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Friday, July 25 |
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Memphis Mojo thanks our sponsor, Malco Theatres!
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| See these movies at Malco |
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Malco News: Malco adds captioning system at Paradiso
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| Monette McLin and Tristan Shields |
These ‘unmentionables’
have a lot going for them
By Morgan McCann
MemphisMojo.com
Circuit Playhouse 's current production, Intimate Apparel, intrigued me from when I first read its release. Playwright Lynn Nottage (from Brooklyn, and recipient of the 2004New York Drama Critics Circle Award for this play) weaves an intricate tale which centers around the African-American seamstress Esther, who struggles to just get by in 1905 Manhattan. Suddenly, Esther becomes the target of a long-distance courtship by George Armstrong, a Barbadian who is working on the construction of the Panama Canal and trying to earn passage to America. Conflicts naturally ensue from issues of trust -- for they have never met and only know what has been revealed through their correspondence -- but also occur in other areas of Esther's life, including competing love interests and issues regarding race, class, and gender in early 20th century America.
First of all, seeing the play surpassed my expectations. I was privileged to attend the play's opening night performance last Friday, which was prefaced with a warm introduction by Mother Wit of Soul Classics 103.5, the FM station that is one of the sponsors of the production. Mother Wit heartily and humorously celebrated the fact that times have changed since 1905 Manhattan, where Intimate Apparel takes place. The title is derived from the fact that the main character, Esther (played by Monette McLin), plays Esther, a renowned seamstress who is primarily concerned with crafting "intimate" undergarments for prostitutes and wealthy women alike. Mother Wit remarked upon the freedom she felt as a result of not being confined within uncomfortable, restraining girdles and corsets.
Speaking of uncomfortable, my date and I were laughing until Mother Wit targeted us in the audience, continuing her gender-related discussion and inquiring whether I paid for his ticket or vice versa. We were caught off guard, and were almost ready to abandon our second-row seats, but once the play began, we soon forgot and were wrapped up in the storyline.
Interactions among characters on stage were remarkable because of the comfort with which each actor or actress transformed themselves into their respective roles. Of the six individuals, five are seasoned performers, including Leah Bray Nichols (Mrs. Van Buren, a wealthy client of Esther's) who is a Resident Company Member and Tristan Shields (Mr. Marks, a Romanian Jewish Immigrant who sells Esther material). Kimberly Rose Moore (Mayme, a prostitute who is both client and confidante to Esther) made her Playhouse debut in Intimate Apparel, and was quite impressive with the candor and jadedness with which she portrayed a prostitute originally from Memphis who's been less than lucky in the Big Apple.
One of the minor plot points on which I was unclear was how George came upon Esther -- I believe it was something to do with the fact that he became acquainted in Panama with someone who knew her. This was the only point of confusion, and nothing more than mildly nagging at the conclusion of the play. One other minor distraction was the fact that the makeup covering McCoy's real-life tattoos migrated to various other places on stage, including various clothing articles and props, as a result of character interaction and the warm stage lights.
This was probably no more than an opening night snafu. Even that, however, did not reveal McCoy the actor behind George the character for long; the compelling power and harshness with which McCoy delivered his lines made me a bit fearful, and even reluctant to clap at the end. I had to consciously take myself out of the experience of the play and realize that I had such strong feelings because he had embodied George so vividly.
Including the brief intermission, I was at the Circuit Playhouse for about two hours and 45 minutes, but I didn't feel it.
The fact that there were many characters who each had large roles and the rapid changing of scenes kept up a quick enough pace that I was never forced to look down at my watch. This was creatively made easier because each of the five different settings are all on stage simultaneously, and lights and character movement are left responsible for directing the audience's focus. Director Andrea Thompson Adam made wise decisions. Also, despite the fact that the action takes place in 1905, questionable perceptions of immigrants and discomfort with sexual relationships that defy the norm are problems we currently face in contemporary America.
I find this applicability a large part of the play's success and appeal. I keep raving about Intimate Apparel to friends, encouraging them to attend -- and I consider Mojo readers friends, whom I treat with respect and to whom I give my honest opinion, so here it is: go see this riveting play.
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Chris Sullivan in Defending the Caveman.
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By Morgan McCann
MemphisMojo.com
Over the next few months, the Orpheum is blessing Memphis with a variety of options for entertainment. Without even leaving Tennessee, one can encounter a renowned Italian opera, dazzling contortionists, international performing artists, a one-man humor show, a soulful R&B singer, and a lively Broadway smash musical. Here's the scoop on what this impressive spring season has to offer:
On March 14-19, the Orpheum hosts Rob Becker's "Defending the Caveman," starring Chris Sullivan. The "Student Rush" (where students and professors, with valid ID, can obtain two tickets for the discounted rate of $20) takes place the 15th at 7:15 p.m. The official site of this comedic "one man show" hails itself as the "longest running solo play in Broadway history," since its Broadway debut in 1995.
Nine different men perform the play across the country, including Becker himself. "Defending the Caveman" explores gender differences and stereotypes perpetuated by the media -- regarding both men and women -- yet supposedly does so with warm regard, intending to humorously convey the message of accepting difference. See www.cavemania.com for Sullivan's biography and more history behind the show's creation.
