Having opened its first season in September 1999 with a performance by Art Garfunkel, Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center (BPACC) is now gearing up for its 25th season opening this fall. This season, as with every season, promises an array of performing arts, with everything from concerts to theater productions.
For Michael Bollinger, BPACC’s director, the variety built into the venue’s programming is intentional for one simple reason: “Because not everybody likes the same thing.”
The 25th season kicks off with a Neil Diamond tribute concert by Jay White on October 7th. “He’s the only [tribute] artist that Neil Diamond personally has kind of sanctioned,” says Bollinger, whose standards for tribute artists are pretty high. “There are a lot of bad tribute artists, but what I look for is they’ve got to be exceptional musicians and do the music well, and not try to be [the original artists by cosplaying as them] but instead pay good homage to their music.”
Other tribute artists this season include an Everly Brothers Experience Holiday Show with brothers Zach and Dylan Zmed on December 7th, ABBA Revisited on January 13th, and a Salute to the Eagles on February 10th.
In addition to tribute concerts, BPACC, of course, has your typical concert offerings. This season’s concert lineup includes country musicians Morgan Myles and Jay Allen from The Voice on October 28, Grammy Award-winning Crystal Gayle on November 3rd, and bluegrass band The Dillards on November 17th to close out 2023. Next year’s half of the season includes country and gospel trio Chapel Hart on January 26th, Bartlett Community Concert Band on March 12th, Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer on April 6th, and Tom Wopat on April 19th.
Leigh Nash, known for songs like “Kiss Me” and “There She Goes,” will perform at BPACC in April 2024. (Photo: Courtesy BPACC)
One point of pride that Bollinger mentions is BPACC’s Music by the Lake series, which he started after assuming his role in 2016. As he puts it, “It’s just a fancy title for outdoor concerts that are free. We do two concerts, one in May and one in June, and each one features only musicians from the Mid-South.”
In the same vein, last year, BPACC, in partnership with Tennessee Shakespeare Company (TSC), launched Theater by the Lake, with the theater group putting on a free performance of Macbeth as part of their Free Shout-Out Shakespeare Series. This year, TSC will perform an abbreviated version of The Tempest on October 18th.
“So, Music by the Lake and Theater by the Lake, those are free things that anybody in the whole Mid-South can come to,” Bollinger says. “You just bring your chair. It’s a nice big green park area that Lake Appling surrounds, so it’s just a really pretty place to have a concert or something.”
With these free events, as well as the arts and education program, Bollinger also hopes to expand accessibility to the arts, particularly live performances. Through the arts and education program, BPACC offers free school performances of certain shows for Bartlett students. This season’s show is Peter Pan, which will also have ticketed performances for the public from March 8th to March 10th.
“It’s just important, I think, for kids to have that experience [of a live theater performance],” Bollinger says. “And then the other thing is kids — this is a generalization — but a lot of kids, and adults, learn by more traditional ways, like reading or lectures. But a lot of kids don’t. They learn very well by watching and by participation.”
To that end, this season will also feature The Dinosaur Quest of Dr. T-Rex, where “Dr. T-Rex” will teach audiences about everyone’s favorite dinosaurs with help from the audience and his dino friends. Other family-friendly performances include Mark Nizer 4D (November 18th), It’s a Wonderful Life: The Live Radio Play (December 1st-3rd), and BPACC and Esprit de Corps’ The Nutcracker Ballet (December 15th-17th).
BPACC will put on It’s a Wonderful Life for the second year in a row this holiday season. (Photo: Courtesy BPACC)
With such a diverse menu of events for BPACC’s season, Bollinger hopes to capture the interest of everyone, and maybe even expose some folks to something new altogether. “One thing about our theater, if you’ve never been here,” he adds, “is we have 350 seats, and the nice thing about 350 is, even if you’re sitting in the back row, it’s like they’re performing in your living room.
“It’s not unusual that the artists will come out and personally meet the audience afterwards in the lobby and take photos or sign autographs or whatever,” Bollinger continues. “But the most important thing is, that intimate venue is really what makes the place special.”
Find more information about BPACC’s 25th season and purchase tickets at bpacc.org. Tickets for a comedy night with Henry Cho are already sold out.
Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe (Photo: Courtesy OOV)
What happens in the beehive stays in the beehive.
In this case, though, we aren’t talking about a hive run by bees. We’re talking about a hive run by Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe (OOV). This “hive” is a form of paratheatre, where the audience directly participates in the performance … well, if you could even call it a “performance.” “Experience” or “meeting” might be a better word.
“It’s been hard to describe to people,” says Sarah Rushakoff, who along with OOV founding director Bill Baker has organized the hive. “We don’t know what it’ll be until everyone arrives and kind of makes it what it will be. We’re providing different materials for people; we are providing the space and a welcoming environment. If they want to write, they can write. If someone has something with movement, they can move. And whatever collaboration, whatever creativity happens, that’s that night. That’s the hive.”
The concept comes from Jerzy Grotowski’s 1970s paratheatrical movement. Grotowski had grown tired of traditional theater practices and wanted to break the barrier between the actor and the audience by inviting the audience to participate in the creative process, rather than passively consuming someone else’s finished work.
“The concept of a spect-actor is definitely going to be in play, where the spectator is also an actor,” says Rushakoff. “But we’re not looking for necessarily a performance; we just want to observe each other’s creativity, and we will be an ‘us.’ It won’t be ‘us,’ the theater company, and ‘you,’ the spectators. We’ll be an ‘us’ because we’re all in the space breathing the same air.
“Since I’ve been with the company, this is going to be the biggest leap of faith that we’re taking,” Rushakoff continues. “It’s such a mindfuck to think of inviting people to a space where no one knows what’s going to happen.”
