Robinson Redux – April
While Robinson Center Music Hall is closed for renovations, the Culture Vulture is taking a monthly look at past performances. Today’s entry looks at Aprils from 1940 to 2010 in years that end in a “0”...
View ArticleLittle Rock Look Back: Mayor J. V. Satterfield
On May 14, 1902, future Little Rock Mayor John Vines Satterfield, Jr. was born in Marion. He grew up in Little Rock and Earle. J.V. was a star quarterback for the Earle football team and is featured...
View ArticleLittle Rock Look Back: Elvis plays final Robinson Auditorium Show
After two visits in 1955 where he was down on the bill, Elvis Presley made his third and final appearance at Robinson Auditorium on May 16, 1956. This time he was the star and Robinson was packed. The...
View ArticleLittle Rock Look Back: Dan T. Sprick
Future Little Rock Mayor Dan T. Sprick was born on May 19, 1902. He served three terms on the Little Rock City Council (from 1935 to 1941). In 1945, he was elected Mayor of Little Rock and served one...
View ArticleLittle Rock Look Back: Cornice placed on Robinson Auditorium
On June 1, 1939, the cornice was installed on Robinson Auditorium. This granite slab noted the name of the building as the Joseph Taylor Robinson Memorial Auditorium. (It is interesting to note that...
View ArticleTony Awards Week – History of theatre in Little Rock
Little Rock existed as a theatre town for over 100 years prior to the Tony Awards. But since this is Tony Awards week, “let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start” (words by my...
View ArticleTony Awards Week – Trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with…. HAIR?
The Tony winning musical The Music Man may have featured a song about “Trouble in River City” but the Tony nominated musical Hair brought trouble to this “river city” in 1971 and 1972. In February...
View ArticleLR Look Back: The Rice Family and LR Auditorums
On June 7, 1920, the Little Rock City Council finally authorized the demolition of Little Rock’s 1906 temporary auditorium. The structure had originally been built as a skating rink which, when chairs...
View ArticleLittle Rock Look Back: Truman visits LR
On June 10 and 11, 1949, President Harry S. Truman visited Little Rock. He was here to participate in activities connected to the reunion of the 35th Division Association. He had served in that...
View ArticleRobinson Renovation Tops Out
The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau (LRCVB), members of the Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Commission (LRA&P), local officials, and members of the design and construction teams...
View ArticleLearn about Little Rock’s earliest auditorium (which also was a roller rink...
Today at noon, the Old State House Museum will have another Brown Bag Lecture. This one focuses on three decades of unsuccessful efforts to build a municipal auditorium in Little Rock. That time...
View ArticleLittle Rock Look Back: Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans. As he rose to fame, he would play Little Rock numerous times in a variety of venues. As the Civil Rights movement started taking hold in the...
View ArticleLittle Rock Look Back: Judge Eisele rules HAIR must flow at Robinson Auditorium
Forty-four years ago today, on August 11, 1971, Nixon appointee Federal Judge G. Thomas Eisele ruled that the musical Hair must be allowed to play in Little Rock in 1972 at Robinson Auditorium. In...
View ArticleHappy Birthday Maureen O’Hara – In 1940 she set off a stampede of fans at...
Oscar winner Maureen O’Hara turns 95 today. With her elegance and beauty, she still turns heads. Seventy-five years ago, in February 1940, a nineteen year old Miss O’Hara turned many heads and set off...
View ArticleLittle Rock Look Back: City Council approves 1935 auditorium plan
On August 26, 1935, the City of Little Rock took its first significant step in a decade for the creation of a City auditorium.. Under the leadership of Mayor R. E. Overman, the City Council approved...
View ArticleLittle Rock Look Back: There She Is – Miss America at a LR Razorback Game
Tonight a new Miss America will be crowned. This ceremony marks the 52nd anniversary since Miss America 1964, Arkansan Donna Axum, was crowned. A native of El Dorado and a student at the University of...
View ArticleRobinson Center to welcome PHANTOM OF THE OPERA to Little Rock in March 2017
Celebrity Attractions announced today that the U.S. national tour of The Phantom of the Opera will play at the newly reopened Robinson Center Music Hall during the 2016-2017 season. It will be here...
View ArticleBefore Phantom arrives in LR, Celebrity Attractions offers 4 shows for...
Celebrity Attractions invites you to discover Broadway with the 2015–‐2016 Broadway Season at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center. The adventure begins as four national Broadway tours take the stage:...
View ArticleLittle Rock Look Back: Pre-Opening Dance at Robinson Auditorium
In October 1939, it looked as if Robinson Auditorium would never open. The construction had run out of money. But in an effort to generate a little revenue and give the public the chance to see the...
View ArticleLittle Rock Look Back: Mayor W. E. Lenon, father of LR City Hall
On October 8, 1867 in Panora, Iowa, future Little Rock Mayor Warren E. Lenon was born. He was one of eleven children of John D. and Margaret M. Long Lenon. Lenon came to Little Rock in 1888 after...
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