JANICE GRISSOM ELLISON, KAREN MILAM, DON MYNATT, TAMMY NASH, RANDY ROTZ, LEWIS TAYLOR, WILLIAM WIDEMAN Distribution
KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher
THE MEMPHIS FLYER is published weekly by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101 Phone: (901) 521-9000 Fax: (901) 521-0129 memphisflyer.com
CONTEMPORARY MEDIA, INC.
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Chief Executive O cer
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Chief Operating Officer
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Fight Night
Director Craig Brewer and composer Scott Bomar on creating
PHOTO: ELI JOSHUA ADÉ | PEACOCK
Alice Hasen’s Dream of Rain
PHOTO: ZEPHYR MCANINCH
Bend It Like Patrick
Former owner of Rizzo’s Diner opens Magnolia Bend Grille.
PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE
fly-by
MEM ernet
Memphis on the internet.
ALL THE PHOTOS
“Did you get engaged at Shelby Farms outside of the FedEx Event Center last night? Congrats! I got pictures,” said Reddit user u/ChantalChante over the weekend. “In case you need a photo of your friend taking a photo of the photographer getting a photo …”
GOT ’EM
Memphis rapper NLE Choppa stirred up the MEMernet on X last week.
He posted, “I’m coming out …,” on ursday, and on Friday posted, “…with [a] new song, a new project this month, and Black Duck Boots. Y’all ain’t let me nish.”
DRIVING OUT
Does it get any more Memphis than a MATA bus with drive-out tags?
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
{ WEEK THAT WAS By
Flyer staff
Camel, Crime, & a Big Land
Deal
An unusual weed bust, U of M gets crime center, and a land buy that could protect the aquifer.
Bond was set last week for a TV reality personality and a friend a er a camel bite turned into a drug bust at a drivethrough zoo.
Crockett County General Sessions Judge Paul Conley set the bond at $10,000 apiece for Brian Scott Lovvorn and 1,000-Lb. Sisters star Amy Slaton Halterman.
“It was no ordinary Labor Day in Crockett County,” wrote the Crockett County Sheri ’s O ce on Facebook last Monday.
Deputies responded to Safari Park near Alamo, Tennessee, just northwest of Jackson. A guest was allegedly bitten by a camel.
“Upon arrival, deputies were immediately overtaken by suspicious odors coming from the guest’s vehicle,” the sheri ’s o ce said. “Amy Slaton Halterman, 1,000-Lb. Sisters reality TV star, was arrested on illegal possession of Schedule I, illegal possession of Schedule VI, and two counts of child endangerment.”
Lovvorn was arrested on the same charges. Both were then booked into the Crockett County Jail.
U OF M CRIME CENTER
e University of Memphis unveiled its new University Crime Information Center which will operate year-round to enhance campus safety.
e center is “technology infused” and will provide “realtime data” which will allow university police to be proactive in stopping crime. e center will feature 24/7 monitoring, the ability to locate someone on campus by description, issue suspicious activity alerts, and provide virtual escorting.
“ e mission of our University Crime Information Center is to provide our agency with the ability to capitalize on a wide and expanding range of internal technologies which allows for e cient and e ective policing for our university community,” University of Memphis Police Chief Keith Humphrey said.
e Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) 2023 Crime on Campus report showed a majority of crimes committed
on campus were larceny and the . ere were a total of 105 o enses reported to the university and only ve of those (4.8 percent) were cleared. Destruction and vandalism were the second largest category with 98 o enses and a 6.1 percent clearance rate.
Last year, the Tennessee legislature passed a recommendation from Governor Bill Lee that allowed the University of Memphis to receive $5.5 million for campus safety and security upgrades. e university used the money to upgrade and install LED lighting, perimeter fencing, intelligent camera installations, and more.
LAND DEAL COULD PROTECT AQUIFER
A pending state land deal could bring in 5,477 acres of the historic Ames Plantation to create Tennessee’s newest state forest and protect Memphis drinking water.
Zachary Lesch-Huie, Tennessee state director for e Conservation Fund, said the land is valuable for a multitude of reasons. It contains a major part of the upper fork of the Wolf River, which feeds the aquifer system responsible for Memphis’ water supply.
It’s home to several species prioritized by Tennessee for protection and features an “outstanding” forest habitat. ere’s potential for future recreational and educational opportunities there, including hunting, river access, hiking, and continued archeological research on more than 40 historical sites on the property.
Tennessee Lookout contributed to this report. Visit the News Blog at memphis yer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
CAMEL SITCH
POSTED TO REDDIT BY U/CHANTALCHANTE
POSTED TO FACEBOOK BY MEMPHIS MEMES 901
POSTED TO X BY NLE CHOPPA
PHOTOS: (LEFT) CROCKETT COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE; (ABOVE) WOLF RIVER CONSERVANCY 1,000-Lb. Sisters star was arrested in Crockett County; Tennessee is working to purchase 5,477 acres of forest land near Grand Junction from the Hobart Ames Foundation.
By Kailynn Johnson
Trans Suit
Advocates claim the law is a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
PHOTO:
| UNSPLASH Arguments in the case are expected to be heard this term.
Legal experts led a brief on behalf of transgender youth in the state in hopes of stopping a Tennessee law banning gender-a rming care for minors from taking e ect.
e American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN) said they are urging the Supreme Court of the United States to stop the state from banning hormone therapy for trans adolescents.
Last week ACLU-TN joined the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in ling a brief on behalf of Samantha and Brian Williams of Nashville and their 16-year-old transgender daughter, Dr. Susan Lacy of Memphis, and two families who led anonymously.
“Every day this law remains in place, it inflicts further pain, injustice, and discrimination.”
is brief is in response to a June 2024 decision to hear a challenge to Tennessee’s ban. Advocates claim the law is a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, sta attorney at the ACLU of Tennessee, said that Tennessee and other Southern states have “become a testing ground for targeted assault on the constitutional rights of trans Tennesseans.”
In September of 2023 the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the law restricting transgender youth from accessing gender-a rming medical care to remain in e ect. e ruling came months a er the court initially blocked
the law from taking e ect in July of the same year.
Governor Bill Lee signed the legislation into law in March of 2023, and it prohibits healthcare professionals from administering gender-a rming care to minors. is legislation makes gendera rming hormone therapy and puberty blockers inaccessible, and trans people in Tennessee will not have access to this care until they reach the age of 18. Similar restrictions have been made in states like Arkansas and Alabama.
“Every day this law remains in place, it in icts further pain, injustice, and discrimination on trans youth and their families,” Cameron-Vaughn said in a statement. “Make no mistake — if the Supreme Court fails to protect trans Tennesseans’ access to the medical care they need to survive and thrive, local politicians will go even further. ey will continue to rewrite the history that our schools teach, discriminate based on what we look like, where we’re from, and who we love, and control if, when, and how Tennesseans choose to start their families.”
Parents of the 16-year-old plainti said it has been “painful” to see their child not be able to access “life-saving healthcare,” and they’ve had to travel outside of the state for care.
“We have a con dent, happy daughter now, who is free to be herself, and she is thriving,” Samantha Williams, mother of 16-year-old L.W., said. “Tennessee’s ban has forced us at great expense to seek routine healthcare visits out of state and may at some point force us to leave Tennessee — the only home our children have ever known. No family should have to make this kind of choice.”
O cials said oral arguments are expected to be heard this term.
TINGEY INJURY LAW FIRM
Tag Teaming a Grant
Funding for upgrading a dangerous intersection was a cooperative e ort.
“We’ve secured $13.1 million in federal funding to overhaul one of the most dangerous intersections in our city — Lamar Avenue, Kimball Avenue, and Pendleton Street.”
So begins an online noti cation from the o ce of Memphis Mayor Paul Young, and it is accompanied by a photograph of the mayor with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
e noti cation goes on to boast that “[w]e’re not just xing a dangerous intersection — we’re transforming it with clearer signals, safer crosswalks, and better pedestrian pathways” — all of it being “a huge step towards ensuring that every Memphian can navigate our streets with con dence and peace of mind.”
Secretary Buttigieg and in letters of support to the U.S. Department of Transportation, and I’m proud we brought it home.”
Well, er, to whom goes the honor of having snagged this bene t from the feds? e mayor or the congressman?
Both, as it turns out. Asked about it, Cohen calls it a “cooperative joint e ort” and says, in a text, “ e mayor was a planner, and they’re his people. Politics and pitching by congressmen certainly helps. … Grants don’t just fall out of a coconut tree.”
And credit for the grant goes even further. Cohen points out that the grant, in its original form, was rst proposed by former Mayor Jim Strickland and had been included as an earmark in legislation that, before being resurrected, was stalemated in a previous session of Congress.
All of which is to say that, yes, it does indeed take a village to get things done.
• Perhaps unsurprisingly, the vote of the Shelby County Commission on Monday to support the City Council’s lawsuit against the Election Commission to restore a gun-safety referendum on the November ballot was passed on a partyline vote — nine Democrats aye, four Republicans no.
Speaking for the Republicans, Commissioner Mick Wright quoted Governor Bill Lee’s concerns, expressed earlier Monday in Memphis, that the city should nd itself at odds “with the rest of the state.”
Sounds good all right. I remember that intersection from the days when, as a 14-year-old, I threw the old Memphis Press-Scimitar in that neighborhood. In vintage times, it was where the old streetcars did a turnaround, and it absolutely was hazardous to negotiate, especially on a bicycle.
And comes yet another online noti cation — this one from 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen: “I’m pleased to announce a new investment of $13.1 million [under the] Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act … to completely redesign the dangerous intersection at Lamar Avenue, Kimball Avenue, and Pendleton Street …” e congressman, a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, notes further, “I strongly advocated for this project and for funding to improve our streets in hearings with
Democratic Commissioner Henri Brooks countered that it was “time to stand up to bullies.” And other commissioners tended to follow their party’s line.
With its vote, the commission became an “amicus curiae” in support of the suit, which has caused various GOP state ocials to talk ominously about withholding shared state funding from Memphis.
• Citing the prosecution in Georgia of a father who armed his son with an AR-15 used in a fatal school shooting, Democratic state Rep. Antonio Parkinson says he intends to re-introduce his measure to penalize “a person who illegally transfers a rearm to a minor” using it for criminal purposes. Parkinson’s bill was introduced in last summer’s special session on gun safety but was tabled by the majority Republicans.
PHOTO: COURTESY LEXIE CARTER
Rep. Cohen takes the pledge at last weekend’s Kennedy Dinner of the Shelby County Democratic Party.
MUSICIANS, PANELS, VENDORS
Perforamances
By
SPORTS By Frank Murtaugh
Friendly Fire
Memphis vs. Mike Norvell? Everybody wins this Saturday.
Memphis Tiger football would not be where it is today — and Ryan Silver eld would not be in charge of the program — were it not for Mike Norvell. e Tigers travel to Tallahassee this week for a Saturday confrontation with Norvell’s current team, the Florida State Seminoles. It’s hard to imagine a more poignant game against a former coach in the history of the Memphis program.
Should your memory be unusually short, Norvell arrived in Memphis as a rookie head coach before the 2016 season (with Ryan Silver eld a member of his sta ). If you were familiar with the 35-year-old Arizona State assistant then, you frankly spent too much time on college football. But in just four years, Norvell won 38 games, led the Tigers to three appearances in the American Athletic Conference championship game (winning in 2019), and earned the most prestigious bowl berth (the 2019 Cotton Bowl) in Tigers history. at’s how you get the Florida State gig before your 40th birthday. Last season, Norvell’s fourth at FSU, the Seminoles went 13-0 but were somehow le out of the four-team College Football Playo . (A er several players opted out of the Orange Bowl, Florida State was crushed by Georgia.)
who saw a game from 2016 to 2019). But for Ryan Silver eld and the current Memphis Tigers, the contest has to be treated like a step — among 12 games on the schedule — toward a higher goal. And the only way to stack wins toward a conference championship (and playo contention) is going 1-0, week a er week. us Florida State is “any other game.” e Seminoles will play better than the 0-2 team they are. e Tigers will likely fall short of the standard they’ve set by outscoring two teams 78-17. But quarterback Seth Henigan is climbing the Tiger and AAC record charts with every contest and the Memphis ground game seems to be in the capable hands of Mario Anderson (125 yards on 17 carries against Troy). is Saturday’s showdown in Tallahassee will be a fun and, yes, sentimental showcase for a Memphis team still rising.
