7 scenes from a church

I was sure this 5 PM matinee was to be held at Waters and Henry, so I had lollygagged around at home, thinking I had plenty of time...

nope!!!

"Sanctuary", my third volunteer shift for SVF12, was all the way downtown!!!

Christ Church Episcopal was in the first block of Bull Street!

 

Fortunately, our call time was 90 minutes before the operatic scenes began.

Even more fortunately, I snagged parking just south of the Lucas Theatre.

Most fortunately of all, the rain didn't start until I was safely there.

In fact, I'd placed the black armbands on ten of the pews - and done so before Kim had completed putting purple ones on six pews - before the rain began.

Penny and Lonnie Breslow arrived after that.

So... I wasn't so late after all!

(smile!)

Billed as "sacred themed scenes from opera, musical theatre, and song", the program had been curated by Jorge Parodi, the VOICE festival's Artistic Director.

These were clearly pieces that were close to his heart...

and there was one that even brought me to tears.

Remember "Suor Angelica", the Puccini one-act that I'd loved so much I saw it twice?

That was back in 2015, so I'd not remembered quite how the "Final Scene" listed in today's program had played out.

Then, all of a sudden, while enjoying the performance by Anna Farysej, I watched, transfixed, as she drank the poison so she could die and join her dead child in heaven... with her realizing too late that suicides cannot go to heaven so she would not be reunited with him after all... and tears came to my eyes.

Too recently, and for the fourth time, have I had another suicide of someone I loved.

What has become of their souls?

I hope it is as Aaron Freeman has described the transition.

I hope.

What other pieces were performed here at Christ Church Episcopal?

Three of the staged scenes were from operas: from Act 4 of "Faust", Marguerite's plea for forgiveness after her affair; from Act 2 of "Tosca", Floria's plea with Baron Scarpia (showcasing Chad Sonka's bass) for the life of her lover, but to no avail; and from the one-act "Cavalleria Rusticana", Santuzzo's plea with her lover's mother to convince her son to give up the other woman.

Two songs from the musical, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", were performed.

Maria Zouves sang "God Help The Outcasts", the one with Esmeralda pleading with God to show his mercy to others less fortunate, rather than to herself.

An alternate side is shown in "Hellfire", with Trollo (sung by John Tibbetts) pleading with God to help him sort out his lust for Esmeralda from his moral convictions.

Very serious stuff.

So, that just leaves the scene from a song: "Kyrie", from "Messe Solennelle".

This time, the choir of the Christ Church performed the entire piece, rather than acting in accompaniment with the opera singers.

Wow.

What fabulous acoustics that church has!!!

How marvelous that I was sitting far to the side, so I could snap that photo of them, ringing the balcony, and letting their voices soar above us!

Wow.

And by the time the program was done, the rain was as well, with the air cleanly washed and somewhat cooler than it had been.

How fortunate to have been there!

i thank You, God.

not all is an aria

That's a direct quote from Fabrizio Melano today.

But first, let me set the stage, shall I?

I was there at Asbury Memorial as a volunteer again, as was Kim Owens.

This time, many of the rooms were occupied as rehearsal areas, including Holliday Hall, which had been used last night as the welcome center.

Hence, I'd gone straight in there when I arrived... not realizing that Sherrill Milnes was holding an unofficial Masters In Voice class with several students.

As I'd already intruded, I thought it might cause more commotion if I abruptly left, so I sat down quietly and quickly and observed.

I've always enjoyed and learned from those classes!

I only caught the last part for one student, but I was there for all with Bojan Medic, which was good, as he introduced me to a song I now love: "The Vagabond".

"All I seek is the heaven above and the road below me."

Ralph Vaughan Williams' tune of travel should be on every traveler's lips!

As intriguing as the song itself were the insights from the 89-year-old Maestro, not only for the singer, but also the keyboard accompanist. 

What is meant by staccato? What is meant by allegro?

Even more important: what did those words mean to the composer of that song?

Those are questions which cannot be answered, as Williams died in 1958.

So, that allows some leeway, as no one can say that the pianist's interpretation of the speed or emphasis of the "staccato" parts is not what the composer meant.

Words are always open to interpretation.

(smile!)

About that time, Emily fetched me and Kim and we set up for today's event.

That was also a Masters In Voice class, but with Fabrizio Melano and his sister, Laura Melano Flanagan, with the point being to help the singers find the psychological identity of the character whose song they are performing.

Very cool!!!

He is a noted stage director; she is a psychotherapist in New York City.

I had a brief, but informative, chat with her at last night's reception, at which she gave me some insight into what today's class will entail.

Very cool!!!

Here, they are interacting with Alayna Sevilla, who had just performed "Vissi d'arte", sung by the character, Tosca, who was 22 years old and questioning God about her lover being imprisoned when she has always been such a good girl.

Even Sherrill Milnes had risen to the occasion and offered words to her!

(Note: she was the only one for which he did so.)

Anyway, when Fabrizio was talking with Alayno, that's when he spoke those words.

"Not all is an aria."

