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Intermission Impossible Theater

Eternity on Stage: Tuck Everlasting is Lush & Lovely

CREDIT: Carla McDonald

Carla McDonald

Tuck Everlasting at Playhouse on the Square

Tuck Everlasting‘s never going to be my cup of magical realism, but I’ve got to admit, it’s an awfully pretty thing. And it’s also nice to see a story about regular people struggling with the ups and downs of eternal life for a change instead of another bunch of hot vampires. Here’s how it all plays out: A long time ago every member of the Tuck family drank from a hidden forest spring and became immortal, but each one is forever stuck with all the tropes of their frozen age. The parents manage middle-aged ruts and middle-aged spread and snoring marital monotony. Lost love burns like it only can in youth. Teen angst and pimples also last forever. Neighbors also tend to notice when you never age, so be careful what you wish for, and all that.

Life gets even harder if you’re essentially decent folk who  know what could happen if people who aren’t decent folk ever get their hands on a spring of eternal life. People like the mysterious Man in Yellow who blows into town with the carnival, chasing rumors of magic and mystery. So what’s an unkillable clan to do when a charming young runaway like Winnie Foster stumbles into the family’s life and onto its secrets? 

Tuck Everlasting is too much like Playhouse on the Square’s favorite and most frequently revived show, Peter Pan — with actor Curtis C’s flamboyantly malevolent Man in Yellow filling in for Pan‘s flamboyantly sinister Captain Hook. Both musicals tell the story of strong young women who ultimately reject immortality and a magical life outside of time and decay. Only Tuck abandons all of Pan‘s high flying fairy mayhem, swashbuckling pirates, and general sense of deviltry for mundane concerns and long conversations about the meaning of life and death, with lyrical dance passages illustrating the same.

Is Tuck Everlasting magical enough to make a good fairy tale? Maybe not. Nobody flies or spins flax into gold. A deep sincerity undercuts the story’s Twilight Zone-like ironies, and conflicts never test the play’s subjects enough to pass for allegory. The musical’s songs are almost instantly forgettable, and the book’s more sweet than convincing. But director Dave Landis has assembled a  terrific cast and his design team has outdone themselves, building a world of green parsley stalk trees and purple “magic hour” skies, where a big round sun is eternally stuck in the rising position. Or the setting position, hard to say. 
Carla McDonald

Tuck Everlasting at Playhouse on the Square

Gia Welch’s voice has never sounded as rich or full or uniquely hers as it does in this show. If you’ve read previous previous reviews of the young artist, you’ll know that’s no small compliment. Even though she’s a little too old to convincingly pass for an 11-year-old, her performance as Winnie is never anything short of winning. Welch leads a tight, talented ensemble of local favorites, including Michael Gravois, Lorraine Cotton, and Kent Fleshman. Even if you don’t emerge from the theater able to remember the words to any of Tuck’s songs — a distinct possibility — these voices follow you home.

This is the part of the review where I remind readers that I’m not not the target audience for most family musicals, and Tuck Everlasting‘s no big exception. The show presents like a philosophical meditation on the meaning of life then opens and closes like a Hallmark card with no personal inscription. Thankfully, POTS’ creative team has built a production so lush and lovely it’s easy to watch and listen to even if you can’t bring yourself to care about any of the characters or what they choose to do with their time, magic water, and pet toads. 

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News News Blog

Memphis Tops TripSavvy’s Travel Ranking

CREDIT: TripSavvy

TripSavvy

Memphis is TripSavvy’s best overall travel destination for 2019.

The travel site named Memphis the best overall travel site among other categories aimed at certain kinds of travelers, like outdoor enthusiasts (Rapid City South Dakota), history buffs (San Antonio, Texas), and geeks (Los Angeles).

TripSavvy based its results on information from its first-ever Editors’ Choice Awards, an analysis of 60,000 hotels, restaurants, and attractions around the world. Memphis, the site says, is a “hotbed of activity.”

“Formerly abandoned lots and buildings are now fun spots for tourists and locals,” reads the post. “In an old Sears distribution warehouse you can dine in a dozen just-opened restaurants including one that taps refugees to do the cooking.

