#Dorsey theater

[luckilyiris]

DORSET — The story goes something like this: Famous Hollywood Guy and Wallingford resident accepts a gig at Dorset Theatre Festival to take on a play written by famous Hollywood writer/producer and playwright Theresa Rebeck, who mostly makes her home in Dorset.

Famous Guy does great job in the play, shakes my hand and exchanges a pleasantry on opening night, then carries on. Few years pass by and Famous Guy liked the Dorset gig so much – as well as the short commute down Route 7A — that he comes back, with more handshakes in passing and expressions of gratitude after the opener.

Then, Famous Guy comes back yet again, this time to team up for the first time on stage with his Famous Sister. Clearly, Dorset Theatre Festival was becoming like a second home to his Wallingford farm.

On that second go, however, I finally landed an interview with Famous Guy, but as luck would have it he had to go back and forth to Los Angeles for multiple commitments and engagements. So, a PR deal is reached by third parties, much of it is facilitated by Famous Guy himself.

When I was told of the latest delay, apparently someone at Dorset Theatre Festival made mention to Famous Guy that this ever-deferred sit-down was with a local journalist, and apparently, this former Dorset staffer told me: “When Tim heard you were a Vermont guy, he asked for your cell number and arranged to call you on X day at Y time. No problem.”

There, the cat’s out of the bag: Famous Guy is, of course, Tim Daly, who next week, along with the very talented Jayne Atkinson, will open Dorset Theatre Festival’s second show of its 2023 season, the world premiere of Lia Romero’s “Still.”

The play itself is about Helen and Mark, who were a couple but broke up, yet never forgot each other. They meet for dinner to catch up, the spark is there again, but this time Mark is running for Congress, and Helen has a secret that could gum up the works. Lost love gets a re-look in this comedy about getting older, political divides, and the road not taken.

In short, it is a play tailor-made for leading man Daly, who showed me some years ago that while having cut his early teeth on sitcoms such as “Wings,” and being blessed with obvious good looks, he really is anything but a pretty face: putting aside his fame and success, Daly is very serious about the cerebral aspects of acting.

So getting back to that phone call: Daly calls me pretty much on the promised time hack, but then within a few minutes of just initial small talk about his Vermont farm, he interrupts me: “Telly, a call is coming in that I absolutely have to take, so here’s my personal cell number, and give me a call back in 15 minutes.”

That really struck me. Famous guys in Hollywood do not give out their unlisted digits. But Daly did not hesitate, as he explained later, simply because I was, after all, a Vermont guy like him.

Our conversation that afternoon was one of the most intellectually honest talks I ever had with such a high profile actor. Daly spoke fondly of his time at Bennington College, and extensively of his love for live performance and how the presence of an audience strips away the veneer of fame. It exposes, he explained, an actor in ways does not happen in TV or the movies with their endless takes on one scene until getting it right.

Tim emphasized to me that the live audience made all the difference, and was very blunt in telling me how Dorset, and presumably other local professional stages like it – Weston, Oldcastle, and even tiny Living Room Theatre in North Bennington with its defunct swimming pool for a stage — has allowed him to return to his roots as an actor.

This offered Daly an absence of presumption and a visceral connection to lovers of the stage, he said.

“In New York, you can almost predict the moments of applause with audience members who have The New York Times review tucked under their arms,” Daly told me. “At Dorset, the connection to the audience is much more direct, as if you’re having a personal dialogue with them all evening. It’s both refreshing and liberating for an artist.”

He also was very quick to add: “And that’s all on the record, Telly; you make sure to print it!”

Cynics, of course, will argue that someone as accomplished and materially successful as Daly can afford to be so frank later in his career than he might have been earlier on. Fair enough.

But you could hear the emotion in his voice, and this was no act. That moment for me was one reason to keep going back and catching Daly on stage whenever I could, whether locally, or elsewhere.

Besides, this is one Famous Guy who doesn’t have to drive that far from Wallingford to show you what he’s got.

Telly Halkias is a national award-winning freelance journalist and the secretary of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC). Email: tchalkias@aol.com Twitter: @TellyHalkias

[omgthatdress]

Historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has called the Harlem Renaissance "As gay as it was Black."

With the convergence of the great migration and the jazz age, Harlem became a new center of cultural life for African-Americans. It brought together Black artists in a way that had never been seen before and saw an abundance of new music, theater literature, and art.

Chief among the new art being created there, of course, was drag.

While drag houses and drag balls had previously been put together by the likes of William Dorsey Swann, they reached a level of unprecedented vibrancy and popularity in Harlem in the 1920s. Famed poet Langston Hughes called them "The strangest and gaudiest of all of Harlem's spectacles."

The most celebrated of these balls was the one organized by the fraternal organization The Society of Odd Fellows at the Hamilton Lodge.

As told by writer George Chauncey in an article for Columbia News, "After I published Gay New York I met a gentleman who grew up in Harlem whose parents would dress up to go to what they called the “faggots’ ball,” and come home and talk about how fine this one looked, and how wonderful it was. He said, "My mother was a very ladylike lady. She was a very prominent woman in Harlem society. This is just something you did.""

[citizenscreen]

On Feb. 2, 1940, Frank Sinatra debuted as the singer with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra at the Lyric Theater in Indianapolis, Indiana. #OnThisDay

[missellafitz]

Ella Fitzgerald & Frank Sinatra: Voices of America

Inside Ella and Sinatra’s remarkable similarities and essential divergences

Most fans of American jazz and pop vocalists would agree that Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra were the undisputed champs of their era. But in 1959, both at the height of their artistic prowess, Sinatra ceded the top spot, admitting, “Ella Fitzgerald is the only performer with whom I’ve ever worked who made me nervous. Because I try to work up to what she does. You know, try to pull myself up to that height, because I believe she is the greatest popular singer in the world, barring none—male or female.” The feeling was mutual, and they duetted on several high-profile occasions. Fitzgerald adored Sinatra, deeply respected his talent and, given her natural humility, would never have claimed superiority.

The career arcs of these two giants were eerily similar, beginning with their rough-and-tumble adolescences. Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Va., in 1917 but raised in Yonkers, as the crow flies about 15 miles north of Sinatra’s hometown, Hoboken, N.J. Sinatra, born in 1915, was expelled from high school due to misbehavior. Fitzgerald was early on an excellent student, but she began cutting class following her mother’s death in 1932 and was eventually sent to an orphanage and a reform school. He got his big break on Major Bowes’ Amateur Hour radio show in 1935. In November of ’34, Fitzgerald had ignited her career by winning top Amateur Night honors at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, famously aborting her planned hoofer routine when the preceding dance act proved too polished. Instead she sang, choosing Hoagy Carmichael’s “Judy,” whose lyric included the prescient notion “In a hundred ways/You’ll be shouting her praise.”

Before simultaneously launching solo careers in 1942, both were band singers, Sinatra with Harry James then Tommy Dorsey, Fitzgerald with Chick Webb’s hard-swinging orchestra, which she fronted after Webb’s death in 1939. In the wake of correspondingly serious lulls in the early 1950s, both navigated resurgences that lifted them to iconic heights, precipitated by strategic label changes: Sinatra moved from Columbia to Capitol; Fitzgerald transitioned from Decca to producer Norman Granz’s newly minted Verve. Both fought for good songs and, despite plenty of dross in their enormous catalogs, remain the definitive interpreters of the Great American Songbook. They continued to perform into their 70s. Their deaths, like their births, arrived less than two years apart. Fitzgerald passed first, in 1996, due to prolonged complications from diabetes. Sinatra succumbed to a heart attack in May of ’98.

Yet despite the remarkable parallels, Fitzgerald and Sinatra were fundamentally different as singers and as public figures. He sang for, and about, himself; she sang for others. As the New York Times noted in its Fitzgerald obituary, “Where [Billie] Holiday and Frank Sinatra lived out the dramas they sang about, Miss Fitzgerald, viewing them from afar, seemed to understand and forgive all.” Sinatra’s life was an open book; hers was, by and large, a blank page. Her life, though fraught with hardships and heartache, existed almost exclusively for the music and the joy of satisfying listeners. And despite incomparable success—she was the first African-American woman to win a Grammy, and has more performances in the Grammy Hall of Fame than any other female artist—Fitzgerald forever maintained a demure, often self-effacing modesty, coupled with a shyness propelled by a constant fear of appearing inarticulate.Ella Fitzgerald, c. 1935 (c/o Universal)

During a celebrity-packed salute at New York’s Basin Street East in 1954, she acknowledged a slew of accolades by quietly stating, “To know that you love me for my singing is too much for me. Forgive me if I don’t have all the words. Maybe I can sing it and you’ll understand.” Three and a half decades later, when accepting the Society of Singers’ inaugural lifetime achievement award, named in her honor, she softly observed, “I don’t want to say the wrong thing, which I always do; but I think I do better when I sing.” We remember Sinatra—to whom she presented the Society’s second annual “Ella” award—as much for the fisticuffs and high-flying revelry as for the Voice. Fitzgerald we revere exclusively for the immensity of her musical skills and the intrinsic, altruistic warmth that helped define them.

