The Tulsa Voice | Vol. 4 No. 2

JAN. 4 – 17, 2017

// V O L . 4 N O . 2

WINTER & SPRING PERFORMING ARTS

YOUR PERFORMING ARTS CALENDAR

T U L S A P R O J E C T T H E AT R E RETURNS TO ITS PUNK ROCK ROOTS

A C O N V E R S AT I O N WITH DENNIS MILLER

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2 // CONTENTS

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

SOMETHING SPECIAL E V E R Y D AY O F T H E W E E K MOND AY 1/2 price sausages all day free duck fat fries w/ lunch order

T UE SD AY Taco Tuesday

$1 carnitas tacos, $2 Tecates

T UE SD AY Seth Lee Jones 9pm, no cover

W EDNE SD AY Burger Night

$3.99 charburger w/ choice of side, 5pm-close

T HUR SD AY Dad’s Got Dinner Special

$25 l arge single topping or specialt y pizza & growler fill, carryout only, 4pm-close

T HUR SD AY college night

1/2 price bowling & shoes, plus beer specials w/ college ID

WEEKENDS Open till 1am Friday & Saturday 1/2 price breakfast tacos after 9pm

D A I LY 1/2 price burgers after 9pm

D A I LY sushi happy hour 2pm-5pm

V I S I T M C N E L L I E S G R O U P. C O M F O R A F U L L L I S T O F L O C AT I O N S THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

CONTENTS // 3

2016 kinda sucked, but there was cool stuff, too.

THE TULSA VOICE - BEST OF TULSA 2017 4 // CONTENTS

COMING IN THE JAN. 18 ISSUE

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

Jan. 4 – 17, 2017 // Vol. 4, No. 2 ©2017. All rights reserved.

21

PUBLISHER Jim Langdon EDITOR Joshua Kline MANAGING EDITOR Liz Blood DIGITAL EDITOR John Langdon ART DIRECTOR Madeline Crawford GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Georgia Brooks, Morgan Welch PHOTOGRAPHER Greg Bollinger AD SALES MANAGER Josh Kampf CONTRIBUTORS Alicia Chesser, Angela Evans, Barry Friedman, Mitch Gilliam, Ryan Gentzler, Jeff Huston, Jennie Lloyd, Denver Nicks, Mary Noble, Joe O’Shansky, Kathryn Parkman, Megan Shepherd, Michael Wright, RJ Young

The Tulsa Voice’s distribution is audited annually by

CAPTIVE AUDIENCE

Member of

Your 2017 Winter/Spring Performing Arts Guide COMPILED BY JOHN LANGDON

The Tulsa Voice is published bi-monthly by

1603 S. Boulder Ave. Tulsa, OK 74119 P: 918.585.9924 F: 918.585.9926 PUBLISHER Jim Langdon PRESIDENT Juley Roffers VP COMMUNICATIONS Susie Miller CONTROLLER Mary McKisick RECEPTION Gloria Brooks, Gene White

Tulsa Ballet | COURTESY

NEWS & COMMENTARY MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD Send all letters, complaints, compliments & haikus to: voices@langdonpublishing.com FOLLOW US @THETULSAVOICE ON:

8 THE HAND THAT HITS Y DENVER NICKS B

H ow to fight back against the new threats to liberal democracy

13 MONEY DOESN’T GROW ON TREES Y RYAN GENTZLER B Legalized marijuana could help Oklahoma’s budget problems, but it’s not the cure-all // V O L . 4 N O . 2

WINTER & SPRING PERFORMING ARTS

MUSIC 40 FROM KFC TO SUSHI

BY MARY NOBLE

An interview with Nappy Roots YOUR PERFORMING ARTS CALENDAR

T U L S A P R O J E C T T H E AT R E RETURNS TO ITS PUNK ROCK ROOTS

A C O N V E R S AT I O N WITH DENNIS MILLER

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ON THE COVER

2017 Winter/Spring Performing Arts Guide THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

ARTS & CULTURE

14 DRAGON SLAYER Y ANGELA EVANS B

30 SAVE THE DRAMA Y JENNIE LLOYD B

A story of egg rolls and dashed cynicism

After a rocky year, Tulsa Project Theatre returns to punk roots

10 MONSTERS AND FUNCTIONARIES Y BARRY FRIEDMAN B Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump, and the new environment in America

JAN. 4 – 17, 2017

FOOD & DRINK

TV & FILM 43 FINAL CUT Y JOE O’SHANSKY B

One critic’s favorite films of 2016

44 ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING

BY JEFF HUSTON

Another critic’s favorite films of 2016

32 ‘THE LEFT BORES ME’

BY JOSHUA KLINE

Dennis Miller on Trump, Hillary and leaving show business

34 GAG FILE

BY MITCH GILLIAM

Whether road-tested or relatively new, these four comics deserve your attention

36 ALL IN FOR THE ARTS

ETC. 7 YOURVOICE 12 BOTTOMLINE 16 DOWNTHEHATCH 18 DININGLISTINGS 38 THEHAPS 42 MUSICLISTINGS 45 THEFUZZ 46 ASTROLOGY + SUDOKU 47 CROSSWORD

BY LIZ BLOOD

Arts Alliance Tulsa wraps up a successful first year

37 TRIDE AND TRUE

BY MEGAN SHEPHERD

Tulsa’s ride-sharing future looks increasingly homegrown

CONTENTS // 5

editor’sletter

T

his issue of The Tulsa Voice features our seasonal guide to the performing arts in Tulsa, highlighting dozens of shows gracing local stages between now and June. For the full guide and production highlights, turn to page 21.

Last April, Tulsa Project Theatre suffered a high-profile failure with its troubled production of “Billy Elliot: The Musical.” In the wake of a scathing review from Tulsa World arts critic James Watts followed by the predictable social media outrage (directed at both Watts and the production), the folks at TPT took a moment for self-reflection, made some changes in leadership, and are preparing to bounce back with a 2017 roster that includes productions of the foul-mouthed puppet show “Avenue Q,” the experimental Anne Frank drama “And Then They

Came For Me,” and the comic musical “Little Shop of Horrors.” On page 30, Jennie Lloyd catches up with TPT artistic director Matthew Alvin Brown, “Avenue Q” director Seth Paden, and World writer Watts to discuss the fallout from last year and the company’s subsequent makeover.

Meanwhile, managing editor Liz Blood talks to Todd Cunningham and Chad Oliverson about the ambitious united arts funding endeavor Arts Alliance Tulsa (page 36), which just wrapped its first full calendar year as an organization.

On page 34, Mitch Gilliam profiles four local comics you might not know (but should), while Megan Shepherd introduces us to TRIDE, a new Tulsa-based ridesharing service out to steal your business from Uber and Lyft (page 37).

Angela Evans returns to Royal Dragon for the first time in years and finds the longtime Tulsa buffet wanting (page 14), only to discover after filing her initial review that it closed down days after her visit.

Mary Noble interviews Kentucky hip hop act Nappy Roots about their forthcoming new album (page 40) and TTV film critics Joe O’Shansky and Jeff Huston share their finalized lists for favorite movies of the year (page 43).

Lastly, on page 32, I interview comedian and conservative firebrand Dennis Miller ahead of his January 13 appearance in Tulsa with Bill O’Reilly. I grew up watching Miller on Saturday Night Live and various comedy specials, and over the years observed with some dismay his shift from assaultive, Bill Hicks-inspired comedy

that attacked charlatans and liars across the political spectrum to him arguably becoming—as a Fox News talking head and AM radio host—one of those charlatans himself. Predictably, the interview largely consisted of Miller excusing Trump, criticizing Hillary and going down rabbit-hole tangents peppered with disparate political and cultural references, and editing it down to something readable was quite the task. Still, despite our disagreements, it was a fun conversation and I hope that translates.

Now, let’s all take one last moment to celebrate the demise of 2016. Happy New Year, and thanks for reading. a

JOSHUA KLINE EDITOR

SYNCRETIC: TULSA ARTIST FELLOWSHIP

Curated by Dr. Louise Siddons and in partnership between 108|Contemporary and Tulsa Artist Fellowship, SYNCRETIC brings together the work of the inaugural TAF Fellows for the first time highlighting the unique synthesis of this group of artists.

GALLERY PERFORMANCE January 15, 2017 2-3 p.m. • Free Admission

Enjoy both art and music in the galleries of Gilcrease Museum. Listen to the beautiful sounds of the Signature Quartet at TCC performing next to the magnificent Thomas Moran paintings, Shoshone Falls on the Snake River and Spectres from the North. A feast for the senses.

For more information, please contact Cindy Williams at 918-596-2768 or cindy-williams@utulsa.edu Tulsa Artist Fellowship

Image: Their Wooden Wings Bruising the Air, Alice Leora Briggs

TU is an EEO/AA Institution.

GILCREASE.ORG 6 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

yourvoice

To the Tulsa Voice:

I am writing in response to an article published in the Tulsa Voice titled “The Crime Fighter” written

by Holly Wall. I live in Miami, Florida, and this article was recently brought to my attention. I’ll state the obvious - I am the namesake of the article’s subject.

Cornel Williams, the publisher of the Tulsa Crime Monthly was my father. I want to thank the Tulsa Voice for this excellent tribute to a man who always tried to do too much.

Dear Editor,

After picking up a copy of the December 7-20 // Vol. 3 No. 24 issue, I noticed several “disgruntled” Trump readers who were unabashedly slamming your post election coverage. I for one would like to commend you for voicing your opinion despite the heavy conservative reader base established here in Green Country. I myself—a Libertarian and woman—did not see positive in either major party candidate but a hope for an emergence of true change in a new one, that of Gary Johnson.

Back in March of 2016 I wrote and had published an Editorial, The Greatest Show on Earth. The bottom line in all this governmenTHE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

My father always told me that the key to success is to focus on the things you enjoy doing and find a way to make money from them. The two things my father loved most were boxing and writing. And the one thing he hated most was a criminal.

He lived his life never hesitating to act on an idea or dream. He always wanted to own a boxing gym, so he did it. He wanted to write a book, so he did it (although unpublished). He wanted to run a newspaper, so he did that also. He dabbled in his love for politics by serving on the inaugural Oklahoma Professional Commission. He was truly a jack of many trades, and master of them all.

Although he wanted to do more on a much bigger scale, my

father died having accomplished most of his dreams. He pushed himself to the limit. While we don’t officially have a cause of death, we can only conclude that his work ethic is what led to his demise. Young spirited at heart, his 66 year old body just couldn’t take the stress of running a popular newspaper solo. He will be remembered by many people for many things. I will remember him for the one thing he did better than anything - being a great father.

Thanks again to the Tulsa Voice, specifically Holly Wall for the beautifully written piece on my father. He would love it. I will frame the article and place it next to the urn holding his ashes.

tal unrest is, How did we get here?

What is the root of the problem?

The working class vs. elite gap.

The idea of the true American dream? The idea that a non ivy league graduate can become president? Maybe. And as unfortunate to some as Trump’s election was, the American people spoke loudly by casting their votes and buying those damn trucker hats.

However, I do feel it is the only way American Politics will take on a new identity and become a three party system. This is our chance for change.

Oddly, I found that many of my Republican friends align more as Libertarians but have no mechanism to adhere to those ideologies when casting their votes at the

local and state levels, where it matters. I was delighted to cast my vote to keep those Libertarian ticket options viable for a few more years to come. Having grown up in Oklahoma and lived elsewhere for over ten years, I found coming back here to be unsettling when it comes to open minds and hearts in regards to a multiplicity of issues from racism of color and sexual orientation to religious freedom even for those who are not religious. I hope you and writers continue to voice your opinions and not shy away from criticism. That is the beauty and balance of voicing your ideals in a publication such as The Tulsa Voice. Keep up the good work.

Sincerely, Cornel D. Williams

A.L. Long NEWS & COMMENTARY // 7

openletter

W

e’ve just emerged from a year of stunning blows to liberal democracy around the world.

Brexit rattled the bones of the post-war liberal order in Europe.

In Austria, the right-wing populist FPO performed distressingly well for a political party founded by a former Nazi SS officer. In Asia’s oldest democracy, the Philippines, a demagogue who promised a vicious drug war waged through extrajudicial killings decisively won the presidency, and has kept his promise. The United States turned the White House over to a tanning bed mishap with an authoritarian streak. Facing a budget crisis of their own creation, Oklahoma legislators persisted with cuts to public school funding so steep one could be forgiven for wondering if their plan for public education is to just starve it to death once and for all.

Shocked out of complacency by these and other threats to the future, people near and far who believe in pluralism, decency and open society are revving up and getting organized to fight back, which raises the question: how?

The rise of clicktivism—or slacktivism, as its detractors sometimes term it—has led to something of an online petition boom in recent years. Change.org claims over 100 million users in nearly 200 countries, and some petitions started through the site have amassed huge numbers of signatures. A petition asking the Electoral College to give the presidency to Clinton rather than Trump, for instance, got more than 4.9 million signatures. Of course, the fate of that ridiculous request points to the problem with petitions, particularly when signing one takes less time than it took you to read this sentence: they might not do anything. Though clicktivism has had some success8 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

THE HAND THAT HITS How to fight back against the new threats to liberal democracy

by DENVER NICKS

es—like the petition to get the Associated Press to drop use of the term “child prostitute”—petitions aren’t elections, and in a world awash with online petitions they might not even really be petitions anymore. Neither are retweets, likes and secret Facebook groups (or public ones, for that matter).

The potency of petitioning for redress of grievances has been diluted by overuse. And the Trumps of the world are, by nature, not all that interested in expressions of the public will beyond fawning

praise and obedience anyway. Defeating the anti-intellectual, illiberal, populist ethno-nationalism on the march around the world will require more than the clicktivist alone can offer.

