community In Love With Broadway

— Conway Dinner Theater will present In Love With Broadway on Friday Aug. 6; Saturday, Aug. 7; Saturday, Aug. 14; and Sunday, Aug. 15, at Wesley United Methodist Church, 2310 E. Oak St. in Conway. Dinner will be served at 6:15 p.m., followed by the show at 7:30.

“This will be a great night of musical fun, jam-packed with hit songs that will make you laugh, cry and maybe grow a little sentimental,” said Joan Hanna of Conway, director of the Faulkner Academy of Arts, which sponsors the community theater group, and musical director of the upcoming production.

Jenny Ruud of Little Rock directs the shows. Sarah Johnson of Conway serves as stage manager, and Keith Jones of Conway is the lighting designer.

The cast includes Katie Barber, Marshall Bellando, Douglas Butler, Stacy Butler, Kevin Glover, Wyatt Jones, Ronald McDaniel II, Mary Nail, Sharon Rapp, Kennedy Reynolds, Jay Ruud, Barbara Sanders, Abby Shourd, Dani Trisollini, Amy Wittenburg and Mike Woodrum, all of Conway; Brent Gunnels of Springdale; Jaimee Jensen of Mountain View; Johnny Passmore of Guy; and Jenny Ruud and Rachael Small, both of Little Rock.

“Director Jenny Ruud has put together a show that looks at the relationships that all of us have experienced,” Hanna said. “In honor of our Conway Dinner Theater’s theme, ‘Seasons of Love,’ the entire cast opens with a stirring rendition of the hit of the same name from the show Rent. Audiences will giggle as our youngest actors sing the old classics ‘You’re the Top’ and ‘Friendship.’ For the moremature stages of life, those in attendance will watch the battle of the sexes as Jenny Ruud and Amy Wittenburg sing ‘What You Don’t Know About Women,’ from City of Angels, to the men’s rendition of ‘Nothin’ Like a Dame,’ from South Pacific.

“Of course, romance often leads to wedding bells. The audience will be rolling in laughter as Dani Tresollini frantically portrays our bride in ‘Getting Married Today.’”

Ruud called the production a “family-friendly show.”

“It is a musical revue of a lot of Broadway shows, with something for all ages,” Ruud said. “We have songs from Billy Elliot, which is on Broadway now, and from classics such as South Pacific, Gypsy and Miss Saigon.”

Oak Street Bistro will cater the meal, which will include green salad and bread, chicken piccata (chickenbreast with lemon and caper sauce) served on a bed of rice and Oak Street Bistro’s spinach casserole. Dessert will be New York cheesecake.

Tickets are available by phone at (501) 339-7401 and at Oak Street Bistro and Kordsmeier Furniture.

Tickets are $30 per person. Groups of 10 to 19 may purchase tickets for $28 each, and groups of 20 and larger may buy them for $26 each.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 147 on 07/25/2010

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