9 minute read
THE TO-DO LIST
BY STEPHANIE SMITTLE
Booster up, mask up and support your local creatives however you can. We’re still in a pandemic, and an increasing number of shows require proof of vaccination, so make sure you have that card ready to go. Gathering safely again is a work in progress; be on the lookout for policy changes or date changes, and handle them with all the grace you can summon.
COURTESY SIMMONS BANK ARENA
JOJO SIWA
MONDAY 1/31. SIMMONS BANK ARENA. 7 P.M. $40-$70.
Wielder of gigantic hair bows, “Dance Moms” vet and, now, young queer icon, Jojo Siwa is a Nickelodeon mogul, reigning over an empire built on glitter, rainbows, TikTok and bubblegum dance pop. Siwa told People Magazine earlier this year that she considers herself “the happiest human alive,” and after watching her interview on “4D with Demi Lovato,” I 100% believe her. Siwa’s concert at Simmons Bank Arena is going to feel like walking into a Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper universe in which all roads lead to Jojo, clad in a couture glitter jumpsuit, swinging her giant blonde ponytail and leading chants that every tween in your life knows by heart (#BestiesNotBullies) and imploring you to “D.R.E.A.M. with me!” Get tickets at simmonsbankarena.com.
ELTON JOHN
Though he’s arguably more famous these days for being “Lion King”-rich and taking phone calls from Vladimir Putin, pianist and composer Sir Elton John’s 50-plus-year partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin has yielded some of the most moving melodies of our time, even if you chose to ignore the mega-hits. Shove past “Candle in the Wind” and “Crocodile Rock” and you’ll find the virtuosic mandolin in “Holiday Inn,” the immaculate couplets of poetry in “This Song Has No Title,” and the grand operatic scale of the “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” medley, for example. Elton’s post-“Rocketman” biopic, pandemic-era playlists are packed with enough “Bennie and the Jets” to please the crowd, with plenty left for those of us who came to hear “Border Song” and “Burn Down the Mission.”
SATURDAY 1/22. RON ROBINSON THEATER. 6 P.M. $15.
Once upon a time, a young, idealistic lawyer named Clarke Tucker ran to represent Arkansas’s 2nd District in U.S. Congress, and lost. “A Good Campaign,” made and directed by filmmakers Gerard Matthews and Kathryn Tucker — executive director of the Arkansas Cinema Society and also Clarke’s sister — documents the guts and heartbreak of that campaign during its last four days. It also paints a picture of our divisive political landscape, giving a sense of why, as Matthews said, “Democrats can’t win here anymore, not even Tucker, who has a great record, bipartisan allies in the legislature, and who ran a solid campaign.” Clarke Tucker and the directors of the film give a Q&A session after the film, moderated by Bill Vickery and Skip Rutherford. A reception at Cache Restaurant follows. “100 percent of all ticket proceeds and donations,” the release states, “will go to the Arkansas film crew who volunteered their time and talent to make the film.” Get tickets at bit.ly/agoodcampaign.
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason’s TV series “Designing Women” may have been dripping with late-’80s topical humor (and shoulder pads to match), but many of its fiery takedowns of misogyny, homophobia and redstate hypocrisy — many of them from the mouth of Dixie Carter’s inimitable Julia Sugarbaker — would feel right at home in 2022. Maybe that’s why it’s so fitting that the bold belles of the Sugarbaker interior design firm are back in a Trump-informed era, this time as characters in a two-act stage play. The Rep’s co-production of the show with Fayetteville’s TheatreSquared is directed by Bloodworth-Thomason’s husband and collaborator, Harry Thomason, and imagines Julia, Suzanne, Mary Jo, Charlene and Co. in Atlanta circa 2020. Get tickets at therep.org.
ARKANSAS SHORTS
SATURDAY 1/8-SUNDAY 1/9. MALCO THEATRE, HOT SPRINGS.
There’s a lot to love about Low Key Arts’ annual short film fest — the post-holiday conviviality, the variety in the film selections, the revived vintage theater in which it’s held. This year, the one-night-only fest is doubling down for an entire weekend, the result of “a tremendous outpouring of creative energy” following two years in quarantine,” film program director Jen Gerber said. Films made during Low Key Arts’ Inception to Projection filmmaking program and its summer sketch comedy workshop, in partnership with the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival’s filmmaking boot camp, receive their premiere here, along with a handful of short films from Arkansas and otherwise — Larry Foley’s “Bass Reeves, The Invincible Black Marshal,” about the legendary Arkansas-born lawman; Luis Hernandez’s “Los Vagos,” which sees Little Rock through the lens of a VHS camera; Molly Wheat’s drama-by-way-of-voicemail “Call Me When You Can”; Samson Sorluangsana’s storm-tossed nightmare “Tempest” and more. Get tickets and a full lineup at lowkeyarts.org.
JOAN MARCUS
THURSDAY 1/6-SATURDAY 1/8. ROBINSON CENTER.
Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter took “Fiddler’s” original staging by Jerome Robbins and channeled it into this touring production from Tony winner Joseph Stein and Pulitzer Prize winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. The musical is timeless for a reason; its themes of cultural warfare and family growing pains, as seen through the eyes of a milkman named Tevye, are intensely rendered and perennial, and tunes like “Sunrise, Sunset,” which Harnick adapted in 2011 for use in same-sex weddings, are the very reason people fall in love with Broadway musicals in the first place. Get tickets at celebrityattractions.com.
