Intermission Impossible

Tennessee Shakespeare Company’s 2019-20 season will have a variety of plays, readings, music, and Elizabethan food.

Scheduled are several regional premieres along with a new tiered ticket pricing and reserved seating.

The 12th season, titled Discover to Yourself (a line from Julius Caesar) has a production of Julius Caesar as its centerpiece, directed by TSC’s producing artistic director Dan McCleary. It will be performed at TSC’s new Owen and Margaret Wellford Tabor Stage at 7950 Trinity Road.

The lineup includes four full-stage productions, two new musical readings, TSC’s annual Southern Literary Salon, free and touring Shakespeare productions, an Elizabethan Feast, a family show for all ages and a VIP Broadway Composer evening. Several productions will be Mid-South stage premieres.

• The season starts September 10th with the fairy tale of Pericles in the third annual Free Shout-Out Shakespeare Series. The 80-minute touring production of Shakespeare’s late romance will perform indoors and outdoors in the area. Performances will be in 10 different venues over of 11 days. Performances are free.
• Julius Caesar (Sept. 25-Oct. 6)
• Broadway Stories and Songs: An Intimate Evening with Big Fish Composer Andrew Lippa (Oct. 26).
• Showplace Memphis: Musical Works in Progress (Nov. 2).
• Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, directed by Stephanie Shine (Dec. 4-22).
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Dwayne Hartford, based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo (Jan. 28–Feb. 16, 2020).
• Southern Literary Salon: The Unlikely Sisterhood of Zora Neale Hurston and Margaret Mitchell (Feb. 23).
• Showplace Memphis: Musical Works in Progress, (March 28).
• The Elizabethan Feast benefiting TSC’s Education and Outreach Program (April 25).

For more information on the programming and ticketing, go to the TSC website here.

The 36th annual Ostrander Awards comes together on August 25th at the Orpheum, honoring the best of most of Memphis theater for the 2018-2019 season. The judges have conferred and come up with the nominees listed here.

The one winner we know for certain this year is veteran actor Christina Wellford Scott, who will receive the Eugart Yerian Award for Lifetime Achievement. That honor is given to those who have distinguished themselves for years of contributions to the local performance community.

More information on the Ostranders is here. Tickets are available in advance for $15 plus fees, and at the door for $20. A ticket includes the post-event reception at the Halloran Centre. They're available here.

In the collegiate division, dramas and musicals are in one category for the majority of awards. In the community and professional division, awards are split by drama or musical.

If you're counting, Theatre Memphis (Lohrey Stage) has 43 nominations, TM's Next Stage 30, Playhouse on the Square 37, Circuit Playhouse 22, New Moon Theatre 13, Hattiloo Theatre 8, Harrell Theatre 4, and POTS@TheWorks 3.

Thanks as always to Memphis magazine, ArtsMemphis, and the Orpheum Theatre Group for making it possible.

Community & Professional Division

Best Set Design of a Drama
• Andrew Mannion, Sweat, Circuit Playhouse
• Brian Ruggaber & Melanie Mulder, The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo Theatre
• Bryce Cutler, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square
• Jack Yates, Heisenberg, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Jack Yates, The Clean House, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis

Best Set Design of a Musical
• Jack Yates, 1776, Theatre Memphis
• Jack Yates, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Jack Yates, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Jack Yates, Newsies, Theatre Memphis
• Tim McMath, Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square

Best Costume Design for a Drama 
• Amie Eoff, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Theatre Memphis
• Ashley Kopera, Twelfth Night, New Moon
• Heather Steward, Little Women, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Lindsay Schmeling, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Circuit Playhouse
• Waverly Strickland, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square

Best Costume Design for a Musical
• Amie Eoff, 1776, Theatre Memphis
• Amie Eoff, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Amie Eoff, Newsies, Theatre Memphis
• Kathleen R. Kovarik, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Playhouse on the Square
• Kathleen R. Kovarik, Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square

Best Hair/Wig/Makeup for a Drama
• Lindsay Schmeling, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Circuit Playhouse
• Barbara Sanders, Little Women, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Heather Steward and Lindsay Taylor, Dracula, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Buddy Hart & Rence Phillips, Steel Magnolias, Harrell Theatre
• Alexandria Perel-Sams, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Theatre Memphis

