"Can I Have the Night Off?" Music and Art are Calling

I won't see much of the music and art this weekend because I'll be on the Tryon Fine Arts Center stage playing a rather unruly maid. You should come see the show, I hear it's funny. It's hard to tell from my perspective. At this point I'm too busy worrying about my next cue to enjoy what is happening on stage. I know I've laughed out loud at Carol Cox and Mike Johnson on more than one occasion during the rehearsal process. They're funny people when you give them clever lines and fun physical "business" to tell a story. In fact, Dallas Johann has assembled a top notch cast and crew to pull this show together. Anyone who has moved into a "fixer upper" home in the country can appreciate the trials and tribulations that faced the tech crew, led by the fearless Rebecca Davis, as they figured out how to give a house a make-over on stage in two hours every night of the show. Jimm Brink's sound and light design ranges from simple sounds of country life to some cool thunder and lightning effects. It's a good thing it's a comedy so we remember to laugh at all the stumbling blocks along the way.

I have found the humor in my own life while working on this play. Ironically, I attempted working as a maid at the Melrose Inn and was lucky enough to have a tree struck by lightning on my property during the rehearsal process. Dallas got his well dug before we opened. Will Newton and Annabel have water in their new home, a reliable maid, and weather the storm? Come see George Washington Slept Here by Hart & Kaufman to find out. The show runs tonight through Saturday at 8pm with a matinee Sunday at 3pm at the Tryon Fine Arts Center. Thankfully I'm not working in the kitchen, so I can highly recommend a delicious dinner at Melrose Inn before the show, just be sure to call for reservations 859-7014.

I missed the opening reception last weekend at Red Clover Gallery in Landrum. However, driving past the stunning painting in the front window reminded me to stop in and view the work of Linda Hudgins in an exhibit titled The Grateful Eye, sometime before the show ends October 17. Her expressive abstract paintings suggest that a walk through the gallery will be a vacation trip into a colorful country of dreamy observation.

I'll miss the dinner and music at the Purple Onion. They are serving up some delicious fare with Greg Lilley tonight and Everett Hix Project on Saturday. I'll also miss the Open Mic on Friday at the Gallery Coffeehouse from 7:30ish-10pm, but Mike Locke is doing a fine job of hosting a friendly musical evening of fun. Bring something musical to share, or listen and enjoy the show.

Saturday night the Saluda Mountain Jamboree will have people dancing and grooving to Sound Investment from 8-11pm. Unfortunately, I won't make it to Saluda from the theatre in time for that. However, when I escape my costume late Saturday evening I may get to dance a bit to the oldies and beach music of the South Factory Band at Elmo's in Tryon.

If our final matinee wasn't Sunday from 3-5pm , I would be interested in revisiting the Upstairs Artspace to get a second look at their current exhibitions and try my hand at a drumming workshop with international percussionist and composer River Guergeurian.

If you catch me at the theatre this weekend, let me know how the rest of the local art world is faring.