Month: April 2020

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Music Music Blog

Opera Memphis Keeps Singing; Live at the Garden Season Cancelled

Opera Memphis is continuing its aggressive programming on Facebook. During April, it’s been offering a digital version of its 30 Days of Opera program with an Aria Jukebox, a teaser about a hedgehog hoping to revive his opera career, and local singer Philip Himebook singing multiple parts in, for example, what Opera Memphis is calling the social distance version of “O Mio Babbino Caro.”

Philip Himebook and Amanda Quinn singing ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ on Facebook for Opera Memphis.

General director Ned Canty says that on Wednesdays at 7 p.m., Opera Memphis will have a variety of live events on its Facebook page. This week’s Opera for Animals program will be co-hosted by WKNO’s Kacky Walton, and next week will feature what Canty says is “an all musical theater edition of our ‘Opera Bingo.'”


He says he hopes to bring the Sing to Me program back soon, where a singer and accompanist travel to various neighborhoods to perform at an appropriate distance. And he is offering to celebrate birthdays of front-line workers by having a performer serenade them with “Happy Birthday.” Email singtome@operamemphis.org with contact info.

To see Opera Memphis’ programming, go here.

Meanwhile, the Memphis Botanic Garden’s (MBG) Live at the Garden season has been cancelled. Sherry May, co-director of Live at the Garden, posted on MBG’s website that the scheduled May 6 announcement of the summer’s acts was also cancelled.

The organization had hoped to celebrate its 20th anniversary with the season but now is considering other ways to mark the milestone. Live at the Garden brings in about 25 percent of the MBG’s annual budget. May called the cancellation “financially devastating.”

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News News Blog

Hate Groups Down Nationally, Up in Tennessee, Memphis: Report

There were eight active hate groups in the Memphis area in 2019, according to data from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Each year, SPLC releases a comprehensive look at hate groups in the country, broken down by state and city. In Tennessee, there were a total of 38 hate groups, with the majority of those groups concentrated in the Memphis area. The number of groups in Memphis is up from the six recorded last year and double the number of groups here in 2015.

SPLC

The SPLC defines a hate group as one having “beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically their immutable characteristics.”

Last year, Memphis had one Neo-Confederate group, one White Nationalist group, and four Black Separatist groups. In Bartlett, there were two White Nationalist groups.

Statewide, groups range from anti-LGBTQ to Racist Skinheads. The most prevalent group was Black Separatists with eight recorded groups in the state. According to the SPLC, Tennessee has two more total recorded groups than last year.

Across the country, the SPLC reports that for the second year in a row White Nationalist groups are on the rise. From 2017 to 2018, that number increased from 100 to 148. While last year, the number went up by seven. Here, there were two more White Nationalist groups than in 2018.

SPLC also reports that last year there was a national jump in anti-LGBTQ groups from 49 to 70. This increase is largely due to President Donald Trump’s administration’s embracing anti-LGBTQ leaders and their agendas, the SPLC said.

But overall, there was a decline in the total number of hate groups in the country, dropping from an all-time high of 1,020 in 2018 to 940 last year.

SPLC

SPLC

Still, Lecia Brooks, a spokesperson for SPLC said there is a “crisis of hate and extremism in our country.

“The toxic ideas propagated by these hate groups not only lead to violence, but erode the very foundations of our democracy. The attacks in El Paso, Texas, and Poway, California, are stark reminders of the serious threat posed by white supremacist ideology and those it motivates to act. Each of these attacks, as well as thousands of hate crimes across the country, was inspired by white supremacist propaganda.”

Read the full report below.

[pdf-1]

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Indie Memphis Does the Hollywood Shuffle with Actor/Director Robert Townsend

Robert Townsend (right) and Jimmy Woodard (left) in Hollywood Shuffle

Here’s the secret about the racial disparity in Hollywood: It’s not a secret, and it never has been. Even if many people didn’t become aware of the problem of the dramatic underrepresentation of people of color among the decision makers in the American film business before the 2015 “Oscars So White” moment, the people struggling on the ground certainly were.

Witness Hollywood Shuffle. In 1986, Robert Townsend was by any definition a big talent. The comedian, actor, and fledgling director had been in the entertainment trenches for ten years when he produced and directed his own film on a shoestring budget. In a story reminiscent of Dolemite Is My Name, Townsend gathered his underpaid and struggling black friends in L.A., including future stars such as Keenen Ivory Wayans, to make a movie about the delusions of ambition and the reflexive prejudice black actors faced in the Hollywood of the 1980s.