”An overgrown yard has turned into Railgarten, a 1.5-acre, adult playground with a tiki bar, ping pong room, ice cream parlor, diner, sandbox, stage for live music, and much more.”

Noting that “old establishments are new again,” the city also won points for a recent renovation at the Pink Palace Museum, new exhibits at the Memphis Zoo, and The CMPLX, the gallery space and studio for The Collective.

New “must-see sites” Downtown include, The Hu Hotel and the Old Dominick distillery. Also, “nature lovers” will love the city’s network of bike paths, the site says.

“If you’ve visited Memphis before, it’s time to go back,” reads the TripSavvy site. “The city is alive with change; you might not recognize it.”

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News News Blog

County Gets Near-Record Grant to Help Customers Keep the Lights On

Shelby County has received a near-record grant from the federal government to help customers here pay their utility bills.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said Tuesday that the county has received $19 million through the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), in one of the largest such grants ever received.

The funds are available through the “Keep The Lights On” program and those applying don’t need to have received a cut-off notice to qualify. Depending on family income and household size, a family can receive up to $650 in assistance.

“It is far too easy for a family to fall behind on their utility bill,” Harris said in a statement. “The aim of this program is to alleviate the stress on families of keeping their homes lit and heated before they receive a cut-off notice.”

To qualify, Shelby County residents must complete an application and be living at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level. For example, the income for a family of four would need to be $37,650 or lower.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, residents can call (901) 222-4299 on Mondays from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Seniors aged 65 years and older can also apply for utility assistance through the Shelby County Community Services Agency. The agency can be reached at (901) 222-4200. The funds were provided by a $20,000 grant from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

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News News Blog

New Plan Pushes Electric Vehicles in Tennessee

CREDIT: Nissan Electric/Facebook

Nissan Electric/Facebook

The 2019 Nissan Leaf.

A group hopes to see thousands of new electric vehicles on Tennessee roads in the next 10 years and recently published a roadmap to guide them there.

The Drive Electric Tennessee Roadmap was devised by 30 organizations across the state, including Memphis, Light, Gas & Water. Leaders from the cities of Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga participated in the project but not Memphis, according to the report. But the report notes that being on the contributors list “does not constitute an endorsement of the roadmap.”

The report says that while Tennessee is an automobile manufacturing hub, including two companies — Nissan and Volkswagen — that do or will make electric vehicles here, consumers hear haven’t yet bought in.

The state’s electric vehicle population in 2017 was less than 5,000, the report says, less than 0.1 percent of the overall light-duty vehicle market.

“Drive Electric Tennessee aims to increase this number to at least 200,000 (electric vehicles) by 2028,” the report says. “This is an ambitious but achievable options goal based not he projections outlined in this roadmap.”

Drive Electric Tennessee Roadmap

A graph shows the projected electric vehicle consumption over the next 10 years.

To get there, the plan suggests adding to the state’s electric-vehicle-charging infrastructure, which currently includes 800 stations. “Range anxiety,” the group says, can be barrier to adoption. So, the group says charging stations should be located at homes, apartment buildings, workplaces, parking garages, restaurants, malls, and more.

“It is important for Tennessee drivers to feel comfortable when they are going about their everyday personal and business lives in an (electric vehicle), whether they are driving across Memphis or making the trip from Nashville to Knoxville,” reads the report.

The group says “most people have still never ridden in or driven” an electric vehicle. So, they want to push a public awareness campaign to change customer perceptions about them. That campaign would include “ride and drive” promotions, educating fleet owners, and consumer education. 

State and local governments, utilities, and corporations could pitch in to establish and promote electric vehicle best practices and policies across the state, reads the report.

The group also hopes Tennessee auto dealers will expand their offerings to meet customer here where they are. For example, the report says the Ford F Series truck is the top registered vehicle type in the state. However, most of the electric vehicles offered here are small-large passenger vehicles like the BMWi3, Nissan Leaf, and Tesla Model S.

The project is slated to get underway this year and continue to 2028.

