Stories by Becca Bacon Martin
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Envisioning The Perfect Home
ARTIST LEILANI LAW OPENS VILLA FOR ANNUAL TOUR
FAYETTEVILLE — Leilani Law is a visionary. Continue reading...
If It’s Not Real Food, Don’t Eat It
Author Michael Pollan shares simple rules for healthy eating
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Michael Pollan doesn’t want people to worry about what they eat. Continue reading...
Art, Life And Light
Photographer captures electricity of Eureka Springs
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Jeremy Mason McGraw has lived many places — on a cruise ship and in Sydney, Australia, for example — and he’s done many things, from magic to theatrical design to professional photography. Continue reading...
‘Checks And Balances’
RLT expands season, includes world premiere
ROGERS — Ed McClure can’t decide which part of Season 27 to promote first. Continue reading...
Culinary Students Work Hard To Win National Title
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Imagine four teenagers in a kitchen. Their goal is to make a complete meal — appetizer, entree and dessert — using only two tabletop butane burners as heat sources and no electric or battery-powered tools. Two plates must be ready to serve in exactly an hour, with penalties for being late. Continue reading...
FYI
TODAY Trunk Show — With designer Brandy Thomason McNair, noon-7 p.m., Good Things Boutique in Fayetteville. Continue reading...
Nelson Remembered
Sons Matthew, Gunnar celebrate unique legacy
Matthew Nelson thinks he came from a pretty extraordinary family — and not just because he and his twin Gunnar are the third generation to record No. 1 songs. Continue reading...
‘Just Sit Back And Soak It In’
Soloists bring Beethoven’s ‘Joy’ to SoNA
Charles Perry Sprawls, one of four vocalists singing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, says it’s “become a universal symbol of peace throughout many historic performances ever since it was premiered.” “It’s a powerful poem and a powerful musical statement.” It’s also among the great “gateway drugs” to classical music, adds mezzosoprano Teresa Buchholz, a fellow New Yorker who will join SoNA for the April 14 performance. Continue reading...
Building To ‘The Fall’
TheatreSquared’s ‘House’ a place for love, connection
Playwright Bob Ford is emotionally invested in “The Fall of the House,” the new mystery/drama that debuts Thursday at TheatreSquared. Continue reading...
High School Thespians Take Tradition With Them
FAYETTEVILLE — When Warren Rosenaur came to teach at Fayetteville High School, Huey Lewis & the News, Lionel Richie and Daryl Hall were in the top 40; “Crocodile Dundee” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” were in theaters; and Rosenaur taught three drama classes, a speech class and an English class. Continue reading...
Poisonous Plot
AUTHOR STEWART HARVESTS THE GARDEN’S DARK SECRETS
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — In 1856, a dinner party in the Scottish village of Dingwall came to a horrible end,” Amy Stewart writes. Continue reading...
Music Played Joyfully
‘Woodsongs’ host hopes listeners play along
On a sunny Friday morning in the woods near Lexington, Ky., with birds singing so loudly they could be heard on the phone, Michael Johnathon paused from his day’s work to chat about his life’s work. The day had been declared father-son day because 12-year-old MichaelB was out of school, and the pair planned to spend it building a tree house. Continue reading...
Through ‘Other’ Eyes
Week seeks to alter perceptions, pay for Haitian studies
To understand Haiti, nothing compares to being in the country physically,” says Yanick St. Jean, a professor of sociology at NorthWest Arkansas Community College. Continue reading...
Beans Hit The Big Time
NEW COOKBOOK REFLECTS LEGUMES’ NEW STATUS
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — The first time Crescent Dragonwagon wrote about beans, she was living in Eureka Springs and knew beans as the staple food of a 17-year-old freelance writer who “learned to feed myself and others pretty well on very little money.” A lot has changed, both for the author and the bean. Continue reading...
Sunny Day On The Street
Magic of the Muppets larger than life
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — As a child growing up in Oklahoma City, Jeff Johnson’s favorite Muppet was the biggest, yellowest bird on Sesame Street. Continue reading...