Opera Memphis' "mainstage season" will close April1-4 with a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Rigotletto. Rigoletto is a court jester and "willing accomplice" to the Duke of Mantua's indiscriminate "seduction" of whomever he wants. But when a situation goes awry -- the esteemed Count Monterone's daughter falls victim to the Duke's wily ways and the count wants to punish those responsible -- Rigoletto, as an accomplice, is punished with a curse that also involves the fate of his beloved daughter Gilda. The opera traces the ensuing disaster, and explores the themes of consequence and revenge, coming to a head in a "horrifying conclusion." Rigoletto originally premiered in Venice March 11, 1851 -- this, then, marks its 155th anniversary. Visit www.operamemphis.org for comments from the opera's stage director.
Possibly the most visually stimulating experience available this spring arrives in the form of Neil Goldberg's "Cirque Dreams," appearing April 11-16. This 90-minute, two-act extravaganza -- on an ultraviolet set! -- invites the audience to observe a "Jungle Fantasy" world, in which individuals are no longer people, but become phantasmagorical forms. An international cast of aerialists and contortionists swing, pose, and balance through "inventive choreography" spiced with "European flair." Goldberg's website, www.cirqueproductions.com, boasts that through "Cirque Dreams," one can experience a "dreamscape of nighttime imagery that redefines the boundaries of ingenuity and imagination."
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Cirque Dreams
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On April 17th, the band Celtic Woman will make a stop in the midst of their worldwide, whirlwind tour. Originating from Ireland, as their name implies, these five female vocalists and one fiddle player started as performers on a 90-minute PBS spot. Viewers developed such affection for the musicians that they blossomed and developed their set into a "full scale touring production."
Celtic Woman plays classic Irish songs, as well as numerous covers (including a personal favorite, Enya's "Orinoco Flow"). Their album was released through EMI and has risen to #1 on Billboard world music charts. Their official site, www.celticwoman.com, provides sound and video clips.
April 29th marks the chance to experience a favorite reality television show unmediated: the Orpheum Star Search 2006, hosted by Kellye Cash. Described as Memphis' "hometown version of American Idol" and intended to celebrate, of course, the vast "musical heritage" of the city, singers will compete in the Star Search for $15,000 in cash and prizes. Check the Orpheum's site, www.orpheum-memphis.com, for the names and pictures of the ten finalists, who prevailed at auditions held in October, November, and January.
Lastly, here are some other events to be planning for a bit further in the future:
- R&B recording artist KEM performs with a special guest on May 21. Note that this is a new date for a previously scheduled event; tickets already purchased will be honored. Find more at www.kemmusic.com
- Mamma Mia!, featuring musical treasures by the pop sensation Abba, returns May 30-June 4.
To purchase tickets or to learn more, check out www.orpheum-memphis.com, e-mail info@orpheum-memphis.com, or call 525-7800.
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From Circuit Playhouse’s new Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens
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By Morgan McCann
MemphisMojo.com
So, March allegedly comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb. Judging by this week’s weather, this may not be true -- and whomever uttered such a line obviously never lived in Memphis, and wasn't victim to its notoriously inconsistent precipitation. But I can safely say that March is arriving with great enthusiasm, theatrically speaking. This weekend alone provides five – count ‘em – five! opportunities for one to laugh, feel, celebrate, and have a rip-"roar"-in good time (my apologies, I couldn't resist).
The production that's most intrigued me thus far is Circuit Playhouse's Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens. Based on a book by Charlotte Mann, and directed here by Scott Ferguson who’s based out of Chicago, Saucy Jack is described as a "campy post-millennium Rocky Horror" experience.
Residents of the planet Frottage III must fight to survive in a world ravaged by "eco-wars," and attempt to take refuge in a cabaret owned and frequented by the title characters … although, unfortunately, danger lurks in the darkened corners amidst these seemingly friendly waitresses and musicians. Saucy Jack runs March 3-April 2. Call the box office at 726-4656 for prices and times, or see www.playhouseonthesquare.org for further information.
Not into glam-rock, exactly, but still like a little decadence? Consider the Orpheum's Casino, a comedy starring Gerald Levert, Kelly Price (Remember the chorus from the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems?" That's her.), and Don DC Curry. This "stageplay" involves "two women with attitudes" who are both unknowingly dating the same man, not to mention "a gambling addict" and "a blackjack dealer who deals more confusion than cards."
This sounds like a fiasco sure to leave you rolling in the aisles, in one of those nearly painful to observe situations that's indulgently hilarious -- one of those for which you're thankful that you're just watching. Casino closes this Sunday, March 5. Call the Orpheum @ 525-7800 or check out www.orpheum-memphis.com for details.
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Billy Shakespeare
– back in town – twice!
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Placate your lit professor by attending one of two opportunities to view Shakespeare. Theatre Memphis is performing Measure for Measure, one of his famed "tragicomedies" centered on exploring the grander themes of the nature of mercy and justice and the role of government. This show will be on through March 11th. For more, visit www.theatrememphis.org. Or, for something more lighthearted, try the Germantown Community Theatre's The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr, an "abridged comedy" written by "The Reduced Shakespeare Company." The show will open this weekend and go through the 19th. Get the scoop at www.germantowncommunitytheatre.org.
