Wafford of Sherwood alternating in the role of Prince Tamino, with Melanie Chapman and Jacqueline Forrester of Little Rock as the object of his affection, Pamina. Sarah Jane Kershaw and Shaina Erwin, both of Little Rock, share the role of the Queen of the Night.

In the UALR version the Queen leads a female gang, whose members are played by Katie Burrall or Roland, Erica Finnie of Judsonia; and Regina Gallucci, Satia Spencer, and Jessica Williams, all of Little Rock.

Beau Humble of Little Rock and Memory Apata of Maumelle are the bird-like couple Papageno and Papagena, Phillip Murray of Little Rock sings Sarastro, while Jansen Goodwin of Little Rock is his Chief of Security, Monostatos. Luke Angelo of Little Rock and Kevin Ezell of Jacksonville are heard as two firefighters.

Three local high-school students – Rachel Manasco from Lisa Academy, Elizabeth Riddick from Little Rock Central High School, and Shannon Rookey from Parkview Magnet High School – join the UALR cast as three guides.

Philosophy graduate Stephanie Hinojosa of Little Rock has received a Future Vision Global Grant sponsored by Little Rock’s 6150 Chapter of Rotary International.

The 2009 UALR bachelor of arts graduate in philosophy and liberal studies will receive a $30,000 grant to pursue a master of arts in applied ethics at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. She departs in January 2011 for the two-year study program.

“The competition for this award was stiff,” said Dr. Stephen Farrelly, assistant professor of philosophy at UALR. “Students from across the nation applied for the fellowship. We should be proud of Stephanie’s accomplishments. If you happen to see her, be sure to congratulate her.”

The William G. Cooper, Jr. Lecture Series will present a discussion with Filmmaker Jeff Sewald, along with a screening of his film “Peter Matthiessen: No Boundaries” at 7 p.m. April 15 in Engel Hall of the Bailey Alumni Center.

The event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the presentation. Copies of the DVD will be available for purchase.

For more information, contact Zabelle Stodola, director of the UALR Honors Program in English at 501-569-3161 or kzstodola@ualr.edu.

Sewald is an award-winning writer and filmmaker. His most recent project, “Peter Matthiessen: No Boundaries,” premiered at The Brooklyn Academy of Music in February, and debuted on PBS in April 2009.

“Peter Matthiessen: No Boundaries” is a  dynamic interplay of interviews with the two-time National Book Award winning author Peter Matthiessen, excerpts from his writings, and anecdotes about him. Actress Glenn Close narrates the film.

Sewald will discuss his film and answer questions following the screening. He will try to provide a conference call with Matthiessen if possible.

Norris Church Mailer, a native Arkansan who was married to Norman Mailer for the last 30 years of his life, will be on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus April 13 as a stop on her upcoming tour with the release of her latest book, “A Ticket to the Circus.”

Mailer’s 6 p.m. lecture in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall is open to the public. A book signing and reception will follow next door in Gallery I. Earlier in the day, she will have a book discussion with UALR writing students and faculty at 2 p.m. Her lectures are sponsored by the UALR Departments of English and Rhetoric and Writing. For more information, call 569-3296.

Born Barbara Davis in the small town of Atkins, Ark., she dated a little-known, aspiring politician named Bill Clinton in the 1970s. She met Norman in 1975 at a party when he was in Russellville visiting an old Army friend. Barbara was a 26-year-old recently divorced high school art teacher; Norman was a 52-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning author who was separated from his fifth wife.

Davis followed him to New York where she became a model, actress, painter, and writer. After marrying Mailer, she faced down ex-wives and lovers by the dozen, according to her publicist at Random House who offered these details about her latest book:

“From age three when she was crowned Little Miss Little Rock, Norris Church Mailer has gone from one wild adventure to the next, and sheshares it all in her frank, beautifully written, deeply personal memoir “A Ticket to the Circus” (Random House; On sale April 6, 2010). Reading her stories is like sitting down to laugh and cry with an old friend: Norris holds nothing back, from showing up to dinner with Oscar de la Renta wearing only a nightgown, to serving coleslaw to Bob Dylan; from the heartbreak of first discovering her husband’s affairs, to saying goodbye to Norman on his deathbed.

“In a winning narrative voice that evokes her native Arkansas, Norris recounts her life as a bright, talented girl who knew her life would one day be as surprising and memorable as a day at the circus. With clear eyes and startling frankness, she depicts the full evolution of her marriage to Norman Mailer, from the white-hot beginning through the very rocky patches to the mournful ending, offering an incredibly intimate perspective on this legendary man of letters. ‘A Ticket to the Circus’ is an intelligent, bittersweet memoir that will enchant readers with its charm and insight into how we grow up and how we love.”

Author Joyce Carol Oates comments: “‘A Ticket to the Circus’ is a remarkable memoir—blunt, funny, extraordinarily candid and self-aware; deeply moving, as it is wonderfully entertaining; above all, a memorable double portrait of two very unusual people, a couple for whom the term meant for each other is wholly appropriate.”

Norris Church Mailer is the author of two previous books, “Windchill Summer” and “Cheap Diamonds.” Now living in Brooklyn, she is the mother of two sons, two stepsons, and five stepdaughters, as well as a grandmother to two and step-grandmother to nine. She has lived with cancer since 1999.

