Despite being down 12 points entering the fourth quarter, the Memphis Grizzlies rallied to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 115-109 on Wednesday night. They went on an 11-0 run near the end of the quarter and outscored the 76ers, 34-16.
Memphis has won their last two games after snapping a five-game losing run after the All-Star break.
“I challenge the guys at halftime — I mean that was pretty poor performance in the first half, lack of urgency, lack of communication,” said Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins. “The Sixers got whatever they wanted in the first half, rotation, second chance points — through three quarters they had 30 second chance points and ended up with 35.
Jenkins continued, “So [a] better job in the fourth quarter but challenged them at halftime a little bit better even though we lost the third quarter by four. I said, hey, flush the first three quarters, we’re gonna come out, we’re gonna play our best quarter in the fourth.
“We just found a way to execute down the stretch and came down to just being in the right spots, the ball movement, multiple guys with multiple assists, but Vince [Williams Jr.] and Santi [Aldama] especially. Those guys did a great job facilitating some big time shots, knocked down some big free throws, and then just limiting them at the end of the game, second-chance points was huge for us to get this victory.
“These guys have just been really hanging in,” Jenkins said. “There’s still a lot more basketball left to play in the season. We keep reminding them, here’s what’s in front of us, here’s our reality. What are we going to do about?
“We go out there, we just keep pushing them to make the winning plays by our standard, and guys have been rising to the occasion,” Jenkins added. You see a lot of different guys rise to the occasion and get this opportunity. It’s pretty special to see and hopefully carries forth this season and beyond.”
After missing three games with right quad tendon pain, Jackson returned to the lineup and wasted little time making an impression. The All-Star forward finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. Jackson Jr. recorded a double-double for the seventh time this season, and tied his season high for rejections.
Jaren Jackson Jr. gets it done on both ends to lead the @memgrizz to the W in Philly 💪😤
— Bally Sports: Grizzlies (@GrizzOnBally) March 7, 2024
Jake LaRavia had another solid game 19 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks. For the second game in a row, the sophomore forward recorded back to back double-doubles as a reserve.
— Bally Sports: Grizzlies (@GrizzOnBally) March 7, 2024
To close it out Vince Williams Jr. chipped in 17 points, team-high nine assists, seven rebounds, and two steals. Santi Aldama added 17 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and three blocks.
The Grizzlies return home on Friday, March 8th, to face the Atlanta Hawks at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM ESPN.
We continue our interview with restaurateur/artist Karen Carrier. This is episode four, which is part of the We Saw You video series — hosted by yours truly — about Memphians and Mid-Southerners.
In this episode, Carrier and I sat down at her home while she talked about her aunt, Gloria Sklen, who lived in New York.
Sklen, who sounds like the eccentric bohemian Auntie Mame was a mosaic artist and “just wild,” Carrier says. “I was just mesmerized by her.”
The much-anticipated lineup for the upcoming Riverbeat Music Festival went live today, and it’s clear that Memphians won’t have any lack of quality music this May 3rd to 5th. And naturally, given that the festival is produced by the good folks at Mempho Presents, the curated artists are a good fit for the diverse tastes of the Mid South.
For starters, how can you go wrong with The Fugees? The unified forces of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill are touring as one again, despite some of last fall’s reunion shows being postponed when Hill was beset with health concerns. Wyclef Jean confirmed just last month that more touring was on the books for 2024, and now their Riverbeat appearance is proof positive that Hill’s health has bounced back.
That will be especially meaningful to Unapologetic’s Kid Maestro. One of his regular gigs is functioning as Hill’s playback engineer when she’s touring with her solo band. He’s at the ready should he be recruited for the Riverbeat show. “Miss Hill’s needs are very unique in terms of playback engineering,” he recently told the Memphis Flyer. “You’ve got to be super fast, paying attention, and when she puts her hand up to mute, you’ve got to be ready to to stop with the band. Otherwise, if the band stops, but there’s a beat playing in the background, it just doesn’t have that impact.”
Kid Maestro’s experience is just one of the myriad ways Riverbeat reflects its rootedness in Memphis. Another will be an especially unique all-star event, when two-time Grammy-winning producer/engineer Boo Mitchell will direct and play with a hand-picked band of artists called Take Me to the River: Memphis, echoing the generation-spanning Take Me to the River films and education initiatives he’s played a hand in. “I believe this is a unique lineup,” he says of the group, which will include William Bell, Eric Gales, Carla Thomas, Jerome Chism, Lina Beach, and the Hi Rhythm Section. “I’m really impressed by the caliber of talent that signed up for our first year. I can’t wait to get back out there on stage and enjoy this event with all of Memphis.”
