The Nation is Talking About Memphis

AP News reported that the Black repertory theater is set to open a tuition-free school in a historic church that will be renovated by a community development agency after decades of decay. The program is slated to kick off in late 2023. The Third Presbyterian Church was organized in 1856 and completely built in 1860.…

October 5, 2021 is a day Brett Batterson will never forget. That’s when Come From Away opened at the Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Memphis, marking the return to live performance after 18 months of pandemic shutdown. “That opening night is one of the greatest nights I’ve ever experienced in my career,” says Batterson, the Orpheum’s president and…

A Black repertory theater in Memphis says it plans to open a tuition-free school for at-risk students and other groups in a historic church that will be renovated after falling into disrepair. Hattiloo Theatre said the new program is expected to begin in late 2023. Students will be accepted based on auditions, and two-thirds of…

After going to film festivals for more than a decade, Memphis-based filmmaker Chassidy Jade Woods has now created one of her own, and her goal is to bolster the number of Black and brown creatives in the entertainment ranks. Enter Woods’ Crown Me Royal Film Festival, which takes place Friday, July 29, through Sunday, July…

When we spoke to Andrew Arbogast, he was in the midst of a journey that had him driving to Tupelo, Mississippi, to pick up a refrigerated truck and then driving that truck to Humboldt, Tennessee, to pick up 1,000 pounds of cheese from a cheese factory, and then back to Tupelo to deliver said cheese. It’s…

I grew up in Memphis. I love the city for all its strengths, weaknesses and quirks. But I’m sorry, Memphis: I arrived last weekend with a preconceived, incorrect notion about your (and Hyatt’s) newest hotel. When I got the assignment to check out the Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis — the first location in the…

A camp that uses music to expose underrepresented youth to architecture, urban planning and design made its Memphis debut this week. Madison, Wisconsin-based architect Michael Ford’s Hip Hop Architecture Camp was held Monday, July 11, through Friday, July 15, at Connect Music Group in Downtown Memphis. Since 2016, Ford’s camp has been hosted in cities…

All White Affair! Thousands of people gathered at Mud Island River Park in Memphis on Saturday evening for one of the city’s annual marquee parties. The attire was varied from T-shirts to dresses, but all the guests had one thing in common — they wore all-white attire. That’s a mandatory rule for admission to the…