Issuu

RYAN SILVERFIELD ERA ENDS P7

BOBBY RUSH AT FIRST CONGO P18

STOCKING STUFFER STOPS P31

Winter Arts Guide

WITH EXHIBITS, PLAYS, MUSICALS, AND EXPERIENCES, IT’S ONCE AGAIN TIME TO CELEBRATE THE ARTS.

Winter Arts Guide

With

PHOTO: TOPS GALLERY

SHARA CLARK Editor-in-Chief

ABIGAIL MORICI Managing Editor

JACKSON BAKER, BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Senior Editors

TOBY SELLS

Associate Editor

KAILYNN JOHNSON News Reporter

CHRIS MCCOY Film and TV Editor

ALEX GREENE Music Editor

MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS Staff Writers

JESSE DAVIS, EMILY GUENTHER, COCO JUNE, AJ KRATZ, PATRICIA LOCKHART, FRANK MURTAUGH, KATIE STEPHENSON Contributing Columnists

SHARON BROWN, AIMEE STIEGEMEYER Grizzlies Reporters

CARRIE BEASLEY Senior Art Director

CHRISTOPHER MYERS

Advertising Art Director

NEIL WILLIAMS Graphic Designer

KELLI DEWITT, CHIP GOOGE, SHAUNE MCGHEE Senior Account Executives

CHET HASTINGS

Warehouse and Delivery Manager

JANICE GRISSOM ELLISON, KAREN MILAM, DON MYNATT, TAMMY NASH, RANDY ROTZ, LEWIS TAYLOR, WILLIAM WIDEMAN Distribution

KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher

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Norse Winter Rites

Use

Stocking Stuffer Stops

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THE fly-by

{WEEK THAT WAS

By Flyer staff

Memphis on the internet.

THAT TIME OF YEAR

e holiday season does not begin in Memphis until 104.5 e River starts playing holiday hits nonstop. Consider it begun.

RAMPAGE TURKEYS

Rampage Jackson was live on YouTube in Memphis last weekend. e Memphis mixed martial arts ghter and actor hosted a anksgiving event in which he gave away 1,000 turkeys.

In another wholesome Memphis turn, Jackson went live two days later in a video titled, “I Took My Dad to the Zoo.”

MARKETPLACE GIFTS

We’re going to scour Facebook Marketplace for the best gi s this season. Consider it our gi to you. First up is this simple, vintage Tshirt. It depicts the Memphis skyline and reads: “I’m from Memphis. Of course I’ve never been to Graceland.” Only $25.

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

Wetlands, ICE, & ‘Clean Cloud’

Nonpro ts protect 768 acres, deportations at tra c court rise, and air regulations for data centers.

WETLANDS PRESERVED

A 768-acre swath of wetlands east of Collierville was purchased for conservation by the Wolf River Conservancy (WRC) and Ducks Unlimited Inc. (DU) last week.

e land lies in the recharge zone for the Memphis Sand Aquifer. Protecting these areas is important to resupply the groundwater Mid-South communities rely on for commercial, agricultural, and residential uses.

e new land purchase connects two other pieces of property already protected as wildlife management areas by the state of Tennessee. is newly connected property now includes 5,800 acres. ose acres include wetlands, wildlife habitat, and acreage available for outdoor recreation, including 14 miles of the Wolf River, which will be protected.

ICE TARGETS TRAFFIC COURTS

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been targeting Tennessee’s tra c courts to round up those without legal status.

People will get tra c tickets, largely for driving without a license, and show up to court. Once they plead guilty to charges and pay their nes, they are escorted to ICE vans and presumably taken to detention facilities.

e move comes a er the Trump administration ended a policy in January limiting immigration arrests in state and county courts. In May, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons issued a memo citing advantages of making arrests inside civil and criminal court buildings that have already screened for weapons.

Since then, reports of immigration detentions in courthouses around the country have increased, even as some Democratic-led states have challenged them. e Marshall Project reported that the monthly number of people deported whose most serious o ense was a tra c violation more than tripled in the rst six months of this year.

SCHOOL VOUCHER LAWSUIT

A group of parents sued Governor Bill Lee and state education leaders over Tennessee’s new voucher law last week, alleging the program violates the state constitution by

diverting public funds to private schools.

e lawsuit marks the rst legal challenge to the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, a signature initiative pushed by Lee that provided $7,295 in public tax dollars to 20,000 students this fall.

CLEANING UP THE CLOUD

New emission standards could come for data centers and crypto currency miners with federal legislation led recently by U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN9).

A 2023 congressional study found that data center energy use alone in 2023 (not accounting for cryptocurrency) was approximately 176 terawatt-hours (TWh). at was about 4.4 percent of U.S. annual electricity consumption that year, according to a report by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

at report said data center energy consumption could double or triple by 2028, accounting for up to 12 percent of U.S. electricity use. Power usage by cryptominers is not known. Attempts to collect information on the cryptomining industry in the U.S. have been stymied by companies, according to the congressional report.

e “Clean Cloud Act” would establish an air emissions baseline for these high-demand energy users. e law would require a new annual report showing all of the country’s data centers and crypto mines.

Chalkbeat TN and Tennessee Lookout contributed to this report.

Visit the News Blog at memphis yer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.

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PHOTO: COURTESY WOLF RIVER CONSERVANCY

A 768-acre swath of wetlands east of Collierville was purchased for conservation.

AI Road Map {

STATE WATCH

By Toby Sells

A state advisory council believes “the time to act is now” to harness and regulate artificial intelligence in Tennessee.

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to emerge, state officials want to stoke its potential in Tennessee while establishing guardrails for innovation and privacy for citizens.

This is the basic idea laid forth in the state’s first AI road map. The report is from the state’s AI Advisory Council, which has been meeting regularly on the topic for months. The group says its action plan is a “comprehensive road map for ensuring the responsible, transparent, and effective use of AI across state government, education, and industry.” The group also says “the time to act is now.”

“Tennessee’s values of integrity, transparency, and fiscal responsibility make innovation possible without compromising public trust,” said Jim Bryson, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance & Administration and co-chair of the Tennessee AI Advisory Council. “This plan ensures that every Tennessean benefits from the opportunities AI brings.”

The report found that AI is already having an impact on Tennessee’s labor market, especially in jobs involving writing, data, and analysis. The report said, “How fast and how well workers adapt will determine outcomes.” For this, the council recommended the creation of a new “AI & Work” dashboard to track how the new technology is affecting the state’s labor market.

The group also said the state would open hiring and contracting to include those with micro-credentials and skills, not just college degrees. It listed the “AI for All” minor at the University of Memphis as an example.

AI impacts all major industries and job titles, the report said, and listed things like hospitals using the tech to summarize medical notes as an example. For this, the council suggested expanding other credentials for secondary education to include courses like Google AI Essentials.

Furthermore, the council said, the University of Tennessee should harness the Center for Artificial Intelligence

“This plan ensures that every Tennessean benefits from the opportunities AI brings.”

Security Research at Oak Ridge National Laboratories to research industry sector challenges, like improving rural health access. It also said K-12 districts should include AI in the classroom, under guidance from the U.S. Department of Education.

The council suggested the state should use AI to stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and enhance talent development. They suggested new incentives for AI-focused business relocations, more AI training throughout the state, and even a marketing campaign, called “Build with AI in Tennessee,” to attract talent and companies.

The council wants to do all of this in a measured, ethical way that also

protects the rights of Tennesseans, the report said. The group warned against regulating the industry too much while supporting its growth here, saying new AI laws should align with existing state and federal frameworks on things like privacy, intellectual property, and free speech; and when laws are passed, courts should be allowed to interpret them before new rules are made.

For all of this, the council advised a “test-learn-scale” approach using pilot projects. Results of future projects are likely to appear in the council’s annual reports, due to the Tennessee General Assembly each year until 2028.

The report is important as it signals that the use of AI is off the sidelines and will soon be woven into the many facets of running the state.

“We are moving from planning to action,” said Kristin Darby, co-chair of the council and chief information officer for the state of Tennessee. “Tennessee’s approach will balance innovation with oversight that accelerates progress while protecting citizen rights and privacy.”

SPORTS By Frank Murtaugh

Era Over

Ryan Silver eld departs Memphis for Arkansas.

There will never be an era of University of Memphis football quite like the one we witnessed under head coach Ryan Silver eld. Just consider how Silver eld’s Tiger tenure began (on the sideline for the biggest game in program history, the 2019 Cotton Bowl) and ended (moving 300 miles west to take over an Arkansas program in the mighty SEC). e Cotton Bowl gig was a gi from Silver eld’s predecessor, Mike Norvell, as the latter chose to depart for Florida State. But taking charge at one of the 16 programs in the country’s greatest football conference? Such a stride up the college football career ladder was not so much as a thought bubble for the likes of Chuck Stobart, Rip Scherer, or Tommy West. Ryan Silver eld made about as much out of six years in blue and gray as he possibly could.

Silver eld is the only coach in Memphis history to have as many as three bowl wins (his teams won four). He is the only coach in Memphis history

to have two 10-win seasons. He’s the third coach to win 50 games at Memphis and he lost only 24. Again, look at the records of his predecessors over the last half-century and tell me how dreadful it is that Memphis didn’t win a conference title on Silver eld’s watch.

And the Tigers have played fun football. Were it not for a missed chipshot of a eld goal attempt on anksgiving against Navy, the Tigers’ streak of 20-point games would now be at 52. In 24 games under Larry Porter (201011), Memphis scored 20 points seven times. anks also to the astounding work of Justin Fuente (2012-15) and Mike Norvell (2016-19), Memphis football has enjoyed 12 years without a losing season. Remember the elation when the Tigers beat mighty Tennessee in 1996? at was in the middle of an eight-year stretch without a winning season.

As Memphis athletic director Ed Scott considers the biggest hire of his career, we also need to remember that

HERE COMES SANTA

SATURDAYS IN DECEMBER | 6PM – 10PM

Ryan Silver eld took over the Tiger program when “NIL” was merely a soccer score. Silver eld’s successor will be required to nd and attract talented players, sure, but he’ll also need to make the most of name/image/likeness funds in a world where American Conference teams are in a di erent party suite from the four “power” leagues.

e 2025 Tiger roster has included more than 70 transfers, and this should encourage those concerned about a transition hiccup for the program.

ere is time (starting yesterday) to build a Division I football roster, but it will take a di erent set of skills than those Silver eld developed prior to his days in Memphis.

e 2025 season was not Silver eld’s best. A 6-0 start (including a win over Arkansas) had Memphis in the conversation for the College Football Playo ’s lone slot for non-power-league teams.

But then the second half was littered with ugly losses: at UAB and worse, home losses to Tulane and Navy. e Tigers were within a touchdown in three of their losses, making the pain that much more acute. Another 10-win season was within reach, if not quite a major bowl game.