[reasoningdaily]

The First Self-Proclaimed Drag Queen Was a Formerly Enslaved Man

In the late 19th century, William Dorsey Swann’s private balls attracted unwelcome attention from authorities and the press

In the late 1880s, a formerly enslaved man named William Dorsey Swann started hosting private balls known as drags, a name possibly derived from “grand rag,” an antiquated term for masquerade balls. Held in secret in Washington, D.C., these parties soon caught authorities’ attention.

As the Washington Criticreported in January 1887, police officers who raided one such gathering were surprised to encounter six Black men “dressed in elegant female attire,” including “corsets, bustles, long hose and slippers.” The following April, the Evening Starreported on a raid that targeted men in “female attire of many colors,” as well as “gaudy costumes of silk and satin.” On both occasions, authorities arrested the party guests and charged them with “being suspicious characters.”

Joseph’s chance find marked the beginning of a yearslong quest to uncover Swann’s story—and, with it, the history of drag in the United States. He chronicles the results of this research in an upcoming book titled House of Swann: Where Slaves Became Queens—and Changed the World. Drawing on extensive archival research, Joseph presents a compelling portrait of the nation’s first self-proclaimed drag queen. The historian proudly positions Swann as the “first queer American hero.”

The identification of Swann as the first reported drag queen in the U.S. is a “major event,” says Jen Manion, a historian at Amherst College. “LGTBQ history is hampered by the lack of diaries and personal letters and family papers, because you just don’t put [those feelings] in writing.” For much of recorded history, Manion adds, being gay or bisexual was considered “a sin; it’s illegal.”

Joseph says his research resurfaces the “experiences of queer people, … historical experiences, not fictionalized experiences, documenting them rather than speculating.” These findings, in turn, helped him pinpoint the birth of “the drag queen.”

The concept of drag “existed for some period of time unknown,” says Joseph. But the term only came into use in 19th-century Great Britain, where Joseph says it referred to “a gathering of people, particularly men, who were dressing as women.” In 1871, two members of the British aristocracy were put on trial after they were caught dressing as women in public. Authorities charged Ernest “Stella” Boulton and Frederick “Fanny” Park with “conspiring and inciting persons to commit an unnatural offense.” A jury found the defendants not guilty but handed down a minor indictment to the men for wearing women’s clothing.

Cross-dressing, which is often a component of drag, has a lengthy history on both the stage and the screen, from Elizabethan-era performances in which men played women to Japanese Kabuki theater. In the early 20th century, performers like Julian Eltinge became stars by impersonating women during the vaudeville craze. In the 1950s, Milton Berle dressed as a woman on his variety TV show, as did comedian Flip Wilson in the early 1970s. In the early 1980s, the sitcom “Bosom Buddies” starred Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari as two young men who disguise themselves as women so they can live in an inexpensive, women-only apartment building.

Historian Kathleen Casey, author of The Prettiest Girl on Stage Is a Man: Race and Gender Benders in American Vaudeville, takes a much wider view of drag. While she includes all manner of cross-dressing performances in her definition, she doesn’t think there will ever be “a stable meaning of the term ‘drag.’” Casey adds, “Drag is about race, class and sexuality as much as it is about gender. If we focus exclusively on only one of these intersections, we fail to see how drag performances are layered across time and space and can have multiple meanings for different audiences.” Drag, she says, is really about a performer’s own perspective of their work, as well as audiences’ understanding of this work.

Many of the “contemporary categories and terms that we use in modern life to describe LGBTQ people or sexual and gender minorities” date to the late 19th century, says Manion. “Lesbian,” for instance, was first used in a medical journal in 1883. The historian adds, “We debate amongst ourselves as scholars when it seems appropriate to use contemporary terms to describe things [in] the past, but in this case, these were terms used by … the people at the time as well.”

Swann was born into slavery in Washington County, Maryland, around 1858. According to a 2021 entry by Joseph in the African American National Biography, Swann was the fifth of 13 children born to enslaved housekeeper Mary Jane Younker and enslaved wheat farmer and musician Andrew Jackson “Jack” Swann. (His biological father may have been a white man, but Joseph hasn’t found definitive evidence confirming this theory.) After the Civil War ended in 1865, Swann’s parents bought a plot of land and started a farm. Encouraged to work as soon as he was old enough, the young Swann found employment as a hotel waiter. In 1880, he relocated to Washington, where he worked as a janitor and sent money back home to his family.

Like Washington more broadly, the capital’s underground queer networks were divided into white and Black communities that rarely intersected. As a 2019 report prepared for the city’s Historic Preservation Office notes, “It was a hushed fact that Lafayette Square in D.C., which is adjacent to the White House, was a known cruising spot for gay men, both Black and white,” but the majority of these individuals were only interested in liaisons with partners of the same race. An exception to this trend was Washington’s drag scene, which often attracted mixed-race audiences.

Forging a place for himself in the city’s queer Black community, Swann held parties that Joseph deems the first documented “drag balls” in American history. Held in secret, they provided a safe space for gender expression but were risky to attend. “A large but undetermined number managed to flee during the police raids, but the names of those arrested and jailed were printed in the papers, where the men became targets of public scorn,” wrote Joseph for the Nation in 2020. “In post-Civil War America, there was very little patience for men who subverted gender norms.” Sentences for those charged with attending drag balls ranged from around three to ten months.

Around this same time, Swann became enthralled by the “queens of freedom” crowned at Washington’s Emancipation Day parades—annual celebrations first held in April 1866. Historically, each neighborhood was represented by a woman who “personified freedom for Black people,” according to Joseph. Inspired by these queens, Swann started crowning the winners of his dance competitions the “queen of the ball,” says Joseph.

Swann also adopted the title for himself. As the Washington Critic noted on April 13, 1888, “William Dorsey, who, by the way, was the ‘queen,’” was one of 13 people arrested during a raid on a “drag party” the previous night.

“There’s this concept of drag, which is separate, and there’s the concept of queens of freedom, and in D.C. in this particular time, post-slavery, post-Reconstruction, these two concepts collide,” says Joseph. “To identify as a drag queen, which is what William Dorsey Swann did, is combining these two strains, these two cultural traditions.”

The 1880s saw a “wave of laws passed in cities all across the country explicitly banning cross-dressing,” says Manion, who adds that the rules were “applied very selectively” and were riddled with inconsistencies and contradictions. The arrests of Swann and his friends were “even more sensationalized in the press and probably drew the attention of authorities because most of the participants were Black,” Manion explains. “And this is in Jim Crow America. For queer … Black Americans to just see so much joy and freedom in their gender expression at this time was definitely seen as a threat.”

The court sentenced Swann to 300 days in prison. After serving three months of his sentence, Swann, who had pled not guilty, filed a petition for a pardon from President Grover Cleveland, says Netisha Currie, an archives specialist at the National Archives, which houses a copy of the petition. In a show of support, 30 of Swann’s friends signed the document. But U.S. Attorney A.A. Birney argued vehemently against the pardon, stating,“The prisoner was in fact convicted of the most horrible and disgusting offenses known to the law; an offense so disgusting that it is unnamed. … His evil example in the community must have been most corrupting.”

Ultimately, Cleveland denied the petition. Still, wrote Joseph for the Nation, Swann’s unsuccessful attempt to clear his name represents the earliest documented example of an American activist taking “specific legal and political steps to defend the queer community’s right to gather without the threat of criminalization, suppression or police violence.”

As Manion says, “What’s unique about [Joseph’s] work is that it captures a collective community. When we have been able to identify queer and trans figures in this era and earlier, we find them in isolation. And we can seldom connect the dots to say, ‘Oh, these two couples were friends. They always hung out.’ … We have very little evidence of collective socializing.”

No known pictures of Swann survive. But his contributions to queer activism in Washington will soon be recognized with the redesignation of a stretch of Swann Street Northwest in his honor. The street was originally named for Thomas Swann, a former Maryland governor and Baltimore mayor who bore no relation to the drag queen.

“We have seen so much anti-trans and anti-drag legislation and rhetoric around the country in a very problematic way,” says Brooke Pinto, a D.C. Council member who introduced the bill. “In Washington, D.C., where we are proud to have so many trans residents, we [need to] speak up and recognize, sometimes through symbolism, sometimes through legislation, how important these issues are.”

The bill also calls for a historic plaque to be posted in Dupont Circle, a Washington neighborhood with a rich LGBTQ history. The plaque will sit at the corner of New Hampshire Avenue, Swann Street Northwest and 17th Street Northwest.

“One of the things that’s so exciting about this case is that it is an African American man who was formerly enslaved,” says Manion. Such individuals “just don’t get … recognition in our histories of LGBTQ people, in part because we usually can’t find them in the archives. But … Swann was hiding in plain sight.”