Florida State will not go 13-0 this season, having lost its rst two games, to Georgia Tech and Boston College. Memphis will not be facing a Top-10 team this weekend, a disappointment for a program favored to win a “Group of 5” league but thirsty for an early-season attention grabber. Blowout wins over North Alabama and Troy go only so far.
Last July, I asked Silver eld about facing his former boss early in the 2024 schedule. “I’m gonna treat it like any other game,” he said. “I’ll see some of my closest friends down there. I’m from Jacksonville. If I didn’t get this job, I might still be sitting next to Mike, coaching his o ensive line. But once training camp starts, I won’t give that game a single thought until the Sunday [before].”
To translate, it will be an emotional game for those with fond memories of Mike Norvell in Memphis (read: anyone
• As for the U of M basketball program, coach Penny Hardaway is once again surrounded by smoke. (Didn’t he ask for this upon taking the job six years ago?) An anonymous letter to the NCAA alleges both nancial and academic misdeeds on Hardaway’s watch. You can safely ignore the padding of recruits’ wallets. (See the $20 million it has reportedly cost Ohio State to build its current football roster.) But if academic fraud involving Malcolm Dandridge can be traced to Hardaway, it will be a sad and awkward exit for a local legend. at’s a big “if,” of course. Here’s to a day we can again discuss Tiger basketball without a cloud of scrutiny growing thicker and darker.
PHOTO: WES HALE
Mario Anderson
Fight Night
Director Craig Brewer and composer Scott Bomar on creating the world of the new hit series.
COVER STORY
By Chris McCoy
In March 1966, Muhammad Ali refused to be dra ed into the Army to ght in the Vietnam War, citing his Islamic faith as a reason and claiming conscientious objector status. At the peak of his boxing career, he was banned from the sport and spent the next four years in and out of the courtroom. In October 1970, he was nally granted a license to ght in Georgia, and on October 26th, he faced Jerry “ e Bell ower Bomber” Quarry in Atlanta. In front of a sellout crowd, Ali took Quarry down in only
three rounds, setting o a night of celebration in Atlanta’s Black community. At one infamous party, a group of Black gangsters celebrating the victory were set up and robbed at gunpoint by another group of Black gangsters, setting o a chain reaction of botched reprisals and mutual misunderstandings worthy of a Coen Brothers movie.
Years later, journalist Je Keating, writing for the Atlanta alternative weekly Creative Loa ng, discovered that the person who threw the party, an ambitious hustler known as Chicken Man, was not killed, as had long been reported, but instead had survived the ordeal and was living under an assumed name in Atlanta. Keating
recounted the too-weird-to-be-true story in his true crime podcast Fight Night Released in 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, it became a huge hit. Writer/producer Shaye Ogbonna and comedian Kevin Hart pitched the story to Universal Television, who ultimately ordered an eight-part limited series for their new streaming service Peacock.
One of the rst calls they made was to Memphis director Craig Brewer. “I got this job the old-fashioned way,” he says. “I got a call from my agents saying that [executive producer] Will Packer and Kevin Hart wanted to meet with me on a project. … Shaye, the creator, has been a fan of my lms, particularly Hustle & Flow, which he
saw in Atlanta.”
Brewer was intrigued by the story and impressed with the rough dra s of the rst two episodes, which were all that existed at the time. “I remember reading the script and thinking to myself, ‘ is guy Shaye and I, I think are gonna really get along.’ We have the same interests in movies and TV and music. But more importantly, it’s something I always remember John Singleton talking to me about: ‘Is there regional speci city to this voice?’ And I was like, yeah, this feels like a guy from the South, in Atlanta, making movies from his heart, his culture, and his experience. It felt real to me; it felt furnished and honest and, above all, exciting.”
(le page, top) Gangsters “Cadillac” Richie (Howard) and Frank Moten (Jackson) land in Atlanta with their entourage. (bottom) Jackson as Moten ignores the press before the big ght. Detective J.D. Hudson (Cheadle) protects Muhammad Ali (Dexter Darden) before the ght. (right page, top) Craig Brewer poses at the Fight Night premiere in New York City; mixing engineer Jake Ferguson and composer Scott Bomar lent their talents to the series. (bottom) Taraji P. Henson stars as Vivian omas.
Fight Night: e Million Dollar Heist was on its way to the screen.
PUTTING THE TEAM TOGETHER
Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Productions and Will Packer Media had produced the podcast, says Brewer. “Kevin was always going to be Chicken Man. at was from the jump. en I came on and we started putting together the other cast members.”
Samuel L. Jackson, an acting legend who Brewer worked with in 2006’s Black Snake Moan, was quickly cast as New York gangster Frank Moten. Taraji P. Henson, who was the breakout star of Hustle & Flow, came onboard as Vivian, Chicken Man’s partner in crime. “She was always at
the top of the list,” says Brewer. “ en Will Packer called me and said, ‘We gotta go get your boy Terrence.’”
e producers thought Terrence Howard, star of Hustle & Flow, would be perfect for gangster Richard “Cadillac” Wheeler. “I’m speaking to you from New Jersey, so I’m speaking to you from Cadillac Richie’s territory,” says Brewer.
A er Hustle, Brewer had directed Henson and Howard in the hit TV series Empire. “I called up Terrence, and I was kinda talking him into doing the show. I said to him, ‘Listen, it’s me. I’m gonna let you get up on that tight rope like you usually do. I’ll be your net. What I want you to do is bring your creativity to this and
create this character because he’s an important character as the series goes on. I’m gonna just agree to anything you wanna do and help you get it.’ en he said, ‘Well, I wanna look like one of the Bee Gees. at’s what I wanna do.’ I just remember feeling like, ‘Oh no, what is this gonna look like?’
But then he showed up, and I thought, ‘ is cat is gonna steal this show because he looks amazing. … I don’t know if he’s gonna take it o ever again.’”
e nal big get for the cast was Don Cheadle. e actor/director was on Brewer’s bucket list. “I have always wanted to work with Don, and it was everything that I could have dreamed for and more. He’s a great actor, yes. But I would say that
with him — and I would put Sam Jackson in the same category — you’re not just getting somebody’s acting talent, you’re getting their experience of making, watching, and living the art of storytelling. ey have an eye for things that some younger actors do not have. Are we telling the right story? ey make you better because they hold you to a standard of making sure that you’re doing right, not only by their character, but how their character interacts with everybody. So there were countless times that Don Cheadle would take me and Shaye o into his trailer, and we would work a scene. By the time we le
continued on page 12
PHOTOS: PARRISH LEWIS/PEACOCK, (BOTTOM) ELI JOSHUA ADÉ/PEACOCK, (RIGHT PAGE, TOP LEFT) JAMIE MCCARTHY/ PEACOCK, (TOP RIGHT) CHRIS MCCOY, (BOTTOM) ELI JOSHUA ADÉ/PEACOCK
the trailer, Shaye and I would look at each other and just go, ‘Man, the scene is just so much better!’”
Fight Night is lled with star power, in a way very few TV shows have ever been. “ e thing about movie stars is, they are decided by the people,” says Brewer. “ is show is packed with ve movie stars.”
HOTLANTA
Fight Night was lmed in Atlanta, Georgia.
e series features extensive location shoots among the split-level ranch houses of the suburbs and in the dense city center. Crucial scenes were shot in the distinctive Hyatt Regency Atlanta, whose 22-story atrium in uenced hotel design for a generation.
“ ere is a crucial monologue in episode two that Sam Jackson delivers, where he’s talking about his vision for Atlanta,” says Brewer. “He wants Black people put in places of power, and for the economic future of Atlanta to be Black. It’s funny because you look at the monologue, and you can imagine if it were being said in 1970 to an all-white audience, it may seem outlandish. But last night at the premiere, there were cheers because you realize that dream is here and realized. So it’s very interesting to talk to young people about Atlanta at this crucial time in its history, in the early 1970s, where they were on a campaign that I feel is comparable to Memphis’ history, and to Memphis’ present, which is to deny that you are living, working, and thriving in a Black city. It is to your own peril if you ght against it.
“Atlanta is a city that is open for business. We’re too busy to be dealing with any of that racist bullshit. We’re here to make some money, and I’ll be damned if that’s not the Atlanta that I go to all the time when I’m lming these movies. is is my third project in Atlanta. I’ve been there the whole time that Atlanta has said that they wanna be the next Hollywood. And so many people saying, well, that’s not gonna last, or this is gonna be transitional, or the industry is gonna change. I am telling you right now, no one wants to call it out, but production in Atlanta is there to stay. I don’t see this returning back to Hollywood as long as there’s places like Atlanta.”
Brewer had worked on episodic network TV with Empire, but Fight Night was his rst limited series, a form that has become more common in the streaming era. Brewer compares the experience to shooting an eight-hour movie. Brewer directed the rst two and last two episodes, and collaborated on the writing of the entire series. He describes the process as a mixture of careful prep and on-the- y improv.
“I got a call from Shaye saying, ‘We got this idea to do the scene between Sam Jackson and Don Cheadle in an interrogation room,’” Brewer recalls. “We locked ourselves in a room and banged out this scene, probably had it written by like 8
Bomar enlisted several of his stable of veteran Memphis players, including drummer Willie Hall, who played on Isaac Hayes’ “ eme From Sha .” Joe Restivo played guitar; Mark Franklin, Kirk Smothers, and Art Edmaiston contributed horn parts, along with Kameron Whalum, Gary Topper, and Yella P. Behind the board were veteran producer Kevin Houston and Jake Ferguson, who recently returned to Memphis a er collaborating with superstar producer Mark Ronson. Most recently, Ferguson worked on the soundtrack to Barbie. “I feel like Craig came in and basically taught a master class on TV scoring,” Ferguson says.
o’clock, 9 o’clock at night. en, the following morning, I went down to the sound stage and there they were, doing the scene that mere hours ago we had worked on. It’s amazing how fast it all happened. It was just so special because there’d be these moments where Shaye and I would write something, and we knew, ‘Okay, right here, Sam’s gonna probably make this part better. So let’s move on and know that he’s gonna come up with something great to say here — and sure enough, he did! It was this great moment of watching these titans just being amazing.”
Kevin Hart, one of the driving forces behind the development of the series, took the most chances. One of the best-known comedians in the country found a new lane as a dramatic actor. “I had a moment where I saw something that I had never seen before, and it kind of knocked me on my ass,” says Brewer. “It’s in episode two where Kevin Hart’s character is in grave danger, and he has to make a plea for his life. I’m sitting there at my monitor, and I watch Kevin make this tearful plea. at was one of the most real things I’ve ever seen an actor do. I remember just sitting there in awe thinking, ‘How could someone as successful as Kevin Hart actually have a whole other store of talent inside of him that we’ve yet to see? How can it be that he could drop everything that he is as the funniest man on the planet and actually be a dramatic actor?’ You make an assumption about a person, that maybe they don’t have this particular arrow in their quiver, and then suddenly they hit a bull’s-eye. I was stunned. Everyone was stunned. Terrence came up to me and he goes, ‘ at cat’s the real deal.’”
MAKING THE MUSIC
Fight Night is set in 1970, a high point in
the history of soul, funk, and R&B music. For Scott Bomar, producer and musician behind such acts as e Bo-Keys, that’s his wheelhouse. Bomar and Brewer have worked together on ve movie and TV projects, beginning with Hustle & Flow in 2005. “I feel like I got spoiled working with him early on because he’s so musical,” Bomar says. “I nd that the way Craig shoots, the way he directs his actors, the way he edits, it’s got a rhythm to it. I’ve worked with him enough now to kind of know what his rhythm is.”
Bomar says he was in “summer home repair mode” when Brewer called him out of the blue. “He said, I’m working on this TV show. eoretically, if you had this gig, would you be able to do it? Are you available? And I’m like, sure, yeah. I can do it. I knew it was a pretty quick turnaround, but I had no idea exactly how quick of a turnaround it was. I think there were people involved who had their doubts on whether or not it was possible to do what we did in the amount of time we did it.”