Back to Ed Scott and the single most important hire for the future of U of M athletics. Last summer, Scott leaned in during an interview and emphasized his top priority this year was to help Silver eld and the football program win a conference championship. He also leaned in to emphasize the competitor he remains (since his baseball playing days). My guess is the Memphis AD leans in to this decision, knowing a renovated football stadium means little if the team on the eld isn’t competing for championships and, ultimately, a slot in one of those power leagues. e mission is clear: Make the Ryan Silver eld era a prelude to the greatest in Tiger football history.

PHOTO: WES HALE

Ryan Silver eld

Web of Deceit

he spider was gray and fuzzy, less than an inch long. He was nestled near the front door, resting quietly, oblivious to my presence. He would have been easy to kill, a quick crunch under my boot, a small life snu ed, one of the billions of deaths occurring among God’s earthly creatures on this cool December morning. A er the deed was done, I could move on with my own more important life and not think of it again.

Except, I did what I usually do with harmless-looking bugs and spiders: I lightly pinched it with a Kleenex and deposited it outside, this time on the mulch surrounding a rhododendron. Godspeed, little critter, I thought. Go do spider stu .

Some part of me believes it’s good karma to rescue a spider going innocently about its short life. Some part of me ignores the fact that I will kill a mosquito without an iota of regret, with relish even. When it comes to insects, I am the omnipotent decider of who’s worthy of life and who is not. Sometimes in these moments, I imagine that in some iteration of the universe, maybe on a distant planet inhabited by impossibly massive creatures, we humans are observed from afar and seen as tiny disposable inhabitants of a tiny planet, like ants on a peony bud.

(UCMJ). Among those is the rule that service members are required to disobey “manifestly illegal” orders, meaning those that direct the commission of a crime or violate the Constitution, U.S. law, or international law. ese would include intentionally harming civilians, torturing prisoners, or killing wounded enemy combatants. “Just following orders” is not a defense, and hasn’t been since the Nuremberg Nazi trials a er World War II.

We humans are taught to value the lives of our fellow humans. It’s a teaching put forth by all the world’s major religions. Christianity and Judaism believe that humans are created in the image of God and therefore life is sacred. Islam says God is the creator and that all of his creations are sacred. Buddhism and Hinduism teach against killing or harming any living thing.

“ ou shalt not kill” is a pretty de nitive and universal scripture. Sadly, it’s one that humans throughout history have too o en ignored, which is why we have laws to punish those who kill another person — unless it’s in self-defense or in wartime. And even in wartime, there are codes of conduct. ey are o cially known as international humanitarian law (IHL), set forth under the Geneva Conventions, which protect civilians from direct attack and declare that prisoners must be treated humanely.

Additionally, the United States military has its own rules for conduct under the Uniform Code of Military Justice

e UCMJ has been much in the news lately, principally because six Democratic lawmakers posted a video reminding U.S. service members of the code’s prohibition against following illegal orders. is followed reporting from e Washington Post that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had given standing orders to “kill them all” in regard to the strikes on alleged drug boats. When an initial boat attack on September 2nd le two wounded men clinging to burning wreckage, Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, then head of Joint Special Operations Command, watched them on the drone feed and then ordered a second strike. He was just following Hegseth’s illegal orders. e men in the water were blown apart. e Trump administration’s rationale for bombing people in boats in international waters is that the United States is “at war” with drug cartels. It is an absurd claim, one that legal experts and members of Congress, including an increasing number of Republicans, are beginning to question. And even if we accept the ludicrous premise that we are “at war,” killing wounded enemy combatants is a war crime. So, at best, this administration is committing war crimes. At worst, it’s serially murdering people on the high seas — 80 of them, so far. ere is no third option. ink of it: A U.S. admiral was shown video of two men clinging to a shattered boat in the middle of the ocean. He could have sent someone to capture them and treat them as “prisoners of war,” as is required by the Universal Code of Military Justice. ey posed no threat, unless it was the possibility that if it turned out they weren’t drug dealers, the entire rationale for this murderous clown show would fall apart. at couldn’t be allowed to happen, so he and Hegseth squashed them like bugs.

PHOTO: WAR.GOV Pete Hegseth

Easing Into It

Rethinking the traditional retirement timeline.

F

or generations, retirement typically involved circling a date on the calendar during a worker’s 65th year, eating some cake at a retirement party, then putting work aside to relax throughout the last chapter of life, supported by Social Security and a generous pension.

Today, this scenario is much less common, as most people no longer have a pension to rely on, which means they may not have built up enough retirement savings to last. However, even for highnet-worth individuals, the idea of fully retiring may not be appealing.

If you find yourself nearing retirement age but aren’t yet ready to leave your career altogether, it may make sense to consider an alternative retirement timeline. Following are a few examples of how to make a gradual transition to retirement.

1. Phased retirement

Phased retirement refers to a gradual transition from full-time work to retirement, which has benefits for both the employee and the employer. Benefits of a phased retirement include:

• Continued pay and benefits — Phased retirement options can be a great way to continue earning a partial salary and certain benefits.

• Flexibility — Phased retirement offers flexibility to begin enjoying the slower pace of retirement while also remaining mentally engaged in the workforce. There are many different ways to approach a phased retirement plan, which gives both the employer and the employee flexibility to design a work schedule that meets their needs.

• Employer benefits — Phased retirement allows employers to continue benefiting from experienced employees’ skills and expertise at reduced labor costs. It also provides the employer with an opportunity to train replacement employees to eventually step into the vacated role.

2. Sabbaticals

Sabbaticals are extended breaks from work that give you an opportunity to explore your interests without fully leaving your career. They can be a great way to take extended time off work to try out different retirement scenarios and gradually transition away from the workforce. Benefits of taking a sabbatical include:

• Trial retirement — Taking an extended sabbatical allows you to test drive retirement to determine your likes and dislikes and formulate a plan for how you want your real retirement to look. Sab-

baticals also give you an opportunity to structure your days as you would during your actual retirement. Are you engaged and fulfilled, or do you feel lonely and isolated? Use this time as an opportunity to consider what changes you’ll want to make to your daily routines and activities to be content in retirement.

• Hobby/interest exploration — A sabbatical can be a great opportunity to try out new hobbies and interests you may want to pursue in retirement. For example, have you always wanted to take up pickleball? Try playing a few times a week to make sure you enjoy it. If you love it, you can incorporate it into your retirement plans. If not, keep trying new hobbies until you find a few that stick.

• Reduced career burnout — Sabbaticals can be a great opportunity to rest and recharge from the demands of a busy career. Taking time away from the office allows you to return reenergized and ready to tackle your responsibilities, which can lead to increased productivity and career satisfaction.

3. Post-career gap year

Similar to a sabbatical, a post-career gap year can provide an opportunity for personal growth, allow you to explore different hobbies and interests, and help you formulate a plan for how to structure your retirement. If you’re unsure whether you’re ready to fully retire, a gap year can be a great way to gain perspective.

If you’re interested in a new career or considering starting a business, a gap year can give you the freedom and flexibility to try out a few options, build necessary skills, develop a business plan, etc. This commentary is provided for general information purposes only, should not be construed as investment, tax, or legal advice, and does not constitute an attorney/ client relationship. Past performance of any market results is no assurance of future performance. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.

AJ Kratz, CFA, CFP, is a Private Wealth Manager and Partner with Creative Planning. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest registered investment advisory firms, providing comprehensive wealth management services to help align all elements of a client’s financial life, including investments, taxes, estate planning, and risk management. For more information, or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit creativeplanning.com.

Winter Arts Guide

WITH EXHIBITS, PLAYS, MUSICALS, AND

EXPERIENCES,

IT’S ONCE AGAIN TIME TO CELEBRATE THE ARTS.

Last year, we told you about the arts, but by the very next day, we didn’t know what you did with it. is year, to save you from tears, we’ve made you something special: the Winter Arts Guide. Let it be your guiding light for the exhibitions, plays, musicals, and more that ought to be on your radar this winter.

ON DISPLAY

“Concomitant”

Jared Small’s solo exhibition.

David Lusk Gallery, through Dec. 20

“Mary K VanGieson: Chasing the Ephemeral”

Prints, sculptures, and installations using alternative materials.

Dixon Gallery & Gardens, through Jan. 4

“Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South”

Illuminating the processes and practices of Black Southern quilters.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, through Jan. 4

“Time Is a Hearer”

Paintings by Sean Latif Heiser.

Beverly and Sam Ross Gallery, through Jan. 9

“Ocean Size”

Riley Payne depicts the fracturing of language, humor, and reverence for nature.

Tops Gallery at Madison Avenue Park, through Jan. 10

“L’Estampe originale: A Graphic Treasure”

Featuring 95 works of graphic art by 74 artists.

Dixon Gallery & Gardens, through Jan. 11

“drupe” e rst solo exhibition for Brooklyn-based Amelia Briggs.

Sheet Cake Gallery, through Jan. 17

“Sense of Belonging”

Amy Pleasant’s e ort to create space and visibility for all.

Sheet Cake Gallery, through Jan. 17

“Re ection + Ritual + Refuge”

Brantley Ellzey’s solo exhibit. Crosstown Arts, through Jan. 22

and steel.

Metal Museum, through Mar. 8

“Roger Allan Cleaves: A World on Fire”

Exploring community, immigration, and celebratory rituals.

Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Jan. 11Apr. 12

“Black Artists in America: From the Bicentennial to September 11” Artistic styles and viewpoints within African-American art during the last quarter of the 20th century.

Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Jan. 25Mar. 29

“Memphis College of Art, 1936-2020: An Enduring Legacy” Re ecting on the school’s historical impact and legacy.

“James Viste | Let Me Tell You A Story” Filled with whimsy, humor, memories, and anecdotes.

Metal Museum, through Feb. 1

“Bettye’s Bin: e Personal Archives of Stax Songwriter Bettye Crutcher” Celebrating one of the most remarkable voices in soul music history.

Stax Museum of American Soul Music, through Feb. 22

“Tributaries: Kat Cole | Meditations” Ephemeral gestures in glass, enamel,

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Feb. 25-Sept. 2026

ON STAGE

Junie B. Jones e Musical Based on the popular children’s book by Barbara Park.

Playhouse on the Square, through Dec. 20

PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST Kat Cole, Deep Work Brooches, 2025. Steel and enamel.

PHOTO: COURTESY DAVID LUSK GALLERY

Jared Small, Chrysanthemum on Cranberry, 2025, oil on frosted acrylic.

If Scrooge Was a Brother

An urban spin on A Christmas Carol. Hattiloo eatre, through Dec. 21

e Wizard of Oz

Visit the mystical land of Oz. Playhouse on the Square, through Dec. 21

A Tuna Christmas

e annual Christmas Yard Display Contest is about to commence. Playhouse on the Square, through Dec. 21

Handel’s Messiah

A stirring and majestic experience. Germantown United Methodist Church, Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m. | Lindenwood Christian Church, Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m. | Maples Memorial United Methodist Church, Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m.