[strangerobsession]

Queen of Freaks

Once upon a time, when my mother was in high school, she and all her nerd friends got a band kid voted prom king because they were all tired of the same kids winning every year. I present to you; my version of those events in the Stranger Things universe.

April Jenkins OC Bio

Masterlist

Warnings: Swearing, kinda bullying... more like a petty revenge screw over, slight angst, hurt comfort, minor implications of homophobia, happy ending

Word Count: 3,042

Summery: April wants to see a freak voted prom queen, so she decides to take matters in her own hands and run. Eddie enthusiastically champions her campaign.

“Prom queen?” Eddie asked incredulously. “Who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?”

April rolled her eyes, holding her hand out. Eddie obediently ripped a piece of masking tape off the roll around his wrist and stuck it to her finger.

“It’s a protest,” She insisted, taping a corner of the poster to the wall, and holding out her hand for more tape.

“A protest of what?” Eddie asked as he obliged her.

“It’s the same kids every year that win.” April glowered at the wall as she smoothed her poster out. “It’s the same rich popular kids every year that get voted king and queen. It’s stupid and I’m sick of it.”

“So you’re running out of spite?”

“Yes. Also, I’d like to see one of us on the prom court for once.” She turned to face Eddie, hand planted on her hips. “I figure if I round up all the nerds and freaks I could have enough numbers to overpower the popular kids. There are more theater kids, band kids, art kids, book nerds, and other various outcasts than there are people who are generally liked.”

“And almost all of them don’t give a single damn about prom court anyway,” Eddie said slowly, April’s plan suddenly dawning on him. “If you got word around, they’d probably all vote for you just because they don’t know or care about any of the other kids running.”

“Exactly!” She jumped once and clapped. “And I’ve already got my theater and chorus friends on my team. I just need to get word around to the rest of the losers.”

“Say no more, babe.” Eddie wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked down the hall. “You've got the might of Hellfire on your side. We’ll spread this shit like it’s the gospel.”

“Really? You wanna help?”

“Of course I do, you’re my girl.” He pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Also, you’re totally right. I would love to see a freak become prom queen.”

. . .

Eddie didn’t really have friends outside of Hellfire, but he was familiar with the rest of his kind: the losers. He sold weed to a few of the band kids, chatted with a girl in English class about Lord of the Rings, and sat by a boy in woodshop who had similar tastes in music. 

He definitely wouldn’t call any of them friends, acquaintances was a more apt term. Now however, they were connections.

He casually mentioned April running for prom queen during his deals with the band kids, all of whom agreed to vote for her, and spread the word to all their friends. Cynthia, the book nerd, enthusiastically agreed to vote for April and to encourage all her other friends to vote too, remarking that she barely knew a thing about any of the others who were running. Scott from woodshop had shrugged, with a “I had no idea who to vote for anyway.”

“The little-known fact of us freaks, is that though we may be divided into factions, we can all come together when we need to.” Eddie proudly proclaimed during lunch.

Every member of Hellfire had gotten on the bandwagon, getting word to just about anyone who would remotely listen. They even championed Mark Dorsey, one of April’s friends from theater who’s agreed to run as her prom king. (Eddie wouldn’t have touched the title with a ten-foot pole. He liked Mark, and enthusiastically endorsed him.)

There was no way to tally any sense of vote before the voting actually occurred, but word on the street was that April and Mark seemed to be miles ahead of anyone else. Eddie was abnormally excited about participating in a school function- he even asked April to prom by getting down on one knee and presenting a plastic rhinestone tiara to her. He was happy and giddy for days on end.

Until he wasn’t.

Maybe it was some pathetically spiteful sense of payback that made him do it. Perhaps the idea that he and his girlfriend would lose to a pair of freaks was too much. Whatever the reason, Jason Carver, junior, star basketball player, and prospective prom king decided to have it out for Eddie.

Everyone knew he sold drugs. Everyone. It was an unspoken agreement that Eddie wasn’t to be ratted out. But Jason Carver decided to bust him despite this.

Eddie was suspended for the rest of the year, but he was assured he'd be allowed back the next year to finally graduate.

Suddenly, prom was the furthest from April’s mind. Eddie wouldn’t be able to take his final exams. He wouldn’t be able to graduate with her. Eddie, who had studied and worked his ass off so they could walk that stage together. Eddie, who’d proudly told her that ‘85 would be their year.

Eddie, who was now disallowed from any and all school functions until August.

Including prom.

“I don’t wanna go anymore,” April murmured against Eddie’s chest one night.

“Hmm?” Eddie glanced down at her, eyes glassy as he took a cigarette out of his lips.

“Prom,” She elaborated. “I don’t wanna do it anymore.”

“But you’re gonna win queen, babe.”

“We don’t know that.”

“We kinda do. You’ve got more than half the school on your side.”

“I don’t wanna go without you.” April’s voice broke, and a single tear slipped down her face. “You were supposed to be there to rub it in everyone’s stupid faces when I won. You were supposed to flip off Principal Higgins when you got your diploma. You were supposed to get out of here. This was supposed to be our year.” Her tears streamed faster. “You were supposed to graduate, Eddie! It’s not fair.”

He snuffed the cigarette out in the ashtray next to his bed and held April, guiding her face to his shoulder with a gentle hand on the back of her head. He cried with her, clutching her as he sniffled. 

“I know, baby. I know.”

“You don’t get it.” She sobbed. “It’s my fault. Jason knew Mark and I were beating him and Chrissy. He knows we’re gonna win. If I’d never ran-”

“Then you wouldn’t get to give Hawkins High the middle finger it needs.” Eddie wiped his eyes, pulling April back to meet her gaze. “It sucks. It sucks that we can’t graduate together. Jason Carver sucks. But you know what? He’s fucked himself. ‘Cause now he has to deal with me for another year, and I’m gonna make his life a living hell.”

April laughed weakly, a choked sob cutting through it. “The middle finger was supposed to be your thing, love.”

“Yeah, so now you gotta do it for me. Go to that stupid dance, win that stupid popularity contest, and rub it in Jason Carver’s stupid fucking face.” Eddie kissed her fingers, then the back of her hand, her wrist, her elbow, and all the way up to her shoulder. “You and Mark have to avenge me.”

“We’ll wipe the goddamn floor with him.” April agreed, determination shining through her wet eyes.

“That’s my girl,” Eddie cooed, kissing her brow. 

. . .

Eddie had driven her to prom. He’d met her at her house, marveled at her dress, taken all the pictures with her, then dropped her off with a kiss goodbye.

He never thought he’d be disappointed not to attend a school dance, but there he was: staring longingly at his girlfriend in the most queenly outfit he'd ever seen her in.

April wore a blue floor-length dress that seemed to flow off her like water with the silly plastic tiara Eddie had gotten her sparkling on her head. She wore two rings; a snake coiled around her finger that Eddie had bought her for her birthday, and one of his own rings that she’d taken months ago while he pretended not to notice. It was shaped like vampire fangs wrapped around her finger.

“I let you steal that, you know.” He remarked, bringing her fingers to his lips and kissing the ring as he helped her out of the van. 

“I know. I wasn’t trying to be sneaky about it.”

Eddie drew his hands up her arms to settle on the sides of her face. “I wish I could go in there with you,” He admitted quietly. “watch you kick Carver’s ass.”

“I’ll describe it to you in vivid detail.” April promised, kissing him quickly. “He’ll be nothing but a stain on the floor when I’m done with him.”

“Aw, c’mon.” He sniggered against her. “You’ve gotta at least leave some part of him intact. Who else will I torture next year?”

“Not his girlfriend.” April said firmly. “Chrissy seems nice. I overheard her scolding Jason for ratting you out the other day.”

“Huh, really? I’ll be damned.”

“Yeah. She seems way too sweet for him.”

“She shall be spared, then.” Eddie proclaimed magnanimously, bowing deeply to April.

She laughed, pulling his back up to full height. She kissed him again. “I’m gonna go. See you in a few hours?”

“Yeah,” He murmured, squeezing her one last time before letting go. “Knock ‘em dead, hot stuff.”

She walked away backwards, blowing him kisses before she turned around and disappeared into the gym. Eddie watched her go, a melancholy smile on his face. He didn’t see the other students around him, watching and whispering as they filed in as well. He only saw her.

. . .

“Well this is slightly less fun than I’d thought it’d be.” Mark announced, plopping down in the folding chair next to April. “I might leave after the vote is announced.”

“Me too,” She sighed, leaning back with a groan. “God, I wish Eddie were here.”

“Jason Carver is an asshole.” Mark decided. 

“He sure is.” April agreed. "We've gotta take him down."

"Can't let Eddie's sacrifice be in vain."

"Exactly."

Mark was quiet for a minute. “I wish I could dance with my boyfriend.” He said carefully. 

April turned to face him fully. “You have a boyfriend?”

“Jamie.” He nodded, naming another theater kid.

