Gambit December 7, 2021

December 7-13 2021 Volume 42 Number 48

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EMPLOYMENT Research Assoc 3 (New Orleans, LA).

Perf, oversee basic science rsrch projects that examine physiological mechanisms of addiction, pain & traumatic stress disorders. MS or higher, Molecular Medicine, Neuroscience, or related; 2 yrs’ rsrch exp, incl some solid exp in: rsrch dsgn, data collection & interpretation; confocal, fluorescent, optical microscopy; animal handling; specimen handling, histology; statistical analysis using SPSS, Matlab, GraphPad Prism, SigmaPlot; imaging editing with Image J, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, Zen; stereotaxic & intravenous surgery in rodents; microdialysis in rodents; analytical chemistry; HPLC/UPLC analysis of molecules; in situ hybridization; anatomical tracing; circuit based approaches (chemogenetics); behavioral paradigms in rodents, incl food & alcohol self-administration, stress assays, pain assays, intra-cranial self-stimulation (ICSS).

Strong pub record; exc oral, written comm skills; strong mgmt skills. Must follow these specific instructions to be considered: Mail CV, cvr ltr to akwanb@lsuhsc.edu or Arnold Kwanbunbumpen, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Dept. of Physiology, 1901 Perdido Street, Room 7205, New Orleans, LA 70112 within 30 days & reference Job #2021-157.

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G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > D E C E M B E R 7 - 1 3 > 2 02 1

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10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

DECEMBER 7 — 13, 2021 VOLUME 42 || NUMBER 48

CONTENTS

NEWS

STOREWIDE

ALL FRAMES ON FLOOR

Opening Gambit ...............................7 Clancy DuBos..................................10

BLOWOUT

Commentary....................................11 Blake Pontchartrain.....................13

PULLOUT Details...................................................

» 20% » 30% » 40% & » 50% OFF

FEATURES

D I S C O U N T S VA L I D B L A C K F R I D AY T H R O U G H CH R I STM AS EVE

Arts & Entertainment ....................5 Eat + Drink...................................... 27 Music Calendar..............................34 Stage................................................. 35 Film ...................................................38

PHOTO BY JOHN B. BARROIS

15

State of the Stage New Orleans’ theater scene emerges from its pandemic hibernation

S TA F F

COVER DESIGN BY DORA SISON

Publisher | JEANNE EXNICIOS FOSTER

EDITORIAL (504) 483-3105// response@ gambitweekly.com Editor | JOHN STANTON Political Editor | CLANCY DUBOS Arts & Entertainment Editor | WILL COVIELLO

INDY EYEWEAR LIKE NOWHERE ELSE

Puzzles............................................. 39

BUSINESS & OPERATIONS Billing Inquiries 1 (225) 388-0185 Administrative Assistant | LINDA LACHIN

ADVERTISING

Advertising Inquiries (504) 483-3150 Advertising Director | SANDY STEIN BRONDUM

Staff Writers | JAKE CLAPP,

KAYLEE POCHE, SARAH RAVITS

(504) 483-3150 [sstein@gambitweekly.com]

Intern | RAE WALBERG

Sales Representatives

Contributing Writers | IAN MCNULTY

KELLY SONNIER (504) 483-3143

PRODUCTION Creative Director | DORA SISON Traffic Manager | JASON WHITTAKER Web & Classifieds Designer |

MARIA VIDACOVICH BOUÉ

[ksonnier@gambitweekly.com]

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[cthomas@gambitweekly.com] Sales and Marketing Coordinator

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@The_Gambit @gambitneworleans @GambitNewOrleans

Gambit (ISSN 1089-3520) is published weekly by Capital City Press, LLC, 840 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70130.

(504) 486-5900. We cannot be held responsible for the return of unsolicited manuscripts even if accompanied by a SASE. All material published in Gambit is copyrighted: Copyright 2021 Capital City Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

5

Fresh Perspective

PhotoNOLA opens photography shows at museums and galleries citywide

|

by Will Coviello

PHOTOGRAPHS OF PLANTATIONS HAVE OFTEN FOCUSED ON LARGE COLUMNED MANSIONS, framed as symbols of

wealth, beauty and the South.

Usually left out is any reference to the underlying mechanism of the plantation economy: slavery.

In his black-and-white photographs of five Louisiana plantations, Dawoud Bey is taking a fresh look at the legacy of plantations. The full project of 24 large-scale photos is called “In This Here Place,” and eight of them as well as a video made at Evergreen plantation are on display at the Historic New Orleans Collection as part of Prospect.5, the international art triennial that runs through Jan. 23, 2022.

Bey’s work also is on the roster of PhotoNOLA shows. The annual photography festival’s events are scheduled on Wednesday, Dec. 8, through Sunday, Dec. 12, but shows’ run dates vary, and many continue into 2022. Bey also is featured in the PhotoNOLA artist talk at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at Toulouse Theatre.

The plantation photos are the third major project Bey has produced on Black history. Bey became known in New York in the 1970s for his black-and-white portraits. A decade ago, he did a project based on the bombing of a Birmingham church and murder of six Black children — including four girls killed in the bombing and two boys shot in the hours after — in September 1963.

It featured diptychs of people the same age as the victims, one person being the age of the deceased victim, and another person the age the victim would have been, as a way of conceptualizing the gap in time and lost potential of the young victims.

Bey then did a project on the Underground Railroad. It featured landscape photos, including some at historic sites, and though they were taken in daylight, they appeared as if night photos, evoking what the sites might have looked like to people escaping to freedom.

Then he turned his attention to Louisiana and New Orleans’ history as a major slave market.

“My interests in photographing plantations extends from my interest in continuing this ongoing history project, since the institution of slavery and the experience of African American enslavement is absolutely formative to the history of this country,” Bey told Gambit.

© D AW O U D B E Y, C O U R T E S Y S E A N K E L LY, N E W Y O R K

“I wanted to make work about these places that are the first places in which enslaved Africans became African American. So much of the tension and problematics around race in this country can be traced directly back to the experience and relationships that were forged on the plantation. The abuse of Black bodies, the viewing of Black people as expendable and less than human begins on the plantation.”

In many of the photos, trees old enough to have been on the grounds of the operating plantations evoke the passage of time.

“I’m using the medium of photography as a vehicle to activate the imagination so that the viewer is inexplicably pulled into the past,” Bey says. “All of these projects have to do with bearing witness and bringing the past into a contemporary conversation.”

The three-channel video installation in Prospect.5 includes a soundscape by composer and vocalist Imani Uzuri. It evokes the voices of the past, as well as Black vocal traditions rooted in plantations, Bey says.

At the artist talk, curator Brian Piper will talk with Bey about the Prospect.5 photos and the way history and place have figured in his career’s work.

For his next project, Bey will go to Virginia and the landscapes where some of the first boats carrying enslaved people arrived in the colony, and where many of those people were bought and sold.

At the Historic New Orleans Collection, Bey’s photos are on display along with a selection of portraits by George Dureau, whose work was included in Prospect.1 as well.

PhotoNOLA includes a large and diverse array of photo shows at museums, art and photography galleries and other spaces. The New Orleans Museum of Art has

Dawoud Bey’s three channel video is installed at the Historic New Orleans Collection. a show exploring the history of photo images and their transmission, as well as a show of photos by Ishimoto Yasuhiro. There are two shows of portraits of musicians at the New Orleans Jazz Museum.

There’s an outdoor show on the Lafitte Greenway featuring images of women and gender-nonconforming individuals presented by Photoville, Women Photograph and PhotoNOLA. The gallery of the New Orleans Photo Alliance, which organizes PhotoNOLA, presents Vikesh Kapoor’s photos of his parents and their lives in Pennsylvania since emigrating from India in 1971.

The festival’s opening reception on Wednesday at The Broadside features a show of projected images of the devastation of Hurricane Ida by photographers from The Times-Picayune. There also will be images from a project about Dillard University’s women’s basketball team by Ashley Teamer and Annie Flanagan. The reception also includes work by other artists and music by Naked on the Floor.

Regular PhotoNOLA events include portfolio reviews, a photo walk with artists sharing their portfolios and work by Photo Alliance members at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. There are workshops on Polaroid transfers, tintypes and other topics.

Last year’s event was entirely virtual, but there are only a few virtual events this year, including the virtual bookfair and a seminar featuring Afghan-born photographer Zalmai.

Visit photonola.org for a list of festival events and more than 40 photography shows at local venues.

Kyle Kinane

ON HIS 2020 ALBUM “TRAMPOLINE IN A DITCH,” comedian Kyle Kinane says

“I’ve never hit rock bottom — well maybe I have, it’s all perspective …

I don’t think I’ve hit rock bottom, but I hit the sides all the time.”

It’s a prime example of Kinane’s self-deprecating, every-dude charm. With a gruff voice — anyone who has watched Comedy Central in the last decade will most likely recognize him from the ad breaks — Kinane is one of stand-up’s best storytellers, full of idiosyncrasies and odd observations. Kinane and his “Boogie Monster” podcast co-host Dave Stone are on a tour that ends in New Orleans at the Howlin’ Wolf at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9. Tickets are $25 at thehowlinwolf.com.

PHOTO BY MOSES ROBINSON

Kyle Kinane performs Thursday, Dec. 9, at The Howlin’ Wolf.

Greenway Supernova

A DOZEN LIGHT INSTALLATIONS AND LIVE MUSIC on the Lafitte

Greenway anchor the Greenway Supernova near the tip of Bayou St. John. There are installations by Breanna Thompson, Will Nemitoff, Josh Pitts, the Virtual Krewe of Vaporwave and more. The music lineup includes Bon Bon Vivant, Shannon Powell, Meschiya and the Little Big Quartet, Mahmoud Chouki and the James Singleton Trio. There also is an arts market with food and drink vendors.

Supernova is open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9, though Saturday, Dec. 11. Visit lafittegreenway.org/supernova for more information.

Jeff Rosenstock

JEFF ROSENSTOCK HAS A KNACK FOR CAPTURING THE ANXIETY AND MOOD OF THE ERA in his solo albums.

His fourth record, “No Dream,”

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NEW ORLEANS NEWS + VIEWS

There’s nothing sexier than voting in this week’s run-off election

#

T H U M B S U P/ THUMBS DOWN

THE COUNT

$100 MILLION THE SALARY FOR NEW LSU FOOTBALL COACH BRIAN KELLY, TO BE PAID OVER THE NEXT DECADE.

