The Trip to Bountiful

June 22–24, June 28–July 1 @ Athens Community Theater

originally published June 20, 2007

The Town and Gown Players present The Trip To Bountiful at the Athens Community Theater behind the Taylor-Grady House on Prince Avenue. The play, written by Horton Foote (Tender Mercies and the screenplay for To Kill A Mockingbird), is directed by Marie Bruce, with Terrell Austin as Assistant Director. The play concerns Carrie Watts, an old woman in 1950s Houston living with her son and his controlling wife.

Carrie's constant wish is to return for a final visit to Bountiful, TX, the small town where she grew up, which remains beautiful in her memory. Touching, humorous and poignant, the script showcases Foote's trademark loving grasp of the human nature bedeviling and enriching the trips we all take through life.

Gay Griggs McCommons stars as the old woman, Carrie Watts. Tom Tanner is her son, Ludie; Amy Miller is her daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae, and Bonnie Romaine is Thelma. The supporting cast includes Donald Harris, Carole Kaboya, Cord Sibilsky, Katie Dotson, Anna Marie Crews, Justin Riddick, Rick Bedell and Steve Marcotte.

The set, which is very much a character in the play, was designed by Marie Bruce and built by Ben Teague, with a lot of help from various cast and crew members and other Town & Gown regulars.

The Trip to Bountiful opens with an 8 p.m. performance on Friday, June 22 and plays Saturday, June 23 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 24 at 2 p.m. The next week, there are 8 p.m. shows Thursday, June 28–Saturday, June 30, and a final matinee at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 1. Tickets are $15 ($12 seniors) for the Friday and Saturday performances and $5 for everybody at the Thursday and Sunday shows. Call 706-208-TOWN for more info.

Full disclosure: that old woman is my old lady.

Pete McCommons

"Sprockets Music + Video Show"

Wednesday, June 20 @ 40 Watt Club

originally published June 20, 2007

What started out several years back as a venue for scrappy and often amateurish attempts at music videos has evolved into a full-fledged showcase of local talent. Sometimes it takes artists in Athens a year or two to catch on to things, and that seemed to be the case as the town realized, "Hey, these Sprockets folks really mean it." Sprockets, put on by the dedicated folks of Film::Athens, returns this year to highlight the meeting of skills both locally musical and locally filmic, and unlike in years past, focuses mainly on a screening of music videos.

Athens ex-pat and Sprockets mainstay Jorge Torres returns as expected, offering up his apoplectic color-saturated style in videos for both Dark Meat and the Ginger Envelope, while former Flagpole-columnist-from-way-back-when John Britt also serves up a double dose by helming an Inflatable Orchestra video and one for Nutria.

A few musicians take the director's credit for their own videos, including Venice is Sinking's Lucas Jensen, Cracker frontman David Lowery and shadowy local pop group Blak Thor. A little bit of the past even comes alive with a video for classic Athens band Bar-B-Q Killers, directed by Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records chief Mike Turner and Flagpole writer Gordon Lamb. The collection of videos - 17 in all - also contains entries from Kite to the Moon, Push! and the Drive-By Truckers.

Scheduled to start at 10 p.m., Sprockets is free if you've got an AthFest wristband, $5 if you don't. Make sure to stick around until the end, as that's when voting opens for the Audience Choice Award. To find out who wins both the judges' - five local and national folks involved in music and/ or film - and audience's pick, show up at the 2007 Flagpole Athens Music Awards at the Morton Theatre on Thursday, June 22. See p. xx.

Chris Hassiotis