The side of pluralism and democratic values needs to remember the Kung Fu maxim, “the hand that hits also blocks.” Or, as you football-loving Okies may have heard it rendered, the best defense is a good offense. The enemies of liberal democracy must be attacked in the marketplace of

ideas relentlessly and treated with ridicule and contempt. Note that this does not mean shouting anyone down or preventing anyone from speaking—shutting someone up by any means other than proving them wrong isn’t victory, it’s cowardice. Part of the attack will need to be made with a little jujutsu, using the enemy’s own energy against him by provoking him into overreactions. A defining feature of the bully is that he is weakest where he acts strongest.

The clumsy bluster that leads to overreach and mistakes is always a cover for some deep-seated and pitiful vulnerability. Use it.

People who cherish values like political and legal equality, freedom of expression, and individual liberty, who celebrate creativity and appreciate beauty for its own sake, will do their most important work in the coming year not by fighting but by building a better alternative. There’s something grimly unsurprising about the fact that the TV shows “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant” are most popular in places like Oklahoma, where teen pregnancy is rampant and Trump is hailed as a hero. Trumpism and other similar movements emerged because of the failure of liberal democracy to deliver on its promises and live up to its own ideals, allowing some communities to descend into such hopelessness that Trump and mindless television became an attractive alternative to reality. So build a better, more attractive alternative. Invest in your communities, making them better, more beautiful places to be.

Invest in your families and yourselves, making yourselves better people to be around. Pluralistic, liberal, open societies have the advantage of being more innovative, dynamic, hopeful places to be than a Trump rally seething with fear and anger. Liberals have more fun.

So have it. a January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

1 in 5

Oklahoma kids lives with secondhand smoke.

TELL US WHAT YOU’RE DOING So we can tell everyone else Send all your event and music listings to voices@langdonpublishing.com

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INVESTIGATORS: Drs. Jamie Rhudy & Joanna Shadlow CONTACT: The University of Tulsa Psychophysiology Research Laboratory 918-631-2175 or 918-631-3565

A novel research study is being conducted at The University of Tulsa to identify potential markers of risk for chronic pain in healthy (currently painfree) Non-Hispanic White and Native American individuals.

This study is safe, non-invasive, and does not involve medication. Participants must be able to attend 2 laboratory sessions (4-5.5 hours/day) in which physiological and behavioral reactions to different stimuli are recorded. This is a University of Tulsa, Cherokee Nation, and Indian Health Service Oklahoma Area Office IRB approved research study.

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THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 9

viewsfrom theplains

In December, then president-elect Trump named Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma’s attorney general, to head the Environmental Protection Agency | COURTESY

Monsters and functionaries

Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump, and the new environment in America

by BARRY FRIEDMAN

Kleptocracy.

Before November 8, 2016, it was a word you didn’t see or hear much—and with good reason.

Whatever you thought of recent presidents, they were not soulless businessmen, childish braggarts, and dim bulbs. Donald Trump is the embodiment of all three and his kleptocracy (Greek:“rule by thieves”) will be an amalgam of corrupt, compromised men and women who use their unique access to power, wealth, and resources to enrich themselves at the expense of others.

But enough about Eric, Ivanka, and Don, Jr. Donald Trump’s 17 cabinet appointees, if you’re scoring at home (and if you’re not, it’s time to start), have more money than the bottom 43 million1 U.S. households combined, which is only important if you think heads of government agencies should know how much a half gallon of milk costs and care that industrial runoff and sewage spills cause vibrio vulnificus infections in children. The president-elect, who still promises to drain the swamp—all evidence to the contrary—has instead filled it with rapacious 10 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

snakes and captains of industry, a cabal of proud billionaires, loud sycophants, unapologetic corporate bagmen, bellicose generals, and relentless extremists.

You could argue his selection of Michael Flynn, who retweets paranoid conspiracies2 with as much discrimination as those who hand out “Strippers in Your Room” cards on Las Vegas Boulevard, as national security advisor, and Ben Carson, whose only qualification to be HUD director is that he lives in a house, are his worst nominees.

But our collective gob was truly smacked when he named our own Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

Having Pruitt run the show at the EPA is like, well, your-jokehere. My favorite: it’s like having a dingo watch your baby.

From his website3: Pruitt filed the first lawsuit challenging the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and is a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.

Proud, he is, to lead the fight against healthcare—when one in

six Oklahomans are uninsured— and against those who would scrupulously protect the state’s air and water.

For the love of the Sierra Club, the director of the EPA should be an activist—it’s in the job description: protection. That’s why Republican President Richard Nixon created it in the first place … in 1970.

But it’s not just the EPA. Pruitt, a pious grandstander, not only championed Bibles in public schools, the Ten Commandments monument, and Hobby Lobby’s right to discriminate against women, he was the only AG in the nation who rejected a 2012 settlement with those banks who nearly caused the collapse of the whole economic shebang because, he said, “it started being co-opted

by Washington to turn into something to fix the housing market.”4 And God knows we couldn’t allow that.

While attorney general, Pruitt also installed something called the Federalism Unit (so called because The Nullification and Sedition Unit didn’t look good on the signage) whose sole mission was to sue the federal government when-

ever he decided—about twice a month as it turns out—Washington had overstepped its boundary.

He has, in fact, sued the feds on cross-state air pollutions rules, mercury and air toxin rules, as well as on banking, contraception, endangered species, healthcare, and Colorado’s marijuana law. He’s even sued the EPA for being sued, claiming the agency wanted environmental groups like the Sierra Club to sue it so it would then be “forced” to demand greater environment on polluters.

He’s a small government conservative, all right, unless it’s his department that needs the paring.5 While living in the same harsh fiscal climate and preaching small-government conservatism, Pruitt has managed to increase his office’s expenses by 40 percent and add nearly 60 employees since taking over, creating a dynamo for legal attacks on the Obama administration and a launching pad for his political career.

His most peculiar affection, though, goes to the put-upon titans in the oil and gas sector who are just trying to make ends meet.6 January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

Pruitt also fought efforts by attorney generals in other states to press ExxonMobil for information about whether the company failed to disclose material information about climate change, calling such efforts “governmental intimidation” of the oil giant.

Protecting ExxonMobil. What a prince.

He champions fossil fuel and, of course, doubts climate change.7 “Look, I mean, I think there should be a vigorous debate about that. I mean, I think that ... We ought to have true science. We ought to let science be science and let it educate and inform the policy makers on what should and should not occur.”

You mean like listening to the NASA scientist who said, “There’s no pause or hiatus in temperature increase. People who think this is over are viewing the world through rose-tinted spectacles.

This is a chronic problem for society for the next 100 years.”8 Just as predictably, Pruitt gets his feelings hurt when he’s called on any of this.9 Pruitt continues to reject the insinuation that his work is driven by a partisan agenda.

“Opponents want to present it that way,” he says. “It’s not that way at all for me.”

Of course not.

Another mom-and-pop energy shop for which Pruitt has a soft spot is Devon Energy, a company for which he often takes dictation.10 “Outstanding!” William F. Whitsitt, who at the time directed government relations at the company, said in a note to Mr. Pruitt’s office.

The attorney general’s staff had taken Devon’s draft, copied it onto state government stationery with only a few word changes, and sent it to Washington with the attorney general’s signature. “The timing of the letter is great, given our meeting this Friday with both E.P.A. and the White House.”

Later this month, that meeting with the EPA will be with its director, Scott Pruitt.

Mr. Pruitt has responded aggressively, and with a lot of helping hands. Energy indusTHE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

try lobbyists drafted letters for him to send to the E.P.A., the Interior Department, the Office of Management and Budget and even President Obama, The [New York] Times found.

Industries over which he will have regulatory power join him as plaintiffs in court challenges?

What could go wrong, especially considering the main financiers of his various election campaigns in Oklahoma have been Harold Hamm, Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries, Alliance Coal, Alpha Natural Resources, Spectra Energy, ITC Holdings, Chesapeake, ONEOK, OGE Energy and Tulsa-based oil and gas producer Unit Corp, as well as Continental Resources, the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, the American Gas Association, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, Peabody Energy, AEP, Southern Co. and Oklahoma Gas & Electric.

He is both Pinocchio and Geppetto.

Follow-up by Mr. Pruitt’s federalism office often came after coordination with industry representatives, especially from Devon Energy. The company, one of the most important financial supporters for the Republican Attorneys General Association, is guarded about its public profile. But it readily turned to Mr. Pruitt and his staff for help, setting up meetings for the attorney general with its chief executive, its chief lobbyist and other important players.

It’s not just because of his views on the environment generally and the EPA specifically that the senate should reject his nomination—it’s his DNA. Pruitt believes the functions of government, especially national, are not to be trusted and that local solutions are always best and more applicable.

The problem is local governments don’t patrol the Gulf of Suez so ExxonMobil can safely move its product, don’t initiate the cleanup of toxic superfund sites, and don’t regulate and coordinate air, water, atomic energy, endangered species, waste, or occupational safety between states. To allow such a man to control an agency tasked with those responsibilities—when

his heart and mind clearly lie with those who use the environment as a chew toy—is disdainful. Let his friends at Devon make him chief counsel—it’s where his loyalties are—and leave the EPA to someone who cares if a Canadian pipeline (yes, he supported Keystone) runs under your son’s kiddie pool.

It’s not like anyone was expecting Trump to name Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to the position (or, for that matter, Diane Ravitch to Education or Morris Dees to Justice), but in selecting Pruitt to head the agency, the president-elect gave a Trumpian FU to anyone who wants an EPA chief who worries more about the lead and copper levels in drinking water than whatever’s bothering Harold Hamm.

“Monsters exist,” Primo Levi, Holocaust survivor and chemist, once said, “but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous.

More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”

Like the rest of Trump’s cabinet, Pruitt asks the wrong questions, challenging the aggrieved, not the aggressors. And, like his future colleagues, he, too, feels government is an impediment, a burden, especially on his benefactors. He will emasculate the very agency he should embolden. To that extent, Scott Pruitt is part monster, part functionary. In the Trump Administration, that is not a bug, it’s a feature. a

READ IT Online, anytime, anywhere!

DEC. 21, 2016 – JAN. 3, 2 017 // VOL. 4 NO. 1

JAN. 4 – 17, 2017

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1) The Hill: Trump’s Cabinet picks have more wealth than third of American households combined 2) New York Times: Trump Adviser Has Pushed Clinton Conspiracy Theories 3) ok.gov: Brief biography of Attorney General Scott Pruitt 4) newsok.com: Oklahoma is lone maverick in national mortgage settlement signed by 49 states 5) Associated Press: It’s a tough time in Oklahoma, except for Scott Pruitt 6) yahoo.com: Trump’s EPA head Pruitt: climate-science denier who sued the EPA many times 7) CNN: In interviews, Trump’s EPA pick questioned climate change, said Obama EPA rules would be undone 8) The Guardian: Nasa: Earth is warming at a pace ‘unprecedented in 1,000 years’ 9) governing.com: Scott Pruitt: America’s Sue-Happy State AG 10) New York Times: Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General

YO PERFOR UR MING CALEND ARTS AR P2 1

ER & S P R IN

// V O L . 4 NO . 2

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O R M IN

G AR TS

TULSA

PROJEC R E T U R N T T H E AT R E S TO IT PUNK R S OCK RO OTS P3 0

A CONV E R S AT I ON WITH DENNIS MILLER P3 2

Just visit TheTulsaVoice.com for a complete digital edition of The Tulsa Voice including back issues.

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 11

bottomline

ENID PAPER SUFFERS AFTER CLINTON ENDORSEMENT

by RJ YOUNG

State Rep. Dan Kirby | COURTESY OKHOUSE.GOV

JUST LEAVE, KIRBY Last month, The Oklahoman reported on allegations of sexual assault and possible misappropriation of public funds against State rep. Dan Kirby.

Kirby, a Republican representing District 75 in Tulsa and Broken Arrow, was accused of sexual harassment in a tort claim filed by his former executive assistant, Hollie Bishop, in January last year.

In a settlement through the Oklahoma State House of Representatives Bishop was paid $44,500 of taxpayers’ money.

Soon after The Oklahoman’s report, Kirby announced he would resign his office. Then he changed his mind.

He reneged on his resignation last Thursday, two days before he was to leave office, with a fax.

The fax sent to House Speaker-elect Charles McCall and Governor Mary Fallin said his decision to resign would not follow state law, and he now plans to serve out the rest of his term.

In a statement to the Tulsa World, Kirby reiterated his decision to remain in office and claimed to have not known the allegations made against him had been settled until he read the story published in the Dec. 21 edition of The Oklahoman.

“I have never seen the settlement agreement nor do I have any knowledge of the terms contained in the settlement agreement,” the statement said. “I would like to make it clear that the allegations of sexual harassment are untrue and I had no role in settling the claims made against the Oklahoma House of Representatives.”

BOTTOM LINE: The allegations stink on multiple levels, and Kirby had a chance to save face when he quickly offered his resignation.

But his “should I stay or go” waffling is an embarrassment, and further evidence that he should probably just go.

12 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

Screenshot of the Enid News & Eagle endorsement of Clinton in October | COURTESY

The Enid News & Eagle endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president last November and has suffered for it.

According to a recent New York Times report on the fallout, 162 of the Enid paper’s subscribers canceled their subscriptions following the endorsement editorial that ran on Oct. 8, 2016.

Many journalists and periodicals, including Okie papers like this one, applauded the Enid News for giving readers a fearless examination of the two major party candidates.