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Music Music Blog

Vocal Duo Jackopierce Celebrates Thirty Years of Harmonies

Jack O’Neill and Cary Pierce of Jackopierce

Jackopierce, the duo made up of equal parts Jack O’Neill and Cary Pierce, the two songwriters behind the hits “Vineyard” and “Three of Us in a Boat,” quietly celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2018. They made a big to-do over their 25th anniversary, a landmark date few bands ever hit, with a sold-out run of concerts and the release of a live album, Live 25. The 30th-anniversary celebrations were put on the back burner, though, because Jackopierce was too busy moving forward to keep an eye on the rear-view, still touring and preparing a new album, Feel This Good, released in May of last year on Foreverything Music. The duo are now on the road in support of that album, with a stop in Memphis at Lafayette’s Music Room this Thursday at 8 p.m.

Though ostensibly not an anniversary album, Feel This Good celebrates the long history of Jackopierce with tried and true elements: pristine mixes, clear harmonies, a few inside jokes, and cleanly intertwining acoustic guitars that have become the duo’s trademark. Even the album’s title track began as an inside joke between Pierce, O’Neill, and some of the staff at a venue Jackopierce performs at. “‘Every day should feel this good’ is a thing they say,” Pierce explains. “It’s a fun slogan.”

Pierce and O’Neill began tracking the album in Nashville, and Pierce did much of the preliminary mixing at his home studio in Texas. “I produced the last few studio records,” Pierce says. “In the five years we weren’t together, I produced a lot of records.” Jackopierce split, briefly, from 1997 to 2002, though both Pierce and O’Neill stayed involved in the music scene. Feel This Good includes reworkings of original tunes by both Pierce and O’Neill. Pierce reminisces about O’Neill’s contributions without a hint of ego, displaying an easy working relationship that’s been tended and grown over 30 years of
playing together. “Jack and I are like brothers,” Pierce says. “We love writing songs and telling and sharing stories.”

Jackopierce re-recorded one of Pierce’s old solo compositions, “Speed,” for the new album. A demo version of the song was a huge hit on streaming services, prompting Pierce to wonder what they could do with a fully produced version of the song. “It was a minor hit, but a hit for me, my God,” Pierce says of the demo, explaining “Speed” is a “pretty intense break-up song.” It’s about trying to find the energy and willpower to achieve escape velocity, Pierce explains, before adding that he’s not looking to wreck any healthy relationships. “I’m not saying, ‘hey, jump out,’ but I hope it’s a wake-up call.” If, he
explains, a wake-up call is what’s needed.

Also revived for the new album was “Still House Hollow,” a song from O’Neill’s 2002 release, Halfway Round the World. “I wanted to sing on it,” Pierce says, before marveling at the vocal takes co-producer John Fields got out of O’Neill — mostly by stepping back and letting O’Neill do his thing, pushing himself to reach for a higher range. “Jack is a huge Bob Dylan fan, a huge [Tom] Petty fan,” Pierce says, before taking the next logical step and mentioning the Traveling Wilburys, the supergroup made up of Dylan, Petty, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, and Jeff Lynne. Pierce says he saw Jeff Lynne perform recently and that the Wilburys, Lynne, and Electric Light Orchestra were all influences on Feel This Good.

Jack O’Neill and Cary Pierce of Jackopierce

Producer John Fields came on board when Pierce sent some of the mixes for what was to become Feel This Good to him for an opinion. “He’s a monster player and a monster L.A. producer,” Pierce says. The timing couldn’t have been better — Fields had just moved back to Minneapolis from L.A. and was happy to work on a new project with an old friend. Pierce and O’Neill decamped to Minneapolis to finish the record they had begun tracking in Nashville. “It was a treat to get away from our daily lives.”

Speaking of getting away, Jackopierce name-checks Memphis in the title track of the new album. The band has played the Bluff City before, both at the Levitt Shell in Overton Park and at Beale Street Music Festival. “One of my favorite shows of all time was Memphis in May,” Pierce says. “We were the second-to-last band, before Dave Matthews.” 

