There are two Americas. That’s the conventional wisdom. But the real cultural divide in America is not red state vs. blue state, it’s rural vs. urban. Despite all the performative rivalries, the truth is we Memphians have more in common with Nashvillians than we do with the folks in the in-between places. Part of the divide is simply because things are different in the country than in the city. Agriculture, mining, and certain kinds of heavy industry are the dominant economic forces in the country. Things which depend on population density, like cultural institutions and restaurants, can’t survive in a rural setting.
But part of it can’t be explained by economics. Urban populations are much more racially diverse. Rural populations are a lot more religious than urban populations—specifically, they’re a lot more Evangelical Christian. If you grow up in a rural area as LBGTQ, or a religious dissenter, or a disfavored minority, or a woman who falls on the wrong side of the religious patriarchy, or if you’re just plain weird, you tend to leave for the city as soon soon as possible. Over the long term, this reinforces the cultural divide.
Vengeance, the new film by actor turned writer/director B.J. Novak, is all about that divide. Novak (who you probably recognize from The Office), plays Ben Manalowitz, a writer for The New Yorker and a “blue check on Twitter.” Ben is living the New York City dream, hobnobbing in the publishing and media worlds, and swimming in the city’s notoriously wide and shallow dating pool. One night, while canoodling with a blonde girl known by his phone contact as “Brunette House Party,” he gets a weird call — a guy named Ty (Boyd Holbrook) telling him his girlfriend Abby (Lio Tipton) has been murdered.
Ben was not under the impression that he had a girlfriend, but Ty is so insistent and distraught about his sister’s death, he can’t break it to him on the phone. Afterwards, he figures out who Ty was talking about — Abby, identified in Ben’s phone as “Texas,” was an aspiring musician he hooked up with a few times before losing track of her. Like so many before her, she was chewed up and spit out by the New York media machine, and ended up back in her desolate West Texas home town. Ben is trying to break into the podcasting market, and uses his in with Eloise (Issa Rae), a producer for an NPR-like media org, to pitch an idea: He would go to Abby’s hometown and try to figure out how she died.
B.J. Novak as Ben Manalowitz and Boyd Holbrook as Ty Shaw in Vengeance. (Credit: Patti Perret/Focus Features)
Once on the ground, Ty and the family treats him well. Abby told them they were in love, and Ben tries not to lie about it while not exactly dissuading them of the notion, either, lest he lose his most valuable contacts for the story. This turns Abby’s funeral into an epic cringe comedy sequence at Ben’s expense.
Novak, who has a considerable amount of experience writing for television, has swung big with his first feature film. He could have done an easy comedy like Old School or Night at the Roxy. Instead, Vengeance is a strange, ambitious hybrid of fish out-of-water comedy and mystery. Novak even gets milage out of the tension by making the subject and tone of the podcast the subject of a running argument between him and his producer. Ben treats Abby as the Laura Palmer of West Texas, and he’s Agent Cooper, documenting everything via his ubiquitous digital recorder. His proposed name for the podcast is “Dead White Girl.” Behind his back, the production team has another name for it: “Douchebag Goes West.”
Novak gets a lot right. As a director, he’s much more sympathetic towards the flyover locals than Ben is. There are some genuinely funny moments, and a standout performance by Ashton Kutcher as a philosophizing country music record producer. The mystery story happening alongside the comedy features the kinds of twists and turns you want out of a true crime podcast. But ultimately, the clashing tones prove too much to handle. Novak writes himself into a corner and fails to stick the landing. But like the earnest Texans it gently satarizes, even though it is deeply flawed, there is a lot to admire about Vengeance.
Fundraising and the spending that it enables are important aspects of political campaigns. This has especially been the case in the heated contest for Shelby County District Attorney General between Republican incumbent Amy Weirich and Democratic challenger Steve Mulroy.
Claims concerning the respective campaign kitties have risen to the fore lately in several public ways. The subject has figured in debates, in news analyses, and in TV attack ads.
A recent issue of The Tennessee Journal, a prestigious statewide political weekly, recently published breakdowns of the money raised and spent by both candidates.
The Journal gave Weirich’s fundraising totals for the 2nd quarter of the year as $130,400, her spending for the period as $240,400, and her cash on hand as $361,000. Mulroy’s 2nd quarter receipts were given as $279,000, his spending as $194,000 and his cash on hand as $159,000.
In either case, that ain’t hay.
But a discrepancy of sorts has arisen. In a debate between the two at a Kiwanis Club luncheon two weeks ago, Weirich made the declaration, “I don’t have any out-of-state donors, and I’m very proud of that fact.” Days later, as a counterpoint, a TV ad appeared in which her campaign made much of the fact that Mulroy had received substantial out-of-state contributions.
She evidently was in error. The Journal’s breakdown of her receipts assigned $1,600 of it (the equivalent of one maxed-out private donor) as coming from out of state.
And the Mulroy campaign has done its own breakdown of out-of-state contributions to the Weirich campaign and arrayed the results in a spreadsheet showing 17 contributions from a total of 10 separate donors in the states of Arkansas, California, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Oregon. The contributors include retired people, heads of businesses, and, in at least one case, an apparent relative. Their contributions bridge the incumbent DA’s primary and general campaign, in amounts ranging from $125 to $1,600. And they total $13,200.
Basically, this is a needle in the totality of her somewhat voluminous campaign haystack. But it’s not $1,600. And it’s not zero.
Interesting. But not as much so, all things considered, as the revelation (in the Daily Memphian) that Weirich — whose office is prosecuting controversial media shock jock Thaddeus Matthews, the “Cussin’ Pastor,” for various misdemeanors — was a recent interviewee on Matthews’ talk show and calls him “Buddy.”
