Gridiron, Rep iron out a deal
REP PREP: The show will go on at The Rep.
The Gridiron Show.
An agreement was reached last week for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre to host — as it has since the 1990s — the Gridiron, the biennial satirical musical production put on by the legal community. The show will open July 31, running nightly through Aug. 4.
In April, The Rep announced that it would immediately suspend operations and cancel its June production, God of Carnage. The theater initially specified only that it would “complete its obligations to host” the ArtWorks event in April and a Ballet Arkansas concert in May.
It seemed that the Gridiron might have to postpone. Or that it would need a backup plan — like the Wolfe Street Foundation, which in lieu of its yearly Night at The Rep has partnered with Argenta Community Theater for a preview showing of Big River on July 19.
But now, says Pulaski County Circuit Judge Mary McGowan, Gridiron’s producer, “We are good to go.”
She says continuing to work with the theater and with some of the same familiar creative staff is a definite relief: “They make us look good, and they’re all professional.”
And, McGowan says, the Gridiron, which traditionally sells out, can in turn help the theater: “We think it’s going to be great for The Rep because it will get people in there while they’re trying to reassess and get things sort of squared away, so people know there are ongoing efforts here by everyone to keep it alive.”
With the current political climate, McGowan says to expect an especially lively 2018 Gridiron.
“It just makes for hilarity. It will be just one of the funniest shows,” she says, adding the “unbelievable” daily news happenings that have caused countless rewrites are comedy gold.
“I keep saying ‘gifts from God’ because you can’t make it up.”
Tickets are $30-$35, except for opening night when they are $60-$65 and include hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer. Tickets will soon be available for purchase at the Rep box office, (501) 378-0405 or online at therep.org.
RICH SITCH: 247WallSt. com recently released a list, “Richest Town in Every State,” based on “the median annual household income in every American town with a population between 1,000 and 25,000.”
The most moneyed town in Arkansas: Tontitown.
It’s where the median yearly household income is $75,027, compared with the state median of $42,336, and where the typical home is worth $252,100, “the most of any town in the state and more than double the median home value of $114,700 in Arkansas.”
The town is rich in both property and produce.
Tontitown is also home to the long-running annual Grape Festival; its 120th will be held Aug. 7-11 (details at tontitowngrapefestival. com).
Grape job, Tontitown.