Put simply, the hive will be a form of play, with participants and OOV members arriving with no expectations or preparations, just an open mind. In that way, OOV, whose mission is to support mental health awareness, hopes the hive will be freeing and an opportunity for creative expression. “We always hope that our events are at least a little therapeutic,” Rushakoff says. “That would the best compliment — to have someone walk away considering what they just experienced as therapeutic.”
OOV’s hive will commence on Friday, August 25th, and Saturday, August 26th. No two hives will be the same. Tickets are pay-what-you-can and can be purchased at our-own-voice.square.site or at the door.
“As always, with any of our performances, especially the pay-what-you-can, if you can’t [pay], then you come in anyway ’cause we would miss out on so much if we didn’t let people come who wanted to participate,” Rushakoff adds. “We’re hoping to meet some new people who want to play with us and be a part of the hive.”
Don’t Hydroplane explores mundanity in the wake of tragedy. (Photo: D’Angelo Connell Photography | DC The Snapper)
The intimate play, Don’t Hydroplane, written by Bryan Curtis, held its world premiere at TheatreWorks @ the Square on July 7th. Like almost any opening night, the production stuttered a few times, but the heartfelt performances from the cast made this show one worth seeing. Curtis’ script quietly highlights how families navigate grief and, less quietly, how grief can be pushed aside by societal customs and matters of practicality.
Martha Jones plays Annagram Woodard, the more reserved of two sisters who have just lost their mother. The other sister, Betty Queen Petty (often referred to as “BQ”), played by Sally Stover, is a woman people in the South might refer to as a “pistol.” She has a lot to say and expects everyone around her to be ready to listen. The play opens with the two sisters meeting at the local funeral home, where the eccentric and loquacious funeral director Karry Matlock, played by Curtis C. Jackson, explains — eventually — that there is an issue with their mother’s burial. There’s no room for her in her originally planned plot.
Most of the play centers around this conflict: Where should Annagram and BQ lay their mother to rest? The actual dilemma lies under the surface: Annagram is a people-pleaser and BQ is a bulldozer. Don’t Hydroplane follows their struggle to unpack decades of entrenched family dynamics and drama while also trying to solve a problem with no clear-cut solution.
Director Cleavon Meabon IV said in a statement, “Don’t Hydroplane is a family piece. It’s a comedy, but it’s comedy alongside drama, and I think we all can relate to how much we all need to laugh as a family.” Much of the comedic relief within the main familial unit of the show comes from Jesse Woodard, played by Cary Vaughn. Jesse is a showboat and has been doted upon to such a degree that he carries in every movement the self assurance of being adored. Alternatively, his sister, Laura Leigh, played by Lena Wallace-Black, seems to be somewhat of a black sheep of the family, not that she appears to mind in the slightest. Vaughn and Wallace-Black artfully balance the tone of a sibling rivalry, yet it’s a rivalry without animosity. Every brother/sister scene carries with it the warmth of familiarity.
Much of the play is composed of simple conversations, with the occasional heightened emotional outburst providing levels of both hilarity and very real depictions of the many facets of grief. These moments lift the play out of what could be an occasionally contrived slice-of-life piece and bring it into the territory of something more poignant.
Jones’ performance as Annagram is quiet and unassuming — much like the character herself — until the final act, where both the character and actor suddenly come alive in a burst of color. Annagram finally makes her stand, insisting, “I do care,” and Jones’ delivery of this pivotal moment was flawlessly executed.
Don’t Hydroplane is a play that almost everyone should be able to relate to. Grief affects us all, and part of becoming an adult is realizing that mundane things like wills and funeral arrangements will insist on being taken care of even in the midst of the incredulity of loss.
Many of the characters portrayed in this show feel like people the average rural resident will recognize. The neighborhood busybody, or your high school English teacher’s wife, or even your obstinate family member who insists they’re “nothin’ if not open-minded.” The normality of the characters is balanced by the interchangeable Creek Chorus, who frequently switch between side characters in another element of comedy that breaks up the tension of the heavy subject matter.
The final note is thankfully one of peace. There is catharsis for anyone who has experienced loss, and the simple joy of seeing death and grieving tackled in an uplifting manner. Meabon said, “I really want people to walk away with a sense of comfort.” This hope comes through in the overall spirit of the performance.
Don’t Hydroplane runs through July 23rd at TheatreWorks.
Photo: “Entrances, Exits and the Spaces Betwixt”
by Tangela Mathis at Crosstown Arts
If you’re looking for a retreat from the heat this summer, the Memphis art scene has you covered — with cool exhibitions, cool performances, and very cool experiences. Just take a look through our 2023 Summer Arts Guide, and you’ll see what we’re talking about.
Art For All will celebrate its inaugural Art for All Festival this weekend. (Photo: Courtesy We Are Memphis)
From Downtown to Whitehaven to Collierville and back, Shelby County’s government wants to make the arts inclusive and accessible to everyone countywide. Earlier this year, the Arts and Culture Nonprofit Subcommittee announced its “Art For All” campaign, a series of free arts and culture experiences. This Sunday, June 25th, marks its flagship Art For All Festival.
The festival will highlight a sample of what Memphis arts and culture organizations have to offer, with a variety of performances, installations, experiences, and more. Attendees can expect an interactive pop-up art gallery from TONE, demonstrations by the Mini Mobile Metal Museum, dance movement therapy from Image Builders Memphis, activities with Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, art activations from Orpheum Theatre and Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and performances by Opera Memphis and Hattiloo Theatre. The Museum of Science & History, the festival venue, will also offer activities linking art and science.