Other artists on the bill with a Memphis connection include 8Ball and MJG, Charlie Musselwhite, Southern Avenue, Al Kapone & the B.W.A. Band, Don Bryant & the Bo-Keys, Kenny Brown, Talibah Safiya, Marcella Simien, Lawrence Matthews, Jimbo Mathus, Lucky 7 Brass Band, Bailey Bigger, Dirty Streets, Mark Edgar Stuart, the Wilkins Sisters, Rodd Bland and the Members Only Band, and Salo Pallini.
On the other hand, Riverbeat is also bringing such big tent attractions as Odesza, Jelly Roll, Mt. Joy, Black Pumas, Big Boi, Tobe Nwigwe, The Band Camino, Killer Mike, Matt and Kim, Yung Gravy, Jessie Murph, and over two dozen other artists. All of which put the Riverbeat fest on track to uphold that fine Memphis tradition of music by the river in springtime.
“We are so excited to host the RiverBeat Festival along the Mississippi River at Tom Lee Park,” Jeff Bransford, spokesman for Mempho Presents, said in a statement. “Memphians know us for Mempho Music Festival, and now we’re introducing another signature event in downtown Memphis, which we believe will be a big draw for international and local visitors alike. RiverBeat was conceived as an inclusive event featuring a wide range of genres that will attract music lovers from all walks of life. Through music, we will bring our community together, support our local businesses, and attract new visitors to our city. We believe this is what Memphis is all about.”
All three-day ticketing and parking options are available now for purchase here.
David Todd, chef/owner of the new Evergreen Grill in Midtown (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Evergreen Grill is now open. In more ways than one.
The new Midtown restaurant at 212 North Evergreen Street officially opened for business March 1st.
So did the interior, says chef/owner David Todd. “We wanted to open it up a little bit,” he says. “And we wanted to make it feel a little more casual. Spruce the place up. Brighten it up.
“It’s a cool building. An interesting building. So, like a lot of those Midtown buildings, you don’t want to update it too much because then, in my mind, it wouldn’t fit any more.”
In short, Todd says, “Pay homage to what was already there. Spruce it up a little bit, but in a way that kind of leans into the area.”
Evergreen Grill (Credit: Michael Donahue)Evergreen Grill (Credit: Michael Donahue)Evergreen Grill (Credit: Michael Donahue)Evergreen Grill (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The enlarged black-and-white photos on the walls were one way for him to achieve that, he says. “One is the intersection of Poplar and Evergreen,” says Todd, who believes the photo was taken 60 or 70 years ago.
Another one that shows an old Piggly Wiggly grocery store between Union Avenue and Peabody Avenue.
Todd got the photos, many of which he believes were taken in the 1940s, through the Memphis Public Library. “I’ve got a guy that does some graphic work for me. He was combing through all these photos online and narrowing them down and sending them to me.”
Evergreen Grill (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Also, as far as the look, Todd says, “There was carpet on the floor that we removed from the dining areas.”
He put in a tile floor and “We painted the ceilings dark and the walls white.” They also removed a wall to open up the bar area and create a “pass-through lounge.”
Evergreen Grill (Credit: Michael Donahue)
As for the kitchen, Todd says they “brought in some new equipment and reconfigured it.”
In an earlier interview, Todd described Evergreen Grill, which is where the old Cafe Society restaurant used to be, as “a neighborhood bar and grill.” The fare is “Southern cuisine comfort food.”
Instead of “lofty fine dining food with foams and that kind of stuff,” Todd is serving “approachable food.”
He includes items people might get at other places, but not the way he’s going to prepare them. “I have no problem making one of the best cheeseburgers in town.”
Todd was executive chef at Longshot restaurant at Arrive Memphis hotel as well as owner of Grub Life, a fully prepared meal service.
Evergreen Grill (Credit: Michael Donahue)Chef David Todd at Evergreen Grill (Photo: Michael Donahue)
To no one’s surprise, the favored presidential candidates of both political parties dominated in local Super Tuesday voting, while Shelby County is destined to have a new General Sessions Court clerk.
