FORGING FAME: Daniel Casey of Romance is one of the few blacksmiths who make a full-time career of crafting rifles, guns, knives and more using only traditional methods. And now he can add TV star to his resume.
On April 11, the History Channel's new show, Iron & Fire, starring Casey and his family and friends, debuted with a pair of hourlong episodes. One featured Casey creating a replica of a "Poor Boy" rifle popular 200 years ago, and another had him visiting and consulting with Bill Worthen at the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock, where he took notes on a knife there to craft a replica of the first Bowie knife. The Bowie knife originated in Arkansas in the 1800s.
To date, four episodes have aired, with another four set to air Monday and May 2. The show airs at 9 p.m. No word on how many episodes have been filmed or whether there will be a second season.
OFF BROADWAY: Arkansan Jake Bell took a break from New York's Broadway last week to visit friends and family back home, including brothers in Cabot and Vilonia.
Bell, a graduate of Cabot High (class of '68), graduated from Arkansas State University in 1974. From there, he made a name for himself in technical work and served as the personal assistant for British theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh during Les Miserables.
The founder of Jake Bell Production Services Ltd. has been a production supervisor, technical production manager and production stage manager on Broadway and for national and international touring productions for more than 30 years. His work includes The Phantom of the Opera (with its crashing chandelier), Cats, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Oklahoma!, Wicked (with the gravity-defying conclusion of its first act), A Streetcar Named Desire, Pippin, Rocky and even Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang (including the flying car). Bell completed staging An American in Paris in Paris before its arrival in New York last spring.
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG FUTURE: Meanwhile, another Cabot High graduate (class of '05) -- Rachel Powell -- is also living in New York, where she's attending the prestigious Martha Graham Dance Company's School of Contemporary Dance. After graduating in dance from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the 5-foot-10-inch dancer moved there in December 2014, hoping to join the company, says mom Linda Powell of Cabot.
With one year of schooling under her belt, Rachel has one more to go. There are only 25-30 students in the school studying ballet and technique, Linda Powell says. She is the only Arkansan -- and only American -- in her Level III class.
FOLD 'EM: According to country singer Kenny Rogers' official website, he'll stop at North Little Rock's Verizon Arena on Oct. 6 during The Gambler's Last Deal, billed as his final world tour.
Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636 or lhaymes@arkansasonline.com
SundayMonday on 04/24/2016