City Hall is creating a “right

to counsel” program in New Orleans eviction courts, which will provide legal representation for people facing evictions.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell originally allotted $500,000 in the 2022 budget to pilot the program, but after housing advocates and City Council members called for more funding to adequately cover what’s needed in New Orleans, the administration raised that amount to $2 million.

Formerstate Sen.EdwinMurray

played an instrumental part in the recent — and long overdue — pardon of 19th century civil rights icon Homer Plessy.

As a senator, Murray authored the Avery Alexander Act of 2006, which allows persons convicted of violating laws enforcing racial segregation or discrimination to seek and receive pardons. That law laid the groundwork for DA Jason Williams, along with descendants of Plessy and Judge John Howard Ferguson.

ArthurMorrell, the Clerk of

Criminal District Court and the city’s top elections officer, not only made an endorsement in the Dec. 11 runoff race to succeed him as clerk but also sent out his endorsement to Orleans Parish election workers on official-looking stationery, in envelopes stamped “urgent” and bearing the clerk’s official return address. Morrell defended his actions and said they were legal and paid for with private funds.

PHO T O BY Y UR I GR IPA S / A B AC A PR E S S | T N S

Pro-life and pro-abortion rights protesters rally outside as the U.S. Supreme Court.

Abortion rights hang in limbo after Supreme Court hears arguments in Mississippi abortion case THE SUPREME COURT HEARD ARGUMENTS WEDNESDAY MORNING for a

Mississippi abortion case with the potential to decimate abortion access in the United States, and based on the lines of questioning, it appears the court’s conservative majority could allow the state’s abortion ban to stand.

The court may not issue its opinion on the case until late May or June of next year, leaving abortion rights hanging in limbo until then.

The issue at stake in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is a 2018 law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Louisiana also has a 15-week ban that hinges on Mississippi’s.

In its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a person has the right to choose to have an abortion up to the point of viability — when the fetus could reasonably survive outside of the womb — usually around 24 weeks of pregnancy.

In Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, the court ruled that states can regulate abortion pre-viability as long as that doesn’t create “substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion before the fetus attains viability.”

In this case, the court’s 6-3 conservative majority could overturn Roe outright — in which case, a dozen states, including Louisiana,

have trigger laws that would automatically ban abortions there — or gut it. If states are allowed to ban abortions pre-viability, Louisiana and many other states already have laws in place to do just that and they could pass even more.

Julie Rickelman, a Center for Reproductive Rights attorney representing Mississippi’s last remaining abortion clinic, argued that the court should stand by its decisions in Roe and Casey.

“In Casey, this court carefully examined and rejected every possible reason for overruling Roe, holding that a woman’s right to end a pregnancy before viability was a rule of law and a component of liberty they could not renounce,” she said.

Justice Stephen Breyer brought up the precedent in Casey too, mentioning that in that decision the Court specifically advised against overturning its ruling absent “the most convincing justification” because the issue of abortion is so divisive. To do otherwise, he said, would “subvert the court’s legitimacy beyond any serious question.”

“Feelings run high and it is particularly important to show what we do in overturning a case is grounded in principle and not social pressure, not political pressure,” Breyer said. “Only the most PAGE 9

This doesn’t include bonuses, like free luxury housing, all of which are paid for by the privately funded Tiger Athletic Foundation and self-generated Athletic Department funds. By contrast, LSU Athletics, which oversees sports programs at the school, spent $128,513 on sexual misconduct prevention training between 2016-2020 — during which nine football players were reported to police for sexual misconduct and violence. LSU plans to spend $2.5 million on its Office of Title IX and Civil Rights this year, and the Athletic Department has spent $600,000 on increased training.

C’EST W H AT

?

Is it time for the Saints to move on from Trevor Siemian?

48.5% YES, IT’S TAYSOM TIME

20.1%

LET’S SEE WHAT IAN BOOK CAN DO

24.3%

IS IT REALLY TOO LATE TO CONVINCE DREW TO COME BACK?

7.1%

NO, GIVE SIEMIAN ONE LAST SHOT

Vote on “C’est What?” at www.bestofneworleans.com

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OPENING GAMBIT

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Macaroni & Cheese

Cookie Tray

Mini Meat Pies

Mini Po-Boys

Cheese Tray

Fruit Tray

Dessert Tray

Mini Muffalettas

P l a nni ng a n Ev ent ?

Ro u s es i s her e to hel p!

Boudin Balls

Finger Sandwiches

Ham & Swiss Pinwheels

Chicken Wings

Please contact your local Rouses or email catering@rouses.com to place an order.

Chicken Salad Crossiants

Pork Eggrolls

Vegetable Tray

Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya

Deviled Eggs

Mini Meatballs

Join us for a local take on the Feast of the Seven Fishes

Italian Inspired Wine Dinner 4645 Freret St. New Orleans

Friday, December 17th 6PM

FIVE COURSES

With Wine Pairings

Live Music on Our Patio

Raphael Bas

Saturday, December 18th 11AM - 2 PM per person

Please call 504-355-0800 to RSVP.

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PAGE 7

convincing justification can show that a later decision overruling, if that’s what we did, was anything but a surrender to political pressures or new members. And that is an unjustified repudiation of principles on which the court stakes its authority.”

But both Scott Stewart, the solicitor general arguing for the state in support of the Mississippi law, and the conservative judges cited landmark cases like Brown v. Board of Education where the Supreme Court overturned its previous decisions.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Donald Trump appointee accused of sexual assault, discussed the possibility of the Supreme Court remaining “neutral on the question of abortion” and leaving the issue up to people, states and Congress.

He said the court wouldn’t be forcing any state to ban abortion with any ruling it makes. While that may be technically true, there are so many states with anti-abortion climates, the court’s ruling will directly impact if some states allow any access to abortion at all.

Chief Justice Roberts, who was the deciding vote in a Louisiana abortion case last year which the state lost, asked how banning abortion after 15 weeks would be much different from current abortion laws, as some states ban the procedure around 20 weeks of pregnancy. “If it really is an issue about choice, why is 15 weeks not enough time?” he said.

Rickelman said that a 15-week ban would prevent some people from getting abortions and be a slippery slope leading states to allow their more stringent abortion prohibitions already on the books to go into effect.

Also in Supreme Court limbo is Texas’ law banning abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy. The law went into effect in September with a brief pause in October, and the court has not yet issued a decision. That law also allows citizens to enforce that ban by filing lawsuits against doctors or anyone who helps someone get an abortion.

Louisiana also has a six-week ban, which became law in 2019 but has not gone into effect because of legal battles in Mississippi. — Kaylee Poche

New Orleans officials engage in damage control following pop-up enforcement backlash THE CANTRELL ADMINISTRATION TUESDAY ATTEMPTED TO WALK BACK

its planned crackdown on illegal pop-ups next year following public outrage in response to a story Gambit published Monday.

In a series of tweets from the city’s Twitter account, the administration engaged in public relations

damage control, arguing pop-ups were not the “focus” of its enforcement initiative. But they did not dispute comments officials made on the record at a public budget hearing on Nov. 8 or to Gambit the following week — and in fact tacitly acknowledged the pop-up initiative is part of a broader regulatory enforcement push coming in 2022.

“After the year we all just had, we want all of our businesses to flourish in the city,” a tweet from the city said. “The City’s focus is NOT on ‘cracking down’ on popups. The focus is making sure that all businesses in the city are aligned with the current guidelines and all businesses are treated equally.”

The tweets echoed a statement from Beau Tidwell, Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s communications director, at a press conference earlier Tuesday morning.

“Our focus is not on ‘cracking down’ on pop-ups,” he said. “Our focus is on businesses that do not pay sales tax — that includes everyone. After the year we all just had, and the hit we all took economically — we just want business owners to pay their fair share.

Businesses who do not pay sales tax are who we are focused on.”

When Gambit specifically asked the city if it would be “more aggressive in cracking down on pop-up vendors operating illegally,” a Cantrell administration spokesperson confirmed the city’s plans to “actively address illegal pop-up vending.”

“Yes, as mentioned, the Department of Finance-Bureau of Revenue will coordinate with NOPD district officers to actively address illegal pop-up vending,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Gambit on Nov. 19. “Coordinated sweeps including departments who may be impacted, Revenue, Safety & Permits, Traffic and Parking Control, State Health Department, etc. have participated in the past.”

In the same Twitter thread, the city encouraged business vendors to apply for business permits on the city’s website and to reach out to the Office of Economic Development if they need assistance, adding, “We offer an array of business development programs and initiatives to assist entrepreneurs in starting and growing their businesses.”

Despite the flurry of tweets Tuesday, it was unclear whether City Hall would postpone the planned crackdown or take steps to help pop-ups — which are typically micro-businesses operated by a handful of people — ensure they are in compliance with city rules.

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CL ANCY DUBOS @clancygambit

It’s Cantrell’s job to save Auditorium funding MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL RECENTLY GOT AN EARLY TASTE OF WHAT SHE CAN EXPECT from the City

Council in her second term when council members unanimously put the kibosh on Heronner’s plan to relocate City Hall in Municipal Auditorium, which has sat virtually untouched since it flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

As if to drive home their point, council members on Dec. 1 adopted several measures designed to give the council and the public a say in any future plans for City Hall. Until now, that decision rested solely with the mayor. No longer.

Specifically, the council voted to redefine the term “City Hall” and make it a “conditional use” in the city’s Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance. All conditional uses require Council approval and review by various boards and agencies. Council members also made the entire Treme neighborhood, including the 30-acre Armstrong Park, an “interim zoning district,” which further inserts the Council and the public into the mix of land-use decisions there.

The council also voted to prohibit putting City Hall in any public park or public green space — including Armstrong Park — and specifically directed the city to develop, with Treme

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

neighbors, a plan to protect and preserve the park’s (and Congo Square’s) historic and cultural significance.

The Council still must incorporate all those changes in ordinances to make them effective, but the unanimous (read: veto-proof) votes on Dec. 1 make that final step a slam dunk.

Cantrell’s proposed relocation of City Hall in Municipal Auditorium is truly “dead in the water” now, as her spokesman Beau Tidwell noted weeks ago.

Treme residents and others who opposed the mayor’s proposal applauded the council’s action, calling it “a great step in the right direction.”

Cantrell herself has remained silent on this subject for a while, causing critics of her plan to wonder if it was actually dead. Now, it appears, the mayor won’t be able to revive her idea even if she wanted to do so.

