Andy Saunders has given much of his life to the local theater community and people are taking notice.
The performer, designer, director, and teacher has been part of the scene since coming to the then-Memphis State University as a graduate student in the 1960s. That half-century-plus of devotion will be recognized at the upcoming Memphis Ostrander Awards when he will be given the 2021 Eugart Yerian Award for Lifetime Achievement.
The Ostranders primarily recognize a year’s worth of excellence in local theater productions and this year’s winners will be announced on Sunday, August 29th, at the Halloran Centre. The exception to next month’s big reveal is the lifetime achievement honor named for the director of the Memphis Little Theatre (now Theatre Memphis) from 1929 to 1961.
The announcement from the Ostranders organization said Saunders has been “an indispensable presence in the Memphis theater community. … Onstage, Saunders is celebrated not only for his nuanced and charismatic acting style but also for his beautiful, operatic singing voice.”
Saunders has directed shows around town and was at Memphis University School where he taught science, speech, religion, astronomy, photography, mechanical writing, and theater production. He also produced more than 135 shows at the school during his 38-year career before retiring in 2010.
Since his retirement, he’s designed and built dozens of shows at Germantown Community Theatre. GCT executive director Brian Everson says Saunders is the “ultimate volunteer, professional, artist, and friend. GCT, in so many ways, would not be possible without Andy.”
Federal prosecutors sentenced a serial “swatter” to prison time for a deadly scheme to get a Twitter handle and indicted a pastor on child sexual exploitation charges, both men from West Tennessee.
Deadly swatting sentence
Shane Sonderman, 20, of Lauderdale County (north of Memphis) was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison Tuesday for his participation in a swatting call that led to the death of a grandfather in Sumner County last April. Swatting is the act of calling in a fake emergency to law enforcement officials to provoke a large, usually armed police response (like a SWAT team) at someone else’s home.
Mark Herring, the Sumner County man, held the Twitter handle @Tennessee. Desirable handles like these can be sold for thousands of dollars, according to federal officials.
Screenshot of Herring’s @Tennessee Twitter.
Sonderman and co-conspirators from across the U.S. and other countries would extort holders of such handles with harassing text messages, sending unpaid-for food deliveries to their targets’ homes, and, sometimes, by swatting them. The court said Sonderman’s group did this from July 2018 to May 2020.
Sonderman got personal information about Herring and his family. He posted those details to an online chat platform where one of his co-conspirators could get it and use the information to place a plausible call to emergency services.
In April 2020, SWAT teams were called to Herring’s home, north of Nashville. The caller told police that he had shot a woman in the head and she was dead. First responders arrived and found Herring on his porch. With guns drawn, they ordered him to approach with his hands in the air. Herring suffered a fatal heart attack before anyone on the scene knew the call was a hoax.
The group also sent emergency services to the Ohio residence of another victim’s parents. Afterward, the victim received anonymous text messages on her phone that read “did your parent’s (sic) enjoy the firetrucks?” and “i (sic) plan on killing your parents next if you do not hand the username on instagram (sic) over to me.”
Predatory pastor
A former West Tennessee pastor and elementary school girls’ basketball coach was indicted Tuesday for using three minors to create sexual abuse material and for transporting a minor interstate to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Joshua Henley, 32, of Evansville, Indiana, served as pastor of the Holladay Church of Christ in Holladay, Tennessee (east of Jackson), and as a girls’ basketball coach at Holladay Elementary School (K-8) from approximately 2017 through March 2021. He previously held similar positions in Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma, and was working as a youth pastor in Indiana until his arrest.
Henley was charged with four counts of producing child sexual exploitation material and one count each of transporting and possessing such materials. He was also charged with one count of transporting a minor to another state to engage in criminal sexual activity and with one count of sending obscene material to a minor under 16.
If convicted on all counts, Henley could face up to 160 years in federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system.
Mayor Jim Strickland of Memphis, Mayor John Cooper of Nashville, and Mayor Tim Kelly of Chattanooga joined mayors from 28 states in sending a letter to President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling for pathways to citizenship for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, essential workers, and their families via budget reconciliation.
The letter comes 10 days after a controversial decision by a Texas Judge that ruled DACA unlawful, possibly putting 13,000 immigrants and their families in Tennessee at risk. The letter, which has 84 signatures from mayors around the United States, asks Congress to pass permanent protection for immigrants.
