“Honoring All Who Served”
Veterans Day Program
Sunday, November 11, 2007

Sponsored by Village of Choudrant Restoration and Beautification Society

Over 400 attended a wonderful tribute to our veterans.  See pictures here!

Sponsors were:  Entergy, O’Neal Gas, Community Trust Bank, Squire Creek Country Club, Johnson Land Service, Gnemi Financial Strategies, Walpole Tire Service, The Cleaners of Ruston, Kilpatrick Funeral Homes, Skip Russell Insurance, Bobby Conville, Jr./A. G. Edwards, Friends of Veterans.

Ruston Civic Symphony Society presents the

Shreveport Symphony Premier Quartet with the Concert master

playing a mix of holiday music along with classical quartet pieces on Tuesday, December 4 at 7:00 PM at the Dixie.

Bring a friend!

Tickets at the door--open seating.
Ages 22-64/$15;  13-21 & 65+/$5;  under 13/Free

REMINDER--Mardi Gras Ball tickets on sale soon.
Call Becky Napper at 243-8887 for information.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Ruston Community Theatre announces the cast for the upcoming production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. The production will open on December 13th and run for six performances through December 21st.

Mitch Dufour, Vickie Wheelis, Emma Jones, Caleb White, Jake Kyte, Rebecca Wheelis, Emma Crawford, David Reid, Robert Kyte, Bethani Davis, Elizabeth Hill, Mallory Austin, Michelle Treadway, Katie Russell, Morgan Wilfong, Anna Blake, Jonah Doxey, Benjamin Calhoun, Hannah Myles, Morgan Traylor, Ian Wesley Bennett, Dallas Ferguson, Sarah Tolar, David Glasspool, Kaylin McGlothen, Peyton Duck, Alina Yocum, Molly Calhoun, Kayleigh Duck, Daria Ferguson, Sophie Rome, Trevor Dufour, Trent Dufour, Caroline Summersgill, Suzette Austin, Alana Calhoun, Melinda Yocum

December 13th will be two shows for the schools at 9:00 and 12:00
December 14th show at 7:30.
December 15th and 16th at 2:00.
December 20th and 21st at 7:30.

The play is based on the 1972 book by Barbara Robinson and the hilarious story concerns the efforts of a woman and her husband to put on the annual church Christmas pageant, despite having to cast the Herdman kids. The Herdmans steal, scream, fight, and smoke cigars (even the girls!). Their classmates are only safe from them at church.   That is until an innocent comment brings the Herdmans into church and starring in the annual Christmas pageant. You won't believe the mayhem - and the fun - when the Herdmans meet the Christmas story in a head-on collision!

The play will be directed by Nancy Wallace, with Lindelle Turner as
musical director.

January 18

I just got back from the Chamber of Commerce Banquet and am proud to announce that the Dixie Center for the Arts won:

 2008
The Distinguished Partner in Education Award

presented to

The Dixie Center for the Arts

For making education a top priority through your
significant contributions to Lincoln Parish Schools

Lincoln Parish School Board
Danny Bell, Superintendent
Otha Anders, President
January 18, 2008

Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Gala

I wish you all could have been there to help receive the plaque from Danny Bell and Cathy Cox that we will proudly display at the Dixie.  This award belongs to all of you who have gone before us to “set the stage” for things like this to happen. 

This award was only part of the great things to happen tonight—one of our stalwart supporters, Mr. John Emory, very deservedly received the “Robert E. Russ Award”.  Congratulations, Mr. Emory, you deserve this award and more.  You do so much for our community.  We wouldn’t be where we are without your support and belief in the Dixie and its missions.

We will have photos and info up on the website as soon as possible.  But, I wanted you all to be the first to know.  Visiting with Mr. Emory after the banquet, he said to me “I believe that we are right at the edge of really big things happening at the Dixie.”  I totally agreed and told him that every day something better than the day before happens to us and I am excited to see where the adventure is taking us. 

Thanks again and Congratulations to all of you!