“Art For All [stems from] the fact that we have a multitude of organizations within Memphis and Shelby County with a variety of wonderful offerings that we want to bring awareness to and uplift,” says Nykesha Cole, Shelby County’s arts and culture liaison. “And we want everybody to have the opportunity to have access to arts and culture ’cause, truly, when you look at it, that is one of the most vibrant things in society.”
Museum of Science & History, Sunday, June 25, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., free
This September, Collage Dance Collective will host its third Memphis Dance Festival, and already, the organization has confirmed top-notch talent for the day — Memphis’ own Lil Buck, dancers from New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (NYC), Alonzo King LINES Ballet (San Francisco), SOLE Defined tap company (DC), Nashville Ballet, of course Collage Dance Collective, and many more local dance organizations.
“We are really trying to curate something very special so that our community can experience these world-class national artists in their own backyard,” says Marcellus Harper, Collage’s executive director. “That’s meant to really get the community excited about dance and to elevate dance as a powerful transformative art in our community and our city.
“One of the taglines [of the festival] is, ‘Dance is for everyone,’” Harper continues. “So we’re hoping that really resonates throughout the festival, but also this focus on physical well-being, emotional well-being, how we prioritize those things. Whether it’s a physical wellness program or an emotional wellness program, movement is always a big part of that practice, so dance can really be great for the soul and the spirit, too.”
Collage Dance Center, September 16, free
Andrew Thornton’s Many Faces metalwork (Photo: Courtesy Andrew Thornton)
This month, the Metal Museum opened a juried exhibition of 40 works of art from 26 queer-identifying metal artists from across the country. For the exhibition, three jurors — matt lambert, Al Murray, and Memphian Lawrence Matthews — selected pieces they felt spoke to the intersectional spectrum of what it means to be a part of the LGBTQ community.
“Rather than the typical ‘the work looks like it’s queer,’ I think this show also really highlights that there are people from these backgrounds in all areas,” says lambert. “We’re making space for a lot of types of identity that include queerness, but it’s not just that. [The artists in the exhibit] place themselves [along] those spectrums, but for some it was an option to just be themselves, and maybe they don’t want to stress that part of them. Just applying [for the exhibition] already implies that they see themselves as part of this community.”
“[The exhibit] feels like it’s a celebration of LGBTQIA+ people,” adds one of the artists, Funlola Coker, “but it also feels poignant right now, especially given what’s happening not just in Tennessee but around America and the world, and how queer people are being oppressed. It feels really important to keep showing work like this and talking about it and supporting artists who talk about these issues because it’s a more nuanced expression of who we are.”
“We Are Here: LGBTQIA+ Voices in the Contemporary Metals Community” is on display at the Metal Museum through September 10th.
Zao Wou-Ki’s “Watercolors and Ceramics” is on display at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens. (Photo: Abigail Morici)
In 2018, Zao Wou-Ki became the world’s third best-selling artist, after Picasso and Monet, with auctions of the late French-Chinese painter’s work generating $327 million, according to Forbes. Now, he sits at a comfortable 23rd ranking, above names as recognizable as Botticelli, Degas, Renoir, Banksy, O’Keeffe, Manet, Pollock, and Matisse. Yet, as Julie Pierotti, a curator at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, says, he’s not a household name in the United States. Even so, with its latest exhibit, “Zao Wou-Ki: Watercolors and Ceramics,” the Dixon is hoping to change that, with an impressive display of 80 works in watercolor and on ceramics, all drawn exclusively from European private collections.
Throughout his prolific and successful career, Zao channeled Chinese calligraphy in his abstract expressionist work on canvas, ink on paper, lithography, and engraving, and watercolor, bridging the artistic traditions of the East and the West. However, for the first time, his watercolors will be taking center stage in a museum setting at the Dixon.
“Watercolor [was] a kind of a constant medium for him,” says Pierotti. “He explored watercolor throughout his career, but with a lot of vigor in the last years of his life. He was known really for his oil painting, but these works really are authentic to who he was and what his artistic vision was.”
“For an artist who worked in a variety of media but has this kind of little-known dedication to watercolor, we feel like we’re showing, for those people who knew Zao Wou-Ki before, a different side to his career,” Pierotti adds, “and for those who didn’t know him, it’s a great time to get to know him.”
“Zao Wou-Ki: Watercolors and Ceramics” is on display at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens through July 16th. Accompanying the exhibit is “Susan Maakestad: The Expansive Moment,” on display through July 9th. Admission to the museum is always free.
Harmonia Rosales’ Beyond the Peonies (Photo: Courtesy Harmonia Rosales)
At a young age, Harmonia Rosales fell in love with the Renaissance masters who wove tales from Greco-Roman mythology and Christianity in their paintings, but years later when she showed these paintings to her daughter, her daughter didn’t fall in love with them. “She was like, ‘They don’t look like me,’” says Rosales, “It just hit me that I didn’t want her to feel like her hair wasn’t beautiful, her skin wasn’t beautiful.”
And so Rosales took to the canvas to give her daughter the representation she was missing in the Western Renaissance paintings that have been celebrated for centuries. As an Afro-Cuban American, she turned to the Lucumí religion of her ancestors and wove those tales into her paintings, made in the style of the Renaissance paintings that once filled her imagination.
At first, her peers discouraged her from painting these stories centered around African and Black figures in the Renaissance style. Her advisors told her she wouldn’t be able to sell them, but Rosales didn’t care. This work made her happy. “To see us in there, our ancestors, our history in a format where it’s just as time-consuming, looks just like the Renaissance paintings — the priceless paintings, the most beautiful paintings of the world, can’t touch ’em, can’t buy ’em — I wanted to do that in order to empower us and see our history in the same light,” she says. “Inclusion, it’s all about inclusion. Seeing this is what I want for my children.”
