Adding More Voices

Even with the growth of all kinds of performing and visual arts in the region, it's hard to imagine being an Equity card-carrying actress relocated from the Big Apple to the Ozarks. Fortunately for Sarah Webb, she had plenty to do with two older children and a new baby, born just a few months after moving with husband Geoff, part of the team that designs and delivers Walmart's Leadership Academy.

"I did get the chance to play Anna in 'The King and I' [at Rogers Little Theater], which was an opportunity I just couldn't resist," Webb says.

But the itch to act was a hard one to ignore.

"When we found out we were moving to Northwest Arkansas, I began to research what was happening with theater in the area. I wanted to continue to grow as an artist, to be challenged and ultimately to do great work," she recalls. "As a member of Actors' Equity Association, my options were pretty limited. TheatreSquared was the only local company that consistently hired union actors. Until we moved here I don't think I ever would have imagined myself starting a theater company."

And she still might not have, had she not become involved with "a group of artists at Grace Point Church that developed into Art=Story," she explains.

"The church really has a vision to support local artists. One of the ways they have been doing that is through their gallery and theater spaces -- Story: The Gallery at Grace Point and The Story Theater. When they offered to provide a space for me to produce, it confirmed what I had been thinking -- that it was time to start a professional musical theater company. Thus Inspire Theatre was born.

"Put simply," Webb continues, "my goal is to create excellent work that is entertaining, inspiring and enriching. As an artist I want to be able to work and grow and want others to be able to do the same, on or off stage.

"Big vision: I hope to see Inspire Theatre be a part of the growing community of local professional theaters. I want to see actors, musicians, dancers, designers and directors moving to Northwest Arkansas because it's a great place to be and do great work."

To introduce the company, Webb has joined forces with Missy Gipson of the Young Artists Guild and Nicole Fauber, a new addition to Northwest Arkansas theater, for "Song: A Celebration of Women in Musical Theater," on stage this weekend at Grace Point.

"[It] is an evening of musical theater pieces written by women as lyricists, composers or both," she explains. "The pieces span almost 100 years of musical theater from early writers like Kay Smith and Betty Comden to contemporary artists like Jeanine Tesori and Lucy Simon, many of whom have shows currently running on Broadway."

Supporting the trio onstage will be Jeannie Lee from the University of Arkansas on piano with Owen McClung and Michael Ferguson filling out the band, Webb says. "Morgan Hicks from TheatreSquared and U of A has been doing some artistic consulting for us as well. It's going to be a terrific show!"

Hicks agrees with Webb's assessment, saying the performers are strong, the facility is well-appointed and the seats are comfortable -- a standing joke with TheatreSquared patrons.

"They are passionate people, talented people, doing it for all the right reasons," she says. "You have to care about it more than going to sleep at night or making a living! You've got to be all in.

"This company seems focused on larger-scale musicals, and I don't think that gets in the way of what anybody else is doing. In my mind, the more the merrier."

Webb says the first full production for the company will be "Man of La Mancha" in October.

"It's a much bigger undertaking, but one I am looking forward to."

NAN What's Up on 05/29/2015