Aaah, Memphis, TN - the final destination in our Strega Nona touring adventure! Located in southwest Tennessee on the bluffs of the Mississippi River, Memphis is the largest city in Tennessee and the third largest city in the Southeastern U.S., with a population of 670,100. Founded in 1819, Memphis is named after the ancient capital of Egypt, and was settled first by the Mississippian culture and then the Chicasaw Indian tribe. Because of its flood-free location high above the Mississippi River, Memphis was a major transportation center and also a major slave market. Many renowned musicians grew up in and around Memphis and the Mississippi Delta, such as: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, B.B. King and Justin Timberlake. It is the home of playwright Tennessee Williams, the home of nine Fortune 500 companies, and the site of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968 (at the Lorraine Motel). Several movies have been filmed in Memphis, including: The Firm, Cast Away, Walk the Line and The Blind Side.
Our first evening in Memphis was spent on lively Beale Street, the downtown center of the city that features bars, clubs, restaurants and other tourist sites. We enjoyed some great Memphis BBQ ribs and live music at the Blues City Café, located within walking distance from our lodging at the Hampton Inn. The weather throughout our Memphian stay was beautiful – warm with lots of sunshine!
The next morning, before our final load-in, I visited Graceland with three of my castmates. Located at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard, 12 miles from downtown Memphis, Graceland is the large, white-columned mansion and 13.8 acre estate that was home to Elvis Presley. It is the second most visited private home in America (the first being the White House), receiving 600,000+ visitors per year. As I walked throughout Graceland, I could not help but feel a little teary-eyed: the place elicits nostalgia for The King of Rock and Roll and all that he accomplished throughout his lifetime.
Following our short Graceland visit, we headed to our final venue – the famed Orpheum Theatre. Called the “South’s Finest Theatre”, the Orpheum is a gorgeous, opulent, 2400-seat theatre, filled with tasseled brocade draperies, crystal chandeliers and gilded mouldings. It originally started out in 1890 as the Grand Opera House and was billed as the classiest theatre outside of New York City. In 1907, it was renamed the Orpheum when it became part of the Orpheum circuit of vaudeville shows. According to legend, the theatre has been home for the past 80 years to a ghost named Mary, a little girl in an ethereal white dress and pigtails who sits in Box 5, seat C-5 and watches performances with a blank stare. I constantly searched the Orpheum house for Mary, but was not graced with a sighting of her.
Our new technical director/sound operator, Chris Strange, joined us in Memphis for our final two performances. We were all a bit apprehensive about having a new sound op, but we made it through both shows with only a few hiccups. To make things easier for Chris, Daniel – our tour manager – pressed the buttons to fire the sound cues since he was more familiar with the show, while Chris monitored levels, balance and mutes. Our final evening in Memphis was spent reminiscing over a fantastic dinner of fried chicken, fried green tomatoes and fried pickles at Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken. This restaurant hotspot comes highly recommended by all of the locals, and it most definitely does not disappoint.
We played two great final performances in Memphis – one public evening show with an audience of around 400 and one sold-out school show with an audience of 2000+. Throughout our last show, I found myself getting a little choked up and misty-eyed, once I realized that this was the end to this crazy adventure. Our final show was bittersweet, and before we knew it, we had packed up our set for the final time and headed off to the airport, homeward bound for the Bay Area.
Although I am more than ready to return to the comforts of my home and the arms of my loved ones, I realize just how much I will miss everything and everyone involved: my Strega Nona “family”, our daily adventures, our show on which we worked so hard, our memories – both good and bad – created in this journey that will last us a lifetime, and most of all, the lovely little character into which I poured my heart and soul for 145 performances.
Who knows where the next adventure will be for me? The sky is the limit, blog reader, and I am wearing my airplane wings!
Until the next adventure…
Ciao!
XOXO-
Janine
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