Instead, Cantrell has attempted to place responsibility in the lap of Treme residents and other opponents of her plan, challenging them to come up with a better idea. Leaders of the Save Our Soul Coalition say they hope to do that by year’s end.

Cantrell also has said that opposition to her proposal could cost the city about $39 million in FEMA funds tied to restoration of the auditorium because of an impending deadline to submit a plan to the federal agency.

If the city does lose that FEMA money, Cantrell will have a tough time convincing anyone that it’s the fault of those who fought to save a cultural landmark. It was the mayor, after all, who refused to admit months ago that her plan really was “dead in the water,” and it was she who sat on her hands rather than come up with a better idea — or (so far, at least) a well-reasoned request for FEMA to extend the deadline.

And, lest anyone forget, the FEMA money is tied to the auditorium, not to a new City Hall.

TheGambitBallot

Pop-up vendors need permitting help, not police harassment THIS WEEK MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL FOUND HERSELF IN THE MIDST of a self-in-

flicted public relations controversy after Gambit’s Kaylee Poche detailed a citywide sales tax and permitting crackdown on pop-up operators. The Cantrell administration plans to initiate the heightened enforcement next year.

During a Nov. 8 City Council hearing on the budget, city Chief Financial Officer Norman White repeatedly used the word “aggressive” to describe the crackdown, which officials said will likely occur on weekends and will utilize NOPD officers to check permits.

Many residents and small businesses were rightly outraged at this decision, particularly over the prospect of enforcement aimed at pop-up operators in New Orleans East and on Claiborne Avenue, both of which are areas used by Black entrepreneurs.

Although the administration sought to “clarify” that the sales tax enforcement initiative was not solely aimed at pop-ups, that doesn’t change the fact that they are planning to send police officers out to check permits of vendors at second lines, art markets, neighborhood farmers markets that sprung up during the pandemic, and even individuals setting up roadside stands to sell oysters or barbecue in the food deserts of New Orleans East.

Sending presumably armed cops onto Claiborne Avenue to harass people selling food or cold drinks off the back of a pickup is more than an inappropriate use of New Orleans’ under-manned police force. It also smacks of the sort of gentrification that occurred under former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose policies forced middle class and

THE LAST ELECTION DAY OF 2021

is finally at hand. Election day is set for Dec. 11 in the five run-off races and two propositions. Voter turnout in off year elections is traditionally low, and thus far this year has been no different. But from the sheriff’s office to the city council, this year’s run-offs are critically important, and not just for the next four years.

As the city emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic and the destruction of Hurricane Ida, we are at a crossroads in our history. As a result, those whom you choose to represent you will have a hand in deciding the direction of the city for decades to come.

Voting is our civic duty, and the more voters who make their voices heard on Dec. 11, the better the system will work. Below are Gambit’s endorsements in the election.

To find your polling place, go to voterportal.sos.la.gov.

SHERIFF

Susan Hutson

CITY COUNCIL PHOTO BY EMANUEL JACKSON II / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

poor New Yorkers out of most of Manhattan. And while Cantrell may admire Bloomberg’s managerial style, we hope neither she nor council members want to turn Treme into an expensive, chain-restaurant-infested clone of what’s left of Hell’s Kitchen.

We do not suggest that popups shouldn’t pay legally owed sales taxes, or that they shouldn’t be subject to basic health and safety permitting rules. But, with much of the city still struggling to make ends meet, now is a good time to help them get permits — not penalize them for failing to navigate City Hall’s Byzantine permitting process. Better to postpone the crackdown in order to give the City Council and administrators time to streamline the permitting process.

Previous efforts to make the permitting process easier underscore the need for reforms.

For instance, the city’s One Stop Shop, which is supposed to help entrepreneurs navigate the system easily, instead more

Pop-up vendors, like this one during the 2018 Women of Class second line, have long been a part of the city’s culture.

resembles a “Stop Shop” for far too many business owners.

Council President Helena Moreno has worked on solutions with stakeholders and hopes to propose changes in the first quarter of next year. Her goal is to simplify the process and “demystify” the language of permitting.

The end result should be a system that makes it possible for business owners to get permits within hours — rather than days, weeks or months, as is now the case.

We urge the new City Council to make permitting reform a priority next year — and to ensure that all changes help small vendors, including those selling art and setting up local markets, obtain affordable permits as quickly as possible.

DISTRICT B Lesli Harris DISTRICT C Freddie King III DISTRICT D Troy Glover DISTRICT E Cyndi Nguyuen

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@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com

Hey Blake,

With Popeyes in the news recently for opening its first restaurant in London, I’m curious where the very first one was? Where was the first located outside New Orleans?

Dear reader,

LEGENDARY ENTREPRENEUR AL COPELAND OPENED HIS FIRST CHICKEN RESTAURANT in St. Bernard Parish

in 1971. Called Chicken on the Run, it was located at 7538 W. Judge Perez Drive in Arabi.

Sales at the new restaurant were disappointing until Copeland added spicy fried chicken to the menu. On June 13, 1972, he changed the restaurant’s name to Popeyes Mighty Good Fried Chicken. Copeland claimed the name was inspired not by the cartoon character but by Gene Hackman’s “Popeye Doyle” character in the movie “The French Connection.”

After about a year, Copeland opened a second restaurant in Kenner. He also changed the name to Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken.

He began franchising his restaurants in 1977, with the first in Baton Rouge. Other early out-of-town outlets in Houston and Atlanta were company-owned.

In 1984, Popeyes expanded into Canada. By 1988, there were 700 Popeyes outlets across the U.S., Canada, Panama and Kuwait.

In 1989, Copeland bought the

PHOTO BY G. ANDREW BOYD / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Popeyes owner Al Copeland with his beloved fried chicken in 1989.

Church’s Fried Chicken chain, creating the 11th largest restaurant company in the world with more than 2,000 outlets. Unfortunately, the move also plunged Copeland into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In 1992, the company was sold but Copeland and his family retained control of the recipes used for fried chicken, red beans, Cajun rice and biscuits.

Copeland died in 2008. The Popeyes chain was sold in 2017 to Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of Burger King and Tim Hortons. Popeyes currently has more than 3,500 restaurants worldwide.

BL AKEVIE W THIS WEEK WE CHRONICLE NEW ORLEANS’ REACTION TO THE JAPANESE ATTACK on Pearl Harbor, which plunged the U.S. into World War II 80 years ago this week. The raid killed more than 2,400 Americans and destroyed or damaged 19 U.S. warships and 300 aircraft.

“Japs Blast U.S. Base” read the front-page headline in the Dec. 8, 1941 TIMES-PICAYUNE, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. The headline presaged the sort of anti-Japanese racism that would become common in the media, among the public and from the government.

Louisiana Gov. Sam Jones ordered increased security patrols at “strategic defense industries,” ports, bridges and transportation facilities. Jones and New Orleans Mayor Robert Maestri pledged support for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the U.S. response to the attack. New Orleans Police Supt. George Reyer urged citizens to be on alert for “saboteurs and possible acts of sabotage at essential and vital points throughout the city.”

The head of the local immigration bureau issued orders preventing the arrival or departure of any Japanese citizens via the Port of New Orleans, THE TIMES-PICAYUNE reported.

The newspaper told of a man who rushed to the local Marine Corps recruiting office on Dec. 7 to join the war effort. Lyman Crovetto, 29, told the officer in charge of recruitment he was “rarin’ to go.”

According to the National World War II Museum, nearly 280,000 Louisiana citizens served in the military during the war in some capacity.

4,967 of them died while serving in World War II.

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VOTE SUSAN HUTSON FOR SHERIFF VOTE ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11

Experienced and Committed to Progressive Reform

#6

• Tulane University, School of Law - JD (1992) • Acting Police Monitor - Austin, TX (2006-2007) • Asst. Inspector General of LAPD - Los Angeles, CA (2007-2010) • Independent Police Monitor - New Orleans, LA (2010-2021) • Nationally Recognized Expert on Federal Consent Decrees

“WE CAN AND WE MUST DO BETTER” PROUDLY ENDORSED BY DISTRICT ATTORNEY JASON WILLIAMS "The people and I are with Susan for Sheriff because we agree that we can have a safe and constitutional jail that truly rehabilitates. We also agree that the Sheriff can be an important partner to help increase safety in our neighborhoods by committing to using qualified deputies for visibility patrols in high crime areas to deter crime. I was elected District Attorney to help usher in a new era of justice in New Orleans. A new era dedicated to making families safer, correcting the sins of the past, and transforming how the criminal legal system operates to get better results. That is why I could not stay silent and am endorsing Susan Hutson for Sheriff."

FORMER COUNCILWOMAN DISTRICT A SUSAN GUIDRY “As Chair of the City Council's Criminal Justice Committee, I spent years working toward reform of our system.

I believe Susan Hutson is the right person to serve our city as Sheriff. Susan has been a crucial part of reforming the New Orleans Police Department by working with the Community and NOPD alike - and we need her to keep fighting to bring real, progressive change to the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office and Criminal Justice System.”

PROUDLY ENDORSED BY IWO • NEW ORLEANS COALITION • FORUM FOR EQUALITY NOLA DEFENDERS FOR EQUAL JUSTICE • GAMBIT VOTERS ORGANIZED TO EDUCATE • ELECT BLACK WOMEN

FORMER CANDIDATE FOR U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT GARY CHAMBERS “The criminal legal system in this country is deeply flawed.

Susan has spent her career working to correct what's wrong with the system and that's the type of leader we need right now. Susan has demonstrated a commitment to justice and equity for all people. Susan's plans to diversify the department, increase its presence in the community to help address crime, and not use the jail as a tax pit are just a few reasons she's earned my support. I'm proud to endorse Susan Hutson.

It's time for a new Sheriff in town, one who will be committed to making positive changes in the Orleans Parish Sheriff's department.”

WWW.SUSANFORSHERIFF.COM Paid for by the Committee to elect Susan Hutson

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E T A T S E H T OF E G A T S ’ theater s n a le r O w e N rom its f s e g r e m e e scen ernation ib h ic m e d n pa

BY ELIZA BAQUET AFTER CANCELING ITS PRODUCTION of “Peter and the Starcatcher” in March of 2020 due to COVID-19, Rivertown Theaters was ready to kick off its season with the musical “Hello, Dolly!” in September. The garish Victorian costumes were purchased, 95% of the set was built and the cast and crew were excited to get back into the scene after more than a year of pandemic lockdowns and restrictions.

