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TWLF tip#1

Among the lengthy list of events that the Tennessee Williams Festival has planned for next week are a few that deserve to be highlighted. So today through Thursday (TWLF opening day) I’ll pick one that looks particularly good.
The tip for today is for one of the theater events. Tickets are half price through Tuesday (only 17.50)

Hiding in Plain Sight: Tennessee Williams’ Treasures
Some of Tennessee’s most beautiful writing is “hidden” in some of his lesser-known works as well as within his most famous plays. Now, in an evening that’s not-to-be-missed, luminaries of the page and stage gather to share some of the playwright’s unsung treasures.

Reading gems culled from full-length plays, one-acts, letters, and essays, actress Piper Laurie, playwright John Guare, actress Amanda Plummer, author Jewelle Gomez, columnist Amy Dickinson, director and actress Jodie Markell, actress Cristine McMurdo-Wallis, author Ace Atkins, and others will take a closer look at the Williams canon and bring his words to life with an evening of readings from well-known plays including Suddenly Last Summer and The Night of the Iguana, as well as remarkable monologues and scenes from plays you might not be as familiar with such as Candles to the Sun, Clothes for a Summer Hotel, Not About Nightingales, Tiger Tail, The Fat Man’s Wife, The Day on Which a Man Dies, Will Mr. Merriwether Return from Memphis? and Something Cloudy, Something Clear.

This theatrical treasure hunt offers an entertaining and surprising look at Williams’ legacy.

Hosted by Thomas Keith, and curated by Keith and Paul J. Willis.

Sponsored by the Bollinger Family Foundation.

Date: Saturday
Time: 8:00 PM-10:00 PM
Location: Hotel Monteleone, La Nouvelle Ballroom
Ticket Code(s): AllAccessPass, HidingSat8pm
Ticket Type(s): All Access Pass, Individual Special Event Ticket
Price: $35

buy tickets

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French Market Fare

I’m always surprised when I happen over to the French Market and find music or cooking demos. Mostly because you would think they would work to make damn sure that locals know about them. In any case, I am not sure why they have chosen the spot where they do demos- oh wait a minute – that was where we used to stage the Crescent City Farmers Market once a week. I wonder if it has anything to do with that?

I’ll be in the Quarter for a week or two full-time during Tennessee Williams Festivals days and then back for the French Quarter Festival. I’ll be sure to spend time in the French Market, looking at local artists wares and maybe picking up a new flag to hang on my house for JazzFest. If you haven’t done that recently, give it another chance.

Market events

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Time for Tennessee

As I wait for the heat and humidity to return (yes I do like them), I also wait for the return at least one fair and two festivals: The New Orleans Bookfair, the French Quarter Festival (sorry JazzFest, you’ve lost my complete loyalty when you went past 50 bucks a day and invited Bon Jovi) and The Tennessee Williams Festival. Interestingly, the festivals fall within a few weeks of each other (TWLF at the end of March, and FQF in mid April) and both are held in the Quarter. (Well whaddya know?)
TWLF is a glorious few days of panels, plays and tours (and mint juleps, don’t forget the mint juleps) all held within the French Quarter of course. The date coincides with the birth date of TW, and the entire event ends on Sunday with a round of happy birthday to Tom. The schedule is usually packed with Southern authors, playwrights, editors and publishers, Tennessee Williams scholars and yes, even a few pompous, idle seersucker-wearin’ Southerners who truly believe they make the event when they arrive and pointedly stand in the lobby or at the front of the room in full sight and earshot of everyone. They do throw some historical perspective on class in New Orleans, so even they are a welcome sight. Sure.
It’s not all about TW, but it remains rooted in the context of his New Orleans and the Southern literary sensibility, which, in my mind, makes it very special and dynamic.
The TWLF event that most people know is the Stella contest, held on Jackson Square on Sunday afternoon with that year’s chosen Stella on the balcony auditioning her Stanleys shouting for her below. So make a point to listen in to Stanley and Stella especially cuz its free, but as literary festivals go this one is world-class and deserves more of your attention. Check out the schedule and I’ll save you a seat:

TWLF

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Same old sad shed story

In my old city is an old shed market that is constantly undergoing trials and tribulations. It is in the very heart of our city, being the spot that Native Americans traded their wares and the French built the city around. However, in my lifetime it has become a set of buildings without a plan.
The link below leads to a letter in our local paper and it and the ensuing comments are important to note as many of them come from some of the vendors at that market. I am not sure the entire story is being told in this letter- well, let’s say it is not, nor did the letter writer expect to cover 250 years of history in it. The letter writer is instead pointing out the economic impact of their work. I wonder if the management has an answer to that argument; they might, but it is not clear to me if they do.

I will add that as a farmers market organizer I ran a weekday open-air market in this place (while working as a market organizer for a well-respected local market organization) as a favor to this corporation and its history as our city’s market heritage. One of the only things I was glad of post-September 2005 was that my organization could delay the decision to reopen that location. We did not reopen that market. It was the only one of our 4 weekly markets that we ultimately did not reopen and had more to do with resources and new management unknown to us, then the potential of the place. But it was a difficult place to run an entrepreneurial market, and this is from someone who happily ran those other 3 as well as a multi-day holiday market every December.

There are many ideas that could work here, but none of them (in my mind) start with pissing off the existing vendors without a strong, appropriate plan to reinvent the base. I still am not sure the management knows who their target audience is and how to reach them. I am not sure they even know how to find their target vendors or how to work with existing vendors to maximize their hard work and the market’s investment. I am not even sure that the management understands the difference between festivals and markets or between the needs of storefront businesses and itinerate tradespeople and artisans.
In short, even though I study markets daily, I am not sure of anything when it comes to the French Market.

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Group Collects Used Mardi Gras Beads For Recycling

As those who braved the Quarter on Ash Wednesday noticed, the Quarter is amazingly clean after Mardi Gras. The amount of throws that pass through hands and end up on the ground is quite staggering. For locals skilled at catching, how to catch the things and then give away most of them so the beads and stuffed animals don’t weigh down our houses is a deeply admired talent. For tourists, I am sure they don’t know what to do with the majority of their catches, as all of them cannot fit into their luggage! I wish the city would have areas (like the police station on Royal) for people to leave their beads to be later recycled. I am also sure (as an ex-hotel manager) that if the ARC contacted the hotels they could get a truckful on Thursday morning. There is no doubt that my friends at UP/Unique Products
would set something up since they have found many inventive ways to reuse beads in their art. In any case, let’s try to make our Carnival a bit greener.

Group Collects Used Mardi Gras Beads For Recycling.

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Carnival days

After the rain passes today, we expect 3 days of glorious Mardi Gras weather, and like millions of other people, I wil spend most of it in and around the French Quarter. Will meet up with friends and family and do things like Stanley’s for gumbo, coffee at Cafe Du Monde, and drink at the updated Carousel Bar,see a parade and hear some music. And just bike around admiring costumes and running into people and catching up.

Carnival is not about getting so drunk that you can’t stand up or flashing body parts or screaming “WOOOO” as you walk down the street. It’s about friends and creative energy and social time while forgetting your cares for a few days. Welcome.