Northark Drama and
the Ozark Arts Council present Rudyard Kipling’s:
The Jungle Book
Thursday-Saturday, November 17–20, 7:00PM
Sunday, November 21, 2:00PM
Northark Drama and The Ozark Arts Council, will present Vera Morris’s beloved adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book #LiveAtTheLyric Wednesday–Saturday, November 17–20, 2021 at 7:00pm and Sunday, November 21 at 2:00pm. Tickets are available through TheLyric.org with Advance Tickets priced at $8 children, $10 seniors, $12 adults. Ticket prices at the door will be $11 children, $13 seniors, $15 adults.
Come hear the incredible tale of Mowgli (Landon Clements), a young boy raised by wolves. With the help of his friends—the bear Baloo (Dante Lowe), the panther Bagheera (Wyatt Mahoney) and the python Kaa (Brinkley Brewer)—Mowgli learns the ways of the jungle. Some of the jungle boy’s adventures are gripping, like the time he encounters the hooded cobra (Michael Amburn) who guards the treasure vault in the Deserted City. Others, like the coconut-tossing monkeys (Landon Kirkpatrick, Maegen Sterling, Lexi Knight, Macy Middleton, Zachary Linn, Emma Pruitt, Chasity Price, Lexi Poor) who take him prisoner, are hysterical. But the jungle is also dangerous, for it is the home of Shere Khan (Andrew Coble), the man-eating tiger who has vowed to destroy Mowgli. With his fawning jackal follower (Jude Bilbee), Shere Khan plots to take control of the jungle. Mowgli must use all his strength and courage, and the help of his friends to stop Shere Khan before it is too late.
With a stellar cast including Danielle Devito, Maci Bright, Wynn Mahoney, Caleb Lord, Michele Reynolds, William Dorsey, Valeria Carbajal, Elise Halsted, Lily Brockelman, Jacob Cothran, Laura Bracken, Jennafer Wilson, Skyler Grebe, Emily Perkins, Jerome Sweatman), this adaptation will enchant you and have you cheering when Mowgli declares, “I am Mowgli, Keeper of the Law and Guardian of the Jungle!”
Please Note: Along with Disney, we acknowledge that this play includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and they are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together. The producers of this play believe that, perhaps in spite of Kipling’s or the playwright’s own understanding of the these issues, the search and struggle for belonging presented in Mowgli’s story is the very key to understanding the struggles that are even more magnified among us today.
As with any adaptation of a book to a live performance—and our season is full of them this year!—we suggest a (re-) reading of the book both before and after the performance. We suggest this because it both prolongs the entertainment and makes the experience more enriching. By reading the book before and after, you are able to engage your own imagination of the characters and scenery, etc., or even of the nuances of the plot, then gain insight into the playwright’s imagination of the same, and then deepen and broaden your own imagination through the post-performance reading. You may agree or disagree with any playwright’s choices in an adaptation…and, maybe, if you disagree enough, another playwright will have been created!
To read Kipling’s collection of short stories, visit the Boone County Public Library or a library near you…or buy it online. A version to read on tablets is available for under two dollars and is available in the same place. If you follow our links to buy the book, you’ll notice that where ‘www’ normally is, it says ‘smile’, which means you can designate the OAC/Lyric to receive a portion of what you pay for the book (it won’t increase your price or take money away from creators or producers of a product, but comes out of Amazon’s profit).
Join us at The Lyric for a literary classic brought to life! Tickets for The Jungle Book, November 17–21 #LiveAtTheLyric, are available now here at TheLyric.org by clicking any “Get Tickets” link, or calling the OAC office at (870) 391-3504 (please leave a detailed message if you get our voicemail).
Pride and Prejudice #LiveAtTheLyric the first weekend of September, 2021 (September 2–5). 
toward him—such as Mr. Wickham (Joe Claus), who has known Mr. Darcy since infancy and is more than happy to enlighten Elizabeth with tales of his past.
Note the difference in Friday’s showtime to allow you to see the play and cheer on the Goblins as the state football tournament begins.
November 14–17. Our cast includes: Ashlee Piske, Lena Rocole, Natalie Sims, Zach Jimerson, Addie Jones, Mysteri Cotton, Faith Nix, Candace Lambert, Kinder Hinrichs, Jenna Wilson, Serena Bolonsky, Tyler Madison, Liam Dupre, Caleb Lord, Dakota Furr, Chasity Price.
performances, which start at 7:00pm, and Sunday’s performance will begin at 2:00pm. Monday and Tuesday will feature matinee performances for area schools (and homeschools). 
Nicholas Allen) and the Socs (Marcia: GiGi Crenshaw/US Jennafer Wilson; Sandy: Eden Wilson/US Faith Nix). While the Socs appear to have everything, the only thing a Greaser has is his friends.