Finally, it felt like some bit of normal was returning. That is, until Hurricane Ida hit.

The storm ripped through Rivertown’s main stage, tearing holes in two corners of its shop — big enough for a person to crawl through. The carpets and seats took on enough moisture to grow mold; the smell was inescapable.

And there was no electricity for a month and a half.

So Rivertown Theaters adjusted and recalibrated, running the production just a week later at St. Martin’s Solomon Theater. The show went on without the sets, which were locked away in the warehouse behind the stage due to the rolling door being damaged.

But still, it was a critical step toward the company getting back into the swing of things.

“Everybody said they didn’t even miss [the sets],” says Kelly Fouchi, artistic and managing director

PHOTO BY JOHN B. BARROIS

for Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts. “The cast was so amazing, and it was such a great show that we didn’t even think about the fact that certain pieces weren’t there.”

Covid has undoubtedly chewed through the scenery of nearly every profession, forcing entire industries to rethink how they do business.

But the pandemic and then Ida have been particularly hard on theater.

By its very nature, it not only requires the cast and crew to have close contact for weeks and months at a time — it also needs people to be there, live, in the audience, to help bring it truly to life.

Now with the mask mandate being lifted, Ida slowly receding in the rearview mirror and more and more residents getting fully vaccinated, New Orleans theater companies are back in action, and they hope they may even have a few new spells to cast with their stagecraft.

BEFORE NEW ORLEANS WENT INTO LOCKDOWN on March 13, 2020, theaters had a predictable rhythm — wheth-

er they were finishing up a season or starting a new one. Rivertown had just wrapped up the musical “Oliver!” and only got through two or three shows of “Peter and the Starcatcher” before shutting down.

Similarly, Jefferson Performing Arts Society (JPAS) only got through a week of rehearsals for the musical “42nd Street,” appropriately put on for its 42nd season, before canceling the rest of its shows, including “An American in Paris.” JPAS had to give back $52,000 in refunds for summer camp tuition and furlough 12 employees.

The NOLA Project had just finished up its production of “Harry and the Thief,” performed at the Contemporary Arts Center. On the other hand, Southern Rep Theatre was already suffering before Covid made things abundantly worse.

After closing “Mother Courage and Her Children,’ a financial shortfall caused the company to lose its building on Bayou Road and to let go of its staff.

“We’ve been hit, like many other theaters, pretty hard,” says Sacha Grandoit, Southern Rep’s interim artistic director. “And so we’ve been

working on a strategic plan for our comeback — slowly but surely.”

New Orleans theaters had to get creative and plan for their big comeback into the spotlight.

AJ Allegra, the artistic director of the NOLA Project, came up with the idea of doing a Podplay: a hybrid between a podcast and a radio play.

The company commissioned four writers to create plays that audiences could download and listen to (highly recommended with headphones). NOLA Project set up an office space so actors could come in separately or in small groups to record audio. A sound engineer then took the audio, edited it, and added sound effects and background scoring. NOLA Project released all of them from September through February of 2021, which could be downloaded for $9.99 or together for $35.

“A lot of people purchased them and supported us,” Allegra says. “I thought that they were a great way to keep actors, writers and directors working and making money.”

“Tell It To Me Sweet” was NOLA Project’s most recent live performance, which ran outdoors at

STATE OF THE STAGE

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46

#

VoteFreddieKing.com

@votefreddieking

PAID FOR BY FRIENDS OF FREDDIE KING, III

FREDDIE IS READY To Tackle Violent Crime and Provide Real Solutions So That Our Residents Aren’t Plagued By Fear.

■ To Bring More Small Business Opportunities to District C. ■ To Stop Illegal Dumping.

■ To Fight The Red Tape of City Hall and to Review the Permitting Process.

■ To Hold Entergy Accountable When It Comes To Unnecessary and Costly Rate Increases for Our Residents.

■

PHOTO BY JOHN B. BARROIS

ENDORSED BY:

Troy Carter

U.S. Congressman

Chelsey Napoleon Orleans Parish Clerk of Court

Gary Carter

Louisiana State Senator

Dr. J.C. Romero

Orleans Parish School Board Member

LaToya Cantrell Mayor

Helena Moreno

Councilmember-At-Large Division 1

Cynthia Butler-McIntyre

Education Advocate and Activist

Tammi Griffin-Major Community Activist

Mary Landrieu

Former U.S. Senator

JP Morrell

Councilmember-At-Large Division 2

James Carter

Former New Orleans Councilmember, District C

Sandra Wilson

Community Activist

Jason Williams District Attorney

Joe Giarrusso

Councilmember District A

Donna Glapion

New Orleans Councilmember-At-Large

Ed Shorty

Algiers Constable

ENDORSED BY THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

ELECTION DAY: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2021

the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden from Oct. 29 to Nov. 14. It was the group’s first staged show since “Harry and the Thief” in January 2020. Brittany Williams, who recently was named the NOLA Project’s co-artistic director, worked with Allegra on his concept of an outdoor roving adaptation of several fairy tales.

Each was presented to a different small audience at the same time, running 10-15 minutes. After each one ended, audiences rotated to the next one.

With plenty of logistical challenges brought on by Covid, it put pressure on artists like Williams and Allegra to find a safer way to presenting a show.

In the beginning of the pandemic, many companies were dormant.

While costumes for “Peter and the Starcatcher” sat around for months, regular performers in Rivertown productions partook in the company’s QuaranTUNES Competition.

Actors were pulled from a hat and faced off against each other in a battle of showmanship. They could do anything they wanted: spoof something, write and perform an original song, do a parody, etc.

The videos were posted on the theater’s social media and viewers could vote by pitching in one dollar. It was a way to keep the actors occupied while also paying them and helping pay the bills for the building.

“You can’t just turn a building off and let it rot in the summer — we needed to keep it going,” Fouchi says. “And then the community just got really into the idea of having a creative outlet. It was very fulfilling creatively.”

Southern Rep has had limited output during the pandemic. It’s last production was before the CDC guidelines were set into place.

During the pandemic, Sacha Grandoit, Southern Rep’s sole full-

time employee as artistic coordinator (before being promoted to interim artistic director), along with the rest of the crew began talking with federal arts administrator Michael Kaiser, who has a knack for saving theater companies on the brink of disaster. They began discussing how they could integrate more with the community of New Orleans, especially at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“This was the time to do internal work and focus on strategic planning,” Grandoit says. “We’re living in unprecedented times. I’m having conversations that I had never heard — between this organization and other organizations — about what theater looks like from an equitable space.”

The company has been focusing on the upcoming regional premiere of LaRissa FastHorse’s one-act satire, “The Thanksgiving Play.”

The show was meant to be performed before Ida, with casting submissions moved to Oct. 18. It’s official opening night is Friday, Dec. 10, in the design studio of Loyola University in Monroe Hall. It runs through Dec 19.

“The Thanksgiving Play” follows four white people trying to devise a politically correct First Thanksgiving school play for Native American Heritage Month. The director hires a Native American actor, only to find out later that the actor is actually white and only plays Native American roles when she isn’t playing any other ethnicities.

This play-within-a-play pulls its audience through the complexities of portraying Native Americans in a country that’s guilty of exploiting them. Jeannette Godoy, who is indigenous, is directing the play.

Southern Rep is closely working with the Houma Nation to shed light on how its community was affected by Hurricane Ida and to get people to donate.

STATE OF THE STAGE

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“I’m really excited to see how it turns out; it’s gonna be an immersive experience,” Grandoit says.

“It’s a different way of storytelling, bridging cultures, which is what New Orleans is: the combination of different cultures, different ways of experiencing art and the city.”

JPAS planned to start its season with the play “God of Carnage,” but it coincided with the arrival of Hurricane Ida. The Westwego Performing Arts Theater suffered storm damage, but fortunately, JPAS moved the production next door to Teatro Wego, which is suitable for smaller productions such as oneact plays or stand-up comedy acts.

“That’s the good thing about being a society,” says Dennis Assaf, co-founder and current artistic director. “We’re not a ballet company, not a theater company. We have

“Local performing arts is kind of a dying breed here in New Orleans and really needs to become more part of our entertainment culture.”

— K E L LY F O U C H I , A R T I S T I C A N D M A N A G I N G D I R E C T O R F O R R I V E R T O W N T H E AT E R S FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS.

the liberty to explore any type of performing arts genre that strikes my fancy, and I like it that way.”

“God of Carnage” was scheduled for three weekends, but after losing rehearsal time, it had to be reduced to only two. “Addams Family,” a larger production, also lost a couple weeks of rehearsal and had to move to the East Jefferson High School auditorium, which JPAS had used for nearly three decades of productions.

JPAS brought back its summer camp last year, with campers mask-

ing up. Every year, JPAS stages “The Nutcracker” and last December was no different — with the exception of masked dancers and no live orchestra. This upcoming “Nutcracker” will be the first time since Ida that JPAS will perform at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center.

Since Hurricane Ida hit, the main performing center has been closed to the public and JPAS has held its performances on the West Bank.

Westwego is no stranger to storms either — this was the third Aug. 29 storm to damage the theater: first Katrina, then Isaac and now Ida. ArtSpot Productions stages its often site-specific productions around the city, and the company tours its productions as well. Many of the dramas focus on complex issues specific to Louisiana. Founder Kathy Randels says the two main focuses the company has right now are environmental crises and the problems surrounding the criminal justice system.

Randels co-directs a theater ensemble of formerly incarcerated women called The Graduates and a group inside the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women.

Their last performance for ArtSpot before everything shut down was an exhibit at the Newcomb Art Gallery. It featured multidisciplinary pieces, predominantly visual art, where an artist was paired with a formerly incarcerated woman and they worked together to create a representation of their story. In 2018, The Graduates created a quilt representing 107 women who are serving a life sentence in 2017 using the Black masking Indian beading style, and they incorporated it into the exhibit. The exhibit also was displayed at the Ford Foundation Gallery in New York.

Throughout quarantine, Randels worked on a short film about her personal experience of leaving her

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STATE OF THE STAGE

MANY THEATERS HAVE A YOUTH PROGRAMMING COMPONENT, and Rivertown, JPAS and NOLA Project were able to bring back youth programs for this past summer.

