Author: Jon W. Sparks

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News News Blog

Kresge Foundation Grants $1.9 Million to Local Social Justice Organizations

CREDIT: PHOTO BY MELVIN SMITH

PHOTO BY MELVIN SMITH

The Rev. Stacy Spencer and Janiece Lee post MICAH’s Justice and Equity Charter at City Hall in June 2020.


The Kresge Foundation has announced a $30 million suite of grants for grassroots racial and economic justice organizations in Memphis, as well as in Detroit, New Orleans, and Fresno, California.

The $1.9 million designated for local recipients will go to Latino Memphis, the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis (Power of Place Fund), FSG (supporting the formation of a community collaborative to accelerate economic inclusion and mobility in conjunction with the Power of Place Fund), Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH), My Sistah’s House, Refugee Empowerment Program, and River City Capital.

Chantel Rush, managing director of Kresge’s American Cities Program, says the investment is intended to “send a message to grassroots organizers and philanthropic institutions that racial and economic equity is essential to the health and growth of urban regions and should be adequately funded. With these place-based grants, we aim to enable community organizations with unrestricted resources to meet their community’s specific needs while achieving economic racial justice and inclusive growth in cities.”

The grants primarily provide general operating support over the next three years to ensure the organizations will have significant and predictable resources. Additional information on the recipients and what they are doing is here.

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News News Blog

FTC Objects to Methodist Le Bonheur-Saint Francis Merger; Hospitals Fire Back

The Federal Trade Commission has filed an administrative complaint and authorized a suit in federal court to block the proposed $350 million acquisition by Memphis-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare of the two Memphis-area Saint Francis hospitals owned by Dallas-based healthcare system Tenet Healthcare Corporation.

The complaint alleges that the proposed acquisition would substantially lessen competition in the Memphis area for a broad range of inpatient medical and surgical diagnostic and treatment services that require an overnight hospital stay. According to the complaint, if the proposed acquisition is consummated, healthcare costs will rise, and the incentive to expand service offerings, invest in technology, improve access to care, and focus on quality of health care provided in the Memphis area will diminish. The FTC says only four hospital systems currently provide general acute care services in the Memphis area.

The complaint alleges that the proposed acquisition would reduce that number to three, giving the combined health system control of approximately 60 percent of the Memphis-area market for general acute care services. Only one other major hospital system, Baptist Memorial Health Care, would meaningfully constrain the combined health system; the fourth system in the area, Regional One, is smaller and focuses on a different patient population, the FTC complaint says.

“Competition between hospitals helps keep prices down and quality high, and that’s as true in Memphis as it is elsewhere,” said Daniel Francis, Deputy Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “It’s clear that patients in the Memphis area have benefitted from the competitive pressure that Saint Francis brings to bear on Methodist, through lower rates, more options for insurers and patients, and quality improvements. This transaction would take that competition away, and patients will pay the price.”

In response to the FTC’s action, a joint statement was issued by Sally Hurt-Deitch, CEO of Saint Francis Healthcare, and Michael Ugwueke, president and CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur:


“Our joint commitment has always been to improve healthcare delivery for the residents of Memphis, Bartlett and the surrounding communities, including enhancing access to care, cutting-edge medical technology and the highest quality physicians and staff. Our two organizations promote a culture of compassion backed by strong core values, which together, we believe will have an even greater impact on care delivered in these communities. We are reviewing this recent action by the FTC and actively considering next steps. We are surprised by the FTC action given the strong support for the transaction by local stakeholders, including leading local health plans, physicians, employers, and community leaders and the evidence that the transaction will lead to lower prices, improved quality, and enhanced access to care for Memphis-area patients.”

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Pyramid Opens Eateries From Top to Bottom

Two restaurants are serving again at the Pyramid.

Big Cypress Lodge has opened the new Fishbowl at the Pyramid restaurant on ground level and reopened The Lookout restaurant at the top of the Pyramid.