OK. I had to have a photograph with Priscilla Presley at the Theatre Memphis tribute to her. (Credit: Jonathan Finder)
Wearing a striking Fouad Sarkis black-and-white gown, Priscilla Presley took the stage to thank her fans at “Honoring Priscilla Presley: The Artist, The Woman,” which was held July 22nd at Theatre Memphis.
“This has been a very overwhelming evening for me,” Presley told the audience. “It’s very difficult to take compliments.”
And, she joked, “I didn’t know I did so much, to be honest with you.”
Presley told the audience she learned about Memphis at age 14 from Elvis when he was in Germany during his Army days. “We had long talks about Graceland, about Memphis, about his childhood, about how much he loved Memphis.”
And, she says, “When I came here I was absolutely amazed at the friendships that I made. But not only that, the Southern hospitality just absolutely blew me away. Everyone was so kind, so wonderful as far as bringing me in, accepting me. It was something I will never ever forget. And won’t forget. I do believe Memphis is my home.”
Dabney Coors was co-chair of the event with Elizabeth Coors, as well as the organizer of the event.
The evening began with a reception in the lobby with food from chef Erling Jensen and live Memphis music, and ended with a party featuring more of the same, in addition to a chance for guests to meet Presley.
In between the parties was a tribute, where the 275 or so audience members learned about the staggering amount Presley has done and been involved in. Kym Clark and Kontji Anthony were the emcees. Special guests included T. G. Sheppard and his wife, Kelly Lang, and, by video, Jerry Schilling.
T.G. Sheppard, Priscilla Presley, and Kelly Lang at Priscilla Presley tribute (Credit: Michael Donahue)
For one, Presley was responsible for Graceland being saved and being opened to the public, instead of being sold.
She portrayed “Jenna Wade” on TV’s Dallas. She was in movies, including the Naked Gun trilogy. She came out with her own perfume and line of bed linens. She came up with the idea of coupling a lightning bolt image with the words “TCB” during an airplane flight with Elvis in a storm.
All of this and much more was referred to during the evening. According to the program, Presley also is an ambassador with the Dream Foundation, which helps fulfill dreams of terminally-ill adults. And, the program states, “She has also worked closely with the Humane Society of the United States and has spent time in DC to lobby Congress to pass the ‘Prevent All Soring Tactics’ (PAST Act) bill that will strengthen enforcement of the 1970 Horse Protection Act.”
“Congressman Steve Cohen announced from the stage that he entered a declaration in to the Congressional Record that Priscilla Presley is now an honorary Memphian,” Dabney says. “The Mayor (Jim Strickland) came with a key to the city and a proclamation, and the Tennessee governor (Bill Lee) had a proclamation for Priscilla. Kevin Kane was the presenter.”
Congressman Steve Cohen at Priscilla Presley tribute (Credit: Michael Donahue)Mayor Jim Strickland, Jack Soden, Kevin Kane, Hayden Kane, Leighanne Hart Soden, and Melyne Strickland at the Priscilla Presley tribute at Theatre Memphis. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
All the presentations were in honor of “this 40th anniversary of her opening Graceland. It could not have been a better celebration for her.”
Debbie Litch, Theatre Memphis executive producer, announced “The Theatre Memphis – Priscilla Presley Scholarship,” which, according to the program, will “make an artistic dream come true.”
Erling Jensen and Debbie Litch at the Theatre Memphis tribute to Priscilla Presley (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Memphis artists who performed during the evening included guitarist-songwriter-producer Mario Monterosso, singer/pianist Brennan Villines, who wore a pink tuxedo and slippers with the “TCB” lightning bolt on the toes, and Kallen Esperian, who sang “God Bless America.”
Kallen Esperian and William R. Eubanks at the Priscilla Presley tribute (Credit: Michael Donahue)Brennan Villines at the Priscilla Presley tribute at Theatre Memphis (Credit: Michael Donahue)
“One of the most popular drinks of the evening was the one created for the party named the ‘Priscilla,'” Dabney says.
“The drink was a French 75 made with vodka instead of gin.” It also included lemon juice, simple syrup, and champagne.
Lansky Brothers was corporate sponsor of the event. And, as a side note, Monterosso’s tuxedo came from Lansky’s.
Dabney says she received more than 100 texts, telephone calls, and emails from people about the tribute. People are “so thrilled for her and for the city of Memphis to acknowledge her continuing great works on behalf of our city,” Dabney says.
It was also good timing that the celebrated movie directed by Baz Luhrmann, Elvis, recently released and premiered at The Guest House at Graceland. “We were able to celebrate her a month after she welcomed the cast and crew and Warner Brothers into Graceland. She had a dinner party inside the mansion for them.”
Lurhmann also gave remarks via video at the event.
Dabney met Presley 25 years ago at a red carpet event in Los Angeles. “We just see each other all the time. And we just have a ball.
“This has been in my heart to honor Priscilla in our city for years and years. And her family knows it, my dear friends know it.”
Priscilla stayed in town several days after the event. Elizabeth Coors and her husband, Giles, held a private dinner party for Priscilla the night after the tribute.
Giles and Elizabeth Coors at the Priscilla Presley tribute at Theatre Memphis (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Dr. Jonathan Finder, who attended the tribute with his wife, Jana, talked with Presley a few days after the event at Sam Phillips Recording Studio. “What struck me about chatting with Priscilla was how she came across as incredibly kind and down to Earth,” Finder says. “And at the same time so very sharp and insightful. A remarkable person who has led a remarkable life.”