County Democrats nominated longtime activist Tami Sawyer for clerk. Sawyer finished with a 2,000-vote edge over incumbent Joe Brown (12,182 to 10,157) and easily out-pointed Shelandra Ford (3,454) and Rheunte E. Benson (2,683)
The Republican nominee for clerk is Lisa Arnold, who was unopposed with 19,397 votes.
Sawyer, who will be heavily favored, and Arnold will vie in the county general election on August 1st, the date also of primaries for state and federal positions.
It was no contest for Donald Trump in local GOP presidential-preference voting. The former president out-polled his only active opponent, Nikki Haley (12,204 to 4,961), in Congressional District 8, and 9,020 to 3,095 in District 9.
President Joe Biden won 27,286 votes to 1,491 for uncommitted in the two districts.
Karen Carrier talks about the late artist, Dorothy Sturm, in episode three of the We Saw You video series about Memphians and Mid-Southerners.
I sat down with Carrier in her amazing art-filled home, which also houses her grand piano, and we talked. It was fun to chat with Carrier, who I always say is the hippest person in Memphis. The owner of Beauty Shop Restaurant, DKDC, Mollie Fontaine Lounge, and Another Roadside Attraction catering business, graduated from the old Memphis Academy of Arts, which later became Memphis College of Art.
Carrier is right on when she describes Sturm: “She’s just wild.” I was fortunate to get to interview Sturm 40 or so years ago when I was at the old Memphis Press-Scimitar newspaper.
Memphians were so fortunate to have an artist of her prestige living and working here. Carrier and Sturm became close friends, and you can hear a few stories from that heady time in our interview.
To leave a legacy means more than the dollars you leave in the pockets of your children. A legacy is an opportunity to have an impact after your time. You can ask yourself how you want to be remembered and what your core values are — and then put those answers into action. Here are four ways to leave a legacy for those you love.
Give back to your community.
If generosity and acts of service are among your core values, consider participating in volunteer activities with your community, which can be incredibly rewarding. You can take part in a fundraiser or donate your time or talent to a local nonprofit you’re passionate about. If you have an affinity for a particular cause, creating a charitable foundation can be a meaningful way to provide your loved ones with employment or board membership opportunities directly related to the cause you support. While a private foundation is certain to leave a powerful financial legacy, it also promotes collaboration, creativity, and continuity of your philanthropic vision. A foundation can be structured to operate indefinitely so that the lessons you leave to your heirs can be taught for generations to come.
Keep a record.
Record a video message or keep a journal. When a loved one passes away, it’s common to hear sentiments such as, “I wish I could see their face or hear their voice again.” Recording a video message is an opportunity to express your love, share your life experiences and values, and offer guidance to your loved ones. Think about answering questions such as:
• What do you love most about your family?
• What’s something you want your loved ones to remember about you?
• What do you hope the inheritance you leave your heirs will afford them? (This can be material or immaterial.)
• What’s the most important lesson you hope your loved ones take to heart?
If a video feels too formal or induces stage fright, consider keeping a journal. Put it someplace you’ll see it often so that you can jot down daily observations, funny memories, random thoughts, and pieces of wisdom you want to pass along. There’s no need to copy edit or write multiple pages at once. Keeping a journal can be a low-pressure way of putting your personality to paper — a gift your loved ones will cherish when you’re gone (and possibly even pass along to their heirs!).
Create a will and/or a trust.
The act of creating a will and/or trust gives the absence of chaos to your heirs following your death. These documents outline who will inherit your assets as well as how and by whom they’ll be distributed. Putting your wishes in writing helps to prevent disputes and legal battles among your heirs. Additionally, a trust may be able to protect your assets from creditors, reduce estate taxes, and provide financial support to your beneficiaries. A trust can also prevent your heirs from having to participate in probate, a lengthy and often expensive formal court administration process that “proves” the legitimacy of your will after death. While far from glamorous, creating a will and/or trust is a generous and loving act of housekeeping that may spare your children from unnecessary additional suffering after your passing.
Start a family tradition.
Whether it be the smell of homemade birthday cake, music coming from the kitchen on Saturday mornings, or counting constellations from a tent under the open sky every summer, a tradition reinforces your family’s values and creates a sense of belonging. Establishing positive family traditions has proven to increase a child’s ability to form a strong sense of identity — an identity you have the opportunity to forever influence.
So, take that annual spring break trip with your loved ones. Contribute to your favorite charity and participate in their fundraising events. Record a legacy video for the important people in your life. A little preparation now will make for a meaningful transition for your heirs down the line.