The Fishbowl is in the former Uncle Buck’s restaurant space and is under new management. Breakfast will be available daily from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Dishes include the spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich, Catfish & Chips, Grilled Catfish Sandwich, Gator Bites, Beignets, and the Fishbowl cocktail. Hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

The Lookout, which requires a ride up the country’s tallest freestanding elevator, offers birds-eye views of the Mississippi River and socially distanced meals atop the Pyramid. Menu highlights include Cornmeal Fried Oysters, Blackened Redfish with Parmesan Chive Grits, the White River Catfish Plate, Gooey Butter Cake with Brown Sugar Ice Cream, and the Memphis Mule’shine cocktail with peach moonshine. The Lookout is open Friday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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Book Features Books

‘Art & Soul’: The Two Burtons Delve Into Faith and Life

Art & Soul lives brilliantly on so many levels. It is a book of works by the acclaimed Memphis artist Burton Callicott. It is a collection of his calligraphy as well, elegant in execution and thoughtful in the poetry expressed. It is further joined with writings of Burton Carley, former minister of the First Unitarian Church of Memphis, Church of the River.

The pairing is perfectly natural, as Callicott was a member of the church (since the early 1930s) and the two Burtons found an instant connection when Carley came to the church in 1983. Both shared an abiding spirituality and deep curiosity about religion, philosophy, humanity, and life.

The two talked some two decades ago of collaborating on a literary work, but Callicott’s death in 2003 seemed to put that dream to rest.

It eventually came to Callicott’s son, Baird Callicott, to pull the project together. In 2015, Baird retired from teaching and Carley retired from his position at the Church of the River. They met and the project was rekindled, but with a more ambitious goal. The volume, it was decided, would have numerous examples of the elder Callicott’s artworks that would be joined with his poetry as well as with Carley’s meditations.

The result is a gorgeous collection of extraordinary artworks, beautifully lettered poems, and thoughtful contemplations from both Burtons. Both were an essential part of the history of Memphis, and important context is provided in the foreword by Baird and his sister Alice, as well as in the introduction by Carley.

It’s a tribute to the quality of the book that photographer Murray Riss signed on as image editor for the volume, and Jeff McMillen designed it.

Callicott’s biographical information is treasure enough with his long life in and impact on Memphis. After art school, he worked for his impresario stepfather, who was in good favor with Boss E.H. Crump. Young Callicott worked on floats and displays for the Cotton Carnival parades and whatever else his stepdad needed. He would meet and marry Evelyne Baird during the Great Depression, but both made enough to sustain a life.

Callicott was able to work for the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project in 1933 to paint murals in the foyer of the Pink Palace Museum. Then in 1937, he was among the founding faculty of the Memphis Academy of Arts where he taught until his retirement in 1973. (One fascinating fact is that during World War II he worked as a draftsman doing highly detailed “exploded drawings,” such as one pictured in the book of an illustration for a B-29 pressurized gunner’s cabin sub-assembly.)

When he retired, he was well enough regarded that he could live on the sales of his artworks, and to this day it’s a mark of distinction to have a Callicott in one’s collection. If an original is not in your price range, you can still get a rainbow license plate designed by Callicott to benefit the Tennessee Arts Commission.

It was only late in his life that he started his earnest writing of poetry and rendering many of them in calligraphy. They run a wide variety of emotions and observations, but one that evokes his artistic sensibility is expressed in “No. 10”:

How still and peaceful

is the horizontal:

of distant tree lines

beyond flat Delta fields,

of striped western skies

at sundown;

gently laying the diagonals

of my unquiet mind.

Art & Soul is for sale at Burke’s Books and Novel.

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Intermission Impossible Theater

The Envelope Please: The Ostranders Must Go On

CREDIT: Jon W. Sparks

Carla McDonald

Crystal Brothers and Travis Bradley in the musical Cats at Theatre Memphis last year. Brothers won an Ostrander on Sunday for best featured performer and Bradley won along with Jordan Nichols for best choreography in a musical.