Finally, if, like me, you're tired of being ashamed because you haven't seen one of those ubiquitous "everyone and their grandmother" has seen it kind of musicals (ahem, Phantom)...now's your chance to redeem yourself. The Harrell Theatre of Collierville is hosting a performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar. Webber composed JCS in 1971, so the "rock opera" describing the last week in the life of Jesus Christ instigated a lot of hype. It holds a place in the historical development of musical theatre. JCS wraps up March 5th. Click www.colliervilleparks.org for rates. |
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We’ve had the Three Tenors – good video, fine performance etc. Then one day there’s a sign at the Orpheum saying “The Ten Tenors.”
TEN tenors?
Then it IS real and not an SCTV skit. And they’re at the Orpheum all weekend, having been there since Tuesday and they’ll be giving performances through Sunday evening.
Here are some facts about this act who’s starting to catch on big worldwide:
- There indeed TEN tenors
- They’re from Australia
- They became a full-time musical ensemble in 1998 after first teaming up in 1995
- The international spotlight found them in 2002 when they performed at the Eurovision Grand Prix, performing a medly of the finalists’ songs. Soon they were selling out concerts in Europe.
- The first came to the U.S. in 2003
Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 8, Sunday’s is at 7 and there are matinees Saturday at 2 and Sunday at 1:30.
Here’s ticket information. |
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Don Giovanni (Don Juan) visits Hell
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Alleyways
By David Brown
Don Giovanni is:
A. The legend of Don Juan.
B. A Seville, Spain sinner who refused to repent when given the chance.
C. Music that bares virtually every human emotion.
D. A "playful drama" in two acts featuring exquisite music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
E. According to Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, the greatest piece of art ever created.
F. The next performance of Opera Memphis.
The answer, of course, is all of the above.
The Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart opera is the story of a lusty libertine (we must point out that redundancy is needed for this character) who can't and won't change his ways for anyone — friends, wife, enemies, closest servant, or a talking statue who promises vengeful death.
The music for centuries has been considered pure genius by many of the world's musical geniuses. It also is not easy to carry off. Opera Memphis has set itself high standards for its 50th anniversary season and the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth.
Biographers have found the writing of the music a most stimulating subject in Mozart's life.
The opera premiered in 1787 in Prague, the city he loved and which loved him back. He worked on the composition day and night and nearly up to the opening, so that the orchestra played much of its opening pages for the first time on sight. The audience loved it.
(Mozart’s Don Giovanni will be performed by Opera Memphis at the Orpheum, Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m.) |
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TheatreWorks’ production of Terence McNally’s Corpus Christi features 13 local actors.
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TheatreWorks, the little theatre on Monroe, behind Playhouse on the Square is presenting Terence McNally’s Corpus Christi this month. As controversial and it is critically acclaimed, it re-tells the story of the New Testament, but the controversy lies in the fact that it’s about a gay male instead of Jesus Christ. The play’s main character, “Joshua”, undergoes persecution from homophobes as Jesus did from the Pharisees.
McNally has said “The play is more a religious ritual than a play. A play teaches us new insight into the human condition. A ritual is an action we perform over and over because we have to. Otherwise, we are in danger of forgetting the meaning of that ritual, in this case that we must love one another or die. Christ died for all of our sins because He loved each and every one of us. When we do not remember His great sacrifice, we condemn ourselves to repeating its terrible consequences. All Corpus Christi asks of you is to ‘look what they did to Him….’ Look. Remember. Weep, if you will, but learn. And don’t let it happen again.”
The New York Times proclaimed it “… as sober and cleansing as a dip in baptismal waters,” and certainly you’ll leave with an opinion, one way or the other.
Corpus Christi is directed by Playhouse on the Square Associate Director, Dave Landis (Love! Valour! Compassion!; Shakespeare’s R & J), and stars 13 local Memphis actors. It’s as part of Playhouse on the Square’s POTS@TheWorks Series.
Performances are Thursdays through Sundays at 8 p.m. and it runs through the 29th. For more information or to make reservations, please call the Playhouse on the Square Box Office at 901-726-4656 or visit www.playhouseonthesquare.org. |
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Jonathan Biss to perform with IRIS at GPAC Jan. 14
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Mojo High-brow
By David Brown
MemphisMojo.com
The holidays are zipping by and the new year is around the corner.
It’s time to plan on getting a taste of Debussy, Rockwell, Johnny Cash or a group of throat singers out of Tuva.
The Germantown Performing Arts Center presents pianist Jonathan Biss and the IRIS Chamber Orchestra on Saturday, Jan. 14. Besides Debussy, Biss will perform works by Mozart, Schoenberg, Lehar and Strauss, Jr. Biss, 25, a third-generation musician, is collecting quite a bin of favorable newspaper clippings around the world.
Two weeks later, GPAC exhibits one more tribute to the Man in Black which features the rockabilly trio, the Dempseys trio playing music to excerpts from last year’s Walk the Line dance premiere performed by Ballet Memphis. There’s time to see the Hollywood version of Walk the Line before then.
As we’ve reported, Norman Rockwell’s Home for the Holidays exhibit continues at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art until the end of January. Rockwell’s holiday covers for Saturday Evening Post offer more than a stroll through nostalgia; they reminds us of his unique artistic points of view, and gets us past seeing him as merely an exquisite cartoonist.
