gift of voices raised in song

Savannah Repertory Theatre has a new performance space on Broughton Street: 

the former Acura car dealership.

The owner of the place is allowing them usage for the price of its property taxes -

how magnanimous of them!

Such a boon for this troupe, and others, to have this highly visible and very accessible downtown location to attract tourist trade as well as locals!

Tonight, to introduce their loyal fans and supporters to this beautiful area, they gifted members - like me! - with two free tickets to "The Next Five Years: A Celebration on Broughton Street".

Carolyn was there as my "plus 1", naturally.

I knew she would love the music and I wanted to share this event with someone who has been so caring of me these last few weeks.

That's Ryan McCurdy on the stage, welcoming us there, telling of the grand plans for the official opening to theatrical works next year, encouraging us to be part of those plans by contributing funds for the renovation and conversion of the rooms into theatre sections.

Such big, wonderful plans, for them and for Savannah's patrons of the arts!

And there were so many familiar faces in the audience!

Sure, all were masked, but that didn't hide the identities of these folk!

JinHi and Mark Rand! Justin and Val Kent! Sue Gorecki! Erin from the Lucas! 
And, of course, Jenn Bishop and her talented brother, Eric, of SavRepTh!

Both greeted me with warm and lengthy hugs the moment they saw me!

Actually, hugs flowed like wine, warming the spirit and the heart, quenching the thirst of time spent too far from these people!

And the music....

wow!

How wonderful to hear music from singers right there in front of me, not distanced by a glass screen and a Zoom audio!

How wonderful to hear the reactions of those right there around me to the emotions in the music, bringing forth feelings best expressed in the company of friends!

How wonderful to be part of an audience again!

And, as Ryan told me, how wonderful, as a performer, to have real people, with real faces right there in front of him responding to his voice, to perform with other artists right there in front of him...

it had been fourteen months since he had that.

At least I had the fall performance by The Players By The Sea and the Christmas performance from the Savannah Childrens Theatre to keep me from feeling so very deprived.

Soon...

sooner, rather than later, I hope...

I will again be able to watch real theatre, on a real stage, with a real audience.

I am so ready to wake from this pandemic-imposed dream.

Many thanks to those on stage tonight...

many thanks to those in the audience tonight...

and many thanks to Carolyn for sharing the joy with me.

i thank You, God.

just for expanding his horizons

I woke to an alarm today, as I have done on Tuesdays for almost a year now.

That's because this is the day that Mayor Van Johnson gives his televised update to we citizens of Savannah about our progress during this time of pandemic.

It's usually at least thirty minutes in length, with questions from the media after.

Today, he didn't do that.

Not any of it.

I have no idea why, but it didn't happen.

So, instead, I pulled up a tv show I haven't watched for a while: "Beat Shazam".

That provides me a bit of entertainment and music, a winning combination, right?

Absolutely!

And I got that in spades today!

(Give it a minute and you'll know why I  went and fetched that definition.

I don't want anyone thinking I''m being racist with my choice of words.

Go ahead, look up the phrase, I'll wait.

*

*

*

Just a reference to a centuries-old game of cards, naught else.

Okay, forward we go!)

So... where was I?

Oh, yes, watching Jamie Lee Fox and his daughter, Corinne, this morning.

Episode 1 of Season 3 featured three pairs of teachers vying for the money.

One of the pairs, two brothers, did poorly the first round, scoring no money.

Then, for the second round, in which they were able to choose the song categories (they opted for 80's rather than 2010's), they continued to fare poorly...

until the final two songs, which they answered correctly...

preventing them from being dismissed and allowing them to continue playing.

They had gone from zero dollars to $9,000, putting them in second place.

For the next round, which was Corinne's choice, the artist was Shania Twain.

Let me allow that to sink in a moment while you recognize who that is.

Got it?

White woman, Canadian, the Queen of Country Pop.

Honestly, I know, possibly four of her songs, primarily because my husband was working at "KIX 96 and a half" during our first few years of marriage in the 1990's.

Two of those tunes I knew showed up in the game; I didn't know the other three songs that showed up at all.