Rosales intended these pieces to be public-facing, wanting to reach as broad of an audience as possible, just like the Renaissance masters she reimagines and reinvents. And thanks to the Brooks, she is one step closer to that goal as her first solo museum exhibition, outside of her home state California, opened this spring. Titled “Master Narrative,” the exhibition contains more than 20 breathtaking paintings completed over the past few years and closes this weekend.
“Harmonia Rosales: Master Narrative” is on display at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art through June 25th.
“Build a Heaven of My Own: African American Vernacular Art and the Blues” This group show explores how the musical and verbal tropes, meaning, and context of the blues not only share traits, but have informed the visual culture of African-American artists from Memphis. Art Museum at the University of Memphis (AMUM), through June 24
(Photo: Courtesy Frederick Asbury)
Art at Artvision Witness over 100 years of combined experience from artists E.P. Simon and Frederick Asbury, featuring works in realism, impressionism, expressionism in painting, drawing, photography, and computer-driven image-making. Guest artist Missy Isely-Poltrock (Kenosha, WI) will show her work through July 4th. Artvision Fine Art Gallery, 484 N. Hollywood
“Passenger Pigeons and Ecological Tipping Points” Experience the powerful collage art of local artist Jennalyn Speer, exploring the extinction of passenger pigeons and currently endangered bird species. Morton Museum of Collierville History, through July 8
“Reimagining the Real: Ana M. Lopez & Natalie Macellaio” These artists take everyday objects — air-conditioning fixtures, fences, road signs, and construction debris — and transform them into unique works of art as statements about power, privilege, and the environment. Metal Museum, through July 9
“Susan Maakestad: The Expansive Moment” Susan Maakestad highlights the marginal spaces of the urban landscape in her watercolors. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, through July 9
Ed Hall’s Dancing in the Sky at L Ross Gallery (Photo: Courtesy Ed Hall | L Ross Gallery)
“Paper Palooza” L Ross Gallery presents a group show of works on paper, featuring work by special guest artists Brantley Ellzey and Ed Hall. L Ross Gallery, through July 22
“RE(de)FINED” Johnson Uwadinma’s exhibition reflects on the fraught but integral relationship between humans and nature. Urevbu Contemporary, through July 31
“Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Seas” McLean Fahnestock presents videos from his “Stratagem” series, where the sea and sky flip and merge to generate a new, seductive yet false horizon. Crosstown Arts, through August 6
“Entrances, Exits and the Spaces Betwixt” Tangela Mathis presents contrasting aspects of personality, showcasing the yin and yang of pneuma. Crosstown Arts, through August 6
“Echoes of Home: Memory and Belonging” Yangbin Park reflects on his memories of home in this exhibition of prints on hanji paper. Porch Window Gallery, Studiohouse on Malvern, through August
“Rich Soil” Created by American artist Kristine Mays, the 29 sculptures in this exhibit are inspired by the movements and gestures of Alvin Ailey’s Revelations. Memphis Botanic Garden, through October 1
MoSH celebrates the guitar with two new exhibitions. (Photo: Collins Dillard)
“Grind City Picks: The Music That Made Memphis” Learn about the evolution of notable music genres in Memphis through an impressive display of instruments, band merchandise, and photographs. Museum of Science & History, through October 22
“Tommy Kha: Eye Is Another” Photographer Tommy Kha explores themes of identity, (in)visibility, and sense of place in this site-specific installation for the Brooks’ Rotunda. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, through October 29
2022 Accessions to the Permanent Collection Take a look at the 24 objects the Metal Museum welcomed into its permanent collection last year. Metal Museum, through November 12
“The World in Pieces” Beth Edwards showcases her contemporary still-life paintings, referencing and reinventing historical vanitas paintings with sensuous, metaphorical realism. David Lusk Gallery, June 27-July 29
“Mud Huts to Paper” Collierville artist Amruta Bhat offers a contemporary interpretation of the centuries-old practice of Madhubani painting, an ancient Indian folk-art technique. Morton Museum of Collierville History, July 11-September 9
“Sally Smith: Adrenaline Rush” Sally Smith’s canvases demonstrate her careful observation of the natural world and deft handling of oil paint. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, July 11-October 1
“To See With New Eyes, Richard Carr” Blacksmith Richard Carr uses salvaged local materials to share his love of architecture, organic forms, and the Memphis community in this exhibition. Metal Museum, July 16-September 24
“Black American Portraits” The exhibition chronicles the many ways in which Black Americans have used portraiture from 19th-century studio photography to today. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, August 17-January 7, 2024
“Mary Sims” David Lusk Gallery presents an exhibition of work by Mary Sims, who was celebrated for her extraordinary, stylized oil paintings based on both real and invented environments. David Lusk Gallery, September 5-September 30
ON STAGE
Mary Poppins The arrival of Mary Poppins brings whimsical imagination and a bit of magic to the Banks family of London. Theatre Memphis, through July 2
Jersey Boys The Broadway smash hit, chronicling the rise and eventual breakup of the legendary doo-wop group Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, makes its regional premiere in the Bluff City. Playhouse on the Square, through July 16
Caroline Bowman as Elsa in Frozen (Photo: Deen van Meer)
Frozen An unforgettable theatrical experience filled with sensational special effects, stunning sets and costumes, and powerhouse performances, Frozen is everything you want in a musical. Orpheum Theatre, June 22-July 2
24 Hour Plays: Memphis Witness this electrifying theatrical event as six new plays are written, rehearsed, and performed within a thrilling 24-hour time frame. TheatreWorks@The Evergreen, June 24, 7 p.m.
