Sergiu with the Symphony

It was hopping around the River Center on Saturday night. The Springer had the Columbus Ballet on the main stage and a children's production in Foley Hall. The River Center had the Symphony and there was something in the Rankin that I wasn't invited to. There were the usual crowds on Broad Street and First Presbyterian had a huge formal wedding.

All of the activity may have contributed to the sparse crowd at the Symphony or it may have been the threat of rain. Still, having seen crowds thin out at events around town and seeing what was the smallest turn out for the Symphony cannot help but be worrisome.

Musicians are like athletes in that they do their best when the crowd is behind them and that may have been why the symphony seemed a little off. Unlike other reviewers, I'll admit that I heard nothing but compliments from other audience members but that wasn't what I heard. The first piece was Haydn's Symphony No. 22 in E-Flat Major and Del Gobbo had mustered 20 violins across the front of the stage. In the first movement, the violins are supposed to be subservient to the horns but it seemed the reverse to me and the whole piece seemed flat, mechanical, and passionless.

One of the violinists wasn't even wearing a tie and another one dropped his shoulder rest on the floor in front of God and everyone just as the soloist was wrapping up a section. After the intermission, the orchestra took up Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 Op, 56 and, like a horse headed for home, seemed to find its energy and fullness in the last two movements.

Columbus State University's Violin Chair, Sergiu Schwartz was the featured performer. Given his impressive resume which truly recognizes him as one of the "best violists of this generation", one was doubly perplexed at the number of people who turned out. Perhaps he's a "prophet in his own town". His performance was the talk of the audience during intermission and showed great technical skill and superb technique.

Art Lectures

I've attended two really terrific lectures on art in the last few days.

The CSU Friends of Art held a reception and lecture by Bo Bartlett on Friday. He was quite engaging and showed slides of a number of his pieces and the paintings that influenced them. Sometimes the influence was obvious and sometimes it seemed a stretch but it was helpful to understand where he's coming from with some of the more obscure references. One painting was of a group of folks cutting a man out of a whale. In fact it was a reference to Jonah and Bartlett told the whole story of Jonah in excruciating detail to get to a point explaining his version.

I've opined here before that he was influenced by Rockwell and Wyeth and he verified that. He, in fact, spent five years with Andrew Wyeth doing a film about him and so became very close to him and his mistress. When he talked about Wyeth's passing, he broke up.

CSU's new art display space will have a number of his pieces on loan and that alone should vault them into the top of museums in the state.

On Tuesday night, I heard a lecture by Olga Stone on Orthodox icon art delivered in Columbus' Greek Orthodox Church. The church interior is covered, walls and ceilings, with icons. Ms Stone, a native of Russia who now lives in the UK, covered Christian and Orthodox history as well as some art that has sprung from icons. The church icons were done by a Romanian artist who lived there for a year. I was very much impressed by his artistry, but Ms Stone pointed out that all Orthodox icons are pretty much the same depiction. St. Nicholas, for instance, is always shown with two crosses and a bible on his breast. Christ and Mary always have the same colors. So the Romanian artist pretty much copied the work in the church but you shouldn't let that put you off. It's really something to see and you can see it on Sundays when they worship at 10 am.

Murder, Take Two

Agatha's Mystery Theater in Atlanta has been around for maybe 30 years and I've never darkened their door. I wasn't against it, I just didn't see it as theater or entertainment that I was interested in.

I wouldn't have gone to Sherlock's Mystery Dinner Theater if I hadn't felt compelled to cover all the professional theaters in town. And I would have missed an entertaining night. The current show, "Murder, Take Two" is an original production written by the theater's artistic directors, Kate and JJ Musgrove. As you might expect, it relies heavily on old jokes and riffs on old movies and even older Hollywood actors.

The concept is that some members of the audience are given parts with short scripts to read when their time comes and, to my surprise, it actually works. "Murder, Take Two" uses two professional actors in half a dozen parts and maybe ten members of the audience. Although the Musgroves' intentions are to hire actors for the professional parts, JJ is playing the male parts in this production because the actor they had hired didn't work out. Haley Rice, who has a strong acting resume, is playing the female parts.

