Hal Nowak of Hal’s, where there’s no equal opportunity
Hals on Old Ivy serves food like it is the 1980s but its wait staff is more like the 1950s. Supper for two can cost you more than $100 before the tip, but no woman server in the dining room will ever see one red cent of your tip.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html), but if you speak to managers at Hal’s restaurant, they say they are exempt from that. When asked why there are no women servers on the floor, General Manager Sammy Jimez said, “Cause that’s the way we’ve always done it.”
I did say that at one time blacks and whites were not allowed to marry, and that slavery was just fine cause that was the way people here had always done it.
The irony is that Jimenez, who has a thick Hispanic accent clearly thinks it’s OK to discriminate against women but not Hispanics. Manager Brandon Hancock wasn’t fazed either by my question, Why are there no women servers in the restaurant? He said women serve in the other room. That other room is the bar. Apparently women can be bartenders or “barmaids” but cannot serve in the dining room where entrees cost more than $30.
So, how is the food? Think about food from the 1980s, lots of butter and lots of cream sauces. The food was way overpriced for the portions they give. I had expected a larger portion of Chilean sea bass for $36. Our waiter, Bobby, was nice, but I will never go to this restaurant again and urge others to ban it and all others that discriminate against hiring based solely on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Wrong is wrong no matter how long a policy has been in existence.
Jo-Jo Steine (as Cosette)
Photo: Katie Wilson
If you missed Les Misérables at the Fox Theatre, you can see a local cast in the musical, which has won more than 100 international awards. Based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel of the same name, Les Misérables has become a global success on stage and screen, sweeping audiences through an epic tale of broken dreams, passion and redemption, against the backdrop of a nation seething with revolution.
Les Misérables is produced by MJCCA’s Director of Arts & Culture Brian Kimmel and directed by Levi Kaplan.
Les Misérables: Cast
Michael Barthel (as Jean Valjean), Lucas Morgan (as Javert), Kelly Tansey (as Fantine), Sarah Valleroy (as Eponine), Kyle Wilkerson (as Thenardier), Nicole Falco (as Madame Thenardier), Daniel Harper (as Marius), Jo-Jo Stein (as Cosette), Eric Rich (as Enjolras), Jake Holleman (as Foreman), Sarah Daniels (as Courfeyrac), Brett Leverette (as Bamatabois), Chase McGrath (as Grantaire), Marco Schittone (as Gavroche), Avi Spector (as Joly), Will Domenico (as Combeferre), Tyree Jones (as Bishop of Digne), Elena Dollinger (as Young Eponine).
Showtimes (Recommended for ages 14+)
Thurs, Aug. 7 at 8 p.m.; Sun, Aug. 10 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Wed, Aug. 13 at 8 p.m.; Thurs, Aug. 14 at 8 p.m.; Sun, Aug. 17 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Purchase Tickets: 678.812.4002, or visit online at www.atlantajcc.org/boxoffice.
Guitarist Tom Godfrey and jazz singer Lori Guy will perform at the Hungry Ear Coffee House Saturday, August 2. Other artists include acoustic songwriter Wil Hodge and down-home country and gospel vocalist Keren Leppo.
Keren Leppo’s sweet and rollicking down-home sound is rooted in a rich history of gospel, country, rock n roll, bluegrass, blues and soul. I’m no country fan, but whatever she’s singing, I like, I like!
Wil Hodge showcases both his acoustic and electric guitar talents along with his vocal storytelling style that crosses through country, rock and R&B.
Godfrey and Guy, who play regularly at the Noosh in Johns Creek, will be accompanied by Robert Dickson on Bass, and Reed Lukat on Tenor Sax.
All three acts play this Saturday, Aug. 2 at 8 p.m.
The Hungry Ear (www.HungryEarCoffeeHouse.com) is an outreach program of the Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 1025 Mt. Vernon Highway NW in Sandy Springs, Georgia. NWUUC promotes religious freedom, spiritual growth and ethical action in a world where racial, cultural and religious diversity is a reality. Concerts are held on the first Saturday of every month beginning at 8PM, and regularly feature a lineup of nationally acclaimed folk, country, jazz and vocal artists. General admission seating is $5, and if you have one on hand, a can of food for the homeless.
Well, Mom, I’m sorry you were sick and missed the opening night of “Evita” tonight, but you didn’t miss much.
I understand it’s not fair to compare a show to another production I’ve seen of it, especially when it was a Broadway production with two stars who won Tony Awards for their roles. So forget Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin.