Don’t Hydroplane Winner of the 2022 NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition, Don’t Hydroplane follows a family as they navigate the difficult task of finding a final resting place for their loved one. TheatreWorks@The Square, July 7-July 23
The Color Purple The musical adaptation of The Color Purple features awe-inspiring soul, gospel, jazz, and blues vocals underpinned by raw dialogue and a masterful plot. Hattiloo Theatre, July 28-August 28
(Photo: Courtesy We Are Memphis)
Karlous Miller: At the End of the Day Karlous Miller is an American comedian, actor, writer, host, and co-founder of the 85 South Show. He began his comedy career in Atlanta, Georgia, and is widely known for his star roles in MTV’s Wild ’N Out, HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, and BET’s ComicView. Orpheum Theatre, August 5, 7 p.m.
Billy Cherry … The Final Curtain Bill Cherry pays tribute to CBS’s Elvis in Concert, the posthumous 1977 television special. Halloran Centre, August 12, 2:45 p.m.
Sister Act When a disco nightclub singer witnesses a crime, she is relocated to a convent for her protection. Her stay with the nuns helps her and the sisters, quite literally, find their true voices. Theatre Memphis, August 18-September 10
The Prom A group of Broadway stars comes to the rescue when a student is refused the opportunity to bring her girlfriend to the prom. Playhouse on the Square, August 18-September 17
A Raisin in the Sun Set on Chicago’s South Side, Lorraine Hansberry’s celebrated play concerns the divergent dreams and conflicts in three generations of the Younger family. Hattiloo Theatre, August 25-September 24
Fat Ham In a deliciously funny retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet set in the American South, William returns home after his father’s death and must confront corruption and betrayal. The Circuit Playhouse, September 15-October 8
The Crucible Based on events which took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, this tragedy tells the story of a village that becomes embroiled in a witch hunt. Theatre Memphis, September 15-October 1
Father Comes Home from the Wars An explosively powerful drama about the mess of war, the cost of freedom, and the heartbreak of love. Hattiloo Theatre, September 29-October 22
Pictures at an Exhibition & Chris Brubeck Guitar Concerto Memphis Symphony Orchestra brings you the world premiere of Chris Brubeck’s double guitar concerto, featuring both classical and blues guitar. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, September 30, 7:30 p.m.; Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, October 1, 2:30 p.m.
AROUND TOWN
First Wednesdays at the Brooks Every first Wednesday the Brooks will have incredible live music. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, first Wednesdays of the month, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Munch and Learn Every Wednesday during lunchtime, join the Dixon for presentations by local artists, scholars, and Dixon staff sharing on a variety of topics. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Wednesdays, noon-1 p.m.
Super Saturdays at the Brooks The first Saturday of every month, the Brooks will have free admission from 10 a.m.-noon and art-making led by art educator Mrs. Rose. (PS: Every Saturday, admission is free from 10 a.m.-noon.) Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, first Saturdays of the month, 10 a.m.-noon
Free Family Day On the second Saturday of each month, the Stax Museum offers free admission for everyone. There will also be food trucks, games and activities, arts and crafts for children, bouncy houses, face painting, balloon artists, and live music. Stax Museum of American Soul Music, second Saturdays of the month, 1-5 p.m.
Oil Painting with Glynnis In this class, students will paint a still life composition using oil paints. Arrow Creative, June 25, 11 a.m.
Rich Sounds at the Garden Join the Memphis Botanic Garden on the last Sunday of each month to enjoy performances and demonstrations from local arts and culture organizations. Memphis Botanic Garden, June 25, July 30, August 27, September 24, 2-5 p.m.
Whet Thursdays Enjoy a free after-hours event held at the Metal Museum on the last Thursday of the month with games on the lawn, food truck fare, live music, metalsmithing demos, and more. Metal Museum, June 29, July 27, August 31, 5-7 p.m.
Public Art Yoga UrbanArt Commission will offer free 45-minute outdoor public art yoga sessions this summer. Various locations, July 8, August 12, September 9
Art Club with Joi Purvy Decorate and take home your own terra-cotta pot with acrylic paint and gold foil! Arrow Creative, July 10, 6 p.m.
Fairy Garden Planting Party (21+) Put together your own unique fairy garden! All supplies will be provided, including plants, pots, soil, and decorations. Bring your own drinks and snacks to enjoy while you’re creating. This event is for adults only 21+. Memphis Botanic Garden, July 21, 6:30 p.m.
Crown Me Royal Film Fest This noncompetitive film festival showcases panels, workshops, and independent films from BIPOC behind-the-scenes filmmakers and creatives from all media platforms. Various locations, August 4-6
Night at the Museum Explore the Dixon galleries like never before as works step out of the canvas for an evening of special performances and music, activities, and much more. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, August 12, 5-8 p.m.
Marketplace in Motion Shop colorful new prints, creative cards, and fun stickers to throw onto your new notebooks. Stop by Friday night to grab a cold drink while you shop, or bring your kids through on Saturday for them to pick out their own decorative school starter pack. Arrow Creative, August 18-August 19
Art on the Rocks: Garden Cocktails & Craft Beer (21+) Enjoy botanical cocktails, craft beer, and wine in the Dixon Gardens. Each admission ticket includes all drink tastings and bites from local restaurants along with live entertainment. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, September 8, 6-9 p.m.
Marketplace in Motion Shop from local makers, grab a drink, and catch a football game with some friends. Loflin Yard, September 23, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Nathan McHenry as Anatole and Katy Cotten as Natasha (Photo: D’angelo Connell Photography)
The week before I saw Playhouse on the Square’s regional debut of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, I was asked what the play was about. I wasn’t quite sure, having deliberately avoided finding out beforehand, as is sometimes my practice when seeing a show I’m unfamiliar with. This continued until the morning I was to attend, when a coworker read aloud a short synopsis. The words “electropop,” “opera,” and “Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace” gave me the impression it had the potential to be either really cool or a complete disaster. I’ll tell you now: It was utterly insane, and I loved it.
