Acansa Arts Festival announces program
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Acansa Festival
The Southern Acansa Arts Festival returns in September after a year off due to the pandemic, with performances by over a dozen music, dance and theater groups and solo artists over three weekends at multiple venues in Little Rock and North Little Rock.
Tickets are $ 30 to $ 40; a $ 100 Festival Flex Pass covers four paid events. Festival Gold passes, $ 250, include access to all paid events. And a 2021-22 season pass, $ 400, also includes a December 6 performance of “A Carpenter’s Christmas,” the March 2022 Charlotte Gadberry Prize presentation, and a June 2022 show to be announced.
- Range :
- â¼ï¸ Opening reception, 5:30 p.m., September 9, Cranford Co. Studio, 512 Main St., Little Rock. Release
- â¼ï¸ âFancifou! “ September 9-10 at 7 p.m., Cranford Co. Studio. $ 30. Actress-dancer-comedy Ananda Bena-Weber, in her one-woman show, reveals the humorous side of New York life through dramatic and comedic dialogue, song, dance, mime, vocal impressions and cinema.
- â¼ï¸ Las Cafeterias, 8 p.m. Sept. 10, The Rail Yard, 1212 E. Sixth St, Little Rock. $ 30. Afro-Mexican set.
- â¼ï¸ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Bluegrass Band, 7:30 p.m., Sept. 11, Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave., Little Rock. $ 35. Dave Walser (guitar / vocals), Bach Norwood (double bass / vocals), Reginald Rueffer (violin / violin / vocals) and Gerald Jones (banjo / mandolin).
- â¼ï¸ “Steel Magnolias” by Robert Harling, September 15-26, Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main Street, North Little Rock. $ 35.
- â¼ï¸ Pearl Django, 7:00 p.m., September 16, The Joint Theater and Coffeehouse, 301 Main Street, North Little Rock. $ 30. Hot Club style jazz ensemble.
- â¼ï¸ Nick shoulders, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16, The Rail Yard. $ 30. Country roots music “with a penchant for the absurd”.
- â¼ï¸ Bonnie montgomery, 8 p.m. Sept. 17, Argenta Plaza, 510 Main Street, North Little Rock. Release.
- â¼ï¸ Saxophonist Louis Fouché, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17, Wildwood Park for the Arts, 20919 Denny Road, Little Rock. $ 30.
- â¼ï¸ Singer-guitarist David starr, 7 p.m. Sept. 18, The Joint Theater and Coffeehouse. $ 30.
- â¼ï¸ Tidy tank top, 7:30 p.m. September 18, Ron Robinson Theater. $ 35. Grammy Award-winning Gullah Quintet from Charleston, SC
- â¼ï¸ 10 minute game showcase, 7:00 p.m., Sept. 22, Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, 204 E. Fourth St., North Little Rock. Release.
- â¼ï¸ The reminders, 7 p.m. Sept. 23, The Rail Yard. $ 30. Duo Roots – Brussels-born host Big Samir and Queens-born host / singer Aja Black.
- â¼ï¸ Jazz at the joint, 7 p.m. September 23, The Joint Theater and Coffeehouse. $ 30. Khari Allen Lee, saxophone; Ted Ludwig, guitar; Peter Slavov, bass; Geoff Clapp, drums.
- â¼ï¸ Rodney Marsalis and the Philadelphia Brass Band, 7:30 p.m. September 24, Ron Robinson Theater. $ 35.
- â¼ï¸ “Cocktail hour: the show” by Ballets with a Twist, 8 p.m. Sept. 25, Center for Arts and Humanities Theater, University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College Main Campus, 3300 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock. $ 40.
Acansa will follow up-to-date Covid protocols, including those issued by the CDC and festival venues, so seats may be limited even in the largest venues. Call (501) 663-2287 or visit acansa.org.
UCA shows
“Summer – The Donna Summer Musical” will be performing on January 24 at the Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway, opens its 2021-22 season of live performances at full capacity 7:30 p.m. on September 30 with “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story.”