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies, Memphis, and MLK Day: Still a Long Way to Go

The Memphis Grizzlies do a phenomenal job with their annual Martin Luther King Day Celebration. In what I consider the crown jewel of the Grizzlies’ operations side’s achievements, the team pulls out all the stops to recognize and celebrate the legacy that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left behind in this country for all who suffered racial and economic injustices. The team traditionally honors former athletes who have been examples of Dr. King’s legacy, and hosts a captivating symposium that allows the honorees to share stories of adversity and inspiration. 

A recent Grizzlies MLK Day uniform

The celebration, of course, also surrounds an actual NBA game. The Grizzlies were the first organization in the NBA to place an intentional emphasis on the day, which is fitting, considering Memphis’ history as a key city during the civil rights movement and Dr. King’s tragic assassination here in 1968.

The NBA has since hitched their wagon to the Grizzlies’ innovation and made MLK Day a major event league-wide. This also resulted in the Grizzlies being bumped from the prime-time nationally televised game to the earlier afternoon game (and even being moved to the Sunday before Martin Luther King Day in 2017). The NBA eventually made things right by returning the Grizzlies to the Monday game last season. In 2017 and 2018 the team wore uniforms inspired by Dr. King and the civil rights movement.

The Grizzlies and the NBA have done an excellent job of capturing the essence of Dr. King on a surface level, but there is so much more that needs to be done, especially in the city where Dr. King took his final breath. I was born and raised in Memphis and I love this city with everything I have. I love its soul, its attitude, its hospitality, its culture. There’s isn’t much about this city that I won’t defend to its core — except for the fact that now, 50-plus years after Dr. King’s assassination, Memphis still has a long way to go as far as achieving the actual essence of his dream.

The difference between schools in the inner city and the suburbs is appalling. As someone who has a background in working hands-on with the city’s youth, and alongside its school system’s employees, I can tell you that a visit inside of some of the inner-city schools can bring you to tears. There are no rules or laws that separate us but there is a lot of “that’s just how it is.”

The racism is veiled, but still alive and well. There are parts of town that people avoid, either because of perceived danger or just plain ignorance. From another viewpoint, there are also parts of town that people stay away from to avoid unfair treatment, stares, and racial profiling.

But the show must go on. The games and the festivities around them must still be played. There’s a cliché that gets a lot of notoriety here in Memphis: Namely, that the Grizzlies bring the city together. This is a cliché to which I will never subscribe. Sports don’t bring a city together. They are a temporary escape from reality — a coping mechanism. If a person has disdain or prejudice towards someone of another race or social class, it doesn’t magically disappear when you both see the upside in Jaren Jackson Jr.

Maybe the Grizzlies cause you to cheer together against a common enemy or to join together in the joys of victory, but all of that can quickly fade away when you see the guy that you just gave a high-five to pull his wife closer as she clutches her purse in the parking lot while passing you. I’ve been a part of this scenario enough to know that it’s a real thing. I’ve lived in this city long enough to know that it needs work to achieve all that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned. Has there been progress? Yes, but there is little to actually celebrate about.

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: John Kilzer

Get moony over Music Video Monday.

Last Saturday night, John Kilzer played a sold-out show at the new Crosstown Arts Theater to celebrate the release of his new album Scars. The show opened with the Memphis debut of the video for “Hello Heart”.

“I wanted to do something abstract and dreamlike rather than a narrative piece,” says director Laura Jean Hocking, who has created three videos for Kilzer.

The star of the video is Shannon Walton, who can soon be seen in Theater Memphis’ production of Little Women. Plans to have Walton dive into the pool for the video were canceled after a thermometer reading of 45 degrees F.

“I dig the video ,” says Kilzer. “I think it is visually ambiguous in a way that allows one to fill in the creative spaces of both shadow and translucence. In a way it invites one to enter the song and dream out loud.”

Music Video Monday: John Kilzer

If you would like to see your music video appear on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com. 

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Trade Deadline Forces Grizz into a Tough Gasol Decision

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Larry Kuzniewski

With the NBA trade deadline approaching, the Memphis Grizzlies’ ownership and front office will have a tough decision to make. Marc Gasol, who has a player option on the final year of his contract in 2019-20, can either opt in for one year or opt out — and become an unrestricted free agent. Opting in would pay him the remaining balance of the nearly $26 million owed to him. Opting out means he could explore other offers and find out what NBA teams might pay for his services.