He and Laura both explained that the song was a meditation, not meant for demonstrating one's vocal power but one's contemplative nature.

(smile!)

Alayna had been the second to perform.

Naysa Marrero Pruzaesky was the first, and she sang a piece "Qui la voce", from an opera - "I Puritani" - I'd never heard of.

She was advised that the character was suicidal and manic, necessitating a much more somber tone and body language.

What I liked most was that gorgeous, dark green, velvet gown she wore.

Very, very nice!

The third piece was the most fun for me, as "Quel guardo il cavaliere", from "Don Pasquale", required the singer to laugh several times.

When Jacqueline Germer was asked what the character was laughing about, she answered that the laughs were intended at the ladies she was around.

That was apparently incorrect.

Fabrizio told her he had always hated that song, as the character seemed to be such a braggart with no merit to warrant that behavior.

However, he now understood the character was actually laughing at her own foibles, and that had changed his mind about the piece.

It certainly changed Jacqueline's, too, and her approach.

Most excellent!

Laura Elena Fernandez was the fourth, and final, and she had a piece I somewhat knew: "Donde lieta usci", from "La Boheme".

She received insights into the character, Mimi, whose song that was, as well as context for the words in the song: Mimi was singing farewell to her lover, as she knew she was dying and that his frivolous artistic self would not do well at her demise.

Very serious, but also touching, words.

Notice anything odd about the audience today?

The vast majority were other students.

I saw no recognized singers from the past, and fewer than ten regular patrons.

Perhaps they, like me, were hoping for tidbits to help with their own singing...

even for songs in our cars or showers.

(smile!)

fireworks with songs for SVF12!

With all the notes being lifted into the stratosphere, that certainly seemed to be true!

The 12th Annual Savannah Voice Festival (SVF12) held its kickoff concert tonight...

and I was there!!!

That's because I am serving as usher (EW-sure, as Sherrill Milnes pronounces the word) again this year - hooray!

With this first of several events being held at Asbury Memorial Church, it was quite helpful for them to have me there to answer questions about locations of various rooms, or to give directions to the two stairwells, or anything else of that nature.

Sure, they could ask Randy Cannady, too, as he was the church's representative, but I was right there and ready to help!

Emily Gallagher was riding herd on the volunteers, as she had last year.

Not that there were many of us who needed a herder.

Just me, old pro Kim Owens, and the Penny & Lonnie team from the days at the Lucas.

Very nice!

(smile!)

So, what was the title of tonight's concert?

"Aria"

Just the one four-letter word, the word that most people associate with opera: aria.

Twenty singers were there to perform twenty arias, from nineteen different operas, written by fourteen different composers.

Of the three from Giacomo Puccini, I was only familiar with the song from "Madama Butterfly", thanks to last year's production.

Last year also helped me know the song from "Don Giovanni", but I knew the two songs from "Le Nozze Di Figaro" courtesy of the SVF spent in ZOOM.

Actually, SVF-8 is truly the reason I know Wolfgang Mozart's conniving Don so well.

(smile!)

The only other song I knew was one that i could have actually sung along with: "The Impossible Dream", from the last play the Asbury Memorial Theatre troupe ever did.

That means there were fifteen songs from fifteen operas that I did not know.

I doubt I was the only one who didn't know several of those pieces.

The manner in which the performances occurred left no time to even consider what might have been going on or what the singer was going on about.

As each singer completed their aria, they would take their bow and proceed to stage left as the next singer walked on from stage right.

Efficient, yes; helpful for the audience, not particularly.

I may make this suggestion to Maria Zouves for next year: have a longer pause between the performances, with the singer providing a short introduction to allow the song to have some context before launching into the piece.

I understand that this would have added to the length of the program (which still ran about 75 minutes), but a brief intermission would have handled that nicely.

There still would have been plenty of time for the reception that followed.

(smile!)

I very much enjoyed the chicken salad on the sourdough bread (which one of the singers said was made by Maria herself!).

However, my favorite on the table were the mariposas, of which I had two.

Those crunchy cookies with the croissant texture and slight sweet taste were exactly what I've been missing lately.

(smile!)

Now to put away my blue geo dress!

I will most likely wear it again on Sunday when I return to AsbMemCh for another SVF concert!

(smile!)

Ken, what are nerf guns, cowbell, armadillo, and knishes?

"Who is Ken?"

 

He's the new host of "Jeopardy". Well, most of the time, anyway.

 

"Okay. That clears up one question I had, but not the other."

 

Wondering about that post title?

 

"Oh, you betcha."

 

"The 24 Hour Plays: Savannah" was held tonight and so the answer would have to be "Items which appeared onstage at the Savannah Children's Theatre".

 

"Whoa. There was an actual armadillo???"

 

Of course not, silly rabbit. It was represented in balloon animal form, in several colors, in the third play, "Escape The Drama". That was written by the Kamerons' neighbors, Chris and Molly Bass. Chris even played the Clue Master of the escape room. 

"That sounds like it was a lot of fun!"