Best Hair/Wig/Makeup for a Musical
• A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Playhouse on the Square
• Barbara Sanders, 1776, Theatre Memphis
• Buddy Hart & Rence Phillips, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Kathleen R. Kovarik, Cabaret, Playhouse on the Square
• Waverly Strickland, Madagascar, Circuit Playhouse

Best Props Design for a Drama
• Betty Dilley, Steel Magnolias, Harrell Theatre
• Brandyn Nordlof, Sweat, Circuit Playhouse
• Brandyn Nordlof, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square
• Jack Yates, Heisenberg, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Jack Yates, The Clean House, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis

Best Props Design for a Musical
• Brandyn Nordlof & Abby Teel, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Playhouse on the Square
• Brandyn Nordlof, Cabaret, Playhouse on the Square
• Brandyn Nordlof, Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square
• Jack Yates, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Jack Yates, Newsies, Theatre Memphis

Best Lighting Design for a Drama
• Alyssandra Docherty, The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo Theatre
• Justin Gibson, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square
• Mandy Kay Heath, The Clean House, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Trey Eikleberry and Justin Gibson, Junk, Circuit Playhouse
• Trey Eikleberry, Sweat, Circuit Playhouse

Best Lighting Design for a Musical
• Justin Gibson, Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square
• Mandy Kay Heath, 1776, Theatre Memphis
• Mandy Kay Heath, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Mandy Kay Heath, Newsies, Theatre Memphis
• Melissa Andrews & Thomas Halfacre, Lizzie: The Musical, New Moon Theatre

Best Sound Design for a Drama
• Ashley Davis, The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo Theatre
• Carter McHann, Sweat, Circuit Playhouse
• Joe Johnson, Heisenberg, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Joe Johnson, The Clean House, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Travis Bradley, Carter McHann, & Jordan Nichols, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square

Best Sound Design for a Musical
• Carter McHann, Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square
• Gene Elliott, Lizzie: The Musical, New Moon Theatre
• Jason Eschhofen & Reyn Lehman, 1776, Theatre Memphis
• Joshua Crawford, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Joshua Crawford, Newsies, Theatre Memphis

Best Music Direction
• Eileen Kuo, Lizzie: The Musical, New Moon Theatre
• Gary Beard, 1776, Theatre Memphis
• Jeff Brewer, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Jeff Brewer, Newsies, Theatre Memphis
• Nathan McHenry, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Playhouse on the Square

Best Choreography/Fight Choreography for a Drama
• Brittany Church, The Clean House, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Courtney Oliver & Donald Sutton, Sweat, Circuit Playhouse
• Daniel Stuart Nelson, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Circuit Playhouse
• Jordan Nichols & Travis Bradley, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square
• Naivell Steib, The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo Theatre

Best Choreography for a Musical
• Daniel Stuart Nelson, Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square
• Jordan Nichols & Travis Bradley, Newsies, Theatre Memphis
• Jordan Nichols & Travis Bradley, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Travis Bradley, Cabaret, Playhouse on the Square
• Whitney Branan, Madagascar, Circuit Playhouse

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama
• Aliza Moran, The Clean House, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Annie Freres, Twelfth Night, New Moon Theatre
• Danika Norfleet, A Song for Coretta, Hattiloo Theatre
• Susan Brindley, Agnes of God, New Moon Theatre
• Tamara Wright, The Clean House, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
• Annie Freres, Lizzie: The Musical, New Moon Theatre
• Edna Dinwiddie, 1776, Theatre Memphis
• Jaclyn Suffel, Lizzie: The Musical, New Moon Theatre
• Rebecca Johnson, Cabaret, Playhouse on the Square
• Whitney Branan, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis

Best Leading Actress in a Drama
• Jaclyn Suffel, The Clean House, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Jessica Jai Johnson, Sweat, Circuit Playhouse
• Kim Sanders, Sweat, Circuit Playhouse
• Natalie Jones, Heisenberg, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Sarah Jo Biggs, Little Women, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis

Best Leading Actress in a Musical
• Christina Hernandez, Lizzie: The Musical, New Moon Theatre
• Erica Peninger, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Jenny Wilson, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Kelly McCarty, Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square
• Whitney Branan, Cabaret, Playhouse on the Square

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama
• Andrew Chandler, Dracula, Theatre Memphis
• JS Tate, Sweat, Circuit Playhouse
• Justin Allen Tate, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Circuit Playhouse
• Michael Gravois, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square
• Oliver Jacob Pierce, Twelfth Night, New Moon Theatre

