Sharing the cooking, sharing the shopping (Photo: Patricia Lockhart)
We are a family that absolutely loves Memphis! But sometimes, it’s best to enjoy our mortgage. I know that might sound a bit unusual, but it’s really quite straightforward. “Enjoying your mortgage” is just a Gen Alpha way of saying “appreciate your space” and embrace the joys of home.
This particular weekend, I woke up early, lit some soothing incense, opened the blinds, and poured myself a steaming cup of black coffee with a touch of honey. I cherished the peaceful moments before the kids woke up and my husband returned from his 16-mile run. But with kids aged 11, 12, 12, and 16, that quiet wouldn’t last long!
Photo: Patricia Lockhart
Laundry Day
Like most families, Saturdays are often reserved for chores (thankfully, now without the scent of bleach and old-school music blaring from ancient speakers). Each tween and teenager is responsible for tidying their own space, catching up on chores, and tackling laundry. And oh, laundry— what a beast it can be! Our kids have been doing their own laundry for the past three years, but we’re still very much in the learning phase.
As adults, we might think laundry is simple, but just ask a tween or teenager, and you’ll hear a different story. “How many clothes make a full load?” “Do I really have to separate my whites from my colors?” “What temperature should the water be?” “Do detergent sheets work better than liquid?”
Honestly, those questions are valid! I stick to the basics: fill the machine two-thirds full and don’t forget the detergent. While washing and drying are straightforward, the real challenge is folding and hanging everything up. My husband enjoys putting on a good show and folding clothes until his heart’s content. Me? I’m more of a laundry mole, diving into the basket each morning to iron what’s needed. But with my husband’s high standards, the kids and I engage in a productive struggle every Saturday.
Grocery Shopping
Once the laundry is in a steady rhythm — wash, dry, fold/hang, and repeat six times — it’s time to tackle grocery shopping. In our family of six, everyone gets a night to cook dinner each week. On Fridays, we either cook together or indulge in oven pizza. To kick things off, we project our computer screen onto the TV so everyone can see the plan. With a grocery budget of $200 a week, we aim to make the most of it, enjoying a little bit of everything. We start by sharing our dinner ideas, keeping everyone’s preferences in mind. My 16-year-old has been a vegetarian since he was 6, while the younger twin prefers meat in every meal. Our 11-year-old isn’t fond of cheesy dishes, and I’m lactose intolerant. Thankfully, my husband and the oldest twin are pretty flexible with their choices. Next, we take turns adding ingredients to the Kroger Pickup list, ensuring we check what we already have on hand. At least once a month, we do a grocery inventory, which usually uncovers forgotten treasures like dried beans and random cans of tomato sauce. After finalizing our dinner items, we move on to breakfast and then lunch. If there’s any budget left, we treat ourselves to snacks, though that’s usually a rare delight!
Chilling Together
As adults, it’s easy for weekends to morph into extended workdays filled with tasks we didn’t have time for during our regular work hours. I want to teach my kids the importance of finding a healthy balance — not just by telling them, but by showing them. Chores can demonstrate appreciation for our space and future selves, but they aren’t the only way we enjoy our mortgage. Here are some fun activities we love to do together while “enjoying our mortgage”:
• Napping
• Playing video games
• Watching TV
• Baking delicious treats
• Playing library with my books (just me)
• Gardening and reviving my plants
• Building forts in the living room
• Movie marathon nights
• Doing absolutely nothing together
One twin typically engages in a social-battery recharge. Being at school all week takes a lot out of him, so he’ll often keep to himself most of the weekend. My daughter, on the other hand, is a social butterfly. She wants someone to enjoy all of her “chilling activities” with. My oldest bounces between baking and getting ahead of his studies. The other twin plays hard all day. As for me, I sit quietly with one child, do an activity with another, bounce ideas with the eldest, and play with the other twin. Sometimes I do none of the above and don’t feel guilty about it.
So enjoy your mortgage or rent, Memphis! Seek out activities with your tweens and teens that bring you closer together, foster relaxation, and spark creativity. Or recharge your own battery.
Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. By day, she’s an assistant principal and writer, but by night … she’s asleep. @memphisismyboyfriend
Patrick Morris, Kimberly Morris, Brenda Morris, and Herman Morris (Photos: Michael Donahue)
People still wore animal print outfits to the Zoo Rendezvous, but pink definitely was the color of choice at the Memphis Zoo fundraiser.
“Barbie” was the theme of this year’s event, which was held September 7th and drew more than 3,000 people.
Maddie Caldwell and Andrew GeraciGreg and Dory GastonJade and Marcus McCall
People were invited “to dress as their own Barbie,” says Erica Kelsey, Memphis Zoo special events and corporate sponsorship manager. They were encouraged to express themselves “in Barbie form.”
The event featured 50 restaurants, 15 food trucks, 17 specialty bars, and five full bars.
Charlie and Emily SullivanKaty, Susan, and Tripp Thompson Savannah Jeffrey and Arnold Medal
Paula & Raiford’s Disco was a new addition. The downtown hotspot replaced Blind Bear, which had been a staple at the event until it recently closed. When thinking of what would be a good replacement for Blind Bear, Kelsey thought, “The party is at Raiford’s.”
“It was a great addition to the Zoo Rendezvous this year,” Kelsey says. She says owner Paula Raiford told her, “I’m locked in for years to come.”
What makes the Zoo Rendezvous so special? “I think Memphians have a special love in their heart for the zoo. Everyone wants to support the zoo in some capacity.”
Tony Westmoreland has added a baby grand piano and a menu focused on Philly cheesesteaks. (Photos: Michael Donahue)
Zinnie’s, which will reopen October 3rd, is not your father’s Zinnie’s.
But, then again, it still is.
The iconic Midtown dining and drinking spot, which opened in 1973 at 1688 Madison Avenue, now has a baby grand piano as well as a new menu and new decor, says Tony Westmoreland, who, along with his wife Stephanie, runs Tandem Restaurant Group, which owns Zinnie’s.
And, he says, patrons can no longer smoke inside Zinnie’s.
But Zinnie’s still feels like Zinnie’s, Westmoreland says. “Zinnie’s has always just been a cool hangout space,” he says.
Zinnie’s previously closed in December 2018, but after a facelift it reopened on Halloween of 2019.
A lot had to be done to the place at that time, Westmoreland says. They added a new jukebox, new ceiling fans, new toilets, a new ice maker, more beer taps behind the bar, and a lock to the women’s bathroom door.