I think I would have liked it much better a couple of weeks ago, when life was not smacked so hard by the deaths of two I knew.

"What death did it have in it??"

The death of a childhood pet, Skippy the armadillo, when the two women in the escape room had been teens and were close friends. The animal's death had sundered that friendship.

"That's a far cry from what happened with Barbara and Kal, though. So, you should cut that play some slack."

Here's the thing: it wasn't the only one that dealt with death. The play festival opened with "Bird's-Eye View" about death and funerals, and closed with "Elephants & Flowers" about death and suicide. Plus, the two to either side of the escape room had guns in them.

"Really? Why were those plays all so dark?"

I don't know. And, try as I might, I could not determine what the plays had to have in common. This isn't my first time around 24 Hour Play Festivals, as I've been supporting them since 2011. My favorite is still the one from 2017, when all of the plays had to include the line, "Thank you, JinHi" - totally awesome! For the five tonight, though, I could not pluck the unifying thread.

"And you're an analytical chemist, so finding a pattern is your thing."

Exactly.

"Did Ryan McCurdy have a play involved? I know he's the one who invited you to this."

No, he did not. He is with Savannah Performance Alliance, which includes folks from SavRepTh, SavStageCo, SavCabaret, and SavChTh. Those are the troupes that survived the pandemic, so it's heartening to see them working together. Thomas Houston wrote one, as did Rick Garman. Jayme Tinti directed one. So, it was good to see some carryover of talent from the previous play festivals.

 

"Garman? He's the "p is silent" guy, right?"

 

Correct. His play was the last one, "Elephants & Flowers", with a guy perched on a 20th-floor ledge of an apartment to commit suicide. The crazy old lady neighbor manages to talk him in with a promise of fresh knishes. It was actually pretty nice.

 

"That's good to hear. You thinking of giving his Club One productions another try?"

 

Maybe, we'll see. Money's a bit tight, right, since the vacation and I have house insurance coming up due with AllState.

 

"Yes, dear. What did Thomas write? You've always liked his stuff."

 

Yes, and I laughed several times during "His Dark Secret". That starred Rayshawn Roberts as a man who has taken his g'friend to his "cave lair" to tell her that he is the 'Golden Gun'. That's when he shows her this huge nerf gun than turns things into gold! That was funny. Then the Mistress Diablo surprises them, and she has an even bigger nerf gun. Seriously, you would have had to have been there.

"I would have greatly enjoyed that! What about the one with Jayme?"

Well, she directed it, as was really obvious, given the fast pacing of so many of the SavStageCo performances. That was "The Case of the Tenacious Thief" which featured a London apartment owned by a guy named Moneybags, who loved his cowbell and could talk like Christopher Walken. I kid you not! He's entertaining a lady friend when McThief comes in, with lots of pratfalls, and steals that cowbell. Really funny piece, it was! But everyone had a gun, even though they were nerf guns. I know, I know, the timing for this playfest was just not the best for me.

"Trust me, things will get better. It just takes time."

Don't I know it. I have far too much experience with grief and loss adjustment.

three plays on a dark and stormy night!

Well, that comes later in the story.

First, though, was the second night of the "Student Directed One Act Play Festival" for the seniors at Savannah Arts Academy.

If I had researched their fb page, I would have known that the plays last night were different from the ones tonight, so perhaps I would have gone there instead of the Purple Planet...

but that's a moot point now.

Alas, alack, and all that.

(smile!)

Honestly, if I'd cared that much, I could have asked Jayme while she was there with me, but I didn't.

Instead, I talked with her about Savannah Stage Company and what was going on with them.

I'm so glad they stay busy with shows in the schools, as well as improv classes and acting classes for youths, but I'll be even happier to see one of their new plays!

Speaking of plays, just what did I see tonight?

The first one, the one Jayme was there to see, was "Antigone Now", a variation of the one that SavStageCo did in November. 

This one had more modern language, as well as a boombox.

Different, right, but true to the tale in its particulars.

Very nicely done, Tyson Ford-Everett!

The second one, "The Importance Of Being Earnest", was another that I knew.

The farce about girls insisting that their betrothed be named "Earnest", rather than "Jack" or "Algernon", led to come quite comical moments!

And here was something I had not remembered: one of the guys, as a baby, had been discarded and then later adopted...

sparkly shades of a "Bright Star" moment!

Good work, Mya Smith!

And let me go ahead and say "nice choice" to Ezra Gadsden for the third play!

I had never heard of "The Hope And Heartache Diner" before!

What a marvelous setting: Duke's Diner, a family-owned, third-generation business begun by a great-grandfather who still frequented the joint as a ghost.

The grandparents of the young person, Felix, who narrated the tale were also ghosts.

Felix doesn't really want to take over the business, but doesn't want to disappoint the folks.

Still, everyone knows that Felix is going to leave for a while, but first wants to prove that they are capable of doing a full day and night of managing the diner.

That gets pretty humorous!

Such a nice evening out... and all for free!

(smile!)

But the weather had shifted in the almost three-hour time span of the festival.