I mean, I'd never even heard them and they were supposed to have been some of her top hits, as only those are used for the game.

The contestants - the two brothers versus a pair of female friends - had to correctly guess the title of the six songs and score the most money in order to continue to play for the truly big bucks in the final round.

"That Don't Impress Me Much" was one of the two I knew and the fourth one in the set...

and the one that cinched their lead.

After the last one in this set, Aaron and Martin, two African-American men, had $64,000 and had won the chance to play, versus the machine, for a million dollars.

Wow, what a Cinderella story, right?

From absolutely zero in the first round to almost losing out on the second round and missing the Motown song, then knowing all that country music that few would regard as culturally relevant for them and going to the final round - wow!

But it wasn't the two of them that knew the songs...

oh, no, Aaron didn't have a clue and was openly surprised that his brother knew them.

Seriously.

He was in open-mouthed surprise by the third Shania song.

Even the two white women they were playing against were in awe.

But Martin had it down pat.

I was thrilled!

I always am when people venture outside their comfort zone and open their minds.

That's what I do, trying out new ideas and concepts from different cultures, embracing the activities in the Savannah Black Heritage Festival, in the Jewish Film Festival, in the Clergy Talks by Zoom on Wednesdays, in the Savannah Music Festival, in the Telluride MountainFilm on Tour, in the Savannah Jazz Festival, in the Savannah VOICE Festival - most of which is free, by the way, so there really is no good reason to not attend.

Seriously.

Some folks may think I'm "just going to a lot of movies", but that isn't how I regard it.

Movies are the fastest way to 'read' a story about another person, another country, another culture, another way of thinking.

I've been a bookworm since I was young, eagerly reading of other's adventures, and I credit books with opening the door to travel, with the military, and on my own afterward.

I know so many who do not venture outside their circles, staying around only those who look like them and think like them.

How wonderful to watch this show this morning and see another adventurer!

And what were Martin's plans with the money?

His daughter was going to college to become an immunologist and he wanted to be able to help her with that so she wouldn't have loans to repay.

Wow.

So, how did their story end?

The two brothers won the million dollars, that's how it ended...

with Martin answering all the questions, correctly naming all six songs before the computer could.

The first was Taylor Swift's "22", a song I have never heard.

The second was an oldies tune that I did know: "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys.

Third was a pop-rock hit, "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train, a song I love!

The category for the fourth song had him worried, but Martin recognized Harry Chapin's "Cat's In The Cradle" before I did, and, more importantly, before the machine did, too.

The penultimate song was rhythm & blues and one I didn't know: "Nobody Knows", from the Tony Rich Project in 1996.

I suppose I might have been too busy trying to finish my doctoral dissertation...

but Martin knew it.

He knew it justthatfast, too, as he had known all of these songs.

His knowledge had brought them $189,000 and to the point of no return -

hmm, I wonder if he might recognize the pun-titled song by Kansas? -

(I'm guessing he would) -

meaning, they would need to decide if they wanted to opt to leave the game and to keep the money amassed, or risk losing half of it if they continued to play.

That final song category was "90's".

After the commercial break, Aaron had convinced Martin they should continue.

Aaron's wife had been in a recent car wreck and had not worked for some time.

Aaron told the audience that their mother had always told them to never give up...

so they kept playing, gambling that the adventurous brother would know the song.

And he did!

So did I, incredibly.

The Gin Blossoms' "Found Out About You" was, literally, the million-dollar tune for these two Pennsylvania teachers.

Wow.

He had a moment of uncertainly after, wondering if it should be "I Found Out About You",

as he said in an aside to his brother, then he had shaken his head -

no, he'd said it right the first time.

And he had.

Wow.

Good for Martin!

Being adventurous truly paid off for him, literally and figuratively.

I hope his daughter is just like him...

and I hope his brother will try to follow his lead.

What a wonderful way to start my day!

i thank You, God!

two plays in as many days!

Before you get too excited, you should bear in mind that neither was live.

"Oh, that's too bad. It seems like forever since that there was anything live in the theatrical world."

