encore May 20 - 26, 2020

VOL. 36 / PUB. 46 • THE CAPE FEAR’S ALTERNATIVE VOICE FOR 35 YEARS • MAY 20-26, 20-26, 2020 • FREE

encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 1

HODGE PODGE

Vol. 36 / Pub. 46 May 20-May 26, 2020

ENCOREPUB.COM encoredeals.com

MUSIC pg. 10 • By Shannon Rae Gentry Mike Blair and the Stonewalls will release their next single ‘River’ this Friday off their forthcoming record ‘Almanac County’ to be released later this year. Courtesy photo

word of the week PANDAMMIT (N.) A new curse word to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Pandammit! How do we pay for our poisoned water when CFPUA changed all account numbers without notice?”

EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief:

Shea Carver >> shea@encorepub.com

Staff Editors:

Shannon Rae Gentry >> shannon@encorepub.com Jeff Oloizia >> jeffrey@encorepub.com

Art Director/Office Manager:

COVER, pg. 18 Big Dawg Productions and Panache Theatrical Productions have teamed up to bring the infamous ‘The War of the Worlds’ broadcast back to Wilmington listeners this Thursday, May 21. Listen on SoundCloud for a suggested donation of $5. Courtesy photo.

ATTN: BUSINESSES

ART pg. 14 • By Shea Carver Local artist Mark Herbert will host a virtual art exhibit on Friday, May 22, 6 – 9 p.m., on his Facebook page. Courtesy photo

Susie Riddle >> ads@encorepub.com

Chief Contributors: Gwenyfar Rohler,

Anghus, Tom Tomorrow, Mark Basquill, Rosa Bianca, Rob Brezsny, John Wolfe, Joan C.W. Hoffmann

SALES General Manager/Owner: John Hitt >> john@encorepub.com

Ad Representatives

Megan Henry >> megan@encorepub.com John Hitt >> john@encorepub.com Shea Carver >> shea@encorepub.com Brian Venegas >> brian@encorepub.com Published weekly on Wednesday by HP Media; opinions of contributing writers are not the opinions of encore.

Businesses, please, contact us to find out more about our COVID-19 relief program that can put money in your pocket now and get you ads later.

ALSO INSIDE THIS WEEK P.O. Box 12430, Wilmington, N.C. 28405 encorepub.com • (910) 791-0688

DINING pg. 24 • By Joan C.W. Hoffman Can’t go out for date night? Let date night come to you with help from these local restaurants and businesses. Courtesy photo

Best Of Winners, pgs. 4-5 • Live Local, pgs. 6-7 • Cranky Foreigner, pg. 8 • News of the Weird, pg. 9 • Music, pgs. 10-13 Art, pg. 14 • Gallery Guide, pg. 15• Film, pgs. 14-15 • Theatre, pg. 14 • Dining, pgs. 20-24• Carpe Librum, pg. 26 Horoscopes/Tom Tomorrow, pg. 28 • Crossword, pg. 29

2 encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com

>>

encore best of 2020

winner

Pain Specialist <<

Thank you voting Leon McKay Best Acupuncturist

We are open and taking extra steps to keep you safe.

Services

Acupuncture • Massage • Herbal Pharmacy Medical Qigong Private Healing Are you suffering from Video Qigong and stress and or anxiety? distance Medical Qigong We will offer a drive up Auricular /ear tack treatment at reduced cost.

available.

Acupuncture FREE Consultation

Reduce Reliance on Pain Meds with Acupuncture and QI Gong

4916 Wrightsville Ave., Wilmington NC 28403 • 910.791.1981

www.MckayHealingArts.com

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encore Readers’ Choice Awards

WINNERS & RUNNERS-UP FOOD AND DRINK BEST APPETIZERS

FRONT ST. BREWERY Circa 1922 Dram + Morsel

BEST ATMOSPHERE

INDOCHINE RESTAURANT Dram + Morsel Dram Yard

BEST BAGEL

BEACH BAGELS

Empire Deli & Bagel Mr. Bagel Meister

BEST BAKERY

APPLE ANNIE’S BAKE SHOP One Belle Bakery The Red Eye Bakery

BEST BAR OVERALL

SATELLITE BAR AND LOUNGE Tavern Law 1832 Cape Fear Wine and Beer

BEST BAR - PLEASURE ISLAND

THE FAT PELICAN

SeaWitch Cafe & Tiki Bar Ocean Grill & Tiki Bar

BEST BAR - WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH

JIMMY’S AT RED DOGS The Palm Room King Neptune Restaurant

% OF BEST BURRITO VOTES FLAMING AMY’S BURRITO BARN 38% 32% 30% 67% 17% 16% 58% 25% 17% 58% 26% 16% 64% 20% 16% 42% 33% 25% 47% 27% 26%

BEST BARBECUE

JACKSON’S BIG OAK BARBECUE 44% Mission BBQ Moe’s Original Bar B Que

BEST BARTENDER

JOSH RUSSELL (BLUE POST)

Brandy Smith Tomcany (Slainte) Ron Blois (Tails)

BEST BEER LIST

CAPE FEAR WINE AND BEER Wrightsville Beach Brewery Fermental Beer & Wine

33% 23% 42% 34% 24% 36% 35% 29%

BEST BISCUIT

K-38 Baja Grill Burrito Shak

BEST CATERING SERVICE

MIDDLE OF THE ISLAND Pine Valley Market Thyme Savor

BEST CHAIN RESTAURANT

CHICK-FIL-A

Bonefish Grill Texas Roadhouse

BEST CHEESESTEAK

J. MICHAEL’S PHILLY DELI The Copper Penny Port City Cheese Steak

Josh Petty (Cast Iron Kitchen) Carson Jewell (Kitchen at Palate)

BEST CHINESE RESTAURANT

DOUBLE HAPPINESS Szechuan 132 Uncle Lim’s Kitchen

BEST COFFEE SHOP

BITTY AND BEAU’S COFFEE Bespoke Coffee & Dry Goods Port City Java

BEST DELI

A TASTE OF ITALY

South College Sandwich & Deli Detour Deli

BEST DESSERTS

APPLE ANNIE’S BAKE SHOP Nothing Bundt Cakes Circa 1922

BEST DINER

DIXIE GRILL

Jimbo’s Breakfast & Lunch Goody Goody Omelet House

BEST DISTILLERY

END OF DAYS DISTILLERY

HOPS SUPPLY CO.

Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar Cast Iron Kitchen

BEST BREAKFAST

DIXIE GRILL

Cast Iron Kitchen Eternal Sunshine Cafe

38% 34% 28%

BEST BREWERY

Barbary Coast Duck & Dive Pub

BEST DONUT

BRITTS DONUT SHOP Wake N Bake Donuts The Donut Inn

BEST DOOR GUY

JOSH LENTZ (CAPE FEAR WINE AND BEER)

Joey Dunn (Pour House) Bogdan Roberson (Earnest Money and Sons)

WILMINGTON BREWING COMPANY 42% BEST FAST FOOD 31% Wrightsville Beach Brewery P.T.’S OLDE FASHIONED GRILLE 27% Flying Machine Brewing Company

BEST BRUNCH

THE BASICS

Cast Iron Kitchen Boca Bay Restaurant

BEST BUFFET

FLAMING AMY’S BOWL

Boca Bay Restaurant Casey’s Buffet Golden Corral Buffet and Grill

BEST BURGER

WINNIE’S TAVERN

P.T.’s Olde Fashioned Grille Fork ‘N’ Cork

36% 35% 29% 34% 31% 30% 5% 45% 29% 26%

Chick-fil-A Cook Out

BEST FINE DINING

MANNA

Circa 1922 Port Land Grille

BEST FOOD TRUCK

CHEESESMITH FOOD TRUCK

WilmyWoodie Wood Fired Pizza Joe Loves Lobster Rolls

BEST FRENCH RESTAURANT

CAPRICE BISTRO

Brasserie du Soleil Our Crepes and More

4 encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com

BEST FRIED CHICKEN

BILL’S BREW FOOD Rooster & The Crow Casey’s Buffet

BEST FRIES

PT’S OLDE FASHIONED GRILLE Poe’s Tavern - Wrightsville Beach Five Guys

BEST HOT DOG 50% 28% 22% 47% 39% 14%

KEITH RHODES (CATCH MODERN SEAFOOD) 44%

Blue Shark Vodka Mason Inlet Distillery

43% 30% 27%

51% 32% 17%

BEST CHEF

BOJANGLES’ FAMOUS CHICKEN 40% BEST DIVE BAR ‘N BISCUITS 34% The Southerly Biscuit & Pie THE FAT PELICAN 26% The Red Eye Bakery

BEST BLOODY MARY

60% 28% 12%

36% 20% 62% 26% 12%

TROLLY STOP

Paul’s Place Charlie Graingers

BEST ICE CREAM

BOOMBALATTI’S HOMEMADE ICE CREAM Kilwins Bruster’s Real Ice Cream

BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT

TANDOORI BITES Nawab Little Asia Bistro

BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT

A TASTE OF ITALY

Roko Italian Restaurant Rosalie’s Trattoria

42% 31% 27%

43% 36% 21%

52% 30% 18%

BEST RESTAURANT OVERALL

52% 38% 10%

BEST RESTAURANT - PLEASURE ISLAND

66% 27% 7%

BEST RESTAURANT - WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH

54% 26% 20%

BEST RIBS

37% 35% Genki Sushi Okami Japanese Hibachi Steak House & Sushi 28% BEST LATE-NIGHT EATS 42% SLICE OF LIFE 30% I Love NY Pizza 28% Front Street Brewery

47% 38% 15% 42% 34% 24% 49% 43% 8% 41% 30% 29% 56% 30% 14% 45% 33% 22% 56% 32% 12% 40% 37% 23% 41% 30% 29% 39% 32% 29%

K-38 BAJA GRILL

Taqueria Los Portales El Cerro Grande Mexican Restaurant

BEST LOCAL BEER

TROPICAL LIGHTNING (WILMINGTON BREWING)

Kolsch (Waterline Brewing) Acerbic Ecstasy (Broomtail Craft Brewery)

BEST LUNCH

COPPER PENNY

Detour Deli & Cafe Tropical Smoothie

BEST MARGARITA

TOWER 7 BAJA MEXICAN GRILL

El Cerro Grande Mexican Restaurant Beer Barrio

BEST MEDITERRANEAN

PEÑO MEDITERRANEAN GRILL The Greeks Black Sea Grill

BEST MIXOLOGIST

FRED FLYNN (MANNA)

Luke Carnavale (Earnest Money and Sons) Greg Matheson (City Club of Wilmington)

BEST NACHOS

FRONT STREET BREWERY

48% 27% 25% 57% 34% 9% 67% 22% 11% 48% 29% 23% 41% 38% 21% 41% 33% 26% 47%

37% Flaming Amy’s Burrito Barn Slice of Life Pizzeria & Pub Downtown 16% BEST NEW BAR

COGLIN’S WILMINGTON Seven Mile Post Earnest Money & Sons

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

ROOSTER & THE CROW

Panacea Brewing Company Dram Yard

BEST OUTSIDE DINING

INDOCHINE

Oceanic Dockside Restaurant and Bar

Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar Pinpoint Restaurant

BEST PIZZA

HIRO JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE

BEST LATIN/MEXICAN RESTAURANT

DOCK ST. OYSTER BAR

55% 25% 20%

BEST JAPANESE RESTAURANT 50% 27% 23%

BEST OYSTERS

35% 33% 32% 37% 33% 30% 35% 33% 32%

SLICE OF LIFE

Pizzetta’s Pizzeria I Love NY Pizza

INDOCHINE

Copper Penny True Blue Butcher and Table

FREDDIE’S RESTAURANT

Michael’s Seafood Restaurant Surf House Oyster Bar & Surf Camp

TOWER 7 BAJA MEXICAN GRILL Poe’s Tavern - Wrightsville Beach Oceanic South Beach Grill

BONE & BEAN BBQ

Mission BBQ Moe’s Original Bar B Que

BEST SALADS

CHOPT CREATIVE SALAD Brasserie du Soleil Rucker John’s

BEST SEAFOOD MARKET

MOTTS CHANNEL SEAFOOD Eagle Island Seafood Seaview Crab Company

BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

CAPE FEAR SEAFOOD

Catch Modern Seafood Fish Bites Seafood Restaurant

BEST SERVER

GABRIELLE LEWIS (PT’S)

Brittany Golightly (J. Michael’s Philly Deli) Joseph Tosches (Skytown Beer Company)

BEST SMOOTHIE

TROPICAL SMOOTHIE CAFE Clean Juice Smoothie King

BEST SOUL FOOD RESTAURANT

CAST IRON KITCHEN Casey’s Buffet Soul Flavor

BEST SOUP

PHO CAFE

Michael’s Seafood Restaurant Pine Valley Market

BEST SPORTS BAR

HELL’S KITCHEN

Tavern Law 1832 Carolina Ale House

BEST STEAK

TRUE BLUE BUTCHER AND TABLE Port City Chop House Ruth’s Chris Steak House

BEST SUB/SANDWICH SHOP

JERSEY MIKE’S SUBS Detour Deli & Cafe Sub Stop

39% 36% 25% 37% 33% 30% 46% 39% 15%

BEST TACOS

K-38 BAJA GRILL

Beer Barrio Islands Fresh Mex Grill

BEST THAI RESTAURANT

INDOCHINE

Thai Spice Big Thai Restaurant

BEST VEGAN RESTAURANT

EPIC FOOD CO

Panacea Brewing Company Sealevel City Gourmet

BEST VEGETARIAN 45% 33% 22% 33% 31% 20% 16% 38% 33% 29% 43% 32% 25%

TIDAL CREEK CO-OP

Lovey’s Natural Foods & Cafe Panacea Brewing Companyt

BEST WAITSTAFF

COPPER PENNY

PT’s Olde Fashioned Grille Front Street Brewery

BEST WINE LIST

THE FORTUNATE GLASS The Second Glass Fermental Beer & Wine

BEST WINGS

COPPER PENNY Wild Wing Cafe Rebellion NC

BEST ACUPUNCTURIST

57% 26% 17%

BEST ANTIQUE SHOP

44% 33% 23% 53% 33% 14% 48% 27% 25%

LEON MCKAY (MCKAY HEALING ARTS) Tricia Miller (Oriental Medical Therapies) Gretchen Rivas (Infinity Acupuncture)