While you’re at the Brooks, catch some other exhibits while they last: Dorothy Doughty’s porcelain birds; a straight-backed Frank Lloyd Wright chair and other decorative arts pieces; some fine Impressionist paintings by Berthe Morisot, and until Jan. 8, some Renaissance and Baroque etchings, engravings and prints entitled “Private Passions.”
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Huun-Huur-Tu – throat singers at the Buckman Center Jan. 29
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And those throat singers? Four of them, the Huun-Huur-Tu, will provide their strangely haunting voice and old-world instrument music at the Buckman Performing and Fine Arts Center Sunday evening, January 29. It doesn’t require it, but here’s a little geography lesson to help warm you up:
Tuva, also known as Tyva or Tannu-tuva, is a republic in the south-central section of Siberia, Russia. Tuva borders Mongolia, occupying the basin of the upper Yenisey River. Population: 310,000. They are known to the outside world as “reindeer people” but also love a form of oriental music called “throat-singing.”
Don't try it. Leave it to the professionals. |
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Extra Good Boys and Girls (Santa at the Map)by Norman Rockwell (1939)
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Norman Rockwell photographed by Louie Lamone, 1964,
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Did you have a rough day on your first day back at work? Was the traffic moving way slower than you? You’ve had a really big Christmas and now it’s back to the world for just a few days only to get back to partying, with New Year’s Eve lurking.
Here’s a tip. Extend the holidays by checking out Memphis’ Brooks Museum of Art to see Norman Rockwell’s Home for the Holidays. It’s been there since last month and will be there until Jan. 29. The exhibit consists of 40 original tearsheets from covers of The Saturday Evening Post. These holiday cover illustrations were commissioned to mark a round of the holidays - Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day and April Fools’ Day.
Rockwell did illustrations for the grand old magazine from 1916 until 1963. In fact, he was commissioned by virtually all the magazines of his day. While all the holidays are represented in this Brooks exhibit, the Christmas cover illustrations are its heart, particularly his Clauses, inspired by the work of old Father Christmas himself, Charles Dickens.
Rockwell’s illustrations helped lift America’s spirits during the depths of the Great Depression. His Four Freedoms paintings were a response to President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of Union where FDR outlined America’s freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear as reasons the U.S. should support the Allies in the European war effort.
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Norman Rockwell’s Triple Self-Portrait (1960)
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Rockwell’s The Four Freedoms ran in The Saturday Evening Post for four consecutive weeks, from February 20 to March 13, 1943. The original paintings toured the country that April and raised $132 million in war-bond sales. President Roosevelt wrote to Rockwell, thanking him for helping bring America closer to a “freer, happier world.”
The cynic might say that Rockwell’s idealistic America didn’t exist, but it did to Rockwell who saw his work as a calling.
"Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed," he said. "My fundamental purpose is to interpret the typical American. I guess I am a story teller."
Norman Rockwell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and died in 1978 at age 84.
- B.B. |
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(Ballet Memphis will perform The Nutcracker this weekend at the Orpheum. Performances are set for Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m.)
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Piotr Tchaikovsky
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Mojo Highbrow
By David Brown
He was the son of a mine inspector. As a young man he started out as a civil servant. He married a beauty, but a month later fell into a "nervous collapse" and left his wife forever.
Happily, though, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) loved music. He taught harmony, began composing, created operas, symphonies and finally ballets.
The latter art form would never be the same.
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It’s back – Tchaikovsky’s fantasy world of The Nutcracker
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Three of his masterpieces Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker are seen by some as THE three chief ballets.
No ballet is more popular worldwide than The Nutcracker, the story of a girl transitioning into young womanhood at Christmastime. Indeed, it can be said that millions have only seen one ballet in their lives, and that is this one.
So, isn't it probable that the story and the dance and the music have become, one might say, shop-worn? After all, we find it performed every year by Ballet Memphis. Other local schools and companies perform it in some fashion or persuasion as well. Multiply that hundreds of times over to get the sum of this ballet on a global scale, sometimes performed to orchestras and sometimes to amplifiers.
(We are curious how our community ends up with two different dance companies, one local and one from Moscow, performing the same famous ballet one month and 10 blocks apart. That’s another story, no doubt)
Nevertheless, as the Memphis Symphony Orchestra begins playing the prelude (or the CD is turned on), the grand acting gestures start on stage, the curtain rises, the dancing begins and most in the audience are once more themselves transformed. It is the haunting and emotional music. It is the timelessness and mysteriousness of the tale. It is the variety of dance styles and the sometimes surprisingly fresh choreography.
It is also the surreal kind of perfection in art that one witnesses every time, however the performance goes.
This must be what is meant by a masterpiece. |
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Nam June Paik’s Vide-O-belisk
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By Laura Schilling
MemphisMojo.com
Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.
We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it.
The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
All art is quite useless.
- Oscar Wilde
Preface to "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
Whenever events take place at The Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis’ Highbrow art hotspot, whether it’s art lovers schmoozing at a swanky event or school kids on a class trip, the events are guaranteed to have one thing in common.
Hint: It’s something big. REALLY big. And flashy.
No, not Elvis. It’s Nam June Paik’s Vide-O-belisk.
Vide what? Nam June who?
It’s only the latest piece by the most renowned video artist in the world!
