Performing arts lovers, get excited.
For the first time since 2019, the Acansa Arts Festival of the South will return next month, live and in person.
Now in its seventh year, Acansa will showcase a wide range of performances and events — everything from Pulitzer Prize-winning plays to Beatles/bluegrass hybrid bands — in venues across the metro March 10-25.
“We’ve been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to present this eclectic roster throughout the pandemic, and we really look forward to gathering with audiences again,” says executive director Dillon Hupp.
Here’s what to expect at the 2022 fest.
“Fancifool!”
March 10-11, Cranford Company Studio
With nimble writing ranging from the hilarious to the poignant, “Fancifool!” stars actor-dancer-comedienne Ananda Bena-Weber, who embodies a diverse assortment of comic and sympathetic characters to reveal the humorous side of life in New York City. This show is a brilliantly constructed and entertaining piece of 21st century theater, complete with dramatic and comic dialogue, singing, dancing, mime, vocal impressions and film.
Update: This event has moved to the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.
Las Cafeteras
March 11, The Rail Yard
Las Cafeteras band has taken the music scene by storm with their infectious live performances and have crossed genre and musical borders to perform around the world, from the Bonnaroo and the Hollywood Bowl, to WOMAD New Zealand and Montreal Jazz, and beyond. Using traditional Son Jarocho instruments like the jarana, requinto, quijada (donkey jawbone) and tarima (a wooden platform), Las Cafeteras sing in English, Spanish and Spanglish and add a remix of sounds, from rock to hip-hop to rancheras. Their Afro-Mexican beats, rhythms and rhymes deliver inspiring lyrics that document stories of a community seeking love and justice in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles. They’ve performed in the good company of Mexican icons Caifanes, Lila Downs, Colombian superstar Juanes, Los Angeles legends Ozomatli, folk/indie favorites Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and Talib Kweli.
Update: This event has moved to The Hall.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Bluegrass Band
March 12, Ron Robinson Theater
What if the Beatles were actually from somewhere in the Black Mountain Hills of Dakota? Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Bluegrass Band is a collection of four very different musicians creating a new sound from the greatest music ever written by the greatest band ever: the Beatles. Imagine the music of the Fab Four shaken up with infusions of bluegrass and jazz and topped off with a classical twist. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Bluegrass Band’s repertoire features new and innovative takes on songs like “Eleanor Rigby,” “Back in the U.S.S.R,” “Come Together,” “Blackbird “and many more. The quartet, based in Texas, is Dave Walser (guitar/lead vocals), Bach Norwood (double bass/vocals), Reginald Rueffer (fiddle/violin/vocals) and Gerald Jones (banjo/mandolin).
“Our Town”
March 9-19, Argenta Community Theater
In partnership with Acansa, Argenta Community Theater presents Thornton Wilder’s American classic “Our Town.” This Pulitzer Prize-winning play tells the story of small town Grover’s Corners, bringing the audience along to explore the universality of human existence. Directed by Ben Grimes, this theatrical masterwork is especially poignant as the American public processes the shared experience of life during a global pandemic.
Pierre Bensusan
March 17, The Joint Theater and Coffeehouse
In partnership with Argenta Acoustic Music Series, central Arkansas welcomes guitarist Pierre Bensusan. Recognized as one of the premier musicians of our time, Bensusan brings audiences on a mesmerizing musical journey through world music, blending classical, jazz, traditional, folk music and more. His first album, created as a teen, won the Grand Prix du Disque when he debuted at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland. He’s been named “Best World Music Guitar Player” by readers of Guitar Player Magazine.
Jazz at The Rail Yard
March 17, The Rail Yard
Jazz at The Rail Yard promises an unforgettable evening of music with four renowned artists: Khari Allen Lee (saxophone) of Delfeayo Marsalis’ Uptown Jazz Orchestra and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra; the acclaimed Ted Ludwig (seven-string guitar), who is the youngest inductee into The Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame; New York-based Grammy-nominated Peter Slavov (bass); and Geoff Clapp (drums) who performs with Khari Allen Lee and the New Creative Collective and formerly performed as a U.S. Artistic Diplomat in North Africa and Eastern Europe.
Bonnie Montgomery
March 18, Argenta Plaza
Arkansas’ own Bonnie Montgomery will perform her unique blend of folk, country and bluegrass in her award-winning style under the stars at the Argenta Plaza. With roots in White County, Arkansas, and a firm foothold on forward-thinking audiences in Texas, Montgomery is armed with a poet’s phrasing, a soprano’s crystalline timbre and a revolutionary’s spirit, and her repertoire ranges wherever it damn well pleases — from high romantic ballads swaddled in violins to fiery anthems of dissent to spaghetti western-inspired vignettes.
Bonnie Montgomery is presented as a free concert to the public thanks to generous support from Alessi Keyes Construction.