The annual celebration of Memphis theater was Indecent several times, had lots of Cats, savored Jelly’s Last Jam, and though it had no direct Shakespeare, it made much ado over the Book of Will.

The 37th Ostrander Awards Sunday evening was like no other. That’s not hype, it’s just fact, thanks to 2020 being, well, 2020. The annual event was virtual, with attendees watching on Facebook or YouTube. Theater people were not crowding into the Orpheum Sunday evening, not thrilling to one energetic musical production number after another, not casting admiring/envious glances at gasp-worthy fashions and not participating in multiple toasts. Presumably some of that went on anyway, but with much diminished clusters and, one prays, appropriate social distancing.

Furthermore, there was not the usual quantity of productions to judge since the coronovirus shut down all stages mid-March, truncating seasons everywhere that would usually have run into the summer.

But the shows that did go on gave much to applaud, and the Ostrander Award judges gave particular love to Cats from Theatre Memphis (TM) with six awards, Indecent from Circuit Playhouse (CP) with five, and Jelly’s Last Jam from Hattiloo with four. Playhouse on the Square (POTS) earned three each for Book of Will and the musical Memphis.

Also winning were TM’s Next Stage (Next) with two awards for A Few Good Men, Germantown Community Theatre’s (GCT) double for Next to Normal, Hattiloo’s two for Eclipse, and single awards for Mamma Mia! at TM and On Golden Pond at POTS.

In the Collegiate Division, seven awards went to Hissifit at the McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College (Rhodes), four plaques to Inherit the Wind at the University of Memphis (U of M), and four awards to Raisin in the Sun at Southwest Tennessee Community College (SWTCC).

Jon W. Sparks

Dennis Whitehead Darling won for best direction the second year in a row.

Dennis Whitehead Darling won the Ostrander for direction of a musical for 2019’s Jelly’s Last Jam, his third directing honor in two years. This time last year, he picked up two awards for directing, one in the community division, one in collegiate. 

Winning for best direction of a drama was Dave Landis for helming Indecent. Supplementing that was a special award given this year for Seamless Integration of Direction, Choreography, and Music Direction. That went to the trio of Dave Landis, Daniel Stuart Nelson, and Tammy Holt for Indecent at Circuit Playhouse. 

Ann Marie Hall, winner of the 2020 Eugart Yerian Lifetime Achievement Award

Ann Marie Hall was this year’s recipient of the Eugart Yerian Lifetime Achievement Award. Hall got her start in theater in grade school when she was a frequent visitor to the principal’s office for talking too much and doing impressions from TV shows. The solution came when she got into a play in the eighth grade. “I realized I could be really silly and people would laugh at me and I wouldn’t get in trouble,” she recently told Memphis magazine. Her devotion to the stage never stopped after that and she’s become, in her words, “the consummate community actor.”

Sunday’s event, despite being forced to be virtual, was pulled off with considerable energy as Elizabeth Perkins, Ostranders program director, determined several weeks ago that the show would go on, pandemic or no. Up until the end of June, the hope was to have it old style at the Orpheum, but when it became evident that was a no-go, it was decided to have it online and celebrate the truncated season with virtual gusto.


Here are the winners of the 2020 Ostrander Awards:

COMMUNITY DIVISION

  • Excellence in Set Design for a Drama: Tim McMath, On Golden Pond, POTS
  • Excellence in Set Design for a Musical: Jack Yates, Cats, TM
  • Excellence in Costume Design for a Drama: Lindsay Schmeling, Indecent, CP
  • Excellence in Costume Design for a Musical: Amie Eoff and André Bruce Ward, Cats, TM
  • Excellence in Hair, Wig, and Makeup Design for a Musical: Karen Reeves and Brooklyn Reeves, Cats, TM
  • Excellence in Props Design for a Drama: Eli Grant, Book of Will, POTS
  • Excellence in Props Design for a Musical: Eli Grant, Memphis, POTS
  • Excellence in Sound Design for a Drama: Carter McHann, Indecent, CP
  • Excellence in Sound Design for a Musical: Carter McHann, Memphis, POTS
  • Excellence in Lighting Design for a Drama: Mandy Kay Heath, A Few Good Men, Next
  • Excellence in Lighting Design for a Musical: Mandy Kay Heath, Mamma Mia!, TM
  • Excellence in Music Direction: Tammy Holt, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo
  • Excellence in Choreography for a Musical: Travis Bradley and Jordan Nichols, Cats, TM
  • Best Supporting Actress in a Drama: Raven Martin, Eclipsed, Hattiloo
  • Best Supporting Actress in a Musical: Katy Cotten, Next to Normal, GCT
  • Best Leading Actress in a Drama: Donita Johnson, Eclipsed, Hattiloo
  • Best Leading Actress in a Musical: Dawn Bradley, Memphis, POTS
  • Best Supporting Actor in a Drama: John Maness, Book of Will, POTS
  • Best Supporting Actor in a Musical: Willis Green, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo
  • Best Leading Actor in a Drama: Stephen Garrett, A Few Good Men, Next
  • Best Leading Actor in a Musical: Johann Robert Wood, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo
  • Best Featured Performer: Crystal Brothers, Cats, TM
  • Best Ensemble in a Drama: Indecent, CP
  • Best Ensemble in a Musical: Next to Normal, GCT
  • Best Production of a Drama: Book of Will, POTS
  • Best Production of a Musical: Cats, TM
  • Excellence in Direction of a Drama: Dave Landis, Indecent, CP
  • Excellence in Direction of a Musical: Dennis Whitehead Darling, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo
  • Best Original Script: When We Get Good Again, POTS@TheWorks
  • Special Award — Seamless Integration of Direction, Choreography, and Music Direction: Dave Landis, Daniel Stuart Nelson, and Tammy Holt, Indecent, CP
  • Best Original Script: When We Get Good Again, POTS@TheWorks
  • Otis Smith Legacy Dance Award: Jared Johnson
  • Larry Riley Rising Star Award: Jason Eschhofen
  • Behind the Scenes Award: Christina Hendricks
  • Eugart Yerian Lifetime Achievement Award: Ann Marie Hall


COLLEGIATE DIVISION

  • Excellence in Set Design: Brian Ruggaber, Inherit the Wind, U of M
  • Excellence in Costume Design: Bruce Bui, Hissifit, Rhodes
  • Excellence in Hair, Wig, and Makeup Design: Juliet Mace, Hissifit, Rhodes
  • Excellence in Sound Design: John Phillians, Inherit the Wind, U of M
  • Excellence in Lighting Design: Jameson Gresens, Inherit the Wind, U of M
  • Excellence in Music Direction: Eileen Kuo, Hissifit, Rhodes
  • Best Supporting Actress: Raina Williams, Hissifit, Rhodes
  • Best Leading Actress: Mary Ann Washington, A Raisin in the Sun, SWTCC
  • Best Supporting Actor: Joshua Payne, A Raisin in the Sun, SWTCC
  • Best Leading Actor: Toby Davis, Inherit the Wind, U of M
  • Best Featured Performer: Syndei Sutton, A Raisin in the Sun, SWTCC
  • Best Ensemble in a Musical: Hissifit, Rhodes
  • Best Ensemble in a Drama: A Raisin in the Sun, SWTCC
  • Best Production: Hissifit, Rhodes
  • Excellence in Direction: Joy Brooke Fairfield, Hissifit, Rhodes
Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Movies Coming Back to the Orpheum Big Screen

Motion picture magic is coming back to the Orpheum.


Movies are returning to the Orpheum starting Friday, August 28th.