“We are proud of our Tennessee mayors for sticking up for the rights and protections of all Tennesseans,” said Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrants and Refugees Rights Coalition (TIRRC). “DACA has always been vulnerable and it never should have come to this. We’ve been fighting for years and we will continue to organize to win permanent immigration relief for the thousands of Tennesseans who are undocumented. Congress and the Biden-Harris administration must meet this moment and deliver citizenship for our communities.”
TIRRC is a statewide immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to empower immigrants and refugees throughout Tennessee.
Temperatures have risen only to the low 90s so far this summer. Those temperatures are expected to soar into the high 90s in the coming days.
For now, Memphis and much of the Mid-South remain under a heat advisory. The National Weather Service said temperatures this afternoon will feel like 105 degrees.
The heat continues. Another heat advisory for portions of the Mid-South today. Heat index values will reach between 105 and 110 degrees F for much of the area.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) says it’s ready for “some of the hottest weather of the season so far.” Peak power demand on the TVA electric system could reach as high as 30,000 megawatts.
TVA said in a Tuesday statement that its diverse generation fleet provides flexibility to provide energy from many different sources. Its transmission system is connected to a broader national energy system that allows it to purchase additional power in times of unusually high demand. TVA said it also watches weather forecasts and adjusts generation and transmission as needed.
Kquiana Daniel serves fried green tomatoes and burrata at a pre-opening party for Paramount. (Credit: MIchael Donahue)
People who made Paramount possible — as in everything from doing the woodwork to installing heating and air — got a sneak peek at the restaurant/bar on July 23rd. The next night was a get-together for friends and family.
Paramount, which was used in the Bluff City Law TV series, is slated to open August 3rd at 265 South Front.
Tony Gooch and Melvin and TIna James at Parmount’s pre-opening party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Guests dined on some of the restaurant’s fare and drank specialty cocktails, including the “Tom Donahue,” which, I’m proud to say, was named for my dad, who was branch manager for Paramount Pictures. One of his offices was in the building that now houses Paramount. Samantha Pilcher created the drink, which is composed of bourbon, allspice dram, lime, sugar, and Angostura. She and Tony Smith created all the drinks, which include the Memphis Manhattan, Blood Orange Cosmo, and Meadow Mule.
The “Tom Donahue” at Paramount (Credit: Michael Donahue)Tony Smith and Samantha Pilcher at Paramount (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Food served at the parties included fried green tomato with burrata; a caramelized onion bisque, and sea-salt-honey, Parker house rolls.
Asked what type place he wants Paramount to be, chef/owner Dirk Meitzler says, “I want it to have a Memphis feel to it. Especially with a lot of hotel guests coming into town staying next door.”
In two words: “Southern hospitality.”
Paramount’s chef/owner Dirk Meitzler (Credit: MIchael Donahue)Mac Coulter, Logan Lutrell, Austin Russell, and Houston Carson at the July 23rd Paramount opening party. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
LAS VEGAS POOL PARTY
The Phoenix Club hosted the Las Vegas Pool Party (Credit: MIchael Donahue)
Someone recently asked on Facebook if adults go to pool parties. Or something like that.
Well, they do, based on the Phoenix Club’s Las Vegas Pool Party, held July 23rd at the University Club of Memphis. Not everybody, but some guests suited up and got in the club’s swimming pool.
For $60, guests could drink beer, wine and a specialty cocktail: The Phoenix Sunrise. It was equal parts orange juice, pineapple juice, with a splash of grapefruit juice, with shots of vodka and rum.
For $150, they could partake of the ice luge, drink champagne and, as the invitation states, “top shelf liquor,” and mingle in the VIP section in the gazebo.
All proceeds went to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Memphis.
“It was our first pool party in four years,” says Elliott Stovall, head of membership for The Phoenix Club. “I think it went well. We ended up raising about $3,000 for the Boys and Girls Club.”
Their next event will be held on New Year’s Eve. “We’re combining our Fight Night, which usually was the end of August or middle of August, with New Year’s Eve.”
They’re planning to have a “deejay in the first part while the fights are going on and have a big band in the second part of it. Almost like two parties in one.”
As of now, they’re planning it to be “a black tie affair,” Stovall says. Location is still to be determined, but people can get more information at phoenixclub.org.