Gene Gard, CFA, CFP, CFT-I, is a Partner and Private Wealth Manager with Creative Planning. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest Registered Investment Advisory firms providing comprehensive wealth management services to ensure all elements of a client’s financial life are working together, including investments, taxes, estate planning, and risk management. For more information or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit CreativePlanning.com.
Paint with local women painters on the riverfront this March at Cossitt Library. (Photo: Courtesy Cossitt Library)
With winter melting away, now is the time to spring into the arts as new exhibits, performances, and happenings begin to pop up all over town. So be like the groundhog and come out of your hidey-hole. Spring has sprung, Memphis.
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Painting on the River Series
With March being Women’s History Month, Cossitt Library has teamed up with five local women painters for a Painting on the River Series, offering a painting class each Saturday in March on the riverfront.
“We’re just trying to create an initiative that aligns with our commitment to promoting diversity and just celebrating women’s achievement,” Cobbert says. “I really wanted to highlight a lot of different artists. Me being in the art scene, it’s easily noticeable that sometimes the same artists are always on the pedestal, so I like to highlight local artists to just give them a platform. That’s something that the library can contribute since everybody can’t book out larger venues and stuff.”
Each artist will introduce their own style, Cobbert says. Baker will do a class on healing through watercolors, for instance, while Willoughby will focus on portraiture. “People should be able to find their fix within this group of five talented women.”
The classes are completely free, with all supplies provided through the Memphis Library Foundation. “We plan to have tables outdoors, so people can touch the grass a little bit and just paint,” Cobbert says. “It’ll be a way to build community through people who see painting as a hobby or a career and just come and learn.”
ARTSmemphis’ Art by Design will bring in vignettes of living spaces. (Photo: Laquita Tate)
After a pandemic pause, ARTSmemphis is bringing back its Art by Design fundraiser, a five-day series of events highlighting Memphis’ interior design community. At the core of the fundraiser is the gallery showroom where just over 20 designers will have created vignettes of living spaces. There will be arts activations, music, food, and more, during the showroom’s hours.
“It’s a great way for people to come and not only maybe get inspiration for their own houses, maybe buy a few things, maybe learn about some new Memphis artists they may not know about, but also to support our process,” says Elizabeth Rouse, ARTSmemphis president and CEO. “Most of our work is really focused on raising money and then granting it out and supporting arts organizations and artists in a variety of ways, and so this is just a really unique opportunity for interior designers, who in some cases are competitors, to come together for Memphis and to showcase their own work, which is very different.”
This will also be the first year that Art by Design will implement its Emerging Designers program, through which it will waive the vignette fee for regional emerging designers Colin Chapman, Brittney Murckson, Jurnee Kelley, and Baylor Pillow. “We really see this as an opportunity to help strengthen the interior design field in Memphis and bring that community together,” Rouse says.
Designer Carmeon Hamilton created this program in 2020, and even had designers prepared to participate, before the event was canceled due to Covid. Laquita Tate was one of those initial emerging designers, but she will now be joining Art by Design as a “fully emerged designer.”
“We were able to at least get together and plan some things out [in 2020],” Tate says. “I was able to see how some things work behind the scenes, which helped me, and so I’m just really excited to be able to do this even now, four years later. ”
Ultimately, though, Tate hopes that people will come out to the event for the sake of community. “Memphis is rich with a variety of different types of arts here,” she says, “and people might miss out on some of that with some of the other things that are going on currently in the city, but that should be the most important piece: Come out, support us, support the city of Memphis, and support the arts.”
Art by Design will have several accompanying events in addition to the showroom, such as Dinner with Designers, The Art of Mahjong game night, Cocktails by Design, and a special speaker. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit artsmemphis.org/art-by-design.
Art by Design will take place April 3rd to 7th at Agricenter International.
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“The Concert Photography of Jack Robinson”
“Horns High, Sam & Dave Horn Section, Soul Together” (Photo: Jack Robinson | The Jack Robinson Archive, LLC)
In partnership with the Jack Robinson Archive, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music’s latest exhibit presents 15 of Robinson’s finest images from the iconic Soul Together Concert of 1968. Held just two months after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Madison Square Garden concert raised more than $75,000 for two charities, and Robinson was on the job for Vogue magazine, capturing the star-studded roster of Atlantic recording artists such as Aretha Franklin, Sam & Dave, King Curtis, and more.