In tonight’s show, Josh Young, who was nominated for a Tony Award for his Broadway debut as Judas in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Jesus Christ Superstar,” was outstanding as the narrator, Che. Sean McLaughlin was very good as Peron. However, this show is titled “Evita,” so you’d think the character playing Evita, who wound up co-ruling Argentina, would be uber powerful. Not so. At one point my friend Kay Powell, who came with me in your place, said, “Can you understand the words she is saying?” My answer: no. When Kay went to the restroom during intermission, she said many women were asking each other the same question, “Can you understand the words she is saying?”
The role of Eva (Evita) was played by Caroline Bowman, who had the physicality portion down for the role, arms up in the air, fingers pointing with arms outstretched in invitation or accusation like she meant it. And she had seductive moves, climbing men as if they were trees, but the heart behind the actions was missing. Evita is supposed to be a fiery woman filled with passion. I was moved to tears when I saw the Broadway show. This Evita didn’t have to sing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” I don’t imagine many cried for her tonight.
Ms. Bowman would have been fine in the ensemble but not as Eva. Like the lyrics in the show’s song “Buenos Aires,” Eva should have “just a little touch, just a little touch, just a little touch of star quality.”
Lyrics by Tim Rice, Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, directed by Michael Grandage, “Evita” runs through Sunday at the Fox Theatre.
The Broadway Touring Company of “Evita” opens this week at the Fox Theatre. If the show is anything like the video above, it is one not to be missed. I saw it years ago on Broadway with Patti LaPone and Mandy Patinkin, and it was phenomenal. This cast will have a lot to live up to, but it’s been playing together at least since January, so I am hopeful that it will have worked out any previous kinks since then.
The Dallas News says it’s an “incredible cast.” Caroline Bowman who plays Eva Perón has performed on Broadway in “Kinky Boots” and “Wicked.” Josh Young, who plays Che, the narrator, performed on Broadway in the role of Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and performed in the national tours of “Les Misérables” and “West Side Story.”
“Evita” follows the humble beginnings of Eva Perón, a poor ambitious actress-seductress who claws her way to the top of Argentinian politics with Colonel Juan Domingo Perón.
It’s a thrilling musical by the multi-award-winning duo Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Weber. When the show opened on Broadway in 1980, it won numerous Drama Desk Awards and seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical.
“Evita” runs Tuesday through Sunday at the Fox Theatre.
Joshua Bell performs with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra this week. From Thursday through Sunday, in addition to performing music by Hindemeth and Brahms, he will present the world premiere of “Asimov at Star’s End” from composer Charles Zoll, a graduate student at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, who was the 2012 Rapido! Composition Competition winner.
Bell has recorded more than 40 CDs since his first LP recording at age 18. Over the years, he has played with a disparate group of artists, including Chris Botti, Kristin Chenoweth, Chick Corea, Gloria Estefan, and Alison Krauss. Bell also collaborated with Wynton Marsalis on the Grammy-winning spoken word children’s album “Listen to the Storyteller” and performed on Bela Fleck’s Grammy Award recording “Perpetual Motion.”
In an experiment initiated by The Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten, Bell performed in a Washington, D.C., Metro subway station to test how many people would stop to listen. The experiment was filmed and was later shown on a national TV news show.
A child prodigy, Bell made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1985, at age 17, with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
If you missed his performance in the subway, you can see him Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m. or Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets run from $24 to $75 at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Symphonic Pops Conductor Michael Krajewski presents “The Rock Tenors,” featuring the voices of Shem Von Schroeck, Rob Evan and Micah Wilshire. The tenors will sing classic rock favorites by Yes, The Beatles, The Doobie Brothers, Coldplay, Kansas, Journey, Queen, Kenny Loggins, Paul McCartney, Chicago, Coldplay, Sting, Queen, Yes, and Crosby, Stills & Nash and more.
Micah Wilshire has appeared on seven Gold and Platinum albums and countless recordings and jingles. He has performed on “The Sharon Osbourne Show,” “The Wayne Brady Show” and Pepsi Smash. You can also hear him on albums with Amy Grant, Michael Bolton, CeCe Winans, Steve Winwood and Faith Hill.
A principal tenor for the Millennium Wagner Opera Company, Shem von Schroeck has performed with Grammy Award-winning artists, including Tom Jones, Marie Osmond, Christopher Cross, and as a music director and conductor for Kenny Loggins.