The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass
March 18, Ron Robinson Theater
The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass is America’s premier large brass ensemble. A group that always reflects the diverse makeup of men and women in American culture, RMPBB is dedicated to the notion that music is a gift to be enjoyed by everyone. On the advice of family patriarch Ellis Marsalis, the group created a concert format that breaks the usual barriers between genres and strives to create a connection between the audience and performers.
The band is led by Rodney Marsalis, a trumpet prodigy who made his solo debut at the age of 15 with the New Orleans Symphony. After having won various solo competitions, he received national attention at the age of 19 performing as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra. He’s unstoppable. In recent years RMPBB has been invited to perform in performing arts centers around the world including China’s National Center for the Performing Arts, Guangzhou Opera House, Tangelwood’s Seiji Ozawa Hall and prominent performing arts centers throughout the U.S., South America, Asia and Europe.
Collage Dance Collective
March 19, UA-PTC CHARTS
First established in New York City in 2006 before moving the company to Memphis, Tennessee, Collage Dance Collective remains at the national forefront of inspiring the growth and diversity of ballet. The company is one of a few professional ballet companies in the world with a roster of BIPOC dancers. While performing for local and international audiences, Collage Dance Collective has been instrumental in changing the landscape of dance in the American South and is one of the largest Black-led performing arts organizations in our region.
Acansa’s Ten-Minute Play Showcase
March 22, Argenta Community Theater
The Fourth Annual Ten-Minute Play Showcase featuring new plays written, directed and performed by Arkansas artists, will be a one-night-only event during the Acansa Arts Festival of the South. Each play begins and ends in the time that it takes to flip through the magazines in the checkout line at the grocery store, except a good 10-minute play can be much more memorable, and oftentimes more true to life. The showcase is produced by Hilary Trudell, founder and executive director of The Yarn, a company of storytellers. Trudell is also the director of local programming and regional outreach for the Clinton School of Public Service.
Ranky Tanky
March 23, Ron Robinson Theater
This Grammy Award-winning quintet based in Charleston, South Carolina, performs timeless music born from the Gullah culture of the southeastern Sea Islands. “Gullah” comes from West African languages and means “a people blessed by God.” “Ranky Tanky” translates loosely as “work it,” or “get funky.” Their debut album was featured on NPR’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross” and the Today Show. It also soared to the #1 position on the Billboard, Amazon and iTunes Jazz Charts. In 2020, Ranky Tanky received a Grammy for Best Regional Roots Album featuring the lead vocals of Quiana Parler as well as the music of Quentin Baxter (drums and percussion), Kevin Hamilton (bass), Clay Ross (guitar and vocals) and Charlton Singleton (trumpet and vocals), all of whom previously played together in the Charleston jazz quartet The Gradual Lean in the late 1990s.
The Reminders
March 24, The Rail Yard
The Reminders are a rare and remarkable musical duo seamlessly blending soulful sounds and roots music with insightful messages and thoughtful lyrics. Brussels-born emcee Big Samir and Queens-born emcee/vocalist Aja Black have been recognized and applauded for their work internationally through concerts, tours, music awards, TV and radio appearances, and have shared the stage with artists such as Les Nubians, Snoop Dogg, Fishbone, Barrington Levy, Nas, Mos Def, Big Boi, KRS-One, Rakim, K’Naan, and others. The Reminders take their hip hop foundation and move it beyond genre, time and space to create a global musical experience.
Louis Fouché + 2022 Charlotte Gadberry Awards
March 25, Ron Robinson Theater
Saxophonist Louis Fouché headlines the festivities during the 2022 Charlotte Gadberry Award evening honoring Garbo Hearne and her husband Dr. Archie Hearne III. Founders and owners of Hearne Fine Art and Pyramid Art Books & Custom Framing, the Hearnes continue to make a significant impact on the arts in Arkansas and across the U.S., especially for artists of color. Garbo, for example, has served on the state’s Arkansas Arts Council, the region’s Mid-America Arts Alliance and the statewide advocacy group Arkansans for the Arts.
Fouché has performed in 20+ countries on six continents with artists in various genres, including the legendary Latin pianist and 10-time Grammy winner Eddie Palmieri; piano virtuoso Jon Batiste and Stay Human on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”; trumpet luminaries Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah and Brian Lynch; innovative funk bassist George Porter, Jr. of The Meters; Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Gordon Chambers; and many others.
Fouché has steadily established himself as a distinct voice in his generation on the alto saxophone. Yet his path to a career in music was not typical; his first love was science. He picked up the sax when he was 12 years old and embarked upon his musical journey attending the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp in New Orleans.
Proceeds from the annual Charlotte Gadberry Award event support Acansa’s free spring break arts camps. Held in March during the week most schools schedule a break, the camps are a collaboration among local arts and arts organizations to provide central Arkansas youth opportunities for arts education, keeping bodies moving and brains engaged in tuition-free classes, such as ballet, theater, film acting, hip hop, screen printing and visual media exploration.
Performer bios provided by Acansa.
Masks and proof of vaccination will be required at all events. To learn more about the arts festival, including ticket information, visit the Acansa website and follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest.
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