UALR’s Percussion Ensemble will present a benefit concert at 7 p.m. March 18 in Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall of the Fine Arts Building.

Admission is $10, and tickets will be available at the door.  This concert is open to the public.

The program will include selections from Pink Floyd presenting Part 1 through 5 of “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” and other selections from their very successful album Wish You Were Here. Previously, the Percussion Ensemble has arranged and performed the entire album Dark Side of the Moon during the 2008-2009 season.

In addition to the arrangements of Pink Floyd, the ensemble will present a new arrangement of Radio Head’s “Weird Fishes” by Percussion Ensemble Member Virgle Lyons.  This original arrangement seeks to capture both the unique falsetto sound of Thom Yorke’s vocals and the beat-heavy influences in Radiohead’s music.

The concert will open with “Mozambique” by Chris Brooks, and “Blue Rhythm” by Anthony Korf. The program will also include San Francisco Composer Anthony J. Cirone’s “4/4 for Four,” a staple in the literature for percussion ensembles.

This concert will benefit the ensemble’s annual tour and help raise funds to offer the first percussion ensemble camp for high school students in June.

For the past three years, the Percussion Ensemble has worked with the International House of Blues Foundation in New Orleans, performing for inner-city and at-risk youth and at the House of Blues Club itself. Celebrating 10-plus years, the high-energy Percussion Ensemble has performed throughout the Midwest and South presenting concerts and clinics for students of all ages. The UALR Percussion Ensemble explores a wide repertoire representing the most current and recognized composers of the time.

To reserve tickets, call 501-569-8993.

Analyzing research in workshops earlier this month, composition instructors in UALR’s Department of Rhetoric and Writing say the composition program can improve student retention.

Not only do most students take composition during the time they are most vulnerable to dropping out – the earliest semesters of their college experience – but many of the practices involved in teaching composition are the same types of practices that have a positive effect on student retention.

“What we are learning from our research is that retention is everyone’s job,” said Dr. George Jensen, chair of Rhetoric and Writing. “We believe we are already having a substantial positive impact on student retention, and we hope that the brainstorming that took place in these sessions can help move all of our instructors to a higher level of mindfulness about the positive role they can play in this area.”

He said retention is really all about connection: connecting students to the university, to one another, to the instructor, and to positive attitudes about remaining in college.

“We believe that writing is one way to help facilitate those connections,” he said. “In our writing courses, students conference one-on-one with instructors, and they participate in peer feedback groups.”

Instructors emerged from the sessions with new ideas about how they can best contribute to student success. The department plans to incorporate their findings into their pre-semester workshops and follow up with similar sessions in the future.

UALR’s Community Chorus will present Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 3 at Second Presbyterian Church located at 600 Pleasant Valley Drive in Little Rock.

General admission is $10. UALR students, faculty, and staff are admitted free of charge, but must present a valid University ID when picking up tickets in Room 151 in the Fine Arts Building. For more information, contact the UALR Music Department box office at 501-569-8993.

Elijah will be performed in English, translated from the original German by Mendelssohn himself.

Founded by Dr. Bevan Keating in 2004, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Community Chorus is comprised of over 90 members drawn from UALR students, faculty, and staff, as well as members of the greater Little Rock community. The chorus is open to singers at all levels of musical ability who wish to participate in choral masterpieces accompanied by professional musicians.

Illustration: Life-size ceramic dog sculpture by Trevor Bennett, UALR graduate. Armadillo stoneware vase by Amy Bennett, UALR graduate.

UALR’s Friends of the Arts presents a special art exhibit featuring UALR faculty, students, and graduates from 5 to 7:30 p.m. March 18 at Thoma Thoma, located in the Arkansas Capital Commerce Center.

The Arkansas Capital Commerce Center is located at 200 South Commerce. Thoma Thoma is Suite 501.

Friends of the Arts is a volunteer organization that supports the fine arts programs of the UALR College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. These programs include the Departments of Art, Music, and Theatre and Dance, along with the Artspree concert series.

For a map and parking information, click here.

UALR’s Department of Theatre Arts and Dance will present The 2010 Fringe Festival, a collection of student plays, at 8 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, March 16 through 18, in the Haislip Arena Theatre of the Center for Performing Arts.

The Fringe Festival will feature six 10-minute plays which are student acted, directed, written, and produced. The students are mentored by UALR faculty. Tickets are $7 for the general public, $5 for students and senior citizens.

For more information and reservations, call 569-3256.

The guest playwright for this year’s festival is Jack Heifner. Heifner is best known for his play Vanities, which ran for five years in New York and became one of the longest running plays in off-Broadway history. He is also the author of Patio/Porch, Natural Disasters, Running on Empty, and many other plays produced in New York, Los Angeles, and theatres around the country. Heifner is currently the playwright-in-residence at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he teaches play, screen, and television writing each spring.

The Fringe Festvial process begins with annual playwriting contest. Six plays were chosen for production from the submissions. Heifner will select 3 winners from the productions and the authors will receive cash prizes.

The plays to be produced for the 2010 Fringe Festival are:

Poupee de la Mort by Jonathan Eller

The View by Suzi Garcia

The Hoax by Sophie King

Silent, She Cries by Brianna Wesley

An Artist’s Rendering by Tyler Whiteside

Dogs by Jeff Wright

Honorable mentions were Blame by Robert Bruno and Suzy and Fred Contained by Jaala Holmes.