What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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MONICA HOOPER NWA Democrat-Gazette T he Walton Arts Center hits its 30-year mark on April 26. And "we started presenting Broadway shows right out of the gate — six shows in the first season," enthuses Jennifer Ross, director of programming. "In the early years, we would have presented a single or maybe two performances for each production, and the number of performances grew over the years as our subscriber numbers grew," she explains. "One of the big leaps of faith for WAC is when we decided to do the first eight- performance run of the musical 'Cats' in our 11th season (2002- 03). The next big leap was with our 16-performance run of Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' in our 19th season (2010-11) during the summer! "Our subscription season is now a solid six-show season, and each show presents eight performances … and we usually bring in one or two other Broadway-style shows for a weekend," Ross goes on. "Our Broadway audience is strong and supportive! Without the audience we have, there's no way that could have pulled off the two-week run of 'Hamilton.'" Ross adds that "in our upcoming season, 'Moulin Rouge! The Musical' will present 14 performances, and we'll also be announcing a couple of additional Broadway 'specials' when we announce the rest of our season." Ross is on the cusp of celebrating two decades of helping Walton Arts Center grow into the powerhouse that it is today. "I've always been interested in theater and was lucky enough to grow up in a town with a very good repertory theater. In high school, visual arts became my passion and my degree is in (visual) arts education," she says. "I was first hired as the school programs administrator for Walton Arts Center — [and] I jumped in feet first and immediately started learning as much as I could about everything. My career at WAC has mostly been as a member of the programming team, but at various times has included overseeing both the back-of- house and front-of-house teams, overseeing client usage of the building, artist services and all sorts of things." Nowadays Ross is a Tony voter who is instrumental in bringing selected Broadway shows to Northwest Arkansas. Every year, she and Scott Galbraith, also a Tony voter and vice president of programming, host a fun-filled sneak peek for Broadway subscribers. This year, she even got Galbraith to don a pair of red high heels when announcing the Arkansas premiere of "Tootsie: The Musical," which will begin its run on Jan. 17 as part of the 2022-23 P&G Broadway season. The upcoming season also includes "My Fair Lady," "Pretty Woman: The Musical," "Chicago" and "Hadestown." She says that the Broadway shows are "the backbone of our presenting season" and that bringing shows to Baum Walker Theater is a "team effort." But they are more than just Broadway. "The majority of our shows each season are not touring Broadway shows, so none of us can focus just on Broadway. WAC AT 30 8 WHAT'S UP! APRIL 24-30, 2022 Jennifer Ross, director of programming for the Walton Arts Center, has served in many roles in her nearly two decades with the arts and cultural organization. (Courtesy Photo/WAC) Touring shows form backbone of WAC programming See Touring Shows Page 38