Marlen

The FOOLZ   Wells & Woodhead Comedy Jugglers &

Christopher Comedy & Magic

Sunday, January 20, 2:00pm

(This show replaces the cancelled Golden Dragon Acrobats)

Veterans of film, television, radio and the stage, Wells & Woodhead have performed for audiences on six continents.  Their new show "FOOLZ", is a character-driven amalgam of theater, music, comedy and juggling that visually demonstrates the power of cooperation between performers with vastly different dispositions.  Ricky Wells, fluent in four languages, is a Danish juggler with enormous dexterity and casual ease, while his partner, Woodhead, weaves a tapestry of chaos, slapstick and 'eclectic' music with the menacing uncertainty of a tornado.  Recently featured at HBO's Comedy Festival with Jon Stewart and Penn and Teller, their hi tech optical illusion "Neonman" never fails to wow an audience.  (more info)

As seen on NBC and CBS, Christopher has an uncanny ability to quickly connect with his audience and redefine magic.  During a half hour profile on CBS in 2005, Christopher was called "The Ringmaster" for his ability to blend current pop culture, music, improvisation, comedy and magic.  Christopher's show is the last thing you will expect, but the first thing you will remember.  (more info)

Sponsored by ENTERGY

Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

In a world between life and legend, an object of desire has many forms.

It was a love potion designed to make a woman love a child, but in this comedy of chaos when the potion goes astray, suddenly it's freaky Friday in the fairy forest.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream": the one with the man-sized donkey, the fairy Queen Titiana and King Oberon, Demetrius and Helena, Lysander and Hermina, and the naughty, playful spirit named Puck.

This abridged version (55 minutes) will inform and entertain the students with one of Shakespeare's most playful dramas.  Suitable for all ages, but ideal for junior high and high schools.

Sponsored by Ruston Community Theatre

The Dixie wins The Distinguished Partner in Education Award!

January 18

I just got back from the Chamber of Commerce Banquet and am proud to announce that the Dixie Center for the Arts won:

 2008
The Distinguished Partner in Education Award

presented to

The Dixie Center for the Arts

For making education a top priority through your
significant contributions to Lincoln Parish Schools

Lincoln Parish School Board
Danny Bell, Superintendent
Otha Anders, President
January 18, 2008

Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Gala

I wish you all could have been there to help receive the plaque from Danny Bell and Cathy Cox that we will proudly display at the Dixie.  This award belongs to all of you who have gone before us to “set the stage” for things like this to happen. 

This award was only part of the great things to happen tonight—one of our stalwart supporters, Mr. John Emory, very deservedly received the “Robert E. Russ Award”.  Congratulations, Mr. Emory, you deserve this award and more.  You do so much for our community.  We wouldn’t be where we are without your support and belief in the Dixie and its missions.

We will have photos and info up on the website as soon as possible.  But, I wanted you all to be the first to know.  Visiting with Mr. Emory after the banquet, he said to me “I believe that we are right at the edge of really big things happening at the Dixie.”  I totally agreed and told him that every day something better than the day before happens to us and I am excited to see where the adventure is taking us. 

Thanks again and Congratulations to all of you!

Marlen

2008 Dixie Horizon Entertainer Selected

On Saturday, February 9, in a field of 16 very talented contestants, thirteen year old Chancie Neal of Calhoun was selected to be the 2008 Dixie Horizon Entertainer.

Last year’s winner, Cyndi Johnston of Farmerville, emceed the talent contest at the Dixie Center for the Arts and passed the title to Chancie, who played the guitar and sang a song she wrote entitled “You Drive Me Crazy”.

The panel of judges also selected Astrid Hayes, Choudrant as 1st runner up; Billy Tucker, Shreveport, 2nd runner up; Taylor Price, West Monroe 3rd runner up; and Baylee Regan 4th runner up. Our new 2008 Dixie Horizon Entertainer, Chancie Neal will make her debut at the Dixie on the Joe Woods Wildwood Express Country Music Showcase on Saturday, March 1 at 6:00 p.m.

