Don’t let the outside of The Studio Theatre on 7th Street in downtown Little Rock fool you. Once you enter The Lobby Bar inside the space, you will feel right at home. You will also witness top-notch community theatre.
The Studio Theatre is just two years old. The theatre’s artistic director Justin Pike said that the concept of this theatre got started out of need and passion. When Pike came on as artistic director, he wanted to do shows that had never been done in the area before or other companies were too afraid to take on for whatever reason. They wanted to make a statement about who they are and what they want to do, and DREAMGIRLS fell into that mix after they lost the rights to The Color Purple.
“This show is big and it’s presented a lot of challenges,” admits Pike. The show was originally written for 32 actors and Pike is doing it with 15, plus the theatre itself is small. “We really wanted to bring this show to Central Arkansas because it’s only ever been done here once, by Arkansas Repertory Theatre in 2001. No community theatres in Arkansas have ever done it, and so we decided to take it on, and I’m so glad that we did.”
Pike says that the audience is going to be impressed by how beautiful it all is. “We have an incredible cast – vocalists, actors, just artists in general. They’re amazing,” says Pike.
Run dates for DREAMGIRLS are May 13-22, Thursday – Sunday. Tickets are still available, but not that many, so get yours today. Tickets can be purchased at www.eventbrite.com. For more information, go to www.thestudiotheatre-lr.org. The Studio Theatre is located at 320 W. 7th Street in Little Rock.
The Lobby Bar is open nightly Monday – Thursday 5-11 p.m. and Friday – Saturday 5 p.m. until midnight.