Bomar and Brewer recorded the score to Fight Night at Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis. ey had one week to take each episode from concept to nal mix. “I can’t say enough about my collaboration with Scott Bomar,” says Brewer. “It’s something that truly is a collaboration. I see the scene, and Scott and I start just kind of grooving to a beat, to a track that has yet to be written. We start with rhythm. It really is kind of a Memphis way of doing it.”
“It’s quite a bit di erent than lm because the schedule’s so accelerated,” says Bomar.
A 1970s vintage mini Moog synthesizer Bomar found in a closet at Sam Phillips Recording played a major role in creating the series’ soundscapes. In some cases, Bomar says they didn’t have time to assemble a full band, so he would have to play almost all of the instruments himself. “I’d say that this is the closest thing to a solo record I’ve ever made,” he laughs.
“It was fascinating to hear Scott and Craig talk about Atlanta in the ’70s and all the inspirations they had,” says Ferguson. “Musically, it was so cool to see how we can take, quote, unquote, ‘modern instruments’ and make them feel like you’re back in the ’70s. When we nished the rst two episodes, it was just incredible to see how much the scenes would come to life with the music we added.”
“When we had the rst mix, one of the producers said, ‘We asked Scott to do the impossible, and he’s done it,’” says Bomar. “ at’s one of the best compliments I’ve ever gotten.”
FINAL FIGHT
e rst three episodes of Fight Night: e Million Dollar Heist premiered on Peacock ursday, September 5th. New episodes will drop every ursday for the next ve weeks. e night before it hit streaming, there was a star-studded premiere at Lincoln Center in New York City. I interviewed Brewer the next morning, as he was beginning preparations for his next project, a lm he wrote called Song Sung Blue starring Hugh Jackman. e director was still reeling from the reception to Fight Night. “When you’re dealing with a brand like Will Packer and Kevin Hart, that means it’s gonna be a party. You can’t just do wine and cheese and a oral arrangement. ere were dancers dressed in some of the out ts from the show. ere was a Cadillac in the middle of the dance oor. It’s just a party and everybody was there! My son [Graham], I had to pull his ass o the dance oor last night at like 1 a.m., saying, ‘I gotta work, son! Let’s go!’ But he was out there, doing the ‘Wobble’ with everybody else. … It was such a great thing to see it with a crowd. Yeah, I think we got a great show here.”
PHOTOS: ELI JOSHUA ADÉ/PEACOCK
Terrence Howard and Marsha Stephanie Blake; Kevin Hart stars as Chicken Man, the small-time hustler who gets in over his head in Fight Night
steppin’ out
We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews
Like Water
By Abigail Morici
Andrea Morales has been making photographs since she was a child, and yes, “making photographs” is the right phrase here. Not taking photographs, capturing, or shooting. For Morales, these words are too aggressive to describe a process that is about building trust and intimacy between the photographer and the photographed individuals, or, as Morales calls them, her collaborators.
She’s been working in Memphis as a photojournalist for a decade now, making photographs of the community. You probably recognize her name from her work as the visuals director at MLK50: Justice rough Journalism, but she’s also been featured in e Atlantic, e Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and TIME Magazine, among many others. Now, to add to her impressive resume, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art has opened an exhibit of 65 of her photographs of Memphis and the surrounding region, titled “Roll Down Like Water.”
Taking its name from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s nal speech in Memphis, in which he said, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream,” the exhibit, says its curator Rosamund Garrett, is “a portrait of America through Memphis.”
“ ere are some tremendously famous photographers from this area,” Garrett says, “but I really feel that Andrea looks at things through a very fresh lens, and she looks at this region very directly, very earnestly, in a way that still allows the magic of this place to come through.”
Morales engages in what’s called movement journalism, an approach to journalism that emphasizes community over objectivity. is, in turn, makes the Brooks the rst museum to showcase movement journalism, and the rst to publish a catalogue on it.
It’s also the rst time Morales will have her photography in a major museum exhibition. Of course, she’s used to her photographs being seen publicly on a large scale, with them being in publications and such, but this, she says, is di erent. She even shrugs when asked if she sees her work as art. “What’s art?” she ponders. “It’s hard to answer that.”
But in this exhibit, not in a publication with someone else’s byline, a headline she didn’t she choose, or quotes she didn’t pull, the photos can stand alone. “It does feel like something’s being restored, I guess,” Morales says. “I’m struggling with identifying exactly what, but it feels like something’s restored. It’s like back to that feeling of the moment [of making the photo] because you have that moment and then you kind of have to tuck it away because this photo has to exist in this one context [of an article]. But this is all existing in the context of me and Memphis right now. at’s been crazy. It feels very special to be honored this way, to be able to hold this much space.”
“ROLL DOWN LIKE WATER,”
VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES September 12th - 18th
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes
Cooper-Young Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival
Ramesses II Statue at University of Memphis, 3775 Central Avenue, Tuesday, September 17, 5:15-7:30 p.m., $15
Memphis Area Women’s Council is calling all men and boys who care about safety and justice for women and girls to join in the annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.
e walk will step o west on Central from the University of Memphis’ Ramesses II statue immediately a er the 5:15 p.m. rally. Arrive in time to borrow from the supply of women’s shoes — or bring your own — and choose a sign that expresses your concern for ending rape, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Registration will begin at 4 p.m.
Women are also invited to walk together to end all violence aimed at women and girls.
Cooper-Young Historic District, Saturday, September 14, 11 a.m.6:30 p.m.
In its 36th year, this event has grown tremendously and is one of Memphis’ most highly attended festivals. Enjoy an appealing mix of art, music, and cra s presented by over 435 artisans from around the country.
e Queen of Memphis Soul, Carla omas, with the Stax Academy Alumni Band, will be the headliner at 5:15 p.m. Also on the lineup are Rachel Maxann, Oakwalker, Tennessee Screamers, Jombi, Salo Pallini, Cameron Bethany, Turnstyles, General Labor, Late Night Cardigan, Black Cream, and Steve Selvidge Band.
Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse, Saturday, September 14, 6-9 p.m., free Celebrate a magical, family-friendly evening and experience the beauty of Asian culture. Enjoy live music, traditional lion dance performances, and fun for the whole family with face painting and a fashion show. Savor the sweet taste of tradition with free mooncakes and explore the rich heritage of four local temples.
Memphis Yoga Festival
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 1934 Poplar, Sunday, September 15, noon-5 p.m., $35-$55 is festival features 15-plus yoga classes, local instructors, wellness vendors, yoga for kids, and more. is event will bring together teachers and classes from Memphis-area studios. For more information or to buy tickets, visit memphisyogafestival.com.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART, 1934 POPLAR AVENUE, ON DISPLAY THROUGH JANUARY 2025.
PHOTO: COURTESY ANDREA MORALES
Andrea Morales, Southern Heritage, 2017
MUSIC By Alex Greene
Alice Hasen’s Dream of Rain
e violinist and composer’s new EP confronts the personal side of climate change.
“I guess I learned from Covid what anxiety and depression really were.” Alice Hasen is recalling the genesis of her latest release some years ago, when cabin fever’s creeping trepidation was not only a personal matter, but a generalized fear for all of humanity. All of us went through similar emotions, but Hasen, being a classically-trained violinist and composer, and well-seasoned on the stages of the Mid-South, confronted them through her music. Hearing her EP Dream of Rain now, it’s clear that the stress helped her to produce the most powerful music of her career.
But if the Covid lockdown era jumpstarted the musical project, it quickly grew beyond that, thematically. at’s made clear in “Temperature Rising,” the EP’s opener. As she explains, there are multiple dimensions to both the global and the personal stress she’s confronting, and the opening track is about “all of the di erent ways the temperatures were rising around us. Primarily, the EP is mostly about climate change, wildres, and the mental response to that. But it’s also de nitely a product of the pandemic because our internal temperatures were rising and the political temperature was rising, too. So it’s a musical embodiment of all of those anxieties, for me, coming together and needing to nd a way to be expressed.”
Hasen, of course, wouldn’t be the rst artist to respond to end-of-the-world angst. Local rock band Heels, for example, released Pop Songs for a Dying Planet a couple of years ago, and that title says it all. But Heels’ “pop songs” were punkinfused barn burners reminiscent of, say, the Clash — exactly what you’d expect from apocalyptic rage. Hasen, on the other hand, takes a subtler approach. While she’s dabbled in funk, classic rock, and other genres in her previous solo work (and in the work of Blackwater Trio, her more collaborative
band), this EP re ects a more introspective approach and a lush beauty all its own. Facing up to such anguish, it turns out, can be a very delicate thing.
e EP’s title song is a prime example. “Dream of Rain” begins quietly, Hasen’s violin meandering pleasantly before the subtle rhythm kicks in and, with Hasen’s conversational musings melodiously unfolding in the verse, it resembles nothing so much as Joni Mitchell. Clearly this is a world where beauty and fear come in equal measures. As Hasen re ects, “Part of me wants to let people interpret it for themselves, but for me, that song is about denialism and being invited into this world where nothing is wrong. It’s not real; it’s not a real world. So there’s extreme beauty and comfort, but also there’s something o about it that you can’t quite place. Yet there’s also sort of a hope that we can just dream of rain. Like in the bridge, where it kind of breaks down and turns into spoken word: If you can dream of rain, pray for rain, sing for rain, and dance for rain, then we can magically manifest it.”
Such magic is therapeutic in a world that seems to be falling apart. As Hasen notes, the vast scale and inexorable march of climate change “makes me feel trapped. But there is some hope in
the album, too. Like, ‘Dream of Rain’ is an optimistic song for me because we’re trying to manifest rain to go to the places it needs to go.”
e ne line between hope and despair comes through loud and clear as the song unfolds:
“For generations this has been our home,” she sings, “our hiding place/But now we’re running where we used to play, all burned away/No re escape, all burned away/Have you heard the news?/ Where we’re going there is no more pain, no yesterday/ Worrying or arguing on how to play the game/Funny how those words of peace and anger sound the same/When you’re the one in the ames.”
popular
e grim imagery continues through other songs on the EP as well. “Goodnight Moon,” far from an homage to the popular children’s book, describes humanity as “coming in hot/Caught victim by our relust,” as we become mere “victors of dust, prizes of rust.” But the rst single o the EP, “Hold Still,” which drops September 20th, o ers a kind of balm to this collective anxiety. Over
ensemble and a utist when she celebrates the EP’s release at e Green Room at Crosstown Arts on October 4th. And, she notes of the Green Room performance, “this will probably be the only show where I do the entire EP front to back, ever. Because this project, being full of emotions and a de nite darkness, has been very laborious and emotionally taxing.”
some of the most delicate mu-
Yet, on the ip side, Hasen’s looking forward to having fun while playing live this season. e rst gig on the horizon will be the Mighty Roots Music Festival in Stovall, Mississippi (near Clarksdale), this Friday and Saturday, September 13th and 14th, with Hasen and band appearing Saturday at 2:15 p.m.
sic of her career, Hasen sings some sage advice: “Hold still, this won’t hurt a bit/Finding the heartbeat, keeping the magic/Hold still, the world is an eggshell/We’re on
the inside, nothing is tragic.”
“I’m really excited about that,” says Hasen. “I spent four years in Clarksdale, and that was sort of where I was born as an artist, I think, because that was the rst place I really got to experience playing non-classical music. And of course, it’s such a musically rich part of the world, I think it really in uenced me and the way that I sound, and my particular voice on the violin, my songwriting voice.”
Leaning into the fragility of the tune, Hasen also plays ute on it, a ourish that complements her arrangements for string ensemble throughout the EP. While she overdubbed herself for the latter e ect during recording (with Estefan Perez on cello), she’s looking forward to featuring a live string
She pauses a moment, then adds, “And Stovall is an amazing place because it’s the birthplace of Muddy Waters. When I was looking in Clarksdale, I used to ride my bike over to Stovall and just sit under a pecan tree and look out over the elds for a little bit before going home.”
Live and local music every Wednesday night on the all-weather patio. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 7-10 p.m.