Hollywood Shuffle is a strange beast. Townsend stars as Bobby Taylor, an actor from a working-class California family trying to juggle auditions and his crappy job at a hot dog stand. Those parts are fairly conventional ’80s light comedy, until the film flies off the rails with parodies of Hollywood films done “the black way.” In one skit, Townsend pops up with Jimmy Woodard in a Siskel and Ebert parody where the two film critics are forced to sneak into the theater.

With its expansive cast, irreverent attitude, and charmingly low-budget aesthetic, the film proved to be a huge hit upon release in 1987. To watch it today is to see someone in the past making arguments and observations that still resonate with current events. It’s also still super funny.

Indie Memphis is partnering with the Criterion Channel to feature Hollywood Shuffle on their weekly Movie Club pandemic streaming series. Tonight, Tuesday, April 28th at 8 p.m., Indie Memphis artistic director Miriam Bale will host a Zoom-based discussion with Robert Townsend about the legacy of his work and the realities of being black in 2020 Hollywood. You can find out how to watch the film and sign up for the Q&A discussion on the Indie Memphis website.

Indie Memphis Does the Hollywood Shuffle with Actor/Director Robert Townsend

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Music Music Blog

Beale Street Music Festival Adjusting Lineup for October Event

CREDIT: MIM- Facebook

MIM- Facebook

Beale Street Music Festival at Tom Lee Park

Hopefully, by now you’ve heard: October is the new May. As the city began this shelter-in-place era, Memphis in May and the Beale Street Music Festival (BSMF) announced the postponement of the perennial gathering until this fall. For those who might feel torn between BSMF and the Mempho Music Festival, traditionally held in October also, never fear: the latter event has been postponed until sometime next year.

While many prognosticate that even October is too soon to anticipate a return to normalcy, BSMF planners are hoping for the best and getting their ducks in a row. Given the current volatility of the touring circuit, it’s surprising that most of the acts scheduled for this spring have confirmed for the later date. The final lineup will be announced in June.

In a statement released last Friday, BSMF spokespeople wrote,

Eighty-five percent of the 60+ artists announced in early February will return except the following six artists due to scheduling conflicts in October: The Lumineers, The 1975, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liam Gallagher, Louis the Child and Toad the Wet Sprocket. Festival fans who purchased tickets specifically to see these artists perform may obtain a full refund of their festival ticket purchase via Eventbrite through April 30, or they may hold their tickets for use on the fall dates.

Memphis in May is bigger than BSMF, of course, and other related events have been rescheduled as well:

World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest: September 30 – October 3, 2020
Beale Street Music Festival: October 16-18, 2020
Great American River Run: rescheduled for the fall, date TBA
International Salute to Ghana: May 1-31, 2021

The Memphis in May board acknowledges that the future is uncertain, and continues to monitor new developments. “While millions are currently impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are hopeful that by this fall the situation will have improved enough to allow us to present the 2020 Beale Street Music Festival in a safe environment and provide music fans cause for celebration,” said James L. Holt, President and CEO of Memphis in May. “Our fall 2020 lineup features many of music’s biggest names representing a broad spectrum of musical genres and we look forward to announcing additional artists and a killer lineup with our June announcement of the ‘Memphis in October’ Beale Street Music Festival.”

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News News Blog

COVID-19 Cases Rise By 38, One New Death Recorded

There are 2,358 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Shelby County, up by 38 over Monday’s count. One new death was recorded Monday for a new total of 46.

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: The Poet, Havi

Music Video Monday is about love.

That’s not just me saying that, it’s today’s artist The Poet, Havi. “This song, this video, are both testaments to love. On the surface it is a clear ode to the love that exists between me and Kelsee (You can read a bit about how we met via The Memphis Flyer‘s February 13 Issue). But that relationship has only acted as a doorway to the deeper depths of Love, where only the unspoken languages of art and religion seem to capture the elusive joys of an Elevated Life. In my experience, the words art, love, and religion are all interchangeable and – just like the different paths up the mountain – they should all be explored by one who seeks to live a fruitful existence.”

