Taking a cue from European festivals, Wildwood has again encouraged and promoted a Fringe Festival, in which cultural venues through Little Rock and North Little Rock echo the French theme. The Fringe allows Wildwood to put a spotlight on cultural offerings that might otherwise go unnoticed, Chotard noted. Participation has so mushroomed that Chotard's hopes that greater Little Rock could be the next Piccolo Spoleto, that hugely popular festival in Charleston, S.C., don't seem that far-fetched. Wildwood continues its Gilbert and Sullivan under the stars tradition with this comedic musical about a boy mistakenly apprenticed to a band of pirates and the adventures that follow. Terry Sneed, a frequent performer and director at the Arkansas Repertory Theater, will direct.
Catered dinners are available with a day's advance notice.
Call the Wildwood Box Office for a menu. On opening night, performers and musicians and costumed children will parade across the bridge to the Lakeside Stage, tossing beads and bangles along the way. Solid Brass Band of Little Rock will play New Orleans-style jazz before the performance and at intermission. Violetta finds true love, loses it to the machinations of her lover's outraged father, and dies of consumption. Ann Chotard is producer, Benton Hess is conductor and Terry Sneed is stage director.