Arts News 4-19-24 - Heath Hillhouse

The Missouri Philharmonic Orchestra will have a concert at the Barley House. Connect2Culture will host several events, including a concert by Jontavious Willis and a performance by Time for Three. Ozark Lyric Opera will have a production of Black Rider. Pretty Woman the Musical will be at Juanita K. Hammond's Hall. Springfield Contemporary Theater will open The Other Place. There will be exhibits at the Springfield Art Museum, including Breath, Light, and Distance and Renaissance Works on Parchment and Paper. The Art in Bloom fundraising event will take place. The Moxie Cinema will have special screenings. Sado 48 registration is open for the 48-hour film festival. Hello, I'm Heath Hillhouse, and you're listening to the April 19th, 2024 edition of Arts News, your weekly calendar for the arts here in the Ozarks. In music news, the Missouri Philharmonic Orchestra will hold a concert at the Barley House at Moontown Crossing on Wednesday, April 24th, and Thursday, April 25th. Both shows start at 7.30 p.m. Wednesday is free, but on Thursday tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and free for children 12 and under. More information can be found at the Missouri Philharmonic website. Joplin's art org, Connect2Culture, is putting on a few events over the next two weeks. Saturday night, April 20th at 7, they'll host a concert by Jontavious Willis, a Grammy-nominated blues singer. Tickets for that one will be free. On Tuesday night, April 23rd at 6 is a concert from Time for Three, a self-described classically trained garage band. It's two violin players and a double bass player, and they do a sort of pop-classical fusion. It's not like string quartet covers of pop songs. They do their own thing, pretty much. Tickets start at $40. Then on April 26th at 7 p.m., C2C will host the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players performing a one-act version of the Pirates of Penzance, the classic comic opera from which the modern Major General song is derived. That will be followed by a Best of Gilbert & Sullivan, including impromptu requests, if you want to hear something specific from, say, HMS Pinafore. Tickets start at $40. All of these events are taking place at the Beshore Performance Hall in the Harry M. Cornell Arts Complex. More information at the Connect2Culture website. In theater news, continuing its run this weekend is Springfield Little Theater's production of Mary Poppins, Jr. There's a show Friday night, April 19th at 7.30 p.m. A 2 p.m. matinee, as well as an evening performance Saturday, April 20th, and finally a matinee on Sunday, April 21st. Tickets start at $22. More information at the Springfield Little Theater website. Ozark Lyric Opera's production of Black Rider, the casting of The Magic Bullets, opens Friday night, April 19th. It's got music and lyrics by Tom Waits and a book by William S. Burroughs. We got a chance to talk to cast member and operations director Sean Spires about the show. That interview can be found on our website. There's a performance Friday night, April 19th at 7.30, and a matinee on Sunday afternoon, April 21st at 2.30. Tickets start at $27. For more information, visit the Ozark's Lyric Opera website. There's a touring show coming up at Juanita K. Hammond's Hall, Pretty Woman the Musical. It's based on the film of the same name, and yes, they do sing the song. The original score is composed by Brian Adams and Jim Valance, the two guys who wrote Summer of 69. It's also got a book by the film's original director, and also its original screenwriter. The show runs this Tuesday through Thursday, with performances at 7.30 all three nights. Tickets start at $57, including fees. Check out their website for more information. Springfield Contemporary Theater opens The Other Place next Friday. It's an intimate drama following a successful neurologist as she begins to believe she has brain cancer, directed by Missouri State University's own Karen Sabo. The show runs April 26th through the 28th, May 2nd through the 5th, and May 9th through the 12th. Evening performances are at 7.30 p.m., Sundays at 2.30 p.m., and tickets are $32 for adults and $10 for children. For more information, visit springfieldcontemporarytheater.org. An exhibit opening Saturday, April 20th at the Springfield Art Museum is designed to lower the stress and anxiety levels of its viewers. Breath, Light, and Distance is sponsored by the non-profit Springfield Black Tie. It runs through September 1st. Also a collaboration with the Missouri State University opens Saturday, April 20th, in the Armstrong Gallery. Renaissance Works on Parchment and Paper is guest curated by Dr. Mitzi Kirkland-Ives, with assistance from other faculty, museum staff, and many students. That's pretty much what it says on the pin, an exhibit of works from the museum's collection exploring the culture of the period when manuscript gave way to print. Museum fundraising event, Art in Bloom, runs Wednesday, April 24th through Sunday, April 28th. They'll have both floral and fashion designers displaying their interpretations of works of art beside those works of art, with both jury prizes and People's Choice Awards being given out. In addition to local vendors and activities for families, there's going to be a watercolor workshop on Wednesday, a flower pounding workshop on Thursday, an embroidery workshop next Friday, a basket weaving workshop next Saturday, and a floral design workshop next Sunday. Keeping you busy. These all cost money, and the museum encourages people to purchase tickets in advance. For more information, check out their website. Currently running at the Art Museum is the All School Exhibition, closing this Sunday, April 21st, Ancient Artifacts Abroad, closing in mid-June, Survey of Ceramic Art and Creating an American Identity, which close late June, and collection focus Brandy Barth and Glen a Good Acre, which don't close until the museum closes long-term for renovations on September 2nd. As always, museum admission is free. Some special screenings are coming up at the Moxie Cinema soon. This Tuesday, April 23rd, they're screening Sunset Boulevard as part of the Theater's Two Tuesdays series. It's an absolutely seminal noir about corruption and madness in Hollywood. It's paired with The Player, Robert Altman's crime-thriller satire of Hollywood executives, which plays on April 30th. Then on May 1st is Who Can See Forever, a concert film-documentary following indie folk icon Iron and Wine. In other news, Sado 48 registration is open. The 48-hour film festival challenges teams to create a short film in, you guessed it, 48 hours, based on an inspiration package provided to each group. The kickoff for the event happens April 26th. For more information, visit sado48.com. I'm Heath Hillhouse, and that's been the Arts News. Thanks for stopping by.