Dancer Kelsee Woods is the star of “You’re My Jesus,” a love song that stretches towards the mystical. Beautifully shot by Nate Packard and edited by Barrett Kutas, Woods’ heartfelt choreography makes this video an outstanding collaboration between her and Havi. “Kelsee has been the messenger for much of the Truth that life has chosen to reveal to me,” says Havi.

For more by The Poet and his associated acts, you can go to the Studio88 website or check out the Spotify playlist. Now, check out this ode to love in the time of coronavirus.

Music Video Monday: The Poet, Havi

If you would like to see this music video email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com

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News News Blog

COVID-19 Cases Rise By 187, No New Deaths Recorded

Shelby County now has 2,320 confirmed COVID-19 cases, up by 187 new cases from Sunday. The county’s death toll remains at 45.

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News News Blog

COVID-19 Cases Rise by 95, One New Death Recorded

COVID-19 cases rose by 95 from Friday to Saturday, up to a total of 2,133 cases in Shelby County. one new death was recorded in the county from Friday to Saturday.

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News News Blog

Vanderbilt Report: Tennessee May Need to Close After It Opens

CREDIT: Facebook/Mid-South Food Bank

Facebook/Mid-South Food Bank

Volunteers load food into a car at a mobile food pantry

Tennessee’s virus transmission rate stayed the same from last week, according to Vanderbilt University researchers, and new data show what could happen when the state’s economy re-opens.

State and local officials have relied upon the Vanderbilt model in making decisions about how and when to allow citizens to return to work and some businesses. Last week, the model showed that Tennesseans had flattened the curve of the virus by staying home but said the situation here remained “fragile and uncertain.”

In a new policy briefing published Friday, researchers said Tennessee’s transmission rate remained at around 1.0. The number quantifies the average number of additional people infected by one infected person. If the number is above one, the virus is growing. A rate below one has to be sustained to suppress the virus.

“Today, Tennessee’s transmission number remains around 1.0 in both metro and non-metro areas,” reads the paper. “This indicates that social distancing has reduced transmission of the virus by limiting the number of contacts among Tennesseans.”

Governor Bill Lee plans to allow 89 Tennessee counties to re-open next week with restrictions. Six counties, including Shelby County, will remain under strict stay-at-home orders. 

Governor Bill Lee

The new Vanderbilt paper looks around the corner to what could happen next.

“This week we focus on the question of how to maximize the amount of time the Tennessee economy is ’open’ in 2020,” reads the paper. “Another way to state that same goal is that we want to minimize the amount of time spent under restrictive social distancing protocols.

“Achieving these goals means avoiding a possible second round of business restrictions triggered by escalating hospitalizations that threaten to overburden the health care system.”
[pullquote-1] The Vanderbilt model looks at what could happen if the economy is re-opened at different transmission rates. (See chart below.) If orders are lifted and virus rates spike again, it could trigger a “circuit breaker.” Stay-at-home orders could return to save hospitals and health care systems from becoming overwhelmed.

If the transmission rate continues to slow, for example, the economy could remain open indefinitely. If the state opens on May 1 and virus rates spike above 1.5, the new model says the economy would need to close again in 46 days.

All of the models boil down to this:

“The chart shows that the longer social distancing is continued, and the more transmission of the virus is reduced, the longer the economy could stay open before overburdening the state’s hospitals and risking the health of all Tennesseans who might need care, not just those suffering from COVID-19,” reads the paper.

It’s unknown if the current virus transmission rate will change after the governor’s Safer At Home order is lifted. But the Vanderbilt researchers said ”we do know that the number of social contacts among Tennesseans will increase — even if certain aspects of physical distancing at businesses, mask-wearing and hygiene practices continue.”

“Finally, we continue to stress the success of Tennesseans in reducing the transmission of COVID-19 to its current level, though we also underscore how fragile this success can be and how a transmission number below 1.0 must be sustained for the epidemic to diminish,” reads the paper. “Strong public health measures, including widespread testing and contact tracing, are essential to maintaining this trajectory as we ease social distancing practices.”

Read the new paper here:
[pdf-1]

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News News Blog

COVID-19 Cases Rise By 57, Deaths Rise By One

Shelby County’s coronavirus cases out rose by 57 from Friday to Saturday morning. The county now has 2,038 confirmed COVID-19 cases. One person died from the virus from day to day, brining the overall total death toll to 44.