THE IVY COTTAGE

Flea Body’s Cape Fear Jewelry & Antiques

BEST APARTMENT COMPLEX

SOUTH FRONT APARTMENTS

The Reserve at Mayfaire Belle Meade Apartment Homes

BEST AUTO MECHANIC

BLACK’S TIRE AND AUTO

MobileTech Performance Auto Specialists

BEST BARBER

QUEEN STREET BARBERSHOP Tad’s Barber Shop Beale Street Barber Shop

BEST BOOKSTORE

OLD BOOKS ON FRONT ST. Barnes & Noble Memory Lane Comics

BEST BOTTLE SHOP 38% 33% 29% 44% 36% 20% 41% 33% 26%

BEST SUSHI

YOSAKE DOWNTOWN SUSHI LOUNGE 39% The Bento Box Sushi Bar and Asian Kitchen 33% 28% Genki Sushi

76% 15% 9% 42% 38% 20% 42% 37% 21% 54% 26% 20% 43% 30% 27% 37% 34% 29%

GOODS AND SERVICES

36% 32% 32%

46% 28% 26%

44% 30% 26%

FERMENTAL BEER & WINE The Brewer’s Kettle Hey Beer Bottle Shop

39% 37% 24% 65% 23% 12% 48% 37% 15% 59% 21% 20% 46% 34% 20% 51% 28% 21% 42% 33% 25%

BEST CAR WASH

CRUISERS CAR WASH & DETAIL CENTER

45%

32% Splash-n-Dash Car Wash Coastal Car Wash of Monkey Junction 23% BEST CBD STORE

THE HEMP FARMACY

Coastal Hemp Company Hemp Garden

63% 21% 16%

BEST CHIROPRACTOR

BACK IN MOTION CHIROPRACTIC 50% Sito Chiropractic Greatest Potential Chiropractic

35% 15%

BEST CLEANING SERVICE

CAROLINA COAST CLEANING SERVICES 36% Dust Bunnies Coastal Cleaning Wanda’s Special Touch Cleaning

BEST CONSIGNMENT — CLOTHES

FAIRY CIRCLE

Vintage Values Clothes Mentor

34% 30% 41% 38% 21%

BEST CONSIGNMENT — HOME GOODS/DECOR

42% Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity ReStore 31% Home Again Wilmington 27% BEST CONTRACTOR 41% LS SMITH, INC 36% Taylor’s Heating & Air Patriot Roofing Company 23% BEST DENTIST

THE IVY COTTAGE

CAPE FEAR SMILES GENERAL & COSMETIC DENTISTRY Salling & Tate General Dentistry Renaissance Dental Studio

BEST DOCTOR

DR. POLLOCK (HANOVER PEDIATRICS)

J. Todd Kornegay, MD (New Hanover Medical Group) Perihan S. Warren NP (A Helping Hand Of Wilmington)

38% 37% 25% 44% 42% 14%

BEST ESTHETICIAN

MARCELLA HARDY (TANGLEZ SALON & SPA) 48% Laura Greenway (Relax Massage Therapy & Skin Care) 27% Holly Harrison (Carter Kayte Beauty Atelier) 25%

BEST FARMERS’ MARKET

45% Wilmington Farmers’ Market at Tidal Creek Co-op 29% Poplar Grove Plantation 26% BEST FLORIST 58% JULIA’S FLORIST Mother of Wild a Flower House & Event Co 26% Verzaal’s Florist & Events 16% BEST GARDEN STORE 38% THE PLANT PLACE 35% The Transplanted Garden Farmers Supply Co 27% BEST GIFT SHOP 60% BLUE MOON GIFT SHOPS 21% Dragonflies 19% Modern Legend

RIVERFRONT FARMERS’ MARKET

BEST GOLF COURSE

BEAU RIVAGE GOLF & RESORT

Wilmington Municipal Golf Course Castle Bay Golf Course

BEST GOURMET STORE

PINE VALLEY MARKET

Cape Fear Spice Merchants The Seasoned Gourmet

BEST GROCERY STORE

TRADER JOE’S

Harris Teeter Tidal Creek Co-op

BEST GYM

PLANET FITNESS

Nir Family YMCA Amplifly: RIDE, LIFT, FLOW

BEST HAIR SALON

TANGLEZ SALON & SPA The Rockin’ Roller Salon Hill & Klutch Studio

42% 39% 19%

BEST KIDS’ AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM

DREAMS OF WILMINGTON

Nir Family YMCA Cape Fear Isshin-Ryu Karate & After-school

BEST KIDS’ CAMP

NIR FAMILY YMCA

No Sleeves Magic Wilmington Christian Academy

BEST KIDS’ CLOTHING STORE

ONCE UPON A CHILD Memories of a Child Harper Rose Boutique

BEST LAW FIRM

COLLINS & COLLINS ATTORNEYS Shipman & Wright, LLP The Shotwell Law Group, PLLC

BEST MARTIAL ARTS SCHOOL

SHOSHIN RYU NC

Master Yu’s Dynamic Martial Arts Cape Fear Isshin-Ryu Karate & After-school

TIDAL CREEK CO-OP

Lovey’s Natural Foods and Cafe Whole Foods

BEST HOLISTIC MEDICINE

NATIVE SALT CAVE & WELLNESS McKay Healing Arts Infinity Acupuncture

51% 31% 18% 50% 33% 17% 45% 35% 20%

BEST MEN’S CLOTHING

BLOKE APPAREL & SUPPLY Gentlemen’s Corner Baldini For Men

37% 20% 57% 32% 11%

BEST MORTGAGE COMPANY

66% 24% On Q Financial - Wilmington Mortgages - Resource Financial Services, Inc. 10% BEST MOVING COMPANY 53% TWO MEN AND A TRUCK Few Moves Moving Company 27% Little Guys Movers Wilmington 20% BEST NAIL SALON 56% GDN NAIL BAR 24% Unwind Nails & Bar 20% Classy Nails & Spa

ALPHA MORTGAGE

BEST NEW CAR DEALERSHIP

HENDRICK TOYOTA

Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Coastal Kia

BEST NEW COMPANY

NATIVE SALT CAVE & WELLNESS Queen Street Barbershop Beauty and Bloom

49% 32% 19%

LAMAINE WILLIAMS

(CAMBRIDGE FITNESS WILMINGTON)

Amy McCauley (A Body Empowered) Kerri K Davis (Fit to You Personal Training)

49% 33% 18%

BEST PET GROOMING

39% 31% 30%

BEST PET SUPPLY STORE

42% 38% 20%

BEST PILATES STUDIO

22% 43% 33% 24% 46% 38% 16%

BEST HOTEL

49% 32% 19% 40% 31% 29% 44% 34% 22%

BEST JEWELER

PERRY’S EMPORIUM REEDS Jewelers Lumina Gem

30% 53% 25% 22%

Shoe Carnival Cape Fear Footwear

MAYFAIRE TOWN CENTER

The Cotton Exchange The Pointe at Barclay Shopping Center

Grooming By Jess

UNLEASHED, THE DOG & CAT STORE Aunt Kerry’s Pet Stop PetSmart

REBEL YOGA AND PILATES Club Pilates A Body Empowered

Pet’s Pal Inn Pet Bazaar NC

BEST PLACE TO BUY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

FINKELSTEIN’S

The Music Loft of Wilmington Music & Arts

BEST PRINT SHOP

DOCK ST. PRINTING

RELAX! MASSAGE THERAPY AND SKIN CARE Willow Retreat Spa Carter Kayte Beauty Atelier

BEST SURF SHOP

SWEETWATER SURF SHOP Aussie Island Surf Shop Hot Wax Surf Shop

BEST TANNING SALON

TANGLEZ SALON & SPA Sun Tan City Saule Tanning Salon

ARTFUEL INC.

Jade Monkey Tattoo Studio Family First Tattoo

BEST USED CAR DEALERSHIP

AUTO WHOLESALE

Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Seasell Auto

Copycat Print Shop PrintWorks

BEST WEDDING VENUE

BROOKLYN ARTS CENTER Wrightsville Manor Bakery 105

BEST WOMEN’S CLOTHING

LULA BALOU

Harper Rose Boutique Wrightsville Ave Boutique

BEST YOGA STUDIO

TERRA SOL SANCTUARY Rebel Yoga and Pilates Longwave Yoga

BEST RECORD STORE

GRAVITY RECORDS

JEFF PHILLIPS

Fracaswell Hyman Hyrum Van Slyke

BEST ACTRESS

ALLIE POOLEY

Holli Saperstein LaRaisha Dionne

42% 33% 25%

BEST ART GALLERY

38% 34% 28%

BEST ARTS MARKET

49% 38% 13%

BEST BAND

55% 31% 14%

BEST BOWLING ALLEY

Yellow Dog Discs Record Bar

61% 28% 11%

42% 39% 19% 49% 26% 25% 51% 25% 24%

ART IN BLOOM GALLERY Bottega Art & Wine Eclipse Artisan Boutique

SEAGLASS SALVAGE MARKET Orange Street Arts Festival Artisan Locale

L SHAPE LOT

Striking Copper Uptown Easy

CARDINAL LANES SHIPYARD Ten Pin Alley Cardinal Lanes Beach Bowl

BEST COMEDY TROUPE

PINEAPPLE-SHAPED LAMPS Nutt House Improv Troupe Daredevil Improv

BEST CULTURAL PROGRAMMING

WHQR

Wilson Center at CFCC Bellamy Mansion Museum

BEST DANCE CLUB

IBIZA NIGHTCLUB Goodfellas Pravda

TECHNIQUES IN MOTION

Studio 1 Dance Conservatory Danzquest

BEST DJ

DJ BRIAN HOOD

Active Entertainment Randall Canady

KNOT TOO SHABBY EVENTS A. Noble Events and Design Shauna Loves Planning, LLC

IBIZA

Tails Piano Bar Bottega Art and Wine

BEST INDOOR SPORTS/REC FACILITY

NIR FAMILY YMCA

Off The Wall Sports LLC Club Golf Indoor

BEST KARAOKE BAR Bourbon St. Varnish Ale & Spirits

41% 37% 22%

BEST LIVE MUSIC VENUE (<600)

59% 25% 16% 45% 28% 27%

38% 34% 28% 49% 31% 20% 48% 44% 8% 46% 28% 26% 60% 28% 12%

REEL CAFE

BEST LIVE MUSIC VENUE (>600)

43% 35% 22%

50% 35% 15%

BEST GAY CLUB

35% 34% 31%

MEDIA, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT BEST ACTOR

BEST DANCE SCHOOL

BEST EVENT PLANNER

PAWS & CLAWS ANIMAL HOSPITAL 43% 31% Porters Neck Veterinary Hospital 26% Wilmington Animal Healthcare

26%

63% Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage 25% 12% Regina Drury Real Estate Group

71% 21% 8%

BEST VETERINARIAN

Jungle Rapids The Sideboard

47% 37% 16%

53% 27% 20%

BEST SPA

VON BARKEE’S DOG SPA & BAKERY 46% BEST ARCADE / GAME ROOM BLUE POST 28% Pet’s Pal Inn

BLOCKADE RUNNER BEACH RESORT 39% BEST REAL ESTATE COMPANY Embassy Suites by Hilton Wilmington Riverfront 31% INTRACOASTAL REALTY Hotel Ballast Wilmington

SOUL SHOETIQUE

BEST TATTOO PARLOR

MARY BETH REDMAN (WILLOW RETREAT SPA) 43%

CHRISTINA JUNAK (TANGLEZ SALON AND SPA) 42% BEST PLACE TO BOARD A PET THE DIGGS AT PAWS & CLAWS Blythe Lundy (Rockin’ Roller Salon) 36% Mercedes Meza (Rockin’ Roller Salon)

59% 26% 15%

BEST MASSAGE THERAPIST

Stephanie Arnold (Relax!)

Colton Schultz (Carter Kayte Beauty)

BEST SHOE STORE

BEST SHOPPING PLAZA

BEST PERSONAL TRAINER

BEST HAIR STYLIST

BEST HEALTH FOOD STORE

59% 26% 15%

BEST OUTDOOR SPORTS/REC FACILITY

CAPT’N BILLS BACKYARD GRILL Ogden Park Blue Clay Bike Park

BEST PHOTOGRAPHER

SUSIE LINQUIST PHOTOGRAPHY Lightbloom Photography Erin Whittle Photography

BEST POOL HALL

BLUE POST BILLIARDS

Orton’s Billiards and Pool Room Breaktime Billiards

BEST RADIO STATION

98.3 THE PENGUIN Z107.5 91.3 WHQR

BEST THEATRE COMPANY

THALIAN ASSOCIATION

Opera House Theatre Company Pineapple Shaped Lamps

52% 39% 9% 38% 35% 27% 44% 34% 22% 50% 26% 24% 51% 34% 15%

BEST THEATRE PRODUCTION — MUSICAL 54% LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Lizzie: The Musical

27%

Jitney The Roses of Oshiro Village

28% 26%

19%

GREENFIELD LAKE AMPHITHEATER 72% BEST THEATRE PRODUCTION — PLAY 25% Wilson Center at CFCC 46% WOLFCRUSH The Shell 3%

BROOKLYN ARTS CENTER Reel Cafe Bourgie Nights

BEST LOCAL ARTIST- FEMALE

SARAH RUSHING DOSS Mary Ellen Golden Carleigh Sion

BEST LOCAL ARTIST- MALE

MARK HERBERT Kyle Legates Colby Byrd

BEST LOCAL FILMMAKER

HONEY HEAD FILMS Dogma Cape Fear Alicia Inshiradu

53% 25% 22%

BEST THEATRE VENUE

40% 37% 23%

BEST TOUR OF ILM

35% 33% 32%

BEST TRIVIA NIGHT

58% 27% 15%

BEST WRITER

BEST LOCAL INDIE FILM

THALIAN HALL

Wilson Center at CFCC The Cape Fear Playhouse

63% 31% 6%

GHOST WALK OF OLD WILMINGTON 54% Wilmington Water Tours Epic Excursions

HELL’S KITCHEN

The Sour Barn Meeser Eddie’s Funtime Trivia

39% 7% 54% 38% 8%

John Wolfe Brent Holland

46% 29% 25%

Laney High School Theatre Snow Productions

33% 14%

GWENYFAR ROHLER

WHAT THE RIVER KNOWS (ALICIA INSHIRADU) 36% BEST YOUTH THEATRE (18 AND UNDER) The Deep End (Emma Grace Wright) 35% THALIAN ASSOCIATION Pizza My Heart (Holly Cole Brown) 29% 53% CHILDREN’S THEATRE (TACT)

66% 17% 17%

BEST LOCAL NEWSCAST

39% 35% 26%

BEST LOCAL RADIO PERSONALITY

46% 36% 18%

BEST LOCAL WEBSITE

42% 40% 18%

BEST MORNING RADIO SHOW

WECT

WWAY WSFX

BEAU GUNN: THE PENGUIN 98.3 Foz: Z 107.5 Randy Slack: Modern Rock 98.7

PORTCITYDAILY.COM

WhastOnWilmington.com StarNewsOnline.com

FOZ IN THE MORNING: Z 107.5

Bob and Sheri in the Morning: WGNI The Morning Alternative with Randy Slack: Modern Rock 98.7

51% 37% 12%

BEST MUSEUM

48% 33% 19%

BEST MUSICIAN — FEMALE

42% 36% 22%

BEST MUSICIAN — MALE

62% 28% 10%

BEST NEWSCASTER - FEMALE

42% 39% 19%

BEST NEWSCASTER - MALE

48% 34% 18%

BEST OPEN MIC

CAMERON ART MUSUEM

Cape Fear Museum Children’s Museum of Wilmington

JENNY PEARSON Monica Jane Emily Roth

RANDY MCQUAY Chase Johanson Randall Canady

ASHLEA KOSIKOWSKI (WECT) Frances Weller (WECT) Kim Ratcliff (WECT)

JON EVANS (WECT)

Gannon Medwick (WECT) Randy Aldridge (WWAY)

DEAD CROW COMEDY CLUB Goat and Compass Bottega Art and Wine

75% 23% 2% 44% 33% 23% 52% 33% 15% 41% 32% 27%

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restaurants were ordered to cease usual business, I watched, in a matter of hours, Front Street turn into a ghost town. Now that retail is allowed to operate again, with social distancing and responsible safeguards, the struggle to balance the public good with economic survival becomes paramount for small retailers.