I'd heard thunder during the first play, then again in the last one.

Fortunately, there was only light rain as I walked to my car...

but then the bottom fell out of the clouds!

Oh, no!

I drove home between lightning flashes and heavy rainfall!

All I kept thinking about were the defensive driving lessons from the afternoon session with the IMPROV Traffic School course.

I'd done three chapters: "Speeding", "Passing", and "Stopping Distance".

All three seemed pertinent as I drove more slowly than usual, windshield wipers on double speed, on wet, dark streets.

At least the skies had been clear when I'd gone there!

Now, I'm safely home again, and well entertained, and all within my budget.

What's on the telly?

(smile!)

more bfe at sjcaf this week!

I was so glad to see him, too!

The earlier event ran quite long, so he had to meet me at the JEA after his Buddhist sit-in was done.

Good to see the J-Dawg's smiling face after such a serious lecture by Brendan Murphy...

but more on that later.

First, happy stuff!

Like this fun documentary - "The Catskills" - about the Jewish summer resorts up in the mountains.

At one point, there were over 500 of them in the Borscht Belt, there in the southeastern part of New York.

That would be the state, not the city.

(smile!)

Its heyday was in the 1940's and 1950's, hence the reason for the physicist's interest, as he watched old TV shows from that time.

Speaking of him, he told me that Buddhists are now taking over those old resorts.

They're nice and isolated, so they're a good place for meditation outings.

I could see that being a thing!

He and I had a nice discussion during our dinner 

at Bonefish Grill.

He even reminded me of our visit in the parking lot

during the pandemic - very sweet!

Anyway, he's apparently on a fish kick, and I always 

enjoy seafood, so it was purr-fect.

(smile!)

I shared with him this delightful short I'd seen!

No, I didn't show him the actual video, right?

My phone doesn't do those kinds of tricks.

(smile!)

But I did describe in glowing detail "Zoe's Dumpling Crisis"!

I'd stumbled upon it by accident and found a youTube channel that features a new short film every month!

Yes, train has jumped the track, hasn't it?

(smile!) 

Where was I... oh, yes... Zoe and her battling babcias.

See, Zoe is a student at an international school and was tasked with bringing a dish from "her family's home country" to share with the class.

But therein lay the dilemma.

One parent was from Turkey; the other, from Russia.

So, which type of food should she make for school?

And of course both babcias wanted to help...

with the Turkish grandma insisting that Zoe take Manti...

and the Russian grandma determined she take Pelmeni...

whatever would the girl do?

I'll tell you what she did!

When the babcias weren't looking, she mixed together the container of Manti with the container of Pelmena and threw on little American flags for color!

The babcias didn't know until Zoe's Asian-Australian friend came by to pick her up and opened the container to see inside.

"Oh, you made dimsum!", he said!

Hahahaha!

Such a delightful ending!

Apparently, every country has their version of a dumpling...

just like so many have their version of a mint-infused cocktail...

meaning we have more things in common than we give credit.

(smile!)

He had a fun topic for  me, too!

He's going to a lecture by a Nobel Laureate on "background photons"...

which are also known as Cosmic Microwave Background...

which are remnants of the real Big Bang that formed the universe.

Pretty cool, right?

But here's the coolest part of all: remember the static that would appear on the old cathode-ray tube television screens when the TV station would sign off transmitting for the day?

That static was from the background photons all around us.

Hey, ask your grandma, she'll tell you about it, okay?

it was pretty cool science stuff...

(smile!)

bfe at sjcaf, but not sbhf35

"omG, g'friend! What's up with all the acronyms?"

The J-Dawg was with me tonight for the second event at the JEA for this year's 3rd annual Savannah Jewish Cultural Arts Festival! That's because they screened "Remembering Gene Wilder", a brand-new documentary. I do believe that is his favorite genre of movie!

"Documentaries are all they are showing this year, right?"

That's correct! I loved that this one had narration from Gene Wilder throughout much of it, as well as input from his friend Mel Blanc and from Richard Pryor's daughter. As well as discussing his movies and marriages, the film included his art and his books. Yes, that would be plural "books", though I had only ever read the one found in the bookmine during the pandemic. That had truly been a grand coincidence, a moment of right place, right time.

"Yes, I remember "What's Love Got To Do With It?" as one you savored during several mornings in the groove in the sunroom."

Most def! And here's how I knew I was in the right place, right time, on this chilly Thursday: the book was featured prominently on screen TWICE during the film. TWICE!!! As if I might have missed it the first time! (smile!)

"Sweet! And didn't you give that book to the physicist? Has he enjoyed it?"

Sadly, he has not had a chance to indulge. I get that. He's still working full-time, with lots of his would-be free time spent on the road twixt here and Statesboro. Plus, he and the 'Cole have a life, too. I know he'll bet a round tuit when he can.

"Hahahaha! I saw that pun you slipped in there!"

Thought that'd give you a giggle!

"It did! Now, what about the SBHF35? Did you go to one of those events today, too?"

