Joseph And The Amazing Tech

Shakespeare and More

T

he Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre folks were celebrating after opening night of As You Like It.

The weather was perfect on the Green at The Village at Hendrix. Tents sheltering artists were reminiscent of a Renaissance Faire.

There was entertainment, piano music by Director Andrew Hamm. What a talent.

A big crowd came that first night and more came the next and the most came on the last night, Sunday.

Performing outdoors was a first for AST. I betcha they do it again. The play now moves indoors to the Argenta Theater in North Little Rock. They are hoping to extend their reach to audiences throughout Central Arkansas.

In the meantime, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” opens tonight at 7:30 at Reynolds Performance Hall and “Tortoise and the Hare” continues at 2 p.m. Friday. “Othello” opens at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

For ticket information and a complete calendar, call 501-450-3265 or check the website at www.arkshakes.com The listings are also included in our Roundabout on the front page of the Log Cabin.

Many thanks to Bobby Kelly for the beautiful photos on this page.

A 50-YEAR REUNION of folks who attended Dixie Band Camp slipped by me. I was there, 50 years ago. (Irk!)

How thrilled my parents must have been to send me away for three weeks in the summer, three years in a row.

The first year for me was at A&M, the Arkansas one in Monticello; the next year we were at Tech. Dixie returned to A&M for my last year in 1961. I was a captain that year, a great honor that provided a scholarship and, best I remember, required only my checking rooms for cleanliness. There must have been more to it than that.

I remember most of it vividly. Mostly I remember the great musicians.

Gene Witherspoon and his son Chris from Russellville were amazing.

Butch Bradberry, a trombonist, called himself the Thane of Letona. He became the band director in Searcy, his hometown.

Joe Frank Phelps of Conway was a stand-out trumpet player. He is now professor emeritus at Appalachian State University in North Carolina where he taught music for 30 years. He wrote a book for beginning trumpet players.

A kid from Hot Springs who played saxophone grew up to be President of the United States.

Our band director, Tom Kinser, was on the Dixie board, so fellow Ricebirds were encouraged to go. He had high expectations for us. If we didn’t play better, he’d threaten, he was going to quit and sell insurance. We tried very hard.

Theatre record

International who's who in music and musicians' directory, (in the classical and light classical fields)

St. James encyclopedia of popular culture

Off-centre stages, fringe theatre at the Open Space and the Round House 1968-1983

World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre, The Americas