Zinnie’s closed again last spring because of a liquor license renewal issue. “Like other people are experiencing now.”
The reopened Zinnie’s is “going to be a little different, for sure. We’re wanting to put more of a focus on the cocktails and the food.”
Zinnie’s “needed to be a little bit cleaned up and modernized. We didn’t do a whole lot. Just painting, cleaning up, getting some smell out, which took a long time. We are taking smoking away from Zinnie’s. I just feel like it’s time now. People are trending away from smoking. And a lot of people don’t appreciate the aroma.”
As for the look, Westmoreland says, “We changed the floor plan up completely.”
The bar remains the same, but they’ve added half-moon and circular booths. “We painted a little bit just to help cover some smell, but it’s still the burgundy. And we put some grays in it, and a little cream color to kind of brighten it up a little bit. When you dim the lights, turn them down, it looks really good.”
Also, he says, “Some old decor is back on the walls with some new stuff.”
They added memorabilia about Zinnie’s history to go along with “a lot of Memphis memorabilia, liquor tins, beer tins.”
And, he says, “We added some bull horns over the jukebox.”
They also added the piano. “The baby grand is going to be there for patrons and some musicians to come in.”
Win Bonner donated the George Steck baby grand piano, which belonged to his bother, the late Lex Bonner, a professional pianist who played around town.
They’ve also added two dart boards, a Golden Tee golf game, and three big screen TVs “for watching all the Grizzlies and Tigers games.”
Zinnie’s food is changing, too, Westmoreland says. A lot of the changes they made to the menu after they reopened in 2019 “didn’t do too well. We didn’t have a lot of food sales.”
Most items, including the thick-cut barbecued bologna sandwich known as the “Zinnieloney,” are gone. “That’s retired.”
The new food concept focuses on Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. “Really good authentic Phillies with shaved steak and Cheese Whiz.”
They’re starting off with the Steak Philly, Chicken Philly, and the Veggie Philly. The “Philly-based” menu, which was created by chef Duncan Aiken, also includes Philly cheese fries, and, possibly, Philly cheese nachos. “It’s a simple menu. We’re trying to just make it simple and good.”
And “Phillies” practically rhymes with “Zinnie’s,” Westmoreland adds with a laugh.
The idea behind their craft cocktail bar is “just to add something different to what’s around town.”
But their craft cocktails aren’t “crazy craft cocktails. We want to keep the speed and efficiency at the bar.”
The “Zinnierita,” which is their take on the margarita, is a cherry margarita made with Luxardo cherries. (This reporter suggested adding a “Zinnitini” to the list, an idea Westmoreland liked.)
But, again, Zinnie’s is still Zinnie’s, Westmoreland says. “One of the things we tried to keep was the nostalgia of Zinnie’s. … So, initially, we just tried to keep it the same.”
Zinnie’s is “not too nice, but nicer than it was before.”
Westmoreland, who doesn’t know the meaning of or why the place was called “Zinne’s,” refers to it as a “restaurant dive bar.” They’re keeping their little cherub logo with the Zinnie’s slogan: “Best Neighborhood Bar in the Universe.”
Zinnie’s always “seemed calmer and quieter than the nightclubs that were more prominent back in the late ’90s and early 2000s,” Westmoreland says.
As for the newly reopened Zinnie’s, Westmoreland says, “The feel in the bar hasn’t changed. I don’t think it needs to change. There’s a nice atmosphere in the bar.”
But, he says, “It doesn’t smell like an ashtray any more. So, that’s good.”
“Hula hooping is a gateway prop,” says Ellen Phillips, co-founder of Grind City Flow Arts. “It’s usually the first prop that you pick up, but then you start learning all these other flow arts. It’s a whole culture.”
Flow arts combines movement and dance with the manipulation of some prop involved — like hula hooping, juggling, fan dance, or fire dance. “I got into it from the festival culture,” Phillips says. “It’s a little addicting learning new tricks. I didn’t know how to use my athleticism in a way that was fun. This I could do in my backyard with music that I love. And it was challenging because there are tricks that you can do, like hula hooping on your foot, on your leg, taking your leg out, doing multiple hula hoops at one time, so that’s what got me into it.
“What keeps me in it now, though, is definitely the community. It is the nicest community of people, always helpful, always willing to go out on a Sunday to the park if it’s a nice day and just hang out and hula hoop.”
This Saturday, as part of World Hoop Day, Grind City Flow Arts invites Memphis to be a part of that community — experienced and beginner hoopers alike — at the third-ever 901 World Hoop Day festival, this year at Memphis Made Brewery in the Ravine. “It’s a community, all-ages event,” Phillips says. “There will be food trucks, and you can grab a beer and sit out on the patio and watch a bunch of people play with hula hoops and pole dance and do aerial. So that part is all free to come to.”
From 3 to 6 p.m., there will also be workshops in hoop taught by local and regional instructors, in pole taught by the Bendy Beast Fitness, and in aerial taught by High Expectations Aerial Arts. A donation of $15 is recommended, and that $15 covers all nine workshops being offered. (RSVP at tinyurl.com/44ytpb8p.)
As for why there’s pole dancing and aerial mixed in with hooping during World Hoop Day, Phillips says there’s a lot of overlap in the communities. Grind City Flow Arts even recently started teaching hula hoop at the pole dance studio Bendy Beast. “I would say they’re all kind of a very similar art in terms of like movement and performance,” Phillips adds. “They all have different benefits, but we’re kind of all under the same umbrella of performance.”
In the evening, there will be a raffle giveaway and music by DJs. “And we’ll do what we call a fire flow jam [at around 7 p.m.],” Phillips says. “The first half hour, we’re going to bring in some professional fire dancers, but then after that, we’re going to open up the fire circle to anyone who wants to spin fire.”
There will be safety precautions in place, Phillips says, and you can check out Grind City Flow Arts’ Instagram and Facebook page for FAQs regarding this and other details. “But fire is very much a part of the hula hoop community,” Phillips adds, “so it kind of goes hand in hand. So people who get in their hoop for the first time when it’s on fire, you feel an auditory connection to your hula hoop. It’s wild. It’s an adrenaline rush.”