Well, hold on, g'friend. You had "A Charlie Brown Christmas" in December from the SavChTh, and they recently did "Elephant And Piggie's We Are In A Play". Remember? Danielle was in that remake. You saw it several years ago and liked it.

"Oh, yes, that was fun!"

That's right. And just last month, the folks at SavStageCo gave you a live one, too, "Alice In Wonderland", streaming in from fb.

"Yes, but that 'venue' sucks long green ones. I always get dropped audio and missed video segments there. Even with the Odd Lot shows on fb, I'd have to leave the page and log back in, missing part of the comedy. Ack."

Heard. I've tried to make sure folks know that 'venue' is problematic. YouTube is much smoother for streaming video.

"For real. I never have to leave the church service and log back in on that site. "

That's correct... but we seem to have wandered off topic. We were talking of live theatre and I was trying to remind you of what you've seen of that form of entertainment since the pandemic took over. As you will recall, the SSU Players By The Sea gave you "Oedipus" in the fall. That was totally live!

"It was very well done, too! I hope they will bring more live theatre soon."

Well, I have good news! They did!!! Yesterday, as part of the SBHF32. They put one what is termed a Reader's Theatre, in which everyone has the script before them and are reading it aloud. You know, much like you do when you're reading a book to a child - they liven it up, but each person only reads their part, not all of them.

"Oh, but it's more fun to read for all of the characters! LOL!"

Yes, I'm sure it is, dear, for both you and the children you're reading to, but that's not how it was done for this production. You see, the actors were actually doing a play, one called "Color Struck", written by Zora Neale Hurston when she was about 34 years old. I think you would have liked her. Here's a quote from a letter she wrote. "I have the nerve to walk my own way, however hard, in my search for reality, rather than climb upon the rattling wagon of wishful illusions."

"Good for her! And that was back in the 1920's? Yes, I think I would have liked to meet her. She sounds like she was a woman like me, a woman like Nichelle Nichols, a woman who did not see her options as limited by gender or race."

That's my take, too. This play tackles the subject of racism within the black community. That's actually what the title refers to: the mistaken belief that the color of one's skin limits what one is allowed to do and to have.

"Wow, that's a bit of a different tack, isn't it? To look at how folks of color can have prejudice views toward other folks of color, just because of skin tone?"

I thought it a very admirable tack. Most groups only look outside their own ethnicity when they talk of racial bias. I found it refreshing to have this glance within a single ethnic group.

"Is this the play? I didn't expect them to be in costume for a reader's theatre."

I had not either, but I'm sure the actors jumped at the chance to dress up. The play is set two time periods, with this first one in 1904. These folks are all traveling by train to a cake walk where John and Emma - the couple in the red coat and blue dress - are to compete. The others in the scene, from the left, are Ada, Effie, and Dinkey. Off to the far right is a woman with a typewriter, representing the author, and narrating the expository.

"How marvelous! Did you get to see them dance?"

Well, no, because Emma refused to enter the contest, thinking that John preferred Effie's light color to her dark color. Even though he tried to convince her, Emma remained color struck and did not budge from her erroneous belief. Eventually, she and John parted ways, though he would continue to love her.

"And is that romantic conjecture on your part?"

No, that is what becomes obvious in Act Two, which is set 20 years later. John, now a widower, has tracked her down, hoping for a joyful reunion. He finds her alone, tending to her very ill daughter, a mulatto daughter born to her out of wedlock. John still wants to marry Emma, but when she finds him giving water to the dying daughter, all Emma sees is John choosing a light skin over her dark skin. John leaves after her tirade and the daughter dies, making Emma all alone now.

"Oh, my, how very sad. Even though Emma brought all that heartache onto herself, it's still very sad. Plus, I thought you said this was a 'live' play."

Nope, I did not say that. In fact, I had cautioned you against thinking that.

"What?! Wait just a minute... oh. Yes, you did alert me, at the very start. Good thing you wrote it down as proof."

Hahaha! Yes, dear. And you just gave me proof positive that people hear what they want to hear and read what they want to read, regardless of the words actually in place.

"Yeah, yeah. You also said there were TWO plays. So, do tell, please."