In Truvy’s (Trish Lockridge), beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are anybody come to have their hair done, the shop is abuzz with gossip and coffee and hairspray. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (Katie Blessing), who may or may not be married, the wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoo and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser (Mary Bishop), whose 40-year-old bad mood has only sharpened her wit; an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee (Gwen Gresham), who has a sweet tooth for football teams; and the local social leader, M’Lynn (Lisa Johnson) and her vivacious daughter, Shelby (Callie Johnson), who is about to marry a “good ol’ boy.” Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions between the five ladies, the play moves toward tragedy when the spunky Shelby (who has 
Steel Magnolias will be performed #LiveAtTheLyric August 16 and 17 at 7:00pm, and August 18 at 2:00pm. Proceeds from the August 16 show will go to the 
focused on vocals, acting, and choreography, as well as the proper etiquette for being in a play and attending a play, all of which culminated in a short performance for the family and friends of the children—many of whom are gracing the Lyric stage for the first time ever. Only then was attention turned fully to this play, where those new or refined acting, singing, and dancing skills could be put into practice for the sellout performances this July will bring.
We hope you will join us both for the entertainment and lesson imparted by this classic story and for the building of our community that attendance at Arts events—especially at young people’s theatre—always brings. The OAC and its Member Organizations are committed to having children of all ages learn about the Arts and develop a love for them that reaches beyond their early years, so that they grow up to be well-rounded, empathetic adults. These “Jr.” plays, and the directors who bless us by giving up a portion of their summers, are a huge first step in that direction.
If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times: do not fan the girls when they’re wet! But you’ll never learn; you’ll be a eunuch all your life!
When Senex and Domina leave for the day, Hero declares his love for one of the ladies who live at his next door neighbor’s house, Philia (Katie Blessing), and that’s when Pseudolus begins to hatch a scheme to buy his own freedom.
When the two visit Lycus’s house, once they get past the eunuchs (Donovan Walters and Nicholas Prpich) they meet Tintinabula (Cady Wheeler), a bell-wearing beauty; Vibrata (Kennedy Bottoms), an energetic, lively lovely with a leopard skin bikini; the Geminae (Faith Nix and Dante Lowe), a “matched pair”; Panacea (Nikki Forehand), a seductive dancer; and Gymnasia (Spree Hilliard), with a body upon which “a thousand dramas can be played.” They and the other lovely courtesans (Lena Rocole, Jenna Wilson, Rilee Young, Kaley Jones) are tempting, but Hero and Pseudolus are alarmed to find out that Philia has been sold to the great Captain Miles Gloriosus (Caleb Lord), and will be claimed that very day.
doubled over with laughter, attempting to keep up with what wackiness will occur next.
naming him Wilbur (Preston Garrison), even though her mother, Martha (Kayla Smith), thinks she already spends too much time with the animals, and her brother, Avery (Wyatt Mahoney) is too busy with his frogs to take much notice. When he’s older, Wilbur is sold to Fern’s aunt and uncle, Edith and Homer Zuckeman (Abigail Kops, Landon Helsel), and cared for by their farmhand, Lurvy (Matthew Brown), in whose barnyard he is left yearning for companionship but is snubbed by the other animals (Emily Akins, Laine Hilliard, Shelby Stracner, Elizabeth Smith), until he is befriended by a spider named Charlotte (Callie Johnson), living on a web overlooking Wilbur’s enclosure. Upon Wilbur’s discovery that he is once again intended for slaughter, she promises to hatch a plan guaranteed to spare his life, with a little help from the local barn rat, Templeton (Daniel Seay). As fans already know, and as those new to this beloved tale shall soon find out: “No one had ever had such a friend. So affectionate, so loyal, and so skillful,” as Charlotte.
The show is a challenging one for sure! Asking actors to portray animals and humans all at the same time…well, that gets tricky; but we have an extraordinary cast who is both dedicated and fearless in this adventure and I couldn’t be prouder of them. I am thrilled we were able to get some area schools to attend and I look forward to future 
projects where we can also involve our local school children. That is what it is all about, right? We are bringing the Arts to our community and we are having so much fun doing it. As always, I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Michael Mahoney and North Arkansas College, as well as the Ozark Arts Council. Charlotte’s Web is fun entertainment for the whole family that also provides some amazing life lessons and heartfelt human emotions to which we can all relate. I hope to see everyone in our community come out and support the children and adults who have worked so hard to bring this show to life!
Area schools were invited to four special matinee performances and will be filling the theater with their laughter. We weren’t able to fit all of the students from all of the schools into the theater, though, (and those who get to see it with their classmates will want to come back and share it with Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and their siblings!), so make sure not to miss your chance to once again delight in this story of friendship: 