901 World Hoop Day, Memphis Made Brewery, 16 S. Lauderdale Street, Saturday, October 5, 2-10 p.m.
Robert Petkoff as Harold Zidler and the cast of the North American tour of Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Photo: Matthew Murphy | MurphyMade)
As the temperatures are cooling down, the Memphis arts scene is heating up — with exhibitions, performances, and unique experiences. See for yourself in our Fall Arts Guide.
“Dear Grandmother” Heather Howle explores themes of nostalgia and familial connection. ANF Architects, through Oct. 17
“Troubling the Line: New Dimensions in Drawing” The works of Melissa Dunn, Terri Jones, Paula Kovarik, Mary Reid Kelley, and Patrick Kelley complicate the idea of drawing. Clough-Hanson Gallery, through Nov. 9
“All Rise: Memphis Bar Association at 150” Through arresting objects and powerful images, the exhibition showcases the Memphis Bar Association’s historical significance and continuing relevance. Museum of Science & History, through Nov. 10
“Bracelets, Bangles, & Cuffs” This collection of contemporary bracelets reveals the wide-ranging creativity of artists working in the jewelry form between 1948 and today. Metal Museum, through Nov. 17
“The 6 Points Artists” This exhibition features Sharon Havelka, Mary Jo Karimnia, Paula Kovarik, Carrol McTyre, Jennifer Sargent, and Mary K VanGieson. Bornblum Library, Southwest Tennessee Community College, through Nov. 27
“Andrea Morales: Roll Down Like Water” Andrea Morales’ first solo museum show features 65 photographs spanning her decade of photojournalism in Memphis and the Mid-South. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, through January
“A Hidden Culture” Master Metalsmith Preston Jackson who gives voice to those overlooked in the history books. Metal Museum, through Jan. 26
“ANA•LOG” Lester Merriweather examines the concept of agency over Black visualization within American popular culture. Crosstown Arts, fall
Alex Paulus, “Size Matters” (Photo: Crosstown Arts)
“Size Matters” Alex Paulus’ current series focuses on the juxtaposition of small figures within expansive landscapes. Crosstown Arts, fall
“Still” Michelle Fair’s latest works delve into the process of painting. Crosstown Arts, fall
“Chromatic” This exhibit merges explores the two worlds of sounds and color in a synergistic full-bodied experience. Arrow Creative, October 3, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
“Two Rivers” Huger Foote captures the moments when day slowly turns to night from Memphis and the Mississippi Delta to the Hudson River Valley. David Lusk Gallery, Oct. 8-Nov. 16
“I Saw the Light in Your Eyes” Ceramic sculptors Renata Cassiano Alvarez and Anthony Sonnenberg work through complex ideas of identity through abstraction. Sheet Cake Gallery, Oct. 12-Nov. 23
“Our Love Is a Shady Garden” Yanira Vissepó studies the ecosystems between her birthplace in Puerto Rico and adopted home in Tennessee. Sheet Cake Gallery, Oct. 12-Nov. 23
MadameFraankie Works by MadameFraankie. Beverly + Sam Ross Gallery, October 21-December 8
“2024 Accessions to the Permanent Collection” This exhibition celebrations the more than 170 pieces added to the Metal Museum’s permanent collection. Metal Museum, November 27-November 2, 2025
ON STAGE
Concerts in the Grove GPAC presents some of the best musicians in the area in a park-like setting. The Grove at Germantown Performing Arts Center, select Thursdays, 6:30 p.m.
Sounds of Memphis Each week, a new Memphis powerhouse presents a unique concert — from the Handorf Company Arts of Opera Memphis to YOBREEZYE. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Thursdays, 6 p.m.
De Aquí y de Allá Accompany the courageous Don Quixote of La Mancha and his trusty sidekick, Sancho Panza, on an adventure full of fun, music, dance, culture and more. Orpheum Theatre, October 4-5
Paradise Blue This dynamic and musically infused drama shines light on the challenges of building a better future on the foundation of what our predecessors have left us. Hattiloo Theatre, through October 6
Girl from the North Country The Tony Award-winning musical reimagines Bob Dylan’s songs into a story about a group of wayward travelers. Orpheum Theatre, Oct.8-13
The Mousetrap Theatre Memphis presents this murder mystery. Theatre Memphis, Oct. 11-27
Lizzie: The Lizzie Borden Musical New Moon Theatre’s Lizzie is American mythology set to a blistering rock score. TheatreWorks@The Square, October 18-November 3
The Smell of the Kill This tantalizing dark comedy has malicious housewives and miserable husbands. Germantown Community Theatre, Oct. 18-Nov. 3
Amadeus: The Music and the Myth Opera Memphis explores Mozart through the lens of music from the award-winning movie Amadeus. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m.
Rumpelstiltskin A young girl is locked away until she spins straw into gold. Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, Oct. 26, 2 p.m.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film comes to life. Orpheum Theatre, Oct. 29-Nov.3
The Three Bs: Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven Memphis Symphony Orchestra presents. Crosstown Theater, Nov. 1, 6:30 p.m. | Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, Nov. 3, 2:30 p.m.
Iris Collective Orchestra: Transformations Memphis-native Randall Goosby and conductor and Iris founder Michael Stern will be joined by the Germantown Youth Symphony. Germantown Performing Arts Center, Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m.
Taikoproject Taikoproject traces the history and lore of the ancient Japanese drums. Buckman Performing Arts Center, Nov. 7, 7 p.m.
The Orchestra Unplugged: Leonard Bernstein Music director Robert Moody of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra guides audiences through the life and legacy of the American Maestro. Halloran Centre, Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m.
Junie B. Jones: Toothless Wonder This family-friendly show takes audiences on a humorous journey of growing up with Junie B. Jones. The Circuit Playhouse, Nov. 8-Dec. 22
Parallel Lives Two actresses play men and women struggling through the common rituals of modernity. Theatre Memphis, Nov. 8-23
The Wizard of Oz Dorothy isn’t in Kansas anymore. Playhouse on the Square, Nov. 15-Dec. 22
The Rake’s Progress Opera Memphis presents Igor Stravinsky’s neoclassical opera. Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m. | Nov. 24, 3 p.m.
