two teens for sbhf35 and sjcaf

I do get tired of being in the choir at some of these events, but it's nice that I was not alone.

Kaye was with me during the performance, and we joined Barbara for the question session.

I also saw Penny and Lonnie and Cindy, fellow volunteer ushers from my days at the Lucas and Trustees Theatres.

Even so, it had been a difficult play to witness on its premier in Savannah.

"Anne & Emmett" was centered on two youths in a place called Memory, which they could only inhabit when someone remembered them.

That was the first truly sad part of the play by Janet Langhart Cohen.

She had been a teenaged girl herself when the concept had first come to her, having been studying about Anne Frank's life when she heard about Emmett Till.

I can certainly understand that.

Perspective makes a difference, and she was right place, right time for the stories of the 16-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy, teenagers like herself, who died simply for being born the way they were...

as if they had any choice in that.

That truly is the evil root of prejudice and of hate crimes: people being bullied and persecuted and tortured and killed, for something they could not change.

We cannot change our skin color, we cannot change our cultural identity, we cannot change our gender identity, we cannot change the family we were born into.

I don't understand why some people choose hate on such a basis.

"Different" doesn't mean "bad" and certainly does not mean "must be destroyed."

Honestly, how could anyone justify what was done to those children?

 

For children Anne and Emmett certainly were.

Even the two who played them were teens.

There were three adults: one for her father, one for his mother, and one to represent the haters.

Why Otto Frank and Mamie Till?

Because they made sure that others knew what had happened to their children, in hopes of making sure others' children would not die.

And now, here we are in the 21st century, several generations later, and the message still needs to be preached, here in the United States, over in Europe, all around the world: stop killing people on the basis of things they cannot change.

I do hope the four other scheduled performances will be as well attended as the one here at the JEA.

Thanks, Savannah Jewish Cultural Arts Festival for bringing this play during the Savannah Black Heritage Festival, for the stories of these two children, with the painting in the backdrop of her chestnut tree conjoined with his.

Yes, it was a hard message, but it was well told.

a little bit of sbhf, a little bit of sjcaf, as fatboy slim would say

Not that "Weapon Of Choice" has any such acronyms in it, but you catch my drift?

Perhaps not quite yet.

Let's see if I can clear those up for you!

(smile!) 

The first was an annual concert - The Future Of Jazz - held at the Savannah JEA as part of the Savannah Black Heritage Festival.

The seven musicians were from Florida State University (go, 'Noles!), Florida A&M University, Georgia State University, and Albany State University.

The instruments were, from left to right, piano, bass, drums, guitar, saxophone, trombone, and trumpet.

I had obtained a seat just three rows from the front and stayed there for the first two numbers.

About that time, two yahoos came in and sat right behind me.

How did I know they were rednecks?

His first words to his date were, "So, this is a jazz concert?"

Seriously.

He's the fellow in the hat holding the phone up while he records.

His date, in a long, blonde wig, was wearing more perfume than the law should allow.

Seriously.

Even disregarding the fact that they chattered back and forth during each number, the smell alone forced me to move.

By that time, the auditorium had filled, of course, so I was relegated to the back row.

That meant my camera was set on 'zoom' for the photos thereafter.

No worries, though, as the music was just as sweet in every corner!

Two Ben Tucker songs were featured - "The Next Time You See Me" and "Doublet" - as well as two from the emcee, Teddy Adams.

Plus, two singers from Savannah State University were included for two songs each, with Joshua Elijah giving us a love song, then "What A Wonderful World"!

The young woman sang "Strange Fruit" and a song by Samara Joy.

Both were excellent singers!

"Joy Spring" was the last song for me, though not for others at the concert.

The 30-minute late start (so they think they are the O'Jays? That's an inside joke for Harry, from the concert in Charleston that began almost an hour late!) meant I had to leave before the show was over, as I had an 8 PM event already scheduled!

 

And just what was I in such a rush to be on time for?

A musical!!!

See those three fellows at the table?

