Thursday marked the launch of initial plans for the $50 million project near Winchester and Riverdale roads.

Opera Memphis’ Ned Canty talks to Eric Barnes about the organization’s efforts to bring opera out of the opera house, the struggle to support performers during COVID, and the opportunities Opera Memphis has going forward. 

Two Memphis nonprofits — Collage Dance Collective and Memphis Music Initiative — recently received grants from MacKenzie Scott, billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. 

BLP Film Studios founder Jason A. Farmer hopes to fulfill a longtime Memphis dream with an ambitious Whitehaven film lot.

Craigmont High graduate Katori Hall was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Friday, June 11 in the 2021 drama category for her latest work “The Hot Wing King.”

Proposed is a 15,000-square-foot building that includes a 7,000-square-foot soundstage, all to help young Memphians prepare for careers in film and television.

Though the theater major will be discontinued, the Rhodes Theatre Guild will still be active, according to the college’s vice president of academic affairs.

How does an organization like The Levitt Shell — which was founded to offer as many as 50 free concerts a year — adapt to COVID? 

Venues for live performance – the Orpheum, the Levitt Shell, the Landers Center – say audiences are eager for a return to shows.

When she took over as executive producer, Theatre Memphis was full of debt with no endowment. Now the theater is in the black, full of hope, with an endowment, and a major capital campaign nearing completion.

The Citizens to Preserve Overton Park took its fight to stop a highway all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Playwright Virginia Ralph saw an imaginative children’s musical in that real-life story.

Related story:

Activists saved Overton Park; now they just may stop a pipeline

The annual “30 Days of Opera” performances, free and outdoors, seem made to order for pandemic times, though the series has been around at Opera Memphis since 2012.

‘These are places never seen by the public and never to be seen again,’ said Orpheum president Brett Batterson.

The two-day event is a thank-you to supporters of Black Lodge’s Indiegogo campaign, which reached its financial goal before it was set to end. 

‘Nomadland’ and ‘Minari’ are both currently showing in Memphis theaters, ‘Minari’ exclusively at Malco’s Ridgeway Cinema Grill and ‘Nomadland’ currently showing at multiple theaters. 

“Buried by the Bernards” on Netflix is emerging as a surprise hit of sorts. And while the wider viewing world may not be fully seeing “reality,” they are getting a true feel for Memphis.

The National Civil Rights Museum will host a virtual panel Feb. 5 with editors and contributors to the new book “Four Hundred Souls.”

Film shoots aren’t for sightseeing, but the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission notes that, with COVID a going concern, a shoot for ‘Women of the Movement’ will be even more closed than usual.

The television series on the Civil Rights Movement is set in the 1950s needs people with a ‘50s vibe.

In a free, virtual series, actors will perform speeches by Booker T. Washington, Shirley Chisholm, Dick Gregory and John Lewis. They’ll be introduced by Shelby County Commission members present and past and a Rhodes College professor, among others. 

Through the deal, Hall will also commission Black playwrights.

While the impact of COVID makes this a particularly urgent moment for the survival of the city’s creative community, ArtsMemphis also plans to make Arts Week an annual event. 

Ballet Memphis produced an hour-long film of the classic holiday ballet, which will be offered free on the company’s website. The New Ballet Ensemble and Children’s Ballet Theater will screen films of their “Nutcracker” performances at Malco Summer Drive-in. 

We’re not just going to be home for the holidays, but also homebound by COVID-19. Still you’ll be able to see “A Christmas Carol” performed by Memphis actors and other seasonal shows.

In November and December, 19th century literary classics will be the focus on the TSC stage. Shows will also be simulcast for online ticket holders.