Dabney Coors and Dr. Jonathan and Jana Finder at Priscilla Presley tribute at Theatre Memphis (Credit: Michael Donahue)Lucy Woodson and Pat Kerr Tigrett at the Priscilla Presley tribute at Theatre Memphis (Credit: Michael Donahue)Veronica Batterson, former Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, Rev. Keith Norman, and Brett Batterson at the Priscilla Presley Theatre Memphis tribute (Credit: Michael Donahue)Cristy Beasley Cass and Cary Brown at Priscilla Presley tribute at Theatre Memphis (Credit: Michael Donahue)Doug Browne and J. W. Whitten at Priscilla Presley tribute at Theatre Memphis (Credit: Michael Donahue)Jerry Phillips, Scott Bomar, and Laura O’Mell at Priscilla Presley tribute. (Credit: Michael Donahue)Shirley Brown, Don and Elizabeth Scott, Gary Beard, Randall Hartzog, Dr. Mel Litch at Priscilla Presley tribute at Theatre Memphis (Credit: Michael Donahue)Josh and Lindsey Hammond at the Priscilla Presley tribute at Theatre Memphis (Credit: Michael Donahue)Leslie Fowler at the Priscilla Presley tribute at Theatre Memphis (Credit: Michael Donahue)Kerri Mahoney and Scott Bomar at Priscilla Presley tribute at Theatre Memphis (Credit: Michael Donahue) We Saw You
“Well,” said one woman as she left The Bluff restaurant on Highland following a Tuesday Rotary club luncheon debate between county mayor candidates Lee Harris and Worth Morgan, “that was a case of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm versus Mack the Knife!”
She didn’t specify which was which,and there was abundant antagonism on both sides of the match, but presumably she was assigning the attacker’s role to Harris, the Democratic incumbent who seeks a second four-year term from the voters.
Having won the coin toss supervised by moderator Otis Sanford, Harris opted to go first on the program, and for several detailed minutes, he dismissed his Republican challenger as a neophyte and a lightweight who had shunned positions of leadership and key votes during his seven years so far on the Memphis City Council..
The youthful-looking Morgan responded not in visible anger but with a show of forbearance toward what he said was Harris’ mischaracterization of his record. “Personally, it doesn’t bother me,” he said. “And I know my heart. I know my positions, and so it doesn’t shake or bother me, but professionally, it is disappointing.” That turned out to be a prelude to his own attack on Harris.
“Some of that disappointment that I see today is something that I’ve also seen over the last several years, [when] I’ve been disappointed with Shelby County’s response, especially the mayor’s office response … to the pandemic … to economic development. The community depends on the Shelby County mayor to be a leader on so many of these issues. My hope is that this is a fast-paced moving world and we haven’t been left behind. There’s still opportunity.”
Morgan continued: “We’ve got a great story to tell here in Shelby County. We’ve got to have somebody out there to tell it; you’ve got to have a pitchman speaking on behalf of people, speaking on behalf of the community, for Shelby County. And we haven’t had that. We haven’t had the leadership that we needed.”
His ingenue appearance notwithstanding, Morgan proved to be every bit the aggressor that Harris was. He enumerated important issues, such as crime, economic development, jobs, education, and poverty. With “the chief among those,” he said, being public safety. As he has before on the stump, Morgan suggested Harris had failed to work in harmony with other divisions of county government, with the courts, the state, and Shelby County’s seven municipalities.
Morgan cited in particular the county’s problems on rolling out vaccines to counter the Covid epidemic. “Was he responsible for the response from the health department for the vaccine distribution that had to be taken over by the state? Absolutely. When you look at our numbers compared to other major counties, where we still don’t have the vaccine rate that you see in Davidson County. … We’ve had close to 3,400 deaths in Shelby County.”
Responded Harris: “There’s only been one investigative report about the handling of the vaccine scandal, and it was performed by Memphis Business Journal, and the Memphis Business Journal after doing their investigation concluded, without equivocation, that the whole scandal was made up — that there was a fiction invented by representatives from the state. … I’m proud that during the COVID-19 [pandemic], our county outperformed all 95 counties regularly. When it came to transmission rates per capita, Shelby County was the best-performing county in our state regularly. Now that is unprecedented.”
Harris continued: “There were hundreds of meetings around COVID response, hundreds of opportunities for my opponent to make his presence known. Councilmember Morgan could not be found during the last two years of the pandemic.”
Morgan replied that Councilman Dr. Jeff Warren, not himself, had been the council’s speaker-designate on Covid issues, and, after lauding Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s follow-up success in dealing with vaccine distribution, he said “the only statistic that really matters is that we have had 3,400 deaths as a result of the pandemic. Davidson County has about 1,700. Our population is 34 percent higher, and the death rate was 97 percent higher.”
Morgan waffled somewhat when moderator Sanford asked him directly about state interference with Shelby County’s decisions on mask mandates and school openings. Morgan: “We are still in a little bit of Monday morning quarterbacking, trying to understand did we lose more in our school system by having kids out than we protected them by having them in place? There’s a lot of national debate that’s going on about that.”
Harris saw his opening and took it. “I don’t know Mr. Morgan. I only met him recently, as per this process, in the last few days. So I’ve never seen him in the community. I’ve never shaken hands with him or anything like that before. But what I know about him from the last few days of getting to know him, is that when it comes to leadership opportunities, he has a whole encyclopedia of excuses of why he couldn’t attend hundreds of COVID response meetings for two years. And we have a member of the Memphis City Council that says, ‘Wait, somebody else do it. I can’t go.’ Leadership requires courage.”
Morgan’s response: “If you’re ever leaving a meeting and you feel like my voice is missing from the discussion, feel free to pick up the phone and call me. I’ll be there in a heartbeat.”
Sanford asked the contenders for their position on Governor Bill Lee’s ongoing voucher program for private schools — which is confined to Memphis and Nashville — and the governor’s intent to import charter schools from right-wing Hillsdale College. Harris was unreservedly against both. Morgan had an arguably equivocal answer: “This is a program that’s going forward. How can we make sure the kids in our public school system, the kids that are in the private school system, the kids that are in voucher programs, the kids that are in charter schools, how could they be successful, and make sure that they all have a path and opportunity to that next level?”
