Go Memphis

Shakespeare, like you've never seen him performed before, is the least of Dan McCleary's ambitions. Sure, the play's the thing, and all that. But if it turns out that his new production of "As You Like It" in Germantown goes well -- really well -- Shakespeare could become another cultural feather in the city's cap, the same way classical music has bloomed through the acclaimed IRIS Orchestra. Full story »

With the presidential election closing in, now's a good time for a refresher course on American democracy. Michael Detroit plays an obstreperous John Adams trying to get Congress to vote on the Declaration of Independence in "1776." at Circuit Playhouse. Full story »

Neil LaBute's caustic two-person play "The Mercy Seat" opens at a terrible crossroad in American history -- an intersection that has changed all of our lives in many ways. In the cool, modern New York apartment that now sits on Theatre Memphis' Next Stage, a man is on a couch, watching the news unfold. Full story »

Leave it to a hand puppet to pose the central existential question in the hysterically inventive musical “Avenue Q.” “What do you do with a B.A. in English?” Princeton may be cut from the same cloth as a Jim Henson Muppet; that is, wide-eyed, overeager and bright orange. But he’s not your toddler’s sort of learning companion. .. Running through Sunday at the Orpheum, the Tony-winning Broadway musical — starring a cast of exceptional puppeteers — is the most adult comedy to come to the theater in, perhaps, ever. Full story »

The New York Metropolitan Opera is back for another season of live simulcast performances at the Malco Paradiso, 584 S. Mendenhall. In most cases, the operas will be shown live via satellite. The Malco cinema is one of more than 100 theaters participating in the Met transmissions. Full story »

One might say that the musical "Avenue Q" has a cult following, except that with three Tony Awards, a theater in Las Vegas devoted to its production and a five-year Broadway run, the title isn't exactly under the radar. Full story »

Sitting in the "Hall of Presidents" at Disney World, tourists wait expectantly for the curtain to open and reveal 43 lifelike, animatronic American leaders, gathered in a legendary caucus. Full story »

Here's what being presented now on stage in the area. Reviewed shows are initialed by theater critic Christopher Blank.
"As You Like It." Presented by The Tennessee Shakespeare Company. Shows are 7 p.m. Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 19. Preview shows 7 p.m. Thursday Oct. 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3. St. George's Episcopal Church, 2425 S. Germantown Road. Full story »

Endesha Ida Mae Holland's eventful life is no doubt an impressive, inspirational story. Not in the saccharine, Hallmark movie-of-the-week kind of way, but in the harrowing, honest style of Maya Angelou or Toni Morrison. Full story »

My hands are shaking like I'm a man in rehab. So don't mind the typos. This always happens after my annual visit to the Mid-South Fair. One year, it was a cow-milking contest that brought on the tremors. Nothing rattles a city boy's nerves like squeezing the teats of an anxious Holstein. Then there was the time a friend's kid froze in terror at the top of a funhouse, and I was sent in to extricate him.
Full story »

Reviewed shows are initialed by theater critic Christopher Blank. Full story »

There's nothing like a contentious presidential election to turn regular Americans into quarterback historians, lobbing the wisdom of the forefathers in whichever direction will score points for the team. Full story »

On Stage Now: "Air Heart": A one-woman show about aviatrix Amelia Earhart. Free and open to the public, 7:30 tonight and Saturday at McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College, 2000 North Parkway. Call 843-3834. Full story »

With the start of the Orpheum theater's new season at the end of this month, the landmark venue will celebrate eighty years of showbiz on the corner of Beale and Main. Saturday night, the theater kicks off the year's celebration with a musical gala. The Memphis Symphony Orchestra will take the stage for the first time since the 1984 restoration. Full story »

Neither high gas prices nor a national cash crunch has curbed Memphis' growing appetite for live entertainment.

As local arts groups prepare to launch an event-packed 2008-09 performing arts season, Mid-Southerners should start planning ahead. The number of things to do has grown enormously, with more than 60 new events on the calendar.

ArtsMemphis president Susan Schadt noted that single-ticket sales have increased citywide over the past couple of years even as arts groups are bracing for fundraising difficulties. Full story »