NutRemix New Ballet Ensemble sets The Nutcracker on Memphis’ iconic Beale Street. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Nov. 23-24
Peter Pan This high-flying musical comes to Memphis. Orpheum Theatre, Nov. 26-Dec. 1
Who’s Holiday Cindy Lou Who returns in this riotously funny and heartwarming adults-only comedy. Circuit Playhouse, Nov. 22-Dec. 22
A Motown Christmas Celebrate the holiday season with this musical of all your favorite Motown tunes. Hattiloo Theatre, Nov. 22-Dec. 22
Twelfth Night Shakespeare’s most charming comedy finds itself on the Tabor Stage. Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Dec. 6-22
A Christmas Carol ’24 Theatre Memphis presents this holiday classic. Theatre Memphis, December 6-23
Bright Star Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s bluegrass musical tells a story of love and redemption in 1920s and ’40s North Carolina. Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, Dec. 6-8
Tía Pancha Tía Pancha is Cazateatro’s bilingual adaptation of the classic A Christmas Carol but with a Latin and female twist. TheatreWorks@The Evergreen, Dec. 6-14
A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage The whole family can enjoy this adaptation of Charles M. Schulz’s timeless story. Orpheum Theatre, Dec. 7, 2 p.m., 5 p.m., 7:30 p.m.
The Nutcracker Ballet Memphis’ production of this holiday classic returns. Orpheum Theatre, Dec. 13-15
AROUND TOWN
Art Club The Brooks’ Art Club with Mallory Sharp gives participants an in-depth look at a different work of art each month. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, monthly
Appetite for the Arts Enjoy a picnic and/or food truck fare while feasting your eyes on music and dance films. The Grove at Germantown Performing Arts Center, Wednesdays in October, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Super Saturdays Enjoy free drop-in art making workshops for families and free admission to the Brooks. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Saturdays, 10:30 a.m.-noon
Free Family Day On the second Saturday of the month, the Stax has live music, outdoors, food trucks, games and activities, arts and crafts for children, and free admission to the entire museum. Stax Museum of American Soul Music, second Saturdays of the month, 1-5 p.m.
Artoberfest Off the Walls Arts showcases Memphis artists and musicians for a day of music, vendors, a costume contest, activities, and fun. Off the Walls Arts, Oct. 5, 2-10 p.m.
V&E Greenline Artwalk 2024 Meet and shop from local artists, and enjoy music, entertainment, children’s activities, and artist demonstrations. V&E Greenline, Oct. 7, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Paint Memphis A hundred or so artists will be painting murals all day long and it’s a spectacle to behold. Willet and Lamar, October 12, noon-7 p.m.
Come as Thou Art Guests will don their most imaginative attire, either inspired by the night’s theme — the world of Tim Burton — or the spirit of a designer. The evening will be capped off with a fashion show by Sonin Lee. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Oct. 18, 8 p.m.
Art on Fire Enjoy tastings from local restaurants, live music, thrilling fire dancers, and a vibrant art sale — all set around a roaring bonfire. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Oct. 19, 7-11 p.m.
Dracula Party Celebrate Ballet Memphis’ reprise of Dracula and help raise critical funds to support its mission with a Halloween party where you can party like a vampire. Mollie Fontaine Lounge, October 19, 7:30-10:30 p.m.
Repair Days Bring your metal items to have them restored their former glory at the Metal Museum’s largest fundraiser, which also includes the Dinner + Auction and Family Fun Day, where visitors can participate in hands-on activities, explore the galleries, and watch metalsmith demonstrations. Metal Museum, Oct. 17-20
RiverArtsFest The region’s largest and longest running fine arts festival showcasing works from 200+ participating local and national artists returns with an artist market, artists-at-work demonstration station, hands-on artist station, performances, and plenty of food and beverages. Riverside Drive, Oct. 20, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
28th Annual Quilt & Fiber Arts Show and Sale View around 100 antique, vintage, and modern quilts, plus meet with vendors and demonstrators and see a new special exhibit. Davies Manor Historic Site, November 1-3, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
The Orpheum Soiree Enjoy an evening including glittering entertainment, live auction, specialty cocktails, exciting eats, and fun surprises. Orpheum Theatre, November 15, 7 p.m.
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ARTSassist
In August, ARTSmemphis announced the inaugural distribution of ARTSassist grants to 22 individual artists, providing these artists in dance and visual arts an unrestricted $5,000. This makes it the only unrestricted grant program supporting individual artists in Shelby County.
The program comes as an expansion of a pre-pandemic grant program for visual artists, known as ArtsAccelerator. As ARTSmemphis CEO and president Elizabeth Rouse says, “About 10 years ago, thanks to some local artists in the community who asked questions of us, we began a grant program to support visual artists. … We started with visual artists because at the time, they had fewer other networks of support and fewer other opportunities to be hired.
(top) Dorian Rhea; (below) Therrious Davis (Photos: Courtesy ARTSmemphis)
“But that really, thankfully, put us in a position to launch an artist emergency fund for individual artists in 2020 as artists of all different types immediately lost work during the pandemic. And we supported about 800 artists during the pandemic with emergency funding totaling almost a million, right around $900,000. From 2020 through 2023, we focused on emergency and recovery funding, so coming out of 2023 we wanted to reintroduce an unrestricted grant for artists and expand it rather extensively.”
That meant bringing on an artist advisory committee made up of Memphis artists to make sure artists’ needs were met, and out-of-town jurors to select the grantees without local bias. That also meant, in addition to supporting the 22 selected grantees, partnering with Indie Memphis to support a filmmaker through Indie Memphis’ Black Creators Forum and partnering with Music Export Memphis (MEM) to support three musicians through its Ambassador Access program. “It was a way for us to be efficient and not create something new, but to support and complement,” Rouse says. “We hope, long-term, to be supporting even more types of artists. But it makes sense, just based on the makeup of artists in our community, that we start out with visual, dance, music, and film.”
This first cohort will use their grants for a variety of reasons, Rouse says. Therrious Davis, an illustrator, comic book artist, and occasional muralist, has used his grant money to buy a new computer and tablet. “I had this laptop for close to 10 years now,” Davis says. “It was starting to show signs of its age.”
Davis has been developing a comic project called Exodus of Love, premised on the question, ‘What if Cupid didn’t know what love was?’ But not having reliable or capable equipment has been holding him back from making headway. “The goal will be to make more videos following the development of the comic book project and to give people a chance to follow it from the ground up.” (You can follow Davis’ progress on Instagram @therrothekid.)
Meanwhile, choreographer Dorian Rhea plans to use his grant to fund future movement-based programming at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. “It’s going to be jazz. It’s going to be social dance, known as hip-hop styles, accompanied by excerpts and texts to contextualize the history,” Rhea says. The classes will be for young kids and their parents, an experience that Rhea, as a new dad himself, hopes will “sow the seeds for much more later down the road.”