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 is a sung-through musical; there is no spoken dialogue. Everything is performed in song, which can be a lot to take in for the average theatergoer. Coupled with the fact that it’s is an adaptation of Part 8 of War and Peace, you might be forgiven in expecting the effect to be too much. Instead, the show leans into its own weirdness, breaking the fourth wall before the action even begins. Performers enter through the lobby, where they mingle with the audience before the show. Almost immediately the musical makes fun of itself; in the first number, the company scatters additional programs containing a family tree with notes about each character, such as “eccentric” and “slut” (it’s tongue-in-cheek, don’t worry). The actors warn to pay attention because everybody has, like, eight names.
The set design feels like a cast member in its own right. Throughout the show, the ensemble performs in and around the audience, entering from the back of the auditorium and moving toward to stage, or utilizing the half-moon runway that goes from downstage out into the rows. A staircase curves artfully up from stage left to the balcony overhead. Scenic designer Phillip Hughen created something that lends itself to the spectacle called for by the script and also feels incredibly intimate, as if the audience were peering into the secret back room of a speakeasy or brothel.
Another unique aspect is the live music performed by an orchestra half-hidden by velvet curtains nestled upstage. The music is wild, ranging from moving operatic solos to a bouncing bass-heavy rave. At one point, the characters attend an opera-within-the-opera, which can only be described as delightfully bizarre. The note I jotted down reads, “Holy shit. This is hot.”
I’m refraining from going over the broad strokes — such as the plot — if only because I was so enamored with the details. Every actor, from the leads to the individuals of the ensemble, brought such an energy that everywhere you looked there was something interesting going on — which is an accomplishment in a musical this busy. Dave Malloy has written a play scattered with poignant vignettes. One such moment especially stood out, during a song in which an old man repeatedly asks, “Where are my glasses?” only for his daughter to remark that they are on top of his head. She then says quietly, “I disgust myself,” a moment I found incredibly relatable (from both perspectives).
While Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I found it a fully immersive escape from reality and a complete theater success.
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 runs at Playhouse on the Square through May 21st.
Six chairs, two actors, a compelling script, and an audience — that’s all Tony Isbell needs to put on Quark Theatre’s latest production, Lungs. “Our focus as a company is really on the relationship between the actors and the audience,” the director says, “and we have a much smaller emphasis on things like sets and costumes and lights and sound. It’s about that experience of the actors performing and their relationship with the audience, and Lungs is certainly a show that highlights that.”
Written by Duncan Macmillan in 2011, Lungs, which Isbell describes as a “comedy/drama,” recounts a yearslong discussion between a couple, as played by Eileen Kuo and Chris Tracy, trying to decide whether to have a baby. “Parents from time immemorial have worried about if now is the right time to have a baby, but with everything the world is facing — climate change and political unrest and everything else — this generation now has some pretty specific things that they have to worry about,” Isbell says. “And [the play is] them talking and debating and laughing and crying and fighting and loving and just going through the entire gamut of emotions, all in about 90 minutes with no intermission. … It’s sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking — just like real life.”
The playwright Macmillan describes the piece as “a conversation that spans a lifetime,” Isbell adds, with the couple’s discussion jumping from one moment to the next. “They’ll be discussing one subject and then the next line is suddenly two weeks later but the conversation continues,” the director says. “When you think about a couple that’s been together for a long time, you kind of do have the same conversation that goes on and on. … And the actors are doing a great job with it.”
Indeed, with their different acting styles and approaches, Kuo and Tracy have remarkable chemistry that’s even evident in Quark’s promo videos posted to Facebook. “If you cast people who are talented and good and right, they invariably bring something with them that you would never have thought of,” Isbell says. “That has certainly been the case in this show. They would be rehearsing a scene and just make me just burst into laughter because what they did was so much funnier than what I had in mind.”
Further, with a cast of just two, Isbell says, “You have the opportunity to dig much deeper into what’s going on and into the relationship.” Certainly, that depth benefits the audience as the characters and their points of view become more fleshed out. “Some people are going to feel more closely aligned to the woman’s point of view, some to the man’s,” Isbell says. “Some will probably think they’re both wrong; some will think they’re both right.”
In turn, the director adds, “Audiences can expect to have something to have a good conversation about it in the car on the way home or dinner the next day or wherever.”
Performances of Lungs are through May 14th, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 and can be purchased at the door or at quarktheatre.com.
Lungs, TheatreSouth at First Congregational Church, performances through May 14, $20.
Chaos ensues, in the best of ways, in this play within a play. (Photo: Carla McDonald)
The Murder at Haversham Manor was a complete and utter travesty. Viewing this play was akin to viewing a slow-motion train wreck. Actors forgot their lines, were replaced mid-show by stagehands (and at one point, believe it or not, a prop), and by the end of the night, the set had completely fallen apart! However, The Play That Goes Wrong, the show that encompassed The Murder at Haversham Manor, went off without a hitch.
One of my favorite tropes in theater — or any storytelling format, really — is a play within a play. It is always a joy to watch the layers of an actor playing the role of an actor playing a role. Theatre Memphis’ The Play That Goes Wrong adds another element to this gambit: Nearly every component of a play that you can think of “fails” in this show within a show.
The Murder at Haversham Manor, and subsequently, The Play That Goes Wrong, opens with a body being discovered, that of Charles Haversham, “played” by Jonathan Kes’Trelle, played by Hugh Boller-Raup. The Murder at Haversham Manor is a murder mystery, while The Play That Goes Wrong is a comedy that allows the audience to feel as though they’re getting a glimpse behind the curtain. The show even begins with “crew members” attempting to fix a faulty set piece.
