Lesha Hurliman – Page 2

Where do you get green eggs and ham in Memphis? Not on a car or in a train or on a bus or in the rain … but from Opera Memphis.

Opera Memphis’ Green Eggs and Ham, the musical interpretation of the Dr. Seuss classic, is playing at The Dixon Gallery and Gardens in conjunction with the “Art of Dr. Seuss” exhibit there. With the exception of the November 4th production, all of the shows are reserved primarily for pre-school and elementary groups in the area. And all of them are close to selling out.

“It’s really taken me by surprise,” says Cindy Ensley, director of education at Opera Memphis. “Usually people hear the word opera “

Ensley herself is steering clear of the word “opera” for this one due to copyright laws. “It is not technically, legally, or contractually an opera but rather a story set to music,” explains Ensley. “A concert piece, but it’s staged.”

According to Ensley, the show is very minimal because of the protectiveness of the the Dr. Seuss Foundation over Seuss’ artwork. Opera Memphis has been very careful to retain the whimsical, wacky quality of Seuss’ art in the stage set without copying it. “We have fun little hats and very colorful costumes. It’s very delightful.”

Ensley adds, “It’s a great stepping stone into opera.” It has all of the characteristics but in a digestible form — a familiar, easy-to-follow story that runs a squirm-proof 18 minutes.

The production is the original Green Eggs and Ham, word for word. The adult soprano’s part is the curmudgeon who “would not could not eat them here or there or anywhere,” while the child soprano’s part is that of the persistent “Would you? Could you?” Sam I Am.

“What I like about this piece is the music,” says Ensley. “It is so descriptive of the story. It’s not just noise. This makes sense.”

Green Eggs and Ham was first performed by the New Jersey Chamber Music Society in 1993 and its recording of the show has been compared with such children’s classics as Tchaikovsky’s Peter and the Wolf.

The music is by Robert Kapilow, the popular American composer who has written over 15 commissioned works including this, the first musical setting of a Dr. Seuss work ever allowed by the Dr. Seuss Foundation.

Part of what makes this music fun is Kapilow’s decision to weave in bits of recognizable music throughout, so that the audience begins to anticipate, for example, Chopin’s “Funeral March” when the curmudgeon says for the 20th time, “I do not like them, Sam I Am!”

The music for the November 4th show will be played by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra in conjunction with the Memphis Arts Council as part of its Family Arts Series. The show marks the opening of the season. Families of up to five can get into different events for $6. “We encourage families to attend,” said Sandy Kozik, program coordinator for the Family Arts Series, but adds that they will accept reservations for individuals.

The rest of the shows will be done with piano accompaniment. “It’s actually quite a fine reduction,” says Ensley. “It’s still all there.” To help educate the mostly young audience, members of Opera Memphis will spend a few moments before each performance explaining the music, making suggestions on what to listen for and when and how to listen for it.

Because of the great response to the upcoming shows, Opera Memphis is now planning on touring with it in the spring.

“We’ve gotten such a positive response from the schools, parents, and administrators,” says Ensley, “that in March, April, and May, we’re taking it, putting it in a van, and driving it around to pre-schools and elementary schools.”

Area teachers who are interested in taking their students to see one of the Dixon performances or to put their name on the list for the spring tour should contact Cindy Ensley of Opera Memphis at (901) 257-3100, extension 6. Inquiries on the November 4th show or the Family Arts Series should be made to the Memphis Arts Council at 578-2787 or visit their Web site at www.memphisartscouncil.org.

Real people don’t have names like Ace Atkins. Real people haven’t
lived this life. Atkins is the hunk writer with his own Web site
(www.aceatkins.com), the one in the T-shirt and denim and looking for all the
world like he just jumped off a steer and sat on a craggy rock in the middle
of nowhere.

Atkins will be coming to Memphis this weekend to help kick off the
Southeast Booksellers Association trade show. He’ll be signing his novels and
participating in a panel (along with Rene Nevils and Deborah Hardy, authors of
the bio Ignatius Rising: The Life of John Kennedy Toole, and Gerald
Duff, author of Memphis Ribs) on “Writer’s Cramp: The Ins
and Outs of Writing.” The panel discussion is on Thursday and the book
signing is on Friday. Both events will be held at the Deliberate Literate.

Atkins has written a series of mysteries that follows protagonist Nick
Travers. Travers is an ex-Saints football player turned blues historian who
ends up stumbling on and cracking some of the toughest cases in the history of
the blues.

Crossroad Blues, on the legend of Robert Johnson, and Leavin’
Trunk Blues, which centers around the migration of African Americans north
to Chicago in the ’40s and ’50s, were both published by St. Martin’s Press.
They were received with enough acclaim to land Atkins a book deal with
HarperCollins for Dark End of the Street, the third in the series and
set entirely in Memphis, and a fourth book, still in the works.

The 30-ish Atkins was born in Alabama and played defensive end for the
1993 Auburn football team, which went undefeated and was featured on the cover
of Sports Illustrated. He then worked part-time for the St.
Petersburg Times and part-time on his first novel. Tired of living
the proverbial writer’s life — “digging change out of my ashtray for the
99-cent Whopper special” — he took a full-time crime-reporting job at
the The Tampa Tribune.

It was while at the Tribune that Atkins was nominated for a
Pulitzer Prize for a seven-part series titled “Tampa Confidential,”
in which he reconstructed the 1956 murder of a local woman from the memories
of investigators and witnesses, depositions and trial records. “It is the
work I’m most proud of,” says Atkins.

Then came the book contract and a request from the publisher that he
devote his full attention to writing. “I quit the Tribune within
the hour,” he says.

(If you believe everything so far, listen to this: Atkins actually met
his current girlfriend, then a reporter for the rival St. Petersburg
Times, “over a dead body” at a crime scene. “We saw each
other again at a kidnapping and an abduction,” he says, “before I
got the nerve to ask her out.”)

Atkins says it’s just coincidence that his protagonist, Travers, is also
involved with a reporter. Is it also a coincidence that Travers is a blues
historian (Atkins is a blues buff) and former football player? He denies that
Nick (he refers to him by his first name) is any kind of alter ego or more
exciting version of himself. According to Atkins, “He is more like a big
brother to me.”

Atkins is now teaching an advanced reporting class at the University of
Mississippi and at work on the fourth novel in the series. “I’m thinking
seriously about going back to New Orleans for this one — back to Nick’s
roots.”

You can visit Atkins’ Web site and learn more about his books, his pets,
his favorite beer, and the music he keeps in his Bronco. You can even send him
an e-mail, if only to ask him if he’s for real. n

Atkins discusses writer’s block Thurday and signs books Friday at the
Deliberate Literate. The Southeast Booksellers Association trade show runs
Thursday-Sunday at the Cook Convention Center. Among those authors joining
Atkins at the conference and for booksignings: Rick Bragg (signing Friday at
Burke’s Book Store); Ken Davis (Friday, Davis-Kidd); Lorraine Johnson-Coleman
(Saturday, Deliberate Literate); and Bobbie Ann Mason (Monday, Burke’s and
Tuesday, Square Books in Oxford).