January 20, 2010 Connect Special

    The next Averitt Center Main Gallery Exhibition White Oak Baskets: The Tradition Continues opens Friday, January 22. The public is invited to an informational talk and a basketweaving demonstration beginning at 6:30 p.m. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served. The exhibition opening is free. The Averitt Center is located at 33 East Main Street in downtown Statesboro, Ga.
    The exhibit is part of a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts. The grant afforded Randy Cannon and Brian Renko from the Allied Arts Council in Milledgeville, Ga to serve as white oak basket making apprentices for eighteen months under the direction of Floyd and Melissa Anderson of Milledgeville.
    “It was important to document our experience during this intensive training,” Cannon explained. “White oak basket making is an important part of Georgia folk history and the craft is fast disappearing. In 1995, about 27 white oak basket makers resided in the state. Today, only a few years later, there are fewer than 12 active craftsmen remaining.”
    In the Appalachian region, white oak was the preferred medium used to construct long lasting baskets due to its strength and durability. The basket making process starts with splitting a white oak tree into wedges. Then, the tree is scraped of its bark. This process takes many hours of hard work after which the tree is shaved into strips used for weaving. The resulting basket is a work of art that is both decorative and functional.
    Long before the use of mass produced bags, baskets were the containers of choice for most people groups. Types of baskets were usually named after their particular use: egg baskets, berry baskets and cotton baskets. Baskets were used daily and even passed down through generations.
    The coming exhibit photographically documents the entire process, from selecting and harvesting white oak trees, preparing raw materials to the actual weaving a variety of functional baskets. The exhibit also includes basket making tools, a shaving horse, folklore associated with the craft as well as an assortment of white oak baskets. According to Cannon, the exhibit includes both large baskets and miniature baskets measuring less than 4 inches, as well as every size and shape in between.
    Basket making preparation and techniques will be demonstrated on the Averitt Center’s third floor at 7:45, during the opening reception on Friday, January 22. “This is the labor intensive part of basket making that is rarely seen by the public,” said Cannon.
    White Oak Baskets: The Tradition Continues will be on display through March 5, 2010. Main Gallery hours are 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Call the Averitt Center at 912-212-2787 or visit www.averittcenterforthearts.org for more information.

Broadway in the Boro
    Broadway is coming to the ‘Boro in a high-energy revue featuring more than 30 tunes from some of the world’s best-loved musicals.
    A collaboration between two Broadway veterans, Courtenay Collins and Robert Ray, the show 2 for Broadway will take the stage at the Emma Kelly Theater Saturday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Collins, who is the niece of former Statesboro Mayor Bill Hatcher, performed at the Emma Kelly Theater in Dixie Divas in 2008.
    Accompanied by a five-piece orchestra, the first act of the show includes Kander and Ebb hits from shows like Cabaret, The Rink, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Act as well as Rogers and Hart songs including Funny Valentine, I Could Write a Book, You Took Advantage of Me, Bewitched, The Lady is a Tramp, Ten Cents a Dance, Johnny One Note and With a Song in My Heart.
    The second act of “2 for Broadway” will literally be the “flip side” of the 1st, featuring pop and jazz standards that include a medley of Fats Waller tunes from Ain’t Misbehavin’ followed by some Duke Ellington standards from Sophisticated Ladies and Kansas City and “I’m a W.O.M.A.N” from Leiber and Stoller’s wildly popular, Smokey Joe’s Café. The duo will end the show with four of their favorite duets from Chess, Anything Goes, Parade and Phantom of the Opera.
    Collins said she is excited to perform in Statesboro again.
    “I adore the Emma Kelly Theatre!” she said. “It's a perfect space for our show. It's a beautiful theatre and is well-equipped with wonderful sound and stage and just the right amount of seating. I did my show called Dixie Divas there two years ago and fell in love with the space! It's spacious without losing intimacy. I can look out and see people's faces which, as a personal performer, I love! I wish we had a theatre it's' size in Atlanta, but we don't! Statesboro is so lucky to have such a wonderful facility as the Averitt Center.”
    A graduate of the famed Julliard School of Acting, Collins played the lead in Ken Hill's Phantom both in the States and in Europe and has starred in several Off-Broadway productions. Last year in Atlanta she performed leads at The Alliance Theater, Actor's Express and The Atlanta Lyric Theatre and is slated to play the role of Eva Peron in Evita next season at The Lyric.
    Ray has directed Collins in many shows over the past three years including The 75th Anniversary of The Fox Theatre, the 100th Anniversary of The Girls Scouts of America and Jerry's Girls in Atlanta and at The Highlands Playhouse. Last year they appeared onstage together for the first time in what turned out to be the cabaret hit of the season, Let the Good Times Roll.
    “She’s got such a great energy that matches my energy,” Ray said. “The show is pretty nonstop.”
    2 for Broadway is sponsored by The Hen House in the Statesboro Mall. Tickets are available through the Averitt Center for the Arts Box Office at 212-ARTS.

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