MOMMA’S
Memphis Songwriter Series | Hosted by Mark
Edgar Stuart
Mark Edgar Stuart welcomes musical guests Victoria Dowdy, JB Horrell, and Raneem Imam. $10/available for purchase at the door.
ursday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m.
HALLORAN CENTRE FOR PERFORM-
ING ARTS & EDUCATION
Patti LaBelle
For more than 60 years, LaBelle’s expressive voice has le an indelible mark on the history of pop music and R&B. is Philadelphia born entertainer captured her rst hit in 1962, as lead singer of e Bluebelles. $68-$133.
ursday, Sept. 12, 8 p.m.
Wendell Wells
e singer/songwriter/cartoonist is also a congressional candidate. Sunday, Sept. 15, 9 p.m.
WESTY’S
Elmo and the Shades Elmo and the Shades with the great Eddie Harrison on vocals and keys. Free. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
Joan Osborne e singer’s 1995 album Relish was a critical and commercial success, spawning the international hit “What If God Was One of Us.” $45. ursday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m.
BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
John Williams & the A440 Band
ursday, Sept. 12, 8 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
The Deb Jam Band Free. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 6 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
The Pretty Boys Wednesday, Sept. 18, 5:30 p.m.
HUEY’S POPLAR
The Risky Whiskey Boys
With David Pool, Al Keou , Jimmy Smith. Sunday, Sept. 15, 2-6 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
Van Duren
e singer/songwriter, a pioneer of indie pop in Memphis, performs solo. ursday, Sept. 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
MORTIMER’S
Will Sexton Trio feat.
Amy LaVere
Sunday, Sept. 15, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S POPLAR
Cooper-Young Festival
An eclectic mix of great local bands, featuring headliner Carla omas at 5:15 p.m. See cooperyoungfestival.com for lineup. Saturday, Sept. 14, 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
COOPER-YOUNG HISTORIC DISTRICT
Crooked Diehl
Wednesday, Sept. 18, 6 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Devil Train Bluegrass, roots, country, Delta, and ski e. ursday, Sept. 12, 10 p.m.
B-SIDE
DJ Aberrant Sunday, Sept. 15, 11 p.m.
B-SIDE
D.O.A.: Dope On Arrival Hip Hop Showcase
Featuring Phee and Krisiz Jay, JD Daltrey, Trina Machelle, and Jason Da Hater. DJ Kairys will be keeping the vibes right. Saturday, Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m.
With e Gunpowder Plot, e Scatterguns, Heavy Machine Gun [Small RoomDownstairs]. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Aquanet
Saturday, Sept. 14, 9 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Ben Ricketts
With General Labor, Ash Leon, Fosterfalls [Small Room-Downstairs]. ursday, Sept. 12, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Built to Spill ere’s Nothing Wrong With Love 30th Anniversary Tour. Boise’s nest, led by Doug Martsch, will be joined by John McMahon, who played cello on the original album. With miniaturized. $35-$40. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Fiona Moonchild (Seattle)
With Macrophonics. Monday, Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m.
BAR DKDC
Florry
With Walt Phelan. Friday, Sept. 13, 8 p.m. GROWLERS
Hanna Barakat
With Melanfolly, Forrest Philpot & the Sport Luxury Trim Band. Friday, Sept. 13, 8 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Healy
Free. Friday, Sept. 13, 7 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
HEELS
Small Room-Downstairs. Sunday, Sept. 15, 7 p.m.
HI TONE
Hillbilly Mojo
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 10 p.m.
B-SIDE
Hollywood Nights
Get ready for an unforgettable experience at Hollywood Nights. is event will feature ve DJs spinning a diverse range of genres all night long, including house, DnB, dubstep, Jersey, and hip-hop. Saturday, Sept. 14, 9 p.m.-2
a.m.
MEATY GRAFFITI GALLERY
Jay Jones Band
Saturday, Sept. 14, 5 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Jazz Jam Session
Hosted by the Alex Upton Quartet. e house band set and jam tunes will be announced from the stage. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS
Joe Restivo 4 Sunday, Sept. 15, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Joybomb (Acoustic)
With Samantha Henson, Zoe Dominguez. ursday, Sept. 12, 8 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac Tribute)
Friday, Sept. 13, 7 p.m.
RAILGARTEN
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac Tribute) Sunday, Sept. 15, 7 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Lorette Velvette
With the Doughrollers, James & the Ultrasounds. Friday, Sept. 13, 7:30 p.m.
BAR DKDC
MBAA Gospel Night
Featuring the Tennessee Mass Choir. Free. Saturday, Sept. 14, 7 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
Morgue Rot Presents: Ruined God
With Deathspiral of Inherited Su ering, Lenax, Seven Cities Dead. Friday, Sept. 13, 8 p.m.
B-SIDE
Vinyl Happy Hour With guest DJs every Friday. Friday, Sept. 13, 3-5 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Zeke Wright Band
ursday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Dale Watson & His Lonestars
ursday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Duane Cleveland Band
Sunday, Sept. 15, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S SOUTHAVEN
Mighty Roots Music Festival
Owlbear EP Release
Show With e Eastwoods, Karmic ermals. Saturday, Sept. 14, 9 p.m.
B-SIDE
PreacherMan Album
Listening Event e Memphis gospel rap artist will be sharing and discussing his latest recording, Truth Be Told. Friday, Sept. 13, 6 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Rice Drewry Collective feat. Donna Hansom With Bryan Hayes. $10. ursday, Sept. 12, 6 p.m.
GROWLERS
Roselit Bone
With Aquarian Blood. Monday, Sept. 16, 10 p.m.
B-SIDE
Ruined God With Bongfoot, Magnolia TN [Small Room-Downstairs]. Monday, Sept. 16, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Sierra Green and the Giants
All ages. $21.80. Friday, Sept. 13, 7-9 p.m.
MINGLEWOOD HALL
Skum City With Fugitive Droids, Shame nger, ree vs. e Turnpike [Small RoomDownstairs]. Saturday, Sept. 14, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Temple of The Fuzz Witch
With Hashtronaut, Mudshow [Small Room-Downstairs]. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
The Artist Series:
Jeremie Albino
A listening event and live solo performance, focused on Albino’s latest album, Our Time in the Sun, produced by Dan Auerbach and Easy Eye Sound. Monday, Sept. 16, 6 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Two days bursting with music. Visit mightyrootsmusicfestival.com for details. Friday, Sept. 13Sept. 14.
STOVALL, MS
Reed Brake
A unique brand of improvisational roots rock from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Friday, Sept. 13, 7-10 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Brandon Taylor Duo Wednesday, Sept. 18, 5:30 p.m.
HUEY’S MILLINGTON
Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers Spirit Trail 25th Anniversary Tour. $45/general admission. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 7:30-9 p.m.
Children and parents are invited to enjoy this reimagined tale. Free. Saturday, Sept. 14, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Singer Songwriter Sundays
Enjoy some of the area’s best local musicians every Sunday. Sunday, Sept. 15, 4-6 p.m.
MEDDLESOME BREWING COMPANY
Tamia and Joe Tamia: a chart-topping artist for over two decades. Joe: acclaimed for his velvety vocals and hit singles like “All the ings (Your Man Won’t Do).”
ORPHEUM THEATRE
GROWLERS
Overtime & the Blue Collar Soldiers Band With Big Murph, Jonezen, DurtE [Big Room-Upstairs]. Friday, Sept. 13, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
The Chaulkies Sunday, Sept. 15, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S MIDTOWN
Turnt
ursday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m.
RAILGARTEN
$64. Friday, Sept. 13, 8 p.m. LANDERS CENTER
Wyly & the Coyotes
Sunday, Sept. 15, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S OLIVE BRANCH
PHOTO: STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC Carla omas
CALENDAR of EVENTS: September 12 - 18
ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS
2023 Wilson Fellowship Artists
e Dixon’s partnership with the town of Wilson, Arkansas, awarded residencies to artists Danny Broadway, Claire Hardy, ad Lee, and John Ruskey. rough Sept. 29.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
“All Rise: Memphis Bar Association at 150”
rough arresting objects and powerful images, the exhibition showcases the Memphis Bar Association’s historical signi cance and continuing relevance. rough Nov. 10.
MEMPHIS MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY
“An Artist’s Eye and Emotion”: Watercolors by Carol Caughey Caughey paints “with arbitrary colors, lines, or shapes — whatever seems appropriate” to the mood of the moment. rough Oct. 30.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Andrea Morales: “Roll Down Like Water”
Featuring 65 photographs spanning a decade of work by the Memphis-based PeruvianAmerican photographer. rough Jan. 31.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
“Bracelets, Bangles, and Cuffs: 1948-2024”
A remarkable collection of contemporary bracelets. rough Nov. 17.
METAL MUSEUM
“Building Inspector”
A group exhibition showcasing the work of six local artists: Leanna Carey, Nicholas Lowery, Franklin Doggrell, Maddie McGhee, Noah Miller, and Miles Bryant. Weekdays only. rough Sept. 17.
ANF ARCHITECTS
Corkey Sinks’ “ABZ2”: Artists’ Books, Prints, and Zines
Featuring works from the curator’s personal collection, spotlighting contemporary approaches to print media with an emphasis on self-publishing. rough Oct. 4.
BEVERLY + SAM ROSS GALLERY
Emmett Havens: “A New Art History”
Works that “provoke thought and conversation by giving the viewer an opportunity to see their own vision within my work,” as the artist says.
Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. rough Sept. 30.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
“Health in Enamel” emes of health, healing, and spirituality crystallize with a survey of current enamel holdings in the Metal Museum’s permanent collection. Sunday, July 14-Sept. 29.
METAL MUSEUM
“Imagine”: Works by Suzanne Evans and Connie Lampen
Two artists, both members of the Memphis/Germantown Art League, Artists’ Link, and the Bartlett Art Association, on display at Gallery Ten Ninety-One. Free. Weekdays, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. rough Sept. 27.
WKNO DIGITAL MEDIA CENTER
“On Paper!”
An interactive exhibition celebrating the versatility and beauty of paper as a material initiating creativity and innovation. rough Sept. 29.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
“Rest, Play, Repeat” Ariel Dannielle (Atlanta, GA) and Alexis Pye (Houston, TX) portray Black lives and experiences that move beyond the burdens of history and struggle, celebrating moments of pleasure and joy. rough Sept. 21.
SHEET CAKE
“September”
Work by Anca Marr, Martha Cook, Pat Patterson and Joy Routt with abstract, landscapes, and still-life paintings in bright, happy colors. Mon.urs., 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. | Sun. 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ursday, Sept. 12-Sept. 30.
ST. GEORGE’S ART GALLERY AT ST.
GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Southern Heritage Classic Exhibit
Celebrating 35 years of an HBCU Memphis tradition, the exhibition tells the story of Fred Jones Jr., the founder of the Southern Heritage Classic. rough Feb. 28.
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM
“Southern/Modern: 1913 - 1955”
“Southern/Modern” seeks to encourage new admiration for the region’s rich cultural heritage through paintings, drawings, and prints. Free. rough Sept. 29.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Summer Art Garden:
“Creatures of Paradise” Memphis-based duo Banana Plastik present an environment lled with vibrant and whimsical beings. rough Oct. 26.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
“The Hughes Art Show” Features the work of three Memphis-native siblings — Dr. Allen Hughes, Anne Hughes Sayle, and Jane Hughes Coble. rough Sept. 29.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
ART HAPPENINGS
Creative Aging 4th
Annual Art Show is opening reception celebrates work created in Creative Aging Studio Courses by participants ages 65+. Saturday, Sept. 14, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
THEATRE MEMPHIS
PHOTO: COURTESY BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER exempli es Marcus Moss’ rich pop art.
Reception for “Life in Layers:” New Works by Marcus Moss
In the Levy Gallery at the Buckman Arts Center at St. Mary’s, a reception for an exhibit of new works by noted Memphis artist Marcus Moss. e exhibit runs through Oct. 28. Friday, Sept. 13, 5-7 p.m.
BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Memphis Artists For Gaza Charity Art Show
Charity art show presented by the Palestinian American Community Center of Memphis and the Memphis Art Salon, bene tting the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund for humanitarian aid in Gaza. $15/general admission. Saturday, Sept. 7, 7 p.m.