Rhea will also use his grant to attain a technique certification in Giordano dance, a style of jazz that originated in Chicago. “I’m hoping that with bringing that style to Memphis, we elevate the cultural exchange that I think is already taking place [between Chicago and Memphis],” he says. “Knowledge is power. Art is all about telling a story and communicating the narrative, sharing an experience, and so as someone who believes in art activism — using arts as a vehicle for creating change and sparking the catalyst for evolution, growth, progress — the more grounded my work is in the history of those who’ve come before, the richer I can articulate lessons.”
No matter their personal goal, Rouse says, “We know how important it is to have a strong community of artists and to be a city that is a city of choice for artists. They’re just so critical to our culture and our economy, so … we intend for this to be an annual grant.”
On Monday, in alignment with this goal, ARTSmemphis, in partnership with Music Export Memphis, also announced a new, first-ever Artist Emergency Fund for local artists, which will support artists in times of unexpected and catastrophic emergency. For more information on both of these grants, visit artsmemphis.org.
…
Andrea Morales: “Roll Down Like Water”
Andrea Morales has been making photographs since she was a child, and yes, “making photographs” is the right phrase here. Not taking photographs, capturing, or shooting. For Morales, these words are too aggressive to describe a process that is about building trust and intimacy between the photographer and the photographed individuals, or, as Morales calls them, her collaborators.
She’s been working in Memphis as a photojournalist for a decade now, making photographs of the community. You probably recognize her name from her work as the visuals director at MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, but she’s also been featured in The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and TIME Magazine, among many others. Now, to add to her impressive resume, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art has opened an exhibit of 65 of her photographs of Memphis and the surrounding region, titled “Roll Down Like Water.”
Andrea Morales, Southern Heritage, 2017 (Photo: Courtesy Andrea Morales)
Taking its name from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech in Memphis, in which he said, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream,” the exhibit, says its curator Rosamund Garrett, is “a portrait of America through Memphis.”
“There are some tremendously famous photographers from this area,” Garrett says, “but I really feel that Andrea looks at things through a very fresh lens, and she looks at this region very directly, very earnestly, in a way that still allows the magic of this place to come through.”
But in this exhibit, not appearing in a publication with someone else’s byline, a headline she didn’t choose, or quotes she didn’t pull, the photos can stand alone. “It does feel like something’s being restored, I guess,” Morales says. “I’m struggling with identifying exactly what, but it feels like something’s restored. It’s like back to that feeling of the moment [of making the photo] because you have that moment and then you kind of have to tuck it away because this photo has to exist in this one context [of an article]. But this is all existing in the context of me and Memphis right now.”
Binghampton is putting on a play. The actors are young and old, some seasoned and many freshly-minted to the spotlight. Kids at Carpenter Art Garden are building scenic elements, and community members are tuning their instruments for a show their stories helped create.
It all started over a year ago when the Orpheum Theatre Group launched its Neighborhood Play Program. After working with the Refugee Empowerment Program in Binghampton, making original plays out of participants’ stories, Orpheum staff “realized one of their favorite moments in it was when they got to step out of their story and play the characters that were in other people’s stories,” says Taylor St. John, Orpheum’s director of education and engagement. “There’s something powerful about telling your own story, but there’s also something powerful about participating as a community in a fictional story.”
Ann Perry Wallace (Photo: Courtesy Orpheum Theatre)
So came the Neighborhood Play Program, through which the Orpheum partnered with various organizations and formed “story circles” to create a neighborhood play. “For six months or so, we got people in a circle and asked them questions about their community, things that they found beautiful, things that they found challenging,” St. John says.
These stories, in turn, would be the inspiration for the fictional story that playwright Ann Perry Wallace, author of the one-woman play Live Rich Die Poor, would weave. They then presented this fictional story in another round of story circles for feedback.
“I felt like I had a lot of responsibility to deliver something that was representative of what I had heard,” Wallace says. “You are responsible for these stories that have been told, you are responsible for putting out this image of the people, and so that is a weight that I carry with honor and take seriously. There’s nuance. And so I’m having to hold all of that in a way that gives dignity where dignity is due and have to show the complex struggles where they are present. It is a dynamic place, and I hope for people to see the intricacies, or just a snapshot of those intricacies come out.”
As for the plot of the play, titled We All We Got, St. John says, “The story itself centers on two young Black girls living in the neighborhood, one from a generational home and one living in the apartments who’s a refugee, and how they navigate the world and encounter all of the various characters of Binghampton.”
The hope, both St. John and Wallace point out, is to highlight the different experiences within Binghampton. “It’s one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Memphis,” St. John says. “There’s over 20 languages spoken there, and so we really tried to honor the stories that do not otherwise get highlighted.”
With all those differences, St. John adds, “It’s been exciting, in the last couple weeks, to see all those people from all those different groups that do different things and have very different beliefs and sometimes cultures now all be in the same room, and we’re all working on this thing together, and it just feels like a great exercise in community.
“We think it’s so important that the people in Binghampton can hopefully see themselves in this play, or see reflections of their ideas and other stories in this play. But it’s also really important that as a city, we’re able to come together [by seeing the play].”
The play is set to premiere in November, with community members acting both in the scenes and behind the scenes. Already, just watching rehearsals has Wallace “thrilled.” “You are seeing people who have pride in the neighborhood come out to be a part of it and really stretch themselves in creative and artistic ways,” she says. “Not all of them are normally doing this in their day-to-day life, and then we do have some actors who are in it, but particularly the community members, them showing up and performing best, to me, that’s pride, and that’s dedication, and that’s belief in their community.”
All three performances, which will take place at First Baptist Broad Church in Binghampton, will be free to attend, and Backbeat Tours will provide free transportation at designated locations.
Election coverage and various polls keep emphasizing the dead-heat aspects of the national presidential election, but the fact is that, for voters in Memphis and Shelby County, there is minimal suspense associated with the presidential race.
The assumption is that — population demographics, past election performances, and partisan loyalties being what they are — the Republican Trump-Vance ticket should win easily statewide, and the Democratic Harris-Walz ticket should romp locally.
Which is not to suggest that the presidential race won’t affect other options on the November 5th ballot. There will undoubtedly be a carryover effect from the anticipated heavier turnout of voters expressing their preferences for president.
