A COLLECTION OF MEMPHIS NEWS, UPDATES AND TALKING POINTS
Rebirth of Graceland Too — The CA’s John Beifuss writes of the rebirth of Graceland Too, one of the region’s strangest roadside attractions that once boasted an enormous cult following. The Holly Springs home of the late Paul MacLeod was formerly a mandatory 2 a.m. drunk stop on the Ole Miss fraternity and sorority rush circuit. For a little more background on its previous incarnation, check out this beautifully written tale by a certain NPR correspondent in 2014.
Gifts of the Mage — One of Memphis’ most incongruous museums (as it has nothing to do with music, Black history, civil rights, etc.) is a place called the Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art on South Main Street. If you’ve been, you probably asked the same question I did: why are these two things together? What they have in common is the Belz family, owners of the Peabody Hotel. Recently, patriarch Jack Belz, 96, invited the Brooks to pick from the collection as a gift to the new Downtown museum, which will have a wing named in Belz’s honor. According to Jane Roberts’ reporting in the DM, Belz will part with a thousand works of art and be none the poorer: he has 10,000 more objects in his manse. (Still waiting for my invitation to see the stash, Jack!) But the article does leave some unanswered questions about the future of Mr. Belz’ lifelong passion. Will it remain on South Main or will we eventually be visiting Belz wings in museums across the country?
Playwright Ascending — Keep an eye on your playbills this season for the name Keegon Schuett. The playwright’s work will be appearing in Emerald Theatre’s one-act play festival next month and on the Quark Theatre season in June. But the Memphis native, who now lives in Chicago, has also been honored with the 2024 Yale Drama Series Prize, which comes with a $10,000 check and publication by Yale University Press. Schuett attributes writing workshops with Voices of the South as the inspiration for their play titled “this dry spell,” described as a “simple yet deeply poetic love story” by playwright and actor Jeremy O. Harris, who selected their work from more than 2,000 entries. Schuett is also a graduate of Collierville High. ✒ C.B.
Speaking of Voices of the South — Free Sister Myotis, y’all!
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