“This is an excellent example of the way American journalism ought to be—standing for something—and, man, it takes guts to do that,” said Terry M. Clark, University of Central Oklahoma journalism professor to the New York Times.

The Enid News’ parent company, Community Newspaper Holdings

Inc., also supported the decision to endorse Clinton across its family of papers.

Readers weren’t having it.

Executive editor Rob Collins was inundated with angry, sometimes profane phone calls. One person stuck a “Crooked Hillary” sticker to the paper’s door.

The Times reported one of the Enid paper’s senior writers was accosted with balled fists and a threat to “beat the hell out of him” while standing in line at Western Sizzlin—after church.

The piece, titled “For U.S. President: Hillary Clinton is our choice for commander in chief,” listed many of Clinton’s well-known faults. It addressed her mismanagement of her private email server, what she’d said about the horrors at the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, and the perceived notion of rich donors

OKLAHOMA’S DEADLY PRISONS Oklahoma prisons have the second-highest murder rate in the country.

According to a study conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 13 inmates were killed per 100,000 in state and federal prisons in Oklahoma from 2001 to 2014. The national average is five killed per 100,000, and only Maine outranks Oklahoma with 14 inmates per 100,000.

Oklahoma’s rate of accidental death in prisons is 8 per 100,000— triple the national average—and second again in this statistic, this time to Alaska.

255 inmates, per state, die each year, according to the study. On average, 324 prisoners die each year in Oklahoma prisons.

paying for greater access to a future president through the Clinton Foundation.

“However,” the paper stated, “her flaws pale in comparison with the irresponsible conduct demonstrated by Trump during the campaign.

For several critical reasons, we believe he is unfit to be president.”

And now he is president.

Which surprises few in a state that hasn’t swung Democrat in a national election since Lyndon B. Johnson won the White House and Gomer Jones coached the Sooners.

BOTTOM LINE: In two weeks time, Donald J. Trump will take the oath of office and usher in a presidential term built on fear and hate. We applaud the Enid News & Eagle’s courage to speak out against that.

That number ties Oklahoma with Mississippi for sixth in the country for yearly fatalities, while Louisiana leads the nation with an average of 477 a year.

Some of these deaths come from pre-existing medical conditions. Oklahoma prison spokesman Alex Gerszewski told the Associated Press that in 72 of the 109 state prison deaths in 2015, the deceased were over the age of 50.

“We know that we’ve truly become just a warehouse for inmates in Oklahoma,” Sean Wallace, policy director for the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, told the Associated Press. “We don’t really offer them any programs to rehabilitate them. We barely staff our facilities.”

BOTTOM LINE: “Our facilities are crumbling and falling apart,”

Wallace said. “I doubt there’s one person in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections who is very surprised that we rank high in the number of inmates who died in our prisons.”

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

okpolicy

T

he movement to legalize marijuana is riding high.

This year voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada joined Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska in legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, while Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota voted to allow medical marijuana.

Oklahoma narrowly missed out joining the latter group this year.

Proponents gathered enough signatures to put medical marijuana on the ballot as SQ 788, but they submitted the signatures too late to make the 2016 elections. SQ 788 will be scheduled for a vote by 2018 at the latest.

Advocates for Oklahoma’s measure have primarily stressed the medicinal qualities of marijuana and the expanded personal freedom that comes with ending prohibition. Others point to the potential tax revenue that legalization would bring. Now that several states have embraced medical marijuana, the revenue effects have come into clearer focus.

The experience in other states suggest that legalizing marijuana for medical purposes only would have negligible revenue effects, but the legalization of recreational marijuana could bring significant benefits — though it would not by itself solve Oklahoma’s persistent revenue shortfalls.

If Oklahoma’s medical marijuana initiative passes, it would levy a 7 percent sales tax on marijuana sales, with revenue going first to the state agency with regulatory oversight of the medical marijuana market. Any surplus amount beyond what is budgeted for that agency would be earmarked for common education and drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Advocates for medical marijuana promote it as medicine, not an antidote for budgetary problems, so the potential for revenue generation is rarely

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

MONEY DOESN’T GROW ON TREES Legalized marijuana could help Oklahoma’s budget problems, but it’s not the cure-all

by RYAN GENTZLER

discussed. Colorado’s 2.9 percent tax on medical marijuana brings in about $12 million per year, while licenses and fees bring in another $10 million — very small amounts in the context of the state budget.

States that legalized recreational marijuana have brought in more money than they expected, but the revenue is still a tiny fraction of their state budgets. Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in a 2012 voter referendum and levied a 10 percent retail tax and 15 percent excise tax for large wholesale transactions. In 2015, the state received about $129 million from these taxes. Cities and towns that have chosen to allow retail marijuana shops in Colorado have also seen significant revenues, and the boost in local sales taxes have helped supplement education, public health, law enforcement, and general operations.

While Colorado’s $129 million is certainly a lot of money, it’s

still a tiny portion of Colorado’s General Fund of nearly $10 billion in FY 2017. In the four states that just voted to legalize marijuana, new revenue estimates range from 0.3 to 1.6 percent of general fund revenue.

Beyond creating a new revenue stream, the legalization of marijuana removes criminal penalties and saves resources that are spent to arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate people for marijuana possession. Estimates of savings run anywhere from $12 to $60 million per year in Colorado, as they have avoided about 10,000 arrests for marijuana possession annually.

Law enforcement made 7,580 arrests for marijuana possession in Oklahoma in 2015.

But there is little evidence that states reduce budgets for public safety and courts as a result of these savings. In Oklahoma especially, continued cuts to every agency mean that any savings

would be needed to plug the big holes in their budgets. In fact, if law enforcement depends on asset forfeitures from people caught with marijuana, they may take a financial hit when the drug is legalized. This could be an especially big problem in Oklahoma, where 70 percent of forfeiture revenues are used for salaries.

So how much revenue could Oklahoma expect to raise from legalizing recreational marijuana?

Based on the results in Colorado and Washington, the Tax Foundation estimates that Oklahoma could collect as much as $108 million per year based on a 25 percent effective tax rate. That would be a good start to cover budget deficits that continue to climb higher, last year reaching $1.3 billion. But it’s unknown how much legalized marijuana would cut into sales of currently legal recreational drugs like alcohol and tobacco, which means the newly taxable sales would be supplanting that revenue rather than adding to it.

This projected revenue from legalizing marijuana is also much less than many of the sensible solutions that were left on the table by lawmakers last year. For example, suspending this year’s income tax cut would have brought in $147 million; increasing the cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack would bring in over $180 million. The problem is that there are too many expenses and too few revenues to pay for them, creating a persistent structural deficit. Legalizing and taxing marijuana may be a part of the solution, but it would not substitute for the need to take a sober look at what we want government to do, how much it will cost, and how to pay for it. a

Ryan Gentzler is a policy analyst with Oklahoma Policy Institute (www.okpolicy.org).

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 13

foodfile

DRAGON SLAYER A story of egg rolls and dashed cynicism

by ANGELA EVANS

I

found myself in the nether region between midtown and south Tulsa—hungry and alone with time to kill.

I realized I was in the neighborhood of Royal Dragon at 51st and Memorial, one of Tulsa’s older Chinese buffets. It was the “fancy” buffet we’d go to if the family was celebrating a birthday or some such. We’d fawn over the live koi that swam in the stream that lined the entryway before we stuffed our faces with far too many eggrolls.

On this particular night, I wanted some nostalgia, far too many eggrolls, and a drink.

When I walked in, I realized it had been a really long time since I’d been to the Dragon. The stream is dried up; the koi, long gone. The cash-out counter now includes a display box full of jewelry, should you want to jewelry shop after slurping egg drop soup.

Miraculously, the bar is still there.

I was seated quickly, ordered a drink, and let loose on the six steamy tables. It felt uncomfortably tropical with steam billowing from the buffet area like a fog

14 // FOOD & DRINK

machine. I grabbed a plate and viewed the bounty.

My heart sank as I saw a landscape of limp dishes and overly-fried whatnots. But there was no turning back, and nostalgia can go a long way. Royal Dragon also has a hibachi grill, which many people love. I looked over the standard hibachi ingredients and decided that “ringing the bell for service” was simply too much effort.

I dove in to the bufftet. The chicken used for the sweet and sour chicken was definitely overcooked, and you could crack a tooth on the pork, but the sweet and sour sauce was surprisingly superb. The sesame chicken’s coating had gone through all the phases of soggy—from mushy to hanging onto the piece of meat for dear life.

Vegetables options are usually a decent fallback, but there were few here. The broccoli was an unnatural evergreen color, like the florets had caramelized under the heat lamp. The cabbage mixed with pork was floppy but pleasantly spicy. I looked longingly at

the youngster with his plate full of chicken nuggets and ketchup.

Two silver serving spoons stood upright in a warm crock of murky water near the steamed and fried rice pots. The water must make it easier to scoop out the rice, but no one wants to see serving utensils dripping with milky-white water.

But, hey, this is a buffet, no smoke and mirrors here. Just lots of steam and, uh, mirrors.

The one thing that was dynamite was the spicy mustard, which was the only thing that protected my taste buds from the fully-salinized, sinewy piece of meat I extracted from a crab leg.

After a disappointing first volley, I challenged myself to find something I liked. So I loaded up my plate with alternative items.

A beef egg roll—how come I’ve never seen this before? It was indescribably weird, and I’ll spare your imaginations the squished up mess that inhabited the vegetable spring roll.

As I dragged my sleeve through hot mustard and began rethinking my life, I reminded myself what brought me here in the first place.

I motioned to my server, a charming, gracious young lady, who quickly refilled my Pinot Grigio.

As I sat there, judging every bite, I noticed a large family posing for a photo with one of the employees. A man who looked like the family patriarch asked the server, “How long do you think we’ve been coming here? At least ten years?”

He looked at his eldest daughter, hand-in-hand with her man, and back to the server.

“He proposed over Christmas,” the dad said, gleaming.

“They grow up so fast,” the employee said, touching his hand gently. “Cherish it.”

I was humbled; put in my place by the obvious affection built between two families, strangers brought together by a simple Chinese buffet.

Sadly, after writing this, I learned that Royal Dragon had closed its doors, mere days after my visit. Word is that it will reopen in a few months in a new location. Hopefully the reboot will re-energize this beloved Tulsa institution. a January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

Venue Guide THE LOOP

loop

Downtown Tulsa's Shuttle

Operates Friday & Saturday Evenings 5pm-2am Scan the QR code and keep track of the

Loop with the Tulsa Transit Bus Tracker App.

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

TULSA’S SOURCE FOR EXCEPTIONAL FLAVOR M-S 11 am-10pm SUN 11 am-9pm HAPPY HOUR 3-6pm

PLANNING A WORK CONFERENCE OR WEDDING PARTY?

1616 S UTICA AVE 918.382.7777 • rokatulsa.com

VISIT FOR THE PARTY & EVENT VENUE DIRECTORY

FOOD & DRINK // 15

downthehatch

DID YOU MISS WHAT WA S HAPPENING LAST WEEKEND? DON’T MISS OUT THIS WEEKEND! Join 15,000 subscribers who receive the weekly e-newsletter to find out what the editors of The Tulsa Voice and TulsaPeople recommend for their weekend!

Sign up for the FREE weekly Insider today at TheTulsaVoice.com /Insider

16 // FOOD & DRINK

BY LIZ BLOOD

Torero Bar + Kitchen, 202 S. Cheyenne Ave. | GREG BOLLINGER

T

Torero y yo

orero’s bar juts one way and then another like a cartoon lighting bolt. It’s made of svelte wood with sleek royal blue tile at its back, overlooked by a giant black bull’s head.

Behind its angular path gleam silver unmarked beer taps and two mirror-backed sections of a replete bar that says “order off our cocktail menu, or throw something else our way.”

I’ll give you a drink to throw their way: a Pisco sidecar, which bar manager Lesley Nelson said was a potential for the 2017 cocktail menu update. Made like a grapefruit sidecar, the drink substitutes a single-origin Pisco for cognac, and the rest consists of Cointreau, grapefruit juice, and lemon garnish with a sugar rim. It errs slightly on the side of sweet, but has enough tang to reel you back in.

The Paladar is original to the Torero cocktail menu, made with mezcal, scotch, honey liqueur, and chocolate and orange bitters. It is smoky and slightly peaty, with a good dose of bitterness from the bitters duo and freshness from the lemon peel.

Besides the cocktail menu and 40 beers on tap, Torero has a broad selection of wines, hailing mainly from Spain and South America.

“I like selling from those places because they’re affordable,” Nel-

son said. “People can get bottles and share, which goes with the restaurant’s tapas theme. And, more and more quality producers are coming out of South America. I like showcasing those terroir-driven wines.”

One such wine is the Vigno Vignadores de Carignan by Garage Wine Co.—a company which celebrates having begun as “garagistes,” or in the garage. Garage Wine Co. is part of the current movement of smaller, more personal winemakers stepping out of Chile’s exclusive, corporate winemaking pattern. The wine is made from a carignan grape, which was brought from France to the Maule Valley of Chile. If you order a bottle, notice the seal—it’s made of recycled crayons.

While most of the cocktail menu has changed since Torero opened in 2016, a few holdovers remain: the classic daiquiri variation Hotel Nacional Special, made with añejo rum, apricot liqueur, lime, and pineapple; the aforementioned Paladar; and the Zozobrar—made with grilled pineapple syrup, tobacco-infused rum, lime, and salt.

Happy hour is from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and from 9 p.m. to close (10 p.m. weeknights, 11 p.m. weekends) they offer a late night menu with snacks and ceviches on special to complement your cocktails.