“Jack Robinson’s work is so well-known,” the museum’s executive director Jeff Kollath says, “and he has this incredible connection to Memphis. People have seen Jack Robinson photographs — they just might not know that they’re a Jack Robinson — but we’ve all seen Jack Robinson photographs. … His style and how he practiced his craft is just so unique and interesting and it really shows in these photographs.”
Yet unlike Robinson’s typical portraits and studio shots, the photos in this temporary exhibit are on-the-scene, so they have a different kind of “energy and raw power,” Kollath says. “He’s taking photo after photo after photo and they show how he’s able to capture movement in a way that still shows so much clarity — especially at a Sam & Dave day concert, where they’re dancing, the band is dancing, and you sense this movement, this speed at which they’re all moving and yet the photos are so clear. He’s a remarkably skilled photographer.”
Robinson’s photographs will be on display through the end of March.
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ON DISPLAY
Coe Lapossy’s “School of Ool”
“School of Ool: Whose Views Ooze Muse” Coe Lapossy revisits artifacts of queerness wedged within a seemingly straight world. Clough Hanson Gallery, through March 22
“Breaking the Rules” Seventy-five paintings, watercolors, and drawings spanning the entirety of Paul Wonner’s and William “Theophilus” Brown’s careers. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, through March 31
“Marking Time” Remy Miller’s landscapes and Joe Morzuch’s still-lifes and self-portraits. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, through April 14
Curtis Arima, Shifting Hierarchy, 2014. Recycled silver, copper, enamel, recycled gold, found objects. Courtesy of the Artist.
“Shelby Canopy: Our Shared Connection” An immersive public art project that aims to raise awareness of natural resources. Wolf River Greenway, through April 19
“Iliumpta” Birdcap’s retelling of Homer’s Iliad set in the Southernmost bayous of Mississippi. Crosstown Arts, through April 28
“The Earthworm and the Hawk” Melissa Dunn generates drawings intuitively from her imagination. Crosstown Arts, through April 28
“What Were You Meant For?” Kevin Brooks uncovers the seldom-seen layers of Black male identity. Crosstown Arts, through April 28
“Everyday People: Snapshots of The Black Experience” A photography exhibition showcasing Memphis artist Eric Echols’ photo collection of 20th-century African Americans. Museum of Science & History, through July 14
“Branching Out” Discover intricate connections between students, teachers, and casting communities. Metal Museum, through September 8
“A World Apart” Roger Allan Cleaves’ paintings exist in a rich and wondrous multiverse. Sheet Cake Gallery, March 9-April 27
“Christian Siriano: People Are People” Drawing from American designer Christian Siriano’s archive of bold creations. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, March 22-August 4
“Progression” Exhibition of work by Sowgand Sheikholeslami. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, April 14-July 7
Kong Wee Pang, Voyeur Moment, 2023, featured in “Memphis 2024” (Photo: Courtesy Kong Wee Pang)
“Memphis 2024” A dazzling array of work by the most creative men and women working in the Mid-South today. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, April 21-June 30
Kelly Cook, Amber and Ruth, 2023, featured in “Memphis 2024” (Photo: Courtesy Kelly Cook)
“It’s All Relative” Morgan Lugo’s pieces speak to the lasting effects of past experiences. Metal Museum, April 21-July 7
“No Place Like Home” This brief, month-long installation encourages the visitor to consider the concept of “home” in the queer community, and specifically in metalsmithing. Metal Museum, May 1-June 2
ON STAGE
Little Women at Germantown Community Theatre (Photo: GTC via Facebook)
Little Women Jo March gives us her greatest story: that of the March sisters, four dreamers destined to be imperfect little women. Germantown Community Theatre, through March 17
Succession Succession explores the world of Black theater through the actions of Steve Harrison, a promising young actor. Hattiloo Theatre, through March 24
LOCAL: Art Moves Memphis Dance concert presented by Company d dancers with Down syndrome and inspired by the vibrant urban art and murals throughout the Memphis community. Wiener Theater, Hutchison School, March 23
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical This jukebox musical takes you on a journey that realistically documents Carole King’s rise to fame and superstar status as a songwriter and performer. Theatre Memphis, March 8-30
Peter Pan Fly with Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, and the Darling children straight to Neverland for a timeless adventure. Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, March 8-10
(L to R) Axel Bernard Rimmele (Christopher Hillard), Giselle Gutierrez (Lydia Hillard), Rob McClure (Euphegenia Doubtfire), and Kennedy Alexandra Pitney (Natalie Hillard) (Photo: Joan Marcus)