Daylight retail always has been a struggle for downtown. During my childhood it was mostly confined to The Cotton Exchange and Chandler’s Wharf, with a few brave exceptions on Front Street (New Elements Gallery, Finkelstein’s and our bookstore are notable examples). With the evolution of downtown as a tourist draw, the desire grew for added retail, and in the ‘90s a spate of “cute little shops” popped up. Soon after, rising rents on Front Street made it harder and harder for small retailers to survive and compete amid online shopping.

LIVE “D

Gwenyfar stops for stationary on Front Street

o you have art supplies?” a young lady at the bookstore’s front door asked me last week.

“Not really,” I answered. “We have some blank sketchbooks we make in house, but they don’t have really good drawing paper, just standard copy paper. The closest place is Occasions… Just Write, in The Cotton Exchange. We could carry more in the way of fine pencils, markers and such, but we would rather have them as neighbors than try to compete with them on that stuff.”

I paused.

“They usually have Caran d’Ache, which I never pronounce correctly, but I absolutely love the quality of their stuff.”

The Swiss-made art pencils are just luscious. Sigh.

A sign on the window of downtown stationery store Occasions... Just Write encourages social distancing. Photo by Gwenyfar Rohler

LOCAL

BY G WENY FAR ROHL the ER

Occasions… Just Write, located on Front Street side of The Cotton Exchange, always has been a dangerous place for me to visit. When I was little, I loved to flip through their books of wedding and party invitations, and dream about all that I could do with pens so beautiful I knew they were really magic wands.

Peggy Mahan purchased the business a few years ago, and ever since they’ve formed an evolving art installation with New Elements Gallery nearby.

Peggy’s sister, Janet Munn, is responsible for the shop’s incredible window decor, including their Flamingo Month displays. I walked in last week to find Janet re-dressing the window. She and Peggy excitedly pointed out it was Janet’s first day back at work in two months. The Paycheck Protection Program had come through for Occasions, and Peggy was able to bring back

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SPECIAL OCCASION A sign on the window of downtown stationery store Occasions… Just Write encourages social distancing.

Photo by Gwenyfar Rohler

Janet on payroll. Frankly, I was surprised they were open on a weekday—grateful, thrilled and proud but surprised.

With North Carolina facing phase one of reopening, downtown Wilmington feels like it is in a bizarre state of disorder. I have preached the gospel of our local economy’s interconnected web for many years in this column. When the bars and

Now, with the sudden changes of the novel coronavirus, the trajectory has changed. Most daylight retail today is a blend of brick-and-mortar and e-commerce. Many people recognize the importance of those “cute little shops” in our local economy: The family-friendly business are part of the city’s core tourist draw. Now that our bookstore has made it through the first weekend of reopening, I’m trying to connect with my colleagues downtown and see how they are doing and where they see us headed.

Visiting Occasions was high on the list.

Peggy has been doing what all entrepreneurs do: spinning and scrambling to try figure out next steps. It is a two-pronged approach for her: She is quickly learning about e-commerce, while trying to stock unique items that draw foot traffic to the store.

“We got an e-commerce store up in two weeks,” she explains. The site is really quite beautiful and functional. Peggy’s daughter, Kelly, did the leg work. “She took the photos, with our dogs appearing in quite a few shots.”

Though Kelly is helping her mom navigate new waters, Peggy confesses, “I’m still learning about social selling and e-commerce and trying to come up with ways to increase sales.” She adds that Occasions decided to start its own greeting-card line using Kelly’s photos. Kelly is also designing digital products to sell on the site.

Not to be outdone, Janet has been painting straw hats and gift boxes as unique and functional works of art. They are trying all they can because a big piece of the business is just gone: invitations. Peggy shakes her head. No big weddings, no graduation announcements, no spring parties or bar and bat mitzvahs. All have evaporated.

“I’m also sad about missing Flamingo Month this May,” says Peggy. “We’ve raised funds annually for hospice care during May in remembrance of my hus-

band. So every May, since I’ve owned the store, we would put out his collection of flamingos, run promos and donate a portion of sale proceeds to Lower Cape Fear LifeCare (née Lower Cape Fear Hospice).

That won’t be possible this year.”

The store’s logo was also designed in his honor. Kelly created in as a memory of her dad. “He’ll be gone eight years this May 19 and the store has become a family labor of love dedicated to him,” Peggy tells. “Making it thrive is so important, and it scares me to think I won’t be able to continue.”

That fear isn’t unfounded, but there are signs of hope. Like Old Books, Occasions received an R-3 grant from Wilmington Downtown Inc. and the Longleaf Foundation. The $3,000 grant was designed to help small businesses restock so they can reopen downtown. As of press time, at least 20 grants have been awarded.

Also like the bookstore, Occasions has received unexpected donations from a couple of longtime customers. That says a lot about their connection to the community and the role they fill. During quarantine, many people have been unable or unwilling to leave their homes to buy cards for events for which they would normally stock.

“I’ve chosen cards, signed and mailed them on a customer’s behalf,” Peggy ex-

plains. “The hardest part about this time is the unknown. Will we be able to survive this? We are so grateful for the Re-3 grant, private donations and the support of our customers, but we stress over if it will be enough with the bills mounting and rent needing to be paid.”

Like many people (and especially most small business owners), I don’t have much in the way of available funds right now.

But I have been so fortunate with support for the bookstore—I know what a big difference a sale can make. My waterloo at Occasions is the line of 3D pop-up cards they carry. I adore them and use them to decorate the bed and breakfast; they look so cute hanging from sconces or the pull chain for the ceiling fan. So, really, I rationalize time and time again, the cards are a business expense. Right?

I picked out two cards for the B&B and a “Wizard of Oz” card for my friend Connie’s birthday; we will celebrate when we can see each other again. Looking around the store, I had the same thought I have every time I am there: I wish I could afford to buy one of everything, especially those beautiful, magical pens!

The joy of knowing that I can come back and visit Peggy and Janet again is a huge relief. If we can all hold on through these next few months, it will be a miracle, and it will take a community.

encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 7

ORANGE NEW IS THE

TAN

Cranky Foreign reimagines Trump’s origin story

R

emember when news headline scandals were simpler? Like in 2014 when Obama approached the White House lectern wearing … a tan suit?

The Washington Post reported: “Ronald Reagan wore tan suits during his presidency. So did Dwight D. Eisenhower, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. But on Aug. 28, 2014, when President Barack Obama showed up for a White

membered his oath and remained silent.

Didn’t they know the courts had decided this issue because of Barry Goldwater?

BY THE C House news conference dressed in beige, the light-colored suit became a matter of national import. Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) fumed the suit pointed to a ‘lack of seriousness’ on the president’s part, cable news shows held roundtable discussions, fashion critics and image consultants

RANKY FO

REIGNER

weighed in, and TV news reporters conducted man-on-the-street interviews to find out what the people of Northeast Ohio thought of the controversial look.”

Ahh, the bad old days.

I believe Tan Suit Gate, as it came to be known in the follow-up Senate hearings, was what pushed Donald Trump to rescue America from that wretched man who disgraced the highest office in the land.

The resulting tan-suit stock-market crash probably hit him hard, but he accepted his losses with grace and a resigned shrug. It was when the European papers reported America was no longer the leader of the free world that the real depth of the crisis became apparent.

Trump was still upset about the US Army refusing to accept him because of his bone spurs. A letter from his doctor indicating the spurs were a minor matter, and would not impede him in his desire to kill total strangers with darker skin, seemed to go unheeded. So Donald dressed in the plain brown robes of a mendicant friar so he could walk among his fellow countrymen and hear their honest, heartfelt voices in these difficult times. To distract the press, he planted some rumors about how his very public sexual affairs were threatening the sacred marriage he held so dear.

He took an oath of silence, knowing it would help him understand his countrymen’s concerns, but this oath proved troublesome. Honest working folk would talk about how Obama might not be eligible to be president because he didn’t look like he was born in Hawaii. Had anyone actually seen him in a grass skirt? But Donald re-

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Barry was born in the Arizona territory before it was a state in the Union. Still, the court decided, wisely, that since he did not need to be “naturalized” when Arizona became a state and he became a citizen, he was a “natural” citizen all along—and that covered anyone who had at least one parent who was a U.S. citizen. Since Obama’s mother was born in Kansas, it didn’t matter what his birth certificate noted. Donald knew this, and feared some unscrupulous demagogue in the future might twist these innocent appearances into a vile piece of character slander.

When Donald returned to his humble, gold-plated high rise in New York, he pondered the fate of the country he loved so much. Wherever he went, hard-working common folk anguished over the tan suit debacle and the end of American exceptionalism. They were hoping for better days when navy blue suits might become an amendment to the Constitution.

How else would will be able to protect the lives of generations to come?

They say he was on his solid gold toilet seat, staring with horror at a smartphone, realizing its incredible potential for evil, when he made the fateful decision. Decisions were difficult for him because his daily Propecia dose—taken to prevent hair loss—made him confused and a bit paranoid. Still, decide, he did. It was not too late to put his personal delights aside and pull Excalibur from the sacred stone. He heard it was in Central Park near the monkey petting zoo.

And so it was to be. It seems only fitting to realize, in five short years, this country, traumatized by the sight of the tan suit, emerged from their fears and nightmares to walk the sunlit meadows to the shining city upon the hill.

with kidnapping and raping a woman on New Year’s Day in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was released when the COVID-19 crisis erupted in jails, according to PennLive.com. On May 12, police responding to reports that Fish tried to break into the Crossroads Tavern in Hilltown Township attempted to Taser Fish, but he fled to his home nearby, where he set off and aimed fireworks at a SWAT team before his house suddenly caught fire. “Fireworks outside and fireworks inside,” said tavern owner Mike Mrozinski. “So I believe that’s what lit the house on fire.” A body thought to be Fish was found inside. Mrozinski said Fish, whom he had known for 16 years, was “not the same guy I had known him to be” before the rape charges. [PennLive.com, 5/13/2020]

LEAD STORY In South America, some families of people who have died of COVID-19 have had to wait days for a coffin, either because of the short supply or they were unable to afford one, the Associated Press reported on May 8. In response, ABC Displays, a Colombian advertising company, has developed a cardboard hospital bed with metal railings that can be converted into a coffin. The beds can hold a weight of 330 pounds and will cost about $85 each, company manager Rodolfo Gomez said. He plans to donate 10 beds and hopes to receive orders for more from emergency clinics that might run short on beds. [Associated Press, 5/8/2020]

es. “Guests can drive up to the front door, and we’re going to have dancers separated by the 6-foot separation rule, and (customers) can enjoy a totally nude show right from the seat of their car,” a Little Darlings spokesperson told KSNV. [The Sun, 5/11/2020]

RECENT ALARMING HEADLINE

In Clocolan, Free State Province, South Africa, where the now-seven-week-long lockdown includes a ban on buying or selling alcoholic beverages, thieves broke into the Rest in Peace funeral parlor and made off with four gallons of exhumation liquid, the Daily Mail reported on May 12. The fluid, used to preserve body parts that have been exhumed, is 97% alcohol, police spokesperson Brigadier Motansi Makhele said, and the burglars had to break through roller blinds and into a locked steel cabinet to get to the NOT MEN FROM OUTER SPACE liquid. A forensic officer predicted: “If the People in Washington’s Puget Sound were thieves drink that liquid without watering it startled on the evening of May 6 by a brilliant right down, then they will drop dead themstreak of light across the sky followed three selves!” [Daily Mail, 5/12/2020] minutes later by a loud explosion. “Huge boom that shook the house. It was the loud- INEXPLICABLE est boom I’ve ever heard,” one witness in BriIn 2006, Armin Meiwes, now 58, was coner reported, according to KOMO. The Amer- victed of killing, dismembering and slowly ican Meteor Society investigated the many eating Bernd Brandes, 43, over a number reports it fielded and determined the noise of months in Rotenburg, Germany, but tocame from an exploding meteor entering day, the man who advertised himself as Earth’s atmosphere. The meteor may have a “friendly and polite” cannibal, goes for been part of the annual Eta Aquarid mete- “walks around town” with a police escort and or shower, which occurs when Earth moves wearing sunglasses and a cap to disguise through the remnants of Halley’s comet. himself. Meiwes had advertised in 2001 on [KOMO, 5/7/2020] a website called The Cannibal Cafe for “a well-built 18- to 30-year-old to be slaughBRIGHT IDEAS tered and then consumed,” and Brandes anRestaurants have adapted to local lock- swered the ad. At trial, Meiwes told the court downs with curbside and drive-thru services, he had always dreamed of having a youngso it’s no surprise that other businesses are er brother “to be a part of me” and thought following suit. Minx Gentlemen’s Club in cannibalism would be a way to satisfy that Virginia Beach, Virginia, is offering drive-th- obsession. Two officers accompany Meiwes ru pole dances and other entertainment in on his outings, reports the Daily Mail, and a makeshift outdoor space, according to he is described by his keepers as a “friendly, The Sun. Dancers were showered with bills outgoing, polite” prisoner who is helpful to or grabbed their tips using a trash picker to others, attends church services and works reach into vehicles as patrons enjoyed the in the prison laundry. [Daily Mail, 5/12/2020] performances from the safety of their cars.