Enjoy! a January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

Not just an ordinary bar The best of Tulsa — music, arts, dining, news, things to do and more. Come find out what’s happening.

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THE TULSA VOICE

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ARRIVE EARLY STAY LATE THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

BRADY ARTS DISTRICT GUIDE // 17

dininglistings TU/KENDALL WHITTIER

SOUTH TULSA

Big Al’s Health Foods Bill’s Jumbo Burgers Billy Ray’s BBQ Brothers Houligan Calaveras Mexican Grill Capp’s BBQ Corner Café Duffy’s Diner El Rio Verde Freddie’s Hamburgers Guang Zhou Dim Sum Jim’s Coney Island Las Americas Super Mercado & Restaurant

BBD II Baja Jack’s Burrito Shack Bamboo Thai Bistro Bellacino’s Pizza & Grinders Bodean’s Seafood Restaurant The Brook Camille’s Sidewalk Café Cardigan’s Charleston’s Cimarron Meat Company Dona Tina Cocina Mexicana El Guapo’s El Samborsito Elements Steakhouse & Grille The Fig Café and Bakery First Watch Five Guys French Hen Gencies Chicken Shack Gyros by Ali Hebert’s Specialty Meats Helen of Troy Hideaway Pizza India Palace

Lone Wolf Bahn Mi Lot a Burger Maxxwell’s Restaurant Mr. Taco Oklahoma Style BBQ Pancho Anaya Bakery Philly Alley Pie Hole Pizza Pollo al Carbon Rib Crib BBQ & Grill The Right Wing Route 66 Subs & Burgers Tacos Don Francisco Tally’s Good Food Cafe

PEARL DISTRICT Ike’s Chili JJ’s Hamburgers Lola’s Caravan The Phoenix Café

Papa Ganouj El Rancho Grande Soul City

BROOKSIDE Biga Billy Sims BBQ Blue Moon Bakery and Café Bricktown Brewery The Brook Brookside By Day Café Ole Café Samana Charleston’s Claud’s Hamburgers Cosmo Café & Bar Crow Creek Tavern Doc’s Wine and Food Egg Roll Express Elmer’s BBQ The Hen Bistro HopBunz In the Raw Keo La Hacienda

Lambrusco’Z To Go Mazzio’s Italian Eatery Ming’s Noodle Bar Mondo’s Ristorante Italiano Old School Bagel Café Pei Wei Asian Diner R Bar & Grill Rons Hamburgers & Chili Señor Tequila Shades of Brown Sonoma Bistro & Wine Bar Starbucks Sumatra Coffee Shop Super Wok Sushi Hana Japanese Fusion The Warehouse Bar & Grill Weber’s Root Beer Whole Foods Market Yolotti Frozen Yogurt Zoës Kitchen

UTICA SQUARE Brownies Gourmet Burgers Fleming’s Goldie’s Patio Grill McGill’s Olive Garden P.F. Chang’s China Bistro

Pepper’s Grill Polo Grill Queenie’s Café and Bakery Starbucks Stonehorse Café Wild Fork

Albert G’s Bar & Q Bramble Dilly Diner El Guapo’s Cantina Fassler Hall Joe Bots Coffee Juniper

Atlas Grill Billy’s on the Square Boston Avenue Grill Deco Deli

624 Kitchen and Catering All About Cha Stylish Coffee & Tea Baxter’s Interurban Grill Bohemian Pizzeria The Boiler Room The Boulder Grill Café 320 Casa Laredo Coney Island Daily Grill Foolish Things Coffee Grand Selections for Lunch The Greens on Boulder Lassalle’s New Orleans Deli

MIDTOWN Albert G’s Bangkok Thai Super Buffet Bravo’s Mexican Grill Brothers Houligan Celebrity Restaurant Daylight Donuts Supershop Eddy’s Steakhouse Evolve Paleo Chef Felini’s Cookies & Deli Golden Gate

GREENWOOD Lefty’s on Greenwood Wanda J’s

Elote Café & Catering Mod’s Coffee & Crepes Tavolo The Vault

DOWNTOWN

Bill & Ruth’s Blue Rose Café Burn Co. BBQ The Chalkboard Dalesandro’s

Elwoods Mansion House Café Ron’s Hamburgers & Chili La Villa at Philbrook

Lambrusco’z McNellie’s S&J Oyster Company STG Pizzeria & Gelateria Tallgrass Prairie Table White Flag Yokozuna

DECO DISTRICT

TERWILLEGER HEIGHTS

Abear’s Fat Guy’s

WO ODLAND HILLS

BLUE D OME Kirin The Krazy Olive La Crêpe Nanou La Flama Mahogany Prime Steakhouse Masa McNellie’s South City Mr. Goodcents Subs & Pastas Napa Flats Wood Fired Kitchen Nordaggio’s Coffee OK Country Donut Shoppe Pita Place Redrock Canyon Grill Ripe Tomato Ron’s Hamburgers and Chili Sushi Hana Japanese Fusion Thai Village Tres Amigos Mexican Grill & Cantina White Lion Whole Foods Yokozuna Zio’s Italian Kitchen

Lou’s Deli MADE Market in the DoubleTree by Hilton Mazzio’s Italian Eatery Naples Flatbread & Wine Bar Oneok Café Oklahoma Spud on the Mall Seven West Café Sheena’s Cookies & Deli Steakfinger House The Sushi Place Tabouli’s Ti Amo Topeca Coffee Williams Center Café

Lambrusco’z Mary Jane’s Pizza Mr. Nice Guys My Thai Kitchen PJ’s Sandwich Shoppe Phill’s Diner Sushi Train Trenchers Delicatessen Umberto’s Pizza

I-44/BA INTERCHANGE Big Anthony’s BBQ Bill & Ruth’s Subs Billy Sims BBQ Binh-Le Vietnamese Chop House BBQ D’Oro Pizza Desi Wok Fiesta Cozumel Gogi Gui Growler’s Sandwich Grill Hideaway Pizza Himalayas – Aroma of India Ichiban Teriyaki Jumbo’s Burgers Las Bocas Las Tres Fronteras Le Bistro Sidewalk Cafe Mamasota’s Mexican Restaurant & Bar Mazzio’s Italian Eatery

Monterey’s Little Mexico Nelson’s Buffeteria Pho Da Cao Pickle’s Pub Rice Bowl Cafe Rib Crib BBQ & Grill Roo’s Sidewalk Café Royal Dragon Sezchuan Express Shawkat’s Deli & Grill Speedy Gonzalez Grill Spudder Steak Stuffers USA Tacos Don Francisco Thai Siam Tokyo Garden The Tropical Restaurant & Bar Viet Huong Villa Ravenna Watts Barbecue

NORTH TULSA Amsterdam Bar & Grill Admiral Grill Bill & Ruth’s Christy’s BBQ Evelyn’s Golden Saddle BBQ Steakhouse Hank’s Hamburgers

Harden’s Hamburgers Hero’s Subs & Burgers Los Primos Moonsky’s Cheesesteaks and Daylight Donuts The Restaurant at Gilcrease White River Fish Market

WEST TULSA

Tulsa Broken Arrow

18 // FOOD & DRINK

Arnold’s Old-Fashioned Hamburgers Burger House Charlie’s Chicken Jumpin J’s Knotty Pine BBQ Hideaway Pizza Linda Mar

Lot a Burger Monterey’s Little Mexico Ollie’s Station Rib Crib BBQ & Grill Sandwiches & More Union Street Café Westside Grill & Delivery

Asahi Sushi Bar Baker Street Pub & Grill Billy Sims BBQ Bistro at Seville Bluestone Steahouse and Seafood Restaurant Brothers Houligan Brothers Pizza Bucket’s Sports Bar & Grill Charlie’s Chicken Chuy’s Chopsticks El Tequila Fat Daddy’s Pub & Grille Fat Guy’s Burger Bar Fish Daddy’s Seafood Grill Fuji FuWa Asian Kitchen Firehouse Subs The Gaucho Brazilian Steakhouse Haruno Hungry Howie’s Pizza In the Raw on the Hill Jameson’s Pub Jamil’s Jason’s Deli Jay’s Original Hoagies

Keo Kit’s Takee-Outee La Roma Lanna Thai Logan’s Road House Louie’s Mandarin Taste Marley’s Pizza Mekong River Mi Tierra Napoli’s Italian Restaurant Oliveto Italian Bistro Ri Le’s Rib Crib BBQ & Grill Ridge Grill Ron’s Hamburgers & Chili Savoy Shogun Steakhouse of Japan Siegi’s Sausage Factory & Deli Texas de Brazil Ti Amo Italian Ristorante Wrangler’s Bar-B-Q Yasaka Steakhouse of Japan Zio’s Italian Kitchen

BRADY ARTS DISTRICT Antoinette Baking Co. Bull in the Alley Caz’s Chowhouse Chimera Coney Island Elgin Park Draper’s Bar-B-Cue Gypsy Coffee House Hey Mambo The Hunt Club

Laffa Lucky’s on the Green Mexicali Border Café Oklahoma Joe’s Prhyme Downtown Steakhouse The Rusty Crane Sisserou’s Spaghetti Warehouse The Tavern

CHERRY STREET 15 Below Andolini’s Pizzeria Café Cubana Chimi’s Mexican Food Chipotle Mexican Grill Coffee House on Cherry Street Genghis Grill Heirloom Baking Co. Hideaway Pizza Jason’s Deli Kilkenny’s Irish Pub & Eatery La Madeleine Lucky’s Restaurant Mary’s Italian Trattoria

Mi Cocina Noodles & Company Oklahoma Kolache Co. Palace Café Panera Bread Phat Philly’s The Pint Qdoba Mexican Grill Roosevelt’s SMOKE. Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe Te Kei’s Tucci’s Café Italia Zanmai

EAST TULSA Al Sultan Grill & Bakery Big Daddy’s All American Bar-B-Q Birrieria Felipe Bogey’s Brothers Houligan Casa San Marcos Casanova’s Restaurant Charlie’s Chicken Cherokee Deli Darby’s Restaurant El Centenario El Gallo Loco El 7 Marez El Refugio Azteca Super Taqueria Fiesta Del Mar Flame Broiler Frank’s Café Fu-Thai Garibaldi’s The Gnarley Dawg Hatfield’s

Jay’s Coneys Josie’s Tamales Kimmy’s Diner Korean Garden Leon’s Smoke Shack Lot a Burger Maria’s Mexican Grill Mariscos Costa Azul Mariscos El Centenario Mekong Vietnamese Pizza Depot Pizza Express Porky’s Kitchen Ron’s Hamburgers & Chili RoseRock Cafe Señor Fajita Seoul Restaurant Shiloh’s of Tulsa Shish-Kabob & Grill Stone Mill BBQ & Steakhouse Tacos San Pedro Taqueria la Cabana Timmy’s Diner

ROSE DISTRICT Andolini’s Pizzeria Daylight Donuts Fiesta Mambo Franklin’s Pork & Barrel In The Raw Sushi Main Street Tavern

McHuston Booksellers & Irish Bistro Nouveau - Atelier de Chocolat Romeo’s Espresso Café The Rooftop Toast Breakfast and Brunch

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

BEEF SHORT RIB TACOS WAY BETTER THAN LUNCH AT YOUR DESK. served with rice and beans, fried plantains, or mixed greens for just $7.

lunch specials

under $10

weekdays from 11am-3pm.

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

FOOD & DRINK // 19

UPCOMING EVENTS

@ the PAC

January

6-29 Tulsa Glassblowing School Exhibit PAC Gallery

NEW SEASON, NEW TATE. Supporting Tulsa’s

13 Luis Alberto Urrea Tulsa Town Hall

Theatre through

14 TSO Classics: Beethoven’s 4th Symphony

Community Engagement.

20-21 Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus–Live!

Celebrity Attractions 22 Nathan Gunn Choregus Productions 27-29 Peter And The Starcatcher Feb. 2-5 Theatre Tulsa Next Stage 28-29 Paw Patrol Live!

Vstar Entertainment Tulsa Awards for Theatre Excellence /greenroomok

WITHIN EVERY AMAZING CITY LIVES A THRIVING ARTS AND CULTURAL SCENE. Enjoy a complete listing of exhibits, events and performances from our 40 member organizations.

artstulsa.org/events

20 // FEATURED

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

{ P E R F O R M I N G

A R T S }

CAPTIVE AUDIENCE From international opera to homegrown musicals and everything in between, the Tulsa spring arts scene is ready to take the stage. Your seat is waiting.

COMPILED BY JOHN LANGDON

JANUARY - JUNE THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

2017

FEATURED // 21

Jan 13

Cirque Du Soleil Ovo

LUIS ALBERTO URREA: FROM TIJUANA TO THE WORLD Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa PAC Tulsa Town Hall A 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for nonfiction and member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame, Urrea is most recognized as a border writer, though he says, “I am more interested in bridges, not borders.” Hailed by NPR as a “literary badass” and a “master storyteller with a rock and roll heart,” he is a prolific and acclaimed writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore themes of love, loss and triumph. Urrea’s highly acclaimed novel “Into the Beautiful North” has been chosen by nearly 100 cities and colleges as a “One Book” community read and Turner Network TV (TNT) has acquired the book to develop into a television series. For ticket information, call 918-749-5965. Tickets for the 2017-18 Speaker Series go on sale March 31. – MICHAEL WRIGHT A separate event about the author and his book is available for nonsubscribers: “Into the Beautiful North” by Luis Alberto Urrea, Reviewed by Lynette Hardy Fri., Jan. 6, 10 a.m., Tulsa Central Library-Aaronson Auditorium Event is free, but reservations are required.