JPAS has a program called Arts Adventures Series that does kid-friendly productions for school groups during the weekdays. It also has a group called Theater Kids, which consists of full-blown musical theatre productions that take place in the fall and spring. JPAS also has a youth team that travels to either New York, Florida or Atlanta to compete nationally against other teams. Covid prevented them from participating, but Assaf is hoping the competition will be brought back as soon as things fully open up again.

In honor of Black History Month, JPAS will put on “Fly,” which tells the story of Black WWII pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen. The play is layered with racial overtones, depict-

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parents’ house and selling it. It’s a meditation on the memories of that space and echoes back to “Spaces in Between,” a performance she did walking through the house after Katrina.

“That was an interesting shift in terms of performance work,” Randels says of how the theater world has adapted during the pandemic. “I think a lot of live performers made films out of the work they were doing.”

ArtSpot also started doing Zoom performances. Allen Mason, a theater critic and organizer, reached out to them to conduct interviews and also help put on performances through the video conferencing software.

Randels tailored the company’s show “Nita and Zita” to present within the parameters of Zoom.

The Graduates wove video clips together as a collection of organized protests in honor of the longest incarcerated woman in Louisiana, Gloria Williams, aka Mama Glo. She is set to be released soon, with her parole board scheduled in December.

ArtSpot put on one mid-pandemic show in May and June 2021. in collaboration with Studio in the Woods, the project entitled Engaging Artists Scientists and Educators in Learning (EASEL) was heavily involved with science.

“Our premise is that the artistic process deepens the education process,” Randels says.

19

PHOTOS BY A J ALLEGR A

In Lieu of live plays, NOLA Project produced “pod plays” during the pandemic. ing the real-life story of white officers unsuccessfully trying to flunk the Black pilots. The pilots went on to fly P-51 Mustangs, a personal favorite WWII aircraft of Assaf’s.

Jefferson plans to bring in one of the shows co-writers, Ricardo Khan, to do a masterclass and symposium in connection with the production of “Fly.” JPAS is also collaborating with The National WWII Museum about having an exhibit of all Black soldiers, marines, and others who served, set to debut Feb 22, 2022.

Rivertown performed Disney’s “Descendants” during the pandemic, which was so popular that it stretched to 23 performances. Due to its unexpected success, Rivertown hopes to expand its target audience to more kids and adolescents and to diversify the crowd.

Fouchi hopes that shows like “Mary Poppins” and “Moana Jr.” will draw and engage that youthful audience.

“Local performing arts is kind of a dying breed here in New

Orleans and really needs to become more part of our entertainment culture,” Fouchi says about the need to encourage new audiences in the city.

Allegra says that NOLA Project actually found a way to become more financially sound throughout the pandemic, as they hope to get a safety net established in the next 10 years. They’re hoping to build up a reserve for times of disaster like the one that happened three months ago.

But the NOLA Project has no desire to establish a permanent space. Besides not having to rely on paying the bills for it, they can continue to be creative in the way they tell stories through those venues.

“You can think of it like recycling,” Allegra says. “It’s better to reuse and expand the use of the existing venues that we have in the city, and to ‘activate spaces’ that are maybe dormant during the evening hours.”

Allegra hopes NOLA Project will bring productions to venues like the Columns Hotel and I-10 Overpass.

Randels has an upcoming piece called “The Damascus Experience,” which was conceptualized during the Trump presidency and addresses issues of white supremacy. Randels used “The Road to Damascus” from the Bible to examine the use of Christianity by white Americans to enslave Africans.

Randels also was inspired by Augusto Boal, a Brazilian theater maker, who would present scenes and stop to ask the audience what they think should happen next. He would bring audience members to the stage to act out the rest — something that would not have been possible in the past year-and-a-half.

Randels wants to use theater as a form of dialogue to make our way of relating to one another better — after so much time being isolated.

“It’s not about making a beautiful theater piece that’s going to change the world,” Randels says.

“But more thinking in terms of theater as another tool that can participate in healing and transformation.”

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$37 from Alice and Amelia (4432 Magazine St., 504-502-6206; shopaliceandamelia.com).

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Rosie the Riveter Metal Lunchbox

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French Quarter Jewel

FORK + CENTER

Bijou serves international small plates | by Beth D’Addono ON A RECENT BUSY SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT BIJOU, a new restaurant on

the edge of the French Quarter, two friends were chatting about their dining experience.

“We literally ordered the entire menu,” said one enthusiastic diner.

“We ate everything — and I can’t wait to do it again.”

Quite the endorsement, and with everything on the 10-dish menu coming to about $150 total, it was a good bang for the gastronomic buck for her party of four adventurous eaters.

Bijou opened Oct. 29 in a gorgeously renovated Creole cottage at 1014 N. Rampart St. The restaurant is the first solo project for chef Eason Barksdale, who previously was the executive chef at Susan Spicer’s Bayona and worked at her former Lakeview eatery, Mondo.

So far, it’s working out swell.

“Opening has really exceeded my expectations,” Barksdale says.

“I thought it would be much more demanding and stressful, but actually it was a lot of fun.”

It’s also different than Spicer’s restaurants. “It’s not fine dining,” he says. “It feels like you’re entertaining house guests. We play fun, loud music. There’s a great outdoor space. People seem to really enjoy the scene.”

When he wasn’t putting out swank plates at Bayona, Barksdale created the restaurant’s more whimsical, less formal Saturday lunch menu. Now he’s channeling that vibe five days a week — for dinner Wednesday through Saturday and all day on Sunday.

“International is really my schtick,” says the Fairhope, Alabama, native, who’s been in New Orleans for 16 years. “I tried to hit every hemisphere.”

The menu hopscotches across the globe. There’s tuna tartare with ponzu, avocado and cucumber served with sesame wontons.

Roasted delicato squash salad features local lettuce, Spanish sheep’s milk cheese and blood orange vinaigrette. The smash burgers include

two patties topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato and griddled onions on potato buns. Steak frites delivers a marinated local wagyu steak with chimichurri, french fries and aioli.

The tom yum chicken is fried chicken slathered with a spicy tom yum base and served with a Vietnamese ranch dipping sauce made with labneh and herbs.

Also good are Gruyere gougers studded with bacon — a tip of the hat to the late chef Judy Rodgers, who served them at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco. “I was lucky enough to work for her,” Barksdale says. “She and Susan are my two most inspirational chefs.”

Squid ink pasta, sourced from Josephine Estelle, is topped with shrimp in a white wine butter sauce spiked with Castelvetrano olives and fresh herbs. Fried artichoke hearts are tossed with marinated mozzarella, pesto and prosciutto for his version of an antipasto dish. The menu is complemented by an array of classic cocktails and wines.

Barksdale has staffed the kitchen with chefs he’s worked with over the years. In the front of the house, Bijou essentially chose bartenders over waiters, and the service is casual and friendly if still a bit green.

The restaurant’s name was suggested by Barksdale’s partner over a meal the couple had at Peche.

“We were going into a meeting and he suggested Bijou, which means little jewel or trinket in French,” Barksdale says. “I thought it was perfect.”

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

Slice shop

EVEN BY THE SLICE, PIE JUST FEELS WHOLESOME . That’s one takeaway

from some time spent at the Freret Street pie shop and cafe Windowsill Pies.

There are whole pies in the dessert case, like the vanilla bean bourbon pecan pie that put the Windowsill Pies name on the map for many. A lattice-topped apple pie set out to cool from the oven looks like it’s sitting for a Norman Rockwell portrait.

And then you see the pie by the slice, already cut, packaged for instant gratification. You can slip it into your bag for later or get a slice on a plate and sit at the counter by the broad front window.

The cafe is the next step in the path business partners Nicole Eiden and Marielle Dupré began a decade ago, making pies in a home kitchen to sell directly to customers and at local farmers markets and craft markets.

PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER

Chef Eason Barksdale serves small plates at Bijou in the French Quarter.

Barksdale first heard about the project from his friend David Fuselier, who was developing the restaurant with partners Jeff Bromberger, owner of Maison and other clubs, Mark Starring and Patrick Schoen.

“They contacted me a few years ago and I did a tasting for them with Susan (Spicer’s) blessing at Bayona,” Barksdale says. “Then the pandemic happened. I almost took a job with a place in Fairhope, but when I started looking at houses, I just about had a panic attack. I’m a New Orleanian. This is where I want to be.”

?

WHAT Bijou

WHERE

1014 N. Rampart St., (504) 603-0557; bijouneworleans.com

WHEN

Dinner Wed.-Sun., late-night Fri.-Sat., brunch Sun.

HOW

Dine-in

CHECK IT OUT

Casual small plates in the French Quarter

P H O T O B Y D AV I D G R U N F E L D / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Nicole Eiden (left) and Marielle Dupre opened Windowsill Pies.

After building a following, they finally opened the cafe, but the pandemic intervened. Windowsill Pies officially opened around this time last year, but has only recently begun indoor service.

Today diners can stop in for a slice of pie, a quiche that should be two servings but could easily become one, and hand pies, both sweet and savory for midday snacks.

From the street, you can look through the kitchen window to see Eiden cracking eggs and Dupre stirring a glaze.

PAGE 29

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Maybe they’re preparing one of their pumpkin tarts, with a wreath of toasted pepitas that’s smooth as silk with a subtle seam of ginger, or the amaretto pear and dried cherry pie that pleads for an after-dinner drink pairing.

That could happen soon.

Windowsill Pies has applied for a license to serve beer and wine. The idea is to grow into an after-dinner dessert stop for date nights or other outings along for this restaurant row.

There’s already a pie happy hour here (3-5 p.m.), with a complimentary coffee with your slice.

— IAN McNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Holiday meals and deals

REVEILLON PROMOTIONS, A SEASONAL FIXTURE OF NEW ORLEANS DINING ,

are back again this year for a season that is shaping up to be far from normal for restaurants.

The holiday dinner series, held in restaurants across the city throughout December, is a time for social gatherings over special prix fixe menus — some lavish, some bargains, many of them synced to the season. It’s become a tradition for many locals and plenty of visitors.

For restaurants though, the effort to restaff, the havoc of supply chain disruptions and sometimes drastic food cost hikes have made the road through this phase of the pandemic a rough and unpredictable one. That’s playing out in this year’s Reveillon slate, too.

This time around, about 30 New Orleans restaurants are taking part in Reveillon. That’s about half the number that served Reveillon menus in 2019, though also a considerable increase from the 20 that did so during last year’s turbulent, pre-vaccine holiday season.