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Little Darlings is QUESTIONABLE JUDGMENT offering completely nude drive-up strip teas— Curtis L. Fish, 48, arrested and charged

—Joseph Todd Kowalczyk, 20, tweeted at the FBI on May 10, threatening that he had “10 bombs ready to go off ... in my basement ... come get me you guys have till 8 before I make this city in my own little hell #forwaco.” The FBI determined the tweet came from a mobile home park in Clinton Township, Michigan, according to The Detroit News, and officers showed up at Kowalczyk’s home the next day, where he explained that he was “testing the government” and was upset that they had not responded more promptly. He told agents he had no weapons and would not make any more threatening tweets, but as the

day wore on, Kowalczyk taunted the FBI in further posts, disparaging the agency and police for their slow response. On May 12, he was arrested and charged with transmitting a threat to injure, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. [Detroit News, 5/13/2020]

PAYING THE PRICE Restaurants in West Plains, Missouri, endured a social media storm in early May after a customer posted a photo of a receipt that included a “Covid 19 Surcharge.” But the restaurants pushed back, according to KY3. “It’s not a tax. It’s basically just a small percentage to cover all of our extra expenses,” said Bootleggers BBQ owner Brian Staack. Kiko Japanese Steakhouse manager Sarah Sherwood said prices on most items have doubled, and Ozark Cafe co-owner Heather Hughes confirmed: “Every day there’s something else (food suppliers) can’t get or the prices have gone up exorbitantly.” The restaurateurs say it’s easier to add the 5% surcharge than constantly change the menus, and they’ve been upfront with customers, using signs and notes in their menus. While the initial response was surprise, Sherwood says the community has “really come together to support the local businesses.” [KY3, 5/8/2020]

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INTENTIONAL TIME Mike Blair and the Stonewalls will release their latest single, ‘River,’ this Friday.

Photo by Will Cooper

SILVER

LINING

BY SHANNON RAE GENTRY

“S

omebody asked me the other day, ‘What are you doing for fun?’” singer-songwriter Mike Blair tells me over our Zoom sesh—not quite the same as grabbing a beer at Burnt Mill Creek, but we’re both getting used to it. We’re discussing the “COVID cloud” we’re all living under these days as we wait patiently (mostly?) for the return of normalcy in commerce,

down.’ There’s no rush.”

DETAILS MIKE BLAIR AND THE STONEWALLS ‘River’ single release Friday, May 22 mikeblairandthestonewalls.bandcamp.com arts and entertainment.

“There is definitely a dark cloud,” he affirms. “But two things can be true at the same time: We can have this bizarre, unprecedented event happen to the globe, and then the other part of it is that I can tune in to my own mental clarity. I can decide what’s important to me—my faith, my love and my wife, getting to know my neighbors better. I think you’ll probably see throughout all this is a larger, more neighborhood- [and] community-based venture.

We’re speaking to neighbors that we don’t often have time to speak with. So I think there can be a few positives out of all this.”

Blair says there can be a silver lining for artists, too: time. Time to think, to breathe, to take a walk, to read a book. Time to watch a film. Time to do the things which provide some inspiration to create.

“Writing, specifically, is very solitary,” he explains. “I think being intentional with one’s time is probably the biggest silver lining that I can tackle right now [in terms] of taking control of my time, of an interesting lyric or just a thought in my head. I go, ‘Okay, I should really just stop [and] write it

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Blair, who won Hourglass Studios’ 2017 songwriting contest—a prize that included free studio time—has been spending his time at home mixing songs remotely with his band the Stonewalls. The band is comprised of Blair (guitar), Nick Loeber (bass), Mitch Mallard (electric guitar), Paul Miller (keys) and Jon Hill (drums). Their new album, “Almanac County,” is set for release later this year. Blair and company finished recording right before cancellations and closings started flooding our news feeds back in March.

“It was that night we finished up overdubs that they had canceled the Azalea Festival weekend,” he remembers. “Then that following Monday was when the news got more serious, and people were told to stay home.”

While it’s more of a transactional process with email replacing in-person conversations, mixing from a distance is proving to be more beneficial if not more efficient in sharing pointed feedback. With much of the world on hold, there’s more time and less pressure to release the complete album right away. Nevertheless, Blair hopes to have “Almanac County” out within the next few months, releasing singles—such as “American Writer,” released in February—along the way. The band’s next single, “River,” will debut this Friday, May 22 at mikeblairandthestonewalls. bandcamp.com.

“River” is a fun, upbeat tempo song indicative of the band’s rock and folk tendencies. Another track, “I Could Have Loved You,” takes its title from a line of dialogue Blair heard on TV series “Californication” years ago. “I thought the phrase was so vulnerable,” Blair notes. Fittingly, the song is structured as a narrative involving two characters torn between lov-

Mike Blair and the Stonewalls release series of singles leading up to ‘Almanac County’ ing one another.

“So really not a lot of it has to do with me, at least I don’t think it does,” he notes.

“But that’s been kind of just writing out of my mind, away from my own emotions.”

As with the rest of the album, these tunes include more objective songwriting from Blair telling stories that aren’t necessarily his own, as opposed to previous records like 2011’s “The Print” and 2014’s self-titled album. Where the latter focused on the singer-songwriter perspective, Blair takes a more narrative approach in songs like “American Writer” and the title track, which acts as the record’s centerpiece. “‘Writer’ and ‘Almanac’ came at similar times in my head,” Blair explains. “‘Almanac’ is more blues-driven—no chorus, just four stanzas—so I definitely wasn’t writing towards the idea that, ‘I have an emotion I’m feeling today and I need to express it.’ . . . All these different scenarios in ‘American Writer’ are in that same county, and that was me wanting to write a narrative piece in a folk tradition of storytelling, about this lone house in a neighborhood.

[I was] asking, ‘What’s his story?’”

Along with the release of “River” this Friday, Blair has started an Instagram live stream (@mikeblairmusic) called “Tell Me More,” in which he interviews songwriters.

The first episode featured Charlotte-based singer-songwriter Nathan Storey. Blair is now trying to secure a date with Wilmington’s Stray Local for his next interview.

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WAITING IN

BY SHEA CARVER

“W

hat do you miss most in this new quarantine life?”

“Live music.”

Behind going out to eat, it’s been the number one answer I’ve received when talking to friends about what they yearn to do most while living in self-isolation. COVID-19 shut down concerts, tours and summer music festivals to the tune of $9 billion in losses, according to the LA Times.

Some artists are getting creative, still bringing their sounds to the masses, even if to their living rooms. John Legend, Willie Nelson, Chris Martin, Miley Cyrus, Ben Gibbard, Garth Brooks, The Roots and many others have been streaming for fans. Keith Urban hosted a concert in a drive-in movie theater outside of Nashville for 125 cars. On May 29 at 6 p.m. (via Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Twitch), Dropkick Murphys, joined remotely by Bruce Springsteen, will be the first to head back to Boston’s Fenway Park to play to ... empty seats.

Locally, bands have figured out how to keep the music going by either participating in livestreams, releasing new music or doing neighborhood concert series. But our small and large venues are having to figure out ways to recoup lost income and keep the music going, while mentally doing cartwheels around what this “new normal” looks like for concert-goers.

“I see the model for less is more, singer-songwriter scenarios that tend to attract tamer audiences,” Bourgie Nights owner Billy Mellon predicts, “[attracting] those that are at ease with sitting and focusing on the artist, and not be in the crowd because it is crowded.”

The downtown music venue’s capacity is already 150, so making it more intimate may not be much of a problem. Mellon believes both artists and audiences could benefit from a small listening-room experience.

“We may be set up a little bit better than most venues because we might be able to

incorporate the right performers to play in front of a dinner crowd,” says Mellon, who also operates the fine-dining establishment manna, next door to Bourgie. “Obviously, space will be an issue, but if agents [and] artists are willing to strip down their budgets to fit into these types of scenarios, it could work.”

At Reggie’s 42nd Street Tavern in midtown, where heavier acts are booked throughout the year, co-owner Charles Krueger already has been ruminating on measures they’ll need to take once music venues and bars get the go-ahead to open in NC. Hand-sanitizer stations will be put around the bar and fewer bar stools will be positioned to host guests.

“I’ve heard we’ll be able to open at 50% occupancy and most of the shows we put on are below that anyway,” Krueger says. “We’ve been meaning to nice up and expand our outside area anyway. We also, with the help of Charlie Smith, had planned on doing a Sunday artisan market with an outside stage, so maybe we’ll take advantage of that outdoor stage for some of the other shows when they aren’t too loud.”

During normal times, when it’s not hosting shows, it’s doing karaoke nights or welcoming patrons for beers and camaraderie. These days Reggie’s has been struggling with lack of income; outside of a small SBA loan, Krueger and his partners have depended on T-shirt sales (“quarantees”) for revenue.

“Pretty much between the shirts and the loan, we were able to pay rent for one month,” he says, “but like everyone else, we’ve been closed for two. So that other month’s rent, and every other bill that comes with owning a business, still need to get paid.”

Reggie’s has pushed springtime shows, like The Ataris and The Queens, to the fall, and added Dead Meadow and Windhand to September. “Luckily, we do well enough where we’re not going anywhere,” Krueger assures, “but it is disheartening, to say the least.”

In the Brooklyn Arts District on Fourth Street, Brooklyn Arts Center (BAC) was pick-

ing up its pace with more scheduled live music. (Most of its revenue is generated from weddings, of which it’s been forced to cancel 35.) BAC had six shows scheduled for spring that have canceled or rescheduled. “It’s detrimental because everyone who works in the event business has lost two or three months of income,” executive director Rich Leder says.

How it will look when BAC reopens depends on Governor Cooper’s requirements— which, as of press, hadn’t been made public.

Everyone’s in a holding pattern for phase two to happen and to receive clear direction from the state. During this downtime, BAC has renovated, deep-cleaned and installed hand-sanitizing stations in the venue.

LIMBO

Local concert venues face revenue losses and an uncertain future

outcome for many. On average around 25% (around 325 people) travel from out of town per show. They are buying meals, drinks, gas, hotels, etc. The ripple effect carries into hundreds of thousands of dollars lost to our “Best case scenario, when phase two hits, local economy.”

Governor Cooper allows event venues to If GLA gets the all-clear to reopen by open at a high percentage capacity,” Leder surmises. “Worst case scenario, when phase June, Gunn does not see it being at full two hits, Governor Cooper allows event ven- capacity. Yet, he hopes, like Krueger at ues to open but his stated capacity is too low Reggie’s, they can operate at least by half.

In that scenario, there is a silver lining for to allow us to host meaningful events.” smaller acts.

Leder doesn’t think promoters BAC works “I see a lot of talented local/regional acts with would be interested in hosting smaller concerts either. Mainly, they can’t make being able to perform at GLA that otherenough money for a venue the size of BAC wise may not get the chance,” he says. “And knowing the community’s affinity for GLA (600 and under). and live music, I foresee a wonderful oppor“If a band wants to do an event that allows tunity to have some great shows with talentus to adhere to our lawful capacity—whatev- ed bands.” er that turns out to be at any given time—then Another ray of sunshine in an otherwise we will certainly consider it,” he clarifies. dreadful COVID-19 tale: Riverfront Park Greenfield Lake Amphitheater (GLA)— continues to make headway on opening its which seats over 1,000—has lost all of 6,000-plus seat amphitheater by next year. its spring revenue, and what summer and Also operated by Live Nation, the 6.6-acre fall will look like remains unknown. Beau site will include playgrounds and green Gunn—who works with Live Nation, which space to be utilized when concerts, festivals took over management of the venue from and other live performances aren’t happenthe city—canceled six concerts and re- ing. It will be located on the north downtown scheduled others but is in a holding pat- Riverwalk off Cowan Street. tern. The possibility exists GLA will lose 40 “I encourage anyone looking for someshows or more if the 2020 concert season thing to look forward to, go down to the site gets canceled altogether. and check it out,” Gunn says. “It’s pretty ex“We employ anywhere from 25 to 30 local citing and still scheduled to open mid-2021. people at every show,” Gunn says. “The im- We are all remaining optimistic we will be pact on their income spread out over what producing shows there by next year.” could be the entire concert season is a harsh encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 13

UPLIFTING VIBES

ACME artist Mark Weber hosts virtual exhibit on Facebook Live May 22

L

ocally, some folks may associate Mark Weber’s fine art with colorful jungle scenes or monochromatic serene views of the natural world. Nationally, his pen-and-ink illustrations have been featured in such well-known magazines and newspapers as Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. Today, he continues to sketch for Tribune Media’s op-ed columns and even for Wilmington’s own monthly women’s magazine, Wilma. The great pause the world is going through at present definitely hasn’t slowed Weber’s output.

“I usually send [Tribune] one to three illustrations a week based on current events,” he tells. “I have drawn a lot of masks these past few weeks!”

Folks can see of few on his blog (www. quarantinesketchbook.blogspot.com).

One showcases a bald, green man wearing a mask, fanning money he’s made off the novel coronavirus. Another illustrates a simple daisy wearing a mask as spring hits. While the weekly sketches certainly help pay the bills, fine art is a passion Weber continues exploring. He will host a virtual art exhibit as part of ACME Studio’s artist lineup on Friday, May 22, 6 - 9 p.m., on his Facebook page.

“This pause has given me extra time to focus on my art perhaps a little bit more than before and, more importantly, given me time to play, which is sometimes a luxury if I have been pressured by various deadlines,” Weber continues.

The May 22 exhibit was planned as part of ACME’s Fourth Friday before COVID-19.

Titled “Mark Weber | Five Years at ACME,” it will be a retrospective of Weber’s work, featuring approximately 30 pieces, including new works he’s painted since January.

DETAILS

layers. Conversely, his watercolors, acrylics and pen-and-inks are conducive to a quicker pace of work.

BY SHEA CARVER YING AND YANG Weber’s signature jungle vibe comes through on this 51-inch-by-34-inch oil painting.

MARK WEBER | FIVE YEARS AT ACME May 22, 6 - 9 p.m.

Facebook Live Virtual Exhibit facebook.com/webcreative Original art work for sale, $75-$3,000 There will be small and large work for sale on both canvas and paper (prices range from $75 to $3,000).

