Why should you care about Frozenburr? It's where all of the world's ice cream is mined.

You can see the humor and drama unfold at 7:30 p.m. today at Reynolds Performance Hall in the UCA Theater Department's production of "The King of Ice Cream Mountain." Admission is free and no tickets are required.

UCA Theater does a children's production every year and performs it at elementary schools within a 60-mile radius of our campus.

Members of the cast are Joey Walsh, Sarah Jane Rawlinson, Emily Cooper and Madison Ledbetter. Elizabeth Weatherford designed the set and Haley Tynes designed the costumes. Liz Parker, production manager at UCA Theater, is directing the play.

"It was chosen with children in mind," Parker said. "It is bright, cheery, fun and enchanting, all of those things that children love to see."

Parker said that parents and children both will enjoy this play.

"You can expect a jolly good time," Parker said.

If you miss tonight's production, it will be performed again at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Admission is free and you'll get a chance to vote for your favorite film.

The line up includes seven short narratives, six 90-second films, two special feature films and one music video. They were selected from 16 films submitted.

The special features are "Cotton County Boys," a 20-minute film by graduate film student Collin Buchanan that faculty members named the best graduate thesis film this year, and "Pistols at Dawn," a 3-D film by undergraduate film students Trenton Mynatt and Hunter Moore.

"It's the first 3-D film to be shot and screened in Arkansas," festival coordinator Lesley Allen said, "and we're the only school in the state using stereoscopic filming."

Here's tonight's agenda:

• Danger Jones - Kyla McFalls
• DisIllusioned - Kim Risi
• The Last Vampire - Danny Bradfield
• Hitchhiker - Allison Hogue
• Implant - Sarah Jones
• Perfect Heist - Travis Mosler
• Sacred Ground - Ben Aaron
• Summer That We Knew (music video) - Brandon Bogard

After the screening, you can meet the filmmakers at a party and awards ceremony at the Conway Country Club. Admission is free and includes food and music. Alcohol will be available but you have to pay for that.

Judges will select the best narrative film. You'll get to help select the best 90-second film. The film faculty also will present one student with a leadership award and another with an MVP award.

The film is one of seven that will be shown Sunday night as part of the Graduate Film Thesis Screening.

Neal's film centers around a man who is deeply upset over his ex-girlfriend's decision to have an abortion. The man makes the grief-stricken decision to have a funeral for the fetus.

"It's not as dark and morbid as it sounds," Neal said. "I wanted to show an alternate perspective of the situation."

Neal said that the film, which was inspired by a real event, is a stark contrast to his usually optimistic, upbeat perspective on life. But, when he started writing it, the story "just came out" of him, he said.

After the public showing of his film, Neal will present the script and production book to the faculty members of his committee for approval. If he defends his thesis successfully, he will receive the MFA in Digital Filmmaking degree.

Brett Neal confers with lead actor Mark Cluvane during the shooting of the film

Neal said he plans to work in church ministry after graduation making promotional, service and instruction videos. He is already part of a creative team at his church.

"There's a big need for video people and a lot of opportunities for projects in church ministry," said Neal.

He has worked on several film projects during his academic career and at his church but he has never submitted a film to a festival or for production, he said.

The graduate film thesis screening is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday in Reynolds Performance Hall.

The film is one of seven that will be shown Sunday night at the annual Graduate Film Thesis Screening in Reynolds Performance Hall.

"9th Inning Wedding" is the story of a man who is a husband, father and son forced to deal with life changes. His role as each is put to the test at an anniversary dinner with his wife, daughter, mother and a few unexpected guests. His situation gets stranger when one guest arrives who has been dead for years.

The film is an adaptation of a one-act play written by Bob May, a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Writing. The film was shot entirely in the Little Rock home of one of the seven actors.

"Coming up with an original idea always stumps me the most," said Allen, "but I changed a lot from the play and made it my own. I'm really happy with how it came together."

