Tickets for the inaugural season of the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, the only festival of its kind in Arkansas, will go on sale May 1 at UCA Ticket Central. According to Matt Chiorini, producing artistic director for the family-friendly festival, the top ticket price is $25, but there are significant discounts for students, children, seniors, groups of all sizes and UCA faculty and staff.
“Our mission is a populist one,” Chiorini said. “Though we do have to pay the bills, it?s of vital importance to us that we offer everyone a chance to participate in what we?re certain is going to become one of our region?s finest cultural offerings.”
The inaugural festival, which will run June 14-24 at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall on the UCA campus, will include Shakespeare?s comedic classic ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream?, the five-time Tony Award-winning musical ?The Man of La Mancha? and the spoof ?The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)?.
According to Chiorini, all shows are being created by a mixture of out-of-town professional actors, local favorites and some of the finest theatre students in Arkansas. The professional actors have credits from Broadway to Hollywood and have extensive resumes featuring some of the finest theatres in the world. Among the local favorites involved are such long-time fixtures on Arkansas stages as Tucker Steinmetz, Cindy Romeo, James Alan Harris, A.J. Spiridigliozzi and UCA alumni Chad Bradford, Ian Galloway and Courtney Bennett. All productions are being performed in repertory, giving the audience a chance to see a different production almost every night; a great benefit to guests from outside Conway.
For more information on tickets, productions or schedule, visit the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre Web site at www.arkshakes.com. Subscriptions are still available for a discount on tickets there. For UCA Ticket Central, call (501) 450-3265 or 1-866-810-0012 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or visit www.uca.edu/tickets.