Nope! I partook of that film festival from my abode! I meant to go to the "Shadows Of Immortality" talk by the grandson of Henrietta Lacks, but I was busy with little blondes that day. So, today, I pulled up "The Way Of All Flesh: Immortal HeLa Cells", an excellent 1977 documentary on youTube, of all places. That talked of the search for a cell line to use for research, with her cancerous uterine cells proving to be the first to not only live outside the body, but to thrive. In fact, those cells were so successful at survival that they were found to have contaminated all other cell lines that had been established twenty years later, all over the world. How was that scientific gaff discovered? Apparently, those cells from that black woman manufacture a protein that is -only- found in people of African descent. The other cell lines which had been founded, even those in Russia, were from Caucasians.

"Oh, my. That truly was a major mistake."

Indeed. To me, it was terrifying to think of how prolific those cancerous cells have been at persisting. Their prevalence all over the world made me wonder about their presence everywhere now. Have they contributed to the predominance of cancer as a cause of death? Can any cancerous tissue now be found to still make that protein that HeLa cells create?

"That is a disturbing thought. I do hope someone, somewhere, is studying that. They probably would not want to splash it about in the news, though. That could cause a panic."

Yes, I agree.

"So, you're calling that one youTube film a festival? Is that right?"

Actually, I'm just saying it's part of the SBHF35, which is a festival. But, now that you mention it, I have seen a film festival that ties in with that, too! All the films were from 2015 and all were part of the free streaming services Comcast had for this week. The Africa Channel gave me "Before The Border", a pretty good film about a college student recreating Harriet Tubman's journey to Canada, to win a bet, and some school funds, from a rich kid; that pitted black against black.

"That sounds like it was pretty good."

It was! Then I watched two courtesy of Brown Sugar, a streaming service from Bounce. "Lucky Number" was a lot of fun! A guy loses his job, his girlfriend, and his home due to bad choices. His mom makes him get a new phone, as his was held together by duct tape! But he ends up with the 'old' phone number of his favorite basketball star when he gets the new phone, and that leads to lots of swag for him and his two buddies - lol! Then things turn sour again when the basketball star finds out the guy has been taking advantage of his name. Really was very funny, and well made!

"Very cool! And the other film from Brown Sugar?"

That was "People Places Things" and was also very funny and well made! It featured an Australian comic as a 40-year-old, recently divorced, professor and father of twin girls, with his adventures in dating. The funniest part was when he took the girls camping!

"Hahaha! What a silly sap!"

Yeah, he was, but it all felt quite real and natural. I very much liked it.

"And those were all released in 2015?"

I know, right? What a coincidence! Right time, right place! Speaking of, it's time for me to turn the mattress pad on so I'll have a toasty bed. Bye, chica!"

"Sweet dreams!"

predisposition

Even before Tomasz gave us his list of curated films for Friday's Short Films Festival viewing, I was strongly considering ditching the event with CinemaSav.

No animated films were represented.

Not even one of the five.

Only one of the five documentaries nominated for an Oscar was on the list and I admit to being surprised at his choice, as it adds nothing new to the world.

Sigh.

White guilt.

I'm so tired of that weighing so heavily on his selections for us.

Does he not understand he's preaching to the choir?

Sigh.

 

This morning, after investigating the shorts we will be allowed to see out of the nominated fifteen, I have decided to attend anyway, as a voice of debate.

There's only one film I'm interested in and that's the one by Wes Anderson.

Partly that's because of the movie stars in it, but also because I enjoy Roald Dahl's books.

Plus, "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" has magic at its heart; who doesn't need a bit of that in their lives?

My prediction: this will be the final one in Tomasz's line-up, to leave us with a sweet taste.

(Yes, the pun is intentional!)

 

"The ABCs Of Book Banning" is a documentary due to be a waste of celluloid.

It's to be full of quotes from talking heads, probably of dead authors who have been gone decades before the internet took over children's minds as an information source.

I understand that Tomasz is an older person, but he's well-versed in using the worldwide web, so it's a mystery why he would choose to screen this outdated philosophy.

My prediction: this will serve as a fairly neutral filler between two of the three about death.

 

Did I say death?

Yes, because all three of the live-action selections are centered on death.

Death of an unborn, death of a teen, death of an older woman.

Sigh.

"Red, White, And Blue" is the first type of death, following a low-income woman as she drags her daughter across state lines in the USA in search of an abortion.

[If not for Rachel Snow, I doubt I would even consider this.]

"Invincible" features the second type of death in a quasi-documentary about a 14-year-old boy following in the 1991 footsteps of "Thelma & Louise", but choosing a river in Canada to hurl his car, and himself, into.

[This one is from 2022, so I don't understand how it was even nominated. ]

"Ridder Lykke", aka "Knight Of Fortune", is about two widowers making a connection at the morgue, over a song both wives had liked. 

[This Danish film is also from 2022. Why was it nominated for 2023?]

 

My prediction: "Knight Of Fortune" will likely be used as a filler to mute the other two from out minds, unless Tomasz missed that it's to have a happier tone at the end.