First, some background. Paik was born in Korea in the 1932 and he eventually studied music and art history in Tokyo. After continuing his study of music history in Munich, he met John Cage, an experimental musician who influenced him to start working with music as a medium rather than an entertainment device.
In the 60’s things got serious; Paik started to experiment with electromagnets and color television, creating work that eventually led to his being dubbed “the father of video art”. Video as a medium really got to Paik - it stuck with him. So much so that from the 60’s on, it was his sole focus. He has in his lifetime created video pieces for events such as the Seoul Olympics, and has had retrospectives at The Whitney and The Guggenheim museums.
His latest work was commissioned by and created especially for the rotunda in The Memphis Brooks Museum in conjunction with the 2003 Memphis in May festival which was a salute to South Korea. The piece, Vide-O-belisk, plays on the similarities between Memphis, Egypt and Memphis, TN, (apparently Paik was amused with our pyramid).
Since obelisks were used in ancient times as hieroglyphic informational markers outside of sacred areas, Paik chose to create a video obelisk for Brooks, making the analogy between hieroglyphs as symbols and the video image as an analogous form of modern pictorial language.
The piece is made from stacked vintage television cabinets, which were, interestingly enough, scavenged by a specialized team from thrift stores all over the South. Inside each cabinet is a small color television that plays a looped series of video clips. The image on the screen is distorted electromagnetically, giving the images on screen a psychedelic color scheme, which augments the neon symbols, interspersed over the work.
According to Museum security that have spent eight hours a day for the last three years viewing the piece, everyone who visits the museum is enthralled by the work. They even say that the piece hasn’t started to annoy them yet.
As good television-addicted Americans, how could they or we turn away from our new language? There is something hypnotic about the video loops playing familiar images from our television past. It’s almost like some futuristic form of communication where we all stand around a column that beams information straight to our brains.
In the end, what makes Paik’s work special is that it functions on so many different levels. It’s social commentary, it’s a play on words and location, it’s a colorful mind control device, and it’s ART.
In the end, it’s art, and no one keep themselves from becoming enthralled. |
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The Boys Choir of Harlem – an American tradition.
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By Gary Saunders
MemphisMojo.com
The Orpheum‘s holiday treat of the Boys Choir of Harlem (thankfully presented by The Cultural Development Foundation of Memphis) was a perfect way to kick off the Christmas season in the Bluff City. This legendary youth vocal organization has now been going strong for some thirty-seven years and, to be honest, the kids don’t seemed to have aged a bit. OK, sorry … maybe that was a bad joke. But this two-night Memphis engagement surely wasn’t a laughing matter. These kids can flat out sing … and dance too!
The show opened with the boys (ages 10-18) on their best behavior while performing the time-honored anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. Traditional choral arrangements by Bach and also five holiday spirituals concluded the rather dignified first half of the show.
Following a brief intermission, the boys got to “shake it a bit” … singing and hoofing their way through Jazz and Broadway medleys peppered with familiar numbers such as “Lullaby of Broadway,” “You Gotta Have Heart,” Fats Waller’s “The Joint is Jumpin’,” and Duke Ellington’s immortal “Satin Doll.”
Dr. Walter J. Turnbull, who founded the Choir, joked,” They may look like angels … but they ain’t!” just prior to introducing a long and joyful selection of Christmas tunes. The set started with Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song” and followed up with pretty much everything from “I’ll be Home for Christmas” to “O, Holy Night.” A personal favorite was the little-known contemporary composition “Shoes.” The number is a celebration of life’s overlooked pleasures and surely caused many of us to reflect on how truly thankful we should be this (or any) season.
The Boys Choir of Harlem hits the road for three to four national tours each year (about 100 engagements in over 24 states annually), so track them down if you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing them perform live and in person. They are a national treasure to be supported and cherished. For more information or to purchase CDs, visit their web site at www.boyschoirofharlem.org.
And be sure to mark your calendars for March 19th as the Cultural Development Foundation of Memphis will bring the magical Ladysmith Black Mambazo to town for a show that is not to be missed. The South African ensemble is perhaps best known in the US for its fine work on Paul Simon’s classic “Graceland” CD. Go to www.cdfmemphis.org for all the details. |
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Peter Guralnik
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By Gary Saunders
MemphisMojo.com
Rather than setting up shop at Davis-Kidd Booksellers Barnes & Noble or Borders Books, author Peter Guralnick used the wonderful Stax museum as the backdrop for his Friday night Memphis book signing. Guralnick, who has rather famously penned Elvis Presley bookends Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love, appears to have another winner on his hands with Dream Boogie. The latest effort takes on the complex life of the great Sam Cooke, who walked the tightrope between gospel and secular music before being shot to death in the early 1960s.
Guralnick's latest stop in Memphis was kindly underwritten by the always-giving Knox Phillips. Phillips is a well-known figure in Memphis music circles and the son of legendary Sun Studios impresario Sam Phillips. This particular shindig at Stax included delicious food by Cafe 61, beer and wine, and some stirring music from a talented group of Stax Academy youngsters. The kids artfully performed some of Cooke's most notable tunes before Guralnick stepped to the microphone. The author provided the back-story on his quest for the real Sam Cooke, read passages from his well-researched book, and then opened things up to a brief Q & A session.
