TEXARKANA, Ark. - Saturday night's 151st birthday celebration to honor Scott Joplin will include a special performance of "A Real Slow Drag," a song from the celebrated ragtime composer's opera, "Treemonisha."
The Joplin party will also honor the local opera singer Howard Goode, who died earlier this year, with the performance. Carol Collins Miles, Candace Taylor and Billy Brown will perform the rousing song in his honor. Attendees will be encouraged to sing along.
Goode, a baritone, joined others in a Perot Theatre performance of the song at a 2018 Joplin celebration that was also organized by the Regional Music Heritage Center, just as Saturday's birthday party is in coordination with the Scott Joplin Support Group. Goode was active in the Texarkana music scene and also sang with the Shreveport opera.
According to an RMHC news release, there is interest in forming an opera troupe here in Texarkana, to be named the Texarkana 1911 Opera Company. The company would aim to present "Treemonisha" regularly. "Treemonisha" takes place near Texarkana and the Red River, and the story concerns a young freed slave who strives to teach her family and community about the importance of education.
Another special hometown connection at the birthday party is with a painting by H.M. Fort Jr., a native to Texarkana now living in Illinois. His painting of Joplin at a piano will be auctioned to raise funds for the Skyscape "Music in the Air" Project that brings welded lighting sculptures to downtown. Lithograph prints will also be available. Fort created a similar piece for last year's Joplin party.
Saturday's birthday soiree includes jazz music with Three of a Kind, a trio that features Allen Batts on keyboards, Jeff Madlock on bass and George Buckner on drums. Singing with them will be Taylor, Miles, and John Edwards. Also performing will be several pianists with the Allegro Club.
A red carpet entrance with photography, wine and beer, other refreshments and hors d'oeuvres will all add to the birthday festivities. The party starts at 6 p.m.
(Tickets: advance online are $15 adults, $10 students at RMHCenter.org; $20 adults, $10 students at the door. The 1894 Gallery and City Market is located at Front and Olive streets in downtown Texarkana. Info: 903-490-5471 or [email protected].)