Mulberry festival ushers in month of celebration
While the big event this weekend is the Mulberry Street Arts and Crafts Festival, which provides a splendid finale to the Cherry Blossom Festival, this grand affair is just the beginning of a month marked by celebrations.
Before we start blowing out candles, let's look at some other events approaching. The Grand Opera House has much on the calendar, including the Broadway hit "Mamma Mia." Local theater productions around the region will include "Young Frankenstein" at Theatre Macon, "Harvey" at the Perry Players, and "Betty the Yeti" at Middle Georgia State University (more on this below). The Douglass Theatre is hosting HD screenings of both "Hangmen" from the British National Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera's "Madame Butterfly."
The big news in the world of classical music is that the April 8 concert with Ward Stare and the popular Mercer University Orchestra will be held at the Grand Opera House. On top of that, at the end of the month comes Betty Cantrell performing with Mercer's David Keith and the Macon Symphony Orchestra. What a way to end the MSO season. Meanwhile, the Warner Robins Concert Association will present local favorites Edward Eikner and Nadine Cheek of Wesleyan College.
In addition to talent, another thing we have in abundance here is clay, and the Macon Arts Alliance's upcoming "Fired Works" regional ceramics exhibition and sale will feature 65 artists and more than 6,000 pieces of pottery.
I'm thinking people will be pouring into Macon from all over the Southeast. Let's not keep our light under a bushel.
MUCH TO CELEBRATE
It doesn't seem possible, but Theatre Macon will soon celebrate 30 years of bringing choice theater to Cherry Street.
Middle Georgia is blessed with numerous amateur groups and they all have their niche, but Theatre Macon is the one most likely to tackle "challenging" subject matter. (Can we ever forget "The Book Club Play" or any of the Steven Dietz shows?) We are also in Jim Crisp's enormous debt for his role in downtown development, not to mention the Youth Actors Company, whose level of excellence is nothing short of astonishing.
Another celebration is coming up April 23-24 at Middle Georgia State University, where Sydney Chalfa -- much-loved by her students -- has been directing since 1990 and plans a reunion of former casts and crews.
Contact Larry Fennelly at LarryFennelly@avantguild.com.
This story was originally published March 31, 2016 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Mulberry festival ushers in month of celebration ."