Contact info@tulsatownhall.com or 918.749.5965 Luis Alberto Urrea

EVERY SATURDAY The Drunkard and The Olio Tulsa Spotlighters perform the melodrama “The Drunkard,” the nation’s longestrunning play (since 1953!), and The Olio — in which you never know quite what you’ll get — weekly.

Spotlight Theatre - Tulsa Spotlighters

JANUARY

13 • Bill O’Reilly and Dennis Miller The political commentator and comedian take the no-spin zone on the road in “The Spin Stops Here Tour.” BOK Center

Jan 25-29

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL OVO BOK Center Cirque du Soleil began as a handful of buskers, stiltwalkers, and performing artists making a go of it, with meager success, in early-‘80s Montreal. A $1.5 million grant from the government of Quebec in 1983 launched the company of itinerants on a path that would lead to a worldwide entertainment empire, earning almost a billion dollars annually with performances in 271 cities around the globe. (Governor Fallin, you listening?) “Ovo” is one of the more than 30 shows Cirque has produced since then, a vibrant insect world teeming with silk-spinning aerial spiders and flipping fleas.

The show beams with wonder, skill, beauty, humor, and magic—some of 2017’s most needed medicine.

– ALICIA CHESSER

22 // FEATURED 22 // FEATURED

13 • Come Closer: an evening of intimate dance Local choreographers and performance artists present works that challenge the typical audience-dancer relationship.

Living Arts 13 • Lisa Lampanelli The insult comic performs.

Brady Theater - DCF Concerts 13 • Luis Alberto Urrea: From Tijuana to the World The Pulitzer Prize finalist and best-selling author shares experiences of his dualcultural life.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Town Hall

14 • TSO Classics: Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony Daniel Hege conducts the Tulsa Symphony in this concert, which features violinist Rossitza Jekova-Goza.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Symphony 20 • Youth Speaks This annual show is designed for young Oklahomans to share their vision, their art and their souls. Living Arts 21 • 4 Girls 4 Four Broadway stars — Andrea McArdle, Maureen McGovern, Donna McKechnie and Faith Prince — share the stage for an evening of song, laughter and memories.

Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center The Spotlight Series 21 • Copland Rodeo: The Harmonies of North America Signature Symphony performs William Grant Still’s “Afro-American Symphony,” Michael Daugherty’s “Gee’s Bend,” Arturo Rodríguez’s “Mosaico Mexicano” and Aaron Copland’s “Rodeo,” with guest guitarist D.J. Sparr.

VanTrease PACE - Signature Symphony

25-29 • Cirque du Soleil OVO Cirque du Soleil takes inspiration from the world of insects for this spectacle, in which a mysterious egg appears, striking curiosity into the bugs’ lives.

BOK Center - Cirque du Soleil 27-Feb. 5 • Peter and the Starcatcher This Peter Pan origin story shows how a miserable orphan became The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up and explores the bonds of friendship, duty and love.

Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center Theatre Tulsa Next Stage 28 • Michael Carbonaro Live!

The comedian and magician, known for his “Magic Clerk” segments on “The Tonight Show,” performs.

Brady Theater - Outback Concerts 28-29 • Paw Patrol Live!

Ryder and his pup pals from the Nick Jr. show “Paw Patrol” come to town on their first live tour.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - VStar Entertainment

22 • Nathan Gunn One of the world’s most in-demand baritones, Nathan Gunn, performs opera and pop favorites.

John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center Choregus Productions January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE JANUARY 4 – 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

FEBRUARY

1 • Brown Bag It: Tulsa Opera Big Sing Tulsa Opera presents an interactive opera singing experience. Kathleen Westby Pavilion, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - PAC Trust 3-12 • The Philadelphia Story A socialite’s wedding plans are complicated by the arrival of her exhusband and an attractive journalist.

Sapulpa Community Theatre 9 • Concerts with Commentary: Violin Explosion Violinist Maureen O’Boyle presents a program of music for unaccompanied violin, including pieces by Bach, Kreisler, Prokofiev and Stravinsky.

Meinig Recital Hall, Lorton Performance Center - TU School of Music 10-12 • Dorothy and the Prince of Oz This new ballet features sets by McArthur Genius Award-winner Basil Twist, costumes by top designer Mark Zappone, libretto and score by Vienna State Opera musicologist Oliver Peter Graber and choreography by international master Edwaard Liang.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Ballet 10-18 • Duck Hunter Shoots Angel Two bumbling Alabama brothers think they shot down an angel, though they’ve never managed to shoot a duck, in this comedy

by Mitch Albom, author of “Tuesdays with Morrie.” Muskogee Little Theatre

March 23–26

LYSISTRATA Lorton Performance Center University of Tulsa Theatre

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017 THE TULSA VOICE // JANUARY 4 – 17, 2017

10-19 • Avenue Q This hilarious adult take on “Sesame Street” features puppets singing songs such as “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist,” “I’m Not Wearing Underwear Today” and “What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?” It won the Tony Award Triple Crown — Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book — in 2004.

John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Project Theatre 17-26 • Andrew Lippas’ The Wild Party Two lovers decide to throw a party in their Manhattan apartment and tragedy ensues — all told in an immersive dinner-theater experience. IDL Ballroom - Theatre Pops 17-26 • Barefoot in the Park Neil Simon’s beloved play about two newlyweds, for whom everything goes wrong, comes to Broken Arrow.

Broken Arrow Community Playhouse 17-26 • Miró Quartet: Beethoven Winter Festival The Austin-based group returns to the PAC, offering the rare opportunity to hear the complete Beethoven quartet cycle performed live over six nights.

Kathleen Westby Pavilion, Tulsa Performing Arts Center Chamber Music Tulsa

19-25 • Court-Martial at Fort Deven When an openly racist colonel demotes a group of young black women in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II from medical technicians to cleaning duty, a battle of wills ensues as the women fight for their rights. Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center Theatre North 24-25 • Night at the Oscars Signature Symphony performs pieces from the scores of Oscar-winning films.

VanTrease PACE - Signature Symphony 25 • Puccini to Pop Six internationally acclaimed artists come together for this concert of opera and pop favorites: sopranos Leona Mitchell, Alyson Cambridge and Sarah Joy Miller; tenor David Miller (of Il Divo); baritone Michael Todd Simpson; and conductor James Lowe.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Opera 28-March 1 • Shen Yun Shen Yun celebrates 5,000 years of Chinese music and culture through aweinspiring dance.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Falun Dafa Association Oklahoma

MARCH

1 • Brown Bag It: Lise Glaser Tulsa Symphony’s principal oboist performs.

Kathleen Westby Pavilion, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - PAC Trust

February 17-26

BAREFOOT IN THE PARK Broken Arrow Community Playhouse Author Neil Simon cut a wide swath through American entertainment history with his comedic and dramatic plays.

He penned over thirty works for the stage and nearly the same for film, garnering four Tony awards, four Oscar nominations, a Pulitzer and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He is the only living playwright to have a Broadway theatre named for him.

“Barefoot in the Park” is a romantic comedy about newlyweds coping with their cramped walk-up top floor apartment, an overbearing mother-in-law and a mysterious neighbor. It premiered on Broadway in 1963, starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley; the film version featured Redford and Jane Fonda. It was Simon’s longest-running hit, and is the tenth longest-running non-musical play in Broadway history.

– MICHAEL WRIGHT

2-5 • Little Women: The Musical ORU Theatre presents a musical version of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel.

Howard Auditorium - ORU Theatre 3-4 • Remembering What Never Happened and Under the Skin Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer perform mind-bending multimedia dance pieces.

Living Arts - Bridgmam | Packer Dance

This is a play for anyone generally frustrated by everything.

For our titular heroine Lysistrata, her frustration stems from the interminable civil war between Sparta and Athens.

Director Machele Miller Dill, who also teaches musical theater history and literature at the University of Tulsa, says she chose Aristophanes’ Greek comedy because it’s classic, but also political—and even feminist.

“Lysistrata” opens with a woman fed up, and she knows she won’t be able to cook or sew her way out of this one. So, she convinces all the women of Athens to take a holy oath to withhold sex from their husbands until the war ends. It’s not a “gentle” play, but it is hilarious.

“It’s tough for comedy to get the respect it deserves, but comedy can make you think just has hard as drama can,” said Dill. She plans to bring 70s and 80s punk rock aesthetics into the production, with key fashion inspiration coming from Debbie Harry, Joan Jett, and Chrissie Hynde.

Dill believes theater can be a vehicle for social change. She doesn’t want people to leave her production and forget what they just saw.

“I really do believe that theater can change the world.”

And there are plenty of modern examples of women pulling a Lysistrata to negotiate for change: In 2002, women for the Liberian Mass Action for Peace went on a sex strike that helped, along with other nonviolent demonstrations, to end a 14-year-long civil war. A similar strike played out in Togo in 2012. In Turkey, women stopped sleeping with their husbands until clean water became available. “They won’t be able to get into our bedrooms until the water actually runs through the taps,” one village woman said in 2001, according to CNN. Because it’s all about power: who has power, and who really has power.

Dill weaves a sort of linear thread when it comes to war, sex, and power: the war is about gaining power, but sex is about power too, and the women prove to be more powerful when they leverage it to ultimately stop the war.

Can we call Aristophanes a feminist? It can be problematic to assign such words to authors based on their work. What’s clear: “Lysistrata” is about women claiming and utilizing their sexuality. Though, much internal conflict comes from other women in her cabal unhappy about also not getting laid. If there is a lesson, I like to think it’s that everyone has a power within. The struggle is figuring out how to organize and harness whatever that power may be.

Of course, the “Lysistrata” scheme doesn’t truss out in 2017. But for a play older than Christ, it’s pretty radical. Add to that some ripped fishnets and dramatic eyeliner—shit, I’m excited.

If you plan to attend “Lysistrata,” keep in mind that this play, while not exactly shocking, is intended to be provoking. – KATHRYN PARKMAN FEATURED // 23 FEATURED // 23

Mar 14-19

MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa PAC Celebrity Attractions

“Dancing in the Street,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “My Girl,” “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” and other classic songs of the 60s find a new audience in “Motown: The Musical.” Told through the songwriter-turned-music mogul who made them famous, Berry Gordy, “Motown” pays homage to the scope and effect of one of America’s greatest musical eras, celebrating works of greats like Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and the Temptations. Part of the Tulsa PAC’s 40th anniversary celebration, “Motown” celebrates the sound and record label that forever transformed American popular culture, paving the way for nearly a century of musical progress and integration.

– MEGAN SHEPHERD

Apr 21-23

TBII: EMERGING CHOREOGRAPHERS SHOWCASE Studio K - Tulsa Ballet

Tulsa Ballet’s 60th Anniversary season continues with an avalanche of glitter (the world premiere of “Dorothy and the Prince of Oz,” Feb 10-12), a whoosh of feathers (“Swan Lake,” Mar 24-26), and a dose of cutting-edge wit and glamour (the Signature Series, featuring work by three young internationally praised dancemakers, May 11-14). Wedged in among all that big-time action is a sliver of the future: the Emerging Choreographers Showcase, a weekend of performances devoted to the newest in contemporary ballet.

Gifted young choreographers Jennifer Archibald, Rodrigo Hermesmeyer, and Arman Zazyan (the latter are dancers with Tulsa Ballet, the former is a notable rarity, a woman in what’s historically a man’s world) will create new works for Tulsa Ballet II, the main company’s dynamite junior ensemble. Expect extreme intimacy, risky physicality, and go-for-it boldness from choreographers and dancers alike. – ALICIA CHESSER

3-12 • Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street seeks revenge on the man who banished him from London and, with the help of his friend Mrs. Lovett, bakes people into pies in this beloved horror-musical by Stephen Sondheim. John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center Theatre Tulsa

14-19 • Motown the Musical This jukebox musical traces Motown founder Berry Gordy’s journey from featherweight boxer to the music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, The Temptations and many more.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Celebrity Attractions

4 • Rockin’ Road to Dublin The next generation of Irish song and dance — like a punky Riverdance.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Rockin’ Road to Dublin

23 • The Road to Love is …

Dr. Barry Epperley’s jazz vocal group, Sheridan Road, performs songs for every kind of love. John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center Sheridan Road Ensemble

9 • Concerts with Commentary: Poetry and Prose Soprano Judith Raiford, cellist Diane Bucchianeri and pianist Brady McElligott perform Vincent Persichetti’s cycle, “A Net of Fireflies,” which is based on Japanese haiku verse, as well as the premiere of a trio based on texts by Eugene Field.

Lorton Performance Center, Gussman Concert Hall TU School of Music 10-18 • The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial Adapted by Herman Wouk from his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Caine Mutiny,” this play depicts the court-martial of a young lieutenant who relieved his captain of command in the midst of a typhoon because, he claims, the captain was a psychopath who was leading the ship and its crew to destruction. Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center American Theatre Co. 11 • Mozart’s Requiem Signature Symphony and Tulsa Opera Studio Artists perform Mozart’s “Requiem.” VanTrease PACE Signature Symphony and Tulsa Opera 11 • TSO Pops: Route 66 — A Trip Down Memory Road Tulsa Symphony performs a road trip soundtrack featuring songs that pay tribute to people and places along the Mother Road. Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center Tulsa Symphony

May 5-7

PUCCINI’S TOSCA Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa PAC - Tulsa Opera “Tosca”: the pinnacle of passion, the epitome of emotion, the drama deluxe. Giacomo Puccini’s grand tragic opera about two mortal enemies both in pursuit of Floria Tosca has challenged a century’s worth of singers to reach the highest levels of vocal technique and expression (without chewing up the scenery). Last season, when Tulsa Opera, newly under the direction of acclaimed composer Tobias Picker, polled its audience for its most-wanted list, “Tosca” took the top spot. For this production, designed by the late French director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, both the conductor and the tenor make their American debuts; add a Finnish baritone and a Russian soprano and you have the makings of an operatic feast.