MEMPHIS ART SALON AT MINGLE-
WOOD HALL
“Ready Playa One” Opening Reception
Celebrate the opening of West Tennessee artist Isaiah Kennedy’s solo exhibition. Saturday, Sept. 14, 6-9 p.m.
THE UGLY ART COMPANY
Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.
DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENT LISTINGS, SCAN THE QR CODE OR VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL.
BOOK EVENTS
A Novel Book Club: Legends & Lattes e club will discuss the work by Travis Baldree. All are welcome. No registration required. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m.
NOVEL
Book Reading and Signing with Willy Bearden
e Memphis writer and lmmaker presents his latest work, Mississippi Hippie: A Life in 49 Pieces. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 6 p.m.
ELMWOOD CEMETERY
Susan Bacon: The Art Collector
When a photographer dies in a suspicious fall from her Manhattan apartment building, her friend and neighbor, Emma Quinn, is determined to nd out what happened. Sunday, Sept. 15, 2 p.m.
NOVEL
CLASS / WORKSHOP
2024 Economic Development Forum
e Economic Development Forum is a regional business conference designed to accelerate and elevate businesses across the Mid-South. Get the information, resources, and connections for growth. rough Sept. 12.
RENASANT CONVENTION CENTER
Life Drawing Workshop
Spend a Saturday a ernoon with fellow creatives at O the Walls Arts’ life drawing workshop. Saturday, Sept. 14, 3-5 p.m.
OFF THE WALLS ARTS
Lunchtime Meditations
Looking for something relaxing to do to clear your mind and improve your overall health? Visit the Dixon for free meditation sessions every Friday. Friday, Sept. 13, noon12:45 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Propagating Figs with Chris Johnson
Participants will learn di erent techniques for propagating and growing gs and will propagate their own gs to take home. $15. Saturday, Sept. 14, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Queer & Allied Theatre
Troupe
An LGBTQ+Allied theater group for young people ages 14-21. ursday, Sept. 12, 5 p.m.
PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE
Shakespeare Scene Study Class
A ve-week session investigating the works of Shakespeare with a monologue and scene study class that will explore verse, character, voice, group exercises, and classical acting techniques. $100. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 6 p.m.
Ceramics Wheel Throwing Series with Elaina Fowler
Dive into ceramics with this three-part wheel throwing series: Start with the essentials, perfect your skills, and cra unique, functional art. $120. Saturday, Sept. 14, 1-3 p.m.
ARROW CREATIVE
Figure Drawing (Nude Model)
Learn about gure drawing at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. $12/member, $18/ general admission. ursday, Sept. 12, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Intro to Gouache Painting with Amaia Johnson
Discover the vibrant world of gouache painting and learn techniques, color mixing, and create your own masterpiece. $45. Saturday, Sept. 14, 1-4 p.m.
ARROW CREATIVE
Let’s Paint Mushrooms: Watercolor Painting with A.K. Stevens
Paint alongside Memphis watercolorist Angela Stevens, and take home a painting of a perennial favorite … mushrooms. $55. ursday, Sept. 12, 6 p.m.
MIDTOWN BRAMBLE AND BLOOM
TENNESSEE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
COMEDY
Saturday Night Showcase is underground comedy show boasts a diverse and interesting lineup each week that cracks smiles, shakes heads, and causes uproarious laughter. $15. Saturday, Sept. 14, 7 p.m.
MEMPHIS CLOVER CLUB
COMMUNITY
Facing History and Ourselves: 2024 Southeast Benefit Explore what Facing History does best: shining light on hard histories and discovering how we can learn from our past to improve our future. $300/individual, $3000/host (10 tickets), $5000/corporate sponsor. ursday, Sept. 12, 6-9 p.m.
SCHEIDT FAMILY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
National Association for State Community Services e NASCSP vision calls for the empowerment of individuals and families with low-incomes. Monday, Sept. 16-Sept. 20.
RENASANT CONVENTION CENTER
Styled Shoots by Southern Bride: Memphis Wedding Photo Shoot
Join Styled Shoots by Southern Bride for a wedding styled photo shoot. Monday, Sept. 16, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
The Ultimate Dog Day Party: GrandOpening Celebration
A day party for dogs and their pet families. Sunday, Sept. 15, 3-7 p.m.
GLAMOUR GROOMING & BOARDING
Walk A Mile In Her Shoes
Walk together for ending domestic violence, sexual assault, harassment, stalking, and all other violence aimed at women and girls. $15/ general admission. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 5:157:30 p.m.
RAMESSES II STATUE AT UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS
DANCE
Line Dancing with Q
Line dancing lessons with Q. 21+. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 6-9 p.m.
DRU’S PLACE
Surround Sound: The Boiler Room
Experience
A one-of-a-kind dance experience with ve DJs. $15/limited presale, $20/door & GA. Friday, Sept. 13, 8:30 p.m.-2 a.m.
PREMIERE PALACE BALLROOM
FAMILY
Family Movie Night and Dance Party!
Shake o the blues of the week as you enter the weekend. Bring your little ones and enjoy this free movie night and dance party together. It’s going to be a blast. Friday, Sept. 13, 6:30 p.m.
EVERGREEN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Family Yoga at the Garden
A fun way for parents to bond with their kids. Please bring a mat and water. Free with MBG admission. Monday, Sept. 16, 10-11 a.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration
From piñatas to maracas to exploding volcanoes, delve into the culture of Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, and Puerto Rico during National Hispanic Heritage Month with daily activities. Sunday, Sept. 15-Oct. 13.
CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS
Kaleidoscope Club (ages 5-9)
Each week, participants will enjoy an art or horticulture project that sparks creativity and critical thinking. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 4 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Kids in the Garden (ages 7-10) is fun, hands-on gardening workshop teaches kids the basics about horticulture and the ora around them. $10. Saturday, Sept. 14, 10:30 a.m.-noon.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Mini Masters (ages 2-4)
Introduce your little ones to the arts and nature with cra s, movement, and more. $8. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 10:30-11:15 a.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Peanut Butter & Jam: Cazateatro’s Roja is program introduces children ages 8 and under to a variety of genres, including music, dance, and multicultural arts, in an informal concert setting. Saturday, Sept. 14, 10:30 a.m.
GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Story Time
Enjoy stories, songs, art activities, and creative play that connect with Collierville history.
Friday, Sept. 13, 10:30 a.m.
MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE HISTORY
Story Time at Novel
Recommended for children up to 5 years, this includes songs and stories, featuring new books and old favorites. Saturday, Sept. 14, 10:30 a.m. | Wednesday, Sept. 18, 10:30 a.m.
NOVEL
CALENDAR:
Super Saturday: The Fantastical Art of Alebrijes
Learn about the Mexican art of alebrijes and design your own 3D model animals using colorful paint pens. Free. Saturday, Sept. 14, 10 a.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
FESTIVAL
Cooper-Young Festival
With over 435 artisans from around the country, the Cooper Young Festival is a true celebration of the arts, people, culture, and Memphis heritage. Free. Saturday, Sept. 14, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
COOPER-YOUNG HISTORIC DISTRICT
Fifth Annual Memphis Yoga Festival
A sample of the breadth of yoga o erings available in the Blu City. $35/general admission. Sunday, Sept. 15, noon-5 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Second Saturdays at Chickasaw Oaks
An exciting art market showcasing a diverse group of talented local artists and makers. Family-friendly. Free. Saturday, Sept. 14, 10
a.m.-4 p.m.
CHICKASAW OAKS
Sing Grab your lawn chairs and enjoy a free movie on the Center Green at Carriage Crossing. Free. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 6-9 p.m.
THE SHOPS AT CARRIAGE CROSSING
Everything Everywhere All at Once Overton Square Movie Night in the Chimes Square courtyard on Trimble Place. Blankets and folding chairs welcome. Free. ursday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m.
In South Memphis, married artists Bertram Williams and Talibah Sa ya use their creative practices for a higher purpose. Enter Mama’s Sundry, a collaborative movement fostering wellness and sustainability. $5. ursday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m.
CROSSTOWN THEATER
Space: The New Frontier 2D
A Social
On every street in every corner of the world, there’s somebody selling tickets to something. Sunday, Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
ACROSS
1 Kept for a rainy day
9 Place where people are going with their drinks?
15 Norman Bates or his mother, in “Psycho” 16 Advice for relaxing 17 Top-level list 18 Judge appropriate 19 Ninny
20 One of the choices on a computer’s 17-Across
22 Brown or blacken
23 Welcome at the front door
26 Get dressed (up)
27 Portable workstation
30 ___ it out (fights)
32 Chinua who wrote “Things Fall Apart”
33 Order in the court
34 Concert piece
37 “Here’s something for you to think about, you ingrate!”
39 One who spreads discord
41 Shade provider in Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”
42 Coalition
44 Mindlessly
45 Request during a physical checkup
46 Beginning of many workdays
47 [I don’t care]
50 Onetime division of the Chrysler Corporation
52 Sweatshirt part
53 Finding on Snopes.com
54 “Are you ___?”
57 “Ciao”
59 Manage to detach by hitting
63 Have a quick look-see, say
64 Language of the pre-Roman Empire
65 Some IHOP choices
66 Western villain … or a hint to four answers in this puzzle
1 Spiritual guide
2 “___! ’tis true I have gone here and there” (start of a Shakespeare sonnet)
3 “That so?”
4 Place where plots are hatched
5 The radius runs along it
6 Small
7 Politico who called the press “nattering nabobs of negativism”
8 Incredulous question
Worst in a competition
Can
Animal that shares its name with a king of Thrace in the “Iliad”
Sights along the ChampsÉlysées
Aid for a fugitive
Take another shot at
Burgoo, e.g.
From self-assembling habitats, commercial space stations, and rockets without fuel to the Lunar Gateway to deep space. Through May 23, 2025.
MEMPHIS MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY
continued on page 20
PHOTO: COURTESY DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS Learn about propagating gs with Chris Johnson.
continued from page 19
FOOD AND DRINK
Breakfast with Gorillas
Enjoy breakfast at Primate Canyon, while a primate keeper chats and feeds gorillas and other primates. Saturday, Sept. 14, 9 a.m.
MEMPHIS ZOO
Canoes + Cocktails
A guided sunset paddle on the lake followed by specialty cocktails provided by Old Dominick, snacks from Cheffie’s, yard games, and music. Friday, Sept. 13, 7 p.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market
A weekly outdoor market featuring local farmers (no resellers), artisans, and live music. Saturday, Sept. 14, 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
Dinner & Music Cruise
Come enjoy a two-hour cruise on Ol’ Man River featuring live entertainment and a meal. $50/general admission. Friday, Sept. 13-15, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS RIVERBOATS
Garden Tea Party & Fashion Presentation
Experience a delightful evening of tea, fashion, and fun. Enjoy sweet treats and high-end fashion showcased by models in a charming garden setting. Dress impressively and bring your friends. $80/general admission, $150/VIP admission, $240/umbrella picnic for 2, $300/luxury picnic for 2, $560/luxury picnic for 4, $780/luxury picnic for 6, $960/luxury picnic for 8.
Sunday, Sept. 15, 5 p.m.
JUNIOR LEAGUE OF MEMPHIS
Memphis Farmers Market
A weekly outdoor market featuring local farmers and artisans, live music, and fun activities. Saturday, Sept. 14, 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
MEMPHIS FARMERS MARKET
Spirit of Memphis
Relay
The Spirit of Memphis Relay is back. Employees of local businesses will create a signature cocktail using Old Dominick spirits. Through Oct. 21.
MEMPHIS
HEALTH AND FITNESS
Free Sana Yoga
Find your glow and fuel your soul with free yoga. This all-levels flow class will leave you feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 11-11:45 a.m.