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
• Donald Sutton, Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square
• Javier Pena, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Luke Conner, Newsies, Theatre Memphis
• Michael Gravois, Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square
• Talen Piner, Madagascar, Circuit Playhouse

Best Leading Actor in a Drama
• Danny Crowe, 1984, Circuit Playhouse
• Gabe Beutel-Gunn, Junk, Circuit Playhouse
• Jason Spitzer, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Theatre Memphis
• Ryan Duda, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square
• TC Sharpe, The Miraculous and the Mundane, POTS@TheWorks

Best Leading Actor in a Musical 
• Bradley Karel, Newsies, Theatre Memphis
• Donald Sutton, Cabaret, Playhouse on the Square
• John Maness, 1776, Theatre Memphis
• Michael Gravois, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Playhouse on the Square
• Ryan Gilliam, The Producers, Harrell Theatre

Best Featured Performer in a Drama
• Christina Wellford Scott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square
• Jason Gerhard, Junk, Circuit Playhouse
• Jimbo Lattimore, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Theatre Memphis
• Lena Wallace Black, Little Women, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Steven Brown, Little Women, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis

Best Featured Performer in a Musical
• Ann Marie Hall, Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square
• Daniel Kopera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Harrell Theatre
• Jason Eschhofen, 1776, Theatre Memphis
• Jimbo Lattimore, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Kirie Walz, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Kristin Doty, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Playhouse on the Square

Best Ensemble in a Drama
• Little Women, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Sweat, Circuit Playhouse
• The Clean House, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square
• The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo Theatre

Best Ensemble in a Musical
• 1776, Theatre Memphis
• 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Lizzie: The Musical, New Moon Theatre
• Newsies, Theatre Memphis

Best Direction of a Drama
• Dennis Whitehead-Darling, The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo Theatre
• Irene Crist, Sweat, Circuit Playhouse
• Jason Spitzer, Little Women, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• John Maness, Twelfth Night, New Moon Theatre
• Jordan Nichols & Travis Bradley, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square

Best Direction of a Musical
• Cecelia Wingate, 1776, Theatre Memphis
• Dave Landis, Cabaret, Playhouse on the Square
• Dave Landis, Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square
• Jordan Nichols & Travis Bradley, Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• Jordan Nichols & Travis Bradley, Newsies, Theatre Memphis

Best Production of a Drama
• Little Women, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• Sweat, Circuit Playhouse
• The Clean House, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Playhouse on the Square
• The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo Theatre

Best Production of a Musical
• Hairspray, Theatre Memphis
• 1776, Theatre Memphis
• Newsies, Theatre Memphis
• Lizzie: The Musical, New Moon Theatre
• Tuck Everlasting, Playhouse on the Square

College Division

Best Set Design
• Brian Ruggaber, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Kenton Jones, Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis
• Nicholas Jackson, Shaming JANE DOE, University of Memphis

Best Costume Design
• Kennon Cliche, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Jen Gillette, Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis
• Jen Gillette, Shaming JANE DOE, University of Memphis

Best Hair/Wig/Makeup
• Emily Greene, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Jen Gilette, Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis
• Rebecca Koenig & Keyauna Shorter, Shaming JANE DOE, University of Memphis

Best Props Design
• Kenton Jones, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Karen Arredondo, Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis
• Hattie Fann, Shaming JANE DOE, University of Memphis

Best Lighting Design
• Anthony Pellecchia, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Melissa Andrews, Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine, Rhodes College
• Zoey Smith, Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis

Best Sound Design
• John Phillians, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Anthony Pellecchia, Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis
• Sophia Deck, Rose and the Rime, Rhodes College

Best Music Direction
• Jacob Allen, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Eileen Kuo, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (2018 version), Rhodes College

Best Choreography
• Jill Guyton Nee, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (2018 version), Rhodes College

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama 
• Ariona Campbell, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Southwest Tennessee Community College
• Hiawartha Jackson, Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine, Rhodes College
• Eboni Cain, Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
• Erica Peninger, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Lea Mae Aldridge, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Marlee Wilson, Be More Chill, University of Memphis

Best Leading Actress in a Drama
• Jessica Jai Johnson, Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine, Rhodes College,
• Simmery Branch, Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis
• Grace Small, Rose and the Rime, Rhodes College

