Photography courtesy emerald theatre company
Smith McWaters, Hal Harmon and Den-Nickolas Schaeffer-Smith
Drag Queens on Trial
TheatreWorks
Friday-Sunday, June 9 – 12
In honor of National Best Friends Day, which is today, I — Blobby the Dog — have decided to take over this column to give my best friend Abby a week off. No strings attached. Although if a treat is in my future, I couldn’t possibly complain. I’d even entertain the possibility of several treats and maybe a new toy and maybe a walk and maybe a car ride to Mempops for a pupsicle. That’d hit the spot, but, again, I’m just entertaining possibilities here.
And while I’m entertaining the possibilities, Emerald Theatre Company is ready to entertain you as it closes out its 26th season with Drag Queens on Trial, in which three drag queens go from the dressing room to the courtroom (even though, as of last Friday, drag is still legal in Tennessee). In the semi-dark comedy, Marlene Delorme, Judy Goose, and Lana Lust enact a scene in which she stands trial for the “crime” of being a drag queen, and what ensues is a whole bunch of silliness with a touch of the serious as the drag queens reveal fantastic romantic lives on the witness stand and talk trash and throw shade backstage. Read more about the production here.
Tickets ($20) for the play can be purchased here. Catch performances on Friday, June 9, or Saturday, June 10, at 8 p.m., or Sunday, June 11, at 2 p.m. The production will run next weekend as well.
photography courtesy urbanart commission
Public Art Yoga
Cleaborn Pointe at Heritage Landing
Saturday, June 10, 11 a.m. – noon
Hold on. I gotta do a big streeeeeeettttccchhhh. Ah, that’s better. They oughta name a yoga pose after me ’cause I do the best stretches. I know there’s already a Downward Dog, but I’m thinking bigger and better: The Blobster, where you stretch out your front legs far in front of you so that your rear end is in the air. Now that’s a yoga pose for ya, and I’d definitely recommend trying it out at UrbanArt Commission’s Public Art Yoga this weekend.
And what is Public Art Yoga? Well, it’s yoga around public art, duh. I mean, I’m a dog and I can’t read and I gathered that much based on the title of the event. Anyways, this weekend, Andrea Jacobo will lead a free 45-minute yoga session, featuring Rhapsody by Douglass Kornfeld. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own mat and water and wear comfortable shoes and breathable clothing. Register for the class here. Donations are accepted.
UAC will host more Public Art Yoga classes this summer, for a full schedule of classes, follow this link.
photography courtesy the artist
John Salvest, Flag, sharpened pencils, 30 x 45 x 3.5," 2022
John Salvest x Kasha Quartet
David Lusk Gallery
Saturday, June 10, 1 – 4 p.m.
So, recently, I’ve been informed that there are more colors than what I see as a red-green color blind canine. Which is unfortunate because I’m told I look good in all the colors, but I’ll never be able to see for myself. That also means I can’t quite take in all the colors in John Salvest’s “Iterations,” on display at David Lusk Gallery. I mean, I also can’t take in all the colors because galleries aren’t exactly dog-friendly, but I guess you human folk can have a good time without me checking out the Philadelphia-based artists’ articulate works that he developed out of obsessive collections of objects and a keen social awareness. In his sculptural pieces, he uses business cars, stamps, matches, diet pills, you name it, to explore time and mortality. The result is some very cool stuff to look at, especially if you aren’t a dog.
Though the exhibit is on display through June 17, this weekend David Lusk Gallery welcomes the Kasha Quarter, who will perform a concert of Philip Glass compositions among Salvest’s art. You won’t want to miss this unique art experience, so come and go as you please on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. The event is pay-what-you-can.
Photography courtesy the artist
Harmonia Rosales, Beyond the Peonies
Summer Community Day: Harmonia Rosales
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
Saturday, June 10, 3 – 6 p.m.
My personal favorite place to go is Overton Park. I love to stop and smell everything — the trees, the car tires, the trashcans, each blade of grass. That’s where you’ll find me this weekend, if all goes to my plan. Unfortunately, you won’t find me at the Brooks, yet another not-so-dog-friendly place. It’s like they don’t trust me around valuable art and stuff — all I want to do is smell it, and I’m told that their latest exhibit, “Harmonia Rosales: Master Narrative,” has lots of flowers in the paintings, perfect for a Blobby sniff or two. But, alas, I’ll have to ask you to sniff all the paintings on my behalf at the Brooks’ Community Day in honor of the Afro-Cuban American artist Harmonia Rosales.
The day will be jam-packed with activities from traditional Cuban music, free art-making, Cuban special by loaf, and a flower arranging workshop led by Verushka Wilson with The Mane Wilding. Admission to the event is free with registration. The workshop, which will be offered at 3 and 4:40 p.m., is a $50 add-on (purchase here).
No Tears Project Memphis
Various locations
Saturday-Wednesday, June 10-14
Okay, I have one more event to mention, and then it’s dinner time for me. The best part of the day. So, I’m gonna go out with a bang and tell you about No Tears Project Memphis, a series of events that uses music and conversation to engage communities in learning about civil rights. I’d definitely read this Memphis Flyer article by our writer Alex Greene to learn more about the project.
Saturday at noon, at Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, families can enjoy an education concert, featuring No Tears Project ensemble members, who will play short selections of music interspersed with dialogue that highlights key moments and people from Memphis, Little Rock, and Jackson involved with the Civil Rights Movement. Seating is limited and reservations are required.
On Sunday at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., the No Tears Project invites you to their 90-minute community concerts, which will feature performances by the ensemble of new works written by Memphis artists, a performance by poet and spoken word artist Treasure Shields Redmond, and dancer Ashley Tate. Both concerts are free and will take place at Crosstown Arts’ Green Room. Reserve a seat here for the 2 p.m. show and here for the 6:30 p.m. show.
More events will follow on Tuesday and Wednesday, including a Civil Rights panel discussion and a reading with Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine who desegregated an Arkansas high school in 1957. Find more information on either of these events here.