COMEBACK COFFEE
Get Outside! FitnessAdult Yoga
This vinyasa style yoga class is dedicated to creating a balanced mind, body, and spirit. Saturday, Sept. 14, 9 a.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
CALENDAR: SEPTEMBER 12 - 18
Get Outside! FitnessFlow Yoga
A fun, dynamic and creative vinyasa flow class suitable for yogis of all ages. Thursday, Sept. 12, 6 p.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Get Outside! FitnessMat Pilates
A low-impact yet challenging workout that enhances your mind-body connection. Thursday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m. | Tuesday, Sept. 17, 6 p.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Get Outside! FitnessMental Fitness
This class offers a welldeserved break where you will clear your mind through calming breathing and guided meditation. Saturday, Sept. 14, 10:30 a.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Harmony + Flow yoga
Immerse yourself in a rejuvenating, beginner-friendly yoga experience and let nature nurture your mind, body, and spirit. $12. Saturday, Sept. 14, 11 a.m.-noon.
LICHTERMAN NATURE CENTER
Hustle & Flow Pilates
Join instructor Bridget for free Pilates classes at the Sunset Canopy in Tom Lee Park. Monday, Sept. 16, 6-7 p.m.
TOM LEE PARK
Slow Your Roll: Saturday Morning Meditation
Some morning mindfulness, led by the experienced mindfulness educator Greg Graber. Free. Saturday, Sept. 14, 8-8:30 a.m.
CHICKASAW GARDENS PARK
Tai Chi in the Formal Gardens
Join instructor Marjean Liggett for free tai chi lessons featuring gentle moves to strengthen and calm mind, body, and soul. Thursday, Sept. 12, 7:15-8 a.m. | Tuesday, Sept. 17, 7:15-8 a.m.
OVERTON PARK
Taijiquan with Milan Vigil
Led by Milan Vigil, this Chinese martial art promotes relaxation, improves balance, and provides no-impact aerobic benefits. Ages 16 and older. Free. Saturday, Sept. 14, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
The film Mama’s Sundry explores the building of a community of wellness.
Twilight Yoga & Pilates
A full body burn during rotating yoga and Pilates classes at the historic Overton Park Shell. Monday, Sept. 16, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
Yoga
Strengthen your yoga practice and enjoy the health benefits of light exercise with yoga instructor Laura Gray McCann. Free. Thursday, Sept. 12, 6-6:45 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Yoga on the River Candace guides your yoga journey beside the mighty Mississippi. Free. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 6-7 p.m.
RIVER GARDEN
LECTURE
Art History 101: Forms, Materials, and Prehistoric and Ancient Art
A review of the methodologies of art historians, with a survey of the agricultural revolution of the Neolithic age and the emergence of history’s first civilizations, including Egypt. $20. Thursday, Sept. 12, 6-7:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Catalyst for Change: Tackling Prostate Cancer Disparities in Black Men
This forum will bring together individuals from healthcare, academia, private/public business sectors, and the public at large to discuss inequities in cancer care. Monday, Sept. 16, 6 p.m.
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM
Munch and Learn: Pollinators
A presentation by Gail Karr, who is involved with Monarch Watch and Pollinator Partnership organizations and is a member of the Monarch Safe program
for AZA. Wednesday, Sept. 18, noon-1 p.m.
PERFORMING ARTS
30 Days of Opera Opera Memphis singers take their art to various public spaces throughout the city. Thursday, Sept. 12, 2:30 p.m., Crosstown Concourse. | Friday, Sept. 13, 7 p.m., Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center. | Saturday, Sept. 14, 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Cooper-Young Festival. | Sunday, Sept. 15, 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Tom Lee Park. | Monday, Sept. 16, 6 p.m., Overton Park. | Wednesday, Sept. 18, 7:45 p.m., Carriage Crossing.
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
Disco Detective: A ’70s Soulful Murder Mystery
An immersive and interactive dinner theater experience. $75. Sunday, Sept. 15, 3 p.m.
HALLORAN CENTRE FOR PERFORMING ARTS & EDUCATION
“Starlight Cabaret”
Featuring Holly Walnutz, Rebekah Random, Sierra Andrews, “Miss Gay Black Ohio” Tiffany Starr, “Miss Mid-South Pride” Wednesday Moss, and Aubrey Ombre. Saturday, Sept. 14, 9 p.m.
DRU’S PLACE
SPORTS
9/11 Heroes Run
Meet at the Mullins Station Event Field to honor the heroes of 9/11 and the service members who stepped up in the wars that followed. Friday, Sept. 13, 5 p.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Dash and Flash: Race and Climbing Competition
A 5K trail run where competitors must climb as many boulders as they can in two hours. Then a party: DJ, live band, food, and prizes. $35. Saturday, Sept. 14, 9 a.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Morrighan’s Bluff, Amtgard of Memphis
A medieval/fantasy live
Nottage, MJ goes beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star, offering a rare look at the artist’s creative mind and collaborative spirit. “ MJ delivers the thrills!” — New York Times . $39-$189.
Jenna, a skilled pie maker and waitress, finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage and a small town. Encouraged by her unique group of fellow waitresses and devoted customers, Jenna discovers the one thing she’s been lacking — courage. ThursdaysSaturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Through Sept. 15.
action roleplay game. Join the adventure! Saturday, Sept. 14, noon.
W. J. FREEMAN PARK
Open Water Swim Clinics
Get tips, advice, and training from professional swim and triathlon coaches. Sunday, Sept. 15, 6:30 a.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Race the Tour Du Wolf Trail
Trail runs start at 8 a.m., mountain bike races start at 11 a.m. A family-friendly event with fun, food, and drink at the Mid-South’s best endurance venue. Saturday, Sept. 14, 8 a.m.
With themes related to the soap opera genre, The Actor’s Renaissance Theatre invites you to kick off their season with the gripping new stage play, Intimate Cruelty. $25/ GA. Friday, Sept. 13, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Sept. 14, 6:30 p.m. | Sunday, Sept. 15, 3 p.m.
THEATREWORKS ON THE SQUARE
Little Shop of Horrors
The 1982 horror comedy rock musical, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics and a book by Howard Ashman, features a strange and unusual plant that brings much attention to Mushnik’s Flower Shop. Remember, don’t feed the plants. Friday, Sept. 13Sept. 22.
HARRELL THEATRE
MJ
A celebration of Michael Jackson’s unique and unparalleled artistry, this multi Tony Award-winning new musical is centered around the making of the 1992 Dangerous World Tour. Created by Tony Award-winning director/ choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn
PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE
What the Constitution Means to Me
Playwright Heidi Schreck skillfully breathes new life into the U.S. constitution through this innovative play. As a teenager, Schreck won constitutional debate competitions across the country. In this clever, hopeful, and profoundly personal new production, she resurrects her teenage self to delve into the profound ties between four generations of women and the pivotal document that shaped their lives. Friday, Sept. 13-Oct. 6. CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE
William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream Amateur actors rehearsing a play wind up in a forest full of fairies who manipulate the humans with their own intrigue. Fridays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13-20.
NEXT STAGE
TOURS
Haunted Pub Crawl
Visit three local bars for ghost stories, dark history, and tales of the paranormal. Named one of the spookiest ghost tours in the country by House Beautiful magazine. Friday, Sept. 13, 7:30-10 p.m.
THE BROOM CLOSET
Saturdays at Lichterman Nature Center
Join a Lichterman naturalist on a themed guided walk around the property. Themes will be seasonally appropriate including birds, wildflowers, seed collecting (on a “Seed Stroll”), trees, and history. Saturday, Sept. 14, 10:30 a.m.
LICHTERMAN NATURE CENTER
The Original Memphis Brew Bus
The Memphis Brew Bus is a Saturday afternoon trip into the amazing Memphis craft brewing scene. Visit three local breweries for tours, talks with the brewers, and of course beer. $59. Saturday, Sept. 14, 2-5:30 p.m.
THE BROOM CLOSET
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
PHOTO: COURTESY CROSSTOWN ARTS
We Saw You.
with MICHAEL DONAHUE
The Sierra Ferrell concert, held August 31st, was one of the largest concerts so far in the Shell Yeah! Bene t Series at the Overton Park Shell, says Je Hulett, who manages PR and publicity for the Shell.
“ at was a sea of humanity,” Hulett says. “As a fan of the Overton Park Shell, that was one of the biggest shows I ever went to.”
People from the West Coast were among those attending. “ ere were people there from all over the place. I think Sierra Ferrell is about to blow up in a big way. To where we won’t ever get her back to the Overton Park Shell.”
And this wasn’t a free concert. “Overton Park Shell o ers the free concert series, but in order to do the free concert series, we have to do a series of fundraiser shows.”
And, Hulett says, “A lot of people don’t know that producing and putting on a free show costs a lot of money. So we have to nd the funds to keep doing that.
e Overton Park Shell is all about providing for the community.”
About 2,700 attended.
Hell yeah!
above: (le to right) Olivia and Austin Merryman; Sierra Ferrell below: (le to right) Ilaria Pisoni and Will Smith; Lonny and Kelly Clemons; Cam Braden and Kara Spencer
bottom row: (le to right) Grant Vazzano and Sydney Carty; Amber Johnston and Austin Kimpel; Gabe Boyd and Jennings Goode
PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE
We Saw You.
with MICHAEL DONAHUE
The play’s the thing. And so is the award for the play.
About 600 attended the 40th annual Memphis Ostrander Awards show, which was held August 26th at the Orpheum eatre.
Jeff Hulett, who managed publicity for the event, says the local gala celebrates excellence in theater in the Greater Memphis area.
More than 30 awards were given during the ceremony, which included performances by nominees. “Think the Oscars for theater,” Hulett says.
In addition to awards for acting, awards were given for everything from costume design and lighting to best original script, directors, and productions.
Fourteen organizations participated in the Ostranders, which were named in honor of the late actor Jim Ostrander. It began 40 years ago as the Memphis Theater Awards. The name was changed to “Ostrander” in 2001, Hulett says.
and
and Karen Sanders bottom row: (le to right) Eliza Fleming, Michael Panos, and Nolita Palomar; Savannah Bearden, David Parks, and Jane Parks
PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE
above: (le to right) Jude Knight and Debbie Litch; Eli Garrett
Marianne Gebb; Joe Lentini and Patsy Detroit below: (le to right) Sumi Montgomery and William Smythe; Whitney Jo, Michael and Denice Detroit; Linda Morgan, Tramaine Morgan,
FOOD By Michael Donahue
Bend It Like Patrick
Former owner of Rizzo’s Diner opens Magnolia Bend Grille in Nesbit.
hef Michael Patrick thought he was getting out of the restaurant business for good when he locked the door of his restaurant, Rizzo’s Diner, for the last time in March 2022.
Part of the reason for closing, Patrick said in a Memphis Flyer interview at the time, was “labor costs, food costs. And everything is out of whack.”
Well, he changed his mind. A er working at e Capital Grille for twoand-a-half years, Patrick decided he had enough of the corporate life and he wanted to own another restaurant.
He and his wife Angel are opening Magnolia Bend Grille on September 25th at Bonne Terre at 4715 Church Road in Nesbit, Mississippi.
Plus, he wanted to connect with the area a er he moved from Downtown Memphis to Southaven, Mississippi. “Moving to Southaven really opened my eyes to it,” says Patrick, 52. “All I was doing was driving back and forth. I wasn’t really doing anything in my community here. I had become kind of disconnected from Memphis itself. Being a corporate chef, I had never had an opportunity to connect to the area I had just moved to.”
He moved to Southaven last October after living in Downtown Memphis for 25 years. He decided to make the move after he was involved in a hit-and-run car accident. He also discovered Angel didn’t want to go to Kroger after dark. He thought, “I just don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t feel safe.”
“At the end of the day, I’m a meat-andpotatoes guy.” – Michael Patrick
Patrick was approached by the owners of BT Prime Steakhouse to take over their space. It was the restaurant at Bonne Terre, a 28-acre complex in Nesbit, Mississippi, that includes a chapel and the Ashley Hall event space. Patrick thought, “Alright. As soon as my notice is up, I’m going to hit the ground running.”
He and Angel wanted “magnolia,” which is the state ower of Mississippi, in the restaurant’s name, but they couldn’t nd a lot of history about Nesbit. So Patrick looked up
the meaning of the town’s name. “ e word ‘nesbit’ in Scottish means a hook in a nose, a bend in a river, or a bend in the road. Angel came up with ‘Magnolia Bend Grille.’”
e new restaurant is much bigger than the more intimate Rizzo’s. “It’s 3,200 square feet and it seats 72. But the bar has an additional 20, so you’ve got 92 seats.” And they added a patio, which can seat 50 to 60 comfortably.