That's Adam on the left, a music writer; Jerry in the middle, a designer, just out of the Army; and Henri, the sole Frenchman.

Poor saps, they're all in love with the same girl, a French dancer named Lise, with an Audrey Hepburn appeal.

Here she is, writing a letter.

To one of them?

Au contraire, mon frere!

She is writing to her parents, long gone.

She is in love she tells them, but she is promised to another.

Her foster parents want her to wed Henri, their son.

She wants to do as they wish, as does he, but...

she has met an American soldier and thinks he is the one.

What to do?

What else is there to do?

The show must go on!

So, she will dance to the music written for her by "An American in Paris" - that would be Adam!

And she would dance in the performance funded by her foster parents, even though she has decided not to marry their son - that would be Henri!

And she would pretend throughout the piece that her dance partner was the man she loved - that would be the other American, Jerry!

Ah, so lovely!

This scene immediately brought to mind the dance scene in the planetarium in "La La Land"!

That vast, blue, star-filled night...

her dress billowing and twirling...

his classic formal look...

my, oh my.

(smile!)

 

So, why did I claim this 2018 film of the musical to be an early offering by this year's Savannah Jewish Cultural Arts Festival, even though it was viewed via AARP Theatre?

That's because Lise was Jewish, with her parents disappeared by the Nazis.

The foster parents who took her in pretended to be staunch fans of Hitler's regime, in order to protect her and themselves.

Delightful story!

celebration, with dance

Another event with the SBHF35, and it was free, too!

This was the Dance Celebration with Savannah State University's Dance Ensemble and I'd managed to talk one of mi amigas into going with me!

That was Barbara, of course, as she just may love dancing as much as I do.

(smile!)

Held at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center, the troupe featured eight young women, in various configurations, in eight very different sketches.

For instance, "So Good", the first one after intermission, had four dancers in an energetic,  gospel revival-flavored, jubilation.

The opening number, "Freedom" - with the Cynthia Erivo song from the film, "Harriet" - was one of my favorites, featured 7 of the 8 dancers performing a well-choreographed and graceful style by Chlore Holmes.

Two of the numbers in the first set were a bit harsh; those were "Not My Responsibility" and "Woman's Worth", about male-female relationships.

I especially enjoyed "Reflections", a Billie Eilish tune performed by the two most talented dancers, Peach Torrence and Carolyn Calhoun.

It was obvious that both of them were very familiar with the music, not only in that number but in all the numbers they were part of, and they moved with a true love of dance.

In the photo, Peach is the third from the left, in the midriff and jeans; Carolyn is the tall, graceful one on the far right.

I'll look forward to seeing them again in the future!

And what did we two old ladies do after getting revved up by the music?

We went out to dinner, of course!

We had spoken of Spanky's before the show, so off we went to the midtown site!

Service was a little slow, but the food was good as it always is.

Neither of us Savannahians had the touristy chicken fingers and spuds - oh, no!

I had the loaded nachos, having missed that food last night, and she had vegetables.

We both have leftovers to share with our memories tomorrow.

Good deal!

(smile!)

always something to be grateful for

That's what the sign on Waters Avenue said, and, with the lovely day I've had, I'll vouchsafe that sentiment.

(smile!)

The Universe woke me up this morning just after 7 AM...

so, of course, I flipped on "Toon In With Me" and was greeted by this sight!

That's Toonie, a pizzeria owner from Chicago, and Bill, all smiling and happy.

Why wouldn't they be?

In honor of National Pizza Day, they were making their own fresh ones!!!

National Pizza Day???

Hooray!

Then, just in case I'd missed the point, I got the cartoon "For The Love Of Pizza".

It featured Woody Woodpecker, in a sketch that was a twist on Red Riding Hood.

Oh, good - I love that story!

This time around, Woody saw that the girl in red was taking pizza to her granny's house, as the old lady had a hankering for that special dish... and so did Woody!

So, he hustled over and tricked granny into going somewhere else and usurped her bed.