Women’s Lives, Women’s Words
Poet Mendy Knott helps her community HOWL
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Mendy Knott’s voice sounds like it ought to belong to a country woman from the Deep South, perhaps one who preaches in a oneroom country church during sweaty summer tent revivals. Continue reading...
Good Things, Small Packages
Local artists featured in show
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — It’s a cliche that good things come in small packages, but the Arkansas Arts Council has been proving the veracity of the statement for 25 years. The annual “Small Works on Paper” exhibition, showcasing art no larger than 24 by 24 inches, will be on show at 10 galleries throughout the state over the course of 2012. Continue reading...
A Tribute To The Blues
Touring show re-creates magic of Belushi, Aykroyd
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — What they did was they created a cult, whether they knew it or not,” Brad Henshaw says of the Blues Brothers, characters created by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi in the 1970s. Continue reading...
North And South, Reunited
Ceremonies, songs remember Battle of Pea Ridge
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — The Battle of Pea Ridge, fought March 7-8, 1862, was the end of the Confederate efforts to take Missouri but just the beginning of the war in northern Arkansas. Continue reading...
Larger Than Life
Broadway season a mix of magic, mirth, music
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Jodi Beznoska, vice president for communications at Walton Arts Center, was sitting in a New York City conference room, listening to the description of a new musical titled “War Horse.” Then there was a knock at the door. Continue reading...
Taking Back The Night
FILMMAKER, ASTRONOMER SEEK OUT THE DARK
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — The tagline for “The City Dark,” an award-winning film by Ian Cheney, is “a search for night on a planet that never sleeps.” Continue reading...
Head And Heart: MAYNARD PUTS THE ‘SPECIAL’ IN HUMAN NEEDS
In the disabilities community, there’s a metaphorical story that’s often told. In it, the writer says giving birth to a child with special needs is like buying a ticket for Italy and instead ending up in Holland. Continue reading...
Aloha, Arts Center Of The Ozarks
BEACH BALL BRINGS TROPICAL FEEL TO FUNDRAISING FUN
SPRINGDALE — With lighted palm trees twinkling and sandals on most of 600 feet, it really did feel like a night in the tropics Feb. 25 at the Arts Center of the Ozarks’ annual Beach Ball and auction. Continue reading...
First Friday, First Sunday
Bentonville welcomes spring, museum welcomes families
BENTONVILLE — It’s a weekend of firsts in a community becoming accustomed to them. Today is the first First Friday of 2012 on the Bentonville square, built around a “Midway to St. Patrick’s Day” theme; on Saturday, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art introduces the first in the Great Hall Lecture Series; and on Sunday, the museum welcomes patrons of all ages for “Art and Wonder,” the first Family Sunday event.
Continue reading...
Three Minutes, Three Questions: Zach Stolz
The Outsiders” isn’t a new play. Arts Live actor Zach Stolz remembers reading it when he was in sixth grade — about seven years ago.
Continue reading...
Aranda Puts Heart In ‘The Heights’
Soprano finds roots in contemporary musical
In the Heights” might sound like “Rent” meets “West Side Story,” set to the beat of the rap, R&B, gospel and hip-hop that pours out of the open windows in the New York neighborhood of Washington Heights.
Continue reading...
FYI
Highlights and Calendar of Area Entertainment Continue reading...
Diggers, Diners Get Together
FOOD, FARMING FESTIVAL STARTS FRIDAY
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — A food and farming festival might sound like it’s just for people who like to dig in the dirt, admits Leigh Wilkerson, the founder of Dig In! But, she points out, everybody has to eat. Continue reading...
History Comes Alive
Kidd inspires imagination in Union blue or Rebel gray
Doug Kidd is a man born into the wrong time. Continue reading...
‘We Cannot Forget’
UA professor shares stories of life, death in Rwanda
The young man remained motionless, even though he was buried beneath the bodies of his countrymen. Inside the church, he heard the voices of women and children singing “Onward Christian Soldiers” until the last voice was silenced by gunfire or machete. Still, he waited. Continue reading...
Making History, One Doll At A Time
Unusual African-American dolls on show at Global Campus
In the vast collections of the University Museum — picture the warehouse in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” — there are some 7 million items. They range from arrowheads and pot shards to taxidermied animals, Mexican masks and a collection of 26 folk-art dolls made by a school teacher in Chicago. Continue reading...
