Theatrical 'Evolution'

Rogers Little Theater now Arkansas Public Theatre

It started as a small-town community theater performing wherever space was available. But that was 29 years ago.

Nowadays, Rogers Little Theater draws actors, volunteers and playgoers from all over Northwest Arkansas. The company will produce eight shows in its 2015-16 season, many of them hot off Broadway. And while the crew isn't paid, the president of the Board of Directors thinks the productions hold their own against anything else in the region.

FYI

Arkansas Public Theatre

At The Victory

WHERE — 116 S. Second St. in Rogers

30th SEASON — Cabaret, The Addams Family, #AChristmasCarol, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Other Desert Cities, Mothers and Sons, Tuesdays With Morrie, Mary Poppins

NEW WEB SITE — arkansaspublictheat…

That's what prompted a major change announced Tuesday evening at the Victory Theater in downtown Rogers. Rogers Little Theater will begin its 30th season in September as Arkansas Public Theatre at the Victory.

"At the same time, this isn't the first day of a new thing," says Jeff Dunn, chairman of the board. "We've been Rogers Little Theater for 30 years, and we're going to be very cognizant of how we treat that legacy. It's more of an evolution, not something starting now."

The name also encourages the use of the company's city-owned performance space, the 1927 Victory Theater.

"We thought it was important to get the Victory back into prominence," Dunn says. "Everybody has started to call the Victory 'Rogers Little Theater,' and that's not really the name of it. It's not cohesive with the city's plans for downtown. So we really want to push the name of our building back to the Victory Theater."

Founded in 1986, Rogers Little Theater didn't always have the Victory to call home. The brainchild of Kaye Cotton, her daughter Casey and S.K. Clark-Will, the company was transient, performing at the old Rogers Townhouse, Rogers High School, Prairie Creek Hickory House and Northside Elementary School in its first season. Prairie Creek Hickory House soon offered a more permanent space, along with dinner, which continued to be a popular option for playgoers as the theater company settled in to the restored Victory Theater in 1994.

That too has changed with the times, McClure says.

"We began doing dinner theater at a time when there weren't a lot of eating options in downtown Rogers," he says. "Now there are tons of great options within 10 minutes of the Victory Theater. Part of our commitment to downtown is to be a good neighbor, so why not be a good neighbor to those establishments?"

Plus, McClure adds, a new cabaret-style seating arrangement will make room for more patrons downstairs and make less expensive tickets available for premium seating.

Those changes have been less challenging than the name change has been for McClure, who was Rogers Little Theater's first president. But he says he is reassured by the board's respect for the company's history and agrees that it's "important for us to look to the future and to expand our horizons."

"I think it's fair to say that part of this change comes from the product we're putting out and the notion we try to be on the cusp of what's new," he says. "You've got to sound big to be big, and we don't want to change our name again 30 years from now. I think this takes us into the next 30 years and beyond."

NAN What's Up on 07/03/2015

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