Best Leading Actress in a Musical
• Aly Milan, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Jess Brookes, Closer Than Ever, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama
• Adrian Harris, Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine, Rhodes College
• Toby Davis, Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical  (one nominee)

Best Leading Actor in a Drama
• Brandon Lewis, Imagination, Southwest Tennessee Community College
• Willis Green, Rose and the Rime, Rhodes College
• Christian Hinton, Shaming JANE DOE, University of Memphis

Best Leading Actor in a Musical
• Toby Davis, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Winston Mize, Closer Than Ever, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Best Featured Performer
• Riley Thad Young, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Jasmine Roberts, Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis
• John Ross Graham, Shaming JANE DOE, University of Memphis

Best Ensemble
• Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis
• I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (2018 version), Rhodes College

Best Direction
• Justin Braun, Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Dennis Whitehead-Darling, Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis
• Joy Brooke Fairfield, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (2018 version), Rhodes College

Best Overall Production
• Be More Chill, University of Memphis
• Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis
• I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (2018 version), Rhodes College

All Divisions

Best Original Script
• Shaming JANE DOE, University of Memphis
• Little Women, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• The Miraculous and the Mundane, POTS@TheWorks

Best Production of an Original Script
• Shaming JANE DOE, University of Memphis
• Little Women, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
• The Miraculous and the Mundane, POTS@TheWorks

"No use permitting some prophet of doom
To wipe every smile away
Life is a cabaret, old chum
So come to the cabaret"
— "Cabaret"

I posted some thoughts about Cabaret's nearly infuriating relevance last week. It was a kind of preview for Playhouse on the Square's opening. Only, instead of looking behind the scenes, it went behind the text to ask where all the Nazis came from. And, by extension, I wanted to know where America's Nazis went when the U.S. entered WWII and the national narrative turned against them.

As musical theater rollouts go, it was a pretty bleak exercise. But even a week ago, I don't think I could have anticipated the kinds of headlines I'd wake up to on the morning I sat down to write the review. Twitter was full of news about racism, misogyny, drunkenness, sexual exhibitionism and drug use inside Tennessee's GOP leadership — rot in the head of an organization so grotesque it wouldn't hear, let alone approve, a 2018 proposal to condemn Nazis and white supremacy. But the headline that really got my attention was this: "Man Patrolling With Border Militia Suggested Going ‘Back To Hitler Days."
“Why are we just apprehending them and not lining them up and shooting them?”  Armando Gonzalez was quoted as saying. “We have to go back to Hitler days and put them all in a gas chamber.”

That's a lot to deal with at the top of a review, but hard to ignore given Cabaret's subject matter and Playhouse on the Square's sometimes very brave and sometimes ragged interpretation of material that stubbornly refuses to become nostalgia.

As taught in schools, history is the story of great men, noble ideas, and the march of progress. But history is a horror show that we live inside and can't escape. It's a theme we see even in mainstream entertainments these days, and in that vein, Cabaret director Dave Landis effectively takes us "back to the Hitler days."  His Cabaret bends the all the weirdness and decadence of Berlin's club scene toward hallucinogenic nightmare. 
Inspired by I Am A Camera, I've previously written how Cabaret, shows three snapshots of Germany during Hitler's rise to power: a sentimental Berlin, a decadent Berlin, and the Berlin where Nazis multiply and metastasize. The first pictures win out hearts and other parts before the last one comes into focus.

We experience these pictures through the eyes of Cliff (Donald Sutton), a writer visiting Weimar Germany, looking for inspiration. The young American gets more than he bargained for when he comes into the orbit of British expatriate and club singer Sally Bowles. With lighting that lands on the audience like a cutting remark and action that breaks the fourth walls at will, this interpretation of the book borrows ideas from expressionist theater, vintage German agitprop and probably Babylon Berlin, but with a considerably smaller budget.

As Bowles, Whitney Branan is more Lotte Lenya than Liza Minnelli. She lets her voice go ugly, and I mean it in the best way possible. She slings sound like a hammer or a razor. It's the perfect tool for a character who flourishes in the midst of disaster because she's more Mother Courage than meets the eye.