Still, there’s some reassuring continuity to the tradition as this season begins. As usual, Reveillon menus this year are filled with a mix of traditional dishes, contemporary takes, seasonal flavors and holiday-themed frills.

Most are four-course meals priced between $50 and $65.

A few go more extravagant.

Restaurant August once again holds the high end with its $110 menu, while Commander’s Palace, SoBou and Restaurant R’evolution are each at $85.

Commander’s Palace also has a Reveillon brunch for $54.

On the other side of things, the Country Club in the Bywater has a

five-course progression of shared dishes for two people at $50.

In New Orleans, Reveillon, derived from the French word for “awakening,” was originally a meal served in the homes of Catholic families after midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. The custom all but died out as the 20th-century progressed and more American styled celebrations of Christmas took hold in New Orleans. In the 1990s, the name was revived and recast as a restaurant dining series.

Restaurants have evolved their own approaches to it over the years.

In the French Quarter, the Pelican Club is serving practically its entire menu, with many choices across each of four courses, plus bourbon eggnog as lagniappe.

For some, it’s a time to bring out dishes with a sense of history, like the drum papillote at Annunciation or the tarte a la bouille at Tableau for a taste of the bayou to end the meal.

Others take the opportunity of a special menu to shake things up.

Galatoire’s, which is known for a regular menu so traditional many diners don’t even need to look at it, offers a candied kumquat meuniere for the drum almondine and smoked potato puree for the filet on the Reveillon menu.

The Reveillon menu at the Bower this year is all vegetarian, showcasing produce from Sugar Roots Farm in lower Algiers.

Domenica is another Reveillon option with vegetarian choices across its courses (alongside nonvegetarian dishes).

This year also brings back a more casual cocktail offshoot called Reveillon on the Rocks at bars and restaurants.

Some Reveillon on the Rocks bars are within hotels where robust holiday decor and festive settings make them destinations in their own right. There’s the revolving Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone and the block-long lobby light display at the Roosevelt Hotel. Bar Marilou has a trio of Reveillon-themed drinks, and the Country Club, Commander’s Palace and the Rib Room are taking part as well.

See all the menus and service details at holiday.neworleans.com.

— IAN McNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

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30

3 COURSE INTERVIEW

Angie McGuinness

OF THE

WEEK

Baker

by Will Coviello ANGIE MCGUINNESS MOVED TO NEW ORLEANS FROM PHILADELPHIA to

explore French and Creole pastry cooking. She’s worked at Sucre, Elysian Bar and Sylvain and is currently at Marjie’s Grill. But McGuinness loves pies and started selling them at pop-ups before the pandemic. She’ll be offering many pie flavors at the holiday market at Hotel Peter & Paul from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12. For more information about her Home Slice Pies, check out @homeslicepiesnola on Instagram.

How did you get into pie baking?

ANGIE MCGUINNESS: I have been a pastry cook for many years.

I started out in Philadelphia, where I was born. I started taking night classes during college. I was in school for something else, but at night I would go to this culinary school and take community classes and it was stress relief. I found that no matter what job I had, I always found myself baking for whoever I was working with. I worked as a stage manager, I worked in offices, but I always found myself bringing in baked goods, and it just clicked for me one day that I could have that as my job.

I came down here specifically for pastry. I was interested in ways communities alter the way you cook. If you wanted to do sourdough, you might look to San Francisco. If you want to be a pastry cook and do desserts on the line, you might look to a Michelin restaurant in New York or Chicago.

I loved patisserie, and the French cooking New Orleans had to offer mixed with the Creole cuisine is what I wanted to learn. So, I came down here with two suitcases and lots of cookbooks and got to work.

I started at Salon at Sucre in the French Quarter.

Pies were always my love language. I missed making them (while working in restaurants), so I started doing that for friends on the side. They said, ‘You love making pies and it would be nice if you could share them with everyone,’ so I started doing pop-ups. The first one was in 2019.

What did you do when the pandemic shut down restaurants?

M: I was cooking for Southern Solidarity and New Orleans Mutual Aid Society.

Some of that would be dessert, but less so pie, because we were looking at feeding mass PHOTO amounts of people who didn’t have as much access to food. It was about sourcing what you could and making something delicious.

I was very lucky to have a stable environment at that time to be able to volunteer to cook for people. It’s one of the best feelings to be able to cook and deliver food to people who need it. Now I have a full-time position, so I (volunteer) when I have time.

What are you offering at the market at Hotel Peter & Paul?

M: For the pop-up, I am looking at what’s seasonal and what I can source from local vendors. I am making 16 pies, and there will be nine different flavors. Gauging interest, I may offer some whole pies for pre-sale. I normally sell by the slice. I am a one-person operation, and in order to sell a whole pie, the price for a single pie is a little higher than what I am comfortable with.

They’re all sweet pies. The butternut squash pie is because I can source the squash from several farms right now, and I am not a huge fan of pumpkin pie. It doesn’t have enough flavor. I like to use butternut squash, which I roast for an hour and 45 minutes until it caramelizes on its own, and then I’ll add in mace, nutmeg — those warm spices — so, it’s sort of like a ginger snap butternut squash pie.

I have satsumas and lemons not just in my yard but I have neighbors who bring them to me as well

PROVIDED BY ANGIE MCGUINNES S

because I make jams with them.

The pie has a Meyer lemon curd that is going to be baked into an all-butter shortbread crust with a satsuma meringue.

The chocolate bourbon pecan is a favorite of mine because of the toasted pecans and the little kick of bourbon at the end. I am using the last of my chocolate from Acalli Chocolate Company, which in my opinion had the best chocolate. I bake those in a sweet pastry pie crust. I use Steen’s Cane Syrup too so it’s sweet and tangy and yummy.

I recently did a pop-up for Anna’s bar in the Marigny. They were having a “Twin Peaks” themed menu. I did a menu for them based on a “Twin Peaks” episode. I did a Dr. Jacoby caramelized pina colada pie, which has pineapples I caramelized for an hour, until they’re brown, super sweet and crystalized. Then I make a coconut cream custard and a rum caramel. I will actually have that at the pop-up.

I have two flavors I will be selling as whole pies. One is the eggnog sugar cream pie. I make eggnog and then make it into a custard that I top with mace. The other one is a dark chocolate peppermint crunch pie, which has bits of candy cane and dark chocolate and dark chocolate crunch. If people want a whole pie, those are the only ones I am doing. They’re going to cost $50, because that’s what they cost me.

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C O M P L E T E L I S T I N G S A T W W W. B E S T O F N E W O R L E A N S . C O M Out 2 Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. Unless noted, addresses are for New Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: Email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.

CBD

$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11-$20 $$$ — $20-up

LAKEVIEW

Juan’s Flying Burrito — 515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; juansflyingburrito. com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. Outdoor dining available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$

CARROLLTON Mid City Pizza — 6307 S. Miro St., (504) 509-6224; midcitypizza.com — See MidCity section for restaurant description.

Delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. Delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$

CITYWIDE Breaux Mart — Citywide; breauxmart.com — The deli counter’s changing specials include dishes such as baked catfish and red beans and rice. Lunch and dinner daily. $

FRENCH QUARTER Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — The menu features Gulf seafood in Creole dishes, po-boys char-grilled oysters and more. Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

JEFFERSON/RIVER RIDGE The Rivershack Tavern — 3449 River Road, (504) 834-4938; therivershacktavern.com — This bar and music spot serves burgers, sandwiches and lunch specials. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 733-3803; theospizza.com — Choose from specialty pies, salads, sandwiches and more. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $

The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 2842898; thebluecrabnola.com — The menu includes sandwiches, fried seafood platters, boiled seafood, shrimp and grits and more. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Lakeview Brew Coffee Cafe — 5606 Canal Blvd., (504) 483-7001; lakeviewbrew. com — This casual cafe offers coffee, pastries, desserts, sandwiches and salads. Delivery are available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $

METAIRIE

Andrea’s Restaurant — 3100 N. 19th St., Metairie, (504) 834-8583; andreasrestaurant.com — Chef Andrea Apuzzo’s speckled trout royale is topped with crabmeat and lemon-cream sauce. Delivery available.

Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Sun. $$$ Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop — 2309 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie, (504) 835-2022; gumbostop.com — The seafood platter includes fried catfish, shrimp, oysters, crab balls fries and a side. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Kosher Cajun New York Deli & Grocery — 3519 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 8882010; koshercajun.com — New York-style deli sandwiches feature corned beef, pastrami and more. Lunch Sun.-Thu., dinner Mon.-Thu. $ Martin Wine Cellar — 714 Elmeer Ave., Metairie, (504) 896-7350; martinwine.com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. No reservations. Lunch daily. $$ Nephew’s Ristorante — 4445 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie, (504) 533-9998; nephewsristorante.com — The Creole-Italian menu features dishes like veal, eggplant and chicken parmigiana. Reservations required. Dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; theospizza.com — See Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Short Stop Po-Boys — 119 Transcontinental Drive, Metairie, (504) 885-4572; shortstoppoboysno.com — Fried Louisiana oysters and Gulf shrimp are served on a Leidenheimer loaf. No

MISSED AN ISSUE?

reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $

MID-CITY/TREME

Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream. com — Try house-made gelato, spumoni, Italian ice, cannolis, fig cookies and other treats. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Juan’s Flying Burrito — 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; juansflyingburrito. com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. Outdoor dining available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — Boudreaux pizza is topped with cochon de lait, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic and scallions. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Mid City Pizza — 4400 Banks St., (504) 483-8609; midcitypizza.com — Shrimp remoulade pizza includes spinach, red onion, garlic, basil and green onions on an garlic-olive oil brushed curst. Delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes red beans with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as seafood plates, po-boys, char-grilled oysters and more.

Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; theospizza.com — See Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

NORTHSHORE

The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001; thebluecrabnola.com — See Lakeview section for restaurant description. No reservations. Lunch Fri.-Sat., dinner Wed.-Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — See Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

UPTOWN

Joey K’s — 3001 Magazine St., (504) 8910997; joeyksrestaurant.com — Sauteed trout Tchoupitoulas is served with shrimp, crabmeat, vegetables and potatoes.

Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$

Sparkle This Holiday

Juan’s Flying Burrito — 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 5538 Magazine St., (504) 897-4800; juansflyingburrito.com — The Flying Burrito includes steak, shrimp, chicken, cheddar-jack cheese, black beans, yellow rice, salsa la fonda, guacamole and sour cream. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Martin Wine Cellar — 3827 Baronne St., (504) 894-7444; martinwine.com — Sena salad includes pulled roasted chicken, golden raisins, blue cheese, pecans and field greens tossed with Tabasco pepperjelly vinaigrette. No reservations.

