What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1366969
Treasurer Joe March for being a wise financial guy and guiding us — along with APT Chairman Kris Isham — through this dark time. Thanks to them, and the support of the sponsors, board and volunteers — we adapted and (hopefully) have survived! "Our revamped Season 35 worked because the shows were small and didn't require a huge amount of stagecraft for production. That allowed for one show to close and another to open in a two-week turnaround." That's where the bad news comes in. The traditional musical culmination of every season will not happen this summer, McClure says, because of concerns about the continuing risk of the coronavirus in a production with a large cast and lots of technical staff. So, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" had been canceled. "I think I knew this musical might still be dicey given the time frame for production versus the actual control of the pandemic," McClure says. The good news is that APT will present two classics — Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" and "Inherit the Wind" by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee — in repertory July 22-25, July 29-Aug. 1 and Aug. 5-8. "APT had a summer series for a couple of years called Summer Rep, but it was really just shows in rapid succession," says McClure. "For 'Our Town' and 'Inherit the Wind,' we will literally alternate the titles each night." Auditions will be June 7-8. As for Season 36, McClure says the fall opener, "Avenue Q ," has been on his bucket list since seeing it on Broadway years ago. "It's a small, hilarious, naughty musical that will fit nicely on the APT stage," he enthuses. "This seemed like the right sized show to be our first post-pandemic musical." Season 36 also marks the return of a three-musical slate. "'Something Rotten' is something hilarious and was a huge hit on Broadway, running for over a year," McClure says of the February offering set in the Renaissance. And, coming in summer 2022, "'Disaster!' is a new show with old music that spoofs the era of the disaster movies. It's like all the disaster movies of the '70s and '80s rolled into one hilarious spoof." Rounding out the season are "A Fox on the Fairway," a farce by APT fan-favorite Ken Ludwig, who also wrote "Lend Me A Tenor" and "Moon Over Buffalo," in October; a kids' classic, "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," in December; "Meteor Shower" by Steve Martin, the play that never opened as the pandemic swept into Northwest Arkansas in 2020, scheduled for March 2022; a new comedy by Lauren Gunderson about four "bada--" women dealing with the French Revolution; and Yasmina Reza's "Art," winner of the 1998 Tony Award for Best Play and the 1996 Olivier Award for Best Comedy. McClure says he's able to land shows that have so recently been on Broadway because he takes the advice of his respected law professor, the late Robert A. Leflar: "It never hurts to ask." www.malco.com www.malco.com www.malco.com www.malco.com www.malco.com www.malco.com 4 WHAT'S UP! MAY 2-8, 2021 WHAT'S What's Up! is a publica- tion of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. ON THE COVER Corky (Stephanie Whitcomb, left) and Norm (Scott Kam- merzell, second from left) aren't sure what to make of the unusual gift of eggplant that's appeared along with two unusual guests, Laura (Amy Eversole) and Gerald (Joseph Farmer) in the Arkansas Public Theatre 2020 production of Steve Martin's "Meteor Shower." The show was ready to open when the pandemic shut down live theater. Now it's back on the APT schedule for Season 36. Director Ed McClure hopes to have the same cast. COURTESY PHOTO PRESIDENT Brent A. Powers EDITOR Becca Martin-Brown 479-872-5054 bmartin@nwadg.com Twitter: NWAbecca DESIGNER Deb Harvell ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jocelyn Murphy 479-872-5176 jmurphy@nwadg.com Twitter: NWAJocelyn REPORTER Lara Hightower 479-365-2913 lhightower@nwadg.com COVER STORY APT Continued From Page 3 Logo design by Kinya Christian LISTEN HERE To hear a podcast about the APT's season lineup visit nwaonline. com/502aptannounce.