Alejandro Becker, Carson Smith, Preston Roberts, and Hannah Miller at the Las Vegas Pool Party (Credit: MIchael Donahue)Pratt Rogers, Will Wills, and Hurston Reed at the Las Vegas Pool Party (Credit: MIchael Donahue)Las Vegas Pool Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Las Vegas Pool Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
3 p.m. ACHI HOUSE
Kennedee Cross, Caleb McAdams, Louie Gettings, and Shalom Gettings at the June 10th Achi House show. (Credit: MIchael Donahue)
Well, I made it to one Achi (pronounced ‘AH-chee’ House) concert. Louie Gettings, 20, who hosted the outdoor concerts at his home, is moving to Chattanooga in August.
I’m glad I was there. It was a packed yard at Gettings’s house. People gathered around the stage to watch Avon Park while I was there taking photos.
Achi House (Credit: MIchael Donahue)Achi House (Credit: MIchael Donahue)
I didn’t know much of the history, though.
Gettings told me he held between six and eight shows, which concluded with the one July 10th.
“Achi” is “a Hebrew term, which means ‘bro’ or ‘brother,’” Gettings says. “When you say it along with ‘shalom,’ which means ‘peace,’ it’s ‘Peace, brother.’ I think it just sounds cool. It’s something people probably haven’t heard before and it makes us stand out.”
Achi House, which is in the University of Memphis area, is “sort of my house, but it’s more the environment and the music scene I’ve built. I’m going to Chattanooga and do shows up there, but I’ll still call it ‘Achi.’ It’s become more than the house itself.”
Gettings featured about 17 local and out-of-town bands during his series of Memphis shows. “I really like all kinds of music and hosting all kinds of bands. The biggest thing I look for are genuineness, artists who truly love their art and love to perform. Love performing and creating music and creating art that holds more value than just plain old entertainment. Bringing real connections to people with their music and the interactions we have between sets and after shows when people stay and talk. Those are the moments I live for.
“And then the sort of scene and culture and environment I tried to create with Achi is one where the majority of people coming are also there for the art and the experience of live music. And not there simply just to party or use substances, which, again, I think substances are fine if that’s what people want to do and more power to them. But I really want people to enjoy the music and experience what good music and good art is like, and meet genuine and good people.”
Achi House (Credit: MIchael Donahue)Achi House (Credit: MIchael Donahue)Achi House (Credit: Michael Donahue)
I asked Gettings, who, obviously, has loads of friends, why he was moving to Chattanooga. “I’m ready for a fresh start and new experience in life. I love Memphis and I love the people here, but I’m at a good spot in life where I have the freedom and ability to move. See where life takes me. I’m sure I’ll be back in Memphis, but I want to grow Achi even more. Touch more people through Achi as kind of a movement.”
But never fear; Achi shows in Memphis will continue. “I plan at some point to host shows in Memphis again remotely. Like plan them and organize them remotely from Chattanooga and come in town for the show.”
CRAFTS & DRAFTS
Will Sexton and Amy Lavere were among the guests at Crafts & Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Memphis Flyer’s Crafts & Drafts, held July 10th on the Plaza at Crosstown Concourse, was a hit.
About 3,000 guests attended the event, which included local and regional craft beers curated by Cash Saver.
Also, a total of 38 artists, makers, and crafters took part.
Crafts & Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Crafts & Drafts (Credit: MIchael Donahue)
And if you missed it, or you just want to re-live the experience, the Crafts & Drafts Holiday Market will be held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. November 13th and 14th.
Major and Dacron Currie at Crafts & Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue) We Saw You
Don Lifted is a frequent flyer on Music Video Monday, and a unique voice in Memphis music and art. The dedicated polymath has never been one to rest on his laurels, and rumor has it he’s prepping a new album for fall release.
To tide us over, the Don has released a new music video. The blend of hip hop, ambient, and alternative on “Golden” is unmistakably Lifted — both emotional and detached, cold and welcoming. The artist explores these moods in another spectacular new video that shows he’s a master of the form.
Co-directed by Joshua Cannon and Nubia Yasin, “Golden” features the luscious photography of Sam Leathers and some truly incredible makeup and production design from Amber Ahmad. It’s another home run from the Don. Take a look.
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Baseball will baffle you. On July 20th at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, the Cardinals took the field for the bottom of the ninth inning with a 6-1 lead over the Chicago Cubs. The visitors won the game with a six-run rally. The very next day, the Cards faced a pitcher (Kyle Hendricks) who owns a career record of 12-3 against them. And St. Louis won (in extra innings).
