photograph courtesy memphis botanic garden
Chicago: Teen Edition
Harrell Theatre / July 30 – August 2
Two fame-hungry convicts, one greedy lawyer, and a merciless mob of reporters seeking the next thrilling crime of passion. Set in the 1920s, Chicago takes audiences into the dark world behind stardom with starlets Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, both of whom have been convicted for murdering their husbands. However, jail hasn’t stolen their taste for fame — rather, Roxie and Velma vie desperately for the media spotlight while constructing increasingly intricate and backhanded plots to keep it. This teen edition of the classic Broadway musical preserves Chicago’s integral themes, bold choreography, glittering setting, and rapid-fire plot twists while making the play accessible to younger audiences. Get your tickets here!
photograph courtesy memphis botanic garden
Incognito Art Auction and Party
Memphis Botanic Garden / Friday, July 31, 6 p.m.
For the past three weeks, visitors have gotten the chance to bid on a collection of over 100 unsigned works generously contributed by artists across the Mid-South, letting their eyes and hearts guide their choices instead of artist names. Now, this Friday, Memphis Botanic Garden is closing out the Incognito Art Auction exhibit in style with a masquerade-themed party, with masks, elaborate costumes, flamboyant accessories, and wildly creative looks highly encouraged. Make your last bids on artwork, listen to live music by Kenneth Jackson, sip on drinks from the bar, and of course, discover what your fellow partygoers are wearing! The event is free to attend; whether you want to take a last peek at the gallery or show off your finest costume, why not stop by?
photograph courtesy national civil rights museum
Ruby Bridges Reading Festival
National Civil Rights Museum / Saturday, August 1, 10 a.m.
As a child, Ruby Bridges made history for being one of the first Black children to attend an integrated school; now, she’s opening doors to make reading more accessible for children and showing them how to stand up against prejudice in their lives. This Saturday, join Bridges and authors Bellen Woodard and Nikkolas Smith at the National Civil Rights Museum, where children have the opportunity to meet the authors and hear them read from their books, participate in interactive activities and crafts, take home free books, and more. (Even better, if you’re an educator, you too can bring complimentary books back to your classrooms with a valid school ID!)
Bridges will be reading from I Am Ruby Bridges, offer opening remarks with NCRM director Dr. Russ Wigginton, and host a Q&A. Woodard is the author of More Than Peach and Ballet Brown, and started the Peach Project, a project that successfully designed sets of crayons that include a more inclusive range of skin tones. Smith is an author-illustrator of multiple acclaimed books, including A Change is Gonna Come, The Golden Girls of Rio, and My Hair Is Poofy And That’s Okay, and also works as a Hollywood film illustrator and concept artist. Don’t miss your chance to hear from these groundbreaking authors — check out the festival’s schedule and register for free here.
PHotograph courtesy memphis botanic garden
Deanna Mullins and Kim Jorgensen Art Exhibit
Memphis Botanic Garden / August 1 – 31 (Mullins) and August 1 – September 30 (Jorgensen)
We can always use more color in our lives, a fact that both Kim Jorgensen and Deanna Mullins understand. Jorgensen and Mullins’ newest exhibits are both being featured at Memphis Botanic Garden starting this Saturday; Mullins’ will be on display through the end of August, while Jorgensen’s will leave at the end of September. Jorgensen’s work — primarily acrylic or mixed media — centers faith and art history, themes that manifest in Jorgensen’s frequent use of vivid colors, light, and textural details, and inclusion of natural imagery. Mullins’ work, primarily acrylic, watercolor, or mixed media, is filled with whimsical, abstract, and bold shapes, often rendered in equally bright and bold colors — a deliberate artistic choice made to bring joy and vitality to others through artwork. Stop into MBG’s gallery spaces for a visit and brighten your day!
Lord Buffalo
Hi-Tone Cafe / Saturday, August 1, 9 p.m.
The loose genre label “psych-Americana” may sound baffling at first, but Lord Buffalo has never quite fit neatly into any genre. Their brand of heavy rock isn’t what you’d expect, they say; rather, their newest album, Holus Bolus, draws from a plethora of musical influences that, together, embody the album name’s meaning, “all at once.” Overall, however, it’s “strangely hopeful,” both ethereal and emotionally heavy. Lord Buffalo will be playing songs from Holus Bolus as well as other favorite songs from their discography; come check out Lord Buffalo for yourself and buy tickets here.