She recruited a few undergraduate film students to work in her crew. As an undergraduate, she had the opportunity to work on a graduate film and wanted to pass on the favor, she said. She had never worked on a comedy before and said she faced challenges directing a large crew.

Lesley Allen consults with actor Mark Clifford

Allen will earn her MFA in Digital Filmmaking after her thesis committee approves all written materials and a verbal defense of her film. She said she plans to enter the film in several festivals.

After graduation, Allen said she plans to move on to the next film project and stay in Conway to find a job.

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Allen's film.

The concert is part of the university's Nostalgia Series of performances. The series has included performances by county music singer Glen Campbell, comedian and impressionist Rich Little and a Beatles tribute band.

The Buckinghams was formed in Chicago during the mid-1960s and produced four albums before breaking up in the early 1970s. The group reformed briefly in the 1980s to produce another album and again in 2005. The band has produced five more albums since then. Their biggest hit, "Kind of a Drag," hit the top of the charts in 1966.

Blood, Sweat & Tears was founded in 1968 in New York City.  The band is best classified as a fusion of rock and jazz.  During the late 1960s, the band had many top hits, including "You've Made Me So Very Happy." They have been nominated for more than 10 Grammy Awards and won three of those nominations. Blood, Sweat & Tears has been through many incarnations with three different lead singers and have had more than 30 musicians on their roster.

The Buckinghams

"While I suspect that the average age will be above 40 for this concert, I think students will be pleasantly surprised at how many of the songs they recognize and will have a great time," Director of Public Appearances Jerry Biebesheimer said.

Tickets are available through the UCA Box Office and are $10 for UCA students with a current student I.D., $30-$40 for adults, $27-$37 for senior citizens, $25-$35 for UCA alumni and $23-$33 for UCA faculty and staff.

The feature-length film is the largest project ever produced by the UCA film program. It has taken almost a year to finish the film.

Joe Dull, assistant digital film professor, led a group of faculty and students in producing the movie last summer to prove to his students that a quality film could be made without leaving central Arkansas. It is hard to walk through Stanley Russ Hall without finding someone who helped with the film.

"Table at Luigi's" is the story of a chef whose food has a magical effect on his customers.  When a woman comes into the dining room and remains unaffected by his magic, the fun begins.

Frank Romeo as "Chef"

For the past few months, Dull has been planning the project's premiere event. The red carpet will open at 6:45 p.m. with key members of the cast and crew arriving by limousine. Admission is free but the dress is formal.

Journalism instructor David Keith will interview guests as they arrive.  Those interviews will be shown live in the auditorium before the film begins.

Here is a video with more on the premiere.

The play opens tonight with another production tomorrow night. More performances are scheduled for April 14-16. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. and are performed in the Bridges/Larson Theatre in the Snow Fine Arts Center. 

The drama, directed by associate professor of theater Kevin Browne, depicts the human struggles that occurred during the Ice Age, the Great Flood, the Great Depression and major wars. Going even farther back in time, the play chronicles the discovery of fire, overcoming the bubonic plague and surviving an invasion of locusts.

For history buffs, or those just curious about the history of mankind, this play is a lively examination of human resilience through all kinds of hardships. Because of the extreme situations of the play, it relies heavily on surrealistic elements to show the different events, which can be an interesting experience.

Students can pick up two free tickets from the Reynolds Performance Hall box office with a valid student I.D. All other tickets are $8 each.

There will be four films, each between 20 and 30 minutes long. Each of the films was made as a thesis project by graduate students in the digital film program. The screening begins at 7 p.m. and admission is free. 

Here's what you'll see:  

1. Sam Abaza – “Voices in the Walls”  

The storyline is common – five friends take cover in a small abandoned house in the woods and things take a turn for the worst. When a little girl is seen wandering through the house, the friends start to hear strange voices. They soon realize they are in for more than they bargained for.  A haunting tale of horror, the film should satisfy lovers of spooky films.  