“Jamie? Oh I should’ve known.” April laughed. “You two have been making googly eyes at each other since last year!”

“Yeah.” Mark laughed quietly, relief quickly spreading through his body as he relaxed into the plastic chair. “He’s here, but we don’t wanna dance or anything ‘cause…. Well you know.”

“Yeah.” April echoed, resting her face in her hand. “And here I am complaining about not being able to display my socially acceptable relationship for the whole school to see.”

“I didn’t tell you to make you feel bad,” Mark chuckled. “It’s okay, we can both have a sucky prom.”

April squeezed his hand briefly. “Thank you for trusting me.”

Mark smile crookedly as he squeezed back. "Don't tell anyone?"

"I'll take it to the grave, bubs."

The night dragged on agonizingly slow until Principal Higgins announced they were about to crown their prom court and asked all the candidates to come up to the raised platform. As April and Mark made their way over, none other than Chrissy Cunningham darted over and joined them.

“Hi! April, right?” She asked, fingers tangled nervously in the skirt of her flouncy pink dress. 

“Yeah. Hi?” April raised both brows at the cheerleader. Sure, she was nice. April hadn’t expected her to want to talk to her, though.

“I wanted to apologize for what Jason did to you and Eddie.” She said quietly as they neared the stage. “It was totally uncalled for; he did it purely out of spite because you ran for queen.”

“I figured.” April rolled her eyes, but spared the poor girl a smile. “It’s okay, though. If anything it just made me more indignant about this whole thing.”

Chrissy giggled. “I didn’t even want to run. It was Jason’s idea.” She shrugged. “Honestly; I voted for you two.”

April let out a bark of laughter, and Mark grinned like a madman. 

“I wish I could say I voted for you, but I definitely voted for myself.” April admitted.

“Me too,” Mark added, smiling sheepishly.

“That’s okay! That’s the whole point, isn’t it?” She winked, and squeezed both their arms. “Good luck!”

Stepping onto the stage, April and Chrissy shared a secret smile as they took their places in line. Principal Higgins, held a sealed envelope above his head. 

“The student body president has just given me the results.” He announced. “I’d like to thank each and every one of our candidates for running.”

He paused for applause, finger tucked into the fold of the envelope for dramatic effect, waiting to rip.

“Just get it over with,” April muttered to Mark, who concealed his laughter with a cough.

Higgins finally tore open the envelope as a hush fell over the gym. He unfolded the paper inside, and scanned the contents. He almost had the perfect poker face. Almost. His eyebrows flicked upwards for a fraction of a second before he pasted a guileless across his face.

April and Mark shared a hopeful look. He grabbed her wrist excitedly.

“In second place, your prince and princess: Jason Carver and Chrissy Cunningham!” Higgins’ mouth split into an ironic smile as if to say, “I’m just as surprised as the rest of you!”

The applause started hesitantly; a smattering of people confused as to how this could’ve happened. Second place? Jason and Chrissy?

April snuck a glance over to the couple, and barely held in her laughter. Jason looked absolutely gobsmacked, and Chrissy was smiling innocently. Jason managed a smile, tight smile and a wave to the audience. He swiveled his head to catch April’s gaze, eyes narrowing when he saw her lips pressed into a thin line to contain her amusement. 

Higgins gestured them forward, draping the prince and princess sashes over them. It was hilarious watching Chrissy shake Higgins’ hand and thank him gracefully as Jason gave him a curt “Thanks.”

“And your king and queen of Hawkin’s High 1985 prom: Mark Dorsey and April Jenkins!”

Their applause was twice as loud as Chrissy and Jason’s. Nerds and freaks from all factions cheered loudly as April and Mark jumped and hugged each other before stepping forward to receive their sashes and bouquets.

Mark, April, Jason and Chrissy stood center stage in a line as cameras appeared and pictures were taken. April tilted her head towards Jason, speaking softly so only he could hear her.

“Congrats, asshole. Eddie sends his regards. He can’t wait to see you again next year.”

His stiff smile fell immediately as her words sunk in. He didn’t look at her, but his eyes widened and his jaw tightened.

“Didn’t think that far, did you? Eddie gets to wreak havoc on your existence for a whole extra year, and it’s entirely your fault.”

Jason let out a strange strangled noise as the cameras continued to flash. April couldn’t wait to get her hands on the school paper when this article came out. She was going to cut out this picture and paste it on the wall of her college dorm.

. . .

Cars were already leaving the parking lot when Eddie pulled back in. He leaned against his van, watching the students trickling out of the gym. He spotted Jason, a think length of fabric crumpled in his fist, stalking towards his car. Chrissy was trailing behind him wearing a satisfied smile- practically a smirk- and a sash. Eddie squinted, straining to see the writing on it. Prom Princess 1985.

“Holy shit,” He breathed, a laugh escaping as he watched Jason slam his car door angrily while Chrissy climbed in and settled herself in the passenger seat gracefully.

Like a princess, Eddie thought with another laugh.

A sudden burst of chatter exploded from the gym doors. Following the sound, Eddie watched as a crush of students stumbled out, laughing and squealing. He recognized most of them as theater kids, and he pushed off his van to head towards them. 

He watched Mark exit the group with another boy, their arms thrown around each other’s shoulders. They shouted goodbye to the group, a chorus of farewells meeting them as they jogged off.

“Hi Eddie!” Mark said cheerfully as they passed. 

Eddie broke into a huge grin when he saw his Prom King 1985 sash. “Hey, congratulations. Does that mean what I think it does?”

“Hell yeah.” Mark laughed, waving as his friend tugged him away. “I’ll see you around!”

“We’ll see,” Eddie replied, waving back.

As the boys stumbled to a car, Eddie turned back to the group of students. As the crowd dissipated more and more, he started to see April’s blue dress in the center, a dazzling grin on her face, and a white sash across her torso.

“Fuck yeah!” He yelled, pumping both fists in the air. Everyone turned to look at him, but he didn’t care in the slightest. All that mattered was how April finally saw him, and how her eyes lit up.

She gathered her skirt, and made a beeline to him. “We did it, baby! We won!” She shouted as they collided.

He lifted her up in the air, twirling her around like the queen she was. “Of course you did! You fuckin’ worked for it, you earned it!”

April wrapped her arms around Eddie’s neck, giggling into his hair. “Oh, the look on Carver’s face! He was stunned! Horrified! It was glorious.”

“Ugh, I wish I could’ve seen it.” He groaned, burying his face in her neck and planting sloppy kisses on her skin. 

“There’s gonna be a pretty sick photo in the school newspaper.” April grinned like a madwoman. “I hope they use the one where I told him you were gonna fuck with him next year. I think I put the fear of God in him.”

“Holy shit,” Eddie laughed. “Holy shit I fuckin’ love you so much, April.” He kissed her hard, tangling a hand in her hair. “You’re a goddamn angel.”

“I’m a queen, Edward.” She corrected, trying and failing to arrange her face into a serious expression.

“Hell yeah you are.” He cupped her face, kissing her again, slower this time. “You’re the Queen of Freaks, baby.”

[sparrowsfallingfromthesky]

Evaluation of Treasure Island musical adaptations on spotify:

Treasure Island the Musical by Starshine Singers – This is a company that makes children’s musicals, so it’s a cheery little thing sung by children. Doesn’t have a lot of plot but a fun 20 minutes if you want to hear some kids singing about torture and murder.

Treasure Island the Musical Original Cast – This is an actual legit musical which was staged in London in 1973. For better or worse the sound is very much Old Timey Musical Theatre. There are at least two recordings of this on spotify for some reason.

Treasure Island: A New Musical by Ceramic Goose – This is more of an independent local theater kind of production. The full show is available on youtube but I didn’t watch it. The “Prologue” and a couple of other moments are quite annoying, Jim is played by a whole adult, Captain Smollett is a woman (and dies?), and either Jim’s father is alive or Livesey has jumped into a father figure role (unclear). Some weird characterizations throughout. Most of the music isn’t bad – has kind of an Evan Hansen-ish vibe – but there are some songs that are worse than others.

Treasure Island The Musical by Chris O’Sullivan – Can’t find much information about this one but based on all the performers’ names it appears to be Irish. There are plenty of things I could say about the work as a whole but I just cannot get past the fact that Silver is introduced with a song that’s clearly styled after Master of the House from Les Mis.

Treasure Island by XvallariX – I don’t know what the fuck this is but I’m including it because all the songs are named for TI characters.

There have been other musical adaptations but these are the ones I could find on spotify! And the other results on there are either unrelated or Treasure Planet or audiobooks.

Then there are also several songs called Long John Silver:

By Richard Thompson – I already knew this song because I like this singer, and “there’s nothing but black in a pirate’s heart” makes me sad but it’s a great song.

By Stormfrun – More of a piratey sound and seems to be about actual Silver not as a metaphor. The idea that he got the nickname Barbeque by cooking a traitorous crew member and feeding him to the crew is pretty fucking hardcore.