Opting out doesn’t necessarily mean an end to Gasol’s career with the Grizzlies, as he could also re-sign with the Grizzlies with a new contract. This could also include a situation where Gasol would opt out of his final year, become a free agent, and re-sign with the Grizzlies for a lesser amount that would help the team with its cap situation.
All of these options, of course, depend on Gasol’s decision, but the Grizzlies ultimately have the opportunity to decide their own destiny concerning Gasol by simply — or not-so-simply — moving him by the February 7th trade deadline. Many within the fan base have been saying that Gasol should be traded, and the constant, and now annual, trade rumors from local and national media have done nothing but add fuel to the fire.

It’s easy to see Gasol’s decline on the court. Never an natural athlete, he has even struggled lately as a positional defender — an ability that once led to his being named NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Gasol hasn’t been assertive offensively, either. Whether this is because of health issues, physical decline, or disinterest is hard to tell. He’s been routinely passing up shots and hasn’t been much of a primary, or secondary, option, which is vital to this Grizzlies team’s success. Gasol’s been frustratingly gun-shy from mid and three-point range, as well, and his post fade-away has seemed to well … fade away.

Gasol’s decline at both ends of the court is a key reason for the Grizzlies’ failure to win this season.

Of course, it would be great if a deal happened that would benefit the Grizzlies and Gasol, but the often-heard refrain of “just trade Marc for some picks” is more fantasy than reality. For the Grizzlies to be able to trade Gasol, the other team would have to be able to return comparable salary numbers. This would likely take the form of a bad contract coming back from a contending team. It won’t be multiple young players – and maybe not even one young talent. You also more than likely won’t see a lottery team with cap space (which is also a rarity) absorb Gasol’s deal and trade a lottery pick.

The same decline in his game that’s obvious to those of us who see Gasol up close can can also be seen from afar — including by the teams that the Grizzlies would most like to trade with. Would a contending team be willing to trade one of their young players, a larger contract, and maybe a low first-round pick for Gasol? Maybe. But this same team would probably also be more inclined to offer more for the services of Anthony Davis, who will definitely have suitors at the trade deadline. The Grizzlies also have the option of simply leaving the choice up to Gasol, and not trading him. What could then be viewed as “Marc Gasol leaving for nothing” could also be the Grizzlies freeing up $26 million in cap space without having to take on years of a filler contract from a trade.

Regardless of how this all plays out, the ball is in the Grizzlies hands, and they are on the clock.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Tigers 83, SMU 61

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

It’s one thing for the 2018-19 Tigers to don uniforms that say “Memphis State.” It’s quite another for the team to take the floor and play like the 1984-85 Memphis State Tigers.

After a pregame boost from an actual member of that 1985 Final Four team (Dwight Boyd, the team’s director of player personnel: “You gotta represent. This is Memphis State.”), the Tigers roared as thoroughly as they have in Penny Hardaway’s rookie season as head coach. After taking a 13-0 lead over the game’s first seven minutes, the Tigers only made life more uncomfortable for the SMU Mustangs. Senior guard Kareem Brewton Jr. set a career high for three-pointers (5) before halftime. (Brewton’s initial reaction to the throwback jerseys: “These are too cold.”)
Larry Kuzniewski

Kareem Brewton Jr.

By the time Kyvon Davenport threw down a dunk midway through the second half — the resulting electricity seemed to make the 1985 NCAA tournament banner shimmer — the Tigers had almost doubled SMU (59-32) on the scoreboard. A crowd of 16,673 relished the rest of the contest as Memphis improved to 12-6 for the season and 4-1 in the American Athletic Conference.

“We had a full week to prepare for this team, and we left no stone unturned,” said Hardaway. “I couldn’t be more proud of the guys. The energy was crazy from the beginning. We’re starting to believe in what we’re doing. As a team, as a family. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for when it comes to punching first. We have them prepared for every scenario, so there’s no excuse, except for the energy.”