Clearly, this effect could be all-important in some races on the Shelby County ballot — especially the showdown in the District 97 race for state representative between GOP incumbent John Gillespie and Democratic challenger Jesse Huseth. This race, for the right to represent Memphis’ upscale Poplar Corridor, is being closely watched for its potential future implications regarding the statewide voter mainstream.
But in the long as well as the short run, the key portions of the local ballot could be four referenda directed at Memphis voters, the outcome of which could be more than usually significant.
The most highly publicized of these is City of Memphis Referendum Ordinance No. 5908, a three-parter couched in pollster-like terms that could serve as a potential trigger mechanism for enacting local gun safety measures in the future.
The referendum would serve to measure city voters’ sentiment for reinstatement of carry permits for firearms, for banning the local sale of assault rifles, and for enabling judges to issue extreme-risk (“red flag”) protection orders prohibiting gun ownership by certifiably risky persons.
Ordinance No. 5908, authorized by the city council in light of citizen alarm concerning violent crimes locally, ignited a back-and-forth legal and rhetorical struggle between city and state authorities, resolved finally by Chancellor Melanie Taylor Jefferson in favor of allowing the referendum on the local ballot in the face of threats by state officials to withhold shared state tax revenues from the city.
Also on the ballot are several provisions involving the city charter that would have direct impact on the conduct of Memphis elections and city government at large.
City of Memphis Referendum Ordinance No. 5884 would strike down the ban of runoffs in mayoral and at-large city races that was established in 1991. The ban was imposed by the late federal Judge Jerome Turner as a safeguard against organized blanket voting against Blacks, then (but no longer) a racial minority.
City of Memphis Referendum Ordinance No. 5913 would impose a requirement that candidates for Memphis mayor would have to establish legal residence in the city for two years prior to election. This referendum, if passed, would resolve a legal dispute that arose in the mayoral election of 2023 — one that saw the viability of several prominent candidates come under question.
And City of Memphis Referendum Ordinance No. 5893 would “authorize the City Council by ordinance to fix and determine the salaries of the Mayor, City Council, Chief Administrative Officer, and Appointed Directors and Deputy Directors.”
This referendum, authorized by the council in light of several recent disputes between itself and the current mayoral administration, would tilt the weight of authority in favor of the council.
It’s a hopeful tale for any aspiring singer-songwriters out there, one that starts as any typical troubadour’s would: “I was doing a lot of shows at the P&H Cafe, and those Flying Saucer songwriter nights.” A couple of decades ago, that was Drew Holcomb’s life, pounding the pavement, chasing gigs, and honing his craft. Soon, this being Memphis, he was rubbing shoulders with like-minded artists. “Cory Branan was incredibly gracious to me,” Holcomb says, “and sort of invited me into his world a little bit and let me open up a bunch of his shows. Then later the Hi Tone was kind of my home for a lot of years.”
As he recruited bands to perform his songs, Holcomb hit it off with one local player in particular. “His name is Nathan Dugger. He was in his senior year at Houston High School when he started playing with me,” Holcomb recalls. “Then he moved to Nashville to go to Belmont and stayed with me on the weekends when he was playing around town.”
The fact that Dugger is still playing with Holcomb over 20 years later is proof positive that they had stumbled onto some great musical chemistry. So is the musical legacy of Holcomb, Dugger, and Rich Brinsfield, the core of the band that eventually coalesced as Holcomb too made the leap to Nashville.
Holcomb’s mixed feelings about moving to the “Athens of the South” revealed his Bluff City roots. “As a Memphian,” he confesses, “I felt very reluctant to move to Nashville. I felt like I was sort of a traitor, in a way. But I married a Nashville woman, and this was where she wanted to live.” Put another way, in “I Like to Be With Me When I’m With You,” Holcomb sings, “If I could live on the moon, I would rather stay in Tennessee with you.”
“So we were looking for neighborhoods 20 years ago,” he goes on, “and I came to East Nashville. It’s the only neighborhood in Nashville that reminded me of home, you know? It had this sort of loyalty culture, and it was a little gritty. It was, like, hardworking. It had a chip on its shoulder about the rest of the city. And I was like, ‘Yeah, this is my spot. These are my people.’”
As it turned out, the entire band, including Holcomb’s wife Ellie (who’s since gone on to a solo career) wound up in East Nashville, and thus settled on the name Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. That moniker is especially apt given Holcomb’s songs, which so often address the ties that bind, the friends we lean on, and the embrace of family, conveyed with a soulful, folk-infused pop sensibility. The inclusive message, bolstered by inclusive music, capped off by the disarming frankness of Holcomb’s heartfelt voice, has since resonated with millions, and the band’s trajectory is an object lesson in the rewards of simply honing your craft and staying true to your vision without selling out. That certainly holds true for last year’s Strangers No More and the new Strangers No More, Vol. 2.
“With both of these records,” he says, “if anybody wants to hear a band having fun in the studio, they can listen to these records. We had the time of our lives. We weren’t worried about commercial stuff. We weren’t worried about the radio. We just were like, ‘Hey, we love making music as a band.’
“I’ve got to be myself,” adds Holcomb. “That’s what I learned from the music I loved growing up in Memphis — you know, bands like Lucero, who are just so incredibly original. It was important for me to be my own version of that. But, I mean, I was influenced as much by U2 as I was by Bob Dylan or Bob Seger or Tom Petty, so some of my songwriting has a sort of broad universality to it, like a U2 song, and I’ve grown to embrace that instead of apologizing for it. And I think that that’s part of the Memphis in me, too: being unapologetically myself and not trying to be somebody I’m not.”
Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors perform at the Mempho Music Festival Sunday, October 6th, at 4:30 p.m. on the Bud Light Stage. For details and a full schedule of bands, visit memphofest.com.
Memphis Allies, an initiative launched by Youth Villages, has decided to tackle youth crime and violence with a collaboration and accountability-centered approach.
Support with Intention to Create Hope (SWITCH) is a service currently offered in Orange Mound, Hickory Hill, South Memphis, Raleigh and Frayser. It aims to reduce gun violence and homicides, while also helping participants “reach their full potential,”
Originally started in the summer of 2022, SWITCH has served 512 people in fiscal year (FY) 2023-24. According to Youth Allies, the program brings community partners and other resources into these communities to stop cycles of gun violence and poverty.
