Recycled fabric, cardboard and plastic found new life on the runway at this year’s annual fashion show at The Pharmacy Gallery & Art Space. Some of the best creative talent Springfield has to offer was on display with dynamic style. “It has become a yearly tradition of the Pharmacy to have a fashion show,” said […]
Arts Features
Posted inArts & Culture
This raucous old comedy still works
The fall theater season begins with a play that caused riots when it premiered in 1907. The Playboy of the Western World is bringing laughter to the Hoogland Center for the Arts Sept. 15-18 for four performances. It is obvious a show is good when a run-thru rehearsal eight days before opening is performance-ready. This […]
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Lincoln lore on stage
Summer’s end brings a new play to Springfield with the premiere of The Baltimore Plot, by local writer and director John Woodruff, playing in the newly renovated Peggy Ryder Theatre at Hoogland Center for the Arts, Sept. 2-4, and produced by MASS Media. Based on real characters and events, the play tells the almost-unbelievable story […]
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A classic comes to the New Salem stage
One of the plays that tends to be revived around the country through the years is the drama Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee based on the famous 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial about a young Tennessee man who taught a high school class about evolution, was fired and faced a trial […]
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Matilda, weird and wonderful
The weird and wonderful Matilda closes out the Muni Opera season and is sure leave you inspired as well as entertained. A witty and heartfelt book by Dennis Kelly, melodious score by Tim Minchin, along with a talented cast and staff combine to present this unique story based on the classic 1988 novel and characters […]
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Miss Daisy doesn’t get old
The 1988 Pulitzer Prize for drama was awarded to a small, three-character off-Broadway play, Driving Miss Daisy, a play that still has lessons for us today. The Pulitzer Prize is awarded to distinguished work by an American author, preferably original in its source, and dealing with American life. Driving Miss Daisy premiered 35 years ago, […]
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My One and Only tap dances into your heart
MILD SPOILER ALERT: Near the end of My One and Only, Captain Billy Buck Chandler bypasses fame and fortune to try and reunite with his true love, renowned ex-channel swimmer Edythe Herbert. When he does find her, the ever-optimistic Billy speaks a simple truth that has stuck with me ever since the first time I […]
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Stop the presses!
Continuing the theme of fighting for what’s right and dipping into our nation’s history for lessons learned, the Springfield Muni Opera presents its the third show of the season, Disney’s Newsies, a story based on the 1899 newsboys’ strike which forced a change in the way newspaper hawkers (many of them orphaned children) were compensated. […]
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Ragtime is a good time
“You are a complacent man with no thought of history. You have traveled everywhere and learned nothing.” Younger Brother, Ragtime The Springfield Muni Opera’s production of the Tony Award-winning Ragtime, the Musical (book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens), is a profound civics and history lesson told through captivating performances and […]
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Colorado artist’s work is bold and deep
Betsy Dollar, executive director of the Springfield Art Association (SAA), is committed to engaging local citizens in the arts in a myriad of ways. Summer art camps for youth, adult art classes, exhibitions of work by local artists, community art projects and the Edwards Place Fine Art Fair are just a few examples. Showcasing high-quality […]
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A youngster suddenly alone
A Victorian-era novel is next on stage as Theatre in the Park at Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site is back producing outdoor theater after a two-summer absence. The show is A Little Princess, based on the 1905 children’s book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, opening this week, running June 10-12 and 16-18 at 8 p.m. […]
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Spongebob celebrates Muni’s return
Springfield’s Muni Opera is back after two silent summers, and the first show is a celebratory musical, SpongeBob Squarepants, which opened last week and runs thru June 5. This 2017 musical is based on the popular children’s animated series that has been running since 1999. I asked my nine-year-old great-nephew, Archer Adkins, about the TV […]
