• The Elephant Man

Let's all cross our fingers and hope that Theatre Memphis takes good care of itself this weekend and doesn't break a hip. This enduring organization—quite literally born in a stable— is pulling out the stops to celebrate its 90th birthday. There's a concert by Kallen Esperian on Friday evening and dancing into the late bright. Then There are kid's events on Saturday afternoon.

But what does all this shindigging mean for people who actually want to see a show? The choices are slimmer than usual to be sure, but there's still plenty to choose from.

• Kallen Esperian

I've just heard from Theatre Memphis' communications guru Randall Hartzog that Robert Glazier, the "Steinway artist" scheduled to play TM's 90-Years Young party on Friday, November 6th has the flu and won't be able to perform. But the show must go on, as they say and in lieu of Glazier playing Memphis' very own diva Kallen Esperian will be SINGING selections from the Great American Songbook. 90-Years-Young runs from 6:30-9:30 and everybody who attends this $90 event gets a wrist band insuring complementary drinks throughout the evening. There will be dancing on Theatre Memphis' main stage until midnight dontcha know, and everybody who comes to see Kallen gets into the second event free.

“Club 90”, is Theatre Memphis' second birthday event starting at 9:30 p.m. on the Lohrey Stage. DJ Glenn Miller will spin contemporary dance tracks until the last stroke of twelve. There will be snacks and a cash bar. Admission is $25 at the door.

Theatre Memphis will also host a kids' celebration with a performance at 2 p.m. of Rikki Tikki Tavi by ShoWagon on Saturday, November 7th, along with crafts, scavenger hunt, and birthday cake. Tickets to the kids' event are $5 per person, but a family pack of six tickets can be purchased for $20. Call 682-8323 for reservations.

• Tricky Dick

FROST/NIXON, which was eventually developed as a film by director Ron Howard, is about a series of explosive interviews between British journalist David Frost and President Richard Nixon.

The theater is looking for 8 male actors, and 2 female actors, Ages 21 and Up. All roles are currently available. Guest director Rob Satterlee is asking for one prepared monologue of 2-minutes or less.

For more information, please contact Courtney Oliver via email at courtney@... or by phone, 901.725.0776.

Tonight at Playhouse on the Square there will be a memorial service honoring the life of Memphis theater patron Mr. Bill Young. The service runs from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Food & Wine will be available.

• Jim Ostrander

"I've had 33 years of doing something that I was really good at," he said. "I was wholly realized as an artist, in full possession of my powers And I used them with full knowledge of what I was doing. You can't ask for more than that. You can't ask for that to go on forever."

Of course he was right, you can't ask for that to go on forever. But there are a lot of people who loved Jim and want his memory, not just his name, to live on. So I suppose this was inevitable. There is now a Facebook page for friends of Jim Ostrander with lots of pictures archived there for fans to pore over. So if you do the FB thing, and you loved Jim, drop by, sign up, and share what you've got.

If you prefer tales of the undead the New Moon Theatre Company opens Look Away: A Civil War Zombie Tragedy tonight. Or if you just want something creepy, kookie, and altogether ookie you might want to check out Gorey Stories, a somewhat troubled musical based on the stories and illustrations of Edward Gorey.

Theatergoers looking for something a bit more substantial may want to wander on down to the Hattiloo theater to take in a performance of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf.

Colored Girls—a poem in 20 parts performed by seven nameless black women dressed in every color of the visible spectrum—is one of those plays I always expect to have aged badly. For having been created in 1975, at the apogee of women's liberation and “black is beautiful”— Ntozake Shange's stories of trial, triumph, and tribulation is always disconcertingly up to date.

Personally, I've always thought the characters' ultimate flight into religion was something a cop out for an author who needed to tidy up her more interesting ambiguities but on most occasions even that can't dull the edge of this groundbreaking piece of non-linear dramatic literature.

Also opening at Playhouse on the Square this Halloween weekend,: The Toymaker's Apprentice. Yes, a Christmas show. And that's all I have to say about that.

• August Wilson

The August Wilson Center for African American Culture, which opened last month in Pittsburgh, has announced its first theatrical event in the newly completed center: The Aunt Ester Cycle. The show, which runs from November 10 - 22, 2009 "explores the dramatic impact of this legendary character" through productions of Gem of the Ocean, Two Trains Running, Radio Golf and The Women of the Hill, a new work by choreographer and performance artist Ping Chong.