For anyone who enjoys minutiae and details, The Play That Goes Wrong is a veritable buffet of theater subtleties. Multiple characters sport two pink circles of makeup on their cheeks, an example of one deliberate “inexpert” element of the show. The set, which over the course of the play becomes increasingly dilapidated, sports a door with a “restroom” sign on one side. Even the program for the show includes a program within a program, a complete work-up of the fictitious The Murder at Haversham Manor.
Most of the characters in The Play That Goes Wrong are captivatingly zany, none more so than Max Bennett (who “plays” Cecil Haversham), played by Bruce Huffman. Max Bennett is a gloriously over-the-top showboat, but when we sat down to discuss the show, I found Huffman to be a complete contrast to his character, quietly engaging, gracious, and kind. We spoke of everything from director Ann Marie Hall’s process to the heart of the arts in Memphis. Though the character Max often steals the spotlight, Huffman is very aware of his fellow cast members. “Some of the characters do break the fourth wall and some of them don’t,” he says, “and I think one of the intentions of having some of them not is to be there and support us in reeling it back in if we need to.”
Working an audience can be a difficult task, especially in a production where the technical timing needs to be precise — actors and stage hands alike have to meet cues for the movement of big set pieces. According to Huffman, director Hall had some advice to share on the subject: “If you are trying to work the audience too much, they can tell, and you will steal your own joke.” Fortunately, the cast seemed to perfectly balance the accuracy necessitated by the script with encouraging and interacting with the audience. Comedy is all about timing, and the fact that the cast and crew had the added pressure of so many “surprise” cues throughout the show makes the success of the production even more impressive.
This is a play in which it is obvious the cast is having a good time, and the energy is infectious. “The most fun I’ve ever had doing a show ever,” Huffman says. One thing I personally enjoyed was how often the background of this play demands the audience’s attention. There are often two scenes happening at once, and everywhere you look, a joke is being carried out. Taking in the comedy of this show was delightful. Of his fellow cast and crew members — but I think it translates to the audience as well — Huffman says, “It felt like everyone was just there to support each other and have fun, and we did just that.”
The Play That Goes Wrong runs through March 26th at Theatre Memphis.
The Young Actors Guild will celebrate 32 years of theatricality and the arts with a grand re-opening of the Harriet Performing Arts Center on Sunday, February 19th. The theme of the re-opening is “The Journey Continues.”
YAG was founded by Memphian Chrysti Chandler in 1991, after feeling that children did not have many outlets to occupy their time after school.
“I saw that children were just idle, not doing anything after school,” said Chandler. “Then I came to find out that the reason a lot of students are not doing anything is because they can’t afford it.”
Chandler recalls that when she was in school, she wasn’t required to pay for extracurricular activities. Sabrina Norwood, executive director for YAG, also said that with arts being taken out of the schools, this provided an opportunity for community organizations to step up.
With these sentiments, Chandler set out to start an organization that allowed children to have affordable performing arts experiences within their community.
YAG initially started with 15 students who would meet in a small theater at LeMoyne-Owen College on Saturday mornings. Years later, more than 30,000 students have been impacted by the lessons taught by Chandler and her team.
The accolades of YAG are not only seen on a local scale, but on a national one as well. Not only does the company celebrate a 98 percent graduation rate from college, but they have performed for the Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Voice, American Idol, former President Bill Clinton, and Oprah Winfrey.
One may wonder what YAG’s formula for success consists of, and according to Sabrina Norwood, the executive director for YAG, the key is accessibility. She said this provides a path for young people to grow and develop. Not only does YAG offer training in the arts, but they also provide ACT and college readiness workshops.
“We believe that any profession that you’re in, artists will certainly excel at all of those,” said Norwood. “That’s why it’s so important for us to be in the community, to be where the young people are, to be where the beat of the community is, because the heart of the community will be developed through programs like ours.”
With a number of accolades and a concrete mission and understanding, it may seem like YAG has been equipped for success; however, until recently, there’s been a key component missing: a permanent home.
While they have been operating for more than 30 years, they haven’t been able to find a space that was “just theirs.”
“We’ve been renting, leasing spaces, and we’ve kind of been from this church to that church and all over the city,” said Norwood. “We were talking, and greatly the mayor’s thinking, as well as some other community people, was that we would have an opportunity to find a space, and we did.”
The Harriet Performing Arts Center, which will be located at 2788 Lamar Avenue, was originally an old firehouse that YAG purchased for only $1.
“From there we started fundraising,” said Norwood. “We chose some nontraditional routes of fundraising, which we chose to sell popcorn, hamburgers, and hot dogs, a little bit of everything in order to fundraise for the interior.”
Norwood said that for the exterior portion, they reached out to local art agencies like ArtsMemphis and Memphis Music Initiative, combined their fundraising efforts with donations, and were able to renovate the exterior.
YAG’s grand re-opening will take place on Sunday, February 19th, at 3 p.m., at 2788 Lamar Ave. There will be a Greater Memphis Chamber official ribbon cutting, live performances, expressions from government officials, and so much more. The event is free and open to the public.
In attempting to describe Playhouse on the Square’s production of Scottsboro Boys to a friend, I found the concept of the show somewhat difficult to explain. Scottsboro Boys is the retelling of the case of nine falsely accused Black teenagers, which eventually became one of the sparks that lit the fire of the Civil Rights Movement. The show is a musical, which may come as a surprise given its heavy subject matter. And not just a musical, but a vaudeville-style variety show which features minstrelsy as an intentional part of its social commentary. It’s not so much a story within a story as it is a performance within a performance.
Director Jared Thomas Johnson says, “The construct of the show is fun, makes you laugh, and is entertaining so it hides the ugly truth in plain sight.”