The good news about this is that both Haley and JJ are excellent actors and, even though this is not about drama, they do draw you in. Haley defines the dumb blond and JJ knows how to perfectly play off her.

The play itself is a piece of fluff about Hollywood folks visiting a director who's casting a new movie when there's a murder. A detective is called in to question both audience members playing parts and characters created by Haley and JJ. At the end of the production, audience members are invited to guess who the culprit is.

The play is produced in acts between courses of dinner served by the Marriott. The meal varies by week so you can pick a night when you like the courses. Our meal was about what you'd expect at a Shriner's banquet.

The next show is "Spy Games" beginning May 8 and I'm thinking I need to be sure they're still on their game.

Goobers

The Chattahoochee Shakespeare Company's production of "Goobers" is an unacquired taste. Either you like corn pone or you don't. There's a line in the Springer's production of "Big River" delivered by the Duke, "They want comedy. Low comedy. Maybe something worse than low comedy." That's a review of "Goobers".

"Goobers" is a retelling of the Brer Rabbit story using five more current legends. In order to escape the stew pot, Br'er Rabbit tells the story of Georgia's Big Foot, St. EOM, and Hogzilla as well as lesser known stories. It's part musical, part farce, and part low comedy using four actors. Stephen Sisson as Br'er Bear carries a large part of the action and does it well.

Written by Artistic Director Troy Heard, it's unclear if "Goobers" was conceived as an adult or children's production. The puppetry used to illustrate the stories as well as the four actor's costuming seem to indicate that the play is aimed at children, and, as such, it would be on target. But other than the fact that the Company has added a Sunday matinee to accommodate families, there's nothing on the web site, in the program or in the mission statement that would lead you to believe that's the target audience.

One has to be careful not to take Goobers too seriously and worry about how tight the production is or how well the actors project. It's intended to be light entertainment taking us away from Washington and Wall Street for 40 minutes. How wrong can that be?

It's very good news that the Company has found a more permanent space at 1242 Broadway for next year's season which sounds very aggressive. The final production of this season will be a 1950s update of The taming of the Shrew" to be presented at the Riverfront Amphitheater in May. Bring a picnic and watch out for flying pizzas!

Charbroil Steak House

I've avoided reviewing restaurants during this recession because I hate hitting them when they're down. But if the restaurant is covered up with customers, they're fair game. Such was my experience with the Charbroil Steak House in Phenix City.

When we arrived after 8 pm, there was a wait. When we asked the hostess how long the wait was, she replied that they were just waiting for people to get up. We decided to stay and I went to the rest room to wash my hands. On the way, I counted 7 empty tables.

After about ten minutes several people had been seated but there were still 5 empty tables and so we pointed it out to the hostess. This time she said that the kitchen was "behind", which is like saying, "You're not going to get served either way but you're better off standing up".

Before we gave up, a member of management noticed us and got us seated. They had plenty of wait staff and they were prompt and courteous. They have no beer list but they do have a tall draft for a very reasonable $3.25.

For an appetizer, we tried the grilled sausage and pimento cheese which struck us as innovative. It was served with crackers and a mustard based bbq sauce which we thought went well together although the sausage was a little bland.

For the meal we ordered the specialty, a rib eye medium rare and the ribs. The rib eye was a thin piece of meat but cooked perfectly which is a good trick with meat that thin. However, it had no crust which is ironic since the menu particularly points out that it's cooked with a Charbroil Grill that can put a restaurant crust on at home. The ribs were a little tough and over cooked but the sauce had a nice burn to it.

The meals come with two sides and the best one was a fully loaded baked potato. The corn was also good and not just a half ear that you see in so many places.

The restaurant seems to be struggling to find where it wants to fit in to the genre. The pictures on the wall were mostly nice prints of the Columbus area as opposed to the nick knacks that one finds in most restaurants of this type, but the clientele on the night we visited wore tee shirts and UA hats. There were a lot of families. They advertised that they have "6 TVs viewed from all angles" but they were 2X4 flat screens tuned to wrestling for some reason during March Madness and that doesn't make a sports bar. All the tables had candle holders but there were no candles and two of the four flames outside were out.

