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Puppets, Poets And A Meteor Shower Arkansas Public Theatre sets Season 36 MAY 2-8, 2021 WHAT'S UP! 3 FYI Arkansas Public Theatre Season 36 "Avenue Q" — Although the show addresses humorous adult issues, it is similar to a beloved children's show: a place where puppets are friends, Monsters are good, and life lessons are learned as a recent college grad named Princeton moves into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on Avenue Q. Show dates: Sept. 10-12, 16-19 & 23-26. Audi- tions: July 26. "A Fox on the Fairway" — Filled with mistaken identities, slamming doors and over-the-top romantic shenanigans, it is a charmingly madcap farce about love, life and man's eter- nal affair with golf. Show dates: Oct. 29-31 & Nov. 4-7. Auditions: Sept. 13. "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" — In this hilarious Christmas classic, a couple strug- gling to put on a church Christmas pageant are faced with casting the Herdman kids — probably the most inventively awful kids in history. Show dates: Dec. 10-12 & Dec. 16-19. Auditions: Nov. 1. "Something Rotten" — Nick and Nigel Bottom set out to write the world's very first musical. But amidst the scandalous excitement of opening night, the Bottom Brothers realize that reach- ing the top means being true to thine own self — and all that jazz. Show dates: Feb. 11-13, 17-20 & 24-27, 2022. Auditions: Dec. 13. "Meteor Shower" — Corky and Norm are excited to host Gerald and Laura at their home in the valley outside Los Angeles to watch a once- in-a-lifetime meteor shower. But as the stars come out and the conversation gets rolling, it becomes clear that Gerald and Laura might not be all that they appear to be. Show dates: March 25-27, March 31-April 3, 2022. Auditions: Feb. 14, 2022. "The Revolutionists" — Playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen (and fan of ribbons) Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle hang out, murder Marat, and try to beat back the extremist insanity in 1793 Paris in this new comedy by Lauren Gunderson. Show dates: May 6-7 & May 12-15, 2022. Auditions: March 28, 2022. "Art" — How much would you pay for a white painting? Would it matter who the painter was? Would it be art? One of Marc's best friends, Serge, has just bought a very expen- sive — and huge — painting that's all white with white diagonal lines. To Marc, the paint- ing is a joke, but Serge insists Marc doesn't have the proper standard to judge the work. Show dates: June 17-18 & June 23-26, 2022. Auditions: May 9, 2022. "Disaster!" — It's 1979, and New York's hottest A-listers are lining up for the opening of a floating casino and discotheque. What begins as a night of boogie fever quickly changes to panic as the ship succumbs to multiple disas- ters. Show dates: July 29-31, Aug. 4-7 & Aug. 11-14, 2022. Auditions: June 20, 2022. For season ticket information, call the APT box office at 631-8988 or visit arkansaspublic theatre.org. COVER STORY BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette W hat do mouthy puppets with relationship issues have in common with brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom, who are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as "The Bard"? Mix in Steve Martin's quirky sense of humor, an irreverent, girl- powered comedy set during the French Revolution and a new musical straight from Broadway that's filled with the biggest songs of the '70s, and what you have is Arkansas Public Theatre's Season 36. The lineup was announced April 30 with great joy — and no small amount of relief — at a SeasonLeaks! celebration at the Victory Theatre in Rogers. APT was among the lucky arts organizations during the year of the pandemic, says Joseph Farmer, the executive director. "We were only shuttered for about seven months," he says. "Having film screenings starting in October 2020 helped our front-of-house staff and volunteers learn to safely have audiences inside The Victory. As guidelines and best practices became available, APT was quick to adjust to whatever we had to do to keep our doors open and our patron base engaged." "Once it became clear vaccines were going to be a real thing, and once it became clear that eventually, everyone who wanted to be vaccinated would be vaccinated, I was satisfied we were heading in the right direction," Ed McClure, one of the company's founders and its artistic director, says of announcing a new season. "Props to APT Logo design by Kinya Christian See APT Page 4