Books: Arthur author
FROM HIS humble beginning as a bedtime story, over 30 years later Arthur the aardvark has gone on to be one of the most popular series of children’s books in the world, as well as one of the Public Broadcasting System’s most popular shows. Author, illustrator, and Arthur creator Marc Brown will be in town…
Theater: Gershwin’s a gas
Tap dancing, innuendo, and hidden identities are swirling as the Masquers put on their first musical in nearly two years. Coming to AASU’s newly renovated Jenkins Hall is Crazy For You, a musical built to showcase favorite Gershwin tunes. “It’s fitting in a way,” laughs director Pamela Sears, “because there’s a theatre being refurbished in…
Lion in wait
IN A CITY as historic as this one, it’s often too easy to take things for granted. Consider the many monuments that dot Savannah’s landscape. Some seem as old as time itself, and it’s almost impossible to imagine one disappearing forever. But on Aug. 30, one of Savannah’s most beloved statues was smashed to bits…
A golf book to Dye for
WITH SEVERAL successful books and high-profile magazine assignments to his credit, local author Joel Zuckerman had already carved out a perfectly respectable niche for himself as a golf writer. But the “career-changer,” as he puts it, came when he linked up with one of golf’s truly great names, legendary course architect Pete Dye, whose body…
Theater: A thriller, updated
Imagine you’re newly blind, your husband is ensnared in a drug-smuggling plot, and dangerous criminals claiming to be old friends are tormenting you to find the stash. Such is the story of Wait Until Dark, the Little Theatre of Savannah’s newest production. Sam Hendricks is asked by a woman at the airport to hold a…
Joel Varland’s garden variety politics
THOSE once-ubiquitous political campaign signs are disappearing from most front lawns and intersections. But at Joel Varland’s house on 49th Street, they sprout around his place like weeds. Or, as Varland puts it, like wildflowers. Varland has installed an estimated 100 political signs on the front and side yards of his family’s Parkside bungalow, “starting…
Stealus Interruptus
A SALCEDO AVENUE homeowner arrived home from work early to find a strange car parked in his driveway, facing the street. The car was an older model sedan, about 15 years old, had no tag, and one door was open. The man returned to his car. Two men ran from the direction of his backyard,…
‘Concrete shoes’: Real or bogus?
I’m sure you’ve heard the term “concrete shoes,” mobsters’ choice of swimwear for fellas with rodent traits and other individuals that ran afoul of them. Is there any truth to it? —Ale, Bangkok When your question came in, Ale, I thought: At last, a chance to have it out with E.L. Doctorow. You remember the…
Stop pulling my leg, dude
Lead Story Dutch designer Eric Klarenbeek, 29, has developed jewelry consisting of tiny crystals or flowers that hang directly from the eye via micro-thin medical wire attached to either prescription or blank contact lenses and, in the light, give the appearance of tears streaming down the cheek. He expects to hit the market soon, according…
Two ships in the night
QUESTION: When is history like gymnastics? Answer: When you have to bend over backwards to explain connections and make them matter to people today. Around 1999 or so, I started my journey with the CSS Georgia, a Civil War warship sunk in the Savannah River adjacent to Old Fort Jackson. The Georgia served as the…
New release: Quantum of Solace
Quantum of Solace Casino Royale, the 2006 revamp of the hallowed 007 film franchise, turned out to be the best Bond outing since Reagan’s first term in office, so expecting Quantum of Solace to surpass it was probably asking too much. And indeed, this second effort starring Daniel Craig as the newly minted agent with…
Accentuating the positive
Eddie Wilson is a cat who’s been around. By his own account, he’s seen “all of the USA and many different countries” in his varying capacities as a musical director, singer/songwriter and journeyman pianist. A native of Cleveland, Oh., at various points in his career to date, Wilson recorded commercial jingles, crafted original background scores…
Savannah Music Festival Lineup Announcement Interviews
In anticipation of this week’s public unveiling of the lineup for the 2009 Savannah Music Festival, Connect spoke briefly with the SMF’s Communications Manager and Director of Marketing and Public Relations. We also caught up with the festival’s Executive and Artistic Director Rob Gibson in Spain, where he was attending a major conference on world…
The SMF drops it like it’s hot
Much to the delight of all manner of folks throughout our community —and elsewhere— 2009 will mark the seventh installment of the Savannah Music Festival. Initially known as the Savannah Onstage International Arts Festival, the long-running spring event changed dramatically in 2003 with the entrance of Rob Gibson, a noted music scholar and promoter who…
November 5th Winner
Welcome to Connect Savannah’s You Shoot group! We’re looking for your pictures of life in Savannah, Georgia and its environs for use on our homepage, and possibly in our printed paper. You can add photos to our feed by sharing your photo online. If your shot is really good, we might just run it in…
“‘Tis the Season”
“‘Tis the Season”–for once, I hope you don’t catch on. by Matt Jones You need Java enabled to view the crossword applet. If you do not have Java installed you can obtain it from java.com. If do have Java you may need to check your security settings to make sure that applets are enabled, especially…
Diary of the planet
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More than just a rock opera
“IF WE’D EVER HAD ANY LUCK, we wouldn’t be so far under the radar,” says songwriter Jeff Holmes. He’s speaking of The Floating Men, the band he co-founded almost two decades ago with songwriting partner (and fellow Furman alumnus) Scot Evans. While essentially unknown to mainstream listeners, the band —which has, over the years, featured…
Blues, BBQ and beer — what more does one need?
IF, AS THE LEGENDARY BLUES SINGER AND GUITARIST Muddy Waters once intoned, “the blues had a baby, and named that baby rock ‘n’ roll,” then a strong argument could be made that the blues had a cousin, and it’s name was BBQ (not B.B. King). Ever since the 1920s, when black acoustic artists sang and…
“It is the beat of my heart”
LAST YEAR, THE LUCAS THEATRE TRIED SOMETHING a little different. They booked a touring dance production called Tango Buenos Aires — a 20-piece group of musicians and dancers performing fast-paced Argentinian tango. According to the Lucas’ Managing Director Meaghan Walsh, the concert went over like gang-busters. “We wound up selling 850 tickets,” she relates. That’s…
Full Interview with Jose Porcel
The following is the complete transcript of my recent interview with acclaimed Spanish dancer and choreographer Jose Porcel, who brings his Ballet Flamenco production to the Lucas Theatre on Sat., Nov. 8, at 8 pm. You became involved with dance at an early age. What led you into this art form? Were your friends or…
Spotlighted gigs and recommended shows
Savannah Music Festival presents: The Infamous Stringdusters Every year around this time, the folks over at the SMF hold a big press conference. That’s when and where they announce to great fanfare the lineup for the following spring’s two-week-plus showcase of classical, jazz, blues, roots, gospel and world music. They’ve always had some small combo…
