College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY — Terrence McNally, the Tony- and Emmy-winning playwright, will wind up his residency with the University of Central Arkansas’s College of Fine Arts and Communication on Dec. 4 with a conversation about the power of opera to tell important stories.
“Contemporary Opera and Social Justice: An Interview with Terrence McNally,” will be an interview-style presentation with McNally and Dr. Raymond Frontain, McNally scholar and professor of English at UCA and one of the sponsors for the residency, at 5:30 p.m. at the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site and Visitor Center, 2120 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Dr.
The interview is free and open to the public.
The appearance comes on the heels of the final successful negotiations for UCA’s commissioning of The Little Rock Nine opera by the composer Tania León with libretto by Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. León and Gates have begun collaborating on that project.
“Terrence McNally’s latest opera, Great Scott!, just premiered Oct. 30 in Dallas,” said Dr. Gayle Seymour, associate dean of UCA’s College of Fine Arts and Communication. “It will be a rare treat for the Central Arkansas community to meet and interact with a living legend in both the opera and theatre worlds.”
McNally will be in residence Dec. 2-4.
The Artist in Residence program is funded by UCA’s arts fee and is administered by the College of Fine Arts and Communication. For more information about the program, call the Office of the Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication, at (501) 450-3293 or e-mail jdmiller@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Communication, Mass Communication and Theatre, Music and Writing. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
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