Lunch daily. $$ Red Gravy — 4206 Magazine St., (504) 561-8844; redgravycafe.com — Cannoli pancakes are filled with cannoli cream and topped with chocolate. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; theospizza. com — See Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco — 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco.com — Peruvian lomo saltado features beef tenderloin tips sauteed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, soy sauce and pisco, and is served with fried potatoes and rice. Outdoor seating and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$

WAREHOUSE DISTRICT

Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant. com — Fried oysters and skewered bacon are served with meuniere sauce and toasted French bread. Reservations required. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$$ The Mill — 1051 Annunciation St., (504) 582-9544; themillnola.com — Short ribs are braised with red wine and served with risotto. Reservations accepted. Dinner Thu.-Sat., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$

WEST BANK

Asia — Boomtown Casino & Hotel, 4132 Peters Road, Harvey, (504) 364- 8812; boomtownneworleans.com — The menu of Chinese and Vietnamese dishes includes a Lau Hot Pot with a choice of scallops, snow crab or shrimp. Reservations accepted. Dinner Fri.-Sun. $$ Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves shrimp Mosca, chicken a la grande and baked oysters Mosca. Dinner Wed.Sat. Cash only. $$$

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MUSIC F O R C O M P L E T E M U S I C L I S T I N G S A N D M O R E E V E N T S TA K I N G P L AC E I N T H E N E W O R L E A N S A R E A , V I S I T C A L E N D A R . G A M B I T W E E K LY. C O M To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com Note: Due to COVID-19, events may have certain restrictions or may be postponed; we recommend checking out a venues social media sites or call before you go for the most up to dateinformation.

TUESDAY 7 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Quartet, 7 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — Cast Iron Cactus, 7 pm DOS JEFES — Tom Hook, Wendell Brunious, 8:30 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Fritzel's All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Valley Maker with Julie Odell, 9 pm SANTOS — Cognitive, Summoning the Lich, My Missing Half & Wasted Creation, 8 pm

WEDNESDAY 8 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Trio, 7 pm BOURREE — Crooning Warblers, 6 pm BUFFA'S — Funky Uncle: A Professor Longhair Tribute, 7 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Tin Men, 6 pm; Brother Tyrone & the Roadmasters, 9 pm DOS JEFES — Joe Krown, 8:30 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Desert Oracle Radio Show, 9 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Palm Court Jazz Band, 7:30 pm SANTOS — Swamp Moves with Russell Welch,5 & 8 pm ST. ANNA'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH — Andre Bohren, 7 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Funkin' It Up with Big Sam, 7:30 pm TIPITINA'S — Loyola's Uptown Threauxdown, 8 pm

THURSDAY 9 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Quartet, 8 pm BOUCHERIE — Beth Patterson, 6 pm BOURREE — D. Scott Riggs, 6 pm BUFFA'S — Tom McDermott and Marla Dixon, 7 & 9 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Turbine 6, 7 pm CASA BORREGA — Matt Johnson, 6:30 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Neighbor Lady + Night Palace, 9 pm DOS JEFES — The Mark Coleman Trio, 8:30 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm Doyle Cooper Trio, 2:30 pm; John Saavedra Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Frankie White with Sympathy Wizard and Lyla DiPaul, 9 pm HOUSE OF BLUES — New Orleans Music Showcase holiday reunion, 7 pm LE BON TEMPS ROULE — Soul Rebels, 10 pm NEUTRAL GROUND COFFEE HOUSE — Beacon, 9 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Crescent City Joymakers, 7:30 pm PEACOCK ROOM, HOTEL FONTENOT — Da Lovebirds with Robin Barnes, 8 pm

ROCK 'N' BOWL — Chubby Carrier & Bayou Swamp Band, 8 pm SANTOS — The Rockening 2021 with Tommy Wright III, Liquids, Dummy Dumpster, Fried e/M, Manateees, 3-Brained Robot, 7 pm SIDNEY'S SALOON — The Rockening 2021 with Guitar Lightnin' and R.L. Boyce, 4 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Alexey Marti Quintet, 8 & 10 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Brass-AHolics, 7:30 pm THE STARLIGHT LOUNGE — Jeff Ruby, 10 pm TIPITINA'S — Jeff Rosenstock + Slaughter Beach, Dog + Oceanator, 8 pm

FRIDAY 10 ACE HOTEL NEW ORLEANS — Brass-AHolics, 9 pm BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Trio, 8 pm BOUCHERIE — Gordon Towell Jazz Duo, 6 pm BOURREE — Jelani Akil Bauman, 4 pm; Sasha Salk, 7 pm BUFFA'S — Orphaned in Storyville, 7 & 9 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Katie Cat and Cain Jazz Trio, 6 pm CARROLLTON STATION — Cast Iron Cactus, 6 pm CASA BORREGA — Gauchos del Tango, 6:30 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Jazz Vipers, 5 pm; Dave Jordan & The NIA, 10 pm DOS JEFES — Tom Fitzpatrick & Turning Point, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard "Piano" Scott, 12:30 pm; Lee "Plink" Floyd, 6 pm; Fritzel's All Star Band, 9 pm GASA GASA — Challenger Deep with Color Under Fire and Meeka, 9 pm NEUTRAL GROUND COFFEE HOUSE — Frenchie Moe and guests, 7:30 pm; Buddy Holligram (John Renshaw), 9 pm NEW ORLEANS FRENCH MARKET — Papo Y Son Mandao, 11:30 am PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Kevin Louis & Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band, 7:30 pm REPUBLIC NOLA — Figure, 11 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — After Party, 8:30 pm SANTOS — The Rockening 2021 with The Gories, Viva L'American Death Ray Muisc, Timmy's Organism, Crazy Doberman, True Sons of Thunder, D. Sablu, 7 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet, 8 & 10 pm TIPITINA'S — Jagged Little Pill - An Alanis Morissette Tribute, 10 pm

SATURDAY 11 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Jordan Anderson, 8 pm BOUCHERIE — Andrew Portwood, 6 pm BOURREE — ESP, 1 pm; Samantha Pearl, 4 pm; Felipe K-rrera, 7 pm

BUFFA'S — Freddie Blue & the Friendship Circle Band with Chip Wilson, 7 pm; Freddie Blue & the Friendship Circle Band, 9 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Jamie Vessels Band, 6 pm CASA BORREGA — Los Tremolo Kings, 6:30 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Tuba Skinny, 6 pm; Dirty Dozen Brass Band, 10 pm DOS JEFES — Sunpie & The Louisiana Sunspots, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Joe Kennedy Trio, 2:30 pm; Lee “Plink” Floyd Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band, 9 pm GASA GASA — Ox with Totem and Psydonia, 9 pm GEORGE AND JOYCE WEIN JAZZ & HERITAGE CENTER — Gabrielle Cavassa, 8 pm MONKEY MONKEY — Cast Iron Cactus, 11 am NEUTRAL GROUND COFFEE HOUSE — Louisiana Claude Hitt, 7:30 pm; J.P. Dufour, 9 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Will Smith with Palm Court Jazz Band, 7:30 pm REPUBLIC NOLA — Pink Sweat$, Kirby, Bren Joy, 8 pm; James Hype, 11 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — Junior Lacrosse & Sumtin' Sneaky, 8:30 pm SANTOS — The Rockening 2021 with The Spits, HEAD, Trampoline Team, Die Rotzz, Static Static, New Buck Biloxi, 7 pm SIDNEY'S SALOON — Duane Bartels, Sunday Circus, 9 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Herlin Riley Quartet, 8 & 10 pm ST. ANNA'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH — Viva Trio, 4 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — The Nayo Jones Experience, 7:30 pm TIPITINA'S — Dragon Smoke, 10 pm ZONY MASH BEER PROJECT — Tyron Benoit Band, 7 pm

SUNDAY 12 BOURREE — Felipe Antonio and Kyle Ohlson, 2 pm; ESP, 6 pm BUFFA'S — Some Like It Hot, 11 am & 1 pm; The Barflies of Bohemia,7 & 9 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Dusty Santamaria, Conor Donohue and Toyota Wars, 9 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Palmetto Bug Stompers, 4 pm; Lightnin’ Malcolm + Brady Blade, 9 pm; Treme Brass Band, 9 pm DOS JEFES — Piano Bob, 8 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Joe Kennedy Trio, 2:30 pm; Marla Dixon

PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Brass-A-Holics play the Ace Hotel Friday, Dec. 10 Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Church Girls with Dana Ives and Bad Misters, 9 pm LE BON TEMPS ROULE — Doctor Lo, 8 pm MONKEY HILL BAR — Valerie Sassyfras, 8 am; “Y’ule Love It...It’s Christmas!”, 7 pm NEW ORLEANS FRENCH MARKET — Margie Perez Quartet, 11:30 am PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Mark Braud and Sunday Night Swingsters, 7:30 pm PEACOCK ROOM, HOTEL FONTENOT — Jordan Anderson, 6 pm SANTOS — The Rockening 2021 with DRI, Intent, The Split Lips, Brat, 8 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Christien Bold Quartet, 8 & 10 pm THE BROADSIDE — A Very Loose Cattle Christmas, 6 pm TIPITINA'S — Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, 7 pm ZONY MASH BEER PROJECT — Will & The Foxhounds, 6 pm

MONDAY 13 BUFFA'S — LLeslie Cooper & Harry Mayronne with Doyle Cooper, 7 & 9 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Meryl Zimmerman Presents: A Very Meryl Christmas Album Release Show, 7 pm DOS JEFES — John Fohl, 8:30 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Twisty River Band, 8 pm ST. LOUIS CATHEDRAL — Original Tuxedo Jazz Band, 6 pm

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S TA G E

Desert Tracks

by Jake Clapp

A COYOTE YIP AND HOWL AND THE SOFT CRUNCH OF GRAVEL

under feet herald each new episode of “Desert Oracle Radio.” And as creator and host Ken Layne quietly announces, “Night has fallen over the desert” underscored by a moody soundscape, it’s easy to picture the crackling campfire barely holding back the e ncroaching darkness.

There are eerie mysteries out there in the wilderness.