Though sometimes incomprehensible as he spits out too many words too fast in a thick German accent, Nathan McHenry's intentions are never unclear. As the emcee he welcomes the audience like a good horror host, and ushers them back and forth across Cabaret's intersecting storylines, on journey all the way to hell. It's an impressive, athletic performance, but it's Playhouse stalwart Kim Sanders who emerges from the chorus to deliver Cabaret's crushing blow. She leads the cast through "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," an infections, inspirational number that begins so sweetly, and ends with the earth shifting hard on its axis. From nowhere so many Nazis emerge. Only they don't really come from nowhere; they were there all along.


The film version of Cabaret achieves a special kind of clarity. Berlin's Nazis aren't hidden at the beginning, they're just pushed to the margins and not taken seriously. Then suddenly they're everywhere. They're everybody. It's a strong blueprint for negotiating any narrative vagaries in the stage musical's book.

What it lacks in this level of subtlety, Playhouse on the Square's production counters with the somnambulant urgency recently described by the Twitter parody/tribute account Werner Twertzog: "Dear America: You are waking up, as Germany once did, to the awareness that 1/3 of your people would kill another 1/3, while 1/3 watches."

I sat in a box seat far house left, and so many of this Cabaret's more intimate moments took place far stage right. That means there's a lot about this show I really can't discuss with any authority, because my view was so badly obscured. This won't be a problem for most audience members, but for me it was enough of an issue to cut the review short. What I saw was thoughtful and provocative. What I couldn't see at least sounded like a close match.

It's so easy to fall for Sally Bowles – to buy into her spiel about the short distance from cradle to tomb, and carpe diem, and all that. "Come to the Cabaret," she belts like a carnival barker, pitching all the attractions. Only Elsie, the former Chelsea flatmate Bowles valorizes in the musical's title song, didn't win a prize by dying blissfully ignorant. Nobody won anything by ignoring their prophets of doom, certainly not the people Elsie's happy corpse left behind in the soup.

I don't always know why we go to the theater anymore. I don't think it's to serve any of the old civic functions, but maybe it is sometimes. It's certainly not for any kind of meaningful moral instruction or else all those money-printing productions of A Christmas Carol would have fixed us up pretty good by now.

Escapism's high quality these days, relatively cheap,  and almost always at our fingertips. But if Hamlet's right and plays really are conscience catchers, many playgoers will see themselves inside the Kit Kat Club when the show's grimy, accusatory lights come up over audience. That's the kind of Cabaret this is. But if it doesn't move them to do more than renew their season subscriptions, we'd might as well start celebrating. Right this way, your table's waiting.  

"Nation-wide, it is a period of radical absolutism: unapologetic racism, anti-Semitism, and sexism among a population and leadership struggling with the pervasiveness of one religion (over science) and fighting to prevent immigrants from entering its borders. The government is widely suspected of collusion with foreign adversaries while its own citizens’ rights are drained of protection," so begins the synopsis to the Tennessee Shakespeare Company's regional premier of Speak What We Feel, a  compiled script subtitled, Shakespeare's radical response to a radical time.

While the setup may sound familiar, the place that's being described is Elizabethan England. TSC founding director Dan McCleary will be joined onstage by Stephanie Shine, Darius Wallace, Merit Koch, Blake Currie, Nic Picou, Carmen-maria Mandley, and Shaleen Cholera. Together they will explore Shakespeare's "radical response," to all these things and more.

Speak What We Feel employs scenes from Richard III, Measure for Measure, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Coriolanus, The Tempest, Merchant of Venice and Othello.

Here's a video of McLeary talking about Speak What We Feel: While we're on the topic of radical things, 1984 continues at The Circuit Playhouse this weekend. From the review: 

"Adaptations give us a chance to explore specific narrative threads and shine new light through old windows. In this case, exposing the audience to low grade torture techniques by way of flickering or flashing light, grating inescapable sound, triggering imagery and making us all hold our pee through the intermission-free show, drowns out a more interesting theme struggling to escape a relentlessly bleak event's sadistic gravity: Are our heroes, villains, allies and enemies all fictional constructs? Have they always been? By the time this idea expresses itself in dialogue, we're, once again, too agitated to see the elusive bigger picture. Maybe that's also the point." [MORE]

And while on the subject of Shakespeare, Twelfth Night continues at Theatreworks.
From the review: 

"If you want some measure of just how good William Shakespeare was on his best days, look no further than the New Moon Theatre Company's gag-packed production of Twelfth Night, a romantic comedy teetering at the edge of farce. Jokes can be fragile things, losing their punch with time, as sensibilities evolve. But 418 years after he wrote it down, Twelfth Night's jokes still land on their feet, and stumble hilariously into pratfall. This latest revival is curiously uneven but still bursts with life and laughter at TheatreWorks." [MORE]

Those in the mood for something a little less radical and/or Shakespeare related may want to drop in on a completely different kind of classic. Theatre Memphis is staging George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner.