ESTERIO SEGURA, “HYBRID OF CHRYSLER,” FROM “EVERYONE WANTS TO FLY”
ARTE CUBANO
TUESDAY 1/18-TUESDAY 3/8. WINDGATE CENTER OF ART + DESIGN, UA LITTLE ROCK. 10 A.M.-4 P.M. MON.-FRI. FREE.
This new exhibit at UA Little Rock’s Manners/Papas and Brad Cushman galleries features work from more than 25 Cuban artists — Sandra Ramos Lorenzo, Esterio Segura, Frank Mattinez and Yoan Capote among them. “The island geography and political intensity of Cuba inform the work in a way that is immediately identifiable,” a release states, “often concealing coded, even subversive, ideas while simultaneously celebrating the richness of Cuba’s cultural identity. Peeling away the layers of Cuban art often reveals a story of struggle caused by economic and political consequences, and the social upheaval that a true revolution produces.” Organized by Exhibits USA, “Arte Cubano” is supplemented by works from the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, the UA Little Rock Collection and from a local private collection. The exhibition is free and open to the public or by appointment.
JAZZ AT THE JOINT
THURSDAY 1/13. THE JOINT, 301 N. MAIN ST., NORTH LITTLE ROCK. $30.
One of the best listening rooms for music in Central Arkansas is in an Argenta storefront near the banks of the Arkansas River, with 100 seats, a full bar and a damn good coffee bar. The Joint’s wide-ranging comedy programming has reopened for business, and now its trio of music and storytelling series is back, too: Argenta Acoustic Music Series, Potluck & Poison Ivy and Jazz at the Joint. Hosted by guitarist Ted Ludwig, this installment of the Jazz at the Joint series features guitarist Peter Bernstein, whose elegant approach has decorated work by Diana Krall and Sonny Rollins. For a preview, head to YouTube and check out Bernstein’s handiwork on “Bones,” a live studio set for KNKX Public Radio. Get tickets at jazzatthejoint.org.
MARY BRIDGET DAVIES
WEDNESDAY 1/19. THE HALL. $70-$250.
There is only one Janis Joplin, but vocalist Mary Bridget Davies will make you look twice. Davies won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Janis in “A Night With Janis Joplin,” and performs here — on what would have been Janis’ 79th birthday — as a guest of Opera in the Rock, whose incoming CEO Fred Owens has big ideas about connecting audiences with the beauty and diversity of the human voice. A pre-concert VIP cocktail reception precedes the fully-seated concert, as well as a private afterparty with the singer; see details on those packages at littlerockhall.com or at oitr.org.
ARKANSAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: TCHAIKOVSKY’S VIOLIN CONCERTO
SATURDAY 1/29-SUNDAY 1/30. ROBINSON CENTER. 7:30 P.M. SAT., 3 P.M. SUN.
Violinist Shannon Lee (pictured) made her solo debut at the age of 12 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and it seems to have worked out pretty well since then. With a handful of prestigious competition titles, a debut recording of 20th century violin-piano works and appearances with the Nashville Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Fresno Philharmonic and Phoenix Symphony under her belt, Lee guests here on Tchaikovsky’s technical tour de force violin concerto. She’s joined by Andrew Crust, current assistant conductor at the Vancouver Symphony and former assistant conductor at the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, guest conducting for the weekend.
ARGENTA ACOUSTIC MUSIC SERIES: FINGER FOOD
THURSDAY 1/20. THE JOINT, NORTH LITTLE ROCK. 7:30 P.M. $30.
This Little Rock-based trio is something of a fingerstyle guitar supergroup, with sensibilities that draw from jazz, Celtic traditions and classical music. Steve Davison, Danny Dozier and Micky Rigby have been playing together for about six years, if you don’t count the two years lost to the pandemic, and this concert from the Argenta Acoustic Music Series celebrates what the series is all about: delicate guitar work heard in a pure acoustic setting, peppered with stories and introductions to custom-built and historic instruments. Get tickets at argentaacoustic. com.
FOX GREEN
SUNDAY 1/23. WHITE WATER TAVERN. 6 P.M. $10.
When your band’s rhythm guitar player is the director of one of the largest hospital systems in the state during a global pandemic, album release parties tend to take a back seat. That’s how it went for Fox Green, anyway, whose member Dr. Cam Patterson led UAMS’ efforts to quell the virus’ surges in Arkansas. Recorded, mixed and mastered to great effect by Jason Weinheimer of Fellowship Hall Sound, “The Longest April” is polished, mature rock, with thoughtful work from guitarist Wayne Derden, upright bassist Steve Kapp, and drummer Dave Hoffpauir, plus cameos from Lisa Walker of Wussy, Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie and Peter Stamfel of Holy Modal Rounders. This album release party has been a long time coming and is destined to be a great show. Get tickets at whitewatertavern.com.
MODELING, CHORD JOCKS, WAY AWAY
FRIDAY 1/28. WHITE WATER TAVERN. 9 P.M. $10.
The utterly un-Google-able Fayetteville outfit Modeling made one of our favorite tracks of 2021 in “Nothing Unexpected,” a synth-loaded fever dream with avant-garde cellist Christian Serrano-Torres. They play at the White Water Tavern ahead of the release of their debut album, “Somewhere Before,” with opening sets from hip-hop instrumentalists Chord Jocks and beloved local dream pop weavers Way Away. Get tickets at whitewatertavern.com and bring your dancing shoes.