A Christmas Carol ’25

Miserly Ebenezer Scrooge goes on a spiritual journey. eatre Memphis, Dec. 5-23

Annie Jr. the Musical

With everyone’s favorite little redhead. Germantown Community eatre, Dec. 5-21

Cabaret Noel 10: An Emerald

Christmas Special

e beloved Memphis holiday cabaret. eatreWorks @ e Square, Dec. 5-7

Christmas Gems

Two one-act plays at once. Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Dec. 5-17

Drew & Ellie Holcomb’s Neighborly Christmas

A joyful night of music and community. Orpheum eatre, December 5, 8 p.m.

Nutcracker: Land of Enchanted Sweets e timeless tale of Clara and her nutcracker.

Buckman Arts Center at St. Mary’s School, Dec. 5-7

e Wedding Singer

Based on the hit comedy lm.

Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, Dec. 5-7

Tía Pancha: A Christmas Story

Cazateatro’s special bilingual adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol eatreWorks @ e Evergreen, Dec. 5-24

Tennessee Ballet eater Presents Clara & e Nutcracker e classic holiday story. Michael D. Rose eater, University of Memphis, Dec. 6-7

Ballet Memphis’ e Nutcracker

A magical holiday adventure. Orpheum eatre, Dec. 12-14

Gospel Talk “Christmas Revue” feat. Elizabeth King, e Jubilee Hummingbirds, and Vintage Souls

Experience the power and spirit of Memphis gospel.

e Green Room at Crosstown Arts, Dec. 12, 7:30 p.m.

continued on page 12

Shifting Shapes

Down, down, down Oakleaf O ce Lane in East Memphis, snuggled in a pocket of trees, sits the new ShapeShi er Art School and Gallery. ough its outside is boxlike and modern, with sharp edges and corners, its inside curves and meanders, bringing guests into galleries and classrooms through metallic entryways, or “portals.”

“When you walk into our galleries, we want you to feel like you’re coming into another world,” says co-founder Pam McDonnell. “… We came in here and we were like, ‘Let’s start shi ing shapes.’”

As part of ShapeShi er’s mission, which was honed over kitchen-table conversations and late-night phone calls, co-founders and fellow artists Elizabeth Alley, Melissa Dunn, Nikii Richey, Lisa Williamson, and McDonnell wanted to address what Memphis lacks in serving teachers in the arts. “Our programming is really teacher-centric,” McDonnell says. “If you have happy teachers, you’re gonna have happy students.”

Starting this coming January, ShapeShi er will o er single-day classes and three- to six-week courses on topics ranging from Sketching Your Everyday World to Unsticking the Artistic Process. At December 20th’s Holiday Open House, guests can learn more about these class o erings from the teachers, who are local practicing artists throughout Memphis.

ese classes will take place in two classrooms on-site that ank the gallery space, and upstairs is an open studio for artists to be in community and work. “We’re selling 18 spots for that, and they’re $25. And so people can come; they can leave their stu ,” McDonnell says.

“We want anyone and everyone [to sign up for these classes],” she adds. “Our dream is to fold in people who might be retired and have time to take classes with people who have just graduated from college and need a studio space. Really amazing things happen when generations start to share creative space together.”

Meanwhile, the gallery space will rotate with work, with a focus on installation and conceptual work. To celebrate ShapeShi er’s opening in November, the gallery’s rst show, “Polishing the Stone,” features art by the ve founders, the title referencing the attentive labor behind creating and building their school and gallery. “‘Polishing’ is not about perfection but about contact — the way time, touch, and persistence reveal what lay hidden beneath the surface,” reads the artist statement.

at title, in turn, ties back to ShapeShi er’s philosophy. “We want to remind people that art is not about making a magni cent piece that everybody loves,” McConnell says. “It’s about cultivating soul and spirit and bringing everybody back to the bene t of making and creating. … So we talk about play a lot in our teaching philosophy. You’re not trying to make something, you’re trying to play, and sometimes something really good comes out of it.”

“Polishing the Stone” is now on view through December 23rd, ursday to Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday by appointment. Sign up for classes or a studio membership at shapeshi erartschool.com. ShapeShi er Art School and Gallery is located at 680 Oakleaf O ce Lane.

PHOTO: MATTHEW MURPHY

Corbin Drew Ross and Nolan White in e Outsiders North American Tour

PHOTO: COURTESY SHEETCAKE

Amy Pleasant, Sense of Belonging (Accessible to Diverse)

PHOTO: COURTESY SHAPESHIFTER ART SCHOOL AND GALLERY

upstairs gallery currently features Pam McDonnell’s installation.

Based on the Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore

continued from page 11

Esprit de Corps Dance Company’s e Nutcracker

Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet. Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, Dec. 12-14

Galleries of Sound: Memphis Youth Symphony Holiday Performance

A one-hour concert featuring Memphis’ most talented young musicians.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Dec. 13, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Germantown Symphony Orchestra: Holiday Concert

Drew & Ellie Holcomb’s Neighborly Christmas

e Outsiders

A story of friendship, family, and belonging.

Orpheum eatre, Jan. 20-25

e Klezmatics

A pioneer of klezmer revival. Buckman Arts Center, Jan. 22, 7 p.m.

Alanis Morisette’s Jagged Little Pill: e Musical

Inspired by Alanis Morisette’s 1995 album. Playhouse on the Square, Jan. 23-Feb. 22

An annual holiday favorite including a sing-along.

Germantown Performing Arts Center, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.

Memphis Matters: Stories of Patience

Be a part of a collective experience like no other.

eatre South, First Congregational Church, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! e Musical e magic of Dr. Seuss’ classic. Orpheum eatre, Dec. 16-21

Make the Yuletide Gay with Crys Matthews, Flamy Grant, and Heather Mae

Don your gay apparel and cozy up next to three award-winning songwriters. Green Room at Crosstown Arts, Dec. 17, 7:30 p.m.

Magic of Memphis

Experience Memphis’ most beloved holiday tradition.

Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Dec. 20, 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

sex/work

A 30-year-old virgin, an escort, an aging conservative news anchor, and a stripper all desperately pursue what it means to be a woman.

Playhouse on the Square, Jan. 9-25

Always a Bridesmaid

Four friends keep their high school promise to be in one another’s weddings. eatre Memphis, Jan. 23-Feb. 8

e Barber of Seville

One of the most justi ably beloved operas of all time.

Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, Jan. 23-24

Vijay Gupta

An Iris Collective debut. Germantown Performing Arts Center, Jan. 29, 7 p.m.

Savannah S. Miller’s e House e winner of Season 54’s Teresa Jordan Emerging Local Playwright Competition. Germantown Community eatre, Jan. 29-Feb. 1

Dreamgirls

Follow an all-girl Motown singing group on the path to superstardom. Hattiloo eatre, Jan. 30-Mar. 8

Live Rich Die Poor, Zora Awakening e life, wit, and wisdom of Zora Neale Hurston.

Halloran Centre, Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m.

JOB

A psychological thriller. Playhouse on the Square, Jan. 30-Feb. 15

PHOTO: ASHTIN PAIGE

From Overton Park to Downtown

Rendering of the Memphis Art Museum as viewed from Front Street

e Memphis Brooks Museum of Art announced that it will open its new Downtown campus to the public in December 2026. Once there, it will be renamed the Memphis Art Museum.

Designed by Swiss architecture rm Herzog & de Meuron and Memphis’ archimania, the building will occupy an entire city block. “We are tting into the Downtown fabric,” said Je Rhodin, chief revenue o cer for the Brooks, on a recent tour of the work-in-progress site. “So the building is designed to be part of the pedestrian experience Downtown.”

With the museum’s glass facade, Rhodin added, “You’ll have a world-class art experience spilling out from the museum onto the sidewalk.”

Already both the oldest and largest art museum in Tennessee, with more than 10,000 works in its collection, the museum will expand its existing gallery space by 50 percent in its new location, with ve galleries with 18-foot ceilings.

e new space will also o er more art- lled free public spaces, including a community courtyard and roo op sculpture garden — an “art garden in the sky,” as Rhodin called it, with stunning views of the Mississippi.

e museum will have a café, store, education areas, classrooms, and event areas, able to accommodate more than 400 cultural, creative, and community-based initiatives.

“ e building was de nitely designed for art rst, but it’s also designed for people,” Rhodin said. “So we have traditional gallery spaces, but we have lots of spaces for people to connect through programs, for food and beverages, but there’s still always art there.”

See an inside look at the Memphis Art Museum Hard Tour on our YouTube channel.

e Taming of the Shrew Shakespeare’s comedy takes to the radio during WWII.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Jan. 30-Feb. 15

Brahms Symphony No. 4 & Trumpet

Virtuoso

A profound and majestic work, plus a virtuosic showcase for the trumpet. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m. | Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, Feb. 1, 2:30 p.m.

Withers to Wonder — Celebrating the Songs of Bill Withers and Stevie Wonder

Featuring Take 6, Nnenna Freelon, and Clint Holmes.

Germantown Performing Arts Center, Jan. 31, 8 p.m.

Popovich Comedy Pet eater

European-style clowning, juggling, balancing acts, and of course, very talented pets.

Buckman Arts Center, Feb. 5, 5 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

e Revolutionists

An irreverent, girl-powered comedy set during the French Revolution.

New Moon eatre, Feb. 6-22

Winter Mix

Original Ballet Memphis works. Ballet Memphis Studio, Feb. 13-15

Yonder Mountain String Band

A driving force in roots music.

Germantown Performing Arts Center, Feb. 13, 8 p.m.

continued on page 14

PHOTO: COURTESY MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

A Permanent Display

As anyone in her position would, Keyana Dixon never imagined her brother, Tyré Nichols, would be a victim of police brutality. With a background in criminal justice, she knew her family would have not only the overwhelming grief of it all to wade through but also the justice system, the federal trials, the state trials, the civil lawsuit, the press. “My family and I, we kept saying, ‘Once this is over, once this is over, once this is over, we’ll be able to do X, Y, Z, like, we’ll be able to grieve.’”

Even now, two years later, it’s not “over.” Two of the former o cers pleaded guilty in both state and federal court, while three were acquitted by a state jury earlier this year and await federal sentencing. e civil trial date has been set for 2026.

Yet recently, Dixon’s focus has been able to shi to happier memories of her brother, away from his nal, tragic moments. She’s been able to ful ll his dream of having a gallery show, though posthumously.

e show, “Tyré Nichols: Photographic Legacy,” premiered over the summer in two parts at Jay Etkin Gallery. Etkin is a friend of Nichols’ and Dixon’s stepfather. is fall, the gallerist announced that the exhibit will be a permanent mainstay.

“ is exhibition isn’t just a tribute to Tyré’s life — it’s a platform for his voice as an artist, for his vision,” Etkin says. “We want people to experience what he saw, to witness his sensitivity, his humor, his eye for beauty. It’s a chance to know Tyré not through tragedy or headlines — but through his own lens, through Tyré’s eyes.”

“Tyré Nichols: Photographic Legacy” is on display at Jay Etkin Gallery, 942 South Cooper Street, Tuesday through Saturday, 11 to 5 p.m. or by appointment. Contact Jay Etkin about purchasing work at 901-550-0064, available framed or unframed.

continued from page 13

Valentine’s Day with Kortland Whalum

A night of music and romance with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, Feb. 14, 8 p.m.

e Sound of Music

e beloved story of Maria and the von Trapp family.