The candidates disagreed on the extent to which local politics should concern itself, at least symbolically, with national issues. Said Harris: “When it came to one of the darkest moments in our community’s history, members of the city council decided to condemn the January 6th insurrection. Except for Councilman Morgan. He said, I can’t vote. I can’t work on that issue. I can’t lead in this moment. When it came time to celebrate one of the proudest moments in our country’s history, the elevation of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first black woman Supreme Court justice, every city council member wanted to do it. Every county commissioner wanted to do it. Except Council-member Morgan.’”
Said Morgan: “We have a lot of resolutions that get introduced to the city council that I call sky-is-blue resolutions, or the resolutions that council members are grandstanding on, getting repetitive-stress injury for just how far they’re patting themselves on the back. In my opinion, a resolution that is outside the scope and authority of Memphis City Council in terms of what we have power and control to do, is not one of the things that we need to be spending time on, considering the issues of crime, potholes, economic development — all the obligations that we have. “
Harris and Morgan differed on the merits of the state’s new “Truth-in-Sentencing” bill, which would in effect abolish parole for offenders convicted of certain violent crime. Morgan saw it as “one tool in the chest” and Harris objected that “you have to have conditions upon release from prison. You’ve got to have drug-screening requirements, and you’ve got to have job search requirements. That’s how you make folks who are released from prison reintegrate successfully back into the community,”
Harris went further, criticizing Morgan for publicly celebrating passage of the bill “because he’s publicly declared he invested in Tennessee prison companies, and investors in Tennessee prison companies stand to make profits off of incarceration. I think it is a cruel and a bad way to make a buck. And I think celebrating [something that] stands to grow our prison industry is unwise.”
Morgan responded that his investment in prison stock had been part of a blind trust that he was unaware of, and that he disposed of it as soon as he was.
Harris was skeptical. “You have to declare under penalty of perjury, that you know what is going on in your life and know what your investments are. This is just not that hard. This is repeatedly why we can’t know what’s going on or why we can’t vote or we can’t go to meetings. This is the absence of leadership. And it is frustrating.”
There were other issues discussed and many more back-and-forths, but for all intents and purposes, the rest of the debate conformed to the recurrent pattern of charge and countercharge — Morgan trying to assert variants of his campaign slogan that “We Deserve Better” and Harris doing his best to indict his opponent’s lack of experience and essential commitment.
In reality, neither contender was Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and both proved able and willing to use the scalpel. Next week’s election totals will indicate who left the most marks.
When I saw that My Fair Lady would be coming to the Orpheum Theater, I knew right away I wanted to go — andI wanted to bring my friend Kayla Dawson with me. My Fair Lady is a show that Kayla introduced me to when we were teenagers, during her self-described Audrey Hepburn obsession phase. As much as I was looking forward to it, I knew it could be tricky seeing a performance, especially one that is a familiar personal favorite, with a preconceived notion. You can go in unintentionally more critical. After all, there’s an idea in your head for the show to live up to. But The Lincoln Center Theater’s production of My Fair Lady exceeded every expectation I had. This classic musical stands the test of time.
My Fair Lady, based on the 1913 George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion, became part of the classic film lexicon in 1964. I have to say, I prefer the stage version. Director Bartlett Sher offers up a new take on the familiar romantic musical, or at least, a new take for those unfamiliar with the original source material. Pygmalion is less of a romance and more of a critique on social classism and the subjugation of women. The version of My Fair Lady I saw at The Orpheum Theater on July 26th was clearly a critique on the same. This show could easily be off-putting to modern audiences if the tone missed the appropriate tongue-in-cheek-ness, but instead, it walked the line perfectly between light-hearted Broadway musical and serious social assessment.
Notably — insert large spoiler alert here — the loudest comment on women’s rights happens in the last five seconds of the show. In Sher’s version, Eliza Doolittle walks offstage (“strides” is honestly a more apt description) in response to Professor Henry Higgins’ question, “Where the devil are my slippers?” This ending is true to Pygmalion, but differs from what audiences may be familiar with from the 1964 movie version. In the wake of the “Me Too” movement and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, I personally loved the changed ending. Find your own damn slippers, Henry Higgins! The change completely shifted the dynamic for Eliza’s character, allowing her to be seen as a powerful, independent woman. Having Eliza retain her autonomy makes more sense with what we see from her character throughout the musical, making for a more cohesive ending than what’s become traditional for the show.
Another way in which this production stands out is the diverse ensemble cast. Every group number was superb, from the iconic “Ascot Gavotte” to the raucous “Get Me to the Church on Time.” The extravagant costumes, designed by Catherine Zuber, silhouetted against a light background and coupled with a wonderfully paced, slow entrance of the company makes “Ascot Gavotte” stand out as a musical number saturated with dry humor and ennui. “Get Me to the Church on Time” has never been my favorite My Fair Lady scene, but last night’s performance has moved it considerably up the ranks in my book. The song was a visual feast, featuring dynamic costumes, elaborate choreography, complex set changes, and even pratfalls — all of what audiences love about Broadway can be found in this one number.
Speaking of set changes, the large moving set planned by Michael Yeargan was so intricately woven into the show that it almost felt like another cast member. Professor Higgins’ house rotated turntable-style, giving license to the cast for movement through the set and allowing the audience to see a full depiction of the life within the home. Set pieces are cleverly incorporated into the dance numbers to a point where even the changes are interesting to watch, being fit into the choreography of every scene.
For my friend and I, seeing My Fair Lady was like revisiting a dear companion and finding that they’ve grown and changed for the better. For the couple in the seat next to me, who were seeing their first-ever theatrical production, it was something entirely new. “We love it,” they gushed to me at intermission. My Fair Lady is perfect for anyone wanting to experience all the joys of live entertainment coupled with a feminist message that hits hard in 2022.
