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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 16 > Entry
Benefit show is more than just for Lyric
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve interviewed Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans co-owner Carey Carter many times over the years, yet he continues to surprise us. Over dinner the other night at Spice Market in Midtown, the Atlanta businessman quietly disclosed that at age 18, he played the lead role in the musical “Tom Sawyer” at Oglethorpe University.
“I had the straw hat and the painted-on freckles and everything,” the retired song-and-dance man told Buzz. “I was a horrible singer but I was a good dancer.”
Carter says it’s that love for musical theater that’s led him to co-chair this fall’s “Atlanta Lyric Theatre Gives Its Regards to Broadway” benefit for his favorite local musical theater. His co-chairs for the Nov. 15 gala at the Midtown W hotel are Nancy Gallups and Mary Welch Rogers.
Former “American Idol” contestant Diana DeGarmo will perform at the benefit, along with the Grady High School choral group, Carter’s secret weapon from last fall’s fund-raiser for Murphy-Harpst Children’s Center in Cedartown. The talented high schoolers ended up stealing the show and helped to raise $400,000 for the Cedartown facility.
“I’m so excited to have those kids coming back to help out,” Carter said. “I think it was the purity of their performance that just wowed everyone. They just sang their hearts out for us.”
We’re told the evening’s opening number will be performed by one of the city’s most recognized residents (Here’s a hint: When this woman teams up with her old pal Carter to emcee a charity live auction, it usually ends up making news.)
This fall, the Lyric begins its 28th season at the recently renovated Strand Theatre in Marietta.
“As a great admirer of musical theater, I’m distressed that there’s such a void of it in Atlanta,” Carter explained. “You can drive to itty-bitty towns in Georgia who are doing more in musical theater. It’s important to spotlight the work the Lyric is doing. Plus, artistic young people like the students at Grady High need stages like the Lyric’s when they’re ready to go to the next level. That’s what this evening is all about.”
Tickets are $250 or $2,500 for a table of 10. Info: 404-377-9948 or www.altantalyrictheatre.com.
PASAQUAN DEEMED HISTORIC PLACE
The late visionary folk artist Eddie Owens Martin, aka St. EOM, would be a happy man today. Pasaquan, the environment near Buena Vista, southeast of Columbus, as strange and colorful as the man who built it, is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
A band of dedicated volunteers have worked to save the fantastical 4-acre site — peopled with figures from St. EOM’s personal mythology and bedecked with geometric patterns — from the fate of the Rev. Howard Finster’s decaying Paradise Gardens in North Georgia. It will be open to visitors on Oct. 4.
OUTSYDER ASSIST FOR SPEARS
The comeback continues for pop pin-up Britney Spears, and it has just been announced that Atlantans will have a hand in it.
Burgeoning local production team the Outsyders crafted “Womanizer,” the first single from Spears’ Dec. 2 release, “Circus.” (Appropriate title, huh?)
The news of the sixth studio album and single comes just a week after Spears won her first — plus two more — MTV Video Music Awards and registered a much-touted, but rather uneventful, appearance.
HEADLOCKS AT HOME PLATE
Braves fans might be the teensiest bit embarrassed by the $1 hotdog promotion Thursday nights at Turner Field. Still, this year’s less than stellar season couldn’t hold a tomahawk to what the team looked like back in 1976 when brand-new owner Ted Turner took over. As author Ron Green Jr. sagely observes in his new book, “101 Reasons to Love the Braves,” Turner resorted to all kinds of wacky stunts to spike stadium attendance. For example, reason No. 64: “When Turner took ownership, the franchise needed an infusion of energy, not to mention talent. To bring fans to the park, Turner created a different promotion for every home game. Among the most memorable was Wedlock and Headlock Day. Thirty-four couples were married at home plate before the game. Afterward, a professional wrestling match was staged on the field.”
Pass the mustard.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Lauren Bacall is 84. Blues singer B.B. King is 83. Actor Peter Falk is 81. Singer Marc Anthony is 40. Comedian Amy Poehler (“Saturday Night Live”) is 37. Musician Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers is 16.
OVERSCENE
Houston Rockets point guard Steve Francis at Stats downtown, dining on a sampler platter and a chicken sandwich while trying not to think about what Hurricane Ike was doing to his hometown. Actor William H. Macy ordering a veggie scramble and rosemary-dusted potatoes at the Midtown Flying Biscuit Cafe. His server, Cherry Delrosario, tells us Macy ordered his potatoes “cremated.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It was like ‘Barefoot in the Park’ Junior. ”
B98.5 FM’s Will Gara reflecting on his surreal Saturday
night. The Steve & Vikki producer’s evening began with a conversation with James Redford (son of Robert) at a fund-raiser downtown at the Tabernacle. Gara ended the night at Solstice in Grant Park, where he bumped
into Vanessa Vadim, Jane Fonda’s daughter.
Contributing: Catherine Fox, Sonia Murray and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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