On a larger scale, the 2021 Memphis Redbirds are playing baffling baseball. On July 9th, after a loss to the Louisville Bats in the first game of a doubleheader, the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate sported a record of 21-36, dead last in Triple-A’s Southeast Division. They won the second game that night in Kentucky and have proceeded to win their next 14 games, establishing a new franchise record for winning streaks and evening their record at 36-36. The Redbirds have passed two teams (Charlotte and Norfolk) in their seven-team division with two more (Gwinnett and Jacksonville) now firmly in their sights. (As of Monday they remain 14 games behind the first-place Durham Bulls.)
Making the record-breaking streak all the more baffling is the fact that the previous standard of 11 straight wins was established by the 2017 Redbirds, a team that won 91 games — the most by a Memphis pro team since 1948 — and the Pacific Coast League championship. The current Redbirds are, for now, still outside any contenders’ circle for postseason hardware.
How, you might ask, did the Redbirds turn things around so dramatically, and for such a sustained stretch of baseball? You’d have to tour the entire clubhouse at AutoZone Park for your answers. No fewer than 10 pitchers have earned wins during the winning streak (Connor Thomas, Connor Jones, and Angel Rondon each posted two and Austin Warner notched three). Eight different hitters have homered during the streak, with Juan Yepez, Conner Capel, and the recently promoted Nolan Gorman each drilling four. Memphis has won six games by a single run during the streak and six times held their opponent to fewer than two runs. Since the sport was invented, pitching and timely home runs have been contributing factors to lengthy winning streaks. Nothing different here.
And there’s this: The Redbirds have beaten up on a pair of Triple-A baseball’s weak sisters. All 15 wins have come against the Louisville Bats (an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) and Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles), cellar-dwellers in the Midwest and Southeast divisions, respectively. But that’s hardly to diminish the streak. Good teams beat the clubs they should. Few championships have been won losing to bottom-feeders. The Redbirds found themselves blessed with a soft stretch on their schedule and they made the most of it. (Gwinnett visits AutoZone Park this week aiming to end the Redbirds’ streak. The Stripers are one game ahead of Memphis in the standings and have won eight of 12 meetings this season.)
We’ve seen this kind of about-face before, as recently as 2019, Ben Johnson’s first season as Redbirds manager. On July 17, 2019, Memphis found itself near the bottom of the PCL standings with a record of 38-59. The Redbirds proceeded to win 30 of their next 39 games to reach the .500 mark (68-68). They had a chance to win their division but dropped three of their final four games to the Iowa Cubs. The current roster would be wise to listen to Johnson as the “dog days” of August approach.
Ten series remain for the 2021 Redbirds, five at AutoZone Park and five on the road. How far can a history-making streak be extended? Sixteen games? Twenty? Even when it’s over, fun baseball awaits, perhaps with more history — even of the baffling variety — to be made. How a team plays at the end of a season, after all, has long been more memorable than how it plays at the beginning.
Vicky Kreips and Gael García Bernal aging on the beach in Old.
“What movie did you see?” asked my friend Sarah.
“Old,” I said. “The new M. Night Shyamalan.”
“Oh. How was it?”
“Meh. I didn’t hate it,” I said.
“Wow. That’s quite an endorsement, coming from you!” she said.
It’s true. I’m on record as not being a Shyamalan fan. More precisely, I hate his movies. It’s not personal. I’m sure he is a lovely person who is kind to animals. And I respect his skills. It’s obvious from even the most cursory examination of films like The Village and Signs that this is a guy who has memorized every frame Alfred Hitchcock ever shot. It’s just that he’s terribly one note, and not nearly the writer a generation of producers seem to think he is. After hitting with The Sixth Sense, he’s leaned on his signature gimmick of the late-film plot twist. Take The Happening, for example, where he sets up a high concept premise, treads water for an hour, then belly flops when he tries to resolve it cleverly.
(While I’m busy pissing cinephiles off, I recently watched the Turner Classic Movies tribute to another Hitch worshipper, Brian de Palma, and decided he’s also a hack.)
Anyway, Old is Shyamalan’s return to the theaters after two box office successes, Split and Glass. You’ve got to admire the commitment to short titles. Old starts with a young family heading to a beach vacation at the all-inclusive Anamika Resort on an island off the coast of Mexico. The marriage of the not very creatively named Guy (Gael García Bernal) and Prisca (Vicky Krieps) is on the rocks. They’re trying to keep it from their son Trent (played at this point by Nolan River) and daughter Maddox (Alexa Swinton, initially), but they’re not doing a very good job. When Trent plays with his action figures, they argue like mom and dad.