Mrs. Doubtfire Everyone’s favorite Scottish nanny comes to Memphis. Orpheum Theatre, March 12-17
You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown Experience the magic of childhood and the beloved Peanuts gang in this Tony Award-winning musical. The Circuit Playhouse, March 15-April 13
Zanna Don’t! A Musical Fairy Tale Emerald Theatre Company presents a play, set in a world where everyone is gay — well, almost everyone. TheatreWorks @ The Square, March 15-24
Opera Memphis:La Calisto A baroque masterpiece of love, lust, vengeance and … astronomy. Playhouse on the Square, March 22-23
MOMIX presents ALICE at GPAC. (Photo: Courtesy GPAC)
MOMIX: ALICE Presented by a company of dancer-illusionists, ALICE, inspired by Alice in Wonderland, takes audiences on a journey down the rabbit hole. Germantown Performing Arts Center, March 23
Pink Floyd And The Planets Memphis Symphony Orchestra presents psychedelic tunes and enchanting melodies. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, March 23 | Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, March 24
Feelings & Other Uncomfortable Things Get in your feels with this artistic experience centered around listening to music and creating a collage. Shady Grove Presbyterian Church, March 29
Hattiloo Theatre Presents: Sing, Sistah, Sing Hattiloo celebrates the indomitable spirit of Black women with concerts, step routines, original all-women dance performances, and spoken-word from talented Black female artists. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, March 30
Celia Hottenstein as Glinda and Olivia Valli as Elphaba in Wicked (Photo: Joan Marcus)
Wicked This Broadway sensation looks at what happened in the Land of Oz … but from a different angle. Orpheum Theatre, April 3-21
Fairytales on Ice Presents: Peter Pan and Wendy The beloved, classic story of Peter Pan and his pal Wendy comes to life with dramatic and imaginative enactment, as the Buckman stage converts into an ice rink. Buckman Performing Arts Center, April 4
Hamlet The tragedy by William Shakespeare. Tennessee Shakespeare Company, April 4-21
Master Class A fierce and clever production about diva opera star Maria Callas. Theatre Memphis, April 5-21
Out in the Woods Friends of George’s presents a dragnificent adventure. Evergreen Theatre, April 11-20
Blues in the Night The soul of the blues wails out full and strong in the scorching, Tony-nominated musical. Hattiloo Theatre, April 12-May 5
Science of Movement: Collage Dance Collective Witness how a dancer prepares for the stage and experience excerpts from Collage Dance Collective’s repertory. Museum of Science & History, April 13
American Roots Ballet Memphis’ celebration of Americana through dance. Crosstown Theater, April 19-21
ELEVATE Collage Dance’s spring program. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, April 20-21
Celtic Woman (Photo: Courtesy Orpheum Theatre)
Celtic Woman A blend of traditional and contemporary Irish music. Orpheum Theatre, April 25
Steel Magnolias A touching portrait of women. Theatre Memphis, performances April 26-May 12
Your Arm’s Too Short to Box With God An uplifting musical with gospel-inspired music and inspiring storytelling. Playhouse on the Square, April 26-May 19
Orchestra Unplugged: Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture Memphis Symphony Orchestra Music Director Robert Moody brings you inside the minds and music of composers to discover new connections and meaning to incredible works of art. Halloran Centre for Performing Arts, May 9
Constellations Quark Theatre presents a play about free will and friendship, but also about quantum multiverse theory, love, and honey. TheatreSouth, May 10-26
The Hot Wing King Katori Hall’s searing new comedy that follows a group of friends as they prepare for the “Hot Wang Festival” in Memphis. The Circuit Playhouse, May 10-June 2
Memphis Symphony Orchestra’s Symphony in the Garden (Photo: Courtesy Dixon Gallery & Gardens)
Symphony in the Gardens The annual Mother’s Day outdoor celebration in a beautiful outdoor setting featuring the MSO Big Band. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, May 12
Opera Memphis:La bohème Puccini’s timeless classic of youth, love, and freedom in a brand-new production. Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, May 17-18
Shrek the Musical This Tony Award-winning fairy tale musical adventure brings all the beloved characters you know from the film to life. Orpheum Theatre, May 31-June 2
AROUND TOWN
Resident Artist Talks Crosstown Arts’ spring 2024 resident artists will present artist talks. Crosstown Arts, March 20
Metal Petals & Healing Roots A one-day event where artists will create art from disassembled gun parts. Metal Museum, March 23
Art by Design A curated series of events and presentations designed to highlight Memphis’ interior design community and simultaneously support the local arts community. Agricenter International, April 3-7
Barrel to Barrel Grand Auction Enjoy exclusive wine pairings, premium bourbon tastings, incredible wine and bourbon pulls, and a grand auction filled with unique experiences, rare vintages, and whole barrels of bourbon. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, April 6