“I will be posting photos of the pieces, along with their size, medium and price,” Weber explains of the format, to be streamed via Facebook Live. “If you want to make a purchase, you will be able to contact us by phone, text or messenger.”

Included will be a 52-inch-by-24-inch oil on canvas, “Island Jam.” The uplifting vibe, warm reds and blues, harkens to vacations past, listening to a live band, dancing in the sand. “I had no idea at all where it was going until I added the central figure of the girl with the tambourine,” Weber tells.

On mixed-media paper is another new piece, “Ying & Yang” (51-inches-by-34inches). Weber’s signature jungle vibe is

14 encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com

Courtesy photo

apparent as animals take shape and pop in bright colors, abstract lines, brush strokes and dots. The natural world also comes alive in “Land, Sea & Air,” in which a rush of blues and greens enliven the canvas.

“And for pieces that just don’t seem to work, that’s why there is gesso!” he quips.

“I just paint over it and try again. It’s rare I know exactly what I will be doing when I go into the studio.”

Weber has been a studio artist at ACME since moving to Wilmington in 2010. Previously, he was mostly a stay-at-home artist, creating works for galleries, primarily in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, while churning out weekly editorial work for 35 years. “A spare bedroom usually became my studio, but I longed to fling paint and not be concerned with how much I spilled on the floor,” he says.

Having never worked outside of his “I go back and forth between a very colorful palette to a more monochromatic, home, much less in a co-op with other somber one,” Weber says. “This really all artists, was an awakening. It also was encouraging to be among peers. During Wedepends on mood and subject matter.” ber’s first year at ACME, he participated in “Raven” shows as much, heavy-handed a joint show with Karen Paden Crouch. in grays and blacks, with a dash of green “We both have a love for the Brothers or light blue peeking through. Depending on the muse, Weber’s work can be quite varied. Grimm and those old children’s stories that were sometimes very frightening,” he “Both ‘Land, Sea & Air’ and ‘Raven’ are oils says. Titled “New Mythology,” the show inon canvas, and started by laying a simple cluded their interpretations of mythology. shape of paint on the canvas,” he explains.

“ACME has opened up so much to me, in “Then I just stared at each until something prompted me to make another mark—then regard to seeing how other artists work,” each just flowed. They are totally different he says, “as well as meeting patrons and pieces in regard to color, subject matter and other artists who come to our Fourth Fristyle, but they were both a joy to paint, once day shows. It really is a special place.”

I got past the staring. My eyes will actually Though he can’t meet in person for go buggy on me, as I squint to try and find May’s Fourth Friday, he hopes the virtual that little hint of inspiration.” exhibit will still attract viewers. He also unWeber multitasks with the best of them, derstands money may be tight for so many usually creating upward of two to three during these uneasy times, which is why pieces simultaneously. Oils take longer to he offers clients the opportunity to pay for dry, so he often must walk away to allow his work in installments. “Many people reample drying time before returning to add ally appreciate it,” he says.

GALLERY

GUIDE

art exposure!

22527 Highway 17N Hampstead, NC (910) 803-0302 • (910) 330-4077 Tues. - Sat. 10am - 5pm (or by appt.) www.artexposure50.com ArtExposure will be hosting “Metal and Fiber, a show featuring the metal work of Vicki Thatcher and the Fiber work of Jan Lewis. The show will run until the end of August. Check outartexposure50.com for upcoming events and classes!

Tues. - Sat. 11am - 6pm (or by appt.) newelementsgallery.com “A Change of Scene” is an exhibition consisting of fresh work that Ann Parks McCray has created during this unusual time disruption. With her eternally positive attitude, the body of work is upbeat, colorful, and optimistic about the time spent alone, and relishes in the pleasures of rediscovering

ART IN BLOOM GALLERY

210 Princess St. • (484) 885-3037 Temporarily closed or call for appt. aibgallery.com Art in Bloom Gallery is open by appointment by calling 484 885 3037. View and purchase original art at aibgallery.com/ artists/. We provide free local delivery, curb-side pick up, and shipping for reasonable fees to other locations. We follow social distancing, mask wearing, hand washing, and cleaning protocols. We wish everyone health and safety during this difficult time..

NEW ELEMENTS GALLERY

271 N. Front St. • (919) 343-8997.

nature and the ocean anew. Come delight in this show with the reassurance that the sense of possibility of the future is undiminished. This virtual exhibition will go live Saturday, May 16th, 2020 at 6 PM EST. For more information, visit

https://newele-

mentsgallery.com/change-of-scene/.

WILMA DANIELS GALLERY

200 Hanover St. (bottom level, parking deck) Mon.-Fri., noon-5pm http://cfcc.edu/danielsgallery At this time CFCC and the Wilma Daniels Gallery is closed and will reopen once the COVID-19 pandemic passes and we are clear to get business back to normal.

encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 15

STRATEGY

BY JEFF OLOIZIA

D

an Brawley has never been one to sit around. Normally, during this time of year, Cucalorus’ “chief instigating officer” would be meeting with people left and right in preparation for the November festival. This year, with face-to-face meetings made impossible due to COVID-19 precautions, Brawley has opted for the next best thing: He’s taken those discussions online.

A collaboration between Cucalorus Film Foundation and UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, NC Film Forum is a nine-part series of discussions intended to support “people who make movies for a living.” Each month a different guest speaker joins participants on Zoom to discuss an issue pertinent to North Carolina’s film industry. On May 13 Lela Meadow-Conner, executive director of the Film Festival Alliance (FFA), joined Brawley and his peers to talk about myriad ways film festivals across the country are adapting to life under COVID-19.

Roughly 60 people participated in the meeting, including representatives from Cucalorus, RiverRun International Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Footcandle Film Festival, Longleaf Film Festival and the Wilmington Jewish Film Festival.

Barbara Twist, the New York City-based director of membership for FFA, described her own tribulations as a board member for the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Scheduled for March 24-29, the festival was among the first to be impacted by COVID-19. Its organizers were spared a difficult decision when Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the state’s stay-at-home order on March 23, just one day before the festival was scheduled to begin. Programming was instead moved online, with all films screening for free during the festival’s original dates.

RiverRun International Film Festival chose a slightly more modified approach. Program manager Mary Dossinger said organizers already had filmmakers’ bags laid out when they were forced to postpone the Winston-Salem festival, scheduled for March 26-April 5. Instead of screening everything at once, they have opted for a gradual roll-

DETAILS NC FILM FORUM Film discussions on Zoom 2nd Wed. each month, 5:30 p.m.

RSVP: cucalorus.org/nc-film-forum May 23: Film Festival Day, featuring the screening “Life in Synchro” • $10 shop.jomafilms.com/products/filmfestival-day-life-in-synchro

out, beginning with the North Carolina shorts program, which went online for free. They also ran a pitch fest where student filmmakers could pitch their documentary short-subject films, and plan to link to festival films that already have found a platform.

“We’re trying to do a little bit here and there, so, instead of 11 days, it’s going to spread out over a few months,” Dossinger said.

Both Ann Arbor and RiverRun were able to pull off such quick transitions because they are non-market festivals with unique curatorial approaches. Twist also cited the success of the International Wildlife Film Festival, held annually in Missoula, Montana. Since the festival has such a narrow focus, and because most of its participants are not looking for distribution, it was able to transition online with relative ease. In fact, the festival sold more tickets than ever before, in part because it was able to open to a much wider audience by going virtual.

Twist admitted this approach doesn’t work for everyone. “I think it’s really important for festivals to go through the steps of deciding what makes sense for

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them,” she said. “For a lot of festivals, it might make sense to just take a pass on this year and, essentially, wait until next year. But [others may find] it makes sense to go online . . .

I’ve had a lot of fun attending festivals around the country virtually that I wouldn’t have been able to go to otherwise.”

Meadow-Conner pointed to streaming fatigue as one hurdle that festivals must contend with. “Every day there’s some new Netflix show you have to watch,” she said. There’s also the issue of how to handle premieres. For many filmmakers, the prestige of being able to premiere a film at one festival is enough incentive to say “no” to others. Likewise, festivals often stake their reputations on the quality of films that premiere under their banners.

So, how does this work when films go online?

Wilmington filmmakers Hannah Black and Megan Peterson have experienced the situation firsthand. They were about to premiere their film “Drought” at RiverRun when COVID-19 hit. In an instant, their sold-out screening was canceled. Forced to pivot, they chose to premiere “Drought” at last weekend’s Vail Film Festival instead.

“They’ve been really open and honest about [what happens to the] data afterwards,” Black said. “They allowed us to choose a time block instead of screening it the whole weekend, which we really liked, and people are purchasing the tickets as they would for a festival.”

Still, Peterson it hasn’t been easy. “We had to make some hard decisions,” Peterson admits. “There have been festivals that we’ve had to say ‘no’ to their online format. We’re trying to navigate the implications of even premiering at Vail for distribution later on.”

One possible solution to these issues is to geoblock screenings. Twist gave the example of the Cleveland International Film Festival, which wrapped its own online programming last month. “You may be premiering online with Cleveland, but you can actually only access that program if you’re within a certain territory the festival has geoblocked it to,” she explained. “So it’s not quite the same as just putting your film on YouTube for everyone to see.”

Another possible salve is the Film Festival

SHIFT

Industry leaders gather on Zoom to discuss the future of film festivals Survival Pledge, spearheaded by crowdfunding and video-on-demand platform Seed&Spark. So far over 100 festivals nationwide (including Wilmington’s own Cucalorus) have signed the multi-pronged pledge. It promises to temporarily waive policies that are harmful to the independent film ecosystem. This includes upholding the intended film premiere status for a festival (even if the festival moves online), and revising policies prohibiting programming films that were once available online.

Cucalorus intends to make announcements in mid-June about its own plans for the fall festival, scheduled November 1115. “We’re lucky we have the time to watch what others are doing, figure out what is working well, and maybe do a few ‘small experiments’ of our own to explore new ways of bringing people together,” Brawley said. “We were in the middle of a revolution before the pandemic, [both] in terms of how people watch and make movies.

Coronavirus has really accelerated the speed and intensity of that revolution. [It’s] exciting in some ways but also a bit scary.”

In the meantime the festival will join others across North America for the second Film Festival Day on May 23. Audiences will participate in a virtual screening of the synchronized ice-skating documentary “Life in Synchro” and a filmmaker Q&A afterward. Viewers can select their festival of choice when purchasing tickets, and revenue will be split evenly between the filmmaker and the selected organization. The first Film Festival Day on April 11 netted the filmmakers about $5,000, and the highest-generating festival earned around $500.

LITERAL

audience feel like they were experiencing dementia alongside his hero. But even if that was the goal, the movie is still silly and boring and doesn’t lead you anywhere you’d ever want to go.

SHIT-SHOW

‘Capone’ is a puzzling hit job

BY ANGHUS

N

ormally, a movie involving a mentally deranged villain, walking around in a full diaper and mowing down people with a machine gun, would be one I’d recommend. Yet, as I sat at home watching “Capone,” I realized: It’s been so long since I’ve seen something truly terrible, I’d forgotten how cathartic it can be.

A few years back “The Informant!” (Matt Damon), directed by the great Steven Soderbergh, was billed as a comedy. It was filled with exceptionally talented comedians and comedic actors, including Patton Oswalt, Joel McHale, Scott Adsit, Rick Overton, and Tony and Allan Havey, among others. I was perplexed because the movie wasn’t funny ... at all. The film’s talent delivered deadpan lines that didn’t seem to be constructed amusement. I started to wonder if that was the joke: Soderbergh made a comedy with extremely talented comedians and yet no laughs were produced.

In the hands of a director with a specific vision, this movie could have been interesting. Nicolas Winding Refn took the same basic ingredients (including Tom Hardy) and made the mesmerizing “Bronson.” Trank has somehow turned the same The same thought crossed my mind as I recipe into a literal shit-show. watched “Capone.” I became convinced ev-

ery terrible moment had to be intentional.

At 10 minutes in, when Capone is shown shitting the bed, I took it as Trank’s way of saying, “I’m aware every moment in this movie is cringe-inducing and bad.”

Tom Hardy delivers a perplexing performance that rivals some of Nic Cage’s most voracious creative choices. Hardy looks like a meth addict in bad makeup, with a voice that sounds like the Tasmanian Devil after being neutered. He makes awkward noises and inhuman guttural grunts. His portrayal of Al Capone is weird and a little psychotic. Rarely have I seen a performance from a gifted actor so strangely disconnected from reality.

“Capone” is a fascinating mess—a dumpster fire that you may well find yourself unable to look away from. Part of me wonders if Trank was trying to make the

Perhaps there is some stylish new trend where you take a popular historical figure and find the most reviling and least interesting period of their life to adapt. Maybe one day we’ll get a movie about Neal Armstrong but skip all that landing on the moon nonsense and focus on how he lowered his handicap by three strokes at golf. Or a movie about Marilyn Monroe, but instead of an examination of the sexy bombshell’s mental illness, we explore the time she went to a department store to get a new toaster. Both of those movies would probably still be better than “Capone.”

DETAILS CAPONE Rated R, 1 hr 43 mins • Directed by Josh Trank • Starring Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini, Matt Dillon

Full menu & catering menu available for delivery & curbside pickup 7 days a week, 11am - close

encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 17

ALIEN

INVASION Local theatre companies team up for audio play ‘War of the Worlds’

B

ig Dawg Productions and Panache Theatrical Productions have teamed up to recreate a piece of radio broadcasting history.

On October 30, 1938, radio listeners around the U.S. tuned in to the popular drama anthology series “The Mercury Theatre on Air,” only for the program to be interrupted by reports that martians had invaded New Jersey. The broadcast was not a real news bulletin, but rather Orson Welles’ adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic science-fiction novel “The War of the Worlds.”

Locally, theatre production companies Big Dawg and Panache have faithfully recreated the radio play, using Welles’ original script. It will be available via SoundCloud beginning Thursday, May 21, for a suggested donation of $5 to either company.

Big Dawg artistic director Steve Vernon sees parallels between our current COVID-19 crisis and 1938, when listeners tuning in late to Welles’ drama mistook it for an actual crisis (the New York Times ran a front-page story with the headline “Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact” the next day). The controversy was such that Welles, then just 23, had to give a press conference to apologize.

“That was really the first time in modern history where people felt like the media had betrayed them,” Vernon says. He also identifies similarities between the narrative’s structure and the way in which people have processed news of the novel coronavirus.

“It has the feel of something that’s easily dismissed as not being an emergency that becomes a full-blown catastrophe in a short course of time.”