The Lincoln Center Theater’s production of My Fair Lady runs through July 31st at the Orpheum Theatre.
Shereen Ahmed and Laird Mackintosh take the spotlight as the "My Fair Lady" cast takes its bows at The Orpheum. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
I waited almost 70 years to see the stage version of My Fair Lady. I finally saw the show last night, July 26th, at The Orpheum.
The legendary Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical with Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison came out in 1956 when I was either in kindergarten or the first grade. We bought original soundtrack albums of Broadway shows, but, for some reason, we didn’t buy the one for My Fair Lady. We did get it at the Memphis Public Library, which had a vast collection of 33 rpm records in plastic covers.
I remember getting one of those albums by orchestras that played selections from Broadway shows. I got it at the old Downtown Goldsmith’s department store on a trip with my mother, brother, and sister in the late ’50s or early ’60s. One side was My Fair Lady and the other, The King and I. It was good, but not the same as the original.
Heck, I even interviewed Julie Andrews, the star of the original, back in the day. Andrews, who was extremely nice as you’d expect Mary Poppins and Maria in TheSound of Music to be, was in Memphis for a fundraising luncheon at The Peabody.
The production at The Orpheum didn’t disappoint. Shereen Ahmed, who played Eliza Doolittle, reminded me so much of Andrews. And I’m never going to forget the excellent “Wouldn’t it be Loverly” number with Ahmed and chorus. Rousing and great.
I liked Henry Higgins, who was played by Laird Mackintosh. He’s the professor who decides to make a lady out of Eliza, a poor flower girl whose speech is unrefined. Rex Harrison played him on stage.
I also liked Martin Fisher, who played the boisterous Alfred P. Doolittle, Eliza’s dad. Stanley Holloway played him in the original production.
I liked everybody, actually. A super cast.
There’s something about going Downtown to see a stage production or a movie or a concert. The first show I saw was a touring production of Porgy and Bess at the old Auditorium. I was in the famous nosebleed section. I also saw Jimi Hendrix twice at the Auditorium. I think I was on the last row both times. I still remember coming out of those old theaters on Main Street after seeing a movie at night with the family. I always got a syrupy Coke, butter-slathered popcorn, and a thick Charms lollipop during the movie. Cherry, mostly.
I asked Orpheum president/CEO Brett Batterson to tell me a bit about this production of My Fair Lady. “They restaged this in 2018,” he says. “This production was nominated for 10 Tony awards, including Best Musical Revival. This was not the original, at all.
“First off, they’ve tempered Henry Higgins a little bit. So, he’s not quite as misogynistic as he was in 1956. They’ve at least recognized times have changed somewhat. A lot of musicals don’t do that and they get flack for that. They tried to make his attitude toward Eliza based more on speech and less on misogynism. They made him a little more human.
“Then mostly what I like is how big is. It’s a big musical. Lots of scenery. Lots of beautiful costumes. Lots of great action, chorus numbers, classic songs. To me, it’s everything you want a classic musical to be.”
This is the third time My Fair Lady has been shown at The Orpheum, Batterson says. The musical also was presented in 1989 and 2005.
My Fair Lady runs through July 31st at The Orpheum.
Erica Ferell and Betsy Bush at My Fair Lady at The Orpheum (Credit: Michael Donahue)Ben Roberts and Shoshana Cenker at My Fair Lady (Credit: Michael Donahue)Andrew “Latty” Latimer and Erin Austin at My Fair Lady (Credit: Michael Donahue)Kayla Dawson and Coco June at My Fair Lady (Credit: Michael Donahue)My niece, Alice Kerley, and her husband, Patrick Kerley, got to see the stage production of My Fair Lady a lot sooner than I did. (Credit: Michael Donahue)My Fair Lady opening night at The Orpheum (Credit: Michael Donahue)We Saw You
You never know who you’ll run into late at night if you stop by a restaurant or bar that serves food after 10 p.m. In Memphis, it could be a drunk bounty hunter at now-closed CK’s, an election conspiracy theorist throwing back Bud Lights, or hopefully, a local celebrity.
Rocky Kasaftes remembers when Priscilla Presley stopped by Alex’s Tavern with a group of people around 11 p.m. Kasaftes, who owns the iconic bar/restaurant at 1445 Jackson Avenue, made his famous Greek Burgers, hot wings, and ribs for everybody. But he fixed something special for Presley.
“I don’t eat meat,” says Presley, who was in Memphis recently. “So instead I asked him to make me a grilled cheese sandwich. I still eat grilled cheese sandwiches when I need to.”
The sandwich was “great,” she adds. And Alex’s Tavern was “very quaint. And nice. Not too large. I enjoyed it very much.”
The Memphis Flyer recently set out on a quest to check out some late-night dining spots that continue to serve food after most places have shut down their kitchens. And while there used to be plenty of easy fixes for the late-night munchies, Covid saw some restaurants decide to forego their nocturnal offerings. But fret not: For the night owls among us, there are still those who work tirelessly to make sure that, yes, after stumbling out of the bar or getting off work late, they’re still here to keep us fed. As we ventured out into the night, our odyssey took us to three different pillars, old and new, of late-night dining that are sure to do the trick when Taco Bell just won’t cut it.
The authors’ first late-night stop took them to Pantá where they sipped on a Toussaint Daiquiri and split a Catalan Hot Dog. Oh, and they had coffee. Can’t forget the French press coffee. (Photo: KD Holliday)
Pantá
For our first stop, we trekked to a bumping new Midtown Catalan hot spot. Chef/owner Kelly English specifically wanted a late-night menu at his latest endeavor, Pantá, at 2146 Monroe Avenue.
“Pantá is a real view of Catalan eating and the way they approach dining in that region of Spain,” English says. “In Barcelona, a lot of restaurants don’t even open until 7 or 8. We open at 6. They stay open at least until midnight. This is a natural part of what we have set out to provide. The kitchen has been open until 11 on Thursdays and midnight on Friday and Saturday since we opened.”