Patrick didn’t have to add much to the restaurant decor. “ e building and the area itself, to me, is elegant.”
But he wants to make sure the restaurant doesn’t feel stiff. “One thing I was able to do at Rizzo’s for so long was make you feel it’s not a pretentious place. I wanted you to feel comfortable and good when you come into the restaurant. I want to convey the same feeling when you come in Magnolia.”
Menu items “are going to be a little pricey, but what isn’t nowadays? But it’s not going to cost you an arm and a leg.”
The bar menu items will run between $18 and $26, but many of them are shareable. They will include a sausage-and-cheese plate, sliders, and a hamburger at a lower price.”
People can come in and get a
quick bite at the bar and then head over to their event, whether it’s at the nearby Landers Center or BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove. “Come in and get an appetizer and dessert and you’re o to a show.”
Or they can get a “quick sit down” dinner. Entrees will range from $34 to $60.
Patrick will feature his “Southernin uenced” fare — the “same kind of food” people were used to him serving at Rizzo’s. “At the end of the day, I’m a meat-and-potatoes guy.”
He’s not going to feature items like “duck a l’orange with cranberryscented rice,” he says. “I don’t eat that way.”
But he wants diners to get dishes “they can’t get at home. You want to come back and do it again.”
For those used to eating steak at the former steak house, Patrick says, “There’s going to be steaks on our menu.”
ese include an 18-ounce bone-in rib eye. “Hopefully, it’ll be the best $60 rib eye you’ve had that day. But if you want a $34 dish — salmon, the sh and grits, or a half-baked chicken — that option is there, too.”
He’s gotten more experience in the steak area. “Working at e
Capital Grille for two-and-a-half years taught me a little more about handling steaks and cooking steaks. I always had a filet or a lamb on the menu wherever I’ve been. But we’ve got this large grill back there, and to not have a steak on the menu, having that equipment, would be a disservice to the kitchen.”
Some of his popular Rizzo’s Diner items will be back. These include his lobster Pronto Pups, blueberry white-chocolate-chip bread pudding, and his popular hamburger. He’s still considering bringing back his cheeseburger soup. “It was the first soup I learned to cook from scratch at a restaurant when I was 16, 17 years old. It kind of stuck with me.”
And, he says, “It most likely will end up on the menu.”
Summing up Magnolia Bend Grille, Patrick says, “I want people to feel like they’re at a country club when they’re eating with me. And they’re all members of the most exclusive country club in Mississippi for an hour and a half. The area needs a restaurant like this.”
PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE Chef Michael Patrick and wife Angel in Southaven
Manifesting Abundance
Ways to bring in prosperity this harvest season.
In the spiritual world, there are certain topics that are highly popular, and rightly so. Cleansing and protection are among the basics of metaphysical practice and therefore get a lot of attention. Love is another. But money is on people’s minds the most right now.
As we wind down summer and look ahead to autumn, we are entering harvest season. In Wicca and witchcra traditions, August 1st is known as Lughnasadh or Lammas and is considered the rst harvest. e autumnal equinox on September 22nd is known in these traditions as Mabon and is considered the second harvest of the season. ose who work on farms or have gardens are likely preparing to bring in their nal harvest of the year within the next month or so. Harvest also brings us into the season of gratitude and taking stock of what we have.
or right for you. If you are looking for a powerful spell that is easy to use, I o en recommend candles. e longer the candle burns, the more energy is put into the universe on your behalf. You have plenty of options of candle size, so you can nd one that works best for you. Candles are easy because they don’t require a lot of supplies or money, and once you light them the magic is working.
Color psychology plays a big part in manifestation. When manifesting money, you typically want to use colors that remind you of money: green, gold, or silver. But there are always exceptions to the rules. White is also powerful and can be substituted for any other color. And red is a color of re and action. You can use red on any working to speed up the timing of your request. If you need fast money, try red.
When asking for something, it helps to show your gratitude for things you already have.
Even though we are moving into fall, into harvest and gratitude season, that does not mean we stop manifesting. Working with the cycles of nature lends extra energy to our workings, but our manifesting never stops.
Gratitude goes a long way on a spiritual path. I nd that when asking for something, it helps to show your gratitude for things you already have. If you are doing money manifestation work, it may not hurt to tell your guides or the universe that you are grateful for the job or the opportunities you already have. If we show our appreciation for what we have, perhaps the universe will be more generous with us.
ere are many di erent approaches to manifesting abundance and prosperity. Do what feels comfortable
Gemstones are also great to aid in your manifestation work. You can carry them with you or wear them. You can add them to candles, set up crystal grids, or place them in your home. Your money-drawing gemstones are typically going to be those whose colors are green or gold.
Many of your kitchen herbs can work for attracting prosperity. Basil, bay, allspice, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and ginger are all good for this. You can also use chamomile, lavender, ve nger grass, goldenseal, and many others. You can dress your candles with these herbs, add them to a mojo bag, or even use them in your cooking to attract prosperity.
You can use all of these suggestions together to manifest money, or pick and choose. You can add your prosperity gemstones to a mojo bag with moneydrawing herbs to carry with you or place at work. Or you can put them in a jar to create a prosperity jar spell. It is impossible to list all the options here, but you can also use incense or oils to attract money.
Regardless of which method you choose, there is a tool or an aide for everyone. Happy manifesting! Emily Guenther is a co-owner of e Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.
At the Walmart in Eunice, Louisiana, police were called around 3:30 p.m. on June 22 about a group of women who were fighting, KADN-TV reported. They arrested Brionka Benjamin, 38, and her niece, Makatelynn Benjamin, 20, for simple battery, but Brionka got an additional charge: When the fight began, police discovered on surveillance video, she allegedly tossed her baby into a trash can near the entrance to the store so her hands would be free to slug another woman. She was charged with cruelty to juveniles; the baby was unharmed and released to relatives. [KADN, 6/24/2024]
It’s Good to Have a Hobby (Horse)
Some 260 riders from 22 countries showed up to the 11th annual Finnish Hobby Horse Championships in Seinajoki, Finland, on June 15, AFP reported. We could stop right there, but why would we? Hobby horsing involves people riding stick horses through a series of jumps, intricate dressage moves, and Western riding events. While hobby horsing is not recognized as an official sport in Finland, participants take it seriously. “We have faced so much bullying and judgment,” rider Nara Arlin, 24, said. Even so, the sport “is growing every year,” said Julia Mikkonen, chair of the Finnish hobby horse association. She notes the athleticism involved in some of the events: “If you jump over obstacles, your hip mobility has to be absolutely insane,” she said. She estimates there are about 10,000 hobby horsers worldwide. [AFP, 6/26/2024]
News That Sounds Like a Joke
• On June 24 in a federal by-election in Toronto, Canada, candidate FelixAntoine Hamel, 45, made history: He received zero votes. The CBC reported that Hamel was approached by a friend to add his name to the ballot, one of the longest in Canadian history, as part of a protest against Canada’s electoral system. “Well, I am the true unity candidate,” Hamel said. “Everyone agrees not to vote for me.” Hamel couldn’t even vote for himself, as he is from Montreal, not Toronto. “I’m one of the last people that would be expected to make Canadian history in any way,” the musician said. [CBC, 6/27/2024]
• Jillian Uygun, 22, of Seminole, Florida, just wanted a cuddle from her boyfriend on June 29, The Smoking Gun reported. But when he refused her, they argued about the “victim’s disinterest,” police said. The next morning, Uygun repeatedly tried to snuggle with the boyfriend — then allegedly took it up a notch, grabbing his chest hair, scratching his face, biting him on the forehead, and breaking his phone. She was arrested for domestic battery, and a judge ordered her to have no contact with her cuddle-resistant boyfriend.
[Smoking Gun, 7/1/2024]
Saw That Coming
Awesome!
Fans of 1960s kitschy TV show Batman will not be surprised to learn that trusty sidekick Robin (also known as Burt Ward) has received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for rescuing more than 15,000 pets. WTOP-TV reported on June 26 that at the same ceremony, Ward and his wife received the United Nations Association of the United States of America Humanitarian Award for their work saving 45 different breeds of dogs. The former Boy Wonder said he and his wife “want to leave this planet better off than when we found it.” (We must have missed the episode when Robin found Earth.)
Rolling Stone reported on July 2 that prolific baby daddy and host of The Masked Singer Nick Cannon has recently insured his “most valuable assets” for $10 million. “You hear about, like, all these different celebrities insuring their legs … so I was like, ‘Hey, well, I got to insure my most valuable body part,’” Cannon said. Even better, the “Ball-to-Ball” policy was taken out with Dr. Squatch, a men’s grooming company that invites users to find the “value of their balls.” The father of 12 (with five different mamas) said he’s “doubling down on … my future kids.”
[Rolling Stone, 7/2/2024]
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ARIES (March 21-April 19): One of the longest bridges in the world is the 24-mile-long Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana. During one eight-mile stretch, as it crosses Lake Pontchartrain, travelers can’t see land. That freaks out some of them. You might be experiencing a metaphorically similar passage these days, Aries. As you journey from one mode to the next, you may lose sight of familiar terrain for a while. My advice: Have faith, gaze straight ahead, and keep going.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): My horoscopes don’t necessarily answer questions that are foremost in your awareness. This might annoy you. But consider this: My horoscopes may nevertheless nudge you in unexpected directions that eventually lead you, in seemingly roundabout ways, to useful answers. The riddles I offer may stir you to gather novel experiences you didn’t realize you needed. Keep this in mind, Taurus, while reading the following: In the coming weeks, you can attract minor miracles and fun breakthroughs if you treat your life as an art project. I urge you to fully activate your imagination and ingenuity as you work on the creative masterpiece that is YOU.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The Gemini musician known as Prince got an early start on his vocation. At age 7, he wrote “Funk Machine,” his first song. Have you thought recently about how the passions of your adult life first appeared in childhood? Now is an excellent time to ruminate on this and related subjects. Why? Because you are primed to discover forgotten feelings and events that could inspire you going forward. To nurture the future, draw on the past.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): You are lucky to have an opposable thumb on each of your hands. You’re not as lucky as koala bears, however, which have two opposable thumbs on each hand. But in the coming weeks, you may sometimes feel like you have extra thumbs, at least metaphorically. I suspect you will be extra dexterous and nimble in every way, including mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. You could accomplish wonders of agility. You and your sexy soul may be extra supple, lithe, and flexible. These superpowers will serve you well if you decide to improvise and experiment, which I hope you will.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The internet is filled with wise quotes that are wrongly attributed. Among those frequently cited as saying words they didn’t actually say, Buddha is at the top of the list. There are so many fraudulent Buddha quotes in circulation that there’s a website devoted to tracking them down: fakebuddhaquotes.com. Here’s an example. The following statement was articulated not by Buddha but by English
novelist William Makepeace Thackeray: “The world is a looking glass. It gives back to every man a true reflection of his own thoughts.” I bring these thoughts to your attention, Leo, because it’s a crucial time for you to be dedicated to truth and accuracy. You will gain power by uncovering deceptions, shams, and misrepresentations. Be a beacon of authenticity!