Memphis Allies’ 2024 Progress Report said 398 people were killed in the city of Memphis last year, including 36 children. Officials said these statistics exemplify a “cycle of destruction” they hope to stop.
“The reality is that 99 percent of our SWITCH program participants have some affiliation with a gang, clique, or crew,” the report said. “Many of our participants either have a previous gun-related charge and/or have been shot or shot at.”
Besides being affiliated with a gang and directly involved in gun violence, people who have had a friend or family member shot/shot at, a history of criminal justice involvement, are unemployed, and have not completed school face these challenges at a higher rate.
Officials went on to say that 87 percent of people in the SWITCH program have not been involved in gun violence since their involvement.
SWITCH relies on “timely intervention” for its effectiveness, the report says. The 12-18 month long service puts those most susceptible to gun violence — both the victim and the perpetrator — in individual and group sessions. Participants are also engaged in family involvement, employment training,educational support and more to prepare them for success.
“SWITCH Youth is community-based, with life coaches and specialists meeting with participants face-to-face many times a week and staying in touch by phone and text,” the report says. “As participants progress through stages, they work on practical matters such as education and employment and on ways to overcome trauma, modify behavior and make better decisions in the moment.”
The organization uses a four-stage process to help participants, which includes engagement and alignment, self management, relationships and community connection, and vocational and educational connection.
Memphis Allies said involvement in the program is 24-7 work, with outreach specialists, life coaches, case managers, and clinical therapists working around the clock to help participants.
“Many of these adult SWITCH participants already have been incarcerated, sometimes on gun-related charges,” the organization added. “For some, this program represents [the] last chance at making transformative change.”
Renardo Baker, founder of “I Shall Not Die but Live,” is a partner for Memphis Allies and provides SWITCH outreach in Orange Mound. Baker said he “destroyed his community” by being a drug dealer, but has been a positive influence on his community for the past few decades by creating job opportunities for those at risk through his lawn business.
Twins Brandon and Bryan Mathis started the nonprofit TWINS which stands for “together we can impact neighborhoods and nations.” The brothers used their experiences from joining a gang at age 10 to not only implement SWITCH in Frayser, but they also provide life coaching and case management in Hickory Hill through their organization.
“[The partnership] gives us the freedom to do what has been successful and have the resources of Memphis Allies, including data,” Bryan said.
Memphis Allies has a number of partners in their network including The Braid Foundation, City of Memphis, Grind City Cares, Guns Down Orange Mound, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Young Man University and more.
Officials said that in the future they hope to help four times the number of people they served for FY 2023-24.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is releasing water from tributary dams like Douglas Dam, shown here, in Sevier County. The controlled release is intended to minimize additional flooding. (Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority)
A map from the Tennessee Department of Transportation shows road closures and compromised bridges in East Tennessee.
Four days after Hurricane Helene unleashed devastation across parts of rural East Tennessee, emergency officials are switching from rescue to recovery operations.
Scores of people are still reported missing — a number that has shifted up and down since Saturday — underscoring the immense challenges in accounting for residents in areas with no power, impassable roads, and limited cell service.
As of Monday night, 102 were missing in four counties, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), which stressed that the missing may include those cut off from roads and cell coverage. State officials confirmed at least six Tennessee weather-related deaths thus far, according to TEMA. They include three in Unicoi County, and one person in each of the following counties: Knox, Johnson, and Washington.
Thousands of homes and businesses remain without power, and hundreds of roads and bridges can’t be traveled, including nearly every road linking Tennessee to North Carolina. There is no official toll yet on the number of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed. At least four wastewater treatment plants have been thrown offline due to flooding and water utilities in six counties have reported “operational issues,” according to TEMA.
“Search and damage assessments are ongoing and we’re beginning to be able to start to put the pieces back together,” said Myron Hughes, a public information officer for TEMA’s All-Hazards Incident Management Team.
Hotline to coordinate missing person reports: 800-824-3463
Hughes briefed reporters Monday, alongside public officials in hard-hit Unicoi County, where a dramatic and ultimately successful rescue operation unfolded Friday morning to airlift more than 60 staff and patients stranded on the rooftop of Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin.
Unicoi County Emergency Management Director and Incident Commander Jim Erwin said personnel were conducting searches Monday, a task he expected to be complete in impacted areas by day’s end.
Meanwhile, residents and emergency crews continue to grapple with the damage left behind by high winds, rainfall and flooding in hard-hit counties, including Unicoi, Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnson, Sevier, and Washington.
At Monday’s Unicoi County press conference, an unidentified man, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, pressed emergency responders for answers about why his still-missing wife wasn’t rescued as she and co-workers tried to flee rising waters Friday morning outside their workplace, Impact Plastics.
The 911 call system swas inundated and many of the county’s resources were deployed to Unicoi County Hospital, Erwin responded, and noted he was also at the hospital. A crew rescued four people fleeing Industrial Park, where the plastics factory was located, Erwin said, then had to turn back.
“They did not get further because water was already so high,” he said. “Some people were saved and we’re still searching. … We all have hopes that we will find some more alive. Our hearts are deep and we’ll be here to work with families.”
Gov. Bill Lee’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration was approved by the Biden Administration Saturday, activating Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) assistance in 12 Tennessee counties.
The Tennessee National Guard and first responders from outside the disaster region were dispatched to assist in search and recovery efforts.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation established a hotline number to coordinate reports of missing persons: The number is 800-824-3463.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is releasing water from tributary dams like Douglas Dam, shown here, in Sevier County. The controlled release is intended to minimize additional flooding. (Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority)
Roads and bridges
In the first 36 hours following the disaster, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) assessed damages and inspected 100 bridges across seven counties.
“We still have hundreds to go,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Monday.
More than 300 TDOT employees have joined in the inspection efforts, but the task ahead will surpass the capacity of the state agency.
TDOT is in the process of awarding multiple debris removal and construction contracts to supplement state crews, with contracted work expected to begin later this week.
Dams and Rivers
Over the weekend, reports of imminent dam collapses led to evacuations in some areas. But on Monday a spokesperson for the Tennessee Valley Authority confirmed that all 49 of its dams are “stable and operating as designed.”
“We are assessing any transmission infrastructure impacts, which are minimal on the TVA system,” Scott Brooks, an agency spokesperson, said in an email.
Right now, they’re asking for water and people from all over are bringing water to us. Budweiser just brought an entire tractor-trailer full. … Rep. Dan Howell from Cleveland is sending water from his district. When you’ve got 37,000 people and no water, we’re so grateful for everybody doing that.
