The Ritz
Review
The monthly newsletter of
The Arts Council of Mississippi County.
7th Edition – Volume 11 – May, 2010
The Ritz Civic Center
306 W. Main Street, Blytheville , AR 72315 (Phone)
870-762-1744 (Fax) 870-763-1950
Website: www.artsmissco.com E-mail: www.artsmissco@yahoo.com
Director's Corner
Well, if
you think you have not seen a Ritz
Review recently,
you are correct. I
apologize, but I failed to produce them for the past four months
or so. I
promise to do better. We
are about to wind down a successful year for the arts in
Mississippi County , with our new year starting July 1st.
In May,
we finalized plans for several summer events.
We will
be sponsoring free art workshops for the summer in three
separate areas: Comic
Art led by Kelly Williams, Photo Art led by Richard Schlosser,
and Caricature Art led by Robert Phelps. Comic
and Photo groups are open to kids age 8 and up, with Caricature
open to those age 13 and up. Details
for all three workshops are available at The
Ritz,
along with sign up forms for the students. Enrollment
for each group is limited, so early enrollment is encouraged.
I have
been working with Dr. Andrew Jensen of Arkansas Northeastern
College , to develop a special summer event for high school and
college age singers which we are calling the Arkansas Delta
Honor Choir. See
more detail below.
We were
involved with Blytheville Public Schools in their first
system-wide Arts Festival in late April, and featured several
outstanding student works of art as our gallery show for May.
2010-2011 Patrons
We
already have forty-nine 2010-2011 Series Patrons. JD
and Tonya Harris, Candie
Groves, Douglas and Shelly Bush, Sally
and Henry Brune, Ann
M. Moore, Jack and Nancy Goodman, Kenneth and Louise Gipson, Frances
Jackson, Bill
and Clorita Hardy, Mary
C. Stevenson, Ken
and Sarah Jackson, Jim
and Carol Vincent, Jonathan and Margaret Abbott, Peter
and Janice Page, Jerry
and Betty Brown, Sallye
Russell, Jay
and Denise Henderson, Ramona
Clower, Shirley
Overman, John
and Mary Nelson, Jerry
and Ann Bennett, Donna
Dunkin, Tibor
and Jill Mazar, Tate Williams, Ed
and Dawn Guthrie, Sharyn
and Steve Stevenson, Mary
A. Caldwell, Dr.
Anes Abraham, Donna
Mosley, Diana
and Tom Holmes and David Lyttle. The
Early Enrollment offer is still available for Patrons at $100.00
each for the next year, and forms are available on our website
or at The
Ritz. For
the 2009-2010 Year we had a total of 65 Patrons and have set a
goal of 70 for the new year.
Our Affiliate, ACT
2!
Hello
everyone. If you are waiting for the next ACT
2! production,
wait no longer. Directors Tonya & JD Harris will be bringing a
night of one-act plays to the stage of The
Ritz on
Friday & Saturday, June 18 & 19 at 7:00pm and on Sunday, June 20
at 2:00pm . For
just an admission cost of $5.00, you can see If
Men Played Cards As Women Do by
George Kaufman, followed by it’s counter part, If
Women Worked As Men Do by
Ellen Goodfellow, and He
Done Her Wrong or Wedded But No Wife by
Anita Bell, all with special arrangement with the Samuel French
Company. Plan
for a weekend of laughter at The Ritz.
If you
are interested in getting involved with community theater, it’s
not too late. Call
870-762-1744 for more information.
2010-2011 Sponsors
We
currently have 18 Corporate Sponsors on board for our 2010-2011
Series Year. At
the Silver Level we have Westminster Village of The Midsouth. At
the Bronze Level we have Thomas, Speight and Noble, Dr. Michael
Williams, D.D.S., Farmers Bank and Trust and Mark and Velma
Bryles. At
the Copper Level is NIBCO. At
the Friend of The Ritz Level is Blytheville Primary School
Parent Teacher Organization, Bugmobile of Arkansas, State
Representative Charolette Wagner, Dr. James A. Hess, D.D.S.,
Harshman Rentals, East Ash Animal Hospital , Dr. Thomas
Westbrook, Jr., D.D.S., United Agencies Insurance, Hays Store,
Betty Geeslin, Drew Bevill Lawn Care and Klassi Kopies, Inc.
For the
2009-2010 Series we had a total of 52 Corporate Sponsors, and
have set a goal for 2010-2011, of 60. If
you do not see your company listed here, let me know where to
send information or who to contact so they can become a
Corporate Sponsor.