“We are able to open up 22 percent of our total capacity and still provide a comfortable, socially distanced movie-going experience,” says president and CEO Brett Batterson in a press release.

First up is Cast Away on August 28th and Harlem Nights on September 11th. Doors open at 6 p.m. and screenings begin at 7 p.m.

Movie titles and dates will be released on a regular basis and will be updated at orpheum-memphis.com/movie and the Orpheum’s social media channels. Tickets are $8, and $6 for children 12 and younger. Buying in advance is encouraged due to limited capacity. All tickets are sold as general admission. Groups of socially distanced seating will be marked off and will be available first-come, first-served. Face coverings must be worn at all times and social distancing will be enforced.

Earlier this month, the Orpheum opened a nine-hole mini-golf course on its stage. The course will be open Thursdays through Sundays through the fall of 2020. It was the first public event the Orpheum has hosted since March 14th.
Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

Ostrander Award Nominees Announced

Despite the havoc wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, there will still be Ostrander Awards this year. Of necessity, however, it will be virtual and, thus, without the usual hubbub of well-lubricated, fashion-conscious elbow rubbing of the area’s theater community in and around the Orpheum.

Not that participants won’t still enjoy their beverages and dress in high style — they’ll just have to do it remotely. It’s what happens when there’s a plague on all our houses.

And on top of that, the Ossies will be honoring a shortened season. Elizabeth Perkins, Ostranders program director, says the last show to be considered closed around March 15th (the Ides of March, of course). The list of nominees, therefore, is slightly shorter than in usual years, but remains the best in Memphis theater.

The nominees were revealed this evening live on Facebook and YouTube. Already announced was that Ann Marie Hall would receive the Eugart Yerian Lifetime Achievement Award. You can plug into the awards ceremony scheduled for August 30th. More info is here.

The Ostranders are sponsored by Memphis magazine and ArtsMemphis.

NOMINEES, COMMUNITY AND PROFESSIONAL DIVISION

Set Design – Drama

Jack Yates, A Few Good Men, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Megan Ward, When We Get Good Again, POTS@TheWorks

Phillip Hughen, Indecent, Circuit Playhouse

Tim McMath, On Golden Pond, Playhouse on the Square

Set Design – Musical

Brian Ruggaber, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo Theatre

Daniel Mueller, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Jack Yates, Cats, Theatre Memphis

Jack Yates, Mamma Mia, Theatre Memphis

Props – Drama

Eli Grant, Book of Will, Playhouse on the Square

Eli Grant, On Golden Pond, Playhouse on the Square

Eli Grant, When We Get Good Again, POTS@TheWorks

Laurie Boller, The Pillowman, New Moon Theatre

Terry Dean, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Harrell Theatre

Props – Musical

Eli Grant, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Jack Yates, Cats, Theatre Memphis

Jack Yates, Mamma Mia, Theatre Memphis

Jack Yates, Ruthless! The Musical, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Lighting Design – Drama

Justin Gibson, Book of Will, Playhouse on the Square

Mandy Kay Heath, A Few Good Men, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Trey Eikleberry, Indecent, POTS@TheWorks

Trey Eikleberry, On Golden Pond, Playhouse on the Square

Trey Eikleberry, The Humans, Playhouse on the Square

Lighting Design – Musical

Becky Caspersen, Matilda The Musical, Harrell Theatre

Justin Gibson, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Mandy Kay Heath, Cats, Theatre Memphis

Mandy Kay Heath, Mamma Mia, Theatre Memphis

Tao Wang, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo Theatre

Sound Design – Drama

Carter McHann, Indecent, Circuit Playhouse

John Phillians, A Few Good Men, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Zach Bederrine, Detroit 67, Hattiloo Theatre

Sound Design – Musical

Carter McHann, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Joshua Crawford, Mamma Mia, Theatre Memphis