Orpheum eatre, Feb. 17-22

Rise

A celebration of joy, tradition, and cultural legacy.

Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Feb. 20-22

Eunbi Kim & Iris Musicians

Pianist Eunbi Kim creates intimate experiences that transcend the conventions of the piano recital.

e Green Room at Crosstown Arts, Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m.

Menopause the Musical 2: Cruising rough ‘ e Change’

A hilarious and heartfelt look at the joys of menopause and friendship.

Orpheum eatre, Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m.

Mamma Mia!

A classic jukebox musical based on the songs of ABBA.

eatre Memphis, Feb. 27-Mar. 29

Godspell

Revisiting the idea of Jesus as a revolutionary gure.

Germantown Community eatre, Feb. 27-Mar.15

Photo: Cayleigh Capaldi in The Sound of Music

Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

PHOTO: TYRÉ NICHOLS | COURTESY JAY ETKIN GALLERY Keyana Dixon has been able to ful ll her late brother’s dream of having a gallery show.

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

On Your Toes

By Abigail Morici

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without e Nutcracker. At least that’s the case for Camilla Curran, co-director of Tennessee Ballet eater’s (TBT) Clara & the Nutcracker. “It’s just a sweet story,” she says. “It’s very imaginative, and it makes the holiday that much more festive. So we do it every year.”

As a professional, Curran played the Sugar Plum Fairy, and her codirector and founder of TBT, Mary Van Dyke, did as well. Yet in TBT’s production this year, the role will not be played by a professional, but by a senior in high school, a student at TBT’s Children’s Ballet eater. Clara, too, will be performed by a teenager. “One of the things that makes us unique is that we have students in some of the lead roles,” Curran says. “Our students are strong enough to take on those big roles.”

In total, 113 Children’s Ballet eater students will perform alongside professional dancers from TBT.

While audiences can expect a traditional Tchaikovsky Nutcracker production as far as storytelling goes, this year’s production will add a divertissement, called “Neapolitan,” to the sequence of dances celebrating the Land of Sweets in Act II. “It’s not typically done in e Nutcracker, but we wanted to add one,” Curran says. “It’s music from Swan Lake, so it’s in the Tchaikovsky family. He composed Swan Lake as well. So we added that, and we jazzed up our Arabian a little bit with some cool tricks. … ere are little additions and tweaks every year.”

During intermission for the 90-minute show, audience members can shop the Sugar Plum Ornaments Sale, which will sell, among other stocking-stu ers, hand-decorated pointe shoes, many made by the dancers. Proceeds from the market will raise funds for TBT’s Frayser Dance Project, which o ers free dance classes in the Frayser community for young students. A er the show, guests can stick around for photos with Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Purchase tickets at childrensballettheater.com. Stay tuned for TBT’s spring performance, which will explore a piece of Memphis history through dance.

CLARA & THE NUTCRACKER, UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS MICHAEL D. ROSE THEATRE, 470 UNIVERSITY DRIVE, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 5:30 P.M. | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2 P.M., $35-65.

VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES December 4th - 10th

Season of Delight

Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Avenue, Friday, December 5, 5-8 p.m.

Ring in the holiday season and ip the switch on Crosstown Concourse’s atrium lights! Season of Delight is a fun, family-friendly celebration with plenty for all. Enjoy live music, cra s, games, delicious treats, and a magically great time!

Experience the season with live music, including symphony musicians and a choir, a jazz band, and a DJ spinning holiday classics and more.

Watch A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa for free in the Crosstown Arts eater, and explore Crosstown Arts’ residency studios during their Open Studio event.

Marvel at elves on stilts, meet the Grinch, take home a fun holiday portrait, and so much more.

MMDC Holiday Market

Ugly Art Co., 635 Madison Avenue, Sunday, December 7, noon-3 p.m.

Are you ready to shop, eat, and enjoy the magic of the holidays in the heart of the city? e Memphis Medical District Collaborative invites you to the fourth annual Holiday Market, a celebration of creativity, community, and holiday cheer.

Step into a festive winter wonderland featuring local businesses, artists, and entrepreneurs o ering handmade gi s, art, and one-of-akind treasures. Purchase delicious bites and seasonal sips drinks from o cial event vendors Kinfolk and Bar Limina, and enjoy complimentary hot chocolate from Boycott Co ee.

Whether you’re looking for the perfect gi or just soaking in the holiday magic, don’t miss this community favorite, free for all.

Acoustic Sunday Live! e Concert to Protect Our Aquifer

First Congregational Church, 1000 Cooper Street, Sunday, December 7, 7-10 p.m., $50

With Protect Our Aquifer as the bene ciary, Acoustic Sunday Live enters its third decade for an incredible night of music. e 2025 version features multi-award winning blues singer Shemekia Copeland, iconic bluesman Bobby Rush performing with wellknown and highly noted blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, highly celebrated singer/songwriter James McMurtry, and folk-Americana duo Alice Howe & Freebo, with Memphis’ own Eric Lewis and Jimmy Davis as special guests.

ey’ll take the stage for another unforgettable night supporting protection, conservation, and management of the Memphis Sand Aquifer. Purchase tickets at acousticsundaylive.com.

PHOTO: COURTESY TENNESSEE BALLET THEATER

“Our students are strong enough to take on those big roles.”

MUSIC By Alex Greene

Bobby Rush Takes a Stand

e blues legend will partner with Kenny Wayne Shepherd at Acoustic Sunday Live.

Though their music often shines a light on the struggles of life, bluesmen are not particularly known for their social activism. Sure, there are speci c songs about the injustices of racism and poverty, but the days when the Newport Folk Festival of ’60s brought together the likes of Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, Bob Dylan et al., and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, protesting everything from Jim Crow to the Vietnam War, seem like a distant memory. e artists at this year’s Richmond Folk Festival in Richmond, Virginia, for example, while admirably diverse, were all about having an anodyne, nonconfrontational good time, with nary an echo of Woody Guthrie’s or Pete Seeger’s rebellious spirits, even as Proud Boys plague our streets.

But in Memphis, the tradition of blending folk, blues, and activism lives on in the annual Acoustic Sunday Live concerts produced by Bruce and Barbara Newman, and this year’s iteration will be no di erent. True to form, it will feature a wide swath of artists from the folk and blues communities, all to bene t Protect Our Aquifer, a local grassroots organization devoted to reminding the powers that be — loudly — that our source of clean drinking water is not up for sale or exploitation. Lending their voices to the cause this year will be award winning blues singer Shemekia Copeland, celebrated singer/songwriter James McMurtry, folk-Americana duo Alice Howe & Freebo, and Memphis’ own Eric Lewis and Jimmy Davis. But the most politically-engaged music of the night may well come from that venerable high priest of the blues, Bobby Rush, who will appear in tandem with Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Rush, speaking from his home in Jackson, Mississippi, wants folks to know that he is one bluesman with a mind for justice and for the environment. While he has plenty of good-time music under his belt, and will no doubt o er some up at this coming Sunday’s concert, he’s about more than that.

His adopted hometown of Jackson, of course, has had its share of clean water woes, with the Associated Press reporting last year that “tens of thousands of people [were le ] without safe drinking water for weeks in 2021 and 2022.” And those problems have lingered on through today. As Rush puts it, “We’re still in a crisis, but we’ve got a new man now.” at would be newly elected mayor John Horhn, who Mississippi Today

calls “a seasoned moderate who promises to restore basic services, tackle blight and bring back economic development.”

Rush sees signs of hope in Horhn’s election. “He’s my personal friend, and I’m involved with him highly on a town hall meeting [where] I’m one of the speakers, talking about the water situation. It ain’t good, but it’s better than it was. Hopefully, in the next six months it’ll be completed and up running with 100 percent clear water and good water.”

Rush’s proclivity to face political issues head-on is also apparent in his collaboration with Shepherd, with whom he recorded the album Young Fashioned Ways, released this April. (It recently earned the pair a Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional Blues Album category.) Some have considered their partnership politically fraught due to Shepherd’s “cancellation” in 2021, with the Blues Foundation rescinding its nomination of the singer/guitarist for Best Blues/Rock Artist that year due to “representations of the Confederate ag on Shepherd’s ‘General Lee’ car, guitars, and elsewhere,” as the foundation noted in a press release at the time, adding that they had “also asked Ken Shepherd, father of Kenny Wayne Shepherd, to step down as a member of its Board of Directors” over the matter.

Shepherd, for his part, apologized and noted that the car in question, a replica of the one used in e Dukes of Hazzard, had been in storage for years, with the o ending ag painted over. He added at the time that he’s always opposed racism. And his current collaboration with Rush would seem to bear that out.

“One of the reasons I wanted to do this with Kenny Wayne Shepherd was

because I wanted to make a statement to the world,” says Rush, “that we as a people can get along together and do things together — whether you’re Black or white or brown or whatever.

We’re both from Louisiana, a white guy and a Black guy, and the music ain’t got no color. I’m making a statement without making a statement. You follow me?”

When reporters asked him about Shepherd at the time of the controversy, Rush says, he simply replied, “I know the man, and the man I know ain’t the man that you’re speaking of.”

Noting that he’s known Shepherd since the guitarist was in his late teens, Rush adds that he has “a great knowledge of the blues. Now you might say, ‘Well, damn, he plays good to be a white guy. Let me tell you something: He plays good to be a person, to be a God-child, because he understands some things about the blues.”

at understanding is so deep that they’re both looking at keeping the partnership going. “I’m letting a little rabbit out of the hat,” Rush says.

“Now, I haven’t told this to anyone, but we are talking now about doing another album.”

at would make sense: With Rush

singing and blowing harp over Shepherd’s gritty guitar grooves, Young Fashioned Ways reveals an undeniable chemistry between them. And it confronts the travails of history and race head-on at points, as with Rush’s song “40 Acres (How Long?),” which deals with the U.S. government’s promised allotment to freed slaves that somehow never materialized. “I’m talkin’ ’bout my 40 acres and my mule,” Rush sings. “Granddaddy died waiting/Grandmama died waiting too/Martin Luther King, he died waiting/Tell me, what about, what about me and you?” Given Acoustic Sunday Live’s tradition of troubadours who hold a mirror up to our society, Rush and Shepherd couldn’t be more appropriate as guests on its stage.

Acoustic Sunday Live takes place at 7 p.m. on Sunday, December 7th, at First Congregational Church, 1000 Cooper Street. For tickets and details, visit acousticsundaylive.com.

PHOTO: DAVID MCCLISTER

Bobby Rush and Kenny Wayne Shepherd

AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule December 4 - 10

Ashton Riker & The Memphis Royals

ursday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m.

B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB

Baunie and Soul

Sunday, Dec. 7, 7-11 p.m. |

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 7-11 p.m.

RUM BOOGIE CAFE

Blind Mississippi Morris

Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m. |

Saturday, Dec. 6, 8 p.m.

BLUES CITY CAFE

Blues Trio

Saturday, Dec. 6, noon | Sunday, Dec. 7, noon | Wednesday, Dec. 10, 4 p.m.