But his hustle didn't fool the granddaughter, no way!

Very funny bit!

Then I returned to bed and slept until my regular rising time.

My plan today was to see "Turning Red", a 2022 Pixar film only here for a few days.

"Hmm," I thought, "why not go ahead and reserve my ticket and order a pizza, too?"

 

So, that's what I did!

But here's the great part: I had $10 in reward bucks, and I knew cashing them in would net me a pizza...

and the supreme pizzas were on sale for $3 off, making them $6.99...

and I had the one on top, with the diagonal slices, waiting when I arrived.

Hooray!

However, my Lactaid was at home, so eating it would have to wait.

So, before I left, I went ahead and ordered another one, using the rest of my rewards.

So, two pizzas cost me only $4.26... what an amazing deal!!!

Going home, I stopped by the post office to finish Valentines for the four little blondes.

That put me on Waters Avenue going home... with the sign to brighten my day even more.

Maybe I'll take a photo of it on my next trip past.

(smile!)

So, I ate pizza and then went to the Smiths & Kamerons Friday Fiesta!

I was late, like almost by an hour, but all were glad to see me, and I them!

Of course the Super Bowl was the topic of conversation... this is a football crowd.

So I talked about watching the Lions come close, but not close enough.

Then I talked about the SBHF35 events going on, including the play the other night.

Plus, I made sure to tell Jimmy about the Steve Martin musical, "Bright Star", coming up at Savannah Country Day, with the music by Edie Brickell, and he was all over that.

He even remembered about "Picasso At The Lapis Agile", the Steve Martin play that had Einstein and Picasso in it, from at least a quarter century ago... and had been at it!!!

My guess is that was before he and Betsy got married.

Jimmy thinks he might be able to get tickets to "Bright Star"... that would be great!

We'll see!

And here's that play from 1996, recently done by a Brooklyn troupe... nice!!!

(smile!)

And what did I eat?

Dessert, naturally!

Sopapilla, again, and again shared with Mary and Laura and Tony.

I tried to get the others to try some, but they didn't think it'd go with their beer.

(smile!)

I just had time for my workout at Planet Fitness before "meeting" Barbara for "The Harvest: Integrating Mississippi's Schools", a documentary on AARP MFG.

Why was I interested in this?

The focus was on 1970 events, there in Leland, Mississippi, and I wanted to see if anyone of those children had gone through the same experiences I had.

Even my youngest brother knew that I had been beaten up just for being a white girl.

That was at Myers Middle School.

I and some others got caught by some older students from Savannah High School as we went from one building to another, and, as we ran to get away from them, I didn't make it inside before the door was closed.

The high school students beat me with their hands and kicked me when I was down, keeping it up until some adults chased them off.

Mama kept me out of school for a week, sending me back only after she had equipped me with Mace spray to ward off any future attackers.

That was a scary time.

Had any of those in Leland had that experience?

Nope.

For the most part, the film followed the seventy students who had started first grade that September of 1970, with most graduating in 1982.

 

In 2023, at 61 years old, these students were still friends, still people who kept in touch.

Douglas Blackmon, one of those "seeds of racial unity", was the host of the film.

The message that stayed with me was this: In those early years, they were close in school, and close at school events, but were not quite as close away from school, as their community was not as open-minded as they were.

That bias is still present today... but not for those who grew up with that open and integrated public school system.

And that's the rub: the status quo in 1970 had responded to the court-ordered mandate by opening multiple private schools, to keep white kids away from black kids, as well as black kids away from white kids.

Sad, right?

Barbara was already in college by that time, so she missed the change.

Not that she would have been affected, as she and her sister attended private school. 

My parents didn't have that option, which was good for me, allowing me familiarity at an early age with a more diverse population than she had.

Yes, the overall for me was positive... even though I did get beat up that one time, and had threats of more beatings on multiple occasions as I walked home from school.

It's good that those in Leland had a more positive experience.

It's even better that this film is viewable by all, via PBS on youTube.