The response has been great, English says. “We’ve recently changed the program for late night a bit to give our guests what we have heard them asking for — a little more approachable late-night food served with some of the exact same ingredients we use earlier in the evening.”
Diners who come in after 10 p.m. order from a special late-night menu, not from the earlier menu.
“We originally served our entire dinner menu through the end of service. We started this new menu a couple of weeks ago. It is also available during normal hours during Sunday supper.”
Pantá’s late-night menu has six items that harness the restaurant’s Catalan inspiration. They’re all a bit cheaper than the regular menu (think the $8-$12 range). There are some enticing-looking options like the Brava Burger — a patty of spiced beef with grilled onions, mozzarella, olive pickles, and brava sauce — or Pantá’s take on a Philly — made with pork secreto, slow-cooked onions and peppers, and a healthy helping of “melty white cheesiness.” We opted for the Catalan Hot Dog to start, a grilled “glizzy” placed on a bun, but there’s no sauerkraut-and-mustard combo here. Instead, the dog is topped with escalivada (a traditional Catalan vegetable mix) and a smooth garlic aioli. We cut it in half for an easy shareable and also ordered French press coffee to prepare for the journey ahead.
But perhaps the best late-night snack is the Loaded Brava Fries. It’s almost like a fries-based version of loaded nachos but with a Catalan twist. Let’s just say it certainly made a good impression. The tender, slow-roasted duck is delicious and very easy to scarf down with a handful of fries. And there’s a bit of a kick to it from a spicy harissa pepper sauce. It’s an approachable, but elevated, snack that has all the right ingredients to keep that buzz from spilling over. All the while, front-of-house manager and overall vibe-setter Aaron Ivory is ready to whip up one of his specialties.
“Personally, I like that we have a spot for people in my industry to come after work,” English says. “Or people in the world of theater. Both patrons and professionals. A place that can grow with what we think is a new chapter of Midtown that is coming about. I love the new avenue of freedom that our manager, Aaron Ivory, can show behind the bar and our chef, Patrick Kee, can express in the food.”
A group of young people came in Pantá around 11 p.m. and sat at a table in the dining room. They wanted to eat after leaving Tiger and Peacock, says Ken LeGassey. This was their first time at Pantá.
They wanted to eat as well as “continue to drink and socialize,” LeGassey says. Speaking for themselves and other young people out on the town, he says, “After they’ve been drinking, they’re looking for a place with the right food that’s unique, high-quality.” LeGassey and his friends found it at Pantá. “This is the new Taco Bell.”
Like Priscilla Presley, our authors made their way to Alex’s Tavern, where they caught up with owner Rocky Kasaftes about his famous Greek Burger. (Photo: Samuel x. Cicci)
Alex’s Tavern
Our next stop took us to Alex’s Tavern, which has been serving food late at night for decades.
Rocky’s dad, Alex Kasaftes, who opened the bar in 1953, used to serve ham sandwiches.
“Remember the big hams? You could put a ham in a rack and slice off the bone? He did that.”
After his dad died in 1978, Rocky took over the bar. He began serving hamburgers, but he also concentrated on people who arrived late. “It was really for restaurant people that got off work at 11 or whatever. That’s kind of how it started. For a while it was mostly restaurant people or people who worked at the hospital or police to get a burger.”
His mother, Eugenia Kasaftes, would “make the patties at home, slice cheese and tomato, and I’d come pick it up.” Alex’s Tavern served food until 3 a.m. in those days. Now, it’s until midnight during the week and maybe 1 or 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Rocky now makes the hamburgers, which are 80/20 ground chuck. “My mom was big on just a good ol’ burger with salt and pepper, but we added Cavender’s to it.” Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning is on just about everything Rocky serves. He even sprinkles it on the potato chips. “Cavender’s, that’s the key to everything, which makes us different, I guess.”
His Greek Burgers have “the good crust on the outside.” And, he says, “You never press it on the grill. Never do that. The cheese has to be melted. You never want cold cheese on a piece of meat.”
Alex Tavern’s Greek Burger was featured on Burger Land with host George Motz on the Travel Channel and in Motz’s book, Hamburger America.
Rocky began doing hot wings in the late ’80s. “They’re not breaded at all. We just fry them.”
He dips the wings in a vat of Texas Pete Hot Sauce and butter for those who want hotter wings. He dips the others in a vat of Wicker’s marinade and Worcestershire sauce for people who prefer a milder snack. “I put them on the plate and sprinkle the Greek seasoning on top.”
He also uses Cavender’s on his ribs, which he began doing during football season about 20 years ago. He adds apple juice to the ribs while he cooks them. He then adds Wicker’s marinade and Worcestershire sauce. “While I cook them, I spray them with apple juice. Then when they’re almost done, we wrap them in tinfoil and I’ll put more apple juice on them. They’ll steam in that juice on the flattop.”
Gumbo came next. “It’s just really shrimp, sauce, and chicken. I’ll add other stuff, of course.”
He also does barbecued shrimp with lemon butter and garlic and cold shrimp with his own sauce “with lots of horseradish. Enough to where it brings a tear to your eye.” Usually during the winter Rocky makes his mother’s Mama K’s homemade vegetable beef soup.
Sometimes he makes toasted ravioli and fried cheese and pork tenderloin for special occasions, including events he caters. “Usually, I’m the one cooking. I like it that way.”
But Rocky doesn’t stop there. “I’ll do stuff for folks when they request it. A filet with a baked potato and salad, filet and shrimp. I’ve made my mom’s spaghetti recipe. Everything is from scratch. I made Alfredo with shrimp or chicken. They just have to let me know ahead of time. And they do.”
They’ll say, “Hey, I want something different.” And Rocky responds, “Okay, I got it.”
