Caroline Sposto - Page 2

After 20 bold years, The Emerald Theatre Company in Memphis is breaking new ground by holding its first annual 10-minute play festival. In keeping with its mission to produce quality, cutting edge works dealing with controversial issues that would not ordinarily be produced by conventional theaters in the Memphis area, the theme for this fest is: 'Out of the Closet.'

The lights come up, jazz age gangsters rush the stage and fire at the backdrop with their machine guns, and the words BULLETS OVER BROADWAY appears in lights--a perfect intro for a madcap caper. Let the fun begin!

Bucolic setting are wonderful . . . until it rains and everyone is wall-to-wall unpacking their baggage, airing their dirty laundry, calling each other on the carpet, and climbing the walls. At least that's what happens in THE COUNTRY HOUSE by Donald Marguiles. It's an explicit homage to Chekhov -- sort of an UNCLE VANYA and THE SEAGULL mashup. I wasn't knocked out by the script. The setup is simple, the plot predictable, the conflicts obvious. The actors have to bring a lot to this show to make is worth watching. Fortunately, Director, David Landis, had an exceptional cast.wisecracks into heated discussions simply to hear them sizzle.

Next week the Memphis Orpheum will teem with gun-toting lugs in pinstripes and leggy Jazz Age chorines as BULLETS OVER BROADWAY takes the stage. This roaring twenties crime comedy, based on Woody Allen's 1994 film by the same title was transformed for the stage with Susan Stroman's guidance. In Allen's film, the lead character, David Shayne, was played by John Cusack. In this stage version, a young actor named Michael Williams inhabits the role.

Majoring in Theatre is a bold decision. Committing four formative years and thousands of dollars ought to pay off. College costs have increased exponentially, and (STEM) science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors seem to be the only sought after grads these days. This is why, according to The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, only 8% of today's college students are majoring in humanities.

Typically the press night buzz at the Memphis Orpheum starts in the lobby . . . or at least inside the foyer. Last night, however, it radiated for two square blocks in all directions as Mormon missionaries turned out in force to meet and greet theater goers. These clean-cut, youth, armed with literature and disarming smiles had driven all the way from Little Rock. They weren't protesting the show, just using the opportunity to tell their side the world Trey Parker and Matt Stone (Creators of South Park) and Robert Lopez, composer of 'Avenue Q' so famously lampooned.

There is magic in midtown. Memphis is stagestruck -- moreso than ever, and with a surplus of talent! (Investors call the new vitality and nightlife 'gentrification,' I call it a renaissance because the arts are thriving all around us.) In one square mile, there are more shows each weekend than an avid theatre goer has time to enjoy. This month, yet another tantalizing choice appeared on the calendar. Cloud9 Theatre Company just closed its inaugural show at the Evergreen Theatre. (I was sorry I couldn't get there opening night.) Based on what I saw, we have another local gem. What fun to live and work in the midst of so much creative energy!

Black History Month is drawing to a close, and again, I wonder why this integral component of American history isn't a more substantial part of the discussion year-round. Imagine for a moment a world without the African American influence on music, sports, dance, entertainment, and fashion. Though it may be arguable that Black contributions to popular culture are readily apparent, thousands of other important facts have been left out of the educational curricula for years. For example, most people know that Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb, but how many people know that a black man, Lewis Latimer, invented the filament for the lightbulb?

The wildly popular musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder will be at The Memphis Orpheum February 9 - 14th. This daring, dark comedy hails from Roy Horniman's 1907 novel, Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal, told through the eyes of a man who bumps off the aristocrats standing in the way of his title. In 1949, the book was loosely adapted into the movie, 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' which starred Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson, and Alec Guinness. In 2014, Robert Freedman and Steven Lutvak set the story to music. It has been nabbing awards and slaying audiences ever since.

Gene Roddenberry had a bold vision when he pitched his inspiration to NBC as a 'Wagon Train to the Stars' in 1964. The first episode of Star Trek aired on Sept. 8, 1966. It was a show with unknown actors, and limited special effects, but what it lacked in flash, it made up for in sensibility. America was entangled in the Vietnam War, the Cold War was at its height, the Civil Rights Movement was battling the status quo, and pre-regulation smog was covering major cities with toxic gray clouds.

This time of year faithful pilgrims travel to Bethlehem. My pilgrimage this year was accidental and secular. During a whirlwind trip to Manhattan, I happened upon The Workshop Theater on West 36th Street in Manhattan, a place where great plays are born. Their Sundays@ Six program, in the Jewel Box Theater is free to the public and requires no tickets or reservations.

CINDERELLA is the only Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that was originally written for television. Its first performance was broadcast live on CBS on March 31, 1957 as a vehicle for Julie Andrews, who played the title role. It was subsequently remade for television twice. The 1965 version starred Lesley Ann Warren, and the 1997 one starred Brandy Norwood.

Last spring I sat with a rapt audience seeing Levi Frazier, Junior's new play For Our Freedom and Yours, a one-man show is based on the life of Ira Frederick Aldridge, a 19th Century African American actor who, against all odds, achieved a distinguished stage career during the era of slavery. The drama takes place on the evening of August 7, 1867 in Lodz, Poland.

Two lonely people find each other in a nursing home, they hit it off, and a congenial conversation leads to a series of card games. But in that sequestered and artificial world, low stakes become high. When one's life is over, without being over, what else could happen? Both characters are complex, vulnerable, and proud. With each hand, their regrets and hostilities rise to the surface.

I grew up on vinyl records, 'hit parades' and transistor radios tuned to the AM dial. I love Motown Music. But I felt skeptical about a breezy staged extravaganza about Berry Gordy's mercurial career. Five minutes into the opening medley, this stunning production won me over. This is NOT your assembly line jukebox musical!

I first met Jill Guyton Nee last fall shortly after she arrived at the University of Memphis as an Associate Professor and Director of Dance. Exceedingly youthful, unassuming, and softspoken, this award-winning perfomer and choreographer has brought fresh focus and energy not only to the U of M Deparment od Theatre & Dance, but also to the local arts scene.

Tim Firth and Geoff Deane first picked up the true story of W J Brooks and Co., a fifth generation Northamptonshire shoe factory that survived the 1990's by switching from classic brogues to footwear for drag queens after cheap imports flooded the market. The 2005 film Kinky Boots starred Joel Edgerton as factory owner Charlie Price.

Ed Graczyk's 1976 drama 'Come back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean' has a simple premise: It's September 30, 1975, and a small town dime store in West Texas is hosting the reunion of a James Dean Fan Club to mark the 20-year anniversary of Giant, which was filmed nearby. The underlying premise is you can't go home again.

It's only fair to start with a confession: I have purposely avoided seeing 'The Lion King' on stage for seventeen years. You see, when the Disney movie came out (1994) I was raising two small children. (If you need further explanation, ask any parent shepherding tots through Frozen Mania.)

As educators, entertainers, writers and activists, Tim and Dee Dotson are known for having their fingers on the have their fingers on the pulse of the Memphis' urban scene.