The hour-long, audiobook-style performance is directed by Vernon and features nine actors: Bob Workmon, J Robert Raines, Rebekah Carmichael, Jordan Wolfe, Hannibal Hills, Jamey Stone, Holli Saperstein, Scott Davis and Vernon himself.

Vernon began reaching out to local ac-

tors at the beginning of April and spent the next month in Zoom rehearsals and oneon-one recording sessions. Because of the health risks associated with COVID-19, actors were forced to record their parts individually from home, which they then sent to Vernon to compile into a finished product.

“It was odd directing eight individuals, but never all at once,” Vernon says. “There was no group directing. That’s certainly unusual.”

Vernon considered recording the show live over Zoom, but the platform’s poor audio quality made it impossible. Vernon’s especially grateful to Scott Davis, who worked on a stage production of “War of the Worlds” at Thalian Hall in 2007. (Vernon resurrected the show as part of Big Dawg’s Halloween programming in 2014.) Davis handled the lion’s share of post-production duties, including creating special effects and adding filters to make the recording sound as though it was being broadcast through a radio.

Vernon is also grateful to Panache, especially artistic director Anthony Lawson and managing director Holli Saperstein, the latter of whom he worked with in producing Big Dawg’s “Becoming Dr. Ruth” at Cape Fear Playhouse in 2016. The company provided marketing support and helped oversee the program’s artistic development.

Both Vernon and Panache’s leadership felt it was important to show a unified front during this trying time.

The audio drama has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, thanks to the rise of scripted podcasts such as “Homecoming” and “Wolverine: The Long Night.” For those unfamiliar with the form, however, Vernon’s gambit may feel downright revolutionary.

18 encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com

BY JEFF OLOIZIA FAKE NEWS! Orson Welles speaks into a microphone during a broadcast of his CBS radio program, ‘First Person Singular,’ circa 1938.

Courtesy photo, public domain

“Even when I told friends about it, I don’t think they realized quite what I meant when I said we were producing audio theatre,” Vernon says. “It was a pretty intensive process. We want people, when they experience it, to feel like it’s a different kind of entertainment than what they’ve been getting in the past.”

Listeners can make a donation by visiting bigdawgproductions.org or panachetheatre.com and clicking the “donate” button.

They must then enter the code “WOW” and provide an email address in order to receive a SoundCloud link to the program. All donations will be split equally between the companies, which have been hit hard by COVID-19.

Big Dawg and Panache have been forced to cancel or postpone their entire 2020 seasons due to social-distancing mandates.

Making matters worse, both companies have been burned by so-called “fair-trade ticketing company” Brown Paper Tickets. In March, the Seattle-based ticket broker revealed it would stop honoring outstanding checks for events that have already taken place. While the Washington State Attor-

ney General’s Office investigates, many companies—including Panache, who are owed “thousands of dollars,” according to Saperstein—are left in the cold.

Vernon hopes by offering “War of the Worlds” on a pay-what-you-can basis, audiences will continue to feel invested and connected to local theatre. “A lot of people are looking at unemployment and not being able to go to work and things like that.

I know we’re not unique in that respect,” he says. “We’re pretty much at the mercy of whatever things that we can create that people might be willing to spend money on right now.”

DETAILS WAR OF THE WORLDS Presented by Big Dawg Productions and Panache Theatrical Productions Available Thursday, May 21 $5 suggested donation bigdawgproductions.org, panachetheatre.com

Thank you for voong us Best ne List!

wine | beer| cheese and charcuterie gift certificates encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 19

DINING

GUIDE

DOCK STREET OYSTER BAR

BEST O F 2020 WINNE R 12 Do ck St. • dockstre etoyste rbar.net • Photo

by Linds ey A. M BLUEWATER WATERFRONT GRILL iller Pho tograph Enjoy spectacular panoramic views of sailshellfish to pastas, sandwiches, and Certified y

AMERICAN

ing ships and the Intracoastal Waterway while dining at this popular casual American restaurant in Wrightsville Beach. Lunch and dinner are served daily. Favorites include jumbo lump crab cakes, succulent seafood lasagna, crispy coconut shrimp and an incredible Caribbean fudge pie. Dine inside or at their award-winning outdoor patio and bar, which is the location for their lively Waterfront Music Series every Sunday April - October. Large parties welcome.

Private event space available. BluewaterDining. com. 4 Marina Street, Wrightsville Beach, NC. (910) 256-8500.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon-Fri 11a.m. - 11 p.m.; Sat & Sun 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Wrightsville Beach ■ FEATURING: Waterfront dining ■ MUSIC: Music every Sunday in Summer ■ WEBSITE: bluewaterdining.com

Angus Beef selections. We offer half-priced oysters from 4-6 every Wednesday & live music with our Sunday Brunch from 11-3.

Whether you are just looking for a great meal & incredible scenery, or a large event space for hundreds of people, Elijah’s is the place to be.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun-Thurs 11:30-10:00; Friday and Saturday 11:30-11:00 ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ILM; kids menu

PINE VALLEY MARKET

Pine Valley Market has reigned supreme in servicing the Wilmington community for

years, securing encore’s Best-Of awards in catering, gourmet shop and butcher. Now, Kathy Webb and Christi Ferretti are expanding their talents into serving lunch in-house, so folks can enjoy their hearty, homemade meals in the quaint and cozy ambiance of the market. Using the freshest ingredients of highest quality, diners can enjoy the best Philly Cheesesteak in Wilmington, along with numerous other sandwich varieties, from their Angus burger to classic Reuben, Italian sub to a grown-up ba-

nana and peanut butter sandwich that will take all diners back to childhood. Served among a soup du jour and salads, there is something for all palates. Take advantage of their take-home frozen meals for nights that are too hectic to cook, and don’t forget to pick up a great bottle of wine to go with it. 3520 S. College Road, (910) 350-FOOD.

PLEASE, CALL AHEAD TO MAKE SURE RESTAURANTS ARE OPEN

ELIJAH’S

Since 1984, Elijah’s has been Wilmington, NC’s outdoor dining destination. We feature expansive indoor and outdoor waterfront dining, with panoramic views of riverfront sunsets. As a Casual American Grill and Oyster Bar, Elijah’s offers everything from fresh local seafood and

20 encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com

DURING THE COVID-19 SHUTDOWN. SOME MAY BE DOING DELIVERY AND/OR TAKEOUT ONLY.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Closed Sun. ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: South Wilmington ■ FEATURING: Daily specials and take-home frozen meals ■ WEBSITE: pinevalleymarket.com

THE TROLLY STOP

Trolly Stop Grill and Catering is a four store franchise in North Carolina. Trolly Stop Hot Dogs opened in Wrightsville Beach in 1976.

That store name has never changed. Since the Wrightsville Beach store, the newer stores sell hotdogs, hamburgers, beef and chicken cheese steaks, fries, hand dipped ice cream, milk shakes, floats and more.

Our types of dogs are: Southern (Trolly Dog, beef and pork), Northern (all beef), Smoke Sausage (pork), Fat Free (turkey), Veggie (soy). Voted Best Hot Dog in Wilmington for decades.

Check our website trollystophotdogs.com for hours of operations, specific store offerings and telephone numbers, or contact Rick Coombs, 910-297-8416, rtrollystop@aol.com We offer catering serving 25-1000 people.

Franchises available.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER ■ LOCATIONS: Wilmington, Fountain Dr. (910) 452-3952, Wrightsville Beach (910) 2563921, Southport (910) 457-7017, Boone, NC (828) 265-2658, Chapel Hill, NC (919) 240-4206 ■ WEBSITE: trollystophotdogs.com

ASIAN INDOCHINE RESTAURANT

If you’re ready to experience the wonders of the Orient without having to leave Wilmington, join us at Indochine for a truly unique experience. Indochine brings the flavors of the Far East to the Port City, combining the best of Thai and Vietnamese cuisine in an atmosphere that will transport you and your taste buds.

Relax in our elegantly decorated dining room, complete with antique Asian decor as well as contemporary artwork and music. Our diverse, friendly and efficient staff will serve you beautifully presented dishes full of enticing aromas and flavors. Be sure to try such signature items as the spicy and savory Roasted Duck with Red Curry, or the beautifully presented and delicious Shrimp and Scallops in a Nest. Be sure to save room for our world famous desert, the banana egg roll! We take pride in using only the freshest ingredients, and our extensive menu suits any taste. After dinner, enjoy specialty drinks by the koi pond in our Asian garden. Located at 7 Wayne Drive (beside the Ivy Cottage), (910) 251-9229.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Tues.- Fri. 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.; Sat. 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. for lunch.

Mon.- Sun. 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. for dinner.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: indochinewilmington.com

NIKKI’S FRESH GOURMET

For more than a decade, Nikki’s downtown has served diners the best in sushi. With freshly crafted ingredients making up their rolls, sushi and sashimi, a taste of innovation comes with every order. Daily they offer specialty rolls specific to the Front Street location, such as the My Yoshi, K-Town and Crunchy Eel rolls. But for less adventurous diners looking for options beyond sushi, Nikki’s serves an array of sandwiches, wraps and gyros, too. They also make it a point to host all dietary needs, omnivores, carnivores and herbivores alike. They have burgers

and cheesesteaks, as well as falafal pitas and veggie wraps, as well as an extensive Japanese fare menu, such as bento boxes and tempura platters. Daily dessert and drink special are also on order. Check out their website and Facebook for more information. 16 S. Front St. (910) 7719151.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon.-Thurs., 11am 10pm; Fri.-Sat., 11am-11pm; Sun., 12pm10pm. Last call on food 15 minutes before closing.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ WEBSITE: nikkissushibar.com

OKAMI JAPANESE HIBACHI STEAK HOUSE

We have reinvented “Hibachi cuisine.” Okami Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse is like no other. Our highly skilled chefs cook an incredible dinner while entertaining you on the way.

Our portions are large, our drinks are less expensive, and our staff is loads of fun. We are committed to using quality ingredients and seasoning with guaranteed freshness. Our goal is to utilize all resources, domestically and internationally, to ensure we serve only the finest food products. We believe good, healthy food aids vital functions for well-being, both physically and mentally. Our menu consists of a wide range of steak, seafood, and chicken for the specially designed “Teppan Grill.” We also serve tastebud-tingling Japanese sushi, hand rolls, sashimi, tempura dishes, and noodle entrees. This offers our guests a complete Japanese dining experience. Our all-you-can-eat sushie menu and daily specials can be found at okamisteakhouse.com! 614 S College Rd. ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon.-Thurs., 11am 2:30pm / 4-10pm; Fri., 11am-2:30pm / 4pm-11pm; Sat., 11am-11pm; Sun., 11am9:30pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: okamisteakhouse.com

Formerly Greenline Steaks and Pizza, but with the same great menu and flavors!

Philly Cheesesteaks

Mediterranean Pizza

Chicken Wings

Fresh Salads

SZECHUAN 132

Craving expertly prepared Chinese food in an elegant atmosphere? Szechuan 132 Chinese Restaurant is your destination! Szechuan 132 has earned the reputation as one of the finest contemporary Chinese restaurants in the Port City. Tastefully decorated with an elegant atmosphere, with an exceptional ingenious menu has deemed Szechuan 132 the best Chinese restaurant for years, hands down. 419 South College Road (in University Landing), (910) 799-1426.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ FEATURING: Lunch specials ■ WEBSITE: szechuan132.com

YOSAKE DOWNTOWN SUSHI LOUNGE

Lively atmosphere in a modern setting, Yosake is the delicious Downtown spot for date night, socializing with friends, or any large dinner party. Home to the never-disappointing Shanghai Firecracker Shrimp! In addition to sushi, we offer a full Pan Asian menu including curries, noodle dishes, and the ever-popular Crispy Salmon or mouth-watering Kobe Burger.

Inspired features change weekly showcasing our commitment to local farms. Full bar including a comprehensive sake list, signature cocktails, and Asian Import Bottles. 33 S. Front St., 2nd Floor (910) 763-3172.

■ SERVING DINNER: 7 nights a week, 5pm; Sun-Wed. ‘til 10pm, Thurs ‘til 11pm, Fri-Sat, ‘til Midnight.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ FEATURING: 1/2 Price Sushi/Appetizer Menu

Buy any large specialty pizza and get a medium cheese free!

• NEW DESSERTS! Nutella fruit pizza and s’mores pizza

• LUNCH SPECIALS

OFFERING FREE DELIVERY & CURBSIDE PICKUP 7134 MARKET ST. • 910-821-8191 STELLASPIZZAANDGRILLE.COM encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 21

nightly from 5-7, until 8 on Mondays, and also 10-Midnight on Fri/Sat. Tuesday LOCALS NIGHT- 20% Dinner Entrees. Wednesday 80S NIGHT - 80smusic and menu prices. Sundays are the best dealdowntown - Specialty Sushi and Entrees are BuyOne, Get One $10 Off and 1/2 price Wine Bottles.Nightly Drink Specials.

Gluten-Free Menu upon request. Complimentary Birthday Dessert.

■ WEBSITE: yosake.com. @yosakeilm on Twitter & Instagram. Like us on Facebook.

BAGELS ROUND BAGELS

Round Bagels and Donuts features 17 varieties of New York-style bagels, baked fresh daily on site in a steam bagel oven. Round offers a wide variety of breakfast and lunch bagel sandwiches, grilled and fresh to order. Round also offers fresh-made donuts daily! Stop by Monday Friday, 6:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., and on Sunday, 7:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.

■ SERVING BREAKFAST & LUNCH ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ FEATURING: Homemade bagels, cream

cheeses, donuts, sandwiches, coffee and more ■ WEBSITE: roundbagelsanddonuts.com

FONDUE THE LITTLE DIPPER

Wilmington’s favorite fondue restaurant! The Little Dipper specializes in unique fondue dish-

es with a global variety of cheeses, meats, seafood, vegetables, chocolates and fine wines. The warm and intimate dining room is a great place to enjoy a four-course meal, or indulge in appetizers and desserts outside on the back deck or in the bar while watching luminescent jellyfish.

Reservations are appreciated for parties of any size. Located at the corner of Front and Orange in Downtown Wilmington. 138 South Front Street. (910) 251-0433.

■ SERVING DINNER: 5pm Tue-Sun; open daily from Memorial Day through October ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ FEATURING Sunday half-price wine bottles; Monday beer and wine flights on special; Tuesday Local’s Night $11/person cheese and chocolate; Wednesday Ladies Night; Thursday $27 4-course prix fixe; Friday “Date Night” $85/ couple for 3 courses and a bottle of wine.