Reyn Leyman, Cats, Theatre Memphis

Costume Design – Drama

Amie Eoff, A Few Good Men, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Kathleen R. Kovarik, Book of Will, Playhouse on the Square

Lindsay Schmeling, Indecent, Circuit Playhouse

Costume Design – Musical

Amie Eoff & André Bruce Ward, Cats, Theatre Memphis

Amie Eoff, Mamma Mia, Theatre Memphis

Andrea Washington Brown, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo Theatre

Kathleen R. Kovarik, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Hair/Wig/Makeup – Musical

Buddy Hart & Rence Phillips, Ruthless! The Musical, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Karen Reeves & Brooklyn Reeves, Cats, Theatre Memphis

Grace Wylie, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Music Direction

Angelo Rapan, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Gary Beard, Cats, Theatre Memphis

Jason Eschhofen, Next To Normal, Germantown Community Theatre

Jeff Brewer, Mamma Mia, Theatre Memphis

Tammy Holt, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo Theatre

Choreography

Emma Crystal, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo Theatre

Travis Bradley & Jordan Nichols,, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Travis Bradley & Jordan Nichols, Cats, Theatre Memphis

Whitney Branan, Head Over Heels, Circuit Playhouse

Whitney Branan, Mamma Mia, Theatre Memphis

Ensemble – Drama

A Few Good Men, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Eclipsed, Hattiloo Theatre

Indecent, Circuit Playhouse

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Harrell Theatre

The Humans, Circuit Playhouse

Ensemble – Musical

Cats, Theatre Memphis

Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo Theatre

Next To Normal, Germantown Community Theatre

Supporting Actress – Drama

Caroline Simpson, When We Get Good Again, POTS@TheWorks

Jessica Jai Johnson, Detroit 67, Hattiloo Theatre

Raven Martin, Eclipsed, Hattiloo Theatre

Rebecca Johnson, Indecent, Playhouse on the Square

Rekeitha Morris, Women In The Pit, Hattiloo Theatre

Supporting Actress – Musical

Daneka Norfleet, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo Theatre

Jenny Odle Madden, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Katy Cotten, Next To Normal, Germantown Community Theatre

Lindsey Roberts, Mamma Mia, Theatre Memphis

Nichol Pritchard, Ruthless! The Musical, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Supporting Actor – Drama

Gabe Beutel-Gunn, A Few Good Men, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Isaiah Rosales, Indecent, Playhouse on the Square

J.S. Tate, Detroit 67, Hattiloo Theatre

John Maness, Book of Will, Playhouse on the Square

Steven Burk, The Humans, Circuit Playhouse

Supporting Actor – Musical

Bruce Huffman, Next To Normal, Germantown Community Theatre

Jarrad Baker, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Kevar Maffitt, Kinky Boots, Playhouse on the Square

Oliver Jacob Pierce, Next To Normal, Germantown Community Theatre

Willis Green, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo Theatre

Featured Performer

Crystal Brothers, Cats, Theatre Memphis

JoLynne Palmer, The Humans, Circuit Playhouse

Justin Allen Tate, Memphis,  Playhouse on the Square

Leading Actress – Drama

Bianca McMillan, Detroit 67, Hattiloo Theatre

Brooke Papritz, The Humans, Circuit Playhouse

Donita Johnson, Eclipsed, Hattiloo Theatre

Pamela Poletti, Women in the Pit, Hattiloo Theatre

Leading Actress – Musical

Amy P. Nabors, Cats, Theatre Memphis

Dawn Bradley, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Lorraine Cotten, Next To Normal, Germantown Community Theatre

Renee Davis Brame, Ruthless! The Musical, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Leading Actor – Drama

Dave Landis, Book of Will, Playhouse on the Square

Donald Sutton, Indecent, Circuit Playhouse

Emmanuel McKinney, Detroit 67, Hattiloo Theatre

Ryan Scott, Quills, New Moon Theatre Company

Stephen Garrett, A Few Good Men, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Leading Actor – Musical