By Jefferson Airplane – I’m going to be really honest, when I think of Jefferson Airplane I think of Supernatural. Interesting lyrics though.

By Great Master – This music isn’t to my taste but you guys. Look at the fucking lyrics of this song and the others on the album it’s from. This is 100% based directly on Black Sails. Not Treasure Island, Black Sails. Like there are show characters mentioned and bits of actual canon dialogue. Which one of you did this.

By Skull & Bones – Kind of a bop. They’ve got other Treasure Island themed songs too.

By Lennon Kelly – This one is in Italian and is pretty good.

By Jimmy Dorsey (with others) – This is an OLD song. Fun if you like swing I guess. Doesn’t really have lyrics so nothing to do with Treasure Island. There are a few renditions of this on spotify.

By Ray Lindo – Instrumental piece from the soundtrack to the movie Christmas in Hollywood.

By Golden Ivy – Instrumental ambient music idk.

By King Kyle Lee, Liveola, SoSanAntone, and Famous Lil Ken – Rap. Couldn’t find lyrics so I don’t know if it has anything to do with actual Silver.

By Schandmaul – German. I like the chorus.

By Studio Murena – Another Italian one but I don’t like this one lol.

Long John Silver: Themes by David Buttolph – From the soundtrack of the 1954 motion picture Long John Silver. I went and listened to some of the rest of this soundtrack and it very much sounds like something from the 50s!

Then there are a few about the restaurant, and a few others that mention Silver the character offhand in the lyrics.

[venicepearl]

Gertrude "Ma" Rainey (née Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) was an American blues singer and influential early blues recording artist. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of southern blues, influencing a generation of blues singers.

Gertrude Pridgett began performing as a teenager and became known as "Ma" Rainey after her marriage to Will "Pa" Rainey in 1904. They toured with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels and later formed their own group, Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues. Her first recording was made in 1923. In the following five years, she made over 100 recordings, including "Bo-Weevil Blues" (1923), "Moonshine Blues" (1923), "See See Rider Blues" (1925), "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" (1927), and "Soon This Morning" (1927).

Rainey was known for her powerful vocal abilities, energetic disposition, majestic phrasing, and a "moaning" style of singing. Her qualities are present and most evident in her early recordings "Bo-Weevil Blues" and "Moonshine Blues".

Rainey recorded with Thomas Dorsey, Tampa Red, and Louis Armstrong, and she toured and recorded with the Georgia Jazz Band. Touring until 1935, she then largely retired from performing and continued as a theater impresario in her hometown of Columbus, Georgia, until her death four years later.

[lboogie1906]

Evelyn Ellis (February 2, 1894 – June 5, 1958) was a character actress on stage and in film. Devoting herself to the theatre, her film roles were few, but she appeared in films including The Joe Louis Story and The Lady from Shanghai. Toward the end of her career, as she was referred to in the press directed a few theater plays, including an all-black Broadway production of Tobacco Road.

She was born in Boston. Not much is known about her early life and introduction to acting, but she became a prominent actor within the African American community (1919-55). She made her theatrical debut at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem in a production of Othello in 1919. She made her debut in the production of Roseanne. Her next big Broadway show was Porgy in 1927, in which she is known for creating the character of Bess. She played a lead role in Goat Alley. She played the character of Lucy Bell Dorsey.

She played in various other theatrical plays, such as Deep Are the Roots on Broadway in 1945, in which she played Bella Charles, the mother of the returned African-American war veteran, and The Royal Family in 1952. Her next big role was in the original Broadway production of Native Son, in which she played Hannah Thomas, the mother of Bigger Thomas. She played the same role a year later in a successful revival of the play. She continued to play various lead roles throughout her year working with the Dunbar Players of Philadelphia. She started a drama school in Long Island for youth.

She directed Horse Play in 1937 and then put on the play Little Woman in 1938 with the junior department at the Negro Little Theatre. Through her directing of a youth play and her creation of the drama school, she was active in getting younger kids interested in the art of drama.

She made her last Broadway appearance in 1953 and ended her acting career in 1955 with the film Interrupted Melody. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[sjjnyc]

Embodiment and Power: Asia Dorsey's Winter Herbal Immersion

In 2022 I was researching mermaids off and on while writing two fictional short stories about mermaids; Wild Sun Catchers and Naomi. Fast forward to the Spring of 2023, I unexpectedly had the idea pop in my head to organize a merfolk happening that would coincide with the release of "The Little Mermaid" starring Halle Bailey and other amazing actors. Luckily people were interested in participating and everyone's contributions were amazing!

The Little Mermaid premiered in mid-May and I wish I could have seen it at the movie theater on Court Street in Brooklyn, but I saw it at a local theater in Gilbert, Arizona. A desert mermaid going to see and support some of her kinfolk on the big screen. It's amazing how this one film generated even more conversations, projects and visual representations of Black mermaids.

Shout out to the merfolk imagery that existed before the "Little Mermaid" release, like Bianca Barclay (who also happened to grow up on Staten Island) bringing mermaids to life in Netflix' "Wednesday".

Note* These images do not represent the various environments mermaids can be found in. I'm still waiting to find images and video of swamp, marshland and mangrove merfolk! #WetlandsAreLife

Photo Description: From Top to Bottom - a house with a short dock in a Louisiana swamp, marshlands in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and an image of Mangroves.

A strong presence of mermaids has been in my life for two years now. I feel that not only is this happening in my life and expanding and deepening my identity, but on a collective level, mermaids have come into the collective consciousness (in 2023 specifically) in such a big way, it makes me think, knowing how the ocean and the cosmos reflect and are in conversation with each other, there is something going on in the stars related to mer-creatures.

It's mid-August now and I just finished watching a new Netflix TV series that, what do you know, has a mermaid character and symbolism in it. Right then and there it hit me while watching this tv show that the mermaid spirit(s) is with me for the rest of my life.

I'm grateful that I could participate in Asia Dorsey Winter Herbal Immersion, which was chock full of information on living a lifestyle of nourishment, with a special emphasis on supporting the kidneys. Later on, she would participate in Water School's Open Residency offering a workshop called "Interview with the Mermaid". The experience was like how we might imagine encountering a mermaid; she was there for a clear moment, and then she was gone. All I can say is, if Asia ever does this again, I would join in a heartbeat.

During the immersion we got to choose from a short list of herbs one we wanted to work with during our time together (and beyond). I wanted to work with Oat straw, but what was available to me at that time was Nettles (also on the list), because it just so happened that my AirBnB host (thank you river!) gifted me a large mason jar of Nettles. It would be a few months later when I finally started gaining a grasp on establishing a consistent herbal routine, coming into my power day by day.

The spirit of the water element in the kidneys

I learned a lot, and I really recommend you take the winter immersion the next time Asia does it. The first thing I noticed about the course is how it brought our attention to the kidneys, and this organ's connection to water, winter, the ocean and mermaids. We learned about the kidneys through various lenses, particularly Traditional Chinese Medicine, so when I continued researching the kidneys through this healing tradition, I learned that the kidneys are: where our life force and genetic inheritance are stored, play a role in memory ( I don't have a great memory so I think my Kidney Essence needs support), are the home to Zhi, the spirit of the Water element. This excerpt from the article really got me:

"Zhi, the spirit of the Water element, is housed in the kidneys. It is known as one’s Will power, ambition, purpose, and destiny. Zhi is a force that allows a person to move along their destined path without much conscious thought or effort. And, it’s thought to be the innate power of life itself – life that wants to live, strives to stay alive and survive".

Endless gratitude to Traditional Chinese Medicine practioners, your ancestors and the legacy of your healing traditions which help other cultures learn more about the body.

I'm African-American with Ghanaian heritage, how can I learn about the kidneys within my own cultural context? I'm not 100% sure, but I think throughout the course Asia was connecting Mami Wata to the kidneys, and I'm thinking now, how even if there isn't a lot of cultural literature or media about African-American healing practices specifically about the kidneys (peep the emergence and rise in visibility of Black water workers), we can CREATE our own cultural connections between the kidneys, water and whatever else, we can CREATE culture. Does this make sense? I think this is what Asia is doing.

Sometimes people in the U.S. and around the world think that African-Americans (with layered identities) have no culture or are culturally disconnected and poor, when the reality is that we have rich cultures (plural, because Black culture in the US is similar across the board but different based on what part of the country you are in), and like other cultures, we create from our deep individual and collective wellsprings.

Black folks and kidneys . . . let's talk about it.

Nourishing foods for the kidneys, aka nourishing foods for merfolk during the winter season

Photo description: I found a random photo and recipe of a pot of bone broth with onions, carrots and other vegetables.

I'm still processing what we learned during the course, but one section that really stuck out to me was the foods and tonics we can eat that support our kidneys, some of which come from the ocean. I was excited to learn that I was already, unknowingly, eating kidney foods like dried seaweed snacks, berries, yogurt (although I eat a cashew alternative) kale, salmon, (salt and chocolate covered roasted) almonds, sardines and now nettles. Now I want to eat nourishing kidney foods more intentionally, and start incorporating foods I don't ingest a lot, like bone broth, oysters and black beans.

