Contents
SEPTEMBER 2021
Events
11 6 8
Features
THE SHOW GOES ON High kicks and high notes continue, regardless.
REFLECTIONS My family and other animals by James Fox-Smith
NEWS & NOTEWORTHIES
VO LU M E 3 8 // I SS U E 9
28 32 36
FROM A PUPPETEER’S POINT OF VIEW How an art-starved alien fulfilled a childhood dream
Publisher
James Fox-Smith
Associate Publisher
Ashley Fox-Smith
by Kristen Foster
RENAISSANCE PENDING A second fall performing arts season is threatened by COVID-19. by Alexandra Kennon
Managing Editor
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Alexandra Kennon
Creative Director
THE SOUTH’S NEW HOLLYWOOD Tate Taylor on developing Natchez as a premiere film destination by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
On the Cover
Kourtney Zimmerman
Contributors:
Jason Christian, Beth D’Addono, Kristen Foster, Kimberly Meadowlark, Olivia Perillo, Chris Turner-Neal
Cover Artist
Kimberly Meadowlark
THE PERFORMING ARTS ISSUE Cover image by Kimberly Meadowlark
Advertising
In Kristen Foster’s feature story describing her experience working with the new LPB original children’s educational program Ziggy’s Arts Adventure (page 28), she writes: “Growing up, when adults asked me that quintessential question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I’d answer, with a youthful lack of hesitation: ‘A puppeteer.’” Foster’s story illustrates the enduring wonder of the performing arts, their power to inspire and innovate—even in adulthood. In this 2021 Performing Arts issue, we find ourselves documenting a pivotal moment in our local performing arts landscape. Faced with yet another season of cancellations, postponements, and moves to virtual—how are our performing arts organizations pivoting, coping, enduring? And what roles might we, the audience, play in ensuring that these institutions succeed?
Cuisine
38
MEET ME FOR COFFEE In small town Louisiana, coffee shops hold sway as vibrant cultural hubs. by Alexandra Kennon
Culture
44 46
48
JULIE ODELL The musician, maker, and mother enters a new era.
50
by Lauren Heffker
A Q&A WITH MAURICE RUFFIN The author’s latest is a love letter to New Orleans. by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
REMNANTS Rethinking performance for the digital generation
by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot 4
Escapes
S E P 2 1 // C O U N T R Y R O A D S M A G . C O M
MY MARIGNY In the face of gentrification, a strand of the neighborhood’s eccentricity endures. by Chris Turner-Neal
54
PEACE AT PALOMA LAKE A bucolic retreat in Plaquemine by Beth D’Addono
58
PERSPECTIVES Douglas Bourgeois by Jason Christian
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Heather Gammill & Heather Gibbons
Custom Content Coordinator
Lauren Heffker
Advertising Coordinator
Kathryn Kearney
President
Dorcas Woods Brown
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