Oak Ridge Today

Guest column: The procrastination predicament

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Judy DiGregorio

Judy DiGregorio

When I have less than 24 hours left to meet a writing deadline, I am as jumpy as a kangaroo rat in a room full of cats. Ideas tumble around in my head like bingo balls in a metal cage as I mentally kick myself for procrastinating again.

I don’t procrastinate quite as much in the winter as I do in the spring, when blue skies and balmy breezes tempt me to take long walks at the marina where I can watch the great blue heron fishing along the bank or the rowers skimming across the lake. I also enjoy sitting on my back deck observing the nuthatches, chickadees, and goldfinches. The only thing I don’t enjoy this time of year is parking myself at the computer and writing.

Part of my problem is I write over 50 columns per year, so a deadline dangles in front of me almost every week. I do press releases for the Oak Ridge Playhouse, humor columns for two magazines, and miscellaneous articles for other publications. If I didn’t have deadlines to motivate me, I don’t know if I’d ever write anything. But deadlines don’t prevent me from procrastinating. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Playhouse welcomes back ‘Annie,’ this weekend through Dec. 8

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“Little Orphan Annie” may have disappeared from the comic pages of American newspapers, much like newspapers themselves, but her spirited message of hope lives on thanks to Broadway and the beloved musical that bears her name. To kick off the holiday season, she returns to Oak Ridge Playhouse once again.

Boasting one of Broadway’s most memorable scores, including “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” and the ever optimistic “Tomorrow,” the original Broadway production of Annie opened in 1977, winning Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Now produced all over the world, it is ranked among the top 20 longest running shows in Broadway history, and continues to be one of the most successful musicals ever. [Read more…]

Guest column: The tree that keeps on giving

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I looked out the kitchen window one cold March morning and suddenly noticed a new tree standing in our backyard—a six-foot, straggly evergreen with bits of tinsel still clinging desperately to its branches. The tree had not been there the day before. Since we had neither a son named Jack nor any magic beans, we knew one of our mischievous friends had planted the tree.

“I know exactly who did this,” said my husband Dan. “It had to be Danny Sutton. That rascal loves playing practical jokes. Remember the time he took those squirt guns to that wedding?”

Dan soon confirmed that Danny was the culprit, and a new post-holiday tradition began. Each year Danny found a new spot in our yard to deposit his old Christmas tree, and it was often days later before we realized he had done it.

[Read more…]

‘The Wiz’ opens at Oak Ridge Playhouse tonight

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The Wiz

‘The Wiz’ opens at the Oak Ridge Playhouse on Friday, Nov. 16, and runs through Dec. 2. (Submitted photo)

For more than a century, Frank L. Baum’s book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” has been a celebrated story that has inspired dozens of iterations, adaptations, and re-imaginings, from the beloved MGM film starring Judy Garland, to animated versions, to current Broadway hit “Wicked.”

But in the 1970s, “The Wiz” came seemingly out of nowhere to hit Broadway like a gale force wind and swept Broadway audiences off their feet with a hip, soulful mix of R&B, disco, and gospel-type music. With its central themes of home, self-reliance, and courage, “The Wiz” is fairly true to the original storyline, but with a style all its own.

The Oak Ridge Playhouse production is going a step further and embracing that 1970s style by conceiving Dorothy’s trip to Oz as a disco fantasy with a pulsing light show and groovy costumes and wigs by Virginia Baldwin and Sandra Herrera.

“If you love ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ you will love this show,” says Managing Artistic Director Reggie Law. “And if you would love a fresher take on ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ you will love this show.”

The production was a landmark in the 1970s for being the first big Broadway blockbuster featuring an entirely African-American cast and quickly was sent into production as a feature film starring major recording artists and actors like Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, and Lena Horne.

Perhaps because of the show’s origins, there is a popular belief that “The Wiz” must be cast all with people of color. Law doesn’t think that holds as true these days.

“Over time the culture of music has really mixed. Plus, I believe in non-traditional casting except where race is a plot point,” he says. “In ‘The Wiz,’ it isn’t. So, we have a great mix of performers and artists in our show.”

Directed by Reggie Law, with musical direction by Sheryl Howard, and choreography by Tony Williams, the impressive and diverse cast is led by Playhouse newcomer Alexis Tidwell as Dorothy, whose powerhouse voice is packed into a petite body. Other principal roles include Tony Williams as the Scarecrow, Kirk Hoxie as the Tin Man, Cavanaugh Mims as the Lion, and Evelyn Jack, who knocked Playhouse audiences out of their seats as Motormouth Maybelle in last season’s “Hairspray” returns as Glinda, the Good Witch.

Presented by CapitalMark Bank & Trust, “The Wiz” opens Friday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m., followed by a performance on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m.

There will be a Thanksgiving night performance on Thursday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m. as well as shows on Friday, Nov. 23, and Saturday, Nov. 24, at 8 p.m., with a Sunday matinee on Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. Final performances are Friday, Nov, 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1, at 8 p.m., and a Sunday matinee on Dec. 2 at 2 p.m.

For more information, log on to www.orplayhouse.com or call (865) 482-9999. Tickets range in price from $16 to $22 depending on performance date. This production is also made possible through support from WUOT 91.9 FM and the Tennessee Arts Commission.