Party Line: 'Hockadoo' for 'Memphis'

Photo by Michael Donahue // Buy this photo

Orpheum president Pat Halloran (from left) and "Memphis" cast members Felicia Boswell and Bryan Fenkart celebrate the upcoming opening of the national launch of the musical at the Orpheum during Saturday night's "Orpheum Hockadoo Hullabaloo Gala" at The Peabody.

"Hockadoo" means "yay" or "whoo hoo," according to the Urban Dictionary. And that's what audience members probably were thinking when Bryan Fenkart sang the dynamic "Memphis Lives in Me" from the musical "Memphis" on Saturday night at the "Orpheum Hockadoo Hullabaloo Gala" at The Peabody.

The party celebrated the Orpheum's launch, which begins Friday and runs through Oct. 23, of the national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical. Bryan plays a deejay named Huey Calhoun who loves to use the word "hockadoo." Also performing during a medley of "Memphis" songs at the gala were Felicia Boswell, who plays singer Felicia Farrell, and members of the company.

Bryan's character was based on the late Memphis deejay Dewey Phillips. Bryan said he recently heard audio of Dewey. "He was a nut -- in the greatest way," he said.

Jeff Sanford, who attended with his wife, Cynthia Ham, said he was so overcome when he saw "Memphis" in New York that he shouted out "Yeah, I'm from Memphis!" in the theater to "no one in particular."

Entertainment also included The Bouffants, the Stax Academy Quartet and students from the Orpheum's 2011 High School Musical Theatre Awards.

All proceeds from the Orpheum Hockadoo Hullabaloo go to the new Orpheum Performing Arts and Leadership Academy, a state-of-the-art facility that will allow the Orpheum to expand its current list of 19 performing arts programs to more than 30.

Jim and Gina Wiertelak were the event chairmen.

'Wine Under Wings'

Guests sipped wine and toured U.S. Navy training aircraft at "Wine Under Wings" on Thursday night at Wilson Air Center. The Navy League Memphis event celebrated the 100th year of naval aviation.

Guests also got one-on-ones with pilots, including Lt. Rob Stochel, who flew to Memphis in an E2 Hawkeye.

Rob said the first book he picked up was one about American warplanes when he was 5 years old. He was taken with the F4U Corsair. "That was the airplane I first remember reading about," he said. "It was Navy and it flies off carriers. ... I just wanted to fly off carriers."

Another love was golf. "I grew up playing golf and wanting to fly aircraft."

He got to do both at the U.S. Naval Academy. Following graduation, he began flying for the Navy. He completed four training squadrons before going to Japan, where he flew for three years. He's now an instructor pilot at his home in Norfolk, Va.

Daniel B. Branch Jr., national president of the Navy League of the United States, was a special guest at the event, which included live and silent auctions, food and music.

Feed the Soul

It's almost dizzying how much went on at Feed the Soul, the annual Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA) fundraiser, held Thursday night at The Warehouse off South Main.

Rum, scotch, bourbon and beer tastings, food from area restaurants and L'Ecole Culinaire and music from performers including the band Walrus and Michael Jackson tribute artist Pam Caudle were among the attractions.

Inside, guests grabbed slices of pizza while others hooked up nozzles to their noses at an oxygen bar. Outside, people line danced under a tent while others lit up cigars at the Havana Mix Cigar Emporium.

The party advertised itself as "All the ingredients for a good time." That included the weather, which couldn't have been better on a fall evening.

'Art in the Garden' opening

Rita DeWeese opened an exhibit of her paintings, "Art in the Garden," at Memphis Botanic Garden with a reception Thursday night.

The exhibit featured 41 paintings, including Rita's favorite subjects: landscapes and still lifes. Five of the paintings were based on a Southern Eye Clinic "Gift of Sight" medical mission trip Rita took last June to Sierra Leone in West Africa.

Rita's opening wasn't the typical wine-and-cheese affair; her reception featured food catered from Felicia Suzanne restaurant, wines specially selected by Rita's husband, Don DeWeese, and tiers of doughnuts, including Red Velvet ones, from Don's sinker shop, Gibson's Doughnuts. More than 200 people attended.

The exhibit runs through October.

-- Michael Donahue: (901) 529-2797; donahue@commercialappeal.com

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