Mary Ann Woods, Dixie Volunteer of the Year

l to r:  Beth Craig (President of Russ Town Society), Tammy Rome, and Mary Ann Woods, receiving the Russ Town Society Dixie Center for the Arts 2007 Volunteer of the Year Award.  The award was named last year for the Russ Town Society for their long time support and dedication to the Dixie Center for the Arts.  They were the first recipients of the award.  Mary Ann Woods is the chairman of the new Dixie Volunteer Society.  She organized the group and there are more than 70 names on the volunteer list because of her efforts.  She is also producing the Joe Woods Wildwood Express Country Music Showcase this year.

Southern Living  March 2008 -- page LA 2

The golden age of the silver screen lasts a Little Longer for Louisiana.
By Taylor Bruce

Town Theater   Ruston, Louisiana, is a hometown, the hometowniest of hometowns-sweetsmelling streets, meat-n-three friendliness, the local college faithful-but the Lincoln Parish seat does not claim to be a vacation spot. That is, unless you find yourself in a red-cushioned seat under the chandelier glow at the Dixie Center for the Arts. Then Ruston might as well be Tinseltown.

Onstage   In Ruston (population approximately 20,000), the Dixie is now a true community entertainment venue where a bluegrass band may play the weekend after a touring theater troupe. Essentially, the Dixie, now refitted, sound-checked, and neon-ed after 10 years and $2 million, serves as host and home to all sorts of performers in the community. But, in its soul, the Dixie remains a movie house, with a balcony projector and billboard-size screen to prove it.

The Comeback Story   The Dixie Theater, built in 1928 under the handle New Astor as a vaudeville house and silent film home, became a pigeons' hideaway by the 1980s. "But this wasn't just a musty old theater," says resident and renovation champ Linda
Graham, who faced an uphill restorative climb in the late 1990s. ""The Dixie is a memory ofhow the world used to come to Ruston through the movies."

Bake-offs, seat sales, pennyjars, talent shows, and a generous state grant paved the road to a new Dixie, which reopened with a performance by The Temptations."Definitely takes you back to a simpler time," muses Rick Hohlt, publisher of The Ruston Daily Leader.

Where and When?   Visit www.dixiecenter.org, or call (318) 255-1450 for a schedule of events; snap a photo of the classic marquee and Dixie star where North Vienna Street meets West Alabama Avenue

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

Thursday, May 1, 9am & 11am & 12:30pm

School show play based on the book by the same title.  Pre-school and Elementary ages.  Arkansas Arts Center State Services of Little Rock, AR

Bob Dawson: Breaking the Rules ©
Friday, May 9, 7:30 pm

Breaking the Rules® is a vivacious, irreverent investigation of classical music intended to spur a revolution in music comprehension. Fueled with insatiable desire to introduce classical music to novices, Bob Dawson pulls out all the stops.  Unlike a formal recital, this is a solo piano show hosted and performed by Bob Dawson.  He invites the novice to experience the delights and integrity of classical music with vivid imagery, amusing stories and a profound universal connection that stimulates curiosity about classical music and its place in our world.  (more info)

The Golden Dragon Acrobats

Wednesday, May 21, 7:00 pm

As a gift to our community for the cancellations and postponements, we are offering all seats at $5 each (first come/first served). All seats are reserved.

On Wednesday, May 21 at 7:00 p.m.., The Dixie Center for the Arts, Dr. William and Susan Belsom, and the Ruston/Lincoln CVB are proud to present the very best of the time-honored tradition of Chinese acrobatic art that began more than twenty-five centuries ago. The Golden Dragons are recognized throughout the United States and abroad as the premiere Chinese acrobatic touring company of today. The Golden Dragon Acrobats combine award-winning acrobatics, traditional dance, spectacular costumes, ancient and contemporary music and theatrical techniques to present a show of breathtaking skill and spellbinding beauty.