“Coach put up a ‘hustle board,'” noted Brewton, “for counting charges, rebounds, getting loose balls. We came out with energy. And we were running; that’s what we do best.” Brewton hit six of his 11 attempts from three-point range and finished with a game-high 20 points in his third consecutive start.

Brewton wasn’t the only “Memphis State” star. Raynere Thornton pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds and scored 11 points. Jeremiah Martin scored a pedestrian (for him) eight points, but dished out 11 assists, tying a career high. Davenport scored 12 points, freshman Tyler Harris hit four three-pointers and scored 14 off the bench. Senior forward Mike Parks Jr. hit five of six shots from the field and scored 11 points.
Larry Kuzniewski

Penny Hardaway

“I met with Nike at the Final Four last year and really begged for the Memphis State uniforms,” said Hardaway. “The uniforms are great, but the play was even better. They reminded me of my old uniforms. I didn’t think they’d respond the way they did. They went crazy; it gave them some extra energy.”

The Tigers held SMU to 36-percent shooting from the field. They forced 21 turnovers (and only committed 12). The Mustangs’ top scorer, Jahmal McMurray, was held to six points, a dozen under his season average. McMurray was 0-for-8 from three-point range. SMU drops to 11-7 (3-3 in the AAC).

Hardaway emphasized the value Brewton is bringing, drawing a contrast between the player he is now with his play as a junior last season. “Last year’s team felt it was entitled to come in and get minutes,” said the coach. “We had some disappointed guys early [this season], because they weren’t getting minutes. Kareem was one of those guys. To see this process, [Kareem] working hard, buying in, and getting rewarded for it . . . I love that. That’s what life is all about. When you earn it, it’s better. He’s working his butt off.”

The Tigers remain one of five teams in the AAC with only one league loss. Their next game will be on the road Thursday against another of those teams, Temple (14-4, 4-1).

NOTE: Through 18 games, the Tigers have scored a total of 743 points before halftime and 743 points after the break.

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Politics Politics Beat Blog

In Brief Address, Governor Bill Lee Takes the Oath in Nashville

CREDIT: JB

Franklin businessman Bill Lee was sworn in as Tennessee’s new Governor on a rainy Saturday in War Memorial Auditorium and delivered a brief inaugural address that reflected his modest, down-to-earth gubernatorial campaIgn.

After thanking his predecessor, Bill Haslam, for leaving him “a foundation to build on,” Lee said Tennessee was “the envy of many states” for the progress of its institutions. He then paid homage to family relations ranging from his wife, Maria, to an ancestor, Charles Braxton Lee, one of Tennessee’s earliest settlers, and vowed to meet the state’s challenges and further its goals.

And he offered a dutiful tribute to “the favor of God Himself.” (One of the hallmarks of his address was the aforesaid brevity; all things considered, it was not much longer than the official prayers: the invocation, offered by Pastor Steve Berger, and the benediction, which included an authentic chant in Hebrew from Dr. Don Finto.)

Lee provided summary once-overs rather than detailed positions, as he set forth a minimalist concept of state government, the purpose of which, he said, was “to protect our rights, our safety, and our freedom.”

He promised to lift Tennessee to “the top tier of states” in education and to combat such social ills as the currently raging opioid epidemic and the rising rate of violent crime. (As for non-violent crime, Lee endorsed the currently modish view that advocates preparing nonviolent offenders for re-entry into society rather than imprisoning them.)

The new governor concluded his address with the words “Thank you for this honor. God bless each one of you, and God bless the great state of Tennessee.”

The inaugural ceremonies were followed by numerous receptions around the capital, including one at B.B. King’s of Nashville sponsored by “the Memphis and Shelby County legislative delegation, cabinet members, deputy to the governor Lang Wiseman, and Department of Children’s Services Commissioner Jennifer Nichols.

Sponsors of the reception included Memphis City Council chair Kemp Conrad, state Senator Brian Kelsey, state Reps. Mark White and Joe Towns, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, FedEx president and CEO Richard Smith, and David Upton.