FYI
HIGHLIGHTS AND CALENDAR OF AREA ENTERTAINMENT Continue reading...
A Tale Of Two Veggies
New musical showcases songs, stories with morals
Larry the Cucumber could have been Larry the Chocolate-Covered Nougat Bar. Continue reading...
IMAGINING A BETTER WORLD
DOLLY PARTON LIBRARY ENCOURAGES CHILDREN TO DREAM BIG
Every night, Eli McLelland of Lowell curls up with mom Samantha while she reads to him. Even though he’s only 7 months old, Eli already has six books of his own, thanks to the efforts of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and the United Way of Northwest Arkansas, and he’ll continue to receive a book every month in the mail until he turns 5. Continue reading...
Lessons Of The Past Are Haunting
PENNHURST AMONG INSTITUTIONS FILLED WITH GHOSTS OF ABUSE
They are supposed to be just-for-fun TV shows about chasing ghosts. Continue reading...
A Penny For Coyne’s Thoughts
Riverdancer excited about new roads ahead
FORT SMITH — An international sensation for most of two decades, Riverdance is high-stepping toward its finale in the United States. Continue reading...
Mama Fu Shares Her Secrets
Asian House adds ‘black market menu’
Mama Fu has a secret. Continue reading...
FYI
HIGHLIGHTS AND CALENDAR OF AREA ENTERTAINMENT Continue reading...
A HOLOCAUST of the heart
SURVIVOR EVA KOR FORGIVES BUT DOESN’T FORGET
As Eva Mozes looked back, she saw her mother screaming and crying, her arms reaching out for the daughters torn away from her. Continue reading...
Lions, Tigers And Bears
Turpentine Creek Refuge puts grass under 12 more feet
EUREKA SPRINGS — Big cats don’t make good pets, Tanya Smith says simply. Continue reading...
‘Tigers’ Quirky, Funny, Female
New York is missing an actor, a director and a playwright this month as TheatreSquared opens Kim Rosenstock’s “Tigers Be Still,” directed by Portia Krieger and starring Lauren Blumenfeld. Continue reading...
Dancer Soars With Sinatra
‘Come Fly Away’ a ‘love letter to romance’
FORT SMITH — Performing the choreography of Twyla Tharp is “everything I appreciated” watching it, says Ramona Kelley, one of the principals in the touring production of “Come Fly Away.” “It’s very intricate, very challenging and complicated, full of little unexpected twists for both the dancer and the audience.” Continue reading...
FYI
LITTLE ROCK — HIGHLIGHTS AND CALENDAR OF AREA ENTERTAINMENT Continue reading...
Drive-By Shooting Reported
SPRINGDALE — Police are investigating a drive-by shooting reported on Braxton Drive on Friday night.
Continue reading...
‘Arkansas/Arkansaw’
Exhibit explores ups and downs of hillbilly stereotype
LITTLE ROCK — IIn the cartoon, a barefoot hillbilly wears ragged overalls and a thermal shirt that’s seen better days. Close at hand, he keeps a full moonshine jug — while an empty one lays at his feet. Continue reading...
Always All About Elvis
Tribute show stays true to king of rock ’n’ roll
It was in Japan a couple of years ago that a fan swooned at Donny Edwards’ feet. Continue reading...
FYI
HIGHLIGHTS AND CALENDAR OF AREA ENTERTAINMENT Continue reading...
Girl’s Success Story Inspires Heart, Hope
TWINS’ MOTHER ADVOCATES FOR HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Sonya Massey of Bethel Heights is a nurse practitioner, but it was the birth of her twin daughters that made her acutely aware of heart-related health issues. Continue reading...
Hamming It Up In Hog Heaven
MASCOTS PUT A FACE ON RAZORBACK ATHLETICS
Big Red is a man — err, Hog — on a mission, always in motion, always confident — maybe even a little cocky. Continue reading...
A Fascinating Life
Book plows plantation’s history for broader story
FAYETTEVILLE — Jeannie Whayne had known Lee Wilson for a long time before she understood him. Continue reading...