Given all the deaths of family and friends that I've had in the last fifteen years, I'm actually looking forward to this one.

As for the other two live-action ones Tomasz chose... meh.

I'll be glad when they're over, and just may take a walk down to the art gallery in the Savannah Cultural Arts Center instead of watch them.

I guess I'll see when that time comes, as I'm not a seer of the future...

I'm a seer of films.

(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!

christmas with the king, night 2

"Blue Christmas" was the title of tonight's concert, but it could have been dubbed "Rainy Christmas" just as well.

I snagged my seat up front - that would be AA-2 again! - and noticed the stage had been changed around.

Not just from last night, but from this afternoon!

The four columns were still in pairs to either side of the main stage, as they were for the matinee...

but the tree was over in the right corner...

and there was a karaoke-style screen set up front left.

How very curious!

That mystery was solved soon enough, though.

It was there to help out Jordan Poole!

All of these Christmas songs were new to him!

Well, he knew the choruses well, of course, but not all those lyrics in between.

Even two hours of cramming before the show had done naught to allay his qualms about "Jingle Bells" and "White Christmas" and "Walking In A Winter Wonderland".

Hence, the laptop on the stand as his cheat sheet.

To his credit, he tried to be mindful to not stare at it as he sang.

And even though it had been set up for his benefit, Austin Irby used the setup for a couple of solo songs, too (donning his glasses to do so).

As they explained, Christmas songs weren't usually fodder at the ETA concerts, so they only did these tunes once a year, if at all.

Taylor Rodriguez was the only one who knew all the verses, especially for all of the songs he sang, whether solo or as part of the "Three ETA Stooges" combo, as they repeatedly referred to themselves.

Taylor was the tech dude tonight, too, though he did have Austin monitor the board from time to time.

Here, Jordan, in the sparkly red jacket, keeps Taylor company on the sidelines as Austin takes a turn onstage and at the karaoke stand.

Mostly, though, they sang as a trio.

They would take turns being the lead on a song, with the other two as the background singers.

For some tunes, they took turns, each doing a verse before joining together on the refrain.

But don't think they didn't do plenty of solo numbers!

Austin did two beautiful songs I'd never heard, with one from 1983 by Amy Grant ("Tennessee Christmas") and one from 2019 by Keith Urban (I'll Be Your Santa Tonight").

Nope, Elvis never heard or sang either of those - he was already gone by the time either of them came out.

I liked all the classics: "Silver Bells", "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Feliz Navidad" - with Taylor tagged for a solo.

(smile!)

That song brought me back from the tears in my eyes from Taylor's heartfelt "I'll Be Home for Christmas"...

so beautifully done.

I don't know why it got to me this time, but it did.

I'm so thankful he followed that with the peppy Latin tune!

None of the other songs brought tears, not even "Christmas In Heaven", dedicated to Jordan's grandmother.

"Christmas In Dixie", "Run, Run, Rudolph", "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" - all are crowd pleasers and guaranteed to bring toe-tapping, not tears, and they did, too.

All in all, a very enjoyable time with these three young men!

And, after the show, I had my photo memento taken with them, in all their holiday finery!

Sweet dreams for me again!

(smile!)

christmas with the king, night 1

At long last, it was here!

Remember, I've had my three-day pass for this Christmas With The King festival since July -

that's a long time for me to wait for this birthday65 gift!

i thank You, God, that I bought the pass then, before the incident with the behemoth and the other struggle with Travelers about insurance.

Otherwise, I doubt I would have treated myself to this holiday vacation, birthday or no.

Again, i thank You, God!

 

The tickets were general admission, in a theatre that probably holds less than a hundred.

No worries, though - I snagged a front row seat!!!

In fact, my chair was directly opposite the tech station.

That means I had frequent access to Taylor Rodriguez!!!

I well remembered him from that trip to Las Vegas in 2018 -

what a fabulous birthday trip that had been!!!

I doubt if he remembered me from five years ago, but I certainly recalled him as the young Elvis Presley.

Tonight, he was serving as emcee and sound guy as well as ETA.

This was Tribute Festivals' second year with this show, having only two Elvis Tribute Artists part of it in 2023.

That put a lot of pressure on the two singers!

So, this time, they had a third fellow in the mix.

That's him on the right, Jordan Poole, just 22 years old, being interviewed by Taylor.

The show tonight was titled "Reflections On The King" and this segment was designed to give us some insight into why this young ETA had chosen this path.

I expected him to say his mom loved Elvis.

What a surprise to find out that it was his dad who was the big Elvis fan, it was his dad that shared the Elvis movies and music with him.

How very cool!

About thirty minutes later, Taylor asked the same question of Austin Irby.

Want to guess what his reply had been?

His dad was a big Elvis fan and they would watch the movies together and that's when Austin decided he wanted to be like Elvis.

As it turned out, that was Taylor's story, too!

Their fathers, not their mothers, had been the impetus behind them becoming ETAs. 

That was such a wonder to me!

But then I thought about a friend of mine.

This had reminded me of how much Mister Willie had loved Elvis, of him singing Elvis' songs to me during slow moments at Grayson Stadium.