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Mythically speaking, I envision a death and rebirth in your future. The death won’t be literal; neither you nor anyone you love will travel to the other side of the veil. Rather, I foresee the demise of a hope, the finale of a storyline, or the loss of a possibility. Feeling sad might temporarily be the right thing to do, but I want you to know that this ending will ultimately lead to a fresh beginning. In fact, the new blooms ahead wouldn’t be possible without the expiration of the old ways. The novel resources that arrive will come only because an old resource has faded.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Did you ever have roommates who stole your credit card and used it to buy gifts for themselves? Does your history include a friend or loved one who told you a lie that turned out to be hurtful? Did you ever get cheated on by a lover you trusted? If anything like this has happened to you, I suspect you will soon get a karmic recompense. An atonement will unfold. A reparation will come your way. A wrong will be righted. A loss will be indemnified. My advice is to welcome the redress graciously. Use it to dissolve your resentments and retire uncomfortable parts of your past.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): One of my oldest friends is Sagittarius-born Jeffrey Brown. We had rowdy fun together in our twenties. We were mad poets who loved to party. But while I went on to become an unruly rock-and-roll musician, experimental novelist, and iconoclastic astrologer, Brown worked hard to become a highly respected, awardwinning journalist for the PBS Newshour, a major American TV show. Among his many successes: He has brought in-depth coverage of poetry and art to mainstream TV. How did he manage to pull off such an unlikely coup? I think it’s because he channeled his wildness into disciplined expression; he converted his raw passions into practical power; he honed and refined his creativity so it wielded great clout. In the coming months, dear Sagittarius, I urge you to make him one of your inspirational role models.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Let’s hypothesize that you will be alive, alert, and active on your hundredth birthday. If that joyous event comes to pass, you may have strong ideas about why you have achieved
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Peregrine falcons can move at a speed of 242 miles per hour. Mexican free-tailed bats reach 100 miles per hour, and black marlin fish go 80 mph. These animals are your spirit creatures in the coming weeks, Virgo. Although you can’t literally travel that fast (unless you’re on a jet), I am confident you can make metaphorical progress at a rapid rate. Your ability to transition into the next chapter of your life story will be at a peak. You will have a robust power to change, shift, and develop.
such marvelous longevity. I invite you to imagine what you will tell people on that momentous occasion. Which practices, feelings, and attitudes will have turned you into such a vigorous example of a strong human life? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to meditate on these matters. It will also be a favorable phase to explore new practices, feelings, and attitudes that will prolong your satisfying time here on planet Earth.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Few Americans are more famous than George Washington. He was a top military leader in the Revolutionary War before he became the country’s first president. George had a half-brother named Lawrence, who was 16 years older. Virtually no one knows about him now, but during his life, he was a renowned landowner, soldier, and politician. Historians say that his political influence was crucial in George’s rise to power. Is there anyone remotely comparable to Lawrence Washington in your life, Aquarius? Someone who is your advocate? Who works behind the scenes on your behalf? If not, go searching for them. The astrological omens say your chances are better than usual of finding such champions. If there are people like that, ask them for a special favor.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Over 15 centuries ago, Christian monks decided Fridays were unlucky. Why? Because they were the special day of the pagan Goddess Freya. Friday the 13th was extra afflicted, they believed, because it combined a supposedly evil number with the inauspicious day. And how did they get their opinion that 13 was malevolent? Because it was the holy number of the Goddess and her 13-month lunar calendar. I mention this because a Friday the 13th is now upon us. If you are afraid of the things Christian monks once feared, this could be a difficult time. But if you celebrate radical empathy, ingenious intimacy, playful eros, and fertile intuition, you will be awash in good fortune. That’s what the astrological omens tell me.
FILM By Chris McCoy
October Country
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice tries to recapture Tim Burton’s dark magic.
F
lappers, greasers, beatniks, hippies, punks, yuppies, and new wavers have all come and gone. But for some reason, goths endure. What is it about the oridly morose aesthetic that still compels kids and adults (excuse me, “elder goths”) to wear black and walk by night? Some say Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, the rst novel that is unambiguously science ction, was also the rst goth chick. It’s hard to beat her commitment to the bit: She lost her virginity on her mother’s grave and kept her dead husband’s heart in a jar on her desk. e modern goth package started to come together in the post-punk era of 1979, with Peter Murphy’s plaintive wail on Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi Is Dead.” Siouxsie Sioux, one of the Sex Pistols’ Bromley Contingent, adopted the fright wig haircut and turned out songs like “Halloween” and “Spellbound” with her band, the Banshees. Her sometimes guitarist Robert Smith made depression sound fun (or at least cool) with the Cure.
In 1986, Siouxsie and the Banshees hit it big on U.S. college radio with “Cities in Dust,” a song about wandering through the ruins of Pompeii. Two years later, Winona Ryder copped her look for Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice. Ryder came by it honestly. At the time Tim Burton cast her as the girl who could see ghosts, she was a 16-year-old daughter of bohemian parents, who had raised her on a commune. LSD pioneer Timothy Leary was her godfather. When the literatureobsessed teen was introduced into a conventional California high school, she was relentlessly bullied by the popular girls, and retreated into theater. e combination of wide-eyed innocence and cynical angst she brought to the role of Lydia felt real because it was real.
When she signed on as the mom in Stranger ings, her only request was that they had to make room in her shooting schedule if the long-awaited Beetlejuice sequel happened. And now, a er many stops and starts, it has.
Beetlejuice was an unexpected hit. It was only Tim Burton’s second movie, a er the rollicking Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, but his goth aesthetic was already fully formed. It was a manic free association of Hammer horror lms and carnival fun-house craziness. Ryder would get goth with him again, opposite her real-life boyfriend Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands, and further burnished her goth bona des as the outsider anti-hero in Heathers and as Mina Harker, for whom Gary Oldman “crossed oceans of time” in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. She proved herself to be one of Gen X’s best actors throughout the 1990s by stealing the show in Little Women and Night on Earth.
But Ryder, and everyone else, always had a so spot for Lydia the proto-goth.
Like its predecessor, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a glorious mess of a lm. I’ve been rhapsodizing about Winona’s return to the black, but Michael Freakin’ Keaton is also back as the ghost with the most. He’s still stuck in the a erlife, but he’s moved up in the netherworld, now commanding an o ce full of freelance bio-exorcist ghosts and ghouls. On his desk is a picture of the one who got away, Lydia. But while he’s living his best a erlife, his exwife Delores (Monica Bellucci) reappears and starts re-murdering ghosts. is attracts the attention of ghost detective Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe).
Meanwhile, on the prime material plane, Lydia has committed the worst Gen-X sin: She’s sold out. She uses her supernatural detection talent as the host of Ghost House with Lydia Deetz. But while she’s taping the latest episode, she sees Beetlejuice, the only thing that ever really scared her, in the audience, and storms o the set. Her boyfriend Rory
(Justin eroux) is also her show’s producer, and their relationship is troubled and uneven. “ is is the last time I dig pills out of the trash for you!” he gripes, knowing full well he will do it again. Her rst husband Richard (Santiago Cabrera) disappeared on a research trip to the Amazon, and their daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) is parked at a swank boarding school, where she’s relentlessly bullied by the popular girls. She’s there because her grandma Delia (Catherine O’Hara) made a big donation to the art school.
One of the cool things about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is that the characters have actually grown and changed in the years that have passed. Lydia’s taken the coolteen-to-troubled-adult pipeline, familiar to many Gen-Xers. Delia was a hopeless dilettante artist in the rst lm. Now, she’s got a huge gallery show in New York alongside the “Picasso of gra ti art.” While she’s still a raging narcissist, her
art’s pretty good now. Astrid, like Lydia before her, sees right through the adults’ carefully constructed facades, and kinda hates them for it.
e plot of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is episodic and scattered. Burton’s visual sense remains impeccable, but he still misses the level of writers he had for Batman Returns and Ed Wood. What saves the lm is its sheer exuberance. Michael Keaton is 72, but his manic energy is still intact. Ryder lets a little of the old Lydia peek out from beneath her exasperated mom routine. e whipsmart Ortega is a worthy successor to Ryder’s e ortless intensity.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice never quite recaptures the original’s dark magic, but you’ll be having too much fun to care.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Now playing Multiple locations
(top) Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, and Justin eroux as the Deetz family; (le ) Ryder and Micheal Keaton reunite in their roles a er 36 years.
Our critic picks the best films in theaters. The Killer’s Game
Dave Bautista stars as Joe Flood, a professional assassin diagnosed with a terminal illness. Unwilling to waste away, he decides to take out a contract on himself. But then his doctor informs him that his diagnosis was in error. Joe must now fight off his fellow assassins who he himself ordered. Also starring Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Scott Adkins, and Ben Kingsley.
Speak No Evil
Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and Ben Dalton (Scoot McNairy) take their daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) on an idyllic holiday in a rustic country house. The house’s owners Paddy (James McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) are welcoming at first.
But then cracks appear in their friendly facade, as their son Ant (Dan Hough) exhibits strange behavior. Soon the Daltons are fearing for their lives, but Paddy won’t let them leave. This Blumhouse production is a remake of a 2022 Danish horror hit.
“Mama’s Sundry”
The Crosstown Arts Film Series presents a new short documentary by Memphis directors Brody Kuhar and Joshua Cannon. Memphis musician Talibah Safiya and her husband Bertram Williams have created a community garden program in the South Memphis neighborhood. The film documents their impact and the challenges of maintaining urban agriculture. The film will be followed by a panel discussion led by Tom Shadyac. See it Thursday, September 12th, at 7 p.m. at Crosstown Theater.
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William Smythe
Letter to ‘The Tenant’
A note to my homeless neighbor.
I was walking home from Walgreens on the night before my birthday. I had just gone out with some friends to celebrate since I had to work on my actual birthday — a sad a air. But who can a ord to miss any time at work nowadays? Plus, with my rent coming up, I especially needed all the time I could get. is morning, my building sent me a payment reminder, so the amount of $815 rang around in my head. I can thankfully a ord it, but it’s been with some sacri ces here and there. Tonight was a rare occurrence for me. Usually I just stay inside and eat ramen on my weekends.
at’s when I saw you, huddled underneath the abandoned lawyer’s o ce awning. You and your girlfriend are sitting there with a lighter between the two of you. A blanket sancti es your union. Next door, at the building where Lucyja Hygge used to be (before they got priced out), you both have set up another sort of home-ish situation. e patio is strewn with bed sheets, bottles, and a hot plate. ere used to be chairs, but they’re gone now.
Before Lucyja Hygge was here, this building had been an artist’s studio. e artist himself lived in the back part. When I was younger, I had hooked up with him. But that’s another story for another time. It is unrelated to you. Here is our history as I remember it.
During Covid’s rst winter, you set up shelter at my workplace. e shelter was elaborate, cra ed with pure intention to keep out the cold. Blankets draped across a table. A comforter hooked onto a chair. You created a den of warmth with these simple discarded items. is lighter you hold now is a mere specter of what you once had. To what myself and others had to deconstruct and disassemble each week.
We weren’t open weekdays, just weekends. So, for a bit, we all lived in a sort of silent communion. We le you alone and you usually le us alone. Everyone was always apprehensive to ruin what you had made in the night. But we called you e Tenant in jest. We still call you e Tenant when you come in. When you do, all of us take turns telling you to leave the building. I feel like a traitor every time it’s my turn. Especially since I know your name now. It’s Gray. And I say your name when I tell you you can’t stay here. Hopefully it’s a kind enough gesture.
ere’s another history with us that extends deeper than Covid though. A time before we all had to stay con ned and separate and survive as best as we could. It didn’t occur to me until I got home and began writing this letter. You used to be a customer. I remember you now. I even defended you once, I think. You had a schizophrenic attack a er your movie. is was back when we took cash. And that’s all you had: cash. I don’t remember the movie. It was probably any popcorn ick that anyone would go to. A Marvel movie maybe. Could have been Fast & Furious
But this is what I remember. A lady walked up to me and said you were mumbling. She seemed frightened, so I reassured her you were harmless. at you come here all the time and don’t ever cause trouble. It seems though, trouble loves to nd you. Who were you talking to that night, I wonder? Who did you see? What strange dreams plagued you then and plague you still?
It’s four or ve years later now. Here you are in a new home, this abandoned rats’ alley between my apartment and the Walgreens. We’re neighbors. We’ve been neighbors. You once nodded to me in camaraderie as we passed each other by, a morning salutation with whatever drink you managed to scrounge up and hold fast to.
is is to say, I hope you stay warm and I hope you stay safe. Even if it means just a lighter and another warm body beside you, two souls who know the anger of this new world and its rising, deafening tone. I’m glad you have a companion with you to hold your hand when those demons come for you again, even if it’s in the elements.
Besides, isn’t that all any of us want at the end of the day, anyway? Another body, another soul, someone to say, “You are okay and we are safe,” even if that may not be true.
As I nish this letter, I remind myself that rent is due on the 5th. And I’d better pay it.
William Smythe is a local writer and poet. He writes for Focus MidSouth, an LGBT+ magazine.
PHOTO: WIRESTOCK | DREAMSTIME.COM Sharing a lighter to keep out the cold.