The rest of the Hall’s Broadway, Pops and Night Out series will include 22 shows; unless otherwise indicated, all performances are at 7:30 p.m.
- Broadway Series (touring shows)
- â¼ï¸ November 30: “An Officer and a Gentleman”
- â¼ï¸ January 24: “Summer – The Donna Summer Musical”
- â¼ï¸ April 19: STOMP
- â¼ï¸ April 22: “South Pacific” by Rodgers & Hammerstein
- Evening Series
- â¼ï¸ November 16: Cirque Mechanics birdhouse factory
- â¼ï¸ January 29: Ballet Folklorico de Mexico
- â¼ï¸ February 23: Yamato: the drummers of Japan
- â¼ï¸ March 8: “Lucy Loves Desi: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom”
- Pops Series
- â¼ï¸ October 21: 38 special
- â¼ï¸ December 5: Postmodern Jukebox: The grand reopening tour
- â¼ï¸ 10 Dec. : “Christmas with CeCe Winans”
- â¼ï¸ February 4: “Chris Thile Live in Concert”
- Storytellers Series
- â¼ï¸ February 8: âAt 15 on the road to freedomâ with Lynda Blackmon Lowery
- â¼ï¸ March 2: “Warriors Don’t Cry”, followed by a Q&A with Stacy James McAdoo and a performance by The Writeous Poets of Little Rock Central High School
- â¼ï¸ April 7: “Pachuquismo” with Catherine S. Ramirez
- MAIN COURSE EDUCATION
- â¼ï¸ January 27: “School House Rock Live!”, Student show at 10 a.m., public show at 6 p.m.
- â¼ï¸ February 8: âWe are 15 years old on the road to freedomâ, 10 am student program
- â¼ï¸ February 10: “Dog Man: The Musical”, student show at 10 a.m., public show at 6 p.m.
- â¼ï¸ March 2: “Warriors Don’t Cry”, 10am student show
- â¼ï¸ March 17: “Paddington Gets in a Jam”, student show at 10 a.m., public show at 6 p.m.
- â¼ï¸ April 7: “Pachuquismo”, student show at 10am
- Add
- â¼ï¸ February 1: “The world of musicals”
Subscription renewals are available now; the new subscriptions go on sale August 2. The performing arts season packages are from $ 245 to $ 380; individual series packages (Night Out, Pops, Broadway) are $ 90 to $ 130. Single tickets – $ 30 to $ 40, with discounts for kids and students – go on sale September 7. Storytellers cost $ 15, kids / students $ 5. Call (501) 450-3265 or visit uca.edu/reynolds.
The roots of jazz

Wild Ponies launches the West Street Live 2021-22 series at the Walton Arts Center on October 21. (Special for the Democrat-Gazette)
A show from October 21 at 7:30 p.m. by the Appalachian group Wild ponies kicks off 2021-22 West Street Live series of more intimate performances by bands, musicians and singer-songwriters a variety of genres ranging from traditional roots music to immigrant folk songs to Walton Center for the Arts in Fayetteville, 495 W. Dickson St.
- The rest of the program (all performances at 7:30 p.m. at the Starr Theater in the center):
- â¼ï¸ December 9: Bluesman Ray Bonneville
- â¼ï¸ February 19: Ensemble Roots American Patchwork Quartet
- â¼ï¸ March 4: multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Darrell Scott
- â¼ï¸ May 5: Roots music by Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem
Tickets for the five-show package cost $ 160.
And The Huntertones open the center 2021-22 StarrlightJazz Club, September 10 at the Starr Theater.
- The rest of the program: (all shows at 7:30 p.m. at the Starr Theater):
- â¼ï¸ October 22: Jane Bunnett and Maqueque
- â¼ï¸ December 10: Samara Joy
- â¼ï¸ February 18: Sullivan Fortner Trio
- â¼ï¸ March 5: Clark Gibson Quintet
Five-show packages are $ 155 to $ 240.
Call (479) 443-5600 or visit waltonartscenter.org.
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