Fabulous fall follows super summer

Kids went back to school this week, which pretty much drives a stake through summer. But, what a summer it’s been! I seldom use exclamation points, but in this case, I’m tempted to use several.

Theatre Macon’s first Macon Theatre Festival was a rousing success in multiple ways, and Macon Little Theatre’s “Addams Family” also drew enthusiastic praise. Ditto for the Macon Film Festival and the Bragg Jam. It was all unbelievable.

Meanwhile, several of the musicians who will again light up our stages in the weeks ahead — including Robert McDuffie and Amy Schwartz Moretti — have been appearing at festivals around the country and around the globe. Thankfully, they’ll be back with us soon.

MUSIC SEASON READY TO EXPLODE

It was theater galore this summer, but now the music folks are starting to make some noise. By the end of the month, the Macon Pops, the Macon Symphony and Mercer University’s Townsend School of Music will all be in action.

Robert McDuffie and the Center for Strings will lead the academic parade with the annual Labor Day Concert, but the event is just the proverbial camel’s nose under the tent.

There’s far more to come: Townsend School of Music’s annual schedule alone lists close to 80 concerts that Mercer will bring to the community — most of which are in Fickling Hall and many of which will (unbelievably) be free.

The Macon Pops season opens Aug. 26 with Songs of Summer. This event will, figuratively speaking, break new ground, as it is scheduled on the lawn at Middle Georgia State University’s Wellness Center, overlooking scenic Lake Kneedeep.

At a more traditional venue, the Macon Symphony Orchestra is scheduled to open its 2016-17 season the following night with Russian to the Finnish. This 40th anniversary celebration will feature pianist Spencer Myer in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, with the MSO’s exciting new music director Jerry Streichen wielding the baton.

Days later, things get rolling at Mercer’s Fickling Hall with the Townsend All-Faculty Gala Concert on Aug. 30. From then on, the fun is nonstop

THEATER NEWS

Warner Robins may be only 74 years old, but Warner Robins Little Theatre is already 54, and Saturday from 6:30-8:30 Fred Hardin and the other pioneers will videotape the history of the group for the Warner Robins History Project.

Macon folk visiting Kennebunkport, Maine, this summer report that former Maconite Michael Haynie is starring in the new musical “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” at the Ogunquit Playhouse.

This story was originally published August 4, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Fabulous fall follows super summer."