Out of all the places in my body I'm interested in exploring and being called to pay attention to, I don't think I would have ever looked more deeply into the kidneys until taking this immersion. The kidneys have been trying to get my attention for some time now; I just didn't know the signs were connected to my kidneys. It feels overwhelming sometimes how much attention and awareness the body needs. I took this course when I visited Albuquerque, New Mexico. My AirBnB host invited me to a group gathering where we walked to the Rio Grande. I spoke to the organizer along the way who told me her life's work is to be embodied, and that has stayed with me.

PROMPT: Go check out Asia's website! What sparks your curiosity?

[3thurs]

Third Thursday events and exhibitions for August 17

The next Third Thursday — the monthly evening of art in Athens, Georgia — is scheduled for Thursday, August 17, from 6 to 9 p.m. All exhibitions are free and open to the public. This schedule and each venue’s location and hours of operation are available at 3thurs.org.

Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia

Yoga in the Galleries, 6 p.m. — Join us for a free yoga class surrounded by works of art in the galleries. Led by instructors from Five Points Yoga, this program is free and open to both beginner and experienced yogis. Sanitized mats are provided. Space is limited and spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis; tickets are available at the front desk starting at 5:15 p.m.

On view:

“Southern/Modern” — This exhibition is the first project to survey comprehensively the rich array of paintings and works on paper created in the American South during the first half of the 20th century. Featuring more than 100 works of art drawn from public and private collections across the country, it brings together a generation’s worth of scholarship.

“Sky Hopinka: Lore” — Images of friends and landscapes are cut, fragmented and reassembled on an overhead projector as hands guide their shape and construction in this video work stemming from Hollis Frampton’s 1971 experimental film “Nostalgia.”

“In Dialogue: Power Couple: Pierre and Louise Daura in Paris” — Portraits of Joaquín Torres-García’s daughters by Pierre Daura and Louise Heron Blair.

“Decade of Tradition: Highlights from the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Collection” — Selections from Larry and Brenda Thompson’s gift of works by African American artists.

“Power and Piety in 17th-Century Spanish Art” — Works by premiere Spanish baroque painters such as Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Murillo, Pedro Orrente and others, on loan from Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery.

The museum’s days of operation are Tuesday – Sunday. Reserve a free ticket and see our policies at https://georgiamuseum.org/visit/.

ATHICA: Athens Institute for Contemporary Art

ATHICA@675 Pulaski St., Suite 1200

6 – 8 p.m.: Artist-in-ATHICA sculptor Mickey Boyd hosts open studio hours for his installation in progress.

ATHICA@CINÉ Gallery

“Exhibit A” — Oil paintings by Athens-based artist Teresa Abel

Lyndon House Arts Center

Third Thursday event, 6 – 7 p.m. — Please join us for an evening of art and dance discussion with the former and current program supervisors of East Athens Educational Dance Center. Lois Thomas-Ewings will tour us through her new passion of painting, and Nena Gilreath will tell us tales of a career of dancing on ballet toe shoes now on view in our Community Collections case.

On view:

“Indigo Prayers: Works by Charmaine Minniefield” — Painted works that celebrate movement and the history of the “ring shout.” 

“Story as Jewel: Metalworks by Charles Pinckney” — Pinckney incorporates his storytelling skills — which he developed during his time as a radio announcer — into his intricate metalworks.

“Legendary Georgia Musicians in Watercolor” — Jackie Dorsey’s series of portraits recognizes and honors the legacies of Georgia-based musicians and celebrates Georgia music. 

“Mythical Reality: Paintings by Lois Thomas-Ewings” — Since her retirement, Thomas-Ewings, a dancer and founder of East Athens Educational Dance Center, has returned to her initial interest in painting, depicting dancers and Black mythology. 

“Georgia Theaters: A Ballad Surrounding the Proscenium” — During the height of the pandemic, Brandon Narsing captured photographic images of abandoned theaters, an eerie acknowledgment of the vulnerability of performers and performance venues in our culture. 

“Paradigm Shift” — This series of paintings by Margaret Morrison explores dramatic staging and lighting inspired by Caravaggio. She worked with photographer Gabrielle Rosenthal and UGA Theatre and Film Studies professor Anthony Marotta to create a script, document the resulting performance and then use the photographs as source material for her paintings.

“Sanctuary: Works by Mary Engel and Cheryl Washburn” — This exhibition combines the work of two artists with a shared passion for animals. Though their media of choice differs greatly, these two artists are compassionate for and inspired by creatures of all kinds.

“The Fables, by Kristin Roberts” — Athens artist Kristin Roberts illustrates Aesop’s Fables, inspired by their combination of personal accountability, the laws of nature, and the tenuous border between life and death. 

The Athenaeum

Closed for the summer.

The Classic Center

Galleries will be inaccessible due to preparations for a large conference.

tiny ATH gallery

3THURS exhibition closing, 6 – 9 p.m.

On view:

“Raindrops and Reflections: Paintings by Manda McKay” — McKay says, “I paint pretty peculiar still lifes. Nature inspires me with the finds I discover in the woods, swamp or ocean. I assemble these curios into fanciful new forms to paint. By combining inspiration and imagination, I hope to share my ideas with open-minded and open-hearted people.”

—

Third Thursday was established in 2012 to encourage attendance at Athens’ established art venues through coordination and co-promotion by the organizing entities. 

Contact: Michael Lachowski, Georgia Museum of Art, mlachow@uga.edu.

[newmusicradionetwork]

Moe Bandy Celebrates 40th Anniversary Of “Let’s Get Over Them Together” With Becky Hobbs

