Just because there’s been a break in the hot weather, doesn’t mean you should give up frosty beverages … like this absolutely delicious green been shake with coconut milk ($3) from Pho Vietnam.
Theatre Memphis’ flat, surprisingly unambitious take on Annie Get Your Gun could be much better than it is. All it needs is a grumpy old guy in a chair sitting down stage right explaining why theater can be so terribly disappointing. And I’m only half-kidding about that. While sitting in the opening night audience I was struck by the potential serendipity of having Annie Get Your Gun and The Drowsy Chaperone playing in Memphis at the same time. A great production of Annie could perfectly illustrate all the points made by The Drowsy Chaperone‘s fussy “Man in Chair” character. Although TDC is inspired by 20’s-era musicals AGYG , which opened in 1946, is something of a throwback. The plot—part comic melodrama, part romance—is really beside the point. The thinly-drawn story exists only as an excuse to string together some great gags and delightful songs.
Unsurprisingly AGYG is beautifully designed and the cast boasts a goodly handful of genuine talents. But director Jason Spitzer—a fabulous actor who also helmed GCT’s unconscionably awful production of Gorey Stories— has stripped the show of anything that might pass for humanity or style. There’s too much mugging, not enough choreography, and punchlines are delivered directly to the audience with a corn pone attitude reminiscent of Hee Haw, but less authentic.
It’s a shame that this old warhorse has been given the old warhorse treatment. The gun-totin’, rootin’-tootin’-ness of it all should really appeal to the Sarah Palin-loving, immigrant-hating TEA party crowd. And God knows those folks could all stand to learn a little bit about Irving Berlin, who escaped from Russia with his family at the turn of the last century and grew up to compose the all-American anthem “God Bless America.” Although it may seem dated on the surface, there’s plenty about this show and its back story to recommend it to contemporary audiences.
The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Character actor John McFerrin plays opportunistic hotel proprietor Foster Wilson with all the quirk and detail of a Preston Sturges character while Jeffrey Brewer is a smaller-than-life Buffalo Bill who disappears beneath his Big Gulp hat and luxurious hair. Ashley Bugg Brown, a gifted comic performer who seldom disappoints, seems to be hamstrung by the production’s hollow, presentational style and is only occasionally effective as the shrewish bigot Dolly Tate. Shawn Brian Reed is often quite good as Sitting Bull although he’s been painted brown and his biggest laugh comes from a gag so offensive my few drops of Native American blood started ghost dancing in my veins.
Kent Fleshman’s Frank Butler, the vain, macho gunslinger ousted by Annie Oakley from his position as the star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, is a little wooden. He’s also the only authentically human presence currently appearing on stage at Theatre Memphis. In other words, he sometimes seems completely out of place, as though he might be doing another show. He is paired with Kirie Walz, a vastly gifted performer with a personality that explodes off the stage. But in this production Annie Oakley is never allowed to be much more than a clownish hayseed and there’s not enough chemistry between her and Fleshman to fill a test tube.
Theatre Memphis’ Annie isn’t all bad. The orchestra sounds great and the songs are all lovingly sung. But take that away and there’s really not much left. Hopefully for Theatre Memphis that will be enough. It was often enough for an opening night crowd that sang along with every number.
Some news and notes from around the world of local film:
Winter’s Bone Sticks Around: A lot of the time platform release films — indies, docs, foreign flicks, etc. — come and go so fast for their local runs that it can be hard for some interested filmgoers to find the time to see them. Not so Winter’s Bone, the Ozarks-set 2010 Sundance winner that opened at Malco’s Ridgeway Four on Friday, July 16th and begins the seventh week of its run today. Winter’s Bone might be my favorite film of 2010 so far, an appreciation that comes through in my initial review of the film. I’m thrilled it’s stuck around so long, but the run can’t last much longer, so if you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor this week.
Here’s the film’s trailer:
Indie Memphis News: The Indie Memphis Film Festival is scaling back its length this year, its 13th festival running over a long weekend October 21st-24th. But it’s expanding its geographic footprint. In addition to its central home at Studio on the Square and satellite location at the Brooks Museum of Art, Indie Memphis recently announced it would be adding festival programming at the new Playhouse on the Square, within the same few-block radius of Studio and the Brooks, at Union and Cooper. The Playhouse’s 348-seat auditorium will be used for screenings and the venue will also be used for festival workshops, panels, and the “Festival Café,” which will host live music throughout the festival. The combination of the compressed weekend schedule and expanded but very manageable festival layout (especially if the Hi-Tone Café remains as a post-screening party site) should make Indie Memphis an even livelier affair than it already is.
None of this year’s Mid-South Pride Parade grand marshals are old enough to drink, and one isn’t even old enough to drive a car. But all three have already made great strides for LGBT equality.
Constance McMillen of Fulton, Mississippi made national headlines when the Itawamba County School District wouldn’t allow her to bring her girlfriend to the senior prom nor would they allow her to wear a tuxedo to the event. McMillen contacted the American Civil Liberties Union, and they filed a lawsuit on her behalf. She was recently awarded $30,000 from that suit.
Ceara Sturgis of Wesson, Mississippi wore a tuxedo in her senior pictures, but school officials at Wesson Attendance Center told her she couldn’t use the photo for the yearbook. When the yearbook was released in April 2010, Sturgis’ photo was not included, nor was her name listed anywhere in the book. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit on her behalf.
Will Phillips of West Fork, Arkansas was only 10 years old last fall when he made headlines for refusing to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance. He reasoned that because LGBT people don’t have equal rights under the law, he shouldn’t recite a pledge that contains the phrase “with liberty and justice for all.”