Central to the Arts Festival Celebrate the arts with live performances, film showings, fashion shows, and interactive arts booths. University or Memphis, April 6
Art in The Loop 2024 A juried artists market, plus craft demonstrations and performances of classical music. Ridgeway Loop Road, April 12-14
Chalkfest at the Brooks (Photo: Courtesy Memphis Brooks Museum of Arts)
Chalkfest 2024 Join local artists and transform the Brooks’ plaza into the most colorful work of art. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, April 27
Spring to Art with Creative Aging Activities, performances, and discussions for art lovers 65+ and carers. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, April 30
2024 Art For All Festival Arts and culture will showcase performances and art-making from across Shelby County through live performances, artist markets, food trucks, and more. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, May 11
Here Comes the Sun Community Day Enjoy art making, garden tours, musical performances, and more at this community gathering designed for all ages. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, May 11
State Comptroller Jason Mumpower (Photo: State Comptroller’s
Office)
At a time when legitimate issues of state vs. local authority are proliferating — notably in proposed legislation regarding law enforcement and educational vouchers — the long, sad saga of Wanda Halbert is an embarrassing and parallel spectacle.
It is a case study, however, of the need for good-faith cooperation between state and local governments.
This week may see the beginnings of a resolution, through unavoidable state intervention, of the hot mess that is the Shelby County Clerk’s office.
On Monday, Jim Arnette, lead auditor in the state comptroller’s office and his chief deputy, Nathan Abbott, brought a contingent of six auditors to Memphis at the urgent request of Shelby County Trustee Regina Newman. Their task: to help straighten out the clerk’s fearfully tangled records so that the county can square its own accounts and prepare the way for its annual budget.
The problem, as Newman made clear in public alarms she raised last week, is that Clerk Halbert has failed in several belated tries to submit accurate figures regarding her office’s wheel tax receipts over the last several months — specifically failing to indicate the amount corresponding to a surcharge designated by the county commission last year to help pay for new schools and a multi-purpose center.
Once in town, Arnette, Abbott, and their six-person auditing team made a beeline for the county clerk’s office where they wasted little time combing through Halbert’s scrambled figures. At the end of the day, Arnette and Abbott departed, leaving behind the six other auditors to spend the week. Newman said she had every reason to hope that the team will generate an accurate compilation of the needed wheel tax figures.
If so, a ray of light will at last have penetrated Halbert’s murky corner of local government, one which has badly needed sunshine.
Also this week, Halbert has been summoned for a come-to-Jesus meeting on Wednesday with the county commission — the latest in many such encounters with that body during her tenure, now in a second term. Both the commission and the office of Mayor Lee Harris have been persistently thwarted in good-faith efforts to get the clerk’s office on the right track.
Halbert, a former member of the city council, where financial compensation is minimal, was first elected to her much more lucrative clerkship in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022, a “blue wave” year in which having a “D” (for “Democratic”) by her name on the ballot was helpful.
She was already floundering, however, as was indicated by long lines of desperate people seeking auto-tag renewal at the several county clerk offices. Worse, the number of those offices was shrinking, as Halbert, it developed, had failed either to renew the leases at several of them or had defaulted on the rent, incurring eviction.
Her slipshod auditing procedures had meanwhile attracted negative attention both elsewhere in local government, where concerns arose over the county’s credit rating, and from state Comptroller Jason Mumpower, who has pronounced on Halbert’s “incompetence and willful neglect.” Auto dealers complained that they could not get services, business licenses proved impossible to procure, and so forth and so on.
The list of Halbert’s failings is too numerous to detail in this space but is exhaustively contained in a lengthy document submitted by County Commissioner Mick Wright to Hamilton County DA Coty Wamp, who has been charged with the duty of investigating Halbert’s performance preparatory to possible ouster proceedings.
Whatever the ultimate result of those proceedings, and if Trustee Newman’s optimism over the potential outcome of this week’s state intervention proves to be justified, a degree of trust between local and state governments may have been achieved.