Award-winning country music legend, Moe Bandy is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Top 10 duet with Becky Hobbs, “Let’s Get Over Them Together.” Written by Charlie Craig and Keith Stegall, “Let’s Get Over Them Together” became Bandy’s 16th Top 10 hit and continues to be a fan favorite. Bandy was recently inducted into the Class of 2023 of The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame along with The Texas Ranger Division of the Department of Public Safety, San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, Cleo Hearn, and Boots O’Neal. Bandy, was a proud competitor in bull riding prior to pursuing country music full-time. He now joins the ranks of Willie Nelson, George Strait, Red Steagall, Lyle Lovett, Clay Walker, Robert Earl Keen, Aaron Watson, and Bob Wills who have all received this prestigious honor. “This was such an exciting time in my life and career that I will never forget,” shares Bandy. “I was on the road and recording nonstop, which is what I had always dreamed of. When I heard Becky Hobbs for the first time, I knew she was destined for great things! When we went into the studio and recorded “Let’s Get Over Them Together,” it was clear this would be a single. We had a great run with it and hope you are still enjoying it today!” “I met Moe when I opened for him at the Coffeyville, Kansas Fair & Rodeo,” shares Becky Hobbs. “After the show, he was very complimentary and said, “If you had a hit record, you’d be dangerous!” He asked me if I’d be interested in doing a duet, and the rest is history. Moe is genuinely one of the nicest people on the planet, a heckuva singer/entertainer, and a forever friend.” Bandy recently released his new album, ‘Thank You Lord.’ Delivering a heartfelt project, Bandy recorded twelve heartfelt tracks and features special guests The Isaacs on “Family Bible” and The Oak Ridge Boys with Nora Lee Allen on “The Lord Is My Shepherd.” The title track, written by Mo Pitney, Bobby Tomberlin, and Cheryl Riddle offers a true reflection of where Bandy is in his life today, of which he is thankful for another mile, another day, and a life many could have only dreamed of. ‘Thank You Lord’ features tunes from prominent Nashville songwriters including Willie Nelson, Bill Anderson, Hank Williams, and more! The twelve-track project was produced by Michele Voan Capps and sponsored by Gus Arrendale and Springer Mountain Farms and is available on all streaming platforms now! To stream or purchase, visit HERE. “We all try to live life to the fullest and with purpose,” shares Bandy. “When you get to a certain place in your life, you reflect on your past. We have all made mistakes and decisions that we may regret, but you have to look at the positives. God has been so good to me. He has given my family blessings that I never dreamed were even possible. I am so thankful to Him and wanted this album to fully reflect my faith in God. A special thanks to Gus Arrendale and Springer Mountain Farms for their continued support and for making this album a reality.” For further information, visit HERE. ‘Thank You Lord’ Track Listing: Thank You Lord (Bobby Tomberlin, Mo Pitney, Cheryl Riddle) Family Bible ft. The Isaacs (Willie Nelson) I Believe (Drake, Graham, Shirl, Stillman) God Is Great, God Is Good (Bill Anderson) House Of Gold (Hank Williams) The Lord Is My Shepherd ft. The Oak Ridge Boys & Norah Lee Allen (Ardon A. Hollis) Shall We Gather At The River (Robert Lowry) Many Mansions (Randall, Sanders, Etheridge) What A Friend We Have In Jesus (Joseph M. Scriven) Wayfaring Stranger (Public Domain) Just A Closer Walk With Thee (Public Domain) Precious Lord Take My Hand (Thomas A. Dorsey) *Digital review copies of ‘Thank You Lord’ available upon request* Moe Bandy’s Upcoming Tour Dates: APR 22 – Texas Pride Barbecue / Adkins, Texas MAY 13 – Neon Moon / Yantis, Texas MAY 20 – Ohio Valley Opry / McConnelsville, Ohio MAY 26 – Cailloux Theater / Kerrville, Texas MAY 27 – Real Life Amphitheater / Selma, Texas (with Joe Stampley, Johnny Lee, T.G. Sheppard, Janie Fricke, and Moore & Moore) JUN 03 – Marion Cultural Civic Center / Marion, Ill. (with John Conlee) JUN 06 – The Moore & Moore Fan Club Party at The Nashville Nightlife / Nashville, Tenn. JUN 07 – Country For A Cause at 3rd & Lindsley / Nashville, Tenn. JUN 09 – Independence County Fair / Batesville, Ark. JUN 15 – The Palace Theatre / Corsicana, Texas JUN 16 – The Hippodrome / Waco, Texas JUN 17 – Arlington Music Hall / Arlington, Texas (with Jeannie Seely) JUN 18 – Truman Lake Opry / Tightwad, Mo JUL 07 – Riley’s Tavern / New Braunfels, Texas JUL 08 – 2920 Roadhouse / Hockley, Texas AUG 05 – Sugar Creek Casino / Hinton, Texas (with T.G. Sheppard, Janie Fricke, T. Graham Brown, and Jeannie Seely) AUG 12 – Carthage Civic Center / Carthage, Texas (with Joe Stampley) AUG 19 – Broken Horn Bar & Grill / Midland, Texas SEP 02 – Pedrotti’s Ranch / Helotes, Texas OCT 12 – Granbury Live / Granbury, Texas OCT 13 – 11th Street Cowboy Bar / Bandera, Texas OCT 14 – 2920 Roadhouse / Hockley, Texas (with Joe Stampley) OCT 21 – Park Theater / McMinnville, Tenn. (with Buddy Jewell) NOV 11 – Bosque Arts Center / Clifton, Texas DEC 02 – Chisholm Trail Christmas Ball / Belton, Texas DEC 03 – Dosey Doe / The Woodlands, Texas (with Janie Fricke) For more information, tickets, and to keep up with everything Moe Bandy, visit HERE. About Moe Bandy: Moe Bandy’s country music accomplishments are many, including ten No. 1 hit songs, many Top Ten hits, five Gold records, and numerous ACM and CMA Awards. He started his recording career while he was a sheet metal worker in San Antonio, Texas, but after a decade of hard labor, Bandy traded his sheet metal for Gold albums. In the mid-seventies when the country pop Kenny Rogers, John Denver and the outlaw sound of Waylon and Willie was all the rage, along came the traditionalist Moe Bandy. Bandy recently penned an autobiography, Moe Bandy: Lucky Me, available for purchase now at moebandybook.com. For more information on Moe Bandy, visit moebandy.com. Suggested post: .@MoeBandyMusic and #BeckyHobbs celebrate 40th Anniversary of Top 10 duet #LetsGetOverThemTogether. New album #ThankYouLord is available now and Bandy is latest inductee into #TexasCowboyHallofFame. To stream or purchase: ffm.to/mb_tyl Read the full article

[citizenscreen]

#OnThisDay in 1940, Frank Sinatra's singing debut with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra takes place at the Lyric Theater in Indianapolis.

[missellafitz]

Just noticed this in the citations of Becoming Ella Fitzgerald. What stands out is "likes men short and hats dizzy". Frank was short and was known to wear hats (!!!). This article came out in 1937 which was when Ella was still with Chick Webb's band and while Frank was with Tommy Dorsey. (I could be wrong as to the years so I will double check, but it's highly possible that this was around the time she'd go to the Paramount theater to gawk at Frank). Anyway, I'm on a mission to find the actual article now.

AND I found it (who's the best librarian in the world?)

EDITS: So, Frank joined Tommy Dorsey in 1940, so this article is before she'd go see him at the Paramount Theater. Also, Frank didn't start wearing hats until the 1950s. ALSO, the hats the title refers to are the hats Ella herself likes to wear. Either way, I'm so tickled that I found (and had access) to this article. Thank God for archivists.

[swanlake1998]

Article: For transgender dancers, progress can't come fast enough

Date: March 8, 2020

By: Avichai Scher

Sean Dorsey was tired of being the only transgender dancer in the room. So he took the bold step of starting his own company, the San Francisco-based Sean Dorsey Dance, and become the first openly trans director of a full-time dance company. It was a milestone for transgender and gender-nonconforming dancers and choreographers, and Dorsey hoped it would lead to a more inclusive dance world.

The company is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, yet Dorsey remains the only openly trans artistic director of a full-time dance company in the country.

“We’ve definitely made progress since I started, when there was really no context for institutional or social support of trans dancers,” Dorsey said. “But there’s still a major lack of representation across the dance world.”

Dance, especially older forms such as ballet and modern dance, is mostly structured around strict gender lines. While the growing acceptance of transgender people in the United States has extended somewhat into the art form, trans dancers are often forced to choose between being their authentic selves and career opportunities.

Issues start in training

Dorsey’s choreography often deals with trans issues, and he is committed to being an advocate in the dance world for transgender people. But even in his own company, Dorsey is the only trans performer.

“In San Francisco, at least, I don’t have the luxury of holding an audition for trans dancers,” he said. “There just aren’t very many at the professional level.”

Dorsey said this is largely because barriers for trans and gender-nonconforming dancers start at a young age — as most training programs are gender-specific.

Jayna Ledford, 19, made headlines when she came out as transgender in an Instagram post in 2018. She was studying at the Kirov Ballet Academy at the time, a traditional ballet program in Washington, D.C. It was the first time a dancer at an acclaimed ballet school had publicly come out as trans.

Classes at Kirov, like most ballet conservatories, are generally separated by sex assigned at birth, and when students are combined, teachers offer different steps for men and women. Ledford, however, found ways to get the training that matched her gender identity, including dancing on her toes in special pointe shoes, which is done almost exclusively by women and requires unique training.

“I wanted to do what the females were doing,” she said. “I’d do it on the side and not pay attention to what the guys were doing. I’d also stay after class and practice pointe technique with my female friends.”

She hadn’t had the training other females at the school had, but she was hoping to transfer from the men’s program to the women’s.

“I knew I had a lot of catching up to do in terms of pointe work,” she said. “But just being in the room with the females, that’s what I wanted.”

The Kirov Academy told Ledford she could not join the women’s program unless she physically transitioned. Ledford was not ready for that, so she left the school. She was disappointed but now says she understands the academy’s position. The school confirmed Ledford’s account but declined to comment.

Maxfield Haynes, 22, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, said the large, prestigious ballet school where they trained was not supportive of someone presenting as male wearing pointe shoes.

It wasn’t until Haynes enrolled at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University that they were able to explore the more feminine aspects of ballet technique. Ledford also found higher education to be more supportive than a conservatory. She now studies at Montclair State University and practices pointe technique daily.

Lack of professional opportunities

After NYU, Haynes chose to dance with Complexions Contemporary Ballet partially because the company is explicitly supportive of gender fluidity, and even had a specific role for Haynes that is gender-nonconforming. In the David Bowie tribute piece, “Stardust,” Haynes dons pointe shoes and was partnered with male dancers.

“It was everything I could have dreamed of,” Haynes said of the role. “As nonbinary, I like to get to show all aspects of gender. I don’t think about dancing like a man or a woman, just myself.”

Opportunities to dance roles that are gender-nonconforming are rare in the concert dance world, even if dancers are becoming more open about being gender-nonconforming in their offstage lives. And those who want to physically transition face a stark choice, as none of the major dance companies in the U.S. currently have openly transgender dancers on their rosters.

Alby Sabrina Pretto recently made the difficult choice to begin physically transitioning with hormone replacement therapy at the expense of her performing career. She was a dancer with Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo, an all-male comedy troupe, for eight years. While she got to dance in pointe shoes, the style of the company is rooted in the comedy of men portraying women, which ultimately wasn’t how Pretto identified.

“There were moments I wanted to do things like a ballerina would and be ethereal and pretty,” Pretto said. “To dance like a woman.”

She knew that physically transitioning would mean she could not continue with the company.

“I wanted to have a career, and that slowed down my decision to transition,” Pretto said. “I waited until I felt like I had done what I wanted to do there.”

Liz Harler, general manager of Les Ballet Trockadero, said in a statement that transitioning does not disqualify dancers from the company.

“Dancers who expressed interest in transitioning to female have been told that their job would not be in jeopardy, though none have chosen to do so while continuing with the Trocks’ rigorous dancing and touring schedule,” Harler said.