Happy SBHF35 festival, y'all!

dinner and talk from a photographer

Amazingly, I know this 72-year-old guy!

Frank Stewart has been a photographer for the Savannah Music Festival, as well as other events at the Lucas and Trustees Theatres, for maybe two decades, so I'd see him shooting those happenings any time I was ushering those venues.

Here's the thing: I only knew him as "Frank".

I still hadn't put it together until I saw him on the stage at the Jepson tonight.

He and Fred Moten, a 61-year-old poet with the 2020 MacArthur Grant, were having a conversation about art and poems and photographs, sitting not twenty feet from me, and I suddenly realized just how I knew him.

Wow!

Moreover, that's when I realized he was black, too, just like the poet.

I'd always taken Frank to be Italian or Greek from his coloring and features.

Wow.

That meant this event was also part of the SBHF35, like last night's theatre.

I'm also going to include my foray out to the Pin Point Museum in the festival lineup, too.

That makes three events already for Savannah Black Heritage Month!

Very nice!

I'm so glad I was there, as a member of the Telfair family of museums.

That meant the reception and talk, which had a ticket price of $20, was free for me.

I do so enjoy that word: free!

Here's the first course from this evening's repast: 

shrimp salad on toasted ciabatta.

The rosemary sprig helped give it a bit more flavor.

(Don't tell the Wildwood Cafe, but I much prefer the

shrimp salad at Carey the H.)

 

Mild as it was, I still ate four servings - lovely bread!

 

The second course was a bit messier:

chicken satay lettuce wraps.

However, they were absolutely delicious!

The peanut sauce was perfectly made,

with crunch still in the nuts.

 

I even taught the older woman at the table 

how to hold them to minimize drips...

and I helped myself to three servings!!!

 

The third, and final, course was compact:

mushroom risotto balls.

They had been injected with Korean bbq sauce -

oh, so very tasty!!!

 

Once the other two ladies got my vote of approval,

they made sure to hit up that tray on every trip,

just as I did...

all four times!!!

 

Such a delectable supper we all had!

I'm glad I had grabbed a table and shared it

with these two recent transplants to 

this beautiful seaport.

I hope we'll all see each other again at the Jepson!

None of us stayed after the talk to peruse the exhibit, "Nexus".

We all like to read those placards by each item,

and thirty minutes was simply not enough time for that.

Nope!

(smile!)

bright star on boomers in a bar!

How wonderful to see Jackie Frant again!

As I told her, I don't think we've seen each other since the Melaness was in town.

Sure, we keep in touch via fb posts...

but nothing beats a hug in person!

She had posted this Boomers Meetup event a few days ago, saying we could "piggyback on the Maritime After Hours gang again" as they would be at Cohen's Retreat.

As that's just down from me, I was sorely tempted to go there... but I had an event already at 7 pm on the 7th... so, I rsvp'd today!

I'm so glad I went!

There were just four of us, including Lisa and Dorothy, so that kept it lively, especially as Jackie was the greeter for the Savannah Maritime Association event.

I met so many people!!!

However, after about 75 minutes - i.e., about 6:30 - I had to head for the Savannah Children's Theatre, not for one of their plays but for an event brought by the 35th Annual Savannah Black Heritage Festival!

I had noticed that the Bright Star Touring Theatre was in town again, with their public show at my favorite midtown venue.

Yes, I definitely would be there!!!

The two-man production of "Black History Heroes, Soldiers, and Spies" was very lively, with lots of minimal costume changes - a hat here, an apron there, a wig next - that Savannah Stage Company would have been delighted by!

The audience may not have been large, but we were certainly vocal, and ran the gamut from grade-school age to septuagenarian or more.

The cast was one black man and one white man, each taking on multiple roles in skit after skit, as they raced from one to another.

"Chief" C. Alfred Anderson's flight with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1941 that led to the Tuskegee Airmen being allowed to fly during WWII!!!