"Forever Young And Beautiful" had been one of those songs, as well as "Don't Be Cruel".

Good times!

These were good times as well!

No one sang those two songs, but they did plenty of others, either solo or together, accompanied by the "band" on Taylor's laptop!

James Taylor's "Steamroller" ran over the stage and we all got to sing along with Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline", though I have to admit to a special place in my heart for "A Little Less Conversation"!

They also covered some of Elvis' most well-known: "The Wonder Of You", "You Gave Me A Mountain", "He Touched Me".

The trio even finished up with "Viva Las Vegas"!!!

I took that to be especially for me, of course.

(smile!)

But what I really liked were the songs that I didn't know.

Each of them did one of those, and all three were sad songs about the girl that got away.

So very nice!

Plus, there was my knock-knock joke.

There was a technical glitch and Taylor said, "Does anyone know a joke?"

So of course I piped up... and poor Jordan got caught in the middle.

"Knock knock," I asked him.

"Who's there?" he responded correctly.

"Banana," I said, followed by his "Banana who?"

I then immediately said "Knock knock" and flustered him.

He got even more flustered when I again said, "Banana" in response to his "Who's there?"

It took a couple of tries before Taylor stepped in.

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Banana."

"Banana who?"

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Banana." 

"Banana who?"

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Orange."

"Orange who?"

"Orange you glad I didn't say banana again?"

Hahahaha!!! Hahaha!!!

That was great fun!

 

After the show, all who wanted to got to have photos taken with the boys.

I made sure to talk with each one, too!

I told Austin how impressed I had been with him ever since the 2013 Georgia Elvis Festival and his leg movements in those black and white shoes!

He smiled that I remembered his shoes.

(smile!)

I spoke with Taylor about how much I had enjoyed him at the Las Vegas Elvis Festival in 2018 when he was just 20.

He'll be 26 in another two weeks.

(smile!)

And I joked around with Jordan, kidding him about not knowing that elementary school joke.

Maybe kids in Sylvester, GA, don't tell those?

Maybe!

(smile!)

What a wonderful evening I had with them!

No wonder I have such a big smile on my face, with Austin held by my right arm, Taylor by my left arm, and Jordan right there with us!

I'll have sweet dreams tonight at the Sleep Inn!

(smile!)

hey! i've been on this street before!

I had arrived early to downtown Brunswick; in fact, I was there more than three hours before the first event of the "Christmas With The King" three-day festival.

Of course, part of the reason for the early arrival was not wanting to drive somewhere new in the dark and part of the reason was the real possibility of getting lost.

As it was, I arrived without mishap and found a choice spot to park, even getting permission to stay in that block during the upcoming First Friday Festival.

Oh, very nice - a bonus event, and it was free!

Even the parking was free!!!

So I passed the time walking up and down on Newcastle Street, from one end to the other, mostly checking out the food trucks and trying to decide what dinner I wanted.

Some of the restaurants sounded familiar, but I passed that off until I saw the sign: Ritz.

Holy cow, I know this street!!!

That theatre is the location for the three Georgia Elvis Festivals that I've attended, and I've eaten in those places passed along the way!

Feeling much more sure of myself, I was ready to eat.

After two more walks along the six blocks, checking out the food trucks scattered along the way, I ended up at the place I'd first chosen: Papa's Backyard BBQ.

Ten bucks for a grilled sausage, beans, and a soda?

Definitely the best deal on the street - and tasty, too!

Plus, I was treated to some fine music as I ate.

A woman I'd met earlier in Jekyll Square, while we both munched on free popcorn, had told me the local band tuning up was really good.

By the time I sat to eat, the Squirtguns were playing and what they specialized in was 80's rock - woohoo!

I even danced a little bit for "I Am Superman", "Talk Dirty To Me", and "Money For Nothing" - superb!!!

I certainly got my motor running with them!

Now, to move along to the Brunswick Actors Theatre and check in for my evening with Elvis!!!

What a great birthday65 vacation this has already been... and it's only going to get better!

Woohoo!!!

first-ever SJCAF!

And, now, it has come to an end, on a rainy Thursday afternoon.

I missed the very start of it, but that's because the newsletter had not arrived in time.

(Thanks, Adam, for keeping me on the newsletter mailing list all these years!)

By the time the Savannah Jewish Educational Alliance news arrived, it was already March 8th and the Savannah Jewish Cultural Arts Festival was beginning its second week!

I had immediately contacted mi amiga Barbara, thinking that surely Sandy had told her.

Nope, Boo didn't have a clue!

As good fortune would have it, one of the movies was playing that very night.

Even better, the student she was to tutor that evening had canceled on her.

Would I like for her to pick me up and take me to the JEA for the film?

Why, yes, very much so!

And off we had gone to "Greener Pastures"!

I know, it sounds like some idyllic romp in the country...

but, that's not it at all.

A widower is living in a state-run senior center, after losing his pension to employer mismanagement of the fund, and also losing his house.