Both Ledford and Pretto hope for the day when they can attend an audition and be hired without having to explain their gender identity.

Ledford said. “I’ll audition as any other woman. If I get in, then I’ll sit down and talk with them.”

Ledford is “optimistic” that this can happen in the next few years, but Pretto isn’t so sure.

“I am not naive, I know I cannot just audition for a major ballet company and join the female corps de ballet,” Pretto said. “But I would love for that to happen for me. It’s the ultimate dream.”

Her skepticism is partly based on the experience of her former Trockadero colleague, Chase Johnsey, who is gender fluid. He made headlines in 2018 when he was cast in a female ensemble role in the English National Ballet’s production of “Sleeping Beauty,” though it was not on pointe, and the heavy costume concealed his body. No additional female roles came his way afterward.

The question of who gets opportunities as a dancer often comes down to the taste of directors and producers and what they imagine their audiences want to see, not just ability.

Pretto danced a couple of character roles recently with Eglevsky Ballet, a growing ballet ensemble on Long Island, New York. The director, Maurice Brandon Curry, said he would consider Pretto for a female ensemble role next year, because her pointe work is “excellent,” though he wonders how some in the audience will react.

“Casting Alby in a female role would not be about passing as female, but I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge my concern about an audience member who was offended,” Curry said. “But art is not prejudice; it’s about inclusivity and open minds. If someone is not willing to have that experience, they don’t have a legitimate place in our audiences.”

Signs of change

Dorsey said that even having discussions about gender identity in dance is progress from when he started, and he’s encouraged by changes he’s seen: Most theaters either already have gender-neutral restrooms or create them for his company’s visit; trans and gender-nonconforming students attend his workshops in various cities and share with him their efforts to be accepted in their dance communities; the San Francisco Ballet persuaded him to lead a training session on gender identity in dance; and he was on the cover of Dance Magazine.

Ledford was recently a “Gaynor Girl,” a spokesperson for the popular pointe shoe brand Gaynor Minded. Pretto said she worked up the courage to use the ladies' locker room at one of New York’s busiest studios, Steps on Broadway, and no one seemed to mind.

Still, the art form has not yet caught up to reflect the audience, Dorsey said. His company has worked in over 30 cities in the U.S. and abroad, and he is usually the first trans choreographer a theater has presented. But he said the response from audiences is almost always positive.

“Dance audiences are ready and hungry for trans voices,” he said. “It's our dance institutions that are still catching up.”

[lisaleigh713]

A New Discovery

So a girlfriend of mine wanted to set me up with her brother.  She and I have been romantic with one another a few times but it was more a release that a relationship builder.  We both just needed to cum and we used each other to do so.  Diana’s brother Tim and I had met before but she thought he and I should go out.  

“Diana, you know how I am, if possible I am going to fuck him.  Are you okay with me fucking your brother?”  “Sure I am” said Diana.  Tim picked me up about 7 p.m. and we went to see a movie.  I love going to movies, as I can then play with his cock during the movie.  

The movie was about half full and he was a perfect gentleman.  He opened doors for me and let me go in first.  The little things mean so much.  Anyhow, we sat in the back top left corner waiting for the movie to start.  We shared some popcorn but we each had our own drinks.  He reached over to hold my hand and of course I turned in to him a bit.

I moved our hands now to my stocking clad legs and let, forced his hand up and down my silken legs.  He let go of my hand and placed his arm around me.  Okay, I thought so I leaned in to him then.  Of course I put my hands on his leg and began to run it up and down.  Each time I got closer to Tim’s cock.  Tim was squirming now.

I looked up at him, he leaned down and kissed me.  He could kiss!!!  But Diana could kiss as well.  He kissed me long and deep.  I gave every sign to him that I was available for anything he wanted or needed but I guess he just wanted to go slow.  

I thought, “okay, if he wants to go slow I will just let it build to some great sex later on.”  We watched the movie and since he was not going to heat things up in the theater I kinda got into the movie plot.  It was a good movie but lets see what else he had in mind.

It was getting late so he decided to drive me home.  We both got out of his car and he walked me to my door.  I invited him in but he politely refused.  He did say he had a lovely evening and kissed me but then he returned to his car and drove off as I walked in to my house.

I grabbed my phone and called Diana, “girl, what the hell?”  Of course Diana said “what?”  “Girl he kissed me but never once made a play for me.  I gave him every go ahead sign I could give but he did nothing.”  Diana apologized and said she would talk with her brother to find out what happened.  

I got out of my clothes, by myself, and crawled into bed.  I slept peacefully but awoke a bit horny.  I thought I would get up and cook something to eat.  My doorbell rang and it was Diana.  I opened the door and she came in.  She gave me a big hug and even a great kiss.  “I am just about to fix some breakfast, want some?”

Of course she wanted some, I am a great cook.  We both cooked and ate, then I had to ask “what the fuck is wrong with your brother?  Am I not pretty?”  Diana assured me nothing of the sort, her brother was just trying to be nice.  She asked, “would you give Tim another chance?”  Well he did take me out and I guess one more time wouldn’t be that bad.  “Yes, he can call me if he wants to go out again.”

Diana and I talked most of the day and even laid out by the pool a bit but she had other plans for the evening and needed to leave.  Within a few minutes Tim rang me.  “Lisa, I had a wonderful time at the movies and wondered if you would like to go out with me again?”  “Tim”, I said, “why don’t you come over for dinner and I will cook us something to eat and we can watch a bit on the tele?”  He responded positively so I advised to come by around  8 p.m.

Tim arrived promptly at 8 p.m.  I had just finished putting the final touches on dinner when he rang the bell.  I greeted Tim in an outfit I had spent several hours perfecting.

I had my long hair down in a loose curl.  My eyeshadow was a dark charcoal, my lips where a deep, wet, red color which would not rub off.  My mani and pedi were both a deep, wet, red color to match my lips.  I was wearing black seamed stockings with a cute garter belt with a red bow on the front.  My dress was black but completely see through and of course I had on a pair of 5” stiletto dorsey side cut pumps.

When I opened the door and he saw me he gasped slightly.  He was wearing a polo shirt and some dockers and his cock was beginning to grow.  He stepped in to my foyer and kissed me.  Food be damed I wanted him to fuck me.  I moved my hand down to his crotch and grasped his large cock.  He gasped again but did not pull away from me.  I took his hand and put it on my tits.  “Tim, I want you to fuck me right now.”  

I grabbed his cock and led him to the bedroom. I dropped to my knees, unzipped his pants, pulled out his huge cock and slammed my mouth on it forcing it down my throat.  He let out a loud moan and instinctively began thrusting his hips, fucking my throat.

I put my hand behind my back to let him know I am submissive but none of that seemed to matter much because within a couple of minutes he was cumming in my mouth.  Before I could swallow a single drop of his white sticky love juice, he pulled me up and shoved his tongue deep in my throat.

The majority of men, once they cum in a girls mouth does not want to kiss her until the girl has cleaned her mouth with something to drink.  Tim wanted to share his cum with me and him.  Tims kiss was extremely passionate but was slow and methodical.  I think Tim may be either gay or bi-sexual.

He said thank you and I thought, “well this is interesting.” I continued sucking on Tim’s cock but it was not getting hard.  “Tim, would you love to fuck my ass?”  He showed a bit of interest but not enough to get him hard.  “Tim, would you like ME to fuck your ass?”  Now his cock started twitching.

I laid Tim on my bed and grabbed a clean toy from my nightstand.  I told Tim to raise his legs as I grabbed some lube for his ass.  I lubed Tims ass and my toy.  This was a first for me as well, with a man.  I slipped the head of my dildo in his ass and let it set there for a minute or two.  Then I slowly began pushing this nice cock dildo in his ass.  He began to moan and then I hit the end of my toy.

I began fucking him with this dildo with one hand and playing with his cock with the other.  After a few minutes, his cock was hard and Tim was saying things like, “damn, fuck me harder,” “shove that cock in my ass,” and of course my favorite was “fuck me like a little bitch.”  I did as instructed.  As I was fucking him, I also started sucking his cock.  After a few minutes he moaned loudly and shot his cum into my mouth.  I immediately moved to his mouth and let his cum drip from my mouth into his.  He swallowed every drop of his cum.

I removed the cock from his ass, kissed the head of his cock and got out of bed.  He exclaimed that was the best sex he ever had in his life.  Of course I had to stroke his ego and say the same thing.  He got up and got dressed and met me in the living room where I had a drink prepared for him.

We talked a bit about his new found sexuality.  The conversation was actually pretty deep and very open.  I told him if he ever wanted to come over and have another session, now that we know, then please do as I will be ready to fuck him anytime he wants but next time I may not share the cum.  He did taste divine.  Tim hugged me and kissed me one more time and as he drove off in his car, I wondered if I could fuck Tim and his sister at the same time.

Love and Kisses

Lisa