You betcha. By the way, the first play was roughly an hour long. Feel free to mosey on over to the site and watch it. It's free! Well, not really, as the City of Savannah, as well as Savannah State University, footed the bill for it. This second play, however, is not free, nor is it funded by anyone, but the cost of admission is just $20. Contact SavRepTh and get set up with them.

"So, this is not part of the Savannah Black Heritage Festival?"

No, it is not, though it is certainly appropriate for winter viewing. It reminded me strongly of "Land", which I saw just last weekend. As in that movie, grief figures prominently in "Brilliant Traces". Of course, we don't know that right away. What we do know is this: a stranger in a dirty wedding gown has burst into a man's cabin during a terrible snowstorm, awakening him not only by her action but her nonstop talking. After downing several shots of whiskey, she passes out and the man emerges from where he has been silently standing since her arrival.

"Oh, my! With nary a greeting or anything?"

He didn't even have an opening to speak until she passed out. Then, he did the right thing: made sure she was alive, transferred her to the one bed, cleaned her up, covered her with blankets, and waited for her to wake up. That she didn't do for two days. TWO DAYS. Can you imagine having a stranger in your house for two days and knowing next to nothing about them?

"Well, he knew she was a runaway bride who had been walking in the snow in satin slippers. She could well have been a mental patient."

Exactly. As I said, next to nothing. So, she finally wakes up and they start this awkward conversation, with her knowing she has imposed and him trying to be gracious about it, sharing names, struggling for bits of real information. And we find out that she has driven from Arizona, living on candy and cola, not even stopping for the night anywhere, probably not wanting to think of the groom she left at the altar and aware that a stop would bring him to mind and her actions into question. She might well have continued driving if her car had not died in the snow. She didn't even know she was in Alaska!

"I see. So, she could very well be mental."

In a way, she was. Her father had failed to recognize her at the wedding, just as he was to escort her down the aisle, and she was overcome with the grief of having been erased from his diseased memory. As for why the man was living alone in a remote cabin, well grief was playing a role in that, too.

"I am so blessed to not have dementia or Alzheimer's in my family. I have several friends who have had parents with the diseases and the effect on them is heartbreaking."

Yes. That's all I'm going to say about this one, as I don't want to give away all of the play. What I appreciated was that this was a husband and wife in real life, who took on Cindy Lou Johnson's play and had it staged in their garage. I don't know how long it took to get it all done, but considering that they are both professors at a local university, with all the extra effort that entails during a pandemic, they must have tremendous grace. I certainly hope to see them in future works here in town, hopefully in person.

"Well, thanks for introducing them to me, and for telling me of this theatrical work still being done locally. Kudos to all involved in both plays!"

first offering from savRepTh

I very nearly had abstained from buying the 20/21 season membership.

It was all going to be virtual - i.e., online - and it sounded like it was all going to be talking heads in zoom images.

As I told Ryan of Savannah Repertory Theatre, I get more than enough of that.

He assured me that was not to be the case, that only the first event would be of that format... so, wanting to help keep this troupe solvent, I bought in.

 

Tonight I 'attended' the first show, expecting something along the lines of "Inside The Actors Studio".

That's basically what I got, with Ryan McCurdy asking questions of the two entertainers.

"Perfect For You: An Evening With Alice Ripley and J. Robert Spencer" held some attraction for me as the two had acted together in "Next To Normal", a very intense musical that the Armstrong Masquers had put on a few years ago.

The two sang a few songs from that musical as well as from the first one they'd performed in together, "Side Show".

All nice enough, and led by thoughtful questions from Ryan, but not entertaining.

That is, not entertaining except for the bits when Bobby Spencer took 'center' stage, as he came prepared to engage the audience with more than just words.

He had props!

Programs from past plays, a poster with all of the albums he's made, even a Santa hat for "Waiting On Christmas", one of his original songs.

Gotta give him props for all that!

Plus, I applaud his choice of backdrop.

Colorful images of musical notes and a huge heart -

yeah, I'd say that certainly captured his persona.

I just may check out his albums, too.

As for SavRepTh, I'll be looking forward to their next 'show', and hoping for better.