By Lynn Venhaus

Local Spotlight: The Wall

Truck Centers is sponsoring the American Veterans Traveling Tribute Vietnam Memorial Wall in Troy, Ill.

It will be open to the public from Thursday, Oct. 20, at 5 p.m. (opening ceremony 5:45 p.m.) until Sunday, Oct. 23, at 1 p.m., on the grounds of the TCI Training Center.  It will be accessible 24 hours a day with online name locator resources, and a locator booth will be available daily between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The traveling wall is an 80% scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC. It is 8′ tall, spans 360 ft. in length, and is the largest traveling tribute in the nation.

My friends in the Flagman’s Mission are placing American flags on the ground before the exhibit opens and will take them down Sunday. For more information or to volunteer, visit their Facebook page.

Joan Lipkin, 1989

On Stage: Reunion of first LGBTQ+ Theatre Performed in Missouri

One Night Only! Tonight from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Missouri History Museum. It’s free.

Before there was Ellen or Will & Grace, there was “Some of My Best Friends Are,” the 1989 landmark production by Joan Lipkin and Tom Clear that was the first LGBTQ+ theatre done in Missouri.

It was also before marriage equality, the Missouri Sexual Misconduct Law was repealed or LGBTQ+ people could serve openly in the military. And in the midst of all this, the AIDS epidemic was raging.

Yet in the basement theatre of a United Church of Christ congregation, the St. Marcus on Russell, they put on a musical theatre revue that sold out every performance, attracted very diverse audiences and was voted Best Play of the Year by the Riverfront Times. By turns scathingly funny and poignant, it changed the cultural landscape in St Louis.

They will perform some of the original numbers and scenes. Members of the original cast expected to be on hand include Kate Durbin, Bill Ebbesmeyer, Terry Meddows, Steve Milloy, Mary Schnitzler, and Christy Simmons. Larry Pressgrove is music director, and Joan will emcee.

Happy Hour starts at 5:30 p.m. and the stage comes alive at 6:30 p.m., with songs, skits, and some reminiscing by both cast and audience.

Here’s a piece with Joan in St Louis Magazine:

https://www.stlmag.com/culture/theater/joan-lipkin-some-of-my-best-friends-are-missouri-history-museum/

Amy Schumer

TV: Inside Amy Schumer

Tonight is the Season 5 premiere of the comedian’s award-winning show (9 p.m. Comedy Central and Paramount +). There haven’t been new episodes since 2016. Tonight, Ellie Kemper, Olivia Munn and Jesse Williams are among the guest stars in this blend of sketch comedy,vignettes, stand-up and man-on-the-street interviews. Here’s the trailer:

https://youtu.be/9czJbkBKnoU

Playlist: Day-O!

In 1955, Harry Belafonte recorded “Day-O” (Banana Boat Song). This Jamaican folk song became his signature song, and is an example of popular calypso music at the time. It hwas been covered many times, and is featured in a very funny sequence in Tim Burton’s movie “Beetlejuice.”


On This Day in St. Louis

Eighteen years ago today, Jimmy Edmonds hit that 12th inning home run to put the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series for the first time since 1987!

What a shot! What a game!

Of course, we were then swept by the Boston Red Sox. Getting that postseason monkey off their back. But after ’04 we had some very good years, including World Series championships in 2006 and 2011.

#cardinalnation

Word: HUAC

On this date in 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee began nine days of hearings into alleged Communist propaganda and influence in the Hollywood motion picture industry.

“In Germany they first came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me – and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

Pastor Martin Niemoller, Dachau, 1944