Via Theatre Memphis: 

"Sheridan Whiteside’s fall while dining at the home of prominent socialites makes him an unexpected guest for six weeks of recovery. The hosts, however, are most in need of recovery as Whiteside invites in the glamorous and famous as a three-ring circus of comic chaos grows to include a luncheon for homicidal convicts and a complete children's choir."

Whiteside is a critic, naturally, and based on Alexander Woollcott, the ostensible leader of New York's Algonquin Round Table. Whiteside's played by Memphis actor and director, Jason Spitzer. 

When America has gone to war, there typically has been a national sense of purpose and involvement. Even if the engagement was controversial, as with Vietnam, there was passion. Today’s drawn-out wars seem to inspire little more than a collective shrug. It surely is a combination of several factors. The nation is not exhorted to buy war bonds, or save metals, or send books to our warriors. The casualty count has been relatively low and our troops are superbly trained and capable, so there’s little national sense of urgency. The enemy is amorphous, and so is our patriotic rage. And there are a comparatively smaller number of troops involved — how many people do you know that are in a combat zone?

But our soldiers still die, get wounded, are permanently injured, go insane, commit suicide.

On occasion, there are efforts to break through the apathy and remind us of the profound seriousness, efforts, and sacrifices of those who wear the uniform. One such is a superb work being staged by Opera Memphis during its Mid-Town Opera Festival, which began last weekend and concludes this weekend.

The Falling and the Rising is a sublime opera that distills the complexity of our wars into vivid portraits of the women and men who continue to fight them. It is a beautiful work, deep but not heavy, a one-act that packs in a lot.

The libretto is by Memphian Jerre Dye, now a Chicagoan, but Memphis lays its claim to his remarkable talent as an actor, writer, and teacher. I daresay there aren’t many operas that have passages such as: “A parachute that’s poorly packed ain’t really worth a pile of shit.” And “I’m a grown-ass women.” Along with references to propofol and midazolam. But Dye’s verbal forays pack an indelible punch in telling the story of a soldier who is seriously injured when a roadside IED goes off. The military doctors induce a coma to help the chances of her recovery. The liminal dream space she inhabits brings her face to face with others who are serving or who have served, and the telling of their stories elevates the understanding of the soldier as well as the audience.

Zach Redler is the composer and deftly brings together various influences to beautifully express the story. The text is paramount, he says, as he speaks of what supports it: bluegrass, of black gospel music, Debussy’s Clair de Lune, and dollops of Sondheim. It is tonal with leitmotifs for the distinct characters that further sharpen their definition.

And the characters are beautifully rendered in the libretto and performed with remarkable power and grace by the singers. The Soldier is Chelsea Miller, former artist-in-residence at Opera Memphis, and possessed of an expressive soprano voice.

Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche is explosively eloquent as Toledo, the tough-as-nails “grown-ass woman” who reveals her past to the Army psychiatrist. As the parachute instructor Jumper, the popular tenor Philip Himebook brings a mix of kindness and swagger to the role. Darren Stokes, a bass-baritone, sings the part of the Colonel, grieving over the loss of his wife in action with exquisitely rendered restraint and feeling. The final character to appear in the Soldier’s dreams is the Homecoming Soldier sung by Marcus King with elements of rage, sardonic wit, humility, and reluctant acceptance, expressed at his hometown church where he keeps himself in check because his mother is there. But you can’t miss how he seethes, copes, and shares his wheelchair-bound fate as he embarks on this new life he never chose.

The Dye-Redler opera would have been complete with the original finale, but director Ned Canty, general manager of Opera Memphis, added a genius touch. He enlisted 24 veterans and active duty military men and women to be the chorus of the opera. When the five principal singers were bringing the performance to a close, it was already emotional, but then, as the two dozen chorus members walked slowly out joining in — some in dress uniform, some in POW T-shirts, some in fatigues — it became larger, deeper, something of a higher mystery and resolution. And an ideal conclusion to a brilliant performance.