Johann Robert Wood, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo Theatre

Justin Allen Tate, Kinky Boots, Playhouse on the Square

Nathan McHenry, Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Direction – Drama

Courtney Oliver, When We Get Good Again, POTS@TheWorks

Dave Landis, Indecent, Circuit Playhouse

Lawrence Blackwell, Detroit 67, Hattiloo Theatre

Maya Robinson, Eclipsed, Hattiloo Theatre

Tony Isbell, The Humans, Circuit Playhouse

Direction – Musical

Cecelia Wingate, Mamma Mia, Theatre Memphis

Dennis Whitehead-Darling, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo Theatre

Olivia Gacka, Next To Normal, Germantown Community Theatre

Travis Bradley & Jordan Nichols, Memphis, the Musical, Playhouse on the Square

Travis Bradley & Jordan Nichols, Cats, Theatre Memphis

Best Production of a Drama

A Few Good Men, Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Book of Will, Playhouse on the Square

Detroit 67, Hattiloo Theatre

Eclipsed, Hattiloo Theatre

Indecent, Circuit Playhouse

Best Production of a Musical

Cats, Theatre Memphis

Jelly’s Last Jam, Hattiloo Theatre

Mamma Mia, Theatre Memphis

Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

NOMINEES, COLLEGIATE DIVISION

Set Design

Brian Ruggaber, Inherit the Wind, University of Memphis

Karen Arredondo, Hamlet: Fall of the Sparrow, University of Memphis

Lighting Design

Anthony Pellecchia, Hamlet: Fall of the Sparrow, University of Memphis

Jameson Gresens, Inherit the Wind, University of Memphis

Sound Design

James Baker, Hamlet: Fall of the Sparrow, University of Memphis

John Phillians, Inherit the Wind, University of Memphis

Costume Design

Alexandra Filipovich, Hamlet: Fall of the Sparrow, University of Memphis

Bruce Bui, Hissifit, McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Hair/Wig/Makeup Design

Alexandra Filipovich, Hamlet: Fall of the Sparrow, University of Memphis

Juliet Mace, Hissifit, McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Music Direction – one nominee

Supporting Actress

Azaria Henderson, A Raisin in the Sun, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Camille Long, Inherit the Wind, University of Memphis

Dinah Mitchell, Hissifit, McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Jordan Cardell, Hamlet: Fall of the Sparrow, University of Memphis

Raina Williams, Hissifit, McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Supporting Actor

Elijah Bienz, Inherit the Wind, University of Memphis

Joshua Payne, A Raisin in the Sun, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Lance Raikes, Hamlet: Fall of the Sparrow, University of Memphis

Featured Performer

Maya Bhutwala & Annabelle Babbitt, Hissifit, McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Sarah Guinee, Inherit the Wind, University of Memphis

Syndei Sutton, A Raisin in the Sun, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Leading Actress

Ariona Campbell, A Raisin in the Sun, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Mary Ann Washington, A Raisin in the Sun, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Chloe Violet Tibbett, Inherit the Wind, University of Memphis

Leading Actor

Toby Davis, Inherit the Wind, University of Memphis

Willis Green, A Raisin in the Sun, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Ensemble in a Drama – one nominee

Ensemble in a Musical – one nominee

Best Original Script

When We Get Good Again, POTS@TheWorks

St. Paulie’s Delight, Circuit Playhouse

Direction

Joy Brooke Fairfield, Hissifit, McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Sheila Darras, A Raisin in the Sun, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Best Production

A Raisin in the Sun, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Hissifit, McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Inherit the Wind, University of Memphis

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

Tennessee Shakespeare Announces 13th Season


Tennessee Shakespeare Company’s (TSC) 13th season will get underway next month fully accepting the mandates of the ongoing pandemic while employing as much creativity as possible.