2010-2011 Series Planning
Our
2010-2011 Series will include a special concert by the United
States Air Force Band “Midwest Winds” at 7:00 pm on Saturday,
September 11, 2010 , at The Ritz. In
early,December (date yet to be set) we will welcome back the
Forum Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra from Krakow , Poland , for a
special concert of Christmas music. The
professional touring musical tribute “An Evening With Patsy
Cline” will be presented by Springer Theatricals on Tuesday,
March 1, 2011 , and we will have a return visit from Wildwood
Park with a special musical program for our younger patrons and
families in April of 2011. Other
programs are still under consideration, and will be added as our
financial support permits.
Arts Council Named Grant Administrator
The
Department of Arkansas Heritage has notified The Arts Council of
Mississippi County that they are one of eight successful
applicants chosen for Heritage Resources Grant Funding. The
grant award for the local agency to administer is $50,000.00.
The
funding is to be administered by The Arts Council of Mississippi
County as the “Arts in the Delta Enrichment Program” and used
specifically for development and presentation of programs under
the umbrella of Delta Heritage in various arts
disciplines—music, theater, visual arts, dance, crafts, etc. The
programs are to be Residency or Workshop programs when possible
and are to be offered for presentation in schools or by arts
agencies in the six Arkansas counties bordering the Mississippi
River . General
Coordinator on behalf of the “Arts in the Delta Enrichment
Program” is David Lyttle, Executive Director of The Arts Council
of Mississippi County.
The grant
is through General Improvement Funds, the efforts of State
Senator Steve Bryles, and legislation he introduced in the 2009
legislative session.
The “Arts
in the Delta Enrichment Program” is a separate function from the
regular annual programming and educational outreach provided by
The Arts Council of Mississippi County, and will serve to create
new and exciting experiences in the arts and in Delta Heritage. These
events will reach beyond the borders of Mississippi County ,
which is the area normally served by that organization.
Arkansas Delta Honor
Choir
The Arts
in the Delta Enrichment Program is pleased to announce the
creation of the Arkansas Delta Honor Choir, for high school and
college age students from the six Arkansas counties bordered by
the Mississippi River . One
day of rehearsals will be held in various local or regional
sites during the week of July 26-29, 2010, with a final full day
of rehearsals
for the entire group and a free public performance to be at The
Ritz Civic Center, 306 W. Main St. , in Blytheville , AR , on
Saturday, July 31, 2010 .
The
concert will include choral selections significant to the
heritage of Arkansas and the Delta region selected by Dr. Andrew
Jensen of Arkansas Northeastern College . Dr.
Jensen will serve as the Clinician and Choral Director for the
event. He
regularly conducts four on-going choirs at ANC, as well as the
choir of First Presbyterian Church in Blytheville . Before
joining the faculty at ANC, Dr. Jensen held full graduate
assistantships in choral music while pursuing the Master of
Music at Illinois State University and his Doctor of Musical
Arts at The University of Southern Mississippi.
Accompanist
for the choir will be Dennis Hay, Instructor in Music at
Arkansas Northeastern College and organist for thirty years at
First Baptist Church of Blytheville. Mr.
Hay holds degrees from Arkansas State University and the
University of North Texas , with additional post-graduate work
at the University of Memphis .
Area
School and Church choir directors, and students wishing to
participate, may contact David Lyttle, Event Coordinator, by
calling 870-762-1744 or by e-mail at www.artsmissco@yahoo.com. They
will receive detailed information about the group as well as a
registration form which must be completed and returned by June
15, 2010 . Students
must have the recommendation of their school or church choir
director as part of the application. Detailed
information and forms are available on the website for The Arts
Council of Mississippi County in Blytheville at www.artsmissco.com.
There
will be no cost to the students who participate, with the
program made possible in part by a grant from the Department of
Arkansas Heritage, funded by General Improvement Funds provided
by the Arkansas General Assembly and in part by The Arts Council
of Mississippi County in Blytheville .
On Our Website
Detailed
information about all of these events and happenings can be
found by checking our website atwww.artsmissco.com. It
is updated weekly and as needed otherwise to always provide the
latest possible information about what is going on with your
arts council.
SEE YOU AT THE
RITZ!
The Arts Council of Mississippi County
The Ritz Civic Center (Theater)
306 W. Main St.
Blytheville, Ar 72315
Phone: 870-762-1744 (Work)
870-763-1950 (Fax)
Shows For 2010-2011--USAF
Midwest Winds Sept 11, Forum
Sinfonia Chamber Orch in December, An
Evening w/ Patsy Cline March 1st, 2011