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City Guide - Memphis - Culture | ||
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Culture The cultural scene in Memphis is dominated by popular music. It was here that W C Handy wrote 'Memphis Blues' - the first published blues song, and here that the young Elvis Presley heard the black music that so influenced him. When Presley was discovered by Sun Records in the early 1950s, his distinctive sound took the country by storm and rock'n'roll was born. In the 1960s, Memphis recording studio Stax Records helped to develop a new sound that had its roots in the civil rights movement - soul music. There are still several recording studios here and the city continues to inspire musicians, such as Irish band U2, who recorded some tracks for their Rattle and Hum album at Sun Studio. There are two unusual performance venues. The 32-storey steel Pyramid arena, One Auction Avenue (tel: (901) 521 9675; web site: www.pyramidarena.com), which is used for rock concerts and large-scale events, and Mud Island Amphitheatre, 125 North Front Street (tel: (901) 576 7241; web site: www.mudisland.com), which is the setting for outdoor concerts. The main performing arts venue is a restored vaudeville palace, the Orpheum Theatre, 203 Main Street (tel: (901) 525 7800; web site: www.orpheum-memphis.com =). The main ticket agency in the city is TicketMaster (tel: (901) 525 1515). Music: The Memphis Symphony Orchestra (tel: (901) 324 3627; web site: www.memphissymphony.org) is well established and performs both classical and pop concerts from September to early May. They currently appear at venues around the city, including the Germantown Performing Arts Center, 1801 Exeter Road (tel: (901) 757 7256). However, they should have a permanent home from Spring 2001, when the new Memphis Cook Convention Center opens. Opera Memphis (tel: (901) 678 2706; web site: www.gray.music.rhodes.edu/operahtmls/opera.html) is the state's largest professional opera company. They stage four productions each year, with occasional performances by acclaimed soprano Kallen Esperian. Theatre: Memphis has a lively theatre scene. For professional theatre productions, there is the Playhouse on the Square, 51 South Cooper Street (tel: (901) 726 4656), which stages a large number of Broadway musicals. It has a sister theatre Circuit Playhouse, 1705 Poplar Avenue (tel: (901) 726 4656), which offers more plays and occasional premieres. For highly respected community theatre, there is Theater Memphis, 630 Perkins Extended (tel: (901) 682 8601; web site: www.memphis.can.net/entertain/the.mem.html) which presents everything from Broadway plays to alternative works. Dance: Thanks to professional dance company Ballet Memphis (tel: (901) 737 7322), the city also has a reputation for top-quality dance performances. The company includes national and international award-winning dancers. It stages contemporary ballets by choreographers such as Trey McIntyre, as well as classical works like The Nutcracker and Giselle. Performances take place at the Orpheum Theatre. Film: There is no shortage of cinemas in Memphis (tel: (901) 681 2020; web site: www.malco.com) and it is possible to watch anything from the latest Hollywood blockbusters to arthouse movies. Studio on the Square, 2105 Court Street, has five screens showing alternative, foreign and speciality films. Other cinemas showing mainstream films include Stage Cinema, Germantown, The Majestic, Winchester at Riverdale and Wolfchase Galleria, Germantown. There is also a multi-screen cinema at the Mall of Memphis, Perkins Road (tel: (901) 369 9642) and a 3D IMAX cinema at the Pink Palace Museum, 3050 Central Avenue (tel: (901) 763 4629; web site: www.memphismuseums.org). When Peabody Place, Second Street is completed in 2001, it will also house a 21-screen cinema and a 3D IMAX. Memphis is rapidly becoming a favourite with location hunters and a number of films have recently been shot in the city. These include Jim Jarmusch's cult 1989 film Mystery Train, about a group of Japanese tourists who come to Memphis for the blues; and Cookie's Fortune (1999), a Robert Altman murder mystery. A number of film adaptations of John Grisham books have also been filmed here, including Sidney Pollack's 1993 film The Firm, starring Tom Cruise. Cultural events: The city stages many international festivals, in addition to a number of local events. These include the Memphis in May International Festival, a month-long event that celebrates a different country each year and attracts more than one million visitors. Events include the Beale Street Music Festival, and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. In August, Elvis fans descend on the city for Elvis Tribute Week. Commemorating the anniversary of his death, this is a celebration of his life and music, culminating in a candlelit vigil at Graceland. The city's most ambitious festival is the acclaimed Wonders series of art exhibitions, which regularly brings great international art to Memphis, displaying it in galleries reflecting the architecture of the period. Literary notes It was in Memphis that the career of the acclaimed playwright, Tennessee Williams, began. He wrote his first play Cairo! Shanghai! Bombay! here in 1935 and it was premiered in a Memphis theatre: 'Then and there the theater and I found each other, for better and for worse,' he wrote later. Not surprisingly, the Memphis music scene has inspired a number of books, including Another Good Loving Blues (1994), Arthur Flowers' book about a blues singer's move to Beale Street in the 1920s, when the blues was the hottest music around. Memphis is also the setting for many of the novels of John Grisham, who practised law in Southaven, a Memphis suburb for ten years and who uses the city as an atmospheric backdrop to his plot-driven bestsellers. These legal thrillers include The Client (1993), The Rainmaker (1995) and The Firm (1991). |