First off is the Dr. Greta McCormick Coger Literary Salon Series, which begins August 30th and will explore more than 40 writers and literary works against a backdrop of seasons, holidays, and events.

The Free Shakespeare Shout-Out Series will visit eight outdoor locations in October with a Romeo and Juliet production. TSC founder and producing artistic director Dan McCleary says it “embraces (and masks) the Elizabethan quarantine Shakespeare refers to in his text.”

Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night takes the Tabor Stage in February, followed by the Elizabethan Feast benefit party, which was cancelled this past season due to COVID-19 restrictions.


Salons and performances will take place on the Owen and Margaret Wellford Tabor Stage with online simulcasts for each performance, filmed by one camera.


TSC will enforce all state and local health safety criteria, including social distancing, family groupings of no more than six, reduced seating capacity to 33 percent, required distance from audience to performers, multiple entry/egress ways, hand-sanitizer stations, and mandatory face-coverings. The Tabor Stage will seat 54 patrons.


“As the world has shut down and our health has been endangered, we have learned how essential classical theatre and education is to our community,” says McCleary. “We thought they were very important.  But in fact, they are necessary. What William Shakespeare, great artists and philosophers, daring social protesters, and quarantined inventors have endured and produced before us should serve as lessons. We need each other, our creativity, and our compassion to live together.”


For more information, go here.

Categories
News News Blog

Pink Palace Reopening Theater, Planetarium July 21st

With Jaws, black holes, and dinosaurs as lures, the Pink Palace Museum’s CTI Giant Screen Theater and AutoZone Dome Planetarium will have a limited reopening Tuesday, July 21st. The 400-seat theater will be restricted to 50 people and the 145-seat planetarium will only admit 20 people per show to accommodate social distancing.

Bill Walsh, the museum’s marketing manager, says visitors will be required to wear masks at all times and places. Guests should arrive 20 minutes before showtime to accommodate temperature checks, entry questions, and other procedures. Concession items will not be available at the theater entrance, but candy and drinks can be purchased at the Museum Store.

Walsh says the lineup includes daily screenings of Dinosaurs of Antarctica and weekend showings of the original 1975 version of Jaws on the giant screen. The planetarium will have daily showings of the popular Black Holes show.

Theater information is here, and planetarium information is here.

Categories
News News Blog

CirQuest Labs Acquired by German Medical Company

CREDIT: Photo by Larry Kuzniewski

Memphis-based CirQuest Labs has been acquired by a German company, MLM Medical Labs GmbH.

Photo by Larry Kuzniewski

Lisa K. Jennings

CirQuest was founded in 2008 by Lisa K. Jennings, a former tenured Professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, who has since been the owner and CEO. She will remain as global Chief Scientific Officer spearheading research services for the U.S. and Europe and as the Managing Executive Officer for the Memphis location.

CirQuest is a multi-service specialty laboratory and direct marketer of clinical trial logistics to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. MLM Medical Labs, based near Duesseldorf, Germany, is a central laboratory dedicated exclusively to clinical trials.

CirQuest will remain at its Memphis facility and plans to expand staffing, laboratory research, and clinical trial services. It currently has about 30 employees and on-site consultants at the Memphis location. Annual revenues are estimated to be between $5 million and $10 million.

Jennings was the recipient of one of the 2015 Innovation Awards presented by Inside Memphis Business magazine.

Stephan Wnendt, CEO of MLM, said in a statement, “From the very first moment there was a great connection between Lisa and the MLM team. It’s not only the similarities in the way our labs are set up, but even more the shared passion for our clients and their projects.”

Jennings says, “There are people who research well and people who run clinical trials well — these skill sets do not always overlap. By combining two excellent enterprises like MLM and CirQuest we have the opportunity to bridge the gap between the two. MLM’s core values — scientific excellence, personal accountability, customized solutions — perfectly align with our philosophy and I am very much looking forward to joining the MLM family for the benefit of both of our companies.”