Just like when he came up with a grilled cheese sandwich for Presley. “I think I put two or three different kinds of cheese on it just for her.”
“Tell Rocky I’m coming back on Elvis Week in August,” Presley says. “I’m going to be here for about five or six days. It’s a wonderful, wonderful restaurant, and I know I’m going to get great food. Especially great grilled cheese sandwiches.”
An unusual menu item, the Tofu Nachos are RP Tracks’ secret weapon. (Photo: Justin Fox Burks)
RP Tracks
The final stretch of our journey took us to RP Tracks at 3547 Walker Avenue, home of an eclectic guest list, thirsty University of Memphis students, and those oh-so-delectable barbecue tofu nachos. It’s a tried-and-true template, one that’s been working for Tracks and its customers for almost four decades now. Mary Laws has been running the place alongside her husband, Bernard, since 2015, after buying Tracks from original owners Rick Johns and Peter Moon.
And Laws has her own history there. “I’m a U of M grad, and I’d started working at RP Tracks in 2004,” she says. “And I met Bernard there. I was a server, he was a dishwasher, so it was kind of like a fairy-tale story that Rick and Peter approached us to buy the place.”
And since taking over seven years ago, Laws has continued to make sure that Tracks is a place that anyone can come to for some relaxation and recreation. And maybe even to meet some new people. “We’ve got a large crowd Monday through Friday that comes to watch Jeopardy!,” she says. “And late at night hanging out at the bar or in the restaurant, it’s so easy to strike up a conversation with someone who is virtually a stranger to you.”
Laws says Tracks has grown the food side of the business since trimming down the menu so that the cooks could get things out more efficiently. “We only have eight or so feet of cooking space, so they were bending themselves into pretzels to accommodate the larger menu.” But one steadfast presence at Tracks has been the popular barbecue tofu nachos. It’s the perfect snack, and certainly a perfect choice for late-night diners. It’s a heaping bowl, with thin chips covered with all the regular fixings: jalapeños, tomatoes, lettuce, shredded cheese, and sour cream. But Tracks’ secret weapon added to the mix is the layer of black bean chili (carnivores can order meat chili instead) that accentuates the crispy tofu blocks. And there are plenty of other nacho customization options to find the right flavor.
“Those nachos are wonderful and delicious, and always have been,” says Laws. “But I also enjoy our barbecue chicken Gouda quesadilla, and I like to put hot sauce on there for some heat. And the RP Burger with cheddar cheese is my other go-to.”
And at RP Tracks, there’s almost always something for everyone. The menu is “all over the place, in a good way,” says Laws, boasting everything from quesadillas to nachos to burgers to sandwiches to salads. But the ace up Tracks’ sleeve is the wealth of vegetarian bar food options they have for late arrivals. There are the nachos, of course, but the sandwiches and quesadillas both have a separate “animal-friendly” section featuring more tofu and fresh vegetables. Even hot wings can be swapped out for tofu slices. “It’s really important we have that. In addition to being the place where I cut my teeth on drinking, it’s where I also grew to really appreciate vegetarian food.”
For now, Tracks’ kitchen is open until 12:30 a.m., with the bar closing half an hour later. While Tracks would stay open until 3 a.m. pre-Covid, Laws says they didn’t see much business during that last hour and likely won’t bring that back. However, they will be expanding their hours again soon, pushing the kitchen to 1:30 a.m., with closing at 2 a.m. “We’ve been getting everyone acclimated again to our new schedules,” says Laws. “And I think in mid-August, we’ll be ready to keep our kitchen open until 1:30.”
Laws’ push to return to later hours comes from her trouble finding places to eat late on her drive home. “I would leave Tracks at midnight and be driving around, and things just weren’t open. And I think that’s one of the ways Covid really shaped things. I realized, ‘My god, there’s not much late-night dining anymore! We’ve gotta stay open until 1:30 so that people have a place to go, a place to eat.’ And I think that’s something a lot of Memphians want.”
In the last few years, mortgage rates have touched lows we’ve never seen in our lifetimes, and recently have risen to levels not seen in over a decade. In the initial stages of mortgages, the interest calculated is based on the mortgage rate applied to a vastly huge mortgage balance. You might be surprised to learn that even relatively small changes in mortgage rates can have massive impact on the percentage of payments that go toward principal, on the advantage of making early prepayments on the mortgage, and on the value that can be financed in a loan.
By the end of the loan, almost 100 percent of every payment goes to principal, but early on the amount varies widely. For example, for a 2 percent mortgage, 55 cents of every dollar in the first payment goes toward paying off principal. For a 6 percent mortgage, only 16.6 percent of that first payment goes toward principal. This means the lower the mortgage rate you lock in, the quicker you can build equity.
For a 30-year fixed mortgage at the beginning of the loan, how much time does it knock off to prepay one month’s payment? Again, the answer varies widely depending on your mortgage rate. At the extreme of a zero percent mortgage, a month’s prepayment will reduce the term of your loan by exactly one month. At a 2 percent mortgage, it will knock almost two months off, while at 6 percent it will reduce the term by almost six months. As mortgage rates get higher, the numbers get more extreme — at an 11 percent mortgage, a single month’s prepayment early on will reduce the term by over two years! This is interesting, but not very practical. If you have resources to make very large prepayments early in a mortgage, you probably could have just made a larger down payment to begin with and locked in a much lower monthly payment. Nevertheless, it does show that as mortgage rates rise, prepayments become much more beneficial.
Probably the most interesting variable about mortgage rates is the potential impact they could have on house prices. Imagine a 30-year fixed mortgage with a $1,500 monthly principal and interest payment and zero down payment. How much house will that buy? At today’s 5 percent mortgage rate, that payment would finance a $279,000 loan. At 2.75 percent, a rate we were seeing just a few months ago, that payment would buy a $367,000 house. If rates jumped to 10 percent, a rate most of us have seen in our lifetimes, that same $1,500 a month could only buy a $170,000 house.