• Dead RInger

The third character is Mary (Natalie Wilder), Ty’s sister, and it’s a great role for an actress who doesn’t want to bother with hair and makeup. That’s because Mary is barely seen, although she’s onstage from the first scene through the last.

Ty has locked poor Mary in the root cellar, permanently...

Mary is the center of the story, and she’s no shrinking violet. Ms. Wilder makes her a likable smart-aleck, and just as vibrant a character as the two men. Like her brother, she’s enthusiastically foulmouthed, so her best lines can’t be repeated here.

Wilder, a highly regarded local actor, performed on nearly every stage in Memphis before packing her bags and heading out of town. But, monster of vanity that I am, I'd like to believe that the most challenging role she's ever undertaken was playing me—that's right, your pesky critic—in an autobiographical one act play titled Over and Under that City. Sure, the part was originally intended for a teenage male but when Wilder expressed some interest in teaming up with my little theater company I re-wrote the part for her. And, as usual, she was fantastic.

Also, her best lines most certainly CAN be repeated here. So maybe I can convince Ms. W. to play a little game of three questions. Stay tuned.

• The Great and Powerful Oz

The National Tour of THE WIZARD OF OZ , which opens at the Orpheum on Dec. 15 is looking for 12 local children to perform the roles of “munchkins.” The auditions are scheduled to take place at the Courtyard Marriott in Collierville, TN. Check-in will be at 9:30 am and auditions will begin at 10:00 am.

BUT WAIT STAGE MOMS!!! The Great and Powerful Oz doesn't want to see your gifted little Pookie. He wants 12 singers and dancers who are currently "engaged in an ongoing study of acting, music and/or dance" to perform "timeless classics such as “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead.” The children "will be from an existing group." According to the release no individual kids will be allowed to audition. The selected dancers and singers "MUST" be available for all eight shows between Dec. 15-20.

I've seen dumber musicals than "Memphis," but not many and not by much. This noisy piece of claptrap, which has been rattling around the regional circuit for the past six years, turns the real-life story of Dewey Phillips, a Memphis disc jockey who fell in love with rhythm and blues in the '50s, into a ludicrous fantasy about a white DJ named Huey (Chad Kimball) who puts a black singer named Felicia (Montego Glover) on the radio, thereby driving the local racists crazy. Big surprise: All the black characters are noble hipsters and all the white characters (except for Huey) are redneck squares. What makes the cartoonish premise of "Memphis" sillier still is that the songs, by Joe DiPietro ("All Shook Up") and Bon Jovi's David Bryan, are slicked-up, blue-eyed pseudosoul knick-knacks that have nothing in common with the down-and-dirty 45s that Phillips spun on WHBQ's "Red, Hot and Blue" a half-century ago. Amazingly enough—or maybe not—this howlingly funny irony seems not to have occurred to anyone connected with "Memphis."

Dang. That. Is. Harsh. Oh well, at least everybody seems to like the cast.

It's always helpful to remember that as hard as we may try to be fair we critics develop rarefied tastes and tend to hate claptrap. But there's a reason it's called that. That said, even Broadway claptrap like Movin' Out the Billy Joel Musical and Abba's Mama Mia got gentler treatment.

Memphis' pre-Broadway reviews were mixed leaning favorable. And having heard the showstoppers sung live at an investor's preview at the Orpheum (click for video of the preview) I'm going to guess that Memphis has a decent run in spite of its cool critical reception. Besides, the definitive review won't be in until Wednesday when frequent Memphis Flyer contributor Bo List tells it like it is.

• Wizard of Oz at POTS

So who doesn't have a Halloween costume yet? On Saturday, October 23 from 9-6 Playhouse on the Square will be hosting its annual costume rental at Circuit Playhouse on Poplar Ave. in Midtown. Prices start at $20 and "large portions" of the Playhouse on the Square Costume stock is available for rental. The Costume Shop at Circuit will be open from 9am-6pm on Saturday, October 24. Now, on with the shows...

CORRECTION: The POTS/Circuit Playhouse Costume rental is actually taking place in THE NEW COSTUME SHOP on Union Avenue behind the new Playhouse on the Square building, which is still under construction. The new costume shop is on the third floor. My bad... There's a whole lotta new at Playhouse and old, old habits are awfully hard to break.