The hotel, though, is super nice, and the staff so attentive that they seem to know everything about their guests. Kinda spooky, right? It gets spookier: The resort manager (Gustaf Hammarsten) has the same energy as that guy in the Chevy commercials who plays sinister pranks on unsuspecting consumers. (“We’ve kidnapped your family to highlight all the features you’re going to love on our all-new Chevy Abductor crossover SUV.”) The manager offers to transport the family to a secret, secluded beach where nothing bad can happen.
Spoiler alert: Bad things happen.
Nolan River is one of four actors who play Trent at various ages in Old.
Once at the beach, Guy (is that a placeholder name that stuck?) and Prisca (was she once called “Girl?”) discover they’re not the only ones invited to this “exclusive” deserted beach. There’s also Charles (Rufus Sewell), a doctor; his wife Chrystal (Abbey Lee); daughter Kara (played at age 11 by Mikaya Fisher); and mother Agnes (Kathleen Chalfant). Lurking on a beach is a guy who Maddox recognizes as a rapper named— I kid you not — Mid-Sized Sedan (Aaron Pierre). They soon find that they’re trapped on the beach, and aging at an unnaturally fast rate.
Aaron Pierre plays a rapper named Mid-Sized Sedan. No, seriously.
In the big picture of horror movie settings to get trapped in with a group of disposable characters, of which you might be one, I’d say a secluded beach is probably the best you could hope for. Usually, it’s a haunted mansion or a deserted farmhouse surrounded by zombies or an eastern European hostel with a secret basement torture chamber. I have to admit, as Shyamalan went through his usual paces of stilted dialogue and obvious, studio-note exposition, I occasionally zoned out and just watched cinematographer Mike Gioulakis’ vibrant images of the surf rolling in.
Maybe that’s why I didn’t gag my way through Old. Or maybe it’s because the premise is taken from one of my favorite Ray Bradbury short stories, “Frost and Fire,” in which survivors of a spaceship crash discover that the alien planet’s radiation ages them a lifetime in only eight days, and it takes generations to effect an escape. Or maybe I’m just starved for entertainment.
Old never rises to Bradbury’s plane of contemplation, but at least it tries to explore the psychic side of aging as the ultimate body horror. Unlike, say, being dismembered at summer camp or transforming into a giant man-fly, it’s a horror scenario we will all face — if we’re lucky.
Downtown sidewalks are in need of repair, and a new grant program hopes to help get them fixed.
The Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) wants to set aside $50,000 to help Downtown business owners fix sidewalks in front of their properties. The business owners would split the cost of sidewalk repairs with the DMC through grants up to $5,000.
For now, the program is only available for businesses located in the Central Business Improvement District (CBID). There, the DMC staff has identified 60 parcels that could be eligible for the grant program.
The main aim of the program is to improve walkability, said Brett Roler, the DMC’s vice president of planning and development. It’s also about unlocking the potential of parking lots and parking garages, and creating a better retail environment Downtown.
“Our retail strategy says that the way buildings look matters, the way the public realm looks matters,” Roler said. “It not only communicates to people that this is a place that folks care about, but it also makes it easier [to walk] and you likely feel safer walking within the retail nodes like South Main or the Edge District or the Main Street mall.
“It also makes sure that between those same nodes, you’re much more likely to stop at more places, shop at more stores, and it’s all just a more enjoyable, pleasant experience.”
Sidewalk repair is a thorny issue in Memphis, and it has a past. It’s up to property owners to fix them, not the city, and there’s a whole lot of broken sidewalks out there.
The city has 3,429 miles of sidewalk, enough to stretch from Texas to Hawaii. A 2015 survey of peer cities found Memphis has more sidewalks and spent less on them. Atlanta, for example, had about 2,200 miles of sidewalk and budgeted $4.3 million for them.
(Credit: Memphis Flyer) As of 2015
Since 2004, Memphis has cumulatively budgeted only $334,000 on its sidewalks. To fix them all, it would cost about $1.1 billion, city figures say, to the tune of about $19 million per year for the next 24 years.
However, sidewalks here are in bad shape. The latest figures from the city say 80 percent to 95 percent of the city’s immense sidewalk network is in need of repair. Immediate repair is needed on around 33 percent of sidewalks here.
Memphis City Council members cracked down on sidewalk repairs in 2014, threatening fines to homeowners who did not fix walks. The council relaxed after a number of those fined were on fixed incomes or could not pay and established a financial assistance program for some sidewalk repairs. Current council member Michalyn Easter-Thomas floated a proposal last year that would stop the sale of properties with noncompliant sidewalks.