The audience was enthralled. Those seen at the event included Scott Bomar (The Bo Keys), Sherman Willmott (the original curator at Stax and founder of ShangriLa Records), former Elvis chum Jerry Schilling, and music writer Robert Gordon (who penned a terrific Muddy Waters' bio and the unforgettable "It Came From Memphis"). This was another hit in a long line of Stax special events. Deanie Parker and her staff are to be commended for their hard work and desire to keep things fresh at this true Memphis landmark.
Next up for Stax is a Lynda Lydell appearance and live performance, Mon., Nov. 28. Lydell is most famous for her soulful smash, "What a Man!", which was a hit single in the 60s and later a frequently used sampling vehicle for contemporary rappers and DJs. The event (7-9 pm) is part of Stax's "Last Mondays in Studio A" series. Lydell is scheduled to belt out her favorites as well as engage in something of a tribute to label mate Otis Redding. The $20 admission includes the performance, adult drinks and lip-smacking appetizers. Stax members will, as always, be admitted free. |
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Stage veteran ‘Rocket’ reprises his Toto role in Playhouse on the Square’s Wizard of Oz. Rocket alternates the role with the shy Nala who doesn’t do interviews.
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By Rosilyn Parashis
MemphisMojo.com
Playhouse on the Square’s Wizard of Oz has an all-star cast—from Dorothy (Megan Bowers) all the way down to the little Munchkins.
They practice and rehearse for weeks until they know their lines like the backs of their hands and I’ll bet those Munchkins can probably perform their routine in their sleep they’ve got it down so well.
That’s why the most intriguing part of the play for me was watching Toto on the stage. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I really didn’t expect for Toto to be played by a real dog. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him all night. I had to know what type of preparations had to be taken for this dog to get in Toto-mode. Did he (or she) have to stand in the mirror every night until the play’s opening making sure his (or her) face was just-so? Did they have to bribe the pup with juicy dog bones and squishy toys to get in the mood? Are we dealing with a prima donna of canines backstage?
I set out to get answers and since I don’t think I could get too far speaking with the furry star, I went to Courtney Oliver, Playhouse in the Square’s PR Director (and co-choreographer of The Wizard of Oz along with Lindsey Roberts). Actually we’re talking about TotoS here.
“We have two dogs playing Toto. One is actually a terrier, like in the movie. Her name is Nala,” Courtney said. “The one you probably saw the other night is Rocket. Rocket played Toto the last time we did the play.”
According to Courtney, the dogs alternate performances—and they have distinctly different personalities (pet-onalities?).
“Nala is very shy and Rocket is very charismatic. He’ll do anything for a sliver of cheese,” she said.
“Both of them have done the show before, so they’re used to all the noises, the music and the people. It's just like they’re in their living rooms - totally stress-free.”
Rocket commutes each night from Germantown to do the show and his owners usually aren’t present for the performances.
“He‘s dropped off and picked up, as though he were one of the young munchkin children,” Courtney said. “And as for handlers, well, I guess he has several – cast members look after him offstage.”
So what’s ahead for the charismatic Rocket and the coy Nala, both being veterans of “the boards.”
“ Let’s just say that they don’t have their S.A.G. (Screen Actors Guild) cards. . . yet.” |
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Recognize this folks? Of course you do.
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By Rosilyn Parashis
MemphisMojo.com
The Wizard of Oz begins tonight at Playhouse on the Square and runs through Jan. 8.
Deep is one of those words that’s fully charged—it can make something seemingly simple a little more interesting, or it can take something and drag it down so far that you forget what you started out looking for. You have to watch out for “deep.”
Speaking of deep, my neat little mental construction of The Wizard of Oz was completely submerged when I read the prevailing theories about what The Wonderful Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum was really up to in this book.
In 1900, when The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published, Baum’s social climate left much to be desired. The main problem was money—if you want to know the whole story - or an even LONGER story.
Long story short, everything that you thought you knew about The Wizard of Oz is . . . well, let’s just say there’s more to the story. Every element of the story is symbolic of a larger truth and here’s where it gets too deep and/or political and/or historical for me to fathom.
Here’s just a bit: The Scarecrow represents farmers. The Cowardly Lion represents a prominent Populist politician of the time, William Jennings Bryan—you don’t need to fully understand who he was to know that Baum was basically saying, “Get some courage, you big wuss!” The witches represent something, the Wizard represents and even the yellow brick road represents something!
Ignorance really is bliss sometimes.
My Wizard of Oz (and most everyone else’s) is a simple, light children’s tale and that’s how I’ll go see The Wizard of Oz, beginning tonight at Playhouse on the Square and running through Jan. 8th. I’m sure those fine actors will have the color and glitter and merry music to make me forget all about Imperialism, Populism, Republicanism or any other –ism that’s really behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Bring on the smoke and mirrors, please! |
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By David Brown
MemphisMojo.com
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Itzhak Perlman
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Itzhak Perlman received a two-minute standing ovation accompanied by whistles and shouts at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts Sunday.
Then he sat down to play his violin.
It may be a mark of one of the giants in music that all he must do is begin to walk across the stage to bring an audience to its feet. And he didn't disappoint anyone in the sell-out crowd when he started to play.
