Theaters stage holiday shows around the state
Perhaps you’ve been dazzled by Christmas displays and spent cozy nights gathered ’round the Christmas tree. If you are still looking to make more holiday memories, put on some nice clothes, get out of the house, and see a festive show.
Theater companies and arts centers around the state are ready to meet this need. December offers several chances to check out stage musicals and Christmas comedies. Yes, a production of “A Christmas Carol” is on the schedule as well as two different takes on “A Christmas Story.” Check out the list below or call your nearest local theater, and get ready to make your holiday that much merrier.
Fayetteville’s powerhouse, award-winning theater company, TheatreSquared (T2), is staging its original adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” for the sixth year in a row and the final time for the foreseeable future.
“We’re doing something else next year,” says T2 Artistic Director Bob Ford, co-writer with Amy Herzberg of the play adaptation. “We’re not ready to announce it, but it will be Christmassy.”
Herzberg, T2 associate artistic director, says their adaptation considers how “Dickens empathizes profoundly with children and revels in family. He trains our eyes on the forgotten corners of humanity. His characters are indelible.”
Ford and Herzberg’s “A Christmas Carol” opens in a Victorian library on Christmas Eve, days after Dickens’ novel was released. Pretty soon the world of Ebenezer Scrooge is brought to life as a librarian reads the new novel to a young girl waiting on her parents. Ghosts, dance, song and stage magic are part of TheatreSquared’s holiday production.
“A Christmas Carol,” through Dec. 24, TheatreSquared, Fayetteville. Tickets: $20-$71.
(479) 777-7477. theatre2.org.
For ages, Little Rock’s Murry’s Dinner Playhouse has provided the rare combo of dinner and a show under one roof and for one price.This year, Murry’s holiday show is “White Christmas,” a musical
at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse in
Little Rock
comedy adaptation from the classic film of the same name. Music? Laughs? Cocktails? A buffet? Irving Berlin’s popular songs, including “White Christmas?” Not bad for a night out.
It was 1983 when the film, “A Christmas Story,” was released and, in the years since, Ralphie and his desire for a Red Ryder BB gun have become fixed in Christmas lore. The popularity of “A Christmas Story” has resulted in a traditional play and musical adaptation for the stage. North Little Rock’s Argenta Contemporary Theatre tackles its version starting on Dec. 4.
“[The musical] really honors the movie,” Director Anna Kimmell says. “It’s a really creative script. Ralphie has this big imagination, and we get to see that in these dream sequences that become big production numbers. The boy we have playing Ralphie is a standout. Audiences are going to love him.”
“A Christmas Story the Musical,” Dec. 4-22, Argenta Contemporary Theatre, North Little Rock. Tickets: $28-$48. (501) 353-1443. argentacontemporarytheatre.org.
The Russellville Arts Center is bringing in a different type of holiday diversion with “One Christmas Night in Memphis Tribute.” The show is an evening of impersonators of legendary musicians Johnny
Cash, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis gathered together singing their hits. They’ll also perform favorite holiday songs, including “Jingle Bell Rock,” “White Christmas,” “Run, Run, Rudolph,” “Blue Christmas” and many more.
Powered by a rockabilly band, the show is 90 minutes of country, gospel and 1950s rock ‘n’ roll.
“One Christmas Night in Memphis Tribute,” 6 p.m. Dec. 7, Russellville Arts Center, Russellville. Tickets: $25-$35.
(479) 498-6600. russellvillecenter.net.
The Fort Smith Little Theatre is one of the state’s most prominent, long-running community theaters. For the Christmas season, the theater has a rare offering: a brand-new play. “A Hall & Mark Christmas” is the story of a “big city businesswoman (Hall) who returns home for her least favorite holiday — Christmas — and connects with an old flame (Mark).” The creators promise “wholesome jokes, Christmas carols and a little romance.”
“A Hall & Mark Christmas,” Dec. 12-14, Fort Smith Little Theatre, Fort Smith. Tickets: $7. (479) 783-2966. fslt.org.
If you are up in Northwest Arkansas and have a craving for “A Christmas Story” experience, Rogers’ Victory Theater is producing the film adaptation without the music. You may or may not be
Jonesboro.
encouraged to shout, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!” along with the cast.
“A Christmas Story,” Dec. 20-22, Victory Theater. Tickets: $20.25-$28.50. arkansaspublictheatre.org.
NOTE: Performances for Victory Theater shows, including “A Christmas Story,” are being held at The Medium, 214 S. Main St., Springdale, while repairs are being made at the Victory Theater due to tornado damage.
Started by a junior theater student at Arkansas State University, Jonesboro’s Spotlight Theatre is a brand-new company with a grand total of three productions to its name. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is Spotlight’s first Junior Musical Theatre Intensive and promises to bring to life the beloved animated TV Christmas special with Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and the rest of the “Peanuts” gang.