– ALICIA CHESSER

24 // FEATURED 24 // FEATURED

12 • Tulsa PAC 40th Anniversary Concert: Jane Monheit and Nicholas Payton with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra Ella Fitzgerald was the featured performer when the PAC opened in 1977. This concert pays tribute to that inaugural performance with Monheit and Payton, who together released an album in tribute to Fitzgerald last year. Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - PAC Trust

23-26 • Lysistrata Originally performed in 411 BC, this comedy by Aristophanes tells of one woman’s extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War. Lorton Performance Center - TU Theatre 24-26 • Swan Lake Tulsa Ballet performs this classic about a young woman trapped in the body of a swan, with choreography by Marcello Angelini. Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Ballet March 24-April 2 • Fairy-tale Academy Spotlight Children’s Theatre presents this world premiere play by Machele Miller Dill and Ed Dill. Spotlight Theatre Spotlight Children’s Theatre 29 • Brain Candy Live!

Adam Savage of “Mythbusters” and “Tested” and Michael Stevens of “Vsauce” will present in this scientific celebration of curiosity.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - 35 Concerts 31 • Alexander, Who’s Not Not Not Not Not Not Going to Move Alexander’s father has just taken a job in a city a thousand miles away, but Alexander likes where he is just fine and just knows he’ll hate the new place.

John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - PAC Trust 31 • Joel Sartore — PhotoArk: National Geographic’s Modern-day Noah A freelance photographer for National Geographic, Sartore’s latest undertaking is to create portraits of the 12,000 captive species of animals before they disappear.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Town Hall

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE JANUARY 4 – 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

T H E AT R E NORT H present s

by Jeffery Sweet Directed by Dr. Rodney L. Clark

January 14, 2017 7:30 PM

Tulsa Performing Arts Center For Tickets Call 918.596.7111 or www.tulsasymphony.org

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

February 19th at 3:00pm February 24th and 25th at 8:00 pm Liddy Doenges Theatre • Tulsa Performing Arts Center 110 E. 2nd Street, Tulsa, OK Purchase tickets at the box office, (918)596-7111 or www.myticketoffice.com

FEATURED // 25

31-April 2 • The Rainmaker The N. Richard Nash play tells the story of Lizzie Curry, a spinster living in a droughtridden town during the Great Depression.

Sapulpa Community Theatre 31-April 9 • The Last Days of Judas Iscariot Set in a time-bending, darkly comic world between heaven and hell, this play re-examines the plight and fate of the Bible’s most infamous and unexplained sinner. Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Theatre Pops

APRIL

1 • Black Grace Inspired by Samoan and New Zealand cultures, Black Grace creates innovative dance that reaches across social, cultural and generational barriers.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Choregus Productions 1 • Greater Tuna All of the residents of the third-smallest town in Texas are played by just two men in this comedy. Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center - The Spotlight Series

2 • Hermitage Piano Trio Pianist Ilya Kazantsev, violinist Misha Keylin and cellist Sergey Antonov perform pieces by Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Rimsky-Korsakov in their Tulsa debut performance. John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center Chamber Music Tulsa 5 • Brown Bag It: Tulsa Camerata Tulsa Camerata performs contemporary chamber music. Kathleen Westby Pavilion, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - PAC Trust 7-8 • Signature Celtic: Lucky Enough to be Irish Cherish the Ladies, helmed by awardwinning flutist Joanie Madden, performs traditional and forward-thinking Irish music. VanTrease PACE Signature Symphony 8 • TSO Classics: Brahms’ Requiem Unconvinced of the afterlife, Brahms composed “German Requiem” not as a mass for the dead, but instead as a work of consolation for those left behind.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Symphony

For those still reeling from the election and the rise of fake news, “Bug,” Tracy Letts’ exploration of paranoia, schizophrenia and government conspiracy theories, will feel as if it was written on November 9, 2016.

Most of the play takes place in a run-down motel room in rural Oklahoma. Agnes, a lonely cocktail waitress, lives there, hiding from her violent ex-husband Jerry. She becomes involved with Peter, a Gulf War vet, who grows increasingly disturbed about the war in Iraq, UFOs, cult suicides, and secret government experiments on soldiers that include planting various kinds of bugs. Eventually he draws Agnes, and the audience, into his delusions; the play is a highly visceral experience.

As critic Ben Brantley wrote in “The New York Times” in 2004: “Tears, gasps, laughter, yawns: theater routinely elicits all these responses. But have you ever been to a play that made you itch all over?”

Director Mark Frank, who’s also the chair of the Visual and Performing Arts program at TCC, sees renewed relevance in Letts’ play, which was written over 20 years ago. “The story is a great example of why people shouldn’t buy into fake news or accept paranoid views of life and politics,” Frank said.

It is also a wonderful design challenge as the world of the play—the characters and the motel room itself—fall more and more deeply into devastation.

“The play will be produced in our studio theatre,” Frank said, “which means the audience will be close to the action and drawn into the world of the characters. We want to bring them into the story, make sure they understand that these characters are on a down-ontheir-luck journey. Peter and Agnes represent very real people in society, highly affected by news—real and otherwise—and PTSD from the ongoing wars, as well as the experiences of daily life. Audiences will definitely identify with their experiences; this play is very topical for American society right now.”

The play will run over two weekends at the TCC Southeast campus. Anti-itch cream recommended. – MICHAEL WRIGHT Note: the play has adult language and brief nudity.

26 // FEATURED 26 // FEATURED

11-16 • Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage You’ll have the time of your life while watching this adaptation of the movie favorite. Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Celebrity Attractions 12-13 • Harriet the Spy Based on the popular children’s novel, an 11-year-old spy takes on her latest caper.

Howard Auditorium - ORU Theatre and The Playhouse Tulsa 14-23 • Bug A Gulf War veteran in a seedy motel room grows increasingly paranoid, drawing those around him into his delusions, in this play by Tracy Letts. VanTrease PACE TCC Theatre 18 • Che Malambo This Argentine company presents a percussive dance spectacle inspired by the South American cowboys known as gauchos. Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center Choregus Productions

20 • Concerts with Commentary: Classical Benny Clarinetist Kristi Sturgeon, violinist Paulo Eskitch, and pianists Brady McElligott and Allyson Eskitch perform works commissioned by “The King of Swing,” Benny Goodman. Meinig Recital Hall, Lorton Performance Center 20-29 • Annie Get Your Gun Sharpshooter Annie Oakley rises to the top of Buffalo Bill’s “Wild West Show” in this Broadway classic that features such Irving Berlin standards as “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “Anything You Can Do.” John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Sand Springs Community Theatre 21 • Michael A. McFaul Michael A. McFaul is one of the most renowned experts on foreign affairs in the country, a recent U.S. ambassador to Russia and the former senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Town Hall

April 14-23

BUG VanTrease PACE Tulsa Community College Theatre

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE JANUARY 4 – 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

PEARL FISHERS PUCCINItoPOP 6 9 T H

S E A S O N

One NightNight Only!Friday Saturday, February 25, |2017 8:00 pm Opening October 21, 2016 7:30|pm Matinee Sunday October 23, 2016 | 2:30 pm

BIZET’S

THE PEARL FISHERS PUCCINItoPOP Alyson Cambridge

David Miller (of Il Divo)

One Night Only! Saturday, February 25, 2017 | 8:00 pm Michael Todd Simpson

Sarah Joy Miller

Leona Mitchell

James Lowe Conductor

6 INTERNATIONALLY-ACCLAIMED ARTISTS gather

on the Tulsa stage for an unforgettable evening of SOARING OPERA HITS plus a dazzling selection of MUSICAL FAVORITES!

Opening Night Friday May 5, 2017 | 7:30 pm Matinee Sunday May 7, 2017 | 2:30 pm Alyson Cambridge

David Miller (of Il Divo)

Leona Mitchell

Michael Todd Simpson

Sarah Joy Miller

James Lowe

TOSCA

Conductor

6PUCCINI’S INTERNATIONALLY-ACCLAIMED ARTISTS gather

on the Tulsa stage for an unforgettable evening of SOARING OPERA HITS plus a dazzling selection of MUSICAL FAVORITES!

Opening Night Friday May 5, 2017 Season | 7:30 pm Tickets Now! Renew or Purchase Saturday June 17, 2017 Matinee Maypm | 2:30 pm Order Online |7, 2017 tulsaopera.com 2:30 pmSunday and 7:30

or CallJune the18,Ticket Sunday 2017 |Office 2:30 pm| 918-587-4811

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Renew or Purchase Season Tickets Now! Order Online | tulsaopera.com or Call the Ticket Office | 918-587-4811

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

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FEATURED // 27

May 6

AN EVENING WITH KRISTIN CHENOWETH Broken Arrow PAC Broken Arrow’s hometown hero comes back to her old stomping ground for “An Evening with Kristin Chenoweth.”

The big-voiced, Emmy and Tony award-winning songstress is most famous for her role as Glinda the Good Witch in the Broadway smash hit, “Wicked,” (soon to be made into a feature film) but made a name for herself early on with turns in productions like “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and roles in the short-lived but long-loved shows “Pushing Daisies” and “GCB.” Chenoweth’s live special promises song, dance, and audience participation. Expect classics from some of Chenoweth’s biggest roles, and a few original tunes, to boot.

– MEGAN SHEPHERD

21-23 • TBII: Emerging Choreographers Showcase Tulsa Ballet’s second company performs three world-premiere works by choreographers Jennifer Archibald, Rodrigo Hermesmeyer and Arman Zazyan.

Studio K - Tulsa Ballet 21-29 • Spamalot The Knights of the Round Table dance when e’er they’re able and sing from the diaphragm in Monty Python’s “Spamalot.”

Muskogee Little Theatre 21-30 • The Dixie Swim Club Five Southern women — who met on their college swim team — convene for a long weekend each year to catch up and laugh. This play focuses on four of those weekends, spanning 33 years.

Broken Arrow Community Playhouse 22 • Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 Signature Symphony performs the U.S. premiere of Ross Edwards’ “Dawn Mantras” and Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 1,” with the Tulsa Youth Opera and Signature Chorale. VanTrease PACE Signature Symphony and Tulsa Opera 22 • Chris Botti The Grammy Award-winning, Billboard jazz chart-topping trumpeter performs.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - 35 Concerts

June 20-25

MATILDA THE MUSICAL Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa PAC Celebrity Attractions There’s never been a better time for a story about a young lady plotting the downfall of a fascistic leader. In this case, it’s the story of Matilda, the precocious heroine of Roald Dahl’s 1988 book of the same name, who takes down bully after horrible bully at home and at school with clever pranks and mindbending powers (literally: she’s telekinetic). A movie version of the story starring Danny DeVito became a hit in 1996, but when the Royal Shakespeare Company proposed giving it a go in musical form in 2010, it wasn’t expected to be more than a bit of fun. In the hands of composer and lyricist Tim Minchin, an Australian comic genius in the lineage of Cold War satirist Tom Lehrer, it became a critical and commercial sensation.

Need a dose-by-proxy of revolt against thug tactics? Matilda’s your girl.

– ALICIA CHESSER

28 // FEATURED 28 // FEATURED

23 • Pippin A young prince searches for meaning and purpose in this musical, which features death-defying acrobatics by Les 7 Doigts de la Main. Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center - The Spotlight Series 28-May 7 • And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank This multimedia, ensemble-driven play combines videotaped interviews of Holocaust survivors Eva Schloss and Ed Silverberg, who were part of Anne Frank’s life, with live actors recreating scenes based on the interviews.

Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Project Theatre 30 • Lysander Piano Trio Pianist Liza Stepanova, violinist Itamar Zorman and cellist Michael Katz perform a program of (mostly) Mediterranean music, featuring pieces by Enrique Granados, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ilan Baran and Franz Schubert. John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center- Chamber Music Tulsa

MAY

3 • Brown Bag It: Strings and Pearls The harp duo performs. Kathleen Westby Pavilion, Tulsa Performing Arts Center PAC Trust 5 • Tosca Tulsa Opera performs Puccini’s masterpiece with an international all-star cast led

by Russian soprano Evelina Dobraceva.

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Opera 6 • An Evening with Kristin Chenoweth The Broadway actress returns to her hometown for a night of song.

Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center The Spotlight Series 11-14 • Tulsa Ballet Signature Series The company performs three of Artistic Director Marcello Angelini’s favorite pieces: Alexander Ekman’s “Cacti,” David Dawson’s “A Million Kisses to My Skin” and Adam Hougland’s “Cripple and the Starfish.”

Lorton Performance Center - Tulsa Ballet 12-20 • In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) This funny and provocative play set in the 1880s tells of a young doctor who marvels at what modern technology can do for his female patients (though he’s not sure what keeps them coming back), and his wife, who longs to connect with him sans electric assistance. Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center American Theatre Co. 12-21 • Abuela’s Tales Spotlight Children’s Theatre presents this world-premiere musical by Machele Miller Dill and Rebecca Ungerman. Spotlight Theatre - Spotlight Children’s Theatre 12-21 • Jesus Christ Superstar Theatre Tulsa performs the epic Biblical rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Theatre Tulsa

13 • TSO Classics: The Firebird Daniel Hege conducts Tulsa Symphony through Haydn’s “Symphony No. 90,” Kodaly’s quixotic “Háry János Suite” and Stravinsky’s ballet suite “The Firebird.”

Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Symphony 23-28 • Something Rotten!

