Highlights- TheatreSquared's latest, The Dylan Show, Holidays at the Museums,
The Dylan Show
A laidback night listening to the music Bob Dylan performed live, cocktail in hand, seems like a fine way to spend a Wednesday night this holiday season. To partake, head to the Green Door where six Northwest Arkansas singer songwriters will pay tribute to Dylan and showcase some of their own original tunes. The Green Door is a great atmosphere for shows like this and over the last few months Wednesday nights there have become a popular destination for acoustic music fans. The club has given the Wednesday night stage to the talented Paul Boatright who has been hosting local singer songwriters and bringing them to the spotlight. Boatright is taking this Wednesday off and has handed over the reins to musical pal, Wade Ogle. Ogle will also be be performing along with Mike Blackwell, Bryce Harrison, Effron White, Jovan Arranello and Kale Ogle. The Green Door is located in the Evelyn Hill Shopping Center on North College Avenue. Show at 8:30 p.m. Tickets $5 at the door. Boatright will be back for the Wednesday shows on Dec. 5.
Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol
Theatre Squared is offering respite from holiday stress by bringing the irreverent, but moving, comedy Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol to NWA audiences for an 11 day run, that begins this Friday night. The play borrows characters from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and is from the viewpoint of the ghost of Jacob Marley. Marley, who is almost as unlikable as the better-known Scrooge, tries to redeem Scrooge’s soul and also his own as he journeys to the gates of hell assisted by a malicious hell-sprite Cast members are Mark Landon Smith, Rebecca Harris, Bryce Kemph and John Thomas Smith. Shows this Friday, Saturday and Sunday and Nov. 29, 30, Dec. 1-2 and Dec. 6-8 at the Walton Arts Center’s Nadine Baum Studio. Recommended for ages 10 and older. Tickets $22 by calling 571-2828.
Catch the holiday spirit at the local museums
Northwest Arkansas historical museums will help jump start the holiday season by bringing back memories of the holidays as they used to be—before the shopping malls. Both the Rogers Historical Museum in downtown Rogers and the Shiloh Museum in Springdale will hold open house events that will feature decorations and activities of early Christmases.
This week, the Rogers Historical Museum will host their annual holiday open house from 12:30 to 4 p.m. on Sunday. As always, the 1895 Hawkins House will be decorated for Christmas in period style and there will be activities for young and old. This year’s theme is “Here Come’s Santa Claus.” The museum will trace the history of the jolly elf and how his image has changed over the years. Long ago Americans imagined Santa as a skinny fellow in a tri-cornered hat and yellow stockings. But by the early 1900’s the image of Santa had evolved into the plump, jolly man that we know today. Hawkins House Christmas tours will be available through Dec. 29. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
While you are there, take in a new exhibit at the museum building next door to the Hawkins House. “Down a Lazy River” investigates float fishing on the White River. Prior to the construction of a series of dams, float fishing was common along the more than 700 miles of the White. The first commercial fishing trips on the Arkansas portions of the river began around 1899. These trips typically lasted several days and the passengers would have to return to their starting points by either train or horsedrawn wagon. The exhibit features vintage photographs, maps, fishing lures, rods and reels and a scaled-down replica of a traditional wooden johnboat.
The Shiloh Museum will hold their annual holiday open house—their 31st—from 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 2. Santa Claus will be there and there will be holiday goodies and spiced cider. The Sons of the Confederate Veterans will recreate Christmas in 1863. There will be dulcimer music by Mitsy Kellam and short Christmas silent movies. There will be an ornament workshop for kids, scenes from Romeo and Juliet by elementary school students and exhibits of gingerbread houses and ceramics. Nature photographer and author Tim Ernst will present a program on Arkansas waterfalls.