For Downtown’s pilot repair program, Roler said his team will focus on the quality of the sidewalks (which ones are in need of repair) but also where they are. They’ll look for sidewalks along main pedestrian connections on “signature streets,” from South Main to Beale Street, for example, or Madison and Main.
Roler dislikes having to tell business owners they are responsible for their own sidewalks. The DMC, he said, has been hesitant to put money in sidewalk repairs because “you can argue sidewalk repairs are the responsibility of the property owner.”
“But, at the end of the day, if Downtown is not seen as a safe, comfortable place to walk, our retail businesses aren’t going to be successful,” Roler said. “People aren’t going to want to live here. Businesses are not going to move here.”
“Inside the Walt Disney Archives” at Graceland (Credit: Abigail Morici)
Today, Graceland celebrates the opening of “Inside the Walt Disney Archives.” The opening marks the second appearance of the traveling exhibit in the United States, after prior appearances in Santa Ana, California, and Japan. The 450 objects on display span the history of the archives, beginning with the man Walt Disney himself, all the way through more recent films, like Frozen and the live-action Beauty and the Beast.
“When you think of American pop culture and its pillars, there are very few names that rise to the top. Elvis and Disney are among the biggest names,” says Angie Marchese, Elvis Presley Enterprises vice president of archives and exhibits. “When we first built this exhibition center, our goal was to bring world-class exhibitions that represent the best of American pop culture. [This exhibit is] the merging of two icons.”
“Inside the Walt Disney Archives” at Graceland (Credit: Abigail Morici)
The exhibit contains original artwork, costumes, props, old ride animatronics, and even some of Walt Disney’s personal belongings. “We wanted to give people the opportunity to see what we do in the Walt Disney archives,” says Becky Cline, director of the Walt Disney Archives. “We’ve shared a way to actually look at the archives. We are open to studio tours in California, where you can come in and see the reading room and Walt’s office, but no one gets to go back into the warehouse where all the treasures are.”
This exhibit is a re-creation of that experience. Visitors begin their tour in the Reading Room, which is a re-creation of the actual room where the Disney team does their research, and then they make their way to the back where they can have a peek into some of the never-before-seen treasures that the warehouse typically holds.
“We wanted to explain what the archives actually does, explain that it’s not just beautiful props and costumes because the eye-candy, I tell ya, is really great,” Cline says. As such, labels throughout the rooms include stories from the staff members talking about what they do for their jobs — the research, proofreading, fact-checking that goes behind the scenes for every item on display. “We have wonderful treasures,” Cline continues, “and we want to share them with the people who love them the most, which are the fans.”
But as Marchese says, “It’s not all Mickey and Minnie.” After all, the exhibit is at Graceland. “Elvis is actually a part of the Disney archives,” she continues, “A few years ago, Disney acquired the 20th Century Fox archives. Elvis’ first movie, Love Me Tender, was filmed at 20th Century Fox; he actually had several movies filmed at 20th Century Fox.”
“Inside the Walt Disney Archives” at Graceland (Credit: Abigail Morici)
So the exhibit also contains a few Elvis Easter eggs, including movie posters and original artwork of Stitch, of Lilo & Stitch fame, dressed up as Elvis, Lilo’s favorite singer. “I like to say that Stitch wanted to come back to Graceland to say hi to Elvis,” Marchese says. “In 2002, Lilo and Stitch introduced Elvis’ music to a whole new generation of Elvis fans.”
The archives also include the Swan computer from Lost, Julia Roberts’ red dress from Pretty Woman, Wilson the Volleyball from Cast Away, and so much more. “There’s something in here for the whole family,” Marchese says.
The exhibit will remain open until January 2, 2022, and for the next six months, Graceland will host a wide array of Disney-themed events, including Tour & Tea parties, trivia nights, a Princess and Pirate Day, and movie screenings of Disney classics at the Soundstage, the first of which will be Alice in Wonderland on Sunday, July 25th at 2 p.m. Marchese says, “It’s gonna be so much fun for everybody.”
To keep up with upcoming events or to purchase tickets, visit graceland.com/exhibition-center. Tickets for self-guided tours are $15 (adults), $8 (children 5-10), and under 4 free. VIP tickets are $50 and include a professionally guided tour, special access to a VIP lounge, a commemorative lanyard and pin, and a $15 food voucher. The exhibit is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“Inside the Walt Disney Archives” at Graceland (Credit: Abigail Morici)