In 1595, when a soothsayer predicts the future of theater will involve singing, dancing and acting at the same time, the Bottom brothers, a duo of desperate wouldbe playwrights, set out to write the world’s first musical. Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center Celebrity Attractions

JUNE

2-11 • Little Shop of Horrors Tulsa Project Theatre presents the classic tale of Seymour Krelborn, Audrey and Audrey II, the man-eating plant. John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Project Theatre 2-11 • Nunsense The Little Sisters of Hoboken hold a fundraiser to raise money to bury sisters accidently poisoned by the convent cook in this musical comedy with a clerical slant.

Sapulpa Community Theatre 7 • Brown Bag It: Tulsa Rock Quartet Tulsa Rock Quartet plays classic rock hits with classical instrumentation. Kathleen Westby Pavilion, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - PAC Trust 16-25 • Picasso at the Lapin Agile This absurdist comedy by comic Steve Martin depicts Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso in a Parisian cafe in 1904, just before both men changed the world forever. Broken Arrow Community Playhouse 17-18 • The Snow Queen Tulsa Opera presents the American premiere of Pierangelo Valtinoni’s fairytale family opera, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story of the same name, which also was the basis of Disney’s “Frozen.” John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Tulsa Opera 20-25 • Matilda the Musical This musical adaptation of the beloved book by Roald Dahl has won 50 international awards, including four Tony Awards. Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Celebrity Attractions a

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE JANUARY 4 – 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

FOR TICKETS CALL 918-584-3645 OR TULSASYMPHONY.ORG THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

FEATURED // 29

onstage

SAVE THE DRAMA After a rocky year, Tulsa Project Theatre returns to punk roots

by JENNIE LLOYD Tulsa Project Theatre’s production of “Rent” | COURTESY

T

he stage lights were off in Rehearsal Room 1, where 30 psychedelic puppets are set to arrive from Atlanta. Soon, Tulsa Project Theatre will switch on the lights and begin preparing for their first show of 2017, “Avenue Q.” The 2004 Tony Award “Triple Crown” winner for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book, is an an irreverent coming-of-age romp about foul-mouthed Sesame Street-like puppets struggling with adult problems.

“It’s dirty puppets but it’s so much more than that,” said Seth Paden, an Oklahoma City-based actor and director set to direct “Avenue Q.” He’s acted with TPT since 2013, inhabiting roles in “La Cage Aux Follies” and “Rent,” among others.

A lot is riding on Paden’s handling of “Avenue Q.” The young theater troupe, known for its edgy productions of “The Rocky Horror Show,” experienced a turbulent 2016 marked by disappointing forays into kid-friendly fare, bad press, a social media firestorm and change in leadership.

“We have a lot to prove as a theater company,” said Paden.

30 // ARTS & CULTURE

“It’s true. We’re rebuilding,” agreed Matthew Alvin Brown, an Oklahoma City actor and director. He stepped into the newly created role of TPT’s artistic director last summer. “It’s exciting and terrifying.”

Paden needs “Avenue Q” to be a success. But the pressure to create a cohesive artistic vision for the six-year-old company sits squarely on Brown’s shoulders.

The young men’s excitement–and terror–was palpable as we talked in the half-dark rehearsal space on loan from the Oklahoma Performing Arts Co., a row of mirrored practice spaces in a Broken Arrow strip mall.

Brown began working with TPT in 2015 as an actor in “Same Time Next Year.” In 2016, he directed successful TPT productions of “Rent” and “The Who’s Tommy.” As he got to know more about the company, he said, “It became clear … that there were a lot of talented and passionate artists in every discipline but there was no overarching vision of who we are as a company.”

The troupe was founded in 2010 by Todd Cunningham, the current executive director of Arts

Alliance Tulsa and Tulsa Symphony’s marketing director. Their first stage home was The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

The 21-and-up venue allowed the crew to “push the suggestiveness to the limits,” said James Watts, Tulsa World arts critic.

Cunningham said he “always intended” to step away from the company once it became established. “I came at [TPT] from a marketing and financial standpoint,” he said.

On the business side, Cunningham was committed to affiliating the company with Actor’s Equity Association, a union for stage actors and managers. TPT is the only theater group in Tulsa where the cast and crew can earn equity status, which requires they be treated ethically and paid a living wage.

“It sets a precedent and shows the world that this is what we do as artists. This is our job,” Brown said. “We’re artists and we make pretend things happen under lights.

That’s a hard thing for a grownup to do successfully in this world.”

However, he admits equity is “a tricky thing,” which “to the average theater-goer doesn’t really make much of a difference.”

Paden was thrilled to earn his equity card after a year with TPT. However, “I had four or five auditions where they wouldn’t cast me because I had equity,” he said. “I was too expensive.”

He has since dropped his equity status.

“This is not a theater-going city,” Watts said. Equity is a noble ideal but it’s a hard sell in a third-tier, middle America market.

“Tulsa hasn’t been able to develop enough of an audience where there’s enough work for people who needs to make a living as an actor or stage manager.”

In the summer of 2015, Cunningham stepped down. His ties to the Tulsa Symphony led him to Ron Spigelman, a conductor.

TPT’s board named Spigelman executive director, until they decided how to fill the vacuum in artistic leadership.

Since those first “Rocky” shows, TPT softened their edge to appeal to a broader audience.

They added G-Rated musicals to their season lineups alongside the grungy, thought-provoking dramas they were known for. The material didn’t suit the rock ‘n roll troupe, and they found themselves far January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

outside their comfort zone. Shows suffered.

In late April, TPT premiered “Billy Elliot: The Musical,” a family-friendly, dance-heavy production. After attending the show’s chaotic opening night in April, Watts wrote a scathing review. In it, he called the show “a mess,” and cited “technical errors galore,” poor casting, confusing direction and poor use of space.

“So much of it went awry,” Watts said. “The explanations as to what happened, and I heard five, were all contradictory.”

But, Watts said, “I see ‘Billy Elliot’ as an aberration. [TPT] has proven they’re capable of doing good work. I was nervous about publishing that. A negative review is written out of disappointment, especially a local theater review.”

When a production goes wrong, Watts said, “I don’t get angry. My wife, on the other hand, she came out of ‘Billy Elliot’ and was angrier than she’d ever been in her life.”

Rather than taking the notes and moving on, some “Billy Elliot” cast members, including then-executive director Spigelman, created a social media firestorm of finger-pointing and outrage.

“It was handled very poorly,” Brown said. “The thing about theater is, if you believe the good reviews you have to believe the bad ones too. More importantly, if you get a bad review, you go, ‘All right, that happened, what can we learn from it.’ Not create a social media outcry.”

Paden nodded. “That whole debacle was a reason why [TPT’s board] decided to restructure. To make sure it doesn’t happen again.

It woke them up, if you will.”

Shows like “Billy Elliot,” “Shrek: The Musical” and “West Side Story,” Paden said, “shouldn’t have been done in the first place.

Not by us.”

“I think ‘Billy Elliot’ was a learning experience for them,” Watts said. “It’s not what defines them.”

Soon after “Billy Elliot,” TPT’s board eliminated the executive director role; on the heels of his directorial success with “Rent,” Brown was offered—and accepted—a new job title for the company: artistic director.

“We’re in a completely different spot now,” Paden said. “Before Matt took over was not a good spot.”

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

Brown shrugs off the praise.

“It feels like a brand-new theater company,” he said. “I think what we’re aiming toward, hopefully, is a niche. I come from a background of playing in punk bands, doing rock musicals. We’re going to do those because the team we have now does it very well. We don’t want to be limited but we want a reputation as a punk rock crew.

“Some risks were taken with ‘Billy Elliot’ and ‘West Side Story,’” Brown said. “That’s not our heartbeat. We want to do edgy, more thought-provoking material. We’re excited about showing Tulsa what this new [TPT] can do.”

Brown is already proving himself. In September, he directed TPT’s production of “The Who’s Tommy,” a rock opera that plays to the company’s strengths.

Under Brown’s direction, the show “racked up a new high score” for TPT, wrote Watts in a glowing review of the show.

“Matt Brown has directed some of their best shows,” Watts said.

“And I feel confident he’s going to do a good job with the company.

He’s committed to that.”

Cunningham echoes the sentiment, and said he believes Brown will be a good leader for the young troupe of passionate players.

Despite a rollercoaster of onstage hits and misses, Paden points out how far the company has come in a short span of time.

“This is only [TPT’s] sixth year,” he said. “I’ve been with them for three years and in just that short span of time I’ve seen so much happen. Where we’re at now is where we should be: creating good art and doing shows that speak to us.”

Cue the trippy, foul-mouthed puppets. a

“The Who’s Tommy”

“Rent”

“The Rocky Horror Show”

Tulsa Project Theatre’s 2017 line-up includes “Avenue Q” (Feb. 10-18), “And Then They Came For Me: The World of Anne Frank” (April 28-May 7), and “Little Shop of Horrors” (June 2-11).

More information on auditions, donations and upcoming shows are available on TPT’s website, tulsaprojecttheatre.com. Tickets are available online at tulsapac.com.

ARTS & CULTURE // 31

Dennis Miller | COURTESY

D H: ‘The Left bores me’ S: Dennis Miller on Trump, Hillary, and leaving show business Joshua Kline

ennis Miller’s career has had a strange trajectory.

As a comedian, he broke big in 1985, when he landed a job at “Saturday Night Live” and brought a caustic, arrogant sensibility to Weekend Update.

After he left SNL in the early 90s, he hosted several talk shows in succession and recorded standup specials for HBO. His signature style of humor involved overthe-top non-sequiturs littered with cultural references, verbosely skewering whatever his target of the moment was. As the 90s wore on, he became more political and less liberal, eventually hosting a conservative talk radio show and becoming a staple of Fox News, popping up frequently as a talking head on “The O’Reilly Factor.”

In 2015, he quit the radio show and semi-retired. Now, he’s going on a cross-country comedy tour with Bill O’Reilly, dubbed “The Spin Stops Here.” Their first performance is in Tulsa at the BOK Center on January 13.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

THE TULSA VOICE: I remember watching your standup specials from the early 90s. A lot of our readers might not remember you as the sort of cynical, liberal comedian you were back then. Can you talk about your journey from the left to the right over the last 25 years?

‘THE LEFT BORES ME’ Dennis Miller on Trump, Hillary and leaving show business

by JOSHUA KLINE

32 // ARTS & CULTURE

DENNIS MILLER: First off, I went back and watched one [of the standup specials] because I always hear this thing that I was leftist, but when I watched it I was just tearing Bill Clinton a new asshole.

So, I’ve always been sort of a pragmatist.

I don’t know, I guess you just get older and things happen. I remember the World Trade Center blowing up meant something to me. I remember thinking “wow, it’s a much more dangerous world than I thought. We must get our game face on.” I remember the left mocking a man named James Stockdale when he ran as vice president under Ross Perot. He

was a heroic figure, we would’ve been blessed to have him as vice president. And he was nervous when Ross Perot appointed him as vice president, and he held a press conference and said, “I don’t even know what I’m doing here.” And God, they just mocked him without even looking into it.

I remember thinking, “I guess I’m not hip enough to be liberal anymore.” So I think that was kind of a turning point, I didn’t like his treatment.

TTV: You said repeatedly throughout this campaign year that you were voting “not Hillary, not Hillary,” and now we have Trump.

I’m curious where you stand on him right now, what you’re anticipating from him as president.

DM: I think Hillary is not a good person, and evidently some people agreed with me. So that’s why we have what we have. When Obama became the president of the United States, I was lucky enough to be on the radio, so it’s all chronicled where I said, “I did not vote for Barack Obama but I’m going to give him a year here. It’s a complicated world, I wish him well, he’s my president, and I hope he solves some things.” After a year I began to notice that it wasn’t really working for me.

I’m going to do the same for Donald Trump. He’s my president now, I hope that it works, I’m going to give it a year and watch it, and chronicle it. As a matter of fact, I think I’m going to write a book about the first year.

I hope it goes well. But I always wish our presidents well until they prove that they’re not really my cup of tea. Even when they’re not my cup of tea, though, I can honestly say I’ve never hated a president like some people seem to hate Trump. As important as they are, it’s a job. When people say they hate Trump and he’s Hitler-like, I just nod and kind of exit stage left.

So I wish Trump well. I don’t think Hillary would’ve been a good president. She had so many lies in the air, like a juggler. I knew it was going to get ugly and a lot of the balls were gonna fall. So that’s where I stand right now.

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

TTV: I agree that calling Trump “Hitler” is counter-productive. But I’m personally concerned about Trump, starting on the level of just basic competence— DM: Listen, if he just doesn’t use a private server located in a bathroom, he’s already a competent step up. I mean I know people are going to say, “Oh, Hillary is genius.” I find it weird that she did that—I find it weird that she deliberately got rid of 33,000 emails, I do. So do I think he can be as competent as the great Hillary Clinton? Yeah, I do. I think that’s an easy one. I didn’t find her as competent as everyone else did.

TTV: Setting Hillary aside, though—for instance, the CIA’s determination that Russia was most likely hacking the election specifically to try to sway it, and Trump’s response to that, is that at all concerning to you? That he would dismiss the CIA as being politically motivated in how they make intelligence assessments?

DM: I’ll say this: until I read that they hacked the vote, until I read the same accusations coming out of, let’s say Moscow, that I read perennially, coming out of Chicago, where dead people are voting, until I read that information—no, it doesn’t bother me at this point. I think it’s an easy alliterative effect to throw out the phrase “hacked the election.” I think people immediately think, “Oh, I see, Hillary would have won but they gave Trump these votes.”