■ MUSIC: Tuesdays & Thursdays, May-Oct., 7– 9 p.m. (weather permitting) ■ WEBSITE: www.littledipperfondue.com

IRISH THE HARP

Experience the finest traditional Irish family recipes and popular favorites served in a casual yet elegant traditional pub atmosphere. The Harp, 1423 S. 3rd St., proudly uses the freshest ingredients, locally sourced whenever possible, to bring you and yours the most delicious Irish fare! We have a fully stocked bar featuring favorite Irish beers and whiskies. We are open every day for both American and Irish breakfast,

served to noon weekdays and 2 p.m. weekends.

Regular menu to 10 p.m. weekdays and 11 p.m. weekends. Join us for trivia at 8:30 on Thursdays and live music on Fridays – call ahead for schedule (910) 763-1607. Located just beside Greenfield Lake and Park at the south end of downtown Wilmington, The Harp is a lovely Irish pub committed to bringing traditional Irish flavor, tradition and hospitality to the Cape Fear area ■ SERVING BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Greenfield Lake/DowntownSouth ■ FEATURING: Homemade soups, desserts and breads, free open wifi, new enlarged patio area, and big screen TVs at the bar featuring major soccer matches worldwide.

■ WEBSITE: harpwilmington.com

SLAINTE IRISH PUB

Slainte Irish Pub in Monkey Junction has traditional pub fare with an Irish flair. We have a large selection of Irish whiskey, and over 23 different beers on draft, and 40 different craft beers in bottles. They have a large well lit outdoor patio with a full bar also. Come have some fun! They currently do not take reservations, but promise to take care of you when you get here!

5607 Carolina Beach Rd. #100, (910) 399-3980 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: 11:30 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: South Wilmington, Monkey Junction ■ FEATURING: Irish grub, whiskeys, beer, wine, fun.

■ WEBSITE: facebook.com/slaintemj

ITALIAN ANTONIO’S

Serving fresh, homemade Italian fare in midtown and south Wilmington, Antonio’s Pizza and Pasta is a family-owned restaurant which serves New York style pizza and pasta. From daily specials during lunch and dinner to a friendly waitstaff ensuring a top-notch experience, whether dining in, taking out or getting delivery, to generous portions, the Antonio’s experience is an unforgettable one. Serving subs, salads, pizza by the slice or pie, pasta, and more, dine-in, take-out and delivery! 3501 Oleander Dr., #2, and 5120 S. College Rd. ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Sun., open at 11:30 a.m.)

■ NEIGHBORHOOD DELIVERY OFFERED: Monkey Junction and near Independence Mall ■ WEBSITE: antoniospizzaandpasta.com

THE ITALIAN BISTRO

The Italian Bistro is a family-owned, fullservice Italian restaurant and pizzeria located in Porters Neck. They offer a wide variety of N.Y. style thin-crust pizza and homemade Italian dishes seven days a week!

The Italian Bistro strives to bring customers a variety of homemade items made with the freshest, local ingredients. Every pizza and entrée is made to order and served with a smile from our amazing staff.

Their warm, inviting, atmosphere is perfect for “date night” or “family night.” Let them show you why “fresh, homemade and local” is part of everything they do. 8211 Market St. (910) 6867774

22 encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Sun brunch, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Porters Neck ■ WEBSITE: italianbistronc.com

SLICE OF LIFE

“Slice” has become a home away from home for tourists and locals alike. Our menu includes salads, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, homemade soups, subs and, of course, pizza.

We only serve the freshest and highest-quality ingredients in all of our food, and our dough is made daily with purified water. Voted “Best Pizza” and “Best Late Night Eatery.”All ABC permits.

Visit us downtown at 125 Market Street, (910) 251-9444, in Wrightsville Beach at 1437 Military Cutoff Road, Suite 101, (910) 256-2229 and in Pine Valley on the corner of 17th and College Road, (910) 799-1399.

■ SERVING LUNCH, DINNER & LATE NIGHT: 11:30 a.m.-3 a.m., 7 days/week, 365 days/year.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown, Downtown and Wilmington South.

■ FEATURING: Largest tequila selection in town!

■ WEBSITE: grabslice.com

MEXICAN ZOCALO

Zocalo Street Food and Tequila brings a modern version of cooking traditional Mexican street food through perfected recipes, with excellent presentation. Zócalo was the main ceremonial center for the Aztecs, and presently, it is the main square in central Mexico City. It bridges old school tradition with a twist of innovative cooking. Zocalo also has weekly events, such as their margarita and food tasting every Monday, 5-8 p.m., and a live taco station every Tuesday , 5-8 p.m. Live Latin music Is showcased every other Saturday and Sunday brunch begins at 10 a.m. Be sure to try Zocalo’s wide selection of the best tequilas! Owned and operated locally, locations are in Wilmington and Jacksonville, NC. Take out and delivery available through most apps.

■ SERVING LUNCH, DINNER AND BRUNCH: Monday - Saturday, 11 a.m - 10 p.m.; Sunday brunch, 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.; closes 9 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Pointe at Barclay ■ WEBSITE: zocalostreetfood.com

SANDWICHES J. MICHAEL’S PHILLY DELI

The Philly Deli celebrated their 38th anniversary in August 2017. Thier first store was located in Hanover Center—the oldest shopping center in Wilmington. Since, two more Philly Delis have been added: one at Porters Neck and one at Monkey Junction.

The Philly Deli started out by importing all of their steak meat and hoagie rolls straight from Amoroso Baking Company, located on 55th Street in downtown Philadelphia! It’s a practice they maintain to this day.

We also have a great collection of salads to choose from, including the classic chef’s salad, chicken salad, and tuna salad, all made fresh every day in our three Wilmington, NC restaurants. 8232 Market St., 3501 Oleander Dr., 609 Piner Rd.

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■ OPEN: 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Monday -Thursday,11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Friday Saturday.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Porters Neck, North and

South Wilmington, ■ WEBSITE: https://phillydeli.com

SEAFOOD CAPE FEAR SEAFOOD COMPANY

Founded in 2008 by Evans and Nikki Trawick, Cape Fear Seafood Company has become a local hotspot for the freshest, tastiest seafood in the area. With it’s growing popularity, the restaurant has expanded from its flagship eatery in Monkey Junction to locations in Porters Neck and Waterford in Leland. “We are a dedicated group of individuals working together as a team to serve spectacular food, wine and spirits in a relaxed and casual setting,” restaurateur Evans Trawick says. “At CFSC every dish is prepared with attention to detail, quality ingredients and excellent flavors. Our staff strives to accommodate guests with a sense of urgency and an abundance of southern hospitality.” Cape Fear Seafood Company has been recognized by encore magazine for best seafood in 2015, as well as by Wilmington Magazine in 2015 and 2016, and Star News from 2013 through 2016. Monkey Junction: 5226 S. College Road Suite 5, 910799-7077. Porter’s Neck: 140 Hays Lane #140, 910-681-1140. Waterford: 143 Poole Rd., Leland, NC 28451 ■ SERVING LUNCH AND DINNER: 11:30am4pm daily; Mon.-Thurs.., 4pm-9pm; Fri.-Sat., 4pm 10pm; Sun., 4pm-8:30pm.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown, north Wilmington and Leland ■ WESBITE: capefearseafoodcompany.com

CATCH

Serving the Best Seafood in South Eastern North Carolina. Wilmington’s Native Son, 2011 James Beard Award Nominee, 2013 Best of Wilmington “Best Chef” winner, Chef Keith Rhodes explores the Cape Fear Coast for the best it has to offer. We feature Wild Caught & Sustainably raised Seafood. Organic and locally sourced produce & herbs provide the perfect compliment to our fresh Catch. Consecutively Voted Wilmington’s Best Chef 2008, 09 & 2010.

Dubbed “Modern Seafood Cuisine” we offer an array Fresh Seafood & Steaks, including our Signature NC Sweet Potato Salad. Appetizers include our Mouth watering “Fire Cracker” Shrimp, Crispy Cajun Fried NC Oysters & Blue Crab Claw Scampi, & Seafood Ceviche to name a few. Larger Plates include, Charleston Crab Cakes, Flounder Escovitch & Miso Salmon. Custom Entree request gladly accommodated for our Guest.

(Vegetarian, Vegan & Allergies) Hand-crafted seasonal desserts. Full ABC Permits. 6623 Market Street, Wilmington, NC 28405, 910-7993847.

■ SERVING DINNER: Mon.-Sat. 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: North Wilmington ■ FEATURING: Acclaimed Wine List ■ WEBSITE: catchwilmington.com

DOCK STREET OYSTER BAR

Voted Best Oysters for over 10 years by encore readers, you know what you can find at Dock Street Oyster Bar. But we have a lot more than oysters! Featuring a full menu of seafood, pasta, and chicken dishes from $4.95-$25.95,

there’s something for everyone at Dock Street.

You’ll have a great time eating in our “Bohemian-Chic” atmosphere, where you’ll feel just as comfort able in flip flops as you would in a business suit. Located at 12 Dock St in downtown Wilmington. Open lunch and dinner, 7 days a week. (910) 762-2827.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: 7 days a week.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ FEATURING: Fresh daily steamed oysters.

■ WEBSITE: dockstreetoysterbar.net

dinner, and drink specials. It’s a Good Shuckin’ Time!

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Carolina Beach Hours: Mon-Sat: 11am-2am; Sun: Noon2am, Historic Wilmington: Sun-Thurs: 11am10pm; Fri-Sat:11am-Midnight.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Carolina Beach/Downtown ■ FEATURING: Daily lunch specials. Like us on Facebook!

■ WEBSITE: TheShuckinShack.com

MICHAEL’S SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

SOUTHERN

Established in 1998, Michael’s Seafood Restaurant is locally owned and operated by Shelly McGowan and managed by her team of culinary professionals. Michael’s aspires to bring you the highest quality and freshest fin fish, shell fish, mollusks, beef, pork, poultry and produce. Our menu consists of mainly locally grown and made from scratch items. We count on our local fishermen and farmers to supply us with seasonal, North Carolina favorites on a daily basis. Adorned walls include awards such as 3 time gold medalist at the International Seafood Chowder Cook-Off, Entrepreneur of the Year, Restaurant of the Year and Encores readers’ choice in Best Seafood to name a few. 1206 N. Lake Park Blvd. (910) 458-7761 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: 7 days 11 am – 9 pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Carolina Beach ■ FEATURING: Award-winning chowder, local se food and more!

■ WEBSITE: MikesCfood.com

THE PILOT HOUSE

The Pilot House Restaurant is Wilmington’s premier seafood and steak house with a touch of the South. We specialize in local seafood and produce. Featuring the only Downtown bar that faces the river and opening our doors in 1978, The Pilot House is the oldest restaurant in the Downtown area. We offer stunning riverfront views in a newly-renovated relaxed, casual setting inside or on one of our two outdoor decks. Join us for $5.00 select appetizers Sunday-Thursday and live music every Friday and Saturday nigh on our umbrella deck. Large parties welcome. Private event space available.

910-343-0200. 2 Ann Street, Wilmington, NC 28401 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun-Thurs 11am-9pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm and Sunday Brunch,. 11am-3pm. Kids menu ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Riverfront Downtown Wilmington ■ FEATURING: Fresh local seafood specialties, Riverfront Dining, free on-site parking ■ MUSIC: Outside Every Friday and Saturday ■ WEBSITE: pilothouserest.com

SHUCKIN’ SHACK

Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar has two locations in the Port City area. The original Shack is located in Carolina Beach at 6A N. Lake Park Blvd.

(910-458-7380) and our second location is at 109 Market Street in Historic Downtown Wilmington (910-833-8622). The Shack is the place you want to be to catch your favorite sports team on 7 TV’s carrying all major sports packages. A variety of fresh seafood is available daily including oysters, shrimp, clams, mussels, and crab legs. Shuckin’ Shack has expanded its menu now offering fish tacos, crab cake sliders, fried oyster po-boys, fresh salads, and more.

Come in and check out the Shack’s daily lunch,

■ WEBSITE: caseysbuffet.com

RX RESTAURANT & BAR

Located in downtown Wilmington, Rx Restaurant and Bar is here to feed your soul, serving up Southern cuisine made with ingredients from local farmers and fishermen. The Rx chef is committed to bringing fresh food to your table, so the menu changes daily based on what he finds locally. Rx drinks are as unique as the food—and just what the doctor ordered. Join us for a dining experience you will never forget! 421 Castle St.; 910 399-3080.

■ SERVING BRUNCH & DINNER: Tues-Thurs, 5-10pm; Fri-Sat, 5-10:30pm; Sun., 10am-3pm and 5-9pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown In Wilmington, everyone knows where to go ■ WEBSITE: rxwilmington.com for solid country cooking. That place is Casey’s Buffet, winner of encore’s Best Country Cookin’/ Soul Food and Buffet categories. “Every day we are open, somebody tells us it tastes just like their grandma’s or mama’s cooking,” co-owner Gena Casey says. Gena and her husband Larry Under new ownership! Tom Noonan invites run the show at the Oleander Drive restaurant you to enjoy his remodeled space, featuring where people are urged to enjoy all food indig- a new sound system and new bar, in a warm, enous to the South: fried chicken, barbecue, relaxed environment. Taste 40 craft beers, catfish, mac‘n’cheese, mashed potatoes, green over 400 wines by the bottle, a wide selection beans, chicken‘n’dumplings, biscuits and home- of cheese and charcuterie, with gourmet small made banana puddin’ are among a few of many plates and desserts to go! And don’t miss their other delectable items. 5559 Oleander Drive. weekly wine tastings, every Tuesday, 6 p.m. - 9 (910) 798-2913. p.m.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Open Wednes- SERVING DINNER & LATE NIGHT: Mon., days through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed; Tues.-Thurs., 4 p.m. - 12 a.m.; Fri., 4 and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed p.m. - 2 a.m.; Sat., 2 p.m. - 2 a.m.; Sun., 4 - 10 Mon. & Tues. p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown, 29 S Front St. WEBSITE: fortunateglass.com ■ FEATURING: Pig’s feet and chitterlings.

CASEY’S BUFFET

TAPAS/WINE BAR

THE FORTUNATE GLASS WINE BAR

Join The n Rebellio Today CURBSIDE AND DELIVERY! CHECK OUR FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS FOR UPDATES ON MENU AND HOURS

• American comfort food, with a Southern twist • Handpicked bourbons and whiskeys • House-made barrel-aged cocktails • Excellent wine selection • 34 beers on draft Mon. 4pm-12am • Tues.-Thurs. 11:30am-12am Fri. & Sat. 11:30am-1am • Sun. 11:30am-12am

15 S. Front St. 910-399-1162 www.rebellionnc.com

encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 23

TABLE

FOR

TWO

Local businesses team up to reinvent date night under quarantine two batted the idea back and forth, Bopes decided adding a restaurant to the mix would make the experience even richer.