The restaurant is owned in part by Abott Turner of the Bradley Company family and there's an obvious attempt to connect Charbroil Grills with the restaurant. The restaurant has been open long enough to shake down now and I'm guessing the owners haven't dropped by there recently. They're in a game with the likes of Longhorn Steak House and that's an organization that does look after details. Still, judging from the crowd we saw, they are doing something right.

New theater work

I regret to tell you that I was right about the Springer audience looking light. They've now announced 2 for 1 tickets on Thursday and $5 off the other days. This is disheartening and a little odd. Museums are up-even museums that, unlike ours, charge. Westville has had a sharp increase in March. Old Sturbridge Village in MA had a 32% increase to start the year. The American Association for State and local history organizations reports general increases and suggests that it's because "...people are valuing meaningful experiences". That tells me that theater isn't getting its story out.
Incidentally, you may think this is stretching for something to write, but I think it's worth noting. This week-end, Columbus may well be the only city in the country where 2/3 of it's professional theaters are doing new works by their artistic directors. The Chattahoochee Shakespeare Company is doing Troy Heard's "Goobers" and Sherlock's Mystery Dinner Theater is doing "Murder, Take 2" co written by the Musgroves. OK, neither of them will knock Arthur Miller off the pedestal but I think it's great.
No city can be taken seriously for theater until new work is produced there and just the fact that these artistic directors believe there's a market for new work is encouraging. The other theater of course is the Springer which last did a premier maybe five years ago. It was a concoction that Tuna author Ed Howard dreamed up based on a Shakespeare play and there's enough blame for everyone in that production. It takes courage in this environment where a single show can ruin your season and I don't blame Pierce for going back to his roots.
I'll review both shows soon.

Upcoming

Here's some interesting upcoming free events.
Tomorrow night, Tuesday, at the Carson McCullars houe, The Arden Series, featuring readings by CSU faculty and students. This week's session will feature faculty member Scott Wilkerson and student Kristina Sorg. 7:00 PM at the Smith-McCullers House, 1519 Stark Avenue.
And Thursday at 7 pm, also at the Smith-McCullers house, Poetry Readings by two poets from the University of Georgia at Athens: Andrew Zawacki and Donna Stonecipher.
Friday is the open house at the new CSU visual arts center downtown featuring a Bo Barlett exibition.
On Tuesday the 24th, Olga Stone, who is a native of the Ukraine, a concert pianist and knowledgeable scholar of Russian history, art, music and religion, will lecture at the Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church located north of Manchester Expressway on Gilbert Ave. The church has painted walls of icons which are a treat in and of themselves. After the lecture, the church will serve authentic Ukrainian deserts by Galina Shehane who's native cooking is becoming a fixture on the catering circuit. The event is free but the church is asking for reservations so that they can have the right amount of desert. Call Stephen Muse at 706-561-9926. http://ht-church.com/about is the church web site for info and directions.

Springer notes

Two more notes out of the "Big River" program.

In his "Director's notes", Paul Pierce asserts that "The adventures of Huckleberry Finn" "....has done more to rile up the nation over racial injustice than any other book". Now Pierce is a well read guy and I'm going to assume that this is just promotion since there is at least one other book that might have done more.

On page 28 of the program there's an ad for a special performance of "Charm School" for managers. The ad suggests that the performance and discussion afterward would be for "...anyone interested in discovering more about the importance of diversity and sensitivity...." Now anybody reading that will rather watch a Gilligan's Island marathon than go to see that play and it must have been dreamed up by someone who hasn't actually seen the play. I do hope the Springer doesn't intend to play Ray as either evil or as a fool.