The play begins as the reverie of A Lady, who is eventually revealed to be Rosa Parks. We are quickly introduced to the mistral concept of the performance, as well as the theme “speak the truth.” Parks is one thread running throughout the show, a viewer alongside the members of the audience. Our guides, so to speak, are the two zany, almost slapstick characters of Mr. Bones and Mr. Tambo, who play many of the various white characters in the story. Several cast members change characters throughout the play, showcasing dexterity, humor, and vocal talent by the frequent character shifts.
Similarly, the set, made up mostly by the simple repurposing of chairs, changes often. The back of a chair may be reimagined as bars of a cell or the caboose of a train. We first see the nine boys riding a train, which gets stopped by two policemen. Two white girls, who the policemen correctly surmise are sex workers, then accuse the boys of rape in order to avoid being jailed themselves for prostitution.
Mr. Bones and Mr. Tambo (Photo: Bill Simmers)
As Johnson puts it, “When dealing with any subject, humor has a way of healing and feeling like a hug, an embrace. I think the show is designed to let you laugh, smile, and enjoy the talents of our Black artists who have crafted some of the best performances I have seen from Black actors in a very long time. The humor makes the characters real people, people I wanna get to know.”
The actors succeed in balancing the juxtaposition of humor and solemnity, masterfully juggling switches between characters, complicated choreography, and powerhouse vocals — often all at the same time. Music director Tammy Holt praises the cast, saying, “It’s rare and invigorating to have the opportunity to put that many Black male voices together on stage, and these men can sing! We really worked to build community so that the bond would be displayed in their performance, and I think it truly does. This cast is heavily committed and engaged in bringing this story to life, so that’s what you see and hear in every note.”
The ensemble numbers throughout the show were a true delight to take in, layered with adroit harmonies and emotion. My friend, Rhett Ortego, and I were both especially moved by “Southern Days.” After the show, Rhett, who has told me before that he normally doesn’t care for musicals, said, “I almost started crying during the one about home.”
Perhaps the most unusual thing about this play is that by the time the cast lines up for the final bow, the overall feeling is that of being uplifted. One might expect to feel overly saddened by the story, but I found that was not the case. And Johnson and Holt both spoke about how important it was to the cast and crew to present this story through a lens of joy.
“We have made a very earnest effort to make the show uplifting, inspirational, and joyous despite the subject matter,” Johnson says. “So I hope folks see there is joy in Black experience at all times.”
Holt adds, “Simply see it, process it, and examine how you will walk forward from the experience.”
Scottsboro Boys runs at Playhouse on the Square through February 19th.
Indulge me, please, in a brief flashback: It is January 1994, and I am sitting in the audience at Playhouse on the Square, watching Peter Pan in complete awe. It is my first theater experience. I am 3 years old. Fifteen years later, I begin studying theater under the same director of that show, Ken Zimmerman.
It is March 2008. My dear friend and I are driving behind our classmate, slowly, because of the unseasonable snow. We cross a bridge and see his truck begin to fishtail in front of us, then straighten out. We are all on our way to rehearsal for our high school’s first big musical production in years. The show is The Wizard of Oz.
Fourteen years later, my son — days away from his 5th birthday — and I sit in the audience at Playhouse. We are here for his first theater experience. The show we are seeing is The Wizard of Oz.
To say seeing this particular show with my child is a full-circle moment seems redundant. It feels like the sort of childhood trivia that will be repeated to him throughout his life. “You went to a live show before you ever even went to the movies!”
Any anxiety I had about a 4-year-old’s ability to sit still through an entire performance was quelled almost immediately. My son noticed the lights and asked, “When is that [the curtain] going to go up?” I had brought him not only so we could share a special memory, but also to get a child’s perspective of the play. He turned around in his seat when the actors were downstage during the twister scene; he was trying to see what they were reacting to. During “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” he excitedly whispered, “I know this song!”
One thing I knew my son in particular would love was the Wicked Witch of the West. In the program, Caroline Simpson, who plays the Witch, as well as Ms. Gulch, jokes that she “is very excited to have the opportunity to terrify the children of Memphis,” which I read with amusement as I sat beside my child, whose favorite characters in any story are villainous women. A picture of 17-year-old me as the Witch is on our refrigerator, a source of wonder for my macabre-loving son. As soon as Simpson flew offstage after the Witch’s intro in the tornado scene, my son turned to me, grinning under his mask and gave me a thumbs up.
The standout element of this production were the costumes. The Wizard of Oz is such a familiar show that it could easily look and feel rote, but Lindsay Schmeling’s designs were a delight to take in. Munchkinland looked as though the inhabitants had collectively raided a Manic Pixie Dream Girl’s closet, to absolutely fabulous effect. Punk rock crows, glow-in-the-dark jitterbugs, umbrella-canopied trees, and a diaphanous rainbow-clad Glinda lent an innovative, even modern take on the familiar Oz attire. Ms. Gulch, who I would usually think of as drab, strutted onto the stage in balloon-style slacks, totally changing the dynamic of the character.
The only note amiss in the show for me was unfortunately Patsy Detroit’s depiction of Dorothy Gale. It is my personal opinion that playing the “straight man” in any show is always the most difficult, and perhaps the vibrant nature of the other characters made the contrast sharper. Although I found Dorothy to fall a bit flat, especially when compared with the vitality of the rest of the cast, it did not hinder the overall success of the show.
The Wizard of Oz is perfect for a first-time theater-goer, and Playhouse on the Square’s production is an experience all ages can enjoy. My son was not the only young child in attendance, and seeing new Memphis audiences being introduced to the arts was a heartwarming thing. Witnessing the magic of live theater through my child’s eyes was enchanting, and something I hope neither of us will ever forget.
The Wizard of Oz runs at Playhouse on the Square through December 22nd.
