Maumelle student to appear in play at Children’s Theatre

Yusuf Richardson Jr. of Maumelle is an aspiring young actor. Ready with his wooden sword, which he calls Sunshine, Richardson plays the part of Reynaldo in The Laughable Legend of Fancybeard the Bully Pirate, which will be presented in February at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre in Little Rock.
Yusuf Richardson Jr. of Maumelle is an aspiring young actor. Ready with his wooden sword, which he calls Sunshine, Richardson plays the part of Reynaldo in The Laughable Legend of Fancybeard the Bully Pirate, which will be presented in February at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre in Little Rock.

MAUMELLE — Yusuf Richardson Jr. said he has always had a good imagination.

“Growing up as an only child, I found toys could only go so far to entertain me,” he said. “I had nobody to play with at home so, I developed my imagination by watching TV. The characters became my friends.

“I remember when I was 3 or 4, I watched The Lion King over and over,” he said. “I could recite the lines and sing all the songs.

“I used my imagination to get me through my childhood. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to be an actor.”

Richardson, 17, has continued to use his imagination to help him secure roles in several plays since he moved to Maumelle with his mother a few years ago. He has appeared in productions at Maumelle High School, as well as at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre in Little Rock.

He will soon take the stage at the Children’s Theatre as a cast member in The Laughable Legend of Fancybeard the Bully Pirate. Richardson plays a young pirate named Reynaldo.

The show will run Feb. 3-19 with a special “Pay What You Can Night” preview performance Feb. 2.

Richardson is a junior at Maumelle High School. He is the son of Jennifer Jenkins of Maumelle and Yusuf Richardson Sr. of Oxon Hill, Maryland.

“I now have a baby brother,” Yusuf Richardson Jr. said, adding that his dad has an 18-month old son, Cameron Richardson.

“My mom has provided me with all I’ve ever wanted to prepare me for an acting career,” Richardson Jr. said. “I can’t see myself doing anything but theater. If I can’t get on stage, then anything in the theater would do.”

Richardson said he would like to further his education by studying theater in college.

“[The Julliard School in New York City] would be my first choice,” he said.

“I might as well shoot for the moon,” he said, smiling. “If I don’t actually land on the moon, then maybe Germantown University or the University of California.”

At Maumelle High School, Richardson is a member of the Drama Club and the Gay-Straight Alliance. He played the part of the Cheshire Cat in the Maumelle High School Drama Department’s fall production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Richardson said he found out about acting opportunities with the Children’s Theatre from one of his mother’s co-workers.

“That was for The Adventures of Peter Rabbit last year,” he said. “I auditioned and got a callback. And then I was cast in the show. I played Flopsy.

“That was the best professional acting experience I have had until now,” he said, smiling. “I got this wonderful costume with a bunny hat. It was so extravagant. It was fun to develop the character of a bunny.

“Then last summer, I attended the Summer Theatre Academy here at the Children’s Theatre,” he said. “Those classes helped me become a better actor and dancer.”

Richardson said he would recommend the academy, which is a three-week, audition-only theater-training program for students 10-18, “to anyone wanting to improve their theater skills.

“It was a great experience for me,” he said.

Richardson said the character he portrays in the upcoming play “is a little different from myself.”

He said his character, Reynaldo, is the oldest of the three young pirates who are attending a pirate academy to learn how to be pirates. He said he doesn’t “know a thing about sports,” so in order to do develop his character, he “studied” sports figures at his high school to help him develop sportslike skills such as swinging on a rope and fighting with a [wooden] sword.

“It’s been a challenge,” Richardson said. “We started rehearsals in December, and we rehearse daily, except Mondays.”

“I like this play a lot. I like my character. I like that he’s learned from his mistakes. … He’s been bossy and rude, … but he changed and became a leader.

“I’ve learned a lot from this character. I’ve learned about leadership by playing him.”

Liz McMath of Little Rock is the stage manager for The Laughable Legend of Fancybeard the Bully Pirate.

“It’s targeted for the upper-elementary school-age kids,” McMath said, “but everybody will enjoy it. It’s such fun.

“It’s an original play by Keith Smith, who is a playwright and associate director here at the Children’s Theatre. It’s about these three young pirates who are at the academy to learn to be pirates, but they end up on Fancybeard’s island, where a treasure is buried. Each one of them has unique skills. Everybody’s different, but they have to learn how to work together.”

McMath said many of the actors who perform at the Children’s Theatre are adults, but these three young actors in this show are teenagers.

“Some shows really are best done by adults, but some roles are done best by kids, and this is one of those shows,” she said.

Richardson said he is a “good student” at Maumelle High School and has been able to keep up with his studies while at play rehearsals.

“We have time to do our homework here when we are not onstage,” he said.

Richardson said he auditioned for a part in Rapunzel, which will be presented April 28 through May 14 at the Children’s Theatre.

“I received a callback, so I am anxious to see if I get a part,” he said.

“I am looking at all the theater opportunities I can,” he said.

Show times for The Laughable Legend of Fancybeard the Bully Pirate are 7 p.m. Feb. 3, 10 and 17; and 2 p.m. Feb. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18 and 19. Tickets are $12.50 for general admission and $10 for Arkansas Arts Center members.

“Pay What You Can” tickets are available for the 7 p.m. preview Feb. 2. Tickets for the preview show must be purchased in person at the Arkansas Arts Center, 501 E. Ninth St. in Little Rock, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Stephens Inc. Visitors Center, or from 6-6:45 p.m. at the Children’s Theatre Box Office, Lower Lobby Level. The maximum ticket purchase is six tickets per person. Additional tickets can always be purchased in person, online or by phone at regular ticket pricing.

For more information, call (501) 372-4000 or visit the website arkansasartscenter.org/theatre.

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