– Rep. Jeremy Faison, Cocke County Republican
Brooks said most of the damage is on local utility systems. TVA is working with local power companies on restoration and repairs, he said.
State Rep. Jeremy Faison, a Republican who represents hard-hit Cocke County, said thousands are without water after utilities were knocked offline. “So, literally, unless you’re on a well, you have no water in my county right now,” he said.
“Right now, they’re asking for water and people from all over are bringing water to us,” he said. “Budweiser just brought an entire tractor-trailer full. … Rep. Dan Howell from Cleveland is sending water from his district. When you’ve got 37,000 people and no water, we’re so grateful for everybody doing that.”
TVA is monitoring extensive flooding in its tributary dams, which control water movement throughout the power provider’s system. The extensive flooding in reservoirs has prompted record high releases at places, including Douglas Dam in Sevier county.
“We are aware these record releases are causing localized flooding on the Tennessee River,” Brooks said.
River levels monitored by TVA illustrated the enormity of rising water in the region. The French Broad River in Newport, Tenn, reached 23 feet — 13 feet above flood stage. The Pigeon River, also in Newport, set a new record stage of 28.9 feet, 20.9 feet over flood stage. And the Nolichucky River at the Nolichucky Dam in Greene County also recorded record high levels of water.
Senior reporter Sam Stockard contributed to this report.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and X.
It is beyond dispute that Francis Ford Coppola is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. That would still be true if he had retired in 1972 after The Godfather won Best Picture. By the time Marlon Brando was sending a Native American rights activist to accept his Best Actor Oscar, Coppola was already making The Conversation, a film about what surveillance does to individuals and society so far ahead of its time that we’re just now catching up to it. Then there was The Godfather Part II, which for my money is actually better than the original. With Apocalypse Now, he tackled Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, a book which none other than Orson Welles had tried and failed to adapt. It remains the definitive screen treatment of the Vietnam War. And there are so many more: Bram Stoker’sDracula; The Rainmaker, which was filmed in Memphis; the list goes on.
Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum in Megalopolis (Courtesy Lionsgate)
Coppola semi-retired from filmmaking in the twenty-first century to concentrate on his other love, winemaking. The one that got away, the idea that he was never able to convince any studio to finance, was Megalopolis. A few years ago, Coppola sold some of his Sonoma County winery land for $500 million. The filmmaker, now 85 years old, put $120 million of his own money on the line to make his dream project real.
There’s an internet meme that men are always thinking about the Roman Empire. Coppola certainly has spent a lot of time thinking about Ancient Rome, specifically the era from 70-27 AD when the 480-year-old Republic decayed into the Roman Empire. It’s no coincidence that this period was also an obsession of the Founding Fathers. When Benjamin Franklin was walking out of the Constitutional Convention, a person on the street asked what kind of government they had come up with. Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Megalopolis opens with a shot of the Chrysler Building bathed in golden light. But in this near-future world, it’s not in New York City, but in New Rome. Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver) steps out onto the roof, and for a moment it looks like he’s going to jump. As he steps over the ledge, he says, “Time, stop!” — and it does! The artist, Laurence Fishburne’s voiceover tells us, has the power to control time.
Catalina has a Nobel Prize for inventing Megalon, a miracle material with near-miraculous properties. He wants to use it to transform New Rome into a utopia, a “school city” which will create happiness and prosperity for all. His rival is New Rome’s popular mayor, Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who thinks Catalina is a “reckless dreamer who will destroy this world before we can build a better one.” Catalina’s mistress is a TV presenter named Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza), and the only thing bigger than her love for him is her ambition. When he refuses to marry her, she takes up with his uncle Crassus (Jon Voight), an elderly banker who has backed his nephew’s work but doesn’t approve of his hedonistic lifestyle.
Shia LaBeouf in Megalopolis (Courtesy Lionsgate)
But it’s New Rome, so hedonism is the order of the day. Sex and drugs are everywhere. There are chariot races and gladiatorial games in Madison Square Garden. The mayor’s daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) seems to be a creature of decadence until she meets Catalina. At first she’s attracted to Catalina just to piss off her father, but then she discovers the depth of his imaginings and makes it her mission to unite the two warring houses. Meanwhile, Crassus’ son Claudio (Shia LaBeouf) is scheming to overthrow both of them and take power for himself at the head of a fascist movement he recruited out of the disaffected people left behind by Catalina’s utopian gentrification.
Coppola wrote, produced, and directed Megalopolis. The direction is near flawless. The old master can still toss off stunning visual riffs at will, and since he doesn’t have to answer to frightened studio execs, Coppola has created a visual feast of a film that is completely unlike anything else coming out of Hollywood this century. The closest thing to it is probably Federico Fellini’s Satyricon, but really, there’s no comparison with anything.
The Vestal Virgins (Courtesy Lionsgate)
Coppola’s problem is the writing. This is an art film, not a plot-heavy blockbuster, but a little more coherence would have gone a long way. Coppola wrote Megalopolis in fits and spurts over 40 years, and it shows — you can even tell how far along he was in the script when 9/11 happened. And yet, the language is frequently poetic and beautiful in its own right.
Most of the cast is clearly so happy to be working with a legend like Coppola that they’re game for anything. Only the strongest survive this chaotic swirl of images with their dignity intact. Adam Driver flawlessly delivers the entire “To be or not to be” speech from Hamlet while walking on an unstable catwalk above a model of his utopian vision. Aubrey Plaza’s seduction of Shia LaBeouf will be the stuff of legend. Giancarlo Esposito switches freely between Latin and English without breaking a sweat. The less confident are set adrift, like the hapless Nathalie Emmanuel.
Adam Driver in Megalopolis (Courtesy Lionsgate)
Megalopolis is not for everyone. Actually, it’s not for anyone except Coppola. He no longer cares what you think. He’s strolling through a century of cinematic history, contemplating the possibilities destroyed by the pursuit of profit and personal power. It’s up to you to get on his level, and that may be a daunting task. This is not cinematic prose, but poetry, with all the obscurity and difficulty that implies. It’s a meditation on the role of the art in the world, made by a genuine artist who is deeply ambivalent. It’s self-indulgent semi-autobiography. It’s a political manifesto against fascism delivered at this critical juncture in the American experiment. You can’t say they don’t make ’em like Megalopolis anymore, because they never did.