“I wanted to do something fun to get us both some business,” Hawksworth explains. “But, honestly, I also just wanted people to feel involved in a time where everyone feels so disconnected.”

R

omance in the time of COVID-19 can be tricky. Is a green-screen background on Zoom dates mandatory? Or just let your date see what your place really looks like? What about masks? Wear one in your Tinder photo so others can recognize you on that socially distant walk in the park? Who gets to choose the first movie to watch with the Google Chrome extension Netflix party?

For folks cohabitating: How do you handle date night during self-isolation?

For our dating anniversary, my husband turned our living room into an extra cozy movie theater while I ran to grab takeout.

We watched “Elf”—the first movie we ever saw together—and enjoyed our food with some local beers. We’ve also done double dates, including games on our Nintendo Switch and Zoom happy hours.

Luckily, there are businesses in downtown Wilmington taking the work out of date night for locals. Billy Mellon, owner of a trifecta of businesses along Princess Street, including manna (winner of Best Fine Dining 2020 via encore) Bourgie Nights, and Sweets Bakery, collaborated with Carson Jewell to bring a carefully curated menu to the home dining table.

“We wanted to do something that was reflective of manna but also highlighted a desire to make a nice package that translated to a fun time for our guests,” Mellon says. Thus, “Date Night In” was born.

BY JOAN manna releases menus on Tuesdays to include a four-course meal for two for $95. There is also the option to add on a “third wheel” for one ($50), as well as a smattering of other a la carte items, including wine, vermouth, cheese and bitters. Interested parties can order by email or phone either before or after the menu is released. Limited contact pickup is on Friday.

The menus are a team effort, with Mellon handling the wine, Jewell managing savory dishes, and pastry chef Rebeca Alvarado Paredes handling sweets. Mellon is grateful for his team’s willingness to volunteer, while other factors hang in the balance. He looks forward to bringing his employees out of furlough when the restaurant industry begins to wipe the proverbial sleep out of its eyes.

Just as well, manna was one of the recipients of the Re-3 grants that were made available to downtown businesses

by Wilmington Downtown Incorporated.

“Our plan for the grant money was to help reload the refrigerator with produce,” he says. “So that is what we are doing with it. That was such a beautiful show of support from our community. To be chosen for the grant was humbling.”

24 encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com

C.W. HO

FFMANN DATE NIGHT IN

“Breakfast in Bed” add-on, which includes locally-sourced eggs, sausage, grits, biscuits and coffee.

Photo by Carson Jewell

Manna utilizes as much locally grown, raised and made products as possible, per the restaurant’s ethos. Mellon also is excited about the addition of the “Breakfast in Bed” $40 add-on, which includes a dozen eggs, sausage, grits, biscuits and coffee, all locally sourced.

Two other downtown business owners have teamed up for a similar project aimed at spicing up locals’ home lives.

Andrew Bopes of Mon Âme Chocolate & Wine Bar (MAC) and Catherine Hawksworth of Modern Legend have created “A Night In”: a three-part pairing experience of food, wine and music, all delivered to your door.

Early in the shelter-in-place period, Hawksworth reached out to Bopes about doing a wine and music pairing. As the

Bopes selects the wine, giving customers a choice between red, white and rosé.

Hawksworth picks the vinyl—old school or new. The two decide on the restaurant, which provides all ingredients and recipes, and the total package is $75.

“I try to keep [the records] under the umbrella of what I would listen to with a bottle of wine over dinner, jazz, soul, singer-songwriter, indie, more melodic-type rock, things like that,” Hawksworth says.

“I also always try to make the two options different enough. We did Ella and Louis or Sufjan Stevens, and then Dave Brubeck or The Strokes, for example.”

Previous participating restaurants have included The Basics, Second Glass and Rumcow. The next pairing will include Chef Tommy Mills at Little Pond Caterers, creator of ILM’s famous Meatball Tuesday.

Bopes says it is important to keep costs low, while also making sure all three businesses aren’t losing anything on the deal. “Knowing that people are experiencing hardships but still need to be able to ‘get away,’ we set out to fulfill this need at a good price,” he says.

The cutoff for ordering Date Night In is Monday at noon, and deliveries are made on Thursdays. Orders can be placed by calling MAC at 910-399-2731. Both MAC and Modern Legend post details on their Facebook pages.

Call manna, (910) 763-5252, to place orders.

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103 N Lake Park Blvd #B Carolina Beach, NC (910) 458-5226 elcazadormex.com encore | may 20 - may 26, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 25

CARPE

from simple.

Gwenyfar revisits beloved books from childhood

LIBRUM

BY GWENYFAR ROHLER

Though my parents’ books were considered sacred and not to be given away, damaged or sold, somehow, there was an attitude I could “outgrow” books and they could be rehomed. This battle raged until my mother’s death when I was 29. Shortly after I moved in with Jock, I rescued several books from my childhood, including the “See Inside” series of children’s books and the “Heroes and Warriors” series.

I

was talking with a 13-yearold friend about her current reading. She explained she was rereading a book when I mentioned my favorite reread: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s “Good Omens.” I flip through it at least once a week. “For me, it’s like going to visit with old friends,” I said. “I just like spending time with them.”

This week I am singing an ode to books I have known and loved. These are strange and trying times, and though I continue to read and discover new books, right now, I crave the company of old friends.

My father loved to buy beautiful and obscure children’s books. I owned one Dr. Seuss book that was a gift from a family friend, but the majority of my collection was far less recognizable. The theory, I think, was I would get exposed to the current hits of children’s literature in school and at the library. So, rather than reiterating that at home, my parents gave me myths and folktales from around the world—obscure kids’ books that only got one print run, and kids’ reference books that I still look to today.

I grew up in a house that continued one of the largest private libraries in the state, and, eventually, came to own a bookstore. Obviously, reading is important to our family. Like all things involving family dynamics, book ownership is far

We’re not just hot dogs!

The “See Inside” books utilized cutaways (much like another famous book, “The Way Things Work” by David Macaulay). From them I learned galleons (or pirate ships, as I instantly recognized them to be) were far less spacious than I had been led to believe. In all honestly, they looked downright cramped. Castles, which were always presented as roomy, lavish and beautiful, were frequently fortresses with very little comfortable room for habitation. I still look through these books, especially “See Inside a Castle,” usually while waiting for dinner to finish cooking.

A couple weeks ago, I held up “Princely Courts of the Renaissance” to Jock. “This was one of my favorite books when I was little,” I said.

He read the title and chuckled. “I’ll bet it was.”

His eyes twinkled. I knew he was thinking about the man my father was, and the person I grew into, as if mentally checking off a box that read “mystery solved.” The renaissance in Europe is associated with

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Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Shakespeare, Marlowe, De Vega and the birth of modern philosophy. If you met my father, you’d know this time period was still very much alive to him. I think I was 5 before I realized Leonardo Da Vinci wasn’t still living. My parents talked about him and Michelangelo like they were old friends we might see on a family vacation.

The books that surprise me most when looking through the collection are those in the “Heroes and Warriors” series. My parents were pacifists. I never heard them use the word to describe themselves, but their actions spoke to non-violent resolution.

(When interviewing babysitters, my mother asked two questions: “Do you have a gun in your home?” and “Do you allow your children to watch TV?” She considered both deal breakers and thus should speak volumes about my upbringing.)

In other words, a series of books on famous warriors is a bit surprising. The series focused on El Cid, Charlemagne, Boudicca (my favorite) and Barbarossa.

As an adult, I added Irish mythical hunter-warrior Finn MacCool when I came across him. Although I grew up in a house that discouraged violence, my parents were both adamant you had to understand history in order to understand the present.

Charlemagne changed the face of Europe.

(If you want proof of this, research how the Third Reich got its name.)

Though aimed at children, the books contained a surprising amount of scholarship (and, in the case of Boudicca and Finn MacCool, archeology). Even as an adult, I’m enthralled by them. It is hard to write a book that continues to appeal to readers as their intellect grows. Yet, here I am, in my late 30s, developing a deeper appreciation for Charlemagne’s administration.

Of course, none of this is to say I don’t have story and picture books I still go back and visit. “The Prince and the Pink Blanket,” about a prince who sucks his thumb and carries a ratty old pink blanket around to the embarrassment of his royal parents, is still a perennial favorite.

There are books I bought in my high school years that are falling apart because I have read them so much. Jock has offered to buy me new copies, but I shake my head. The memories I have—not just of the stories contained within, but also where and how I acquired them—are worth preserving. It is time travel in the most real sense: to when the world was opening up to me for the very first time, and when I still thought Michelangelo was going to stop by for dinner, and maybe bring his friend David who modeled for the famous statue.

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CROSSWORD ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) “Excellence does not require perfection,” wrote Aries author Henry James. Now I’m conveying this brilliant counsel to you—just in time for the season when it will make good sense to strive for shining excellence without getting bogged down in a debilitating quest for perfection. Have fun re-committing yourself to doing the best you can, Aries, even as you refuse to be tempted by the unprofitable lure of absolute purity and juvenile forms of idealism.

TAURUS (Apr. 20-May 20) To generate an ounce of pure cocaine, you must collect 52 pounds of raw coca leaf and work hard to transform it. But please don’t do that. Fate won’t be on your side if you do. However, I will suggest that you consider undertaking a metaphorically comparable process—by gathering a sizable amount of raw material or basic stuff that will be necessary to produce the small treasure or precious resource that you require.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) “The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for,” writes author Barbara Kingsolver. “And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.” According to my analysis of the astrological omens, that is exactly the work you should be doing right now, Gemini. Everything good that can and should happen for you in the coming months depends on you defining what you hope for, and then doing whatever’s necessary to live inside that hope.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) The periodic arrivals of “natural disruption” in our everyday routines has a divine purpose, writes Yoruba priest Awó Falokun Fatunmbi. It is “to shake consciousness loose from complacency and rigid thinking.” To be vital, he says, our perception of truth must be constantly evolving, and never stagnant. “Truth is a way of looking at self and World,” Fatunmbi declares.

“It is a state of being rather than an act of knowing.”

Many Westerners find this hard to understand because they regard truth as a “fixed set of rules or dogma,” or as a body of “objective facts.” But here’s the good news: Right now, you Cancerians are especially receptive to Fatunmbi’s alternative understanding of truth—and likely to thrive by adopting it.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Novelist and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn departed this life in 1998, but she articulated a message that’s important for you to hear right now. She wrote, “People often say, with pride, ‘I’m not interested in politics.’ They might as well say, ‘I’m not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my future or any future.’”

Gelhorn added, “If we mean to keep control over our world and lives, we must be interested in politics.” In my opinion, her advice is always applicable to all of us, but it’s especially crucial for you to

meditate on right now. You’ll be wise to upgrade your interest and involvement in the big cultural and political developments that are impacting your personal destiny.

there were such a thing as time travel, I’d send one of you Sagittarians back to set up a meeting between them.

Acts of innovative blending and creative unifying will be your specialties in the coming weeks.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

According to author and teacher Marianne Williamson, “Ego says, ‘Once everything falls into place, I’ll feel peace.’ Spirit says, ‘Find your peace, and then everything will fall into place.’” I think the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to take Williamson’s advice seriously, Virgo. How? By giving control of your life to Spirit as you find your peace. In saying this, I’m not implying that Ego is bad or wrong. In fact, I think Ego is a crucial asset for you, and I’m hoping that in recent months you have been lifting your Ego to a higher, finer state of confidence and competence than ever before.

But right now I think you should authorize Spirit to run the show for a while. If you do, it will bless you with good surprises.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) “Snatching the eternal out of the desperately fleeting is the great magic trick of human existence.” Playwright Tennessee Williams said that, and now I’m conveying his insight to you—just in time for you to dramatically embody it. According to my astrological analysis, you now have more power than usual to accomplish this magic trick: to create something permanent in the midst of the transitory; to make an indelible mark on a process that has previously been characterized by restless permutations; to initiate a bold move that you will forever remember and be remembered for.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) In the course of his 73 years on the planet, Scorpio author Paul Valéry (1871–1945) wrote more than 20 books. But between the ages of 25 and 45, he passed through a phase he called the “great silence.” During that time, he quit writing and published nothing. Afterwards, he returned to his life’s work and was nominated 12 times for a Nobel Prize. Although your own version of a great silence is less extreme than his, I’m happy to announce that you will emerge from it sooner than you imagine.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) I’m sad that my two favorite 19th-century poets were unfamiliar with each other’s poetry.

Walt Whitman was 11 years older than Emily Dickinson, but didn’t know her work. Dickinson had heard of Whitman, but didn’t read his stuff.

Their styles were indeed very different: hers intimate, elliptical, psychologically acute; his expansive, gregarious, earthy. But they were alike in being the most innovative American poets of their time, and equally transgressive in their disregard for standard poetic forms. If

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The fictional character Sherlock Holmes (born January 6, and thus a Capricorn) is a brilliant logician and acute observer who has astonishing crime-solving skills. On the other hand, according to his friend Dr. Watson, he “knows next to nothing” about “contemporary literature, philosophy, and politics.” So he’s not a well-rounded person. He’s smart in some ways, dumb in others. Most of us fit that description. We are both brilliant and ignorant; talented and inept; interesting and boring. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, the coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to hone and cultivate the less mature aspects of your own nature. I bet you’ll reap rich rewards by doing so.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) “People become like what they love,” observed theologian St. Catherine of Siena. That’ll be an interesting truth for you to meditate on in the coming weeks. I

suspect you will attract experiences that are clear reflections of the kind of love you have cultivated and expressed for quite some time. You’ll be blessed in ways similar to the ways you have blessed. You’ll be challenged to face questions about love that you have not been dealing with. And here’s a promise for the future: You’ll have the opportunity to refine and deepen your approach to love so as to transform yourself into more of the person you’d like to become.

PISCES (Feb. 19-Mar. 20) “Humanity is a mystery,” wrote author Fyodor Dostoevsky. “The mystery needs to be unraveled, and if you spend your whole life unraveling it, you haven’t wasted your time. I am studying that mystery because I want to be a complete human being.” I love this tender perspective on the preciousness of the Great Riddle we’re all immersed in. It’s especially useful and apropos for you to adopt right now, Pisces, because you are undergoing an unusually deep and intense communion with the mystery. As you marinate, you shouldn’t measure your success and good fortune by how much new understanding you have attained, but rather by how much reverence and gratitude you feel and how stirring your questions are.

CROSSWORD

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