A COLLECTION OF MMEEPHIIS NEWS, UPDATES & TALKING POINTS
City of Shows — August was a great opening act for the 2024-25 season: Playhouse (“Waitress”), Theatre Memphis (“Grease”), Hattiloo (“Coconut Cake”), TheatreWorks (No! No en Mi Casa no!”), Germantown Community Theatre (“Ride the Cyclone”). Snaps to the Daily Memphian’s Alys Drake for this preview of several local productions.
As to the latter show: we were soooo looking forward to catching GTC’s musical opener. Alas, a cyclone of health issues brought the curtain down on what many have called a very worthy production.
Still running: “Grease,” “Waitress” and “Coconut Cake.” Though local reviews are in short supply, here’s one of Playhouse’s “Waitress.” Critic Kevin Shaw opines that the non-traditional Broadway musical “packs a powerful and emotional punch.”
Mark your calendars for the next big theater drop day: Sept. 13 (see below for openings).
Special thanks to our AI graphics intern for this week’s homage to local theater. We will be working with them throughout the season to spell the city’s name correctly.
Lessons from the Ostranders — The biggest winner of of the annual theater awards on Monday was, as always, Memphis’s theater community. So much love. Thanks to some good media exposure this year, it was worth the Covid.
“Seeing everybody all at the same time,” was what the great Jim Ostrander said was the real reward of a local awards ceremony back in 2001, when his name was affixed to the honors shortly before cancer took his life. May the name of this stalwart local actor (“Always a Watson, Never a Holmes,” he used to joke of his more than 300 stage credits) remain a blessing to the winners.
Mike Detroit — “Michael” as he is formally known in the media — struck a similar note of togetherness in his Eugart Yerian Award acceptance speech. It’s unique, he said, that Memphis has such a collaborative arts community. I think we can agree with this convivial observation: “The arts are a part of every answer to the challenges that we face in our community. It doesn’t solve everything, but it does help us get to the right answer.” Congrats, Michael!
Memphis Monopoly — Hasbro announced it is making a Memphis version of its board game Monopoly and is seeking suggestions on what the properties should be named. Y’all, this is your chance to lobby for three adjacent “theater” properties. But which ones? Orpheum, Playhouse, Theater Memphis? The email address is at the bottom of the story. Or here if you have the CA.
Theater Openings in September
Sept. 6-8, 7th Annual 10 Minute Play Festival // Playwrights from across the country submitted plays to the annual competition. The theme: “Remember When.” Emerald Theatre Company at TheatreWorks on the Square / $20 / etcmemphistheater.com
Sept. 13-Oct. 6, “What the Constitution Means to Me” // Two years into the Trump presidency, playwright Heidi Schreck debuted this astute thinkpiece about her relationship with the U.S. Constitution. She explores how it shaped her life as a 15-year-old on the high school debate team, and how she relates to it today as a woman in America. As election day nears, Americans could once again elect a man accused of rape, or the first woman president. Her refresher course on this country’s founding legal document is once again timely. Also timely, a New York Times critic asks if the Constitution is dangerous to democracy. Award-winning actor Kim Justis stars in this production at Circuit Playhouse // $25 // playhouseonthesquare.org
Sept. 13-22, “Intimate Cruelty” // Actor Tamiko Rhodes stars as an advertising executive whose life spirals into chaos due to the deceit of those she holds dear–her own family. Actors Renaissance Theatre at TheatreWorks on the Square // $25 // therenaissancetheatre.com
Sept. 13-29, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” // John Maness, veteran of many Shakespeare plays, directs the Bard’s most magical of tales. Theatre Memphis’ Next Stage // $25 // theatrememphis.org
Sept. 13-Oct. 6, “Paradise Blue” // A jazz trumpeter contemplates selling his nightclub in Detroit’s Blackbottom neighborhood in this musically infused drama. Hattiloo Theatre // $35 // Hattiloo.org
Sept. 17-22, “MJ” // This Broadway tour tells the story of Michael Jackson, with choreography by Tony Winner Christopher Wheeldon and a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage. Orpheum Theatre // $39-$189 // orpheum-memphis.com
Sept. 20-29, “Patterns” // A world-premiere play about a retired police detective forming a bond with a teenage waitress as they analyze evidence from a string of unsolved murders. Germantown Community Theatre // $16-$26 // gtccomeplay.org
Sept. 20-Oct. 6, “Through the Looking-Screen” // Quark Theatre debuts its first ever operetta and an American premiere work. In this one-woman show, Annabel (Jacquelene Cooper) tries to navigate life in a world increasingly lived through technology. Eileen Kuo music directs. Quark Theatre at TheatreSouth (in the First Congo Basement) // $20 // quarktheatre.com