The featured speaker/guest of honor at the Pride festival will be Robin McGehee of Jackson, Mississippi, co-founder and director of Get Equal. McGehee helped organize Meet in the Middle for Equality in Fresno, California, a statewide reaction to the passage of Prop 8. She then was asked to co-direct the largely successful National Equality March in October 2009 in Washington, DC.
This year’s Pride parade and festival will be held on Saturday Oct. 16th. The festival will begin at noon at Peabody Park in the Cooper-Young Historic District. Parade line-up begins at 3 p.m. in the First Congregational Church lot and kicks off at 4 p.m. For more information, go here.
Sometimes I read stuff on the Internet that just leaves me speechless. Like this:
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A mother has pulled her mixed-race children from a Mississippi school over a policy that dictates blacks and whites alternate years holding class officer positions but makes no provision for students of mixed parentage.
Brandy Springer said her 12-year-old daughter, who is half native American, couldn’t run for sixth-grade class reporter at Nettleton Middle School in Lee County because that position was only for black students. School president was for white students this year.
Springer, who is white, had two children who are half native American at the school. She said she has two younger children who are half black.
Administrators didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A statement on the district’s website said the policy is under review.
There are so many things wrong with this, I don’t know where begin. This is a public school, in the United States (Mississippi, yes, but still the U.S.) that actually has a policy of election eligibility determined by race. If it’s 2010, only whites can run. In 2011, we’ll let the black kids run. Simply insane. And, surely, patently illegal in a public school.
And we wonder why the race card still gets played in grown-up elections? I’m flabbergasted.
John Branston says it’s been a bad month for our fair city. Let him count the ways.
With exhibition play out of the way, the FIBA World Championships officially kick off tomorrow, with three Grizzlies players in the mix — Rudy Gay with team USA, Marc Gasol with Spain, and Hamed Haddadi with Iran.
Here’s the game schedule through the next week for these three squads, with broadcast information where applicable and brief notes. All of the USA games are on an ESPN station. Most of the Spain games are on NBA TV and are worth watching not just for Marc Gasol but because this tournament could be a major coming-out party for 19-year-old point guard phenom Ricky Rubio, who ascended to the starting point guard role for Spain after veteran Jose Calderon suffered an injury that caused him to drop out of the competition.
Saturday, August 28th:
USA vs. Croatia — 11 a.m. (ESPN Classic)
Spain vs. France — 1 p.m. (NBA TV)
Brazil vs. Iran — 1:30 p.m.
Notes: Gasol will tangle with a couple of NBA-caliber bigs in the former of Boris Diaw and Ian Mahinmi, while Haddadi could struggle against what might be the tournament’s best frontcourt duo in Anderson Varejao and soon-to-be Spurs-rookie Tiago Splitter.
Sunday, August 29th:
USA vs. Slovenia — 8:30 a.m. (ESPN2)
Spain vs. New Zealand — 1 p.m. (NBA TV)
Iran vs. Croatia — 11 a.m.
Notes: Slovenia features flamboyant Suns backup point guard Goran Dragic, who is coming off a terrific NBA playoff performance and has a chance to elevate himself even more with a good tournament here.
There is never a good time for a tax increase in Memphis, but getting it out there at the start of the consolidation campaign is a bad break for Rebuild Government.
Memphis property owners are on the hook for $57 million for Memphis City Schools. The last bit of wiggle room was removed this week when the state Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. The only issue now is whether the money will be paid in a lump sum or installments.
Shelby County residents outside of Memphis, whose votes will be counted separately in the November 2nd election, aren’t liable for the $57 million payment. The city and county school systems are separate, and would remain separate under the proposed new charter. But the sight of the Memphis City Council and the Memphis City Schools Board of Education fighting over funding — and city taxpayers getting a tax increase — will only harden the opposition and raise the threat level among county residents.
A few other recent developments will hurt the Rebuild Government cause:
Lately I’ve written a lot about Sister Myotis and Voices of the South and posted an awful lot of video too. So instead of repeating myself I’ll share this funny interview with WREG.
Their Dash & Dine fundraiser is Saturday Night at TheatreWorks and includes a trip on the Backbeat tour bus. Sounds like fun.
Most everybody is familiar with the best-selling novel, From Here to Eternity, which the Modern Library has ranked #62 on its list of the “100 Best Novels.” Perhaps even more of you have seen the 1953 movie based on the book, which won a whopping eight Academy Awards. Even if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, I KNOW you’re familiar with the famous “beach-kiss” scene featuring — oh good grief, do I have to tell you everything?
But (and this is my point) how many of you know that James Jones, the hard-drinking, tough-as-nails author of this book, along with many others, actually wrote it while he was living in Memphis — at Leahy’s Tourist Court, of all places? Not many, I bet.
But it’s true. In 1943, Jones had been shipped to Kennedy General (later Veterans) Hospital here to recover from injuries he received in action at Guadalcanal. He must have liked it here, because he returned with his wife, Lowney, in 1950, and settled down at Leahy’s to write the greatest novel of his career.
With assistance from a former Memphian named Birch Harms (it sounds like a made-up name, doesn’t it?) I tracked down an old friend of Jones, Captain Patt Meara, now retired and living in Florida, who told me the whole story, and a lot more — including all those times he and Jones went to the (in)famous Plantation Inn over in West Memphis to enjoy a band with an up-and-coming young singer by the name of … Isaac Hayes.
I tell the whole dramatic story in the September issue of Memphis magazine. So turn your computer off right now — do it! — and go pick up a copy if (for shame!!) you don’t already subscribe.
In the meantime, here’s an old postcard of Leahy’s when it had seen better days. The old house was torn down a few months ago.
BOOKJACKET IMAGE COURTESY OF PATT MEARA — Look carefully at the credit line and you’ll see that Meara took the photo that ran on the dustjacket of the first edition.