UCA student film crew

 2. Justin Bauer – “Decaf”  

As college students, we thrive on caffeine and it’s normal. However, when a young man becomes addicted to caffeine and must attend addicts' anonymous meetings to satisfy his girlfriend, it is more than just normal – it’s comedy. Watching him fight his caffeine urges while attending meetings should be amusing.  

3. Emily Lane – “Our Place”  

A heart-wrenching story about strained family relationships. A woman must deal with the struggle of raising her lazy daughter while tending to her sick mother. This leaves little time to deal with her own emotions, leaving the audience with a trapped feeling that many can relate to.  

4. Jason Knowles – “Midnight Lyric”  

Murder, love and mystery – these words sum up the film “Midnight Lyric.” A struggling freelance screenwriter moves into an apartment complex in a small southern town and falls for the woman across the hall. She is not, however, happy-go-lucky. She is haunted by more than meets the eye. All the while, the two are living above a haunted movie theater that is swirling with secrets.

The Friday night production of “Cabaret” put on by the independent Windwood Theatricals touring company, part of UCA Public Appearances, was beautiful. From the set to the cast of this 12-time Tony award-winning production, the energy was electric in Reynolds Performance Hall.

Set in 1929 Berlin, the production explores the relationships among a complex cast of characters, including an American writer, a Nazi, an elderly boarding house landlady, a fruit store owner and a spunky lounge singer. The intrigues builds with the relationship between the American and the singer.

However, the story is anything but innocent. With risqué dancers and talk of homosexuality and threesomes, the musical was very sexually open. The emcee was by far the most entertaining character, providing comic relief with his crazy quips and teasing audience members. At one point, he told a woman in the audience to stand up and show her “tush.”

The most suggestive musical number, called “Two Ladies,” was one of the flashiest and best performances of the night. It revolved around the emcee being with two Kit Kat girls at once. Though it may seem highly offensive to some, it fit perfectly with the tone of the first act of the musical. Some audience members must have found the material offensive. Many people left after the first act.

In the second act, the characters become disillusioned with their relationships and the play takes a tragic turn. It is during this act that Sally, the lounge singer, sings the title song with tears in her eyes. For the final somber touch, it becomes harder and harder for the emcee to stay optimistic and, at the end, repeats the line about no troubles at the club with such insincerity that it breaks your heart.

The two acts in “Cabaret” almost seem like two separate plays. Very similar in style to the famed musical “Into the Woods,” it begins with a happy, light-hearted first act and ends with heart-wrenching reality. The first act is meant to be flashy and put the audience into the fun-loving mindset of the characters – life is just a cabaret and why should we worry? Yet, living in oblivion can only last so long and the heaviness of that realization rested on the audience like it should have. The first act, however, went surprisingly slow and lacked the depth of the second half, which really sold the production.

The performances were extraordinary, most notably “Don’t Tell Mama” with Sally and the Kit Kat girls, “The Money Song” with Sally and the emcee and “Cabaret” with Sally. The orchestra in the background was flawless, the set had all the appropriate gaudiness of a 1929 night club and the costuming was deliciously sensuous.

Forgive Me Father

Rogers was on campus yesterday and today as part of the Artist-in-Residence program in the College of Fine Arts and Communication. He talked to film classes, the UCA Film Club and met individually with senior undergraduate film students. He also hosted a screening of his film, Forgive Me Father (2001), in Reynolds Performance Hall last night.

Rogers urged that everyone learn about the business side of film and master the skill of funding films with a big enough budget to gain some recognition. Though technical understanding of filming and editing is necessary, Rogers said that making low-budget independent films isn’t the clearest path to success.

“You can make these movies, but if no one sees them, you’re just making home movies," he told students. "It takes a lot more money than the $4,000 camera at Best Buy.”

Rogers also addressed the declining use of film as the industry switches to digital technology. Rogers said that actual film is still "king."  The new action movies, the new Scorsese movie, and most everything in theaters are all shot on film negatives, he said.

“Digital is fine," he said, "but my preference is film. It’ll never go away.”