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Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

LARRY FENNELLY: ‘Noises Off,’ ‘Rat Pack’ grace Macon’s stages

I can’t recall a weekend since school started when we haven’t had live theater on the calendar, and this weekend sure won’t be the one to break the chain.

Opening tonight at Theatre Macon is Michael Frayn’s rip-roaring farce comedy “Noises Off,” while just a few blocks away at the Grand Opera House, Mercer University’s Broadway Series at the Grand is presenting “The Rat Pack is Back,” a tribute to Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and Joey Bishop.

Also tonight, the Middle Georgia Art Association is hosting a 6-8 p.m. reception and print signing for Scott Duce and Robin Starbuck, while this afternoon at Frames and Art Unlimited on Forsyth Road, Sterling Everett will introduce a new lithograph, “Perspectives of the R. Kirby Godsey Administration Building.”

Everett will also be at the gallery on Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

If it’s music you’re looking for, the Warner Robins Community Concert Association will host the Brass Roots Trio at 3 p.m. Sunday at the First United Methodist Church in Warner Robins.

Looking ahead, the McDuffie Center for Strings will present Masterworks at noon Oct. 30. That evening is Chuck and Rose Lane Leavell’s get-together to benefit the Historic Macon Foundation’s Preservation IS Conservation Green Field Day.

Coming Nov. 1 is the Choral Society of Middle Georgia’s performance of Mozart’s “Requiem” at Vineville United Methodist Church.

A LOBBY OF ONE

Macon Arts’ October Arts Roundtable focused on “arts advocacy” and featured several panelists familiar with the workings of the state budgetary process as it affects both funding for the Georgia Council for the Arts and funding for public education. Neither sphere has fared well in recent years, so the topic proved a popular one.

The message that dominated the discussion was the imperative that arts organizations must repeatedly remind the funding sources that the arts generate far more revenue than they consume, and that monies for the arts are not a handout but an investment that pays off handsomely.

The return on dollars invested in arts education is less immediate, but even more valuable in the long haul.

When my oldest children first entered school in the 1990s, one of the strongest arguments for public schools was the strength of their arts programs. Sadly, the relentless budget cuts that have come down from Atlanta in recent years have taken a toll.

While it is essential that arts organizations proclaim loudly their economic impact, the educational deficiencies won’t be dealt with until the thousands and thousands of us whose school days were enriched by the arts stand up as individuals and demand that children of today have similar opportunities. Should the legislators demand an empirically-verifiable payoff for this investment, explain patiently yet again that SAT scores will soar.

Larry Fennelly can be reached by e-mail at LarryFennelly@AvantGuild.com.