When mortgages are discussed, the question of paying them off early always comes up. When we run the numbers historically, the answer is that you should not prepay a mortgage at all if you can help it, at least at these rates. It’s difficult to find a 30-year period where the return of a reasonable investment allocation would not meaningfully exceed 5 percent. Ultimately owning a house is far more an emotional decision than a financial one, so making choices in your mortgage for peace of mind, rather than dollars and cents, can make sense — many of our clients pay off their mortgage even knowing it’s not likely to be an optimal financial decision.
There is always uncertainty in real estate, and it feels like these times are more uncertain than usual. Hopefully these facts can help you think through your real estate decisions as mortgage rates rise and more inventory comes on the market.
Gene Gard is Chief Investment Officer at Telarray, a Memphis-based wealth management firm that helps families navigate investment, tax, estate, and retirement decisions. Ask him your questions or schedule an objective, no-pressure portfolio review at letstalk@telarrayadvisors.com. Sign up for the next free online seminar on the Events tab at telarrayadvisors.com.
We’re hearing a lot about God in politics lately. Maybe not your god, especially if you’re Muslim or Buddhist or Jewish or, I don’t know, Episcopalian. No, the god that’s being shoved into our faces by the United MAGA Church is the American fundamentalist Christian god, the one who doesn’t approve of unmarried sex, homosexuals, abortion, interracial marriage, or even contraception. This god is a real hard-ass, and the MAGAs have attached themselves to him like a barnacle on a tugboat. (We’ll assume His pronoun is Him.)
This god was invented in backwoods American churches, where fast-talking evangelists did their best to guilt their flocks into obeisance and into donating money to “the church” before seducing the prettiest 15-year-old in the congregation and running off to dupe the next group of suckers.
As is often the case with successful small businesses in America, that model got leveraged and eventually morphed into the big mega-churches whose preachers fly private jets, live on palatial estates, and have television shows. The payoff is bigger but the game is the same — guilt and grift: “You poor schmucks are going to fry in eternal hellfire FOREVER if you don’t stop sinning. Here’s a list of stuff that’s bad. Don’t do any of it, even if most of it feels good. Like sex. Sex is really bad unless you’re heterosexually married and only doing it to have babies. Did I mention you need to send me money so we can stop all these other schmucks from sinning? In the name of JAYSUS, amen!” Millions of idiots buy into this.
All of this hustle is theoretically based on Christianity, which, applied properly, is a respectable religion, based on the life and example of one Jesus Christ of Nazareth, a poor man who lived in the Middle East a couple thousand years ago, and who, as far as I’m aware, never asked for money or said a word about abortion, guns, contraception, interracial marriage, or white supremacy (which is a good thing, since Jesus wasn’t white).
Mainly, as I recall from my Methodist raising, Jesus was against materialism (money-changers), for forgiveness — and for treating our fellow humans as we ourselves would like to be treated. If we did this, I was taught, we’d go to Heaven, where we’d see all the people in our lives again and hang out with them forever (which was a concept I spent many a night in my youth trying to get my head around).
But any religion is subject to perversion of its core beliefs, whether in the pursuit of money, power, or both. And make no mistake, nationalistic Evangelicalism is a perversion of Christianity. It has literally nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. It’s a bizarre cult that believes a 10-year-old should be forced to carry a rapist’s baby to term, that everyone should carry guns, and whose political representatives are now passing laws prohibiting women from crossing a state line to get a medical procedure they disapprove of.
This Christian Taliban thinking led all but eight Republicans in Congress to vote last week against a bill guaranteeing the right to contraception. Think about it: Ninety percent of Congressional Republicans literally voted against guaranteeing people the right to buy condoms.
Also, last week: Georgia Congress-beast Marjorie Taylor Greene said on television: “We need to be the party of nationalism. I say it proudly. I’m a Christian Nationalist!” So were the Nazis, Marge.
Colorado Congress-gun Lauren Boebert said, “We need to get over this idea of the separation of church and state, because we’re a Christian nation.” The Founding Fathers would be surprised to learn that, LB.
And there was Florida Congress-putz Matt Gaetz, who offered the novel theory that women demanding abortion rights shouldn’t worry “because they’re all 5’2” and 300 pounds and no one’s going to want to impregnate them.” So, only hot chicks get abortion rights?
How deep does this crazy go? And more important, how far do we let these dangerous freaks go before we stand up and vote-shame them back into the guano-glutted bat-caves from whence they came? If we don’t take these people seriously — right now — we will regret it for the rest of our lives. They’ve gotten a taste of power (and money) and now they’re coming for our freedoms.
How high was your Memphis Light, Gas & Water bill? A Memphis Redditor suggested the answer with a meme showing Willie Nelson, Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, and Snoop Dogg, all notorious for being super-duper high.
Hate Watch
Posted to YouTube by Forgotten Places
The Memphis subreddit was (mostly) hate-watching a YouTube video published last week from a channel called “Forgotten Places.” In it, the YouTuber (sounding like he’s reading a book report before his fifth-grade social studies class) says that Memphis has seen “rises, falls, and stagnation quite contrary to national trends.”
Though, he said (many hilarious times) the city has “fairly desirable weather.” To which, Redditor lokisilvertongue said, “‘Fairly desirable weather,’ he says, as the Gold Bond in my pants is turning into roux.”
Burgers and Dogs
Posted to Facebook by WMCTV Action News 5
WMCTV had some fun with a crazy news story last week, in which a Knoxville couple allegedly stole $2,000 worth of hot dogs and hamburgers. Crazier still, the couple did it, “During Memphis Flyer Burger Week? On National Hot Dog DAY?! What are the odds?” asked the station.