But his legal-eagle daughter-in-law starts a seed in his mind: sell the state-allotted marijuana to the public, then take the money to buy back his house.

He even gets others who are 75+ to chip in their free packages of cannabis and soon has a smokin' hot business!

Well, until a rowdy cop sniffs them out!

Hahahaha! Hahaha!

(Like those puns? I couldn't resist!)

She and I had both liked it very much, and we had agreed: this was not a film that would have been shown in the Savannah Jewish Film Festivals of past years.

Then again, that's not what the JEA was presenting for 2022.

For their first SJCAF, films were only part of the entertainment!

The comedy show, some cooking classes, a concert, some meals: all played a role, along with the films, to entertain, to educate, and to enlighten.

Barbara and I agreed to meet for the Thursday afternoon matinee.

This time, I drove myself, as I wanted to be there for the noon30 lunch - salmon, potatoes, and sauteed asparagus! 

I was the only local at a table full of transplants, mostly from Chicago, so the chat was mostly about real estate. 

Along with the conversation, there was a very nice salad, plus apple strudel for dessert!

The reason for the German pastry became obvious at movie time... "Schönes Schlamassel", was that day's screening, and the German title translates to "A Fine Mess"... and so it was!

He loves her, but she only loves guys who are Jewish, mostly due to misplaced guilt from something her family had done during WWII, so he pretends to be Jewish.

Meanwhile, his friend loves her friend, but she loves a married man who has been stringing her along for years.

It's all fun and games until someone gets pregnant!

Yes, indeed, quite a fine mess!

Barbara had enjoyed that one, too!

She only made it to one more with me, on the 15th.

(That was another Tuesday, as it happens, so that tutoring job has issues.)

This movie was one of the few with a familiar name in it: Ed Asner!

In "Tiger Within", he was a Holocaust survivor who stumbles upon a homeless teen with a swastika on the back of her jacket.

He had just visited his wife's grave and, for her sake, he decided to try to help the girl.

Good movie, but the most surprising aspect was the discovery that punk rock has made a comeback, after forty years gone!

Amazing!

The lemon chicken dinner before the screening was pretty amazing, too!

(smile!)

So, there was a brief hiatus while St. Patrick's Day took over the rest of the week.

It would be another Tuesday before another dinner and movie.

But I didn't go alone!

The physicist came along with me!

And we dined on New York-style deli sandwiches (meaning rye bread, a mound of corned beef, shaved lettuce, mustard, and dill pickle spears), homemade potato chips, a cucumber-tomato salad, and chocolate chip cookies - my treat!

The we watched an art-house movie, featuring seven or eight characters that sang about their interaction with the Jew who broke the banks in 2008.

"A Kaddish For Bernie Madoff" was the filmed version of the musical the artist had been performing for about five years at the time, based on her artist residency on Wall Street during that tumultuous time.

Why had she been so taken with the story?

The man looked like her father, with his kind eyes.

It was just that simple: a Jew who looked like he could be related to her, also a Jew, and who had preyed on Jews.

And after the movie, after the artist had gotten the requisite number (ten) of fellow artists to sing kaddish with her for the excommunication of this man who had disgraced his race, after the credits began to roll, something different happened.

No one clapped.

Not one single person.

Nor did folks linger behind to talk a little after the movie.

That was definitely something different.

The bfe and I talked about it in the car, and I impressed upon him how different these films were from the usual fare at these particular film festivals.

Then, again, this isn't the SJFF; it's the inaugural SJCAF.

Perhaps, in order to show a wider scope of Jewish life - the cannabis-smoking pensioners, the shiksa dating only Jews, the swastika-wearing punk rocker, and this musical centered on a money-grubbing Jew - the name change of the festival was needed.

I know it ended back on an even keel with the old format.

(Trust me, that's an inside joke; you'll have to watch the film.)

"1618" answered the question about the lack of Jewish culture in Portugal.

Set in a harbor town in the northern part of that country, it showed that those who were still Jewish by birth (i.e., born of Jewish mothers) were now "new Christians", being careful to hide any vestiges of their heritage.

Then a representative of the Pope comes to town, seeking to rid it of any people who were still keeping their Jewish names and driving a wedge between the tradespeople and the mayor, as well as the Catholic church.

I didn't know anyone except Lonnie this time around.

Matinee movies don't work for working folks!

But that meant I had another good lunch - always such a very good deal at just $7!

This time, it was meatloaf that would have rivaled my velvety version, with a most generous serving of three pieces!

Yes, I ate every one of them, too!

I ate all of the roasted potatoes, as well, and each and every green bean!

How wonderful to have a meal I didn't make!

Plus, thanks to Vera and Jim and Penny, I was able to trot out the story of my name, as well as give a plug for travel to Rome.

(smile!)

That was while we all waited to see what dessert was forthcoming.

Cookies? Cake? Pastry?

None of those baked goods.

Fresh pineapple, fresh and tart oranges, fresh cantaloupe.... oh.

Good, but... not quite "wow".

Good meal and good company, though, so that's what mattered!

(smile!)