But you know, I would like to talk about—[LAUGHS] if you wanna do a full-bore political interview we can set that up. We’re not on “Meet the Press.” Maybe a couple more on the CIA accusations and all that, but like I said, until I read the CIA accusation that they deliberately somehow got into the Diebold system and gave this many votes to Hillary Clinton and it was enough to change the electoral college in the rustbelt states—and you can really see we’re doing an interview for a comedy show at this point— it’s getting a little in the weeds.

[LAUGHS] I think we better parse out a couple hours if you wanna get real in depth.

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

TTV: That’s fair— DM: That’s OK, I don’t mind doing it for a couple questions, but I always do these interviews and think “Christ, I wish they would have queried Hillary this hard when she was running, instead of a comedian who just didn’t wanna vote for her.”

Listen, I’m a pragmatist, man.

I’m socially liberal. If gay people wanna get married, I’m happy. If somebody’s to the point in their life where they feel like they have to become transgender or they’re going to commit suicide, God bless them, go with God. If some woman, her life dictates that she needs to have an abortion, what business is that of mine?

I’m very socially liberal. But I don’t trust radical Islam as far as I can throw it and I’d like to keep half my money. Somehow that’s painted me as a right-wing lunatic, and that tells me more about the culture than anything else. There’s no deviation anymore from the lockstep on the left. That bores me.

I like open thinkers and it’s gotten a little boring over there. The safe space stuff, all that bores me. I’m thinking of getting a job as a safe space lifeguard at the local college so I can jump in and say the kid is drowning in his own bullshit.

STAND UP • IMPROVE • PODCASTS FILM • PARTIES • LIVE MUSIC

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T h e a t r e Po p s p r e s e n t s

TTV: Your radio show ended last year, correct? Why? DM: I quit because of the exact thing that’s going on, and I’m not saying this pejoratively, you seem like a nice man, but talking about this everyday—it just bores me.

The country is what it is. I’m in my early 60s, I wanted to travel more, read some great literature, hike. Sidling up to a three-hour chat everyday about, quite frankly, a situation that’s not going to resolve itself for the foreseeable future—history always resolves things, and I think by and large we’re acting pretty civilly with each other. The country seems angry but it’s not like the old days. In the old days, the question was, what would get a musket pulled on you?

It seems like we’ve moved beyond that stage. Nobody’s pulling muskets on each other. So it is what it is but I get sick of talking about it everyday. a ARTS & CULTURE // 33

lolz

GAG FILE Whether road-tested or relatively new, these four comics deserve your attention

by MITCH GILLIAM Comedians De’Marrio Oates, Katie Van Patten, Gerald “Hurricane” Harris, and Lee Ali at Comedy Parlor | GREG BOLLINGER

DE’MARRIO OATES

Before De’Marrio Oates made a name for himself in Tulsa comedy, he planned on spending his life in prison.

“First, there was a drug deal, right?” Oates said. “And everything went bad so I had to kill everybody in that motherfucker…” He says he then carjacked a man for an escape vehicle and evaded police before driving over a prostitute.

People ask in shock if that’s really why he was locked up.

“Hell, no,” Oates responds. “I was playing Grand Theft Auto and police kicked in my door over a probation violation.”

Jokes aside, that violation and drug trafficking charges netted Oates a life sentence. However, his sentence, along with 42 others, was modified in lieu of a federal corruption probe of TPD in 2009.

He was granted his freedom.

“When I was doing life without for drug trafficking…my humor kept me alive,” Oates said. “I’m just a funny person, and can’t help myself, so I’d wake up every morning and make somebody laugh and it’d make me feel better.”

90 days after his release, he took the stage for the first time at an open mic contest and won the first round.

Oates continued to enter and win open mic contests; before 34 // ARTS & CULTURE

long he was hosting his own shows and headlining.

On stage, Oates employs a meandering, conversational cadence, where punchlines creep into the dialogue, eliciting hefty laughs seconds after landing. He constantly banters with the crowd, and will stop mid-joke to pick on spectators that catch his eye. “I’m the best crowd working comedian there is, man,” he said. Prison humor figures into his set: he has no interest in watching “Naked and Afraid,” because…well, he’s been there.

Oates is now in the ranks of Tulsa’s travelling comedians, regularly making trips to Arkansas, Missouri, and as far as California to perform. “If I wasn’t doing standup, there’s no telling what I’d be doing,” he said.

He recently sold out the Loony Bin comedy club, and filmed the performance for his first Blue Ray release, “The Session,” out soon.

LEE ALI Lee Ali may be brand new to Tulsa comedy, but he’s just picking up where he left off 10 years ago.

Originally from Pakistan, Ali moved to the States in ‘82, and bounced around before landing in New York in 2006. A longtime fan of American comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Pakistan’s own Moin Ahktar, Ali enrolled in New York’s

American Comedy Institute. He loved the craft, but the financial strains of raising a family in New York City forced him to cut the funny business early on. Last year, Ali enrolled in Ryan Green’s standup class at Tulsa’s Comedy Parlor and quickly landed feature gigs.

“I think I am the only active Muslim comic of Pakistani descent in Oklahoma right now,” Ali said. “I think I have a few more weeks before they send me to a concentration camp and assign me a number.”

Ali’s sets hinge on his ethnicity and religion, and he delivers his punchlines with a cold deadpan that borders on cringe comedy.

But Ali knows what he’s doing, and he does it well.

“I used to go to school on a camel,” he said. “It was a one hump camel, not two humps … we were poor.” That pause between “humps” and “we” is Ali’s calling card. He lets punchlines linger for long stretches, and if the audience doesn’t laugh at the joke, they’ll begin to laugh out of nervousness.

Another staple of his sets is what he calls “cultural icebreakers.” He’ll tell crowds that his people invented air travel with the magic carpet, and he’ll rant about the pronunciation of “cardamom.” He says he moved to Oklahoma for our “Sharia-in-

spired liquor laws,” and he really loves joking about ISIS. “Girls, if you’re going to date an ISIS guy,” he tells the crowd.

“Just always let the man walk ahead of you…and find the landmines.”

Ali may joke about being placed on a Muslim watch list, but offstage he says he’s not actually worried about it. “I’m not very religious, and don’t have a beard, so people think I’m Mexican,” he said.

The only time he’s felt a victim of religious persecution was largely attributed to road rage.

“I cut a guy off, and he followed me,” he said. When Ali pulled over, the man approached him and began punching him.

“He was telling me I need Jesus… and I guess punching my head was going to lead me to him?”

Apart from a show at the Shrine on January 10, Ali is hoping to perform out of state this year.

KATIE VAN PATTEN What do you do when you graduate from a private Christian school where your parents also teach?

You get on stage and tell strangers about your sex life. At least, if you’re Katie Van Patten, that’s what you do.

Van Patten is new to the Tulsa scene, having performed her first January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

open mic 11 months ago. In that short span of time she’s played numerous shows and open mics in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, and was a featured comic at the Blue Whale Comedy Festival last summer.

Her time at Victory Christian School informs the awkwardly shy delivery of her candid jokes. Phrases like “horny,” “one night stand,” and “chlamydia,” are peppered through her set, interspersed with nervous chuckles and a cautious vocal fry. On the phone, I noticed she says “oh, gosh,” instead of “oh, God,” when perplexed.

“I don’t think I really write jokes,” she said. “I just talk about myself constantly.”

Van Patten repeated one of her signature non-jokes, an anecdote about the odd selective sheltering that came with her Christian upbringing.

“When you grow up in a religious home, I think there are some things that can slip through the cracks as far as what you are and aren’t allowed to watch,” she said.

“So, I wasn’t allowed to see that movie ‘Matilda’ [because of witch-

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

craft] but I was totally allowed to see that movie ‘Face/Off ’ with John Travolta and Nicolas Cage when I was nine years old. It seems a bit odd, don’t you think?”

According to IMDB’s parental guide, “Face/Off ” features “attempted rape,” the grabbing of a “teenage girl’s behind,” “blood mist,” and, you know, faces actually coming off… So yes, it seems a bit odd.

Despite her sometimes-lewd candor, Van Patten said her parents don’t mind.

“My parents have been very supportive of me doing comedy,” she said. “The church stuff they just kinda gave up on… because they knew their efforts were futile.”

You can catch Van Patten at Yeti Writers’ Night on Tuesdays and the VFW’s open mic on Wednesdays.

GERALD “HURRICANE” HARRIS Gerald “Hurricane” Harris is a 15-year vet of both the Tulsa and national comedy scenes. He can also kill you with his bare hands.

Harris began his comedy career at a Tulsa Comedy Club open mic

in 2002 and kept the laughs coming when he moved to Ohio to wrestle for Cleveland State University. He was voted Top Newcomer and Top Promoter in the state for comedy.

In 2006, Harris began his Mixed Martial Arts career, fighting for the International Fight League. He continued battling his way through the world of MMA by appearing on Spike TV’s Ultimate Fighter 7, and a prank radio call to UFC President, Dana White, snagged him a four-fight deal with the promotor.

“Fighting and Comedy go hand and hand in the case of how people face competition,” Harris said. “Bombing in comedy is like getting knocked out in a fight…it’s embarrassing and hard to recover from. The greatest part of both is to absolutely kill an audience with your jokes or completely kick your opponent’s ass.”

During his years in comedy, Harris has travelled extensively, performing at landmark spots like the Improv and the LA Comedy Club. He has opened for popular rappers Too $hort, Common and

Beanie Sigel. In Tulsa, he hosted a long running open mic contest (which De’Marrio Oates won six weeks in a row), and has featured countless times on local showcases.

This past December, Harris returned to MMA, fighting for the Legacy Fighting Championship at Tulsa’s Hard Rock Casino. He defeated his opponent, Aaron Cobb, 43 seconds into the first round with a brutal KO body slam. The body slam KO is a trademark of Harris’s, and a past slam has been featured as a highlight on multiple shows, including Sportscenter.

“When he hit that slam and the fight was called, I’ve never been so pumped in my whole life,” said local comedian Evan Hughes.

(Hughes was ringside, proving he is indeed everywhere in Tulsa at once.)

Although he’s famous for knocking people unconscious by throwing them on the ground, comedy remains his focus.

“I love both, but comedy is my true passion,” Harris said. “As a mixed martial artist, my popularity will only help build a following for my comedy shows.” a

ARTS & CULTURE // 35

artspotting

I

n October 2015, Arts Alliance Tulsa formed out of a need, like many nonprofits. But the need they sought to fill—universal funding for the arts—was a bit different for the Tulsa nonprofit landscape.

Similar to Allied Arts in Oklahoma City, Arts Alliance Tulsa (AAT) acts as a united arts fund, which raises money from corporations, businesses, and individuals, then distributes the funds to member organizations that have requested grants.

“We do also approach foundations for money,” said Chad Oliverson, marketing director of AAT. “But if they’re already supporting arts organizations and are at their capacity for that, we thank them and move on.”

In other words, AAT isn’t here to take money away and redistribute it as they see fit, but to raise new funds for distribution.

“Originally, we had planned a million-dollar campaign,” said Todd Cunningham, executive director of AAT. “In the end, we had 39 [organizations] apply and over five million dollars in requests. So we realized a million-dollar goal wouldn’t really suffice. The need was much greater than we anticipated.”

Hoping to meet in the middle between what they had originally planned and what the requests came to be, they set their 2016 goal for $2 million. In the end, AAT raised just over $800,000 dollars.

“Overall, I think we did great,” said Cunningham.

Oliverson agreed. “We put out a goal of two million to try to hit that, which we didn’t. Putting that aside, we definitely feel it was successful. Do we feel there’s room to grow? Absolutely. We’re not content, but it was a successful year in so many ways.”

AAT was able to support 39 organizations through its 2016 campaign, including Living Arts, The Spotlight Theatre, Clark Youth Theatre, Circle Cinema, Fab Lab, Tulsa Girls Art School, Tulsa Ballet, and many more. These

36 // ARTS & CULTURE

ALL IN FOR THE ARTS Arts Alliance Tulsa wraps up a successful first year

by LIZ BLOOD

Arts Alliance Tulsa mural by Josh Butts in the Brady Arts District | GREG BOLLINGER

organizations, in total, have a $40 million budget and generate $6 million in sales tax impact. The 39 organizations also support 2,000 jobs in Tulsa and generate a revenue of over $62 million a year, and serve one million Tulsans with their programming and services annually.

For Cunningham, those numbers are part of why AAT formed.

“Before AAT, Oklahoma had not participated in the Americans for the Arts study on arts economic impact,” Cunningham said.

Americans for the Arts documents the nonprofit arts and culture industry’s role in the nation’s

economy through their Arts and Economic Prosperity report.

“I was stunned that Oklahoma hadn’t found it necessary to participate. So, that story wasn’t being told. Tulsa is an extremely generous city and we have people who have invested in the arts for 100 years—but we need more people to invest in the arts and understand its importance in our community. If we don’t know what our economic impact is, then how do we get people to invest in its future?”

Besides funding its member organizations, which become members by applying annually,

AAT also tracks economic impact here in Tulsa.

“We have an application process every year for two reasons,” Oliverson said. “One, we want to them to want to continue with us and, two, we collect data every year that helps us grow our records, so we can track what the arts and culture scene is doing for Tulsa—how many people employed, what money did they make, what underserved populations were served, et cetera. We’re kind of a databank, as well.”

“40 organizations is the most we can handle for now,” Cunningham said. “More than half of our organizations receive little-to-zero support from the Oklahoma Arts Council, so we’re able to help fill that void. As their budget continues to be cut, we hope we’re in a place where we can make up lost revenue for larger organizations.”

On the landing page of AAT’s website is a quote by Vincent Van Gogh: “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

To Oliverson, that means helping unify the arts and culture resources of Tulsa. “When you bring them together, it becomes an industry