Perlman, performing with the GPAC's Iris Chamber Orchestra, gave an exquisite interpretation of Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. The piece was a worthy platform to demonstrate a world-renown virtuosity that perhaps can be described best in such layman's terms as smooth, emotional, stirring and precise.
The musical event was a rare occasion for Memphis’ classical music lovers. The concert celebrated the 40th season of the Baron Hirsch Belz/Parker Artists ascending Concert Series. That series brought Perlman to Memphis for the first time in its debut season back in 1965.
"Seems like 40 years," Perlman joked.
The history and the anticipated appearance of Perlman helped put electricity into the Cannon Center's atmosphere so that the audience was more than ready for the master, having listened politely to the orchestra handily play some Stravinsky and Beethoven through to the intermission.
Though mostly young, the IRIS players are skilled and were well led by conductor Michael Stern. The only blemish came when at least two patrons' cell phones rang during Beethoven's Symphony No. 1. Stern, though clearly unhappy, used some humor to move past the strained moments.
In welcoming remarks before the concert, GPAC director Tania Castroverde Moskalenko noted that this was the chamber orchestra's first road trip from Germantown, having come so far west to downtown Memphis.
After the intermission, Jack Belz gave a brief account of the history of the Ascending Artists series started by his father, Phillip, and Dr. Joe Parker, and then introduced the violinist.
From that moment on, the show that 2,000 people had come to hear was on. Rarely did anyone even cough as the artist used his bow and fiddle to make music that soared straight to the heart.
The second the Bruch piece was finished, cries of bravo! filled the hall and the audience was on its feet. Perlman slowly left the stage, then reappeared, agreeing to do an encore. He and the orchestra played the theme from the film Schindler's List. Again the applause was loud and long. Again Perlman made his way off stage, came back for more bows and finally threw a white handkerchief out onto the stage to indicate with his characteristic humor that he was done.
Only then did the ovations come to an end. |
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Itzhak Perlman - teen prodigy
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So exactly who IS Itzhak Perlman? We can get close, with some quotes gleaned from the New York Times and CBS’ 60 Minutes
On why so many of the world’s greatest violinists are Jewish – Jascha Jeifetz, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhim –
“You see, our fingers are circumcised, which gives it a very, very good dexterity, you know, particularly in the pinky . . . (laughter) . . . I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s a tradition.” – 60 Minutes, 1980
On teaching -
I think a teacher should be your musical guide and your personal guide. In the musician, there is a tendency to have a narrowness. It's all compartmentalized. . . .
(His teacher) Dorothy DeLay . . . was an all-around kind of teacher. She would look for what else you do, besides the violin. Do you go to concerts? Do you go to operas? Do you go to museums? Are you a broad sort of a person? - New York Times, 1996
On being a conductor –
“It’s not easy . . . It doesn’t give you a sense of power. I think that the sense of power . . . comes if what you want to do comes out. and it doesn’t always come out unless you work.” – 60 Minutes
On practicing while multi-tasking -
Actually the best show to practice on is baseball. It’s terrific because you can turn off the sound and you know what’s going on and you practice your technique
"I'm not talking about practicing thinking or anything like this . . . that's a totally different thing. I did some of my greatest practicing when I was in London watching cricket. It's a very, very low game. That's when you practice." - 60 Minutes
On how long to practice –
The ideal amount would be between four and five hours. I never practiced more than about three. It depends on the gift, depends on the talent. After five hours, it becomes useless . . . counterproductive. You can't absorb any more – The New York Times, 1996
On self-doubt and stage fright –
- “If you doubt yourself...that's the worst! A lot of what happens is a lack of trust. Let's say you have a concerto to play and you practice it a lot and you know it. You know everything about it. You've done the correct way of practicing it, slowly. The first time you play it, you will be nervous . . . with anything that you do for the first time . . . That's why you first play with a small orchestra, in some place where you don't feel that it is as important as Carnegie Hall. You try to work out all the little problems. Once that's all done, trust comes in. If you don't trust, then you're going to have a problem.
It's like speaking a sentence and not thinking of every word. You have to concentrate on how you are going to say it, what you want to convey, but you aren't going to say, "This is the first word, this is the second word, and this is the third." It's the same thing with music. - NYT
On the popularity of the violin in Asia
- It’s a hunger for music. It’s the ability for discipline. You achieve great form, great results. - NYT |
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Berthe Morisot
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The Brooks Museum of Art is all about Impressionism this month. There’s a collaboration with Playhouse on the Square this weekend and next week for the play Inventing Van Gogh at the museum and there’s also a remarkable exhibit of the work of one of the founders of Impressionism – Berthe Morisot (1841-1895).
The exhibit, which will be at Brooks through the end of January, not only looks at the artistic development of this extraordinary woman, but also her relationships with other members of the movement – particularly her husband’s brother, Edouard Manet. She was the first woman to join the Impressionist movement and exhibited in all but one of their shows, despite protests. In an era where women artists were the exception, she stood firmly against convention.
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On the Lakeside 1883
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Her work often focuses on women in out-of-doors or domestic settings and she and American Mary Cassatt are considered the most important women painters of the late 19th Century.