Perhaps, we are entitled to hope that will help to allay the current atmosphere of mutual suspicion prevailing elsewhere between the two spheres. That’s what you call a silver lining.
“Four years ago, this week was the last normal week of our lives.”
I saw this unattributed quote on Facebook yesterday. Of course, it’s in reference to the start of Covid, when “lockdown” and “quarantine” crept into our everyday vocabulary. But four years ago this week, I was visiting my friend Kristin Burge in the hospital. I sanitized my hands after touching the elevator buttons to get to her floor, kept my distance from people coughing down the halls — confusion added to an already crippling experience. It wasn’t a normal week for me at all. And her memorial service on March 14th was far from normal. Few were masked in the church; some cautious loved ones opted not to hug. Her death marked the beginning of a year of grief for me, one that started with losing my friend, but one in which the whole world grieved the loss of “normal.”
Below is a condensed version of the piece I wrote for her, “Heroin, the Thief,” which was published in the Flyer on March 19, 2020. May all who’ve loved an addict and all who’ve lost a loved one to addiction find peace.
Kristin Burge, 1982-2020
I lost my friend to heroin this week. It was not quick and painless. She did not push the needle in and float off on a peaceful cloud into the ether. The last sound she made was with her body — heavy and limp, falling to the floor with a thud. She had overdosed on a batch cut with fentanyl. First responders arrived 20 minutes after the 911 call was made. She was without oxygen for too long. She went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated four times the first day in the hospital, her chest and ribs broken to bits from the compressions. She spent nearly a week on life support as tests were run. Scans showed severe brain damage. She was completely unresponsive. A week, unable to communicate, twitch a toe, or even flit an eye. I sat at her bedside, talking about everything and nothing, joking and crying, and holding my phone up to her ear, playing some of our favorite songs. Her family gathered, her mother and children, friends, women from church — praying, pleading, mourning a life cut short … hoping for a miracle.
I lost my friend to heroin two years ago. It was not quick and painless. She was running from a contempt of court warrant for a bogus case that just wouldn’t end. She’d go to jail, 30 days, 60 days, be released. Repeat. Fines piled up. She couldn’t pay them. She was buried by an endless cycle, a broken legal system. She was running from a man who wanted to hurt her and wound up in Louisiana. She fell ill there and went to the emergency room. Diagnosis: endocarditis, likely a result of shooting up. Doctors performed emergency open heart surgery to replace a valve — they gave her a pacemaker. She came back home to heal, but didn’t stay long.
I lost my friend to heroin four years ago. It was not quick and painless. I drove her to Heroin Anonymous meetings. Sometimes she’d be high, but I’d pretend not to know; showing up was the first step. Once, after her boyfriend beat her badly, I took her into my home, where she detoxed for a few days — angry as a hornet, her insides churning, wanting more and more and more of the drug. She took a bunch of generic sleep aid and ibuprofen, hoping it’d knock her out; perhaps she wanted to dream through the worst of it. She slept for days, but the urge remained.
I lost my friend to heroin a decade ago. It was not quick and painless. It started when her dad died from cancer. She couldn’t cope, and his pain pills helped. It progressed with an ATV accident. Surgery, metal pins in her leg. Doctor prescribed pain pills. They helped, maybe too much. She took them for too long; now she needed them. When the doctor said no more, she got what she could from a methadone clinic. At some point, it became easier to get drugs on the streets. Heroin felt good — even better than pills.
I lost my friend to heroin. It was a slow death, and it hurt like hell. Her mother lost a daughter. Her sons lost their mother. The drug took her from them long ago. We mourned her in life, for years. The urge writhed through her blood, guiding her every move for more and more and more. Her kids were taken away, she couldn’t hold a job. She ended up on the streets with who knows who doing who knows what, all for more dope.
She was a good person. She was smart but made bad decisions. Her path kinked along the way and rerouted her aims. In moments of clarity, she tried damn hard to kick it. She loved her kids. She wanted to get better and spend time with them. She wanted to help people with her story of recovery. She’d been in rehab (this time) since December. A couple of weeks ago, she snuck out. The urge won.
I lost my friend to heroin this week. It was not quick and painless. We watched her die, slowly, for a decade, but she pushed the needle in for the last time. We watched her body swell and convulse on life support as it shut down day by day. As I write this, doctors are doing the necessary work to find donor recipient matches for her salvageable organs and tissues. By the time you read this, she will be at peace.