The Falling and the Rising performs April 12th and 13th at 7:30 p.m. with members of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra playing. Tickets: www.operamemphis.org/tickets or call 257-3100.

Paperboy: The New Musical?

That’s the working title for a musical now in development based on former Memphian Vince Vawter’s 2013 novel, Paperboy. Jim Wann, composer/lyricist, author and star of the 1982 Tony-nominated Pump Boys and Dinettes, is doing the music.

The semi-autobiographical novel is about an 11-year-old boy named “Little Man” (Vawter), who throws a paper route in Memphis one summer in 1959. The novel recounts the adventures of the boy, who stutters, and the characters he meets on his Midtown route.

Vawter, 72, who threw the old Memphis Press-Scimitar newspaper as a teenager, went on to become news editor of that paper. He was managing editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel and publisher and president of the Evansville Courier & Press.

Paperboy was a Newbery Medal Honor book in 2014. Vawter's current novel is Copyboy.

Vawter says the whole musical idea began about two years ago after he asked John Verlenden, a friend who went to school with him at Southwestern (now Rhodes College), what he thought about Paperboy becoming a stage play. “He said it ought to be a musical,” Vawter says. “You need to talk to my friend Jim Wann.”

“So, I contacted him,” Vawter says. “Sent him the book. And I didn’t hear anything for a couple of weeks. And then these damn songs started coming. And they blew me away. I don’t know much about that stuff, but he did what he calls ‘song sketches.’ Plays them on his guitar, writes the lyrics.”

Wann sent the songs as mp3s. “It’s just him and his guitar.”

Among the songs were “Paperboy Song,” “The Typewriter Song,” “Streets of our Neighborhood,” and “Lay That News Gently at my Door.”

They’re all “songs you wind up humming,” Vawter says.

Wann, 70, who lives near Hudson, New York, says he “was just entranced” by Paperboy after he read it. “Like so many people.”

He described Little Man as “a wonderfully brave character. And that impressed me so much. His bravery. His struggles to find a way to overcome his feelings about his stuttering. I guess he would have loved to wake up one morning and have it not be there at all, but he had to come to terms with it somehow.”

Wann, who is from Chattanooga, and Vawter share similarities about their Southern upbringing. I thought, ‘Well, I’ll write a few songs and see what Vince thinks of it.’”

Describing “Streets of our Neighborhood,” Wann says, “I just loved the sounds of these streets: Vinton, Melrose, Harbert, Union. It was a way of introducing Little Man into the world of delivering papers into the neighborhood.

“All of the music in all of my shows has a Southern roots connection. It always comes in some form of Southern roots music, whether gospel, folk, blues, rhythm and blues. And I felt like this being set in 1959, would be a good fit for that.”

When will the musical be finished? “We are still a good distance from achieving our goals for this story as a stage musical,” Wann says.

And, he says, “I feel, even though we have a full draft at this point, it’s still very sketchy and I think we’ve only just started figuring out how to let the other characters live and breath on their own. The other parts of the story are so rich and the characters are so interesting. I still think we have a way to go with really expressing Little Man’s feelings of loneliness and isolation and his bravery in going out into the world and making new friends, however awkwardly.”

Getting to know Vawter was the icing on the cake, Wann says. “We’ve worked together on and off for a couple of years now. I really enjoy his company. And all the things he tells me. It’s a real friendship between us now. And that’s a huge plus.”

• Jim Wann

Kaisha S. Johnson drops a reminder: “Memphis is a unique city with a unique history, but there are many cities and communities grappling with the same issues.”

The issues being grappled with begin with implicit bias that inhibits inclusiveness and equity in the arts. These problems plague other industries too, obviously, but as the co-founder, and founding director of Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA), this is where Johnson's efforts are focused. She’s coming to Memphis April 5-7, to facilitate conversations for the inaugural Memphis Performing Arts Summit, an event created by Memphis Performing Arts Coalition (MPAC).

“MPAC along with a lot of other organizations around the country, are all looking for change, right?,” Johnson says, laying the groundwork for subverted expectations. “The first step— We need to be on the same page in terms of language and how we think about things and how we express ourselves, right?" Right!