For a half-hour each week or so, Layne unravels dark tales and folklore of the American Southwest, broadcasting from the small community radio station KCDZ in Joshua Tree, California, and distributing “Desert Oracle Radio” as a podcast. The show is an outgrowth of a series of pocket-sized “field guides” Layne began publishing in 2015, and “Desert Oracle Radio” episodes have covered topics from odd hiking deaths and strange desert creatures to UFO sightings, conspiracy theories and the truly unexplainable. Woven throughout is a respect for the desert’s complexity and its spiritual draw — there is a clear need to preserve the land.

“Desert Oracle Radio” is focused on the American Southwest, particularly in Layne’s home in the Mojave Desert, but the stories he tells feel universal and can grip anyone interested in the inexplicable.

“A lot of these stories, you could connect with the stuff even if you haven’t been to the specific places,” Layne says from his car on the road to Austin, Texas. “There are echoes of these situations and stories pretty much anywhere, whether that be the swamp or the mountains or the pine forest — any place outside of busy 24-hour gas stations.”

Layne’s small tour of “Desert Oracle Radio” live shows hits New Orleans on Wednesday, Dec. 8, for an episode at Gasa Gasa. The show starts at 9 p.m., and tickets are $20.

The writer and radio host was born in the Lower 9th Ward and hasn’t yet hosted a show here. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona, when he was in middle school and became fascinated with landscapes of the Southwest. Still, Layne says, growing up in New Orleans “has a lot of blame for my lifelong interests.”

“My relatives were all spooky people. Everybody had ghosts and death candles,” Layne says. “They’re Cajun and Irish, those were the two

PROVIDED PHOTO BY L AUREN WHITE

Ken Layne will host a live episode of ‘Desert Oracle Radio’ at Gasa Gasa on Wednesday, Dec. 8. sides. They all moved to the city, I think during the Depression, and so you got used to that [eerie] stuff.”

After a career as a journalist — as a political reporter, Gawker correspondent and one-time owner of Wonkette — Layne left the hectic online media landscape for the desert. He filled the quarterly print edition of the “Desert Oracle” with stories about desert flora and fauna, legends, paranormal activity and cryptids, and in 2017, he launched “Desert Oracle Radio.”

Stations around the country have picked up the show, and the podcast has developed a cult following, prompting Layne to host live shows around the Southwest. This tour also takes him to Austin, Dallas, Memphis and Norman, Oklahoma.

Layne changes up the live show every night, combining new and old stories and telling them over an atmospheric soundscape, similar to his radio show. He places a “haunted, old telephone” connected to the sound system near the stage, and part of the show is reserved for a “call-in” segment, where audience members can share their strange stories.

“Almost every time people have [spoken] on the shows, afterwards, if I talk to them, they’ll say, ‘You know, I’d kind of forgotten about this experience, and when you asked about it, it sort of came back to me,’” Layne says. “Since we don’t have a neat place to put it in our world, it often just kind of gets put back into the subconscious and we forget about it.”

Check out “Desert Oracle Radio” at desertoracle.com, and more information about the Dec. 8 show is at facebook.com/gasagasaonfreret.

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released in May 2020, rails against the political machine, consumerism and society’s increasing reliance on our digital lives — and was recorded before the pandemic really threw us into a loop. Rosenstock re-recorded the record as a ska album and released “Ska Dream” in April of this year. New Orleans ska band Bad Operation, Oceanator and Slaughter Beach, Dog also perform in a show starting at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9, at Tipitina’s.

Tickets are $20 at tipitinas.com.

Thunder Band at Sidney’s Saloon at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9, as part of the Rockening festival, and he performs at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10.

‘The Thanksgiving Play’

Holiday Makers Market

IN LARISSA FASTHORSE’S SATIRICAL DRAMA, four woke white people

try to create a politically correct Thanksgiving play to be performed in schools. Southern Rep Theatre gives the one-act show its regional premiere at Loyola University New Orleans’ Monroe Hall in its first live-audience production since the pandemic shutdowns (See “State of the Stage, p. 15). The official opening night is Friday, Dec. 10, but previews start Wednesday, Dec. 8, and shows run at 7:30 p.m. through Sunday, Dec. 12, with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee as well. The show runs through Dec. 19. Tickets are $10-$30 at southernrep.com.

The Rockening

THIS THREE-DAY FESTIVAL OF GARAGE ROCK, PUNK, BLUES AND LO-FI ACTS

from across the country mainly takes place at Santos Bar and Poor Boys on Dec. 9-11. The festival lineup includes Michigan punk outfit The Spits, garage rockers The Gories and Viva L’American Death Ray, British punk band Coca Cola Haters, Seattle’s HEAD, Memphis’ True Sons of Thunder and many more. Check out facebook.com/rockening2021 for details.

Running of the Santas

COSTUMED REVELERS MAKE THE SHORT TREK THROUGH THE WAREHOUSE DISTRICT from the

South Pole, at Manning’s, to the North Pole, Generations Hall, where there’s music by Category 6, a costume contest and more on Saturday, Dec. 11. Doors open at Manning’s at 2 p.m. and the run begins at 6 p.m. Visit runningofthesantas.com for tickets and information.

R.L. Boyce

R.L. BOYCE HAILS FROM THE MISSISSIPPI BLUES COUNTRY OF R.L. BURNSIDE and plays in the Hill

Country blues style. He’s released several albums in recent years on Waxploitation Records. Boyce is joined by Guitar Lightin’ Lee & His

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‘The Nutcracker’

NEW ORLEANS BALLET THEATRE PRESENTS THE CLASSIC BALLET

with Tchaikovsky’s score at the Orpheum Theater. There are performances at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, Dec. 11-19. Visit neworleansballettheatre.com for tickets.

THE SOUTHERN FOOD & BEVERAGE MUSEUM hosts a market with

art, food, clothes and more.

Vendors include Laozi Ice Cream, Gourmand New Orleans, Good Karma Sweets, Happy Raptor Distilling and more, and there is a bar. Museum admission is free for the day, and the market is from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11.

Visit natfab.org for details.

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THE BURLESQUE TROUPE REVISITS ITS LONGTIME HOME ON TOULOUSE STREET for a holiday show cele-

brating things naughty and nice.

There are dancers, aerialists, holiday songs and more.

Shows are at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Toulouse Theatre. Tickets are $20-$50 at toulousetheatre.com.

Handel’s ‘Messiah’

STEVEN EDWARDS CONDUCTS SYMPHONY CHORUS NEW ORLEANS’

presentation of Handel’s “Messiah” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8, at St. Mary’s Assumption Church. Tickets are $25 at symphonychorus.org.

‘Swamp Ass 2: Get Back in Mah Swamp’

THE ‘SHREK’-THEMED BURLESQUE SHOW AT BAR REDUX sold out for

its October debut, which featured performances from the Fairy Godmother singing “Hero” to a Dragon breathing fire. See Dragon, Puss in Boots, Donkey and more at the second show at 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11.

For more information, visit facebook.com/barredux.

Dragon Smoke

DRAGON SMOKE, THE NEW ORLEANS SUPERGROUP OF IVAN NEVILLE,

Eric Lindell and Galactic members Stanton Moore and Rob Mercurio, gets into a funk groove at Tipitina’s at 10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11. Tickets are $25 at tipitinas.com.

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Have your Cake and drink it too

FILM

It’s Raining Irma Thomas Documentaries

by Will Coviello

IN THE OPENING MINUTES OF THE RECENTLY DEBUTED WLAE DOCUMENTARY, “Irma

sidewalksidespirits.com

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Thomas: The Soul Queen of New Orleans — A Concert Documentary Film,” New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival producer Quint Davis calls Thomas New Orleans’ Otis Redding.

With her remarkable voice and repertoire of rhythm and blues, soul and gospel, Thomas is both a singer of that stature and a standard bearer for New Orleans music.

The documentary bears that out with plenty of songs, played in their entirety, and it will air again on WLAE at 10 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8, and 11 p.m. Dec. 24.

Produced by Jim Dotson, Ron Yager and others, the film is built around a performance filmed at Generations Hall in November 2020. Thomas sings tunes from throughout her career, including her first single, “Don’t Mess With My Man,” “Wish Someone Would Care” and “Love Don’t Change,” and there are clips from other performances.

The film includes a short biography, from her birth in Ponchatoula to growing up in New Orleans.

Thomas was precociously talented, auditioning for Specialty Records at age 13. She also had her first child at a young age, but that didn’t keep her offstage. Marcia Ball recounts being a teenager herself and going to a concert at the Municipal Auditorium, where she was amazed by Thomas’ voice, as well as the sight of a woman performing while far into a pregnancy.

As a teen, Thomas lost a couple of jobs for singing at work. But one of those gigs served as an introduction to bandleader Tommy Ridgley. The money wasn’t good, but she sang with his band, and her first radio hit came very quickly with “Don’t Mess With My Man.” The documentary gives a quick overview of some of her songs on the singles charts in the 1960s, but it’s more about the impact of her voice.

Of course, the film recounts the working relationship Thomas shared with Allen Toussaint, who wrote many songs for her. There’s footage of them at a 2013 tribute to Toussaint performing “Ruler of My Heart” and “It’s Raining.”

PROVIDED PHOTO BY WL AE

There’s commentary from an array of familiar musicians and music industry people, including Troy Andrews and Davis. Ball also is onscreen often, and the documentary is overly dependent on a couple of interviewees to tell her story.

The film draws on a wealth of still photos spanning her career, and there’s also file footage from Jazz Fest performances, including a 2009 performance of her early release, “Breakaway,” the up-tempo B-side to “Wish Someone Would Care.”

This is the second recent documentary about Thomas to premiere on New Orleans public television.

Michael Murphy drew heavily on footage he filmed at Jazz Fest for his film, “Irma: My Life in Music,” which premiered on WYES. Murphy included recent interview clips of Thomas, including discussion of getting her start and touring during the end of segregation. The WLAE documentary focuses instead on family matters, such as Thomas having three children by the age of 19, and her emotional performance in Jazz Fest’s Gospel Tent the year her mother died.

The film notes the broader recognition Thomas received in winning her first Grammy Award in 2007. But after that, the film turns its attention to her presence in New Orleans. Her annual Mother’s Day shows at the Audubon Zoo are beloved by locals, but don’t draw the crowds of Jazz Fest sets.

Though the documentary is only an hour, it rounds up some stray ideas in what seems like filler before giving Thomas the last word in a song.

The strength of the documentary lies in the 2020 recording session for WLAE, though the other concert footage is also well chosen. It’s easy to see why New Orleans can’t get enough of Irma Thomas.

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