By Nanette Wiser
CURTAIN CALLS freeFall Theatre Company has a great new season filled with music and laughter. Matthew McGee shared his newest project he and Natalie Symons penned. “We have been toying with this since March 2020. I don’t think I would’ve made it through the lockdown without her and our phone chats/texts. This new property was born out of those conversations. It can only be described as a comedy/thriller vehicle for Jennifer Coolidge with (count them) five great roles for women over 50! It’s suspenseful, hilarious and spares no one. Get ready to be triggered lol.”
The plot twists and tickles. “When a recently canceled celebrity housewife and her entourage try to escape the media at an Airbnb in The Berkshires, things go terribly and hilariously wrong as the ladies find themselves in the middle of a manhunt for the Berkshire Strangler. The Hollywood elites find themselves triggered by mistaken identities, bad cell service, a set of twins, power outages, a missing alternator, and a mysterious landlady in this hilarious thriller from the writers that brought you The Buffalo Kings, The People Downstairs, and The Night Before,” says McGee, who will spend the summer in North Carolina starring in Rock of Ages, and will reprise his hilarious Poirot again at Stageworks in Tampa. freefalltheatre.com
Parkshore Grill’s Chef Tyson Grant’s son Tanner popped up on FB with news from his proud parents. “We can finally share this amazing news! Not only was he nominated, but he is now in the top 10 and top five male performers! I’m so proud and excited for this next performance that we actually get to see, crossing our fingers for a trip to #nyc to the #jimmyawards.” The National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (the Jimmy Awards®) are a national celebration of outstanding student achievement, recognizing individual artistry in vocal, dance, and acting performance and elevating the importance of theatre arts education in schools. The Jimmy Awards are presented by The Broadway League Foundation in June.
WRITE ON! Over 50 years after the death of Louis Armstrong, the American icon’s only child, Sharon Preston-Folta, comes forward in the acclaimed PBS documentary Little Satchmo based on her book by the same name. After living closely in the shadows of her father, Armstrong’s secret daughter reveals a family and their relationship that was kept entirely invisible – until now. The feature documentary is the season premiere of PBS Reel South season 7, running nationally on television in the USA, in theaters and at film festivals in North America, Europe, and Asia.
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Southeast Chapter, has named Little Satchmo as one of five titles nominated for the Best Historical Documentary EMMY. The winner of the EMMY will be announced at the 49th Annual Emmy Awards Gala in Atlanta 6/17. Sadly, producer Lea Umberger who worked on the project passed April 25; a celebration of life is planned in October. Donations in her honor can be made to Creative Pinellas.
Do you love our Rays? Author Eric C. Gray’s second book is for you. Backyards to Ballparks is a collection of peoples’ personal memories that touch upon baseball and how the sport connects friends, families and communities. These memories, often more human interest than baseball in nature, all have baseball as a setting, but speak to how baseball provides joy and anguish, nourishes family traditions, creates friendships, and can profoundly affect you. Whether the stories are about befriending Hank Aaron because of a mixed music tape, catching or not catching that prized ball, re-telling the memory your grandpa passed down to you, or finding out some life-changing news while at a game, these are stories that will make you laugh, or tear up, and allow you to remember similar events in your life. If you like baseball – great.
The 2023 Roy Peter Clark Literary Award went to St. Petersburg poet Denzel Johnson-Green in May. Johnson-Green is editor of Neptune, a local poetry and art magazine. The award was presented at the Palladium Theater Side Door Café. Clark is also a Poynter Institute writing coach and former journalist.