"So the first thing everybody thinks is,  'We need some kind of training,' Johnson says. But that's not where her story ends. "As an organization, my organization doesn’t think ‘training’ hits it on the head. Because we can’t ‘train away’ bias. We can’t train you ‘how to be’  in the world. What we do is facilitate conversations. We instigate dialogue so people can begin to think differently about how they work. To think differently about impact — the impact direct and indirect actions have on their colleagues. On their fellow humans. That’s the work we’re immersed in.

“A lot of people jump on the ‘We want to fix it,’ bandwagon, but maybe the fixes aren’t well thought out,” Johnson says regarding issues like equity and inclusiveness where ”fixes” can be just another expression of bias. “Our job is just getting everybody in the room that actually wants to be there. It’s the first critical step in initiating change.”

MPAC is a, "coalition of Memphis performing artists working in a collaborative way to engage our community to promote equitable and safe practices."


The Memphis Performing Arts Summit kicks off Friday April 5th, 5:30-8:00 with an introductory "meet and greet."

Via MPAC:

Saturday April 6th or Sunday April 7th, 9am-4pm: Pick either day. We will be providing the same facilitated dialogue on both days, to reach as many people as possible. Limited to 40 attendees per day. On both days, we will have a delicious lunch at Caritas Village (not included; lunch prices range from $5-$10).

How do we create safer and more equitable spaces in our small companies, artists studios, as well as the major institutions in this city? With the right tools, artists can leverage their collective power to institute new practices that dismantle systems of inequities.Together we can harness our energy and engender a community of learning and sharing with a weekend of community action and professional development at Caritas Village.

Kaisha S. Johnson is Co-Founder and Founding Director of Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA), a national service organization dedicated to creating racial and cultural equity in the performing arts field. Johnson, who recently received the Sidney R. Yates Award for Outstanding Advocacy on Behalf of the Performing Arts from APAP, will guide our community through an anti-oppression and implicit bias dialogue as well as facilitate next steps on helping us implement fair practices in the community.

For more information about the Memphis Performing Arts Summit click here. 

Theatre Memphis' 100th anniversary is on the horizon and big changes are afoot. But first, a somewhat smaller 2019-20 season. When TM hosts its grand re-opening in August, 2020, patrons will enjoy expanded restrooms and common areas, additional service areas, and more.

And if the new season is somewhat abbreviated by the renovations, it's also crowd-pleasing. Mamma Mia! AND Cats back to back on the main stage with only A Few Good Men in between?  That should fill seats and make people very thankful for the expanded bathroom facilities to come.

Mamma Mia!

• Cats at Theatre Memphis, 2006

August 16 – September 8, 2019
Set on a Greek island and to the music of the international pop group ABBA, a young girl plans her wedding while trying to discover who of three men may be her father … all to the distress and ultimate joy of her mother.

Cats
October 11 – November 3, 2019
Based on the book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, will follow in the season line up with striking choreography and memorable tunes by Andrew Lloyd Webber. In this most-loved musical the scene is set in a large rubbish area which, after dark, becomes alive with cats of all types, shapes and sizes gathering for the Jellicle Ball, during which one cat will be allotted an extra precious life. Cats is heralded as one of the longest running shows on Broadway and includes the remarkable tune, “Memory”.

A Christmas Carol
December 6 - 23, 2019
A special holiday offering in December for the 42nd consecutive year at Theatre Memphis.
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Little Women
Returning to the Next Stage
July 10 – 21, 2019
A sold out run during the 2018-19 season prompted the return of the classic which has been adapted and directed by Jason Spitzer. Though not part of the season membership, members will be afforded discounts on the adult full price ticket.

A Few Good Men.
September 13 – 29
Next Stage
An apathetic military lawyer is assigned to the case of two Marines charged with the murder of a fellow squadron member at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. An Internal Affairs legal ace thinks there is something amiss and pursues justice as the defendants refuse a plea bargain. The facts come out and lead to a court martial courtroom showdown that exposes the truth.

Ruthless! The Musical
November 8 – 23, 2019
Next Stage
[Ruthless!] satirize[s] old movie classics like The Bad Seed and All About Eve. The plot reveals a talented eight-year-old, Tina, who declares her show biz ambition. Enter Sylvia St. Croix, an overbearing, sleazy talent agent with a secret who encourages her to audition for the school play. Tina “accidentally” hangs her major rival to get the part … only to be sent up the river and swept aside by her mother, Judy Denmark, who finds her own voice and soars to stardom. Once Tina is released from incarceration, she returns for her own revenge with dreams of a comeback and more murderous