Big River

The Springer's production of "Big River" was the first time I've seen the musical. Opening in 1985, it won 11 Tonys including Best Musical and Roger Miller became the only country music artist to win a Tony. I've probably never seen it because it is a difficult production not only for its sweep but for the demands it makes on its cast. There are nine or ten parts that require a voice to stand out and another fifteen or so voices in the cast. The Springer's production opened with 27 people on stage and this in a period when most theaters are looking for small cast plays.

Miller's book very closely follows Twain's and Paul Pierce's direction as closely follows Miller's book which means there's not very much innovation in the production and it lacks the tension that would come from taking a few chances. It's very much a yeoman effort.

Of the two main characters, Huck Finn and Jim, only Keith Patrick McCoy as Jim rises above the production. His rich baritone voice was best put to use in the second act in "Free at Last" which is as close to a show stopper as this show has. Mike Morin, as Huck, has a modest tenor voice without nearly the volume of McCoy and their duets such as "Muddy Water" in the first act were almost dissonant. Fortunately they were much better together in the second act when they sang "Worlds Apart" and Morin was at his own best with "Waiting for the light to shine".

Miller's music is not challenging but only one of the songs is patently country, Mary Jane Wilkes' "You oughta be here with me" which Tammy Winnette would be comfortable with. Janie Lee Bullock, who seems to be everywhere these days, conducts a ten piece orchestra which never overwhelmed the singers. On some songs where only part of the cast was on stage, Pierce brought the rest of the cast into the orchestra area to bulk up the voices and it was helpful without being noticed by the majority of the crowd.

The acting was mostly adequate although I was distracted by McCoy's Rochester imitation-beginning sentences with a very high pitch-particularly in the first act. And although it's a small part, Dylan Stephan as Tom Sawyer astonished with his theatrical performance. He's a product of the Springer Academy and his remarkable polish for a high school junior stood out among even the professionals. He could very easily find himself on Broadway.

The crowd, once again was slight. Pierce says that the Springer is up 9% year over year but one wonders if they haven't lost ground with the last two productions on the main stage. I thought the low turnout for Hamlet might be because of the subject but this town likes musicals and Big River has seats available. It's a tough time but there's not a better way to escape than to catch a live show and all the local theaters will have shows next week-end so catch one!

Mea Culpa

Troy is absolutely right. The "Tent Meeting" that Theatrical Outfit is putting on bears no relation to the Lee/Larson one except for the subject.
This is just sloppy reporting on my part and I apologize for it. It just never occurred to me that someone would appropriate the name and idea for their own but there were clues. To begin with, nothing is sacred with Lee and Larson but Tom Key who's directing at the Outfit is a pretty straight arrow Christian and wouldn't go out of his way to offend anyone. I should have known better.

Upcoming theater

The Springer's next play, Big River, is the musical Huckleberry Finn. I doubt they knew it at the time but "Columbus Reads" will also be doing Tom Sawyer so it's particularly appropriate. The library will bring in some lectures on Tom Sawyer and the Center for Christian Studies at First Presbyterian is bringing in Irmgard Schopen-Davis from Americus to give three lectures on the book.

In April, the Springer's Studio theater has Eddie Lee and Larry Larson's Charm School and this is one you'll really want to see. I saw the premiere at the Horizon Theater in Atlanta with Eddie Lee in the Raymond roll and Larry in another role. Of all the plays they've written, this one is probably the most serious but it's still a riot.

Once you see this you'll want more of this duo and there's actually a chance right now if you're willing to drive to Atlanta. The Theatrical Outfit is doing "Tent Meeting" which more like the other plays these guys have done-completely disrespectful of everything. "Tent Meeting" is about an itinerant traveling tent preacher whose unmarried daughter gets pregnant. He can in no way accept this and comes to the conclusion that the baby is the second coming. I saw that one at Spoleto with Eddie Lee in the preacher part with his ex wife as his wife and Larry Larson in a supporting role.

The Outfit is in the old Herren's restaurant building downtown-pretty inconvenient to get to but they've done a nice renovation and this play is worth seeing. It's directed by Tom Key who wrote and acted in the Cotton Patch Gospel. They also do a combination dinner theater for this show on March 26.