The show also features canvasses by Monet, Renoir and Manet. Brooks Museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and on weekends from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and 11:30 – 5 p.m. Sundays. More information can be found at 901-544-6215 |
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Mojo scene
By Laura Schilling
MemphisMojo.com
Hearing about Cats – now celebrating its 25th anniversary - is like hearing an urban legend. People talk in hushed tones and take generous liberties with factual information until popular opinion about the subject of the story differs grossly from the truth. Until I saw the musical at the Orpheum last week, this dodgy word of mouth was my only source of information. I went in expecting theater kids in faux fur and face paint, running around singing a song I remembered hating in elementary choir. What I actually saw left me awestruck and pleasantly surprised.
First and foremost, the dancing is spectacular. Ballet was the last thing I expected to see, but that’s what I got. The choreography is ballet-like without being stodgy. It’s that, but it’s also tap and disco with some proto -Flashdance moves thrown in. What really blew my mind was how they managed to remember all the choreography. They literally do not stop moving for two hours, which explains why they all look so good in spandex.
These anthropomorphic hard bodies aren’t just one-dimensional singing- dancing machines. One member of the troupe is an undergrad at Harvard; another is on sabbatical from Dollywood. When the cast runs through the audience at the beginning of the show, it registered with me that they were the human beings I had been reading about in the program. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see past the makeup to the person behind the cat. The costumes are incredibly realistic and leg warmers are standard issue.
Aside from the supporting cast of cats, there are several special cats with more distinctive attire. A few of my favorites were the penguin-like fat cat, Bustopher Jones; Macavity, who got the coolest introductory song in the whole musical, Mr. Mistoffelees, the sparkling black magician; and Rum Tum Tugger, the glam rock sex crazed cat.
The one who stole the show for me was Gus. In the second half of the musical, he appears as an old decrepit cat with a reputation for incessantly telling the same story of his youth. The cast sings for a while about that, but THEN in a flashback to Gus’s performance as Growltiger, a pirate with a penchant for the limelight. A new background drops down and all of a sudden the musical morphs into an over-the-top Baroque opera, replete with wigs, ridiculous women, and a marauding band of Siamese soldiers.
That is what’s so great about Cats. It gives you everything you didn’t even know you could ask for in the same production. The reason Cats has done so well for so long is the sheer amount of entertainment it offers. There is something in this musical for everyone to love. The songs are classics, the humor is sharp, and there’s entertainment to be had for young and old alike.
So I was wrong. Cats cannot be chalked up as just another artifact in the hallowed halls of kitsch. No! Cats goes down in history as the magnum opus of Andrew Lloyd Weber, the only man capable of turning Prufrock into a timeless late-disco-David Bowie-singing-and-dancing-glitter-bonanza. |
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Mojo theater review
By Laura Schilling
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Retreat from Moscow features Barclay Roberts, Irene Crist and Tristan Shields (seated)
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What is it about utter romantic and personal devastation that teenage girls find hilarious? I don't know, but whatever it is, Retreat from Moscow, directed by Jerry Chipman, is chock full of it. When I viewed a performance recently at The Circuit Playhouse, four girls sitting behind me couldn't control their tittering amusement as the family onstage gradually crumbled.
As good as the play was, I remember wondering as I watched the opening act how it managed to garner a Tony. The first scene takes place in a living room as Alice (Irene Crist) goes over her manuscript and Edward (Barclay Roberts) pencils in the crossword and reads passages from his book, appropriately titled Retreat from Moscow. It all felt a bit stiff. The characters were feeding each other stock lines seemingly delivered more from rote habit than any expressive impulse. In retrospect it was an effective way to set up dramatic themes that develop in the play.
The plot thickens when Edward leaves Irene for another woman while their son Jamie, (Tristan Shields), is in town. The play then evolves into an unflinching and sobering view of what marriage makes of love, and what divorce does to the loveless. Irene Crist steals the show as the grieving divorcee, letting loose with some of the most impressive acting skills I've seen. She combines anger, bewilderment, and confusion into a character that is in the same moment engrossing and revolting.
I found myself cringing inwardly as I recognized the qualities of these characters in myself, in my parents, in really any couple I have known. Once I had thoroughly internalized the plot, the play hit me over the head with THE METAPHOR: divorce as the retreat from Moscow.
In the first act, Edward reads aloud the account of Napoleon's march on Moscow. The soldiers reach the great city in the dead of winter only to find it abandoned. They must return back to France, through the snow and frozen rivers and enemy fire. As they retreat, the stronger soldiers dump the weak and sick along the side of the road to die.
The play makes it clear that the entirety of a marriage is spent in an arduous trek to a glorified destination where nothing awaits. We all get there, to a point in our relationships, where we have lost sight of ourselves and each other, where we pick at faults and run away to poems and crosswords and new lovers.
Retreat from Moscow forces us to confront whether we are the weak or the strong. On the retreat, can we relate to those who were left behind? This may be the key to the laughter of the girls behind me. It's ‘funny’ when we see Irene Crist’s Alice screaming and tipping over a table because she's been abandoned. ‘Funny’ if we don't know where she's coming from.
But that's the rub, we do know where she's coming from, where all the characters are coming from. That's what makes this play so good. It pokes at the things we would all like to shove under the rug. It asks us to confront difficult questions. Will it be funny when we get to Moscow and find no one there? |
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Mick Jagger gets a harp lesson from Jr. Wells in Germany, circa 1970 – one of many of Dick Waterman’s photos on exhibit at the Stax Museum.
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