Reverend Oliver Brown's court battle with the Topeka Board of Education in 1952 to allow his daughter to attend school with her non-black friends!

Charles Young, born as a slave but raised as a free man in Ohio, following his father to be a Buffalo Soldier - fierce and stubborn, with curly, kinky hair like bison, according Native Americans - who went to West Point and retired as the first black General!

Mary Elizabeth Bowser's work as a spy for the Union during the Civil War, while she served as a maid for the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis!

Plus, skits with Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and more!

Such an entertaining, and educational, hour of fun!

My thanks to the City of Savannah for this program!

oyster bateaus and bee sharps!

If not for the Smiths & Kamerons Friday Fiesta last night, I would have missed out on two free events today, plus another tomorrow.

Did I find out from the conversations going around the table?

Nope!

It's all thanks to the stack of Connect Savannah magazines spotted as Laura and I were headed for the exit.

She and I both grabbed one, me for the crossword puzzle, her for her own reasons.

I glanced through last night, than looked more carefully this morning.

Not seeing the expansive list of February events I'd expected, I checked the website.

Ah ha, there we go!

Free museum entry for those with a Bank of America card!

What museums could I go to for free this first weekend in February?

Holy cow, there were seven on that list, including three I'd never explored!

 

Even better, Pin Point Heritage Museum was fairly close to me and had free parking.

So, that's where I went, enjoying the sunshine.

This mural, filled with smiling faces, greeted me!

The seated man, I would learn, was Sammy Wiggins, who served as the foreman for the A.S. Varn & Son Oyster and Crab Factory after "Old Man Varn" died.

The three friendly women worked in the Oyster Factory, which was the largest building at the site. 

Built right on the dock of the Back River, now called Moon River, the simple concrete block construction had some ingenuity going for it.

That began with the Oyster Factory's centralized location on the dock, with plenty of room for boats, called bateaus, to pull in and offload their cargo.

 

The flat-bottomed boats could pull up on both sides of the building, then offload the half-ton of oysters by shoveling them directly over a short wall into a chute - that's the upper, large, rectangular, lit area - to the waiting shuckers inside.

Those freeing the oyster meat would transfer that product into a bucket, then release the shells into that smaller rectangular hole that led - ingeniously - right back onto the dock.

The oyster fishers could then load the shells onto their bateau and take them back out to dump in the river as the next bed for growing oysters.

Talk about sustainable fishing!

And all done with no need for transport of materials through some intermediate space.

Ingenious, I tell you!

This was my first time here.

The buildings may have been almost a century old, but the museum is fairly new.

The Oyster and Crab Factory was in operation from 1926 until 1985, falling into disrepair after its closure by "Bunny" Varn, Jr., who died a few years later.

In 2006, when Congress recognized the area as part of the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, interest in restoring the four buildings was piqued, with the restoration occurring in 2011 and the place becoming a museum then.

Following the lead of the factory before it, the museum employs Pin Point residents, helping the area remain a thriving community.

Such a perfect place for me to begin my Savannah Black Heritage Month experience!

Thanks, Bank of America!

The next item on my agenda also was obtained from the website for Connect Savannah.

A free concert?

From the Savannah College of Art and Design's choral group??

And at a midtown location???

Sure thing!

So, bundling up in case I had to walk a ways in the chill night air, I went.

The Universe had even saved me a parking space right across from First Presbyterian Church, on the side street - right place!

I had feared I might be late, but the representative for Union Mission was still talking, so I'd missed none of the music - right time!!

i thank You, God!

I was treated to almost 90 minutes of energetic song and dance by the Bee Sharps - gotta love that name!

Candice Glover, a SCAD alum and winner of the 2013 "American Idol" show, as well as a native Southerner from Beaufort - performed several songs with the group, including a rollicking good version of "Proud Mary" as the finale!!!

Yes, I was nice and warm, after all of that dancing in my seat, and I even made a donation to the homeless shelter on my way to my car.

What a wonderful bonus of unexpected entertainment I have had today!

(smile!)