B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB

Eric Hughes

ursday, Dec. 4, 7-11 p.m.

RUM BOOGIE CAFE

Flic’s Pics Band

Led by the legendary Leroy “Flic” Hodges of Hi Rhythm.

Saturday, Dec. 6, 4 p.m.

B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB

FreeWorld

Friday, Dec. 5, 7-11 p.m. |

Saturday, Dec. 6, 7-11 p.m.

RUM BOOGIE CAFE

FreeWorld

Sunday, Dec. 7, 8 p.m.

BLUES CITY CAFE

Memphis Soul Factory

ursday, Dec. 4, 4 p.m. |

Sunday, Dec. 7, 8 p.m.

B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB

Soul Street

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 7-11 p.m.

RUM BOOGIE CAFE

The B.B. King’s Blues Club Allstar Band

Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 8 p.m. | Monday, Dec. 8, 8 p.m.

B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB

The Peoples of the Blues

A band carrying on the legacy of the great Earl “ e Pearl” Banks. ursday, Dec. 4, 7

p.m.

BLUES CITY CAFE

Vince Johnson Monday, Dec. 8, 6:30 p.m. | Tuesday, Dec. 9, 6:30 p.m.

RUM BOOGIE CAFE

Amber Rae Dunn

With Sydney Carty, Zach Borenstein, and Ashtyn Miller. Friday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m.

SOUTH MAIN SOUNDS

Drew & Ellie Holcomb’s Neighborly Christmas

Celebrate the season with a joyful night of music, community, and Americana charm from this beloved duo of award-winning artists. Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m.

ORPHEUM THEATRE

Live Music on the Porch: Steve Lockwood & Old Dogs

A trio that plays original compositions and many Delta acoustic blues tunes. Saturday, Dec. 6, noon-2 p.m.

SOUTH POINT GROCERY

Needtobreathe Saturday, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m.

ORPHEUM THEATRE

Richard Wilson ursday, Dec. 4, 11 a.m.1 p.m.

BUTTERIFIC BAKERY & CAFE

Elmo & the Shades

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

John Williams & the A440 Band

$10. ursday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

The Chaulkies

Sunday, Dec. 7, 3 p.m.

HUEY’S POPLAR

The Deb Jam Band

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 6 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

Tribute to Aaliyah & Maxwell

With Melanie Pierce, Charmaine Tyrelle, LaShon Robinson, Angela Burton, and special guest PNerd. Tuesday, Dec. 9, 6 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

Van Duren

e singer-songwriter, a pioneer of indie pop in Memphis, performs solo. ursday, Dec. 4, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

MORTIMER’S

Yuletide Early Music

Concert

Lively Renaissance-era Christmas music performed on recorders. Free. Sunday, Dec. 7, 3 p.m.

ALL SAINTS’ EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Zazerak Soul Jazz Trio

Saturday, Dec. 6, 8:30 p.m.

BOG & BARLEY

Acoustic Sunday Live presents the Concert to Protect Our Aquifer

e longstanding bene t concert features Shemekia Copeland, Bobby Rush with

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, James McMurtry, and Alice Howe & Freebo. Special guests include Eric Lewis & Jimmy Davis. $50. Sunday, Dec. 7, 7 p.m.

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Blaq Hammer With Decoration Policy, Opossums. Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

Deborah Swiney Duo ursday, Dec. 4, 6-9 p.m.

THE COVE

Devil Train

Bluegrass, roots, country, Delta, and ski e. ursday, Dec. 4, 9 p.m.

B-SIDE

Ghost Town Blues Band Sunday, Dec. 7, 3 p.m.

HUEY’S MIDTOWN

Great American Ghost With Wristmeetrazor, Downswing, Saltwound, Rosary. Friday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m.

GROWLERS

Hayden Pedigo Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Jazz Jam with the Cove Quartet

Jazz musicians are welcome to sit in. Sunday, Dec. 7, 6-9 p.m.

THE COVE

Joe Restivo 4

Guitarist Restivo leads one of the city’s nest jazz quartets. Sunday, Dec. 7, noon.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Korroded

With Grave Lurker , Interna, Slolerner. Saturday, Dec. 6, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Kortland Whalum

A member of the musically-gied Whalum family, this singer’s vocals are in uenced by soul, jazz, and R&B, possessing a rich, classy elegance with a powerful, o en gospel-tinged, delivery.

$30/advance, $40/at the door.

Friday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Level Three

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 10 p.m.

LOUIS CONNELLY’S BAR

Magik Hours With Orange Doors, Wagoneer. Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Mark Allen

Acoustic guitar by an accomplished amenco player.

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 4 p.m.

CROSSTOWN BREWING CO.

Ozmo Institute’s Concerts for Well-Being: Diamond Strings

What if music could help you feel better — body and mind? is concert blends world-class performances with moments of re ection, mindfulness, and connection.

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Pallbearer / Knoll

Saturday, Dec. 6, 8 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Pestilence Presents With Execution, A Kiss Before Dying. Wednesday, Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m.

HI TONE

Richard Wilson

ursday, Dec. 4, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

JUST LOVE COFFEE CAFE MEMPHIS

The Stolen Faces Friday, Dec. 5, 9 p.m. B-SIDE

Zakk Sabbath Sunday, Dec. 7, 7 p.m. MINGLEWOOD HALL

Benton Parker & The Royal Reds

Sunday, Dec. 7, 6 p.m.

HUEY’S SOUTHAVEN

Kixmas at Graceland: The KIX 106 Christmas Concert

Featuring Drake Milligan. Saturday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m.

GRACELAND SOUNDSTAGE

Songwriter Night With Lockwood Barr, Kristen Merlin, Megan Barker. Friday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

The Pistol & the Queen Sunday, Dec. 7, 6 p.m.

HUEY’S SOUTHWIND

El Ced & Groove Nation

Sunday, Dec. 7, 6 p.m.

HUEY’S GERMANTOWN

Handel’s Messiah e Memphis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Moody, and the Memphis Symphony Chamber Chorus, conducted by Joseph Powell, present one of classical music’s masterpieces. ursday, Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m.

MAPLES MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

The Double D’s Sunday, Dec. 7, 6 p.m.

HUEY’S COLLIERVILLE

Twin Soul Duo Sunday, Dec. 7, 6 p.m.

HUEY’S OLIVE BRANCH

Jack & The Fat Man

Sunday, Dec. 7, 6 p.m.

HUEY’S MILLINGTON

PHOTO: COURTESY MSO Handel’s

PHOTO: JAMIE HARMON

Kortland Whalum

CALENDAR of EVENTS: December 4 - 10

ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS

Jared Small: “Concomitant”

Vivid colors enliven these images of botanic blooms and fanciful buildings. rough Dec. 20.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

Lui Shtini: “Tree Spirits”

In elds these skins are laid. Wind, rain, and sun will lash and wash the shapes of bodies that once wore them. rough Jan. 10.

TOPS GALLERY

Riley Payne: “Ocean Size”

Works open to multiple readings. rough Jan. 10.

TOPS GALLERY: MADISON AVENUE

PARK

ART HAPPENINGS

Artist Mixer

With free food and drinks, games, networking, and door prizes from partners. Friday, Dec. 5, 6 p.m.

CONTEMPORARY ARTS MEMPHIS

Deck the Walls

Celebrate the creativity of Memphis’ young artists with an evening of art, music, and com-

munity. ursday, Dec. 4, 6 p.m.

SHEET CAKE

Edge District Art Crawl

Take in live exhibits throughout the evening. Saturday, Dec. 6, 5-9 p.m.

EDGE TRIANGLE

“Neo-Noir”: David Johnson

Photographs of Memphis, with 20 framed prints for sale. ursday, Dec. 4, 5-8 p.m.

COOPER-YOUNG GALLERY + GIFT SHOP

Opening Reception: The Bartlett Art Association

Opening reception for this show by local artists. Sunday, Dec. 7, 2-4 p.m.

GALLERY 1091

Opening Reception for “Stage” by Justin Williams

Vivid portraits of performers. Saturday, Dec. 6, 6-9 p.m.

THE UGLY ART COMPANY

BOOK EVENTS

End of All Art Book

Pop Up

Books about art, photography, counterculture, the avantgarde, and more. Friday, Dec. 5, 4-8 p.m.

CROSSTOWN CONCOURSE

PHOTO: COURTESY TOPS GALLERY

Lui Shtini’s “Tree Spirits” exhibit considers forms lashed and washed by wind, rain, and sun.

COMEDY

Billy Wayne Davis Davis, in town to run in the St. Jude Marathon, headlines a Marathon Eve show. Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Bluff City Liars Improv A favorite improv group.

ursday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Click to Add Title: An Improvised PowerPoint Show

Join Benny Elbows as come-

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.

dians and audience members

present slide shows they’ve never seen before. ursday, Dec. 4, 7 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

Comedy Night

With your hosts, Ben and Bush. Wednesday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m.

BAR DKDC

Open Mic Comedy Night

A hilarious tradition. Tuesday, Dec. 9, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

COMMUNITY

Aquifer Action Meeting: Groundwater Board Meeting

Learn what’s at stake and how to push for a Groundwater Protection Plan. Free. ursday, Dec. 4, 6-7:30 p.m.

CORDOVA BRANCH LIBRARY

Creative Resilience: Commemorating 50 Years of Stax Records

A community conversation celebrating creativity, resilience, and legacy. Tuesday, Dec. 9, 5:30-7 p.m.

STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL

MUSIC

Shell Pantry Days

Donate nonperishable canned goods, household items, and more. ursday, Dec. 4, noon6 p.m.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

St. Jude Marathon Cheer Station

Encourage marathon participants. Saturday, Dec. 6, 7:30-10:30 a.m.

TOM LEE PARK

DANCE

Nutcracker: Land of Enchanted Sweets

A fresh interpretation of this holiday classic. $25, $20/ students. Friday, Dec. 5, 6 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 2 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 5 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 2 p.m.

BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Tennessee Ballet Theater Presents Clara & The Nutcracker

A charming rendition of the classic holiday tale. Saturday, Dec. 6, 5:30 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 2 p.m.

UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS MICHAEL D. ROSE THEATER

9-20

FILM

Echoes in the Room: Video Night

Robert Gordon presents rare music videos and more. Wednesday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m.

MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB

In Focus: Community Film Screening

Connecting the Raleigh community with film and resources. Tuesday, Dec. 9, 6 p.m.

RALEIGH LIBRARY

Met Opera 2025: The Magic Flute

A cinematic presentation of Mozart’s masterpiece. Saturday, Dec. 6, 1 p.m.

MALCO PARADISO CINEMA GRILL & IMAX

Strange Tales: The Thing

Each ticket includes free beer from Hampline Brewing. Thursday, Dec. 4, 5:30 p.m.

PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION

FOOD AND DRINK

Black Chef’s Table

A menu inspired by If Scrooge Was A Brother Friday, Dec. 5, 6 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 12:30 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 6 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 12:30 p.m.

HATTILOO THEATRE

Feast of Seven Fishes Dinner

An Italian holiday celebration. $115. Wednesday, Dec. 10, 6-8:30 p.m.

AMERIGO ITALIAN RESTAURANT

Holiday Dinner Onstage

A cocktail hour, a three-course dinner onstage, and carols from Opera Memphis. $120. Thursday, Dec. 4, 6 p.m.

ORPHEUM THEATRE

Love for the Land, with Home Place

Pastures

Delicious food and conversation about sustainable farming. $55/tickets. Thursday, Dec. 4, 5:30-7 p.m.

OVERTON PARK GOLF CLUBHOUSE

Stumbling Santa Holiday Pub Crawl

With Ian and Katie. Saturday, Dec. 6, 7-11 p.m.

FLYING SAUCER DRAUGHT EMPORIUM

HOLIDAY EVENTS

Artists’ Link Holiday Show

With over 40 works by local artists. Through Dec. 29.

ST. GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH ART GALLERY

Black-Owned Holiday Bazaar

Celebrating Black entrepreneurship. Through Dec. 17.

HATTILOO THEATRE

Delight: Annual Holiday Celebration

An evening filled with festive activities, music, and community cheer. Free. Friday, Dec. 5, 5-8 p.m.

CROSSTOWN CONCOURSE

Fire Pit Fridays

Photos with Santa start at 4:45 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, 4:30 p.m.

TOM LEE PARK

Holi-date Night

New and expanded lights, s’mores by a cozy campfire, and more. 21+. $35/members, $45/ nonmembers. Thursday, Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Holiday Market

With handmade gifts, art, and one-of-a-kind treasures. Sunday, Dec. 7, noon-3 p.m.

THE UGLY ART COMPANY

Holiday Wonders at the Garden

Twinkling lights and holiday magic. Friday, Dec. 5, 5-8:30 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 5-8:30 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 5-8:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Mid-South Toy Fest 2025

Discover the magic of toys. Saturday, Dec. 6, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

THE GREAT HALL & CONFERENCE CENTER

Lantern Festival

A holiday light experience. Through Feb. 1.

MEMPHIS ZOO

Overton Square Tree Lighting

See Santa Claus, eat holiday treats, and listen to great music. Free. Saturday, Dec. 6, 5-7 p.m.

OVERTON SQUARE

Porter-Leath Toy Truck

Donate to this worthy charity. Thursday, Dec.

4, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. | Friday, Dec. 5, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. |

Saturday, Dec. 6, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

POPLAR PLAZA (CORNER OF POPLAR & HIGHLAND)

Santa in the Park

Free toys, pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and more. Free. Saturday, Dec. 6, noon-3 p.m.

ORANGE MOUND COMMUNITY CENTER

Sundaes with Santa

Get a picture with Santa, have ice cream sundaes, and more. Sunday, Dec. 7, 2-4 p.m.

EVERGREEN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

The Enchanted Forest Festival of Trees

Beautifully decorated trees, animated characters, model trains, and more. Through Dec. 28.

PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION

PERFORMING ARTS

Cabaret Noel: An Emerald Christmas

Special

A holiday cabaret. Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 2 p.m.

THEATREWORKS @ THE SQUARE

THEATER

A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens’ classic. Friday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m. |

Saturday, Dec. 6, 3 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 3 p.m.

THEATRE MEMPHIS

A Tuna Christmas

This Christmas Yard Display Contest is lit. Thursday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m. | Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 8 p.m.

CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE

Annie Jr. The Musical

Everyone’s favorite little redhead. Friday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 2:30 p.m.

GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY THEATRE

Christmas Gems

Readings of “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” and A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Friday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 3 p.m.

TENNESSEE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

Christmas with C.S. Lewis

An encounter with J.R.R. Tolkien forever changed Lewis’ Christmas celebrations. Saturday, Dec. 6, 2 p.m.

THE HALLORAN CENTRE

If Scrooge Was A Brother

An urban spin on Dickens. Friday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.

HATTILOO THEATRE

1 Elizabeth of cosmetics

6 Residents of London’s 10 Downing St.

9 Walk proudly

14 “Go now!”

15 Singer Carly ___ Jepsen

16 ___ bar (toffee candy)

17 Wander locally with no plans

19 Change 20 Blue Angels’ org. 21 Basement of a castle, perhaps 23 Before, to bards

24 Little more than 26 Hitchcock movie with James Stewart and Grace Kelly

28 Purina alternative

30 Water under le pont

31 Unsettled feeling

33 “___ Stars” (longrunning show in which experts appraise and buy antiques)

36 Tuna holders 40 Backstage

43 Suffix with bachelor or kitchen

44 Visit at 2 a.m., say, as a fridge

45 John who’s the subject of 2019’s “Rocketman”

46 Place to get pampered

48 Food company with a sunburst in its logo

49 Final amount

55 Asia’s ___ Sea

58 Opposite of WSW

59 Weatherrelated game cancellation

61 Rx watchdog

62 It’s a good thing

64 Disagree … or a hint to the starts of 17-, 26-, 40and 49-Across

66 Street in “Perry Mason”

67 Basket part grabbed after slam-dunking

68 Prince Harry, to Prince George and Princess Charlotte

69 Suddenly stop, as an engine

70 Downed, as a sandwich

71 Have the wheel DOWN

1 Photo display option

2 Find a second function for

3 “Hell, yeah!”

4 Work done while tethered to a space station, for short

5 Superbrainy sort

6 Dried plum

7 Japanese comic art

8 Passover meal

9 Twain who sang “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”

___ Aviv

Assigned stars to

In ___ (unborn)

Intentionally lost

Not just mine

Jesse of the

Like bunny slopes, among all ski runs

Junie B. Jones the Musical

Based on the popular children’s book. Thursday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m. | Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 2 p.m.

CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical

A musical adaptation of the television special. Saturday, Dec. 6, 2:30 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 2:30 p.m.

HARRELL THEATRE

The Wedding Singer

Based on the hit film. $30. Friday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 2 p.m.

BARTLETT PERFORMING ARTS AND CONFERENCE

CENTER

The Wizard of Oz

Visit the mystical land of Oz. Thursday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m. | Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 2 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 2 p.m.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

Tía Pancha: A Christmas Story

Cazateatro’s special bilingual adaptation of Dickens, with a Latin twist. Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 6, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 7, 3 p.m.

THEATREWORKS AT EVERGREEN

Chocolaty spread

Everest, e.g.: Abbr.

Honest ___

Final amount

Group whose activities pick up in Sept.

Tuna type

When U.S. election results are usually published: Abbr.

Communicate (with)

Prefix with liberal

I.R.S. digits: Abbr.

Emmy genre

Co. leader

Website’s

We Saw You.

with MICHAEL DONAHUE

Pu er vests and wild white “Doc Brown” wigs were among the costumes at the Back to the Future-themed Orpheum Soirée, which was held November 14th at the Orpheum eatre.

More than 850 people attended the event, which supports the Orpheum’s education and community engagement initiatives.

Ten food stations, including a 1950s style “Orpheum Diner” and a 1980s throwback food court, were sponsored by Orpheum Spotlight Partners.

above: Denico and Candace Gray

le : Laura Alexander Dodds, Lorrie Tingle, Gloria Dodds, and omas Holmes below: (le to right) Josh Coleman and Chelsea Chandler; Kerri Campbell and Nicole Hudson

bottom row: (le to right) Eric Slaughter, Kristin Bennett, and Brett Batterson; Jennifer and Paul Chandler

PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE

below: (le

Diana and Mark Billingsley; Bizzy Walker and Jacob Moore; Rob DelPriore and Sara Hall; Jackson Barnes bottom le : Devir Vanunu, Steve Palmer, Suzanne Palmer, and Shachar Vanunu

top row: (le to right) Tracy Marsh and Ryan Marsh; Philip Gattas, Katie Williams, Kelly Brock, and Kevin Kern circle: Edgar Rodriguez

right: Micah Purnell and Taliah Sweeney

to right)

FOOD By Michael Donahue

Deck the Glass

Drink local with these holiday cocktails.

Deck the glass with local spirits this holiday season.

Memphis bartenders share recipes for cocktails they created. These drinks are perfect for any festive occasion or if you just want to let fall linger a little longer before those jingle bells start to peal.

First, Mitchell Marable from The Lobbyist details three cocktail recipes, all using Alma del Jaguar tequilas from Memphis’ Morningside Brands. Then, Hunter Coleman at Bari Ristorante e Enoteca shares two more cocktail recipes, both made with Waymar Gin made by Memphis’ Waymar Gin House.

Holiday Tequila of Sorts

2 ounces Alma del Jaguar Reposado

¼ ounce Fernet-Branca

¼ ounce mors (See recipe below)

¾ ounce tonic syrup

¾ ounce fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in shaker tin. Add ice and then shake vigorously for 10 to 15 minutes. Add large cocktail rock. Double strain into a glass of your choice. Garnish with lemon wheel or expressed peel.

Mors

12 ounces cranberries

500 grams ginger (skin on, finely chopped)

393 grams granulated sugar

Blend partially thawed cranberries and ginger with a half cup water. Strain through a chinois. Set juice aside for later. Gently simmer cranberry pulp, 393 grams sugar, and one cup water for 15 minutes. Strain the pulp syrup and toss the leftover solids. Combine original juice and syrup together. Store in refrigerator for up to 14 days.

Mai Tai of Sorts

2 ounces Alma del Jaguar Blanco

¾ ounce almond orgeat (any nut orgeat works)

¾ ounce fresh lime juice

¾ ounce Solerno/Grand Marnier

4 dashes Angostura Bitters

Mint bouquet garnish

Combine all ingredients into shaker tin, except bitters and mint. Add ice and then shake vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds. Double strain into a glass of your choice. Fill with pebble/ crushed ice. Affix mint bouquet into cocktail as garnish and add bitters to float on top the cocktail.

Forti ed Tequila Martini of Sorts — “Walk on By”

On the menu at e Lobbyist

1½ ounces Alma del Jaguar Blanco

½ ounce Alma del Jaguar Nocturna

¼ ounce Cocchi Americano aperitif

¼ ounce Yellow Chartreuse

½ ounce Dolin Blanc vermouth

Lemon garnish

Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass. Add plenty of ice and stir for 12 seconds. Strain neat into a fancy stemware of your choice. Garnish with a lemon twist. — Mitchell Marable

e Chestnut & Cask Old Fashioned

2 ounces Waymar Amontillado Cask Gin

¼ ounce Nocino (Walnut Liqueur)

2 dashes of Angostura Bitters

2 dashes of orange bitters

Put all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until properly diluted (roughly 20 seconds). Pour into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with an orange twist.

e Mistletoe Spritz

1½ ounce Waymar Gin

1 ounce Italicus (bergamot liqueur)

½ ounce cranberry rosemary syrup

½ ounce fresh lime juice

3 to 4 ounces prosecco

Take everything but the prosecco and pour into a shaking tin with ice. Shake until chilled. Pour prosecco into glass rst (very important). en pour contents of the shaker into your glass. Garnish with ice.

To make cranberry rosemary syrup: Put equal parts sugar and water and cranberries (10 to 15) in a pot. Boil until sugar is dissolved and cranberries burst (about 10 minutes). Take o the heat, add rosemary, and let steep for 10 more minutes. Strain and let cool. — Hunter Coleman

Next week: More bartenders share their holiday cocktail recipes using local products.

PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE

Alma del Jaguar owner McCauley Williams and Mitchell Marable

Emily Guenther

Norse Winter Rites

As the nal leaves fall and the hush of winter begins to settle over the land, we enter a potent threshold in the wheel of the year. In Norse cosmology, this time is not merely a descent into cold and darkness, it’s a sacred passage into mystery, memory, and ancestral depth. e winter rites of Northern Europe o er rich metaphysical teachings for modern spiritual seekers, especially those drawn to inclusive, earth-honoring paths.

One of the most evocative motifs of Norse winter lore is the Wild Hunt, a spectral procession of gods, spirits, and the restless dead that rides through the skies during the dark half of the year. Led by Odin, or other regional gures, the Hunt is both feared and revered. It represents the thinning of the veil, the stirring of ancestral energies, and the call to heed omens and dreams.

e Wild Hunt is a phenomenon that I incorporate into my Norse kindred during the wintertime, but it can be a scary thing. As winter approaches, use this time to ward and protect your home. Winter has always been a time of re ection, and sometimes the imagery of the Wild Hunt can stir us to refocus on our shadow work and healing. Rather than viewing the Hunt as always ominous, we can claim it as a symbol of sacred movement, of the energies that stir us from complacency and awaken deeper truths.

lent or antagonistic. ey are associated with fate, family, and fertility, and played roles similar to the Norns or Valkyries, depending on the context. Worship of the Dísir was common for our Norse ancestors and for many modern Pagans.

e Dísir are not limited to biological lineage; they include spiritual foremothers, cultural ancestors, and archetypal guides. You can honor your Dísir with ancestor veneration, storytelling, or asking for their protection.

Even in the darkest months, Norse winter rites remind us of continuity. Evergreens — yew, pine, holly — were revered as symbols of resilience and eternal life. ey were used to decorate homes, mark sacred spaces, and invoke protection. As we put up our decorations, you may see the continuity of those traditions in Christmas trees, garland, and wreaths. Try putting your decorations up this year with spiritual intention and see how the magic of the holidays ows through your home.

Winter rites in Norse traditions are deeply rooted in the hearth. In a time when travel was dangerous and the land lay dormant, tending the hearth was both practical and spiritual. Many of the Norse rituals revolved around the homestead and involved only the family. Communal festivities were held as well, but in the dark part of the year the focus shi ed to the home and those immediately involved in its care.

You can embrace the spirit of our northern ancestors by holding rituals with your family or friends at home. For a more solitary practice, you can focus on building seasonal altars, imbuing your cooking with magic, and bringing light into your life with candles. e hearth reminds us that magic need not be grand — it can be quiet, embodied, and woven into daily life.

Early December is an ideal time to honor the Dísir. e Dísir are female spirits in Norse mythology, o en described as ancestral guardians who can be benevo-

THEATRE MEMPHIS presents “A CHRISTMAS CAROL”

Based on the novel by CHARLES DICKENS

Directed by JORDAN NICHOLS and TRAVIS BRADLEY

Just Dropping By

As staff at the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka, California, performed inspections in the early morning of Oct. 17, they were surprised by the presence of an unexpected visitor — a wild American black bear leaning on the gate to the park’s bear habitat. In a Facebook post from the zoo, the wild bear was described as “a very polite visitor” that was observed interacting nonaggressively with resident bears Tule, Ishung, and Kunabulilh. The zoo called in the Eureka Police Department and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the bear was escorted out of the park and back into the nearby woods. “We respond to bear calls within the city of Eureka quite often,” state department spokesperson Peter Tira told the LA Times, “but having a wild bear get into the zoo is a first.”

I Hope that Someone Gets My …

After more than a century, letters from two World War I soldiers will soon be in the hands of their families, ABC Australia reported Oct. 27. Debra Brown and her family were cleaning up a beach near their hometown in Western Australia when they found an old bottle, which turned out to contain letters — dated 1916 — from Private Malcolm Alexander Neville and Private William Kirk Harley. The two were shipping out to serve their country, and jettisoned the bottle “somewhere in the [Great Australian] Bight,” per one of the letters. Social media did its thing, and Brown was soon connected to relatives of both soldiers. Private Neville’s records show that even though he was initially discharged due to his poor eyesight, he reenlisted in the service corps a week later. “I think that just shows you his character, how determined he was,” said the private’s great-nephew, Herbie Neville. Sadly, Private Neville was killed in action in France at the age of 28. His compatriot, Private Harley, did make it home; his granddaughter Ann Turner said finding the letters “feels like a miracle” for her family: “We are all absolutely stunned.”

Monkey Business

It isn’t uncommon to see costume shops across the country packed with last-minute shoppers in the

days before Halloween. Usually, it’s people clambering over the racks of capes, masks, and vampire teeth, but NBCDFW reported that on Oct. 27, in a Spirit Halloween store in Plano, Texas, a pet primate got loose. The monkey, clad in a diaper, became scared by animatronics and escaped its leash, running past shoppers, climbing shelves, and swinging from the rafters. “It was entertaining,” store employee Jimmy Harris said. “A lot of people just stood and watched it for like 30 minutes, the whole time, they were like, ‘Monkey,’ and we had kids trying to catch it.” Police were called and, after being offered a cookie, the monkey was re-leashed and returned to its owner, with no humans or monkeys harmed.

Crème de la Weird Gizmodo reported on Nov. 5 that doctors in the Philippines have documented the case of a woman whose armpits leak milk. Dermatologists writing in the journal JAAD Case Reports said the patient was born with extra breast tissue on both sides of her underarms, which swelled up after she delivered a baby and produced “milky secretions from the overlying hair follicles.” The condition didn’t bother her when she wasn’t pregnant or breastfeeding; doctors said it affects fewer than 6 percent of women.

Wait, What?

A woman in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, was expecting a package of medicine that she had ordered, but when the box came, she found something very different inside: two human arms and four fingers. WSMV-TV reported that the woman contacted 911 and Christian County Coroner Scott Daniel. Daniel responded to the home and gathered up the unexpected parcel, and the body parts are being dispatched to the correct recipient — but it’s unclear in this case who that was.

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Here are two of your birthrights as an Aries: to be the spark that ignites the fire and the trailblazer who doesn’t wait for permission. I invite you to embody both of those roles to the max in the coming weeks. But keep these caveats in mind: Your flame should provide light and warmth but not rouse scorching agitation. Your intention should be to lead the way, not stir up drama or demand attention. Be bold and innovative, my dear, but always with rigorous integrity. Be sensitive and receptive as you unleash your gorgeous courage. In my vision of your future, you’re the wise guide who inspires and includes, who innovates and reflects. You fight for interdependence, not dominance.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Here’s a key theme: microdoses of courage. You don’t need to summon splashy acts of epic heroism. Subtle rebellions against numbness and ignorance may be all that’s required. Your understated superpowers will be tactful surges of honesty and gentle interventions in challenging transitions. So be brave in ways that feel manageable, Taurus. Don’t push yourself to be a fearless warrior. The trembling truth-teller is your best role model. As an experiment to get started, say yes to two things that make you nervous but don’t terrify you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Your inner ear contains three canals filled with fluid. They act like gyroscopes, telling you which way is up, how fast you’re moving, and when to stop. Your ability to maintain your balance depends on their loyal service. Without them, you couldn’t orient yourself in space. Moral of the story: You stabilize yourself through constant adjustment. Let’s make this a metaphor for your current assignment. Your ability to remain poised, centered, and grounded will require ongoing adaptations. It won’t work to remain still and fixed. You will have to keep calibrating and adapting.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Let’s extol the value of productive confusion: the disorienting state when your old maps no longer match the territory. Your beloved certainties shudder and dissipate, and you don’t know what you don’t know. This isn’t a failure of understanding, but the ripe precondition for a breakthrough. The caterpillar doesn’t smoothly or instantly transition into a butterfly. First it dissolves into chaotic goo and simmers there for a while. Conclusion: Stay in the not-knowing a little longer.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Coffee from Java, orchids from Iceland, and grapes from Vesuvius, Italy: What do these bounties have in common? They flourish in

By Rob Brezsny

the extra fertile soil created by volcanic eruptions. The molten lava that initially leveled everything in its path later cooled and became a repository of rich nutrients. I expect a milder version of this theme for you, Leo. Events and energies that at first cause disruption will eventually become vitalizing and even healing. Challenges will lead to nourishment.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Gardeners in Japan spend years training bonsai trees to grow into elegant shapes. The process requires extraordinary patience, close listening, and an intimate relationship with an ever-changing life form. I invite you to approach your current projects with this mindset. You may feel tempted to expedite the growth that’s unfolding. You might feel pressure to “complete” or “optimize.” But the flourishing of your work depends on subtle attunement, not brute progress. Pay tender attention to what wants to emerge slowly. Tend to it with care. Time is your collaborator, not your enemy. You’re weaving lasting beauty.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The Swedish concept of lagom means “not too much, not too little, but just right.” It suggests that the best option may be in the middle rather than in the extremes. Yes, sometimes that means an uneasy compromise. But more often, it’s how the power and virtue come fully alive and thrive. Many people don’t like this fact of life. They are fixated on the delusion that more is always better. In the coming weeks, Libra, I invite you to be a connoisseur of lagom To do it right, you may have to strenuously resist peer pressure and groupthink.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In Bangkok markets, elderly women sell caged birds. Why? For the specific purpose of releasing them. Those who buy a captive sparrow or dove immediately open the cage door and let the creature fly away in a symbolic gesture of compassion and spiritual aspiration. It’s a Buddhist act believed to bring good karma to the person who sets the bird free. I invite you to imagine yourself performing this sacrament, Scorpio, or perhaps conducting an actual ritual with the equivalent purpose. Now is a fun and fertile time to liberate an outdated belief, a conversation you keep replaying, or a version of yourself that’s no longer relevant. Take your cue from the signs that appear in the Bangkok market: Letting go is a form of prayer

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I’m taking a risk here by urging you cautious Capricorns to at least flirt with the Finnish tradition of drinking alcohol at home alone in your underwear with no intention of going out. I’m certainly not encouraging you to get so hammered that you can’t safely wander outdoors. My point is to give yourself permission

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

The world’s oldest known musical composition is the Hurrian Hymn No. 6. It was discovered etched on clay tablets in Syria, dating back to 1400 B.C.E. When finally decoded and performed, it revealed harmonies that still resonate with modern listeners. Your projects in the coming months could share this timeless quality, Sagittarius. You will have an enhanced power to bridge your past and your future. A possibility you’ve been nurturing for months or even years may finally ripen into beautiful completion. Watch for opportunities to synergize tradition with innovative novelty or deep-rooted marvels with sweet, breezy forms of expression.

to celebrate your amazing, mysterious, beautiful life with a bout of utterly uninhibited relaxation and totally indulgent contentment. I authorize you to be loose and free and even slightly irresponsible. Let your private pleasures reign supreme.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In the Quechua language, the word ayllu refers to a kinship system not just of people, but of animals, ancestors, dreams, and nature. To be aligned with one’s ayllu is to live in reciprocity, in the ongoing exchange of care and meaning among the entire web of life. “We belong to what we love,” the Quecha elders say. Aquarius, I believe you’re being asked to focus on your ayllu. Who or what comprises your circle of belonging? Which beings, places, and unseen presences help weave the pattern of your treasured destiny? Whom do you create for — not as audience, but as kin who receive and answer your song? As you nourish your connections in the coming weeks, pay special attention to those who respect your idiosyncrasies. It’s not your birthright to simply fit in. Your utter uniqueness is one of your greatest gifts, and it’s your sacred duty to give it.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In Yoruba cosmology, the divine spirit Oshun presides over rivers, love, beauty, and sweet water. But her sweetness isn’t a weakness. It’s a sublime power, as evidenced by how her waters once restored life to the barren earth when every other force had failed. You Pisceans are now channeling extra strong currents of Oshun energy. Your tenderness is magnetic. Your imaginative flourishes are as valuable as gold. And your love, when rooted in your sovereign self-respect, is healing. But don’t let your nurturing be exploited. Choose wisely where you share your bounty. The right people will honor your flow, not judge it, or try to change it. Your duty is to be uninhibitedly yourself and let your lyrical truths ripple freely.

Support Local Free Press

We’re always independent. We’re always free — we won’t ever charge you for a copy of the Flyer, or for access to our website. And we strive to keep you informed about and connected to our city.

Whether you can help in the form of a few dollars a month or a larger one-time contribution, you’ll be making a di erence. ink of this as an investment in our shared future.

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Above all, thank you for being part of our community. We’re in this together.

By Chris McCoy

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig take on organized religion in this wildly entertaining lm.

For the last six years, Rian Johnson has been leading a one-man mystery story revival. A er delivering one of the nest lms in the Star Wars series with e Last Jedi (I will entertain no debate on this matter), his 2019 lm Knives Out was an unexpected hit — unexpected because it was an original story, and an old-fashioned mystery at that. Net ix was so impressed that the streamer ordered two more of the lms, which starred retiring James Bond Daniel Craig for an eye-opening $400 million. Even more surprising, they appear to have given Johnson complete creative control. e second Knives Out lm, Glass Onion, was a fullthroated indictment of America’s emerging oligarchy. But most importantly, it was another airtight whodunnit in the grand tradition of Agatha Christie. Meanwhile, in TV land, Johnson and Natasha Lyonne did two seasons of the Columbo-esque, mystery-of-the-week show Poker Face for NBC/Universal’s Peacock streamer. e show was recently canceled, but word on the street is the duo is pitching another mystery show with Peter Dinklage as the lead. Sign me up!

With the third installment, Wake Up Dead Man, Johnson sheds some of the overt satire that worked so well in Glass Onion. is is not to say that lm isn’t funny — Johnson’s been dining out on his bon mots since Brick. But underneath all the one-liners is a thoughtful dissection of organized religion. Daniel Craig’s Southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc is once again at the center of a locked room mystery, but, perhaps be tting the slightly more serious tone, his accent is more Atlanta genteel and less Foghorn Leghorn. e lm begins with Blanc reading a handwritten letter from Rev. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), a newbie priest who has been assigned to a tiny parish in rural

New York. Rev. Jud used to be a boxer, but a er he killed an opponent in the ring, perhaps not entirely accidentally, he hung up his gloves and took to the cloth with all the zeal of a new convert. His idealism, mixed with a quick temper, gets him in trouble early, as he kinda sorta punched out a deacon. As Bishop Langstrom (a dapper Je rey Wright) explains, the deacon deserved it, nobody is too mad, but they must be seen punishing him for his impropriety, so they send him to keep an eye on Msgr. Je erson Wicks (Josh Brolin).

Wicks is a charismatic, re-and-brimstone preacher who has attracted a hard corps of followers. As Jud’s letter explains, he does it by alienating casual churchgoers with harsh rhetoric, aiming to inspire a walkout in every sermon. ose who remain feel even more righteous and dig even deeper into their pockets for the collection plate. Some of the parishioners, like Simone (Cailee Spaeny), even believe he has divine powers to heal. e rst among equals in the pews is Martha (Glenn Close), whose gossiping and scheming keep the others in line, with the help of groundskeeper Samson ( omas Haden Church). Lee (Andrew Scott) is an out-of-ideas sci- writer whose next book will be a gospel according to Wicks. Vera (Kerry Washington) and her adoptive son Cy (Daryl McCormack) have political aspirations, but so far, they’ve been coming up short on the MAGA gri er circuit.

Wicks and Jud instantly clash. eir dueling confessions scene early in the lm is a screenwriting masterclass. Jud sees that Wicks is running a long con, and it o ends him deeply. He will soon come to regret threatening to “cut you out like a cancer” when Wicks drops dead with a knife in his back in front of a church full of witnesses. Police Chief Scott (Mila Kunis) tags Jud as the prime suspect for the

murder, but Benoit, an “avowed heretic,” has his doubts and sets out to nd the real killer. But is Wicks really dead, and if so, who is that emerging from his tomb a er three days?

Like any good whodunnit, Wake Up Dead Man has slightly too many characters to easily keep track of. But that’s mostly to provide a bunch of suspects for our detective to sort through. O’Connor steals the show as the tortured true believer who is enraged by the hypoc-

risy he sees in the institution he takes so seriously. e lm is wildly entertaining, with just the right mixture of comedy and pathos, and a subtext that is both timely and timeless: “To take someone’s faith and exploit it for money is the ultimate evil.”

Wake Up Dead Man

Now playing

Malco Studio on the Square and Malco Cordova

Daniel Craig’s Southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc is once again at the center of this locked room mystery.

Our critic picks the best films in theaters.

Zootopia 2

The sequel to Disney’s 2016 hit is on track to be the biggest animated film of all time. Our rabbit hero Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and former con artist fox turned detective Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) team up as partners in the Zootopia Police Department. Gary De’Snake (Ke Huy Quan) is looking to disrupt the Zootenial Gala and kidnap Pawbert (Andy Samberg) and Milton (David Strathairn) Lynxley in the process. Can our two intrepid officers bring peace and harmony to the city of cute animals?

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

This film also has cute animals, but these want to kill you. This sequel is loosely

based on the second installment in the video game franchise, which has former security guard Mike (Josh Hutcherson) returning to the good time pizzeria, which has been taken over by haunted animatronic characters. You’re not the only one who thought Chuck E. Cheese was creepy.

Hamnet

Best Picture-winning director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) directs Jessie Buckley in this adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel about the origin of the greatest play ever written. Buckley stars as Agnes Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal). Their troubled relationship in begets two children, one of whom, Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe), dies unexpectedly at age 11. Grief inspires William, who is contemplating suicide, to write, “To be or not to be.”

THE LAST WORD By

Patricia Lockhart

Stocking Stuffer Stops

Trendy, funky, sweet, and unique — these are a few of our favorite (local) things.

Twinkly lights, chilly mornings, the smell of cinnamon creeping into every corner of Memphis — this season always feels like an invitation to pause and savor the small things. As a mom of four — a 17-year-old, twin 13-year-old boys, and a 12-year-old — life is anything but slow this time of year. Between school events, holiday parties, and trying to keep up with who wants what for Christmas, it’s easy to get swept up in the rush. But our teens take it easy on us. ey ask for either one big, expensive item or an Amazon Wish List of gi s. ere’s not a lot of guesswork that needs to go into it, so hubby and I have fun with nding stocking stu ers. Here are a few of our favorite stops to gather little happy things for our teens.

City & Sate

2625 Broad Avenue, Memphis, TN 38112

A mood board in shop form. From the cutest ring, to the trendiest cookware, to the most stylish notebooks. City and State is perfect for the aesthetic teen who loves TikTok-perfect desk setups. ey also have the kind of mugs teens like to post in sel es. Grab a latte, browse slowly, and let the “so life” energy guide you.

Carrington Oaks Co ee House

9752 Market Green Place North, unit 101, Lakeland, TN 38002

Perfect for budding artists, teens who love cozy cafes, and the ones who take their snacks seriously. While you wait on your food, browse the handmade cra s — bracelets, key chains, stickers, small art pieces, and funky trinkets. e mu ns? Don’t leave without one. is is a great spot for gi s that feel thoughtful but also very “I found this at a cute café because I know your vibe.”

Sweet Lala’s Bakery

6150 Poplar Avenue, Suite 118, Memphis, TN 38119

Does your teen have a sweet tooth and also love local products? Sweet Lala’s has cakes, cookies, and co ee galore. It’s perfect for stocking stu ers and snackerdoodles. When you enter, look to your le . ere’s a whole display of local and Southern goodies.

Paradox at PeCo

248 South Cooper Street, Memphis, TN 38104

Paradox has great nds for the quirky teen, the gamer, the collector, the STEM kid, or anyone who lives at Hot Topic but wants something unique. e store is where eccentric meets awesome. Crystals, funky earrings, stickers, fandom merch, puzzles, incense, tiny gurines, oddities, journals with personality, and things they’ll take to school just to make their friends jealous. It feels like a real treasure hunt!

Novel

387 Perkins Extended, Memphis, TN 38117

For the teen who loves journaling, reading, or book-themed gi s. Get a nice YA novel, a pretty bookmark, a punny notebook, or a tea cup that looks like it belongs in a Pinterest study nook. Teens love a cozy reading aesthetic — even if they read half the book on TikTok. (Hubby, please get me a stocking stu er that has approximately 380 words in paperback form with a pretty teacup.)

Penzeys Spices

418 Perkins Extended, Memphis, TN 38117 is is for the food teen, the one who experiments in the kitchen. e mini spice jars, hot cocoa blends, cookie spices, and unique seasonings make great stocking stu ers they can actually use.

Cooper-Young Gallery + Gi Shop

889 South Cooper Street, Memphis, TN 38104

If you have an artsy teen, a trendsetter, one who lives for room décor and cool accessories, this is a playground. ink sticker packs, mini prints for their walls, handmade keychains, and artsy magnets. It’s full of “OMG, this is SO me” nds. Whether they’re into bold colors, vintage aesthetics, Memphis pride, or indie-artist energy, you’ll nd something they’ll love to be seen with. Memphis makes it easy to nd the perfect gi s. e city is sprinkled with small businesses that put so much love into what they create and curate. So as the season speeds up, I hope you get a moment to explore and enjoy the hunt. May your stockings be stu ed, your teens be delighted, and your holiday season be lled with more magic than mayhem.

Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. By day, she’s a librarian and writer, but by night … she’s asleep.

PHOTOS: PATRICIA LOCKHART Shop for the stylish and unique at City & State (top) and Paradox at PeCo (bottom).

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