Rob Evan starred in the original Broadway cast of “Jekyll & Hyde,” playing the title role for three years, and appeared on Broadway as Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables.” A featured soloist for many leading symphonies across the nation, Evan also regularly stars in the production of “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.” Evan is a native of Monticello and is a former varsity athlete at the University of Georgia where he majored in finance.
Based on Green Day’s Grammy-winning album of the same name, the Broadway musical “American Idiot” comes to Atlanta May 1-4. If it’s anything like the Broadway cast in the above video, it will be a high-energy, electric show that gets you dancing in your seat.
The stage adaptation of Green Day’s rock opera is about three young guys from suburbia on an angst-ridden, media-saturated odyssey through post-9/11 America. Two of the young men flee their suburban lifestyle with parental restrictions while one stays back to work on his troubled relationship with his pregnant girlfriend.
With direction by Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening), choreography by Steven Hoggett (Black Watch) and orchestrations and arrangements by Tom Kitt (Next to Normal), the result is an experience Charles Isherwood of The New York Times said was “thrilling, emotionally charged, and as moving as any Broadway musical I’ve seen this year!”
What Is American Idiot Like?
An energy-fueled rock opera, American Idiot, features little dialogue and relies on the lyrics from Green Day’s groundbreaking album to execute the story line. The stage is festooned by a collage of art and newspaper clippings as well as over a dozen embedded TV monitors. The televisions flash everything from broadcast news, graphic warning messages and clips from recognizable TV series—all while an onstage band performs, often with the actors picking up instruments themselves. The material is dark with some characters hitting rock bottom, but the rousing score keeps things upbeat.
The show runs 1 hour and 35 minutes with no intermission. Show times are varied throughout the four days.
Thursday – 7:30 p.m.
Friday – 8 p.m.
Saturday – 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sunday – 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Tickets for “American Idiot” at The Fox Theatre May 1-May 4 can be purchased through Broadway in Atlanta.
The 4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra, which bills itself as a nine-piece klezmer-funk-rock-jazz ensemble that performs original compositions and arrangements combining West African rhythms with Eastern European, plays the Marcus Jewish Community Center Atlanta May 4. The music also includes a mix of bebop, funk, swing and other styles that build on the American Jewish assimilation of klezmer.
In the local music magazine Stomp and Stammer, critic Doug Deloach says “…tunes that swing like Ellington’s jungle nights at the Apollo, carve soulfunk grooves reminiscent of Fela Kuti’s Africa ’70 and rock the bar mitzvah like there’s no Second Coming. It’s a mash-up of seemingly incompatible styles…”
In Creative Loafing, music writer Chad Radford said the band’s music is “laid down by some of the best jazz hands in Atlanta.”
The 4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra plays Sunday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the MJCCA.
Ben Sidran, jazz and rock pianist/singer/songwriter/record producer/journalist and author, will present a musical performance and talk about his new book, “There Was a Fire: Jews, Music, and the American Dream.”
Sidran’s music spans from rock and roll, which he played in the early ’70s, to bebop, funky, bluesy jazz. He served as a session musician for Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones and Peter Frampton, and has produced albums with Mose Allison, Van Morrison, Diana Ross and Rickie Lee Jones. He has also played with Steve Miller and co-wrote the hit song “Space Cowboy.”
Sidran composed the soundtrack for the acclaimed film “Hoop Dreams” and scored the documentary “Vietnam: Long Time Coming,” which won the Aspen Film Festival Audience Award and an Emmy. Throughout his career spanning more than 50 years, he has released more than 30 solo albums.
Sidran’s written works include the book “Black Talk” (on the sociology of black music in America), the memoir “A Life in the Music,” and “Talking Jazz,” a collection of his interviews with jazz musicians. He has hosted a variety of jazz programs for NPR–including the Peabody Award Winning “Jazz Alive” series–and for VH1 television, for which his “New Visions” series in the early 1990s won the Ace Award.
“There Was a Fire: Jews, Music, and the American Dream” recalls how Jews came to America–mainly Manhattan’s Lower East Side–and were able to carve out a niche business for themselves by working from home as tailors. Like those Jewish ancestors, in his later years as a recording artist, Sidran too would end up working for himself, bypassing the record companies and paving his own road in music.
Ben Sidran takes the stage Thursday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Marcus Jewish Community Center Atlanta.
Purchase Tickets & Contact Information
Ticket Prices: MJCCA Members: $12, Community: $18.
Discounts available to students, seniors, and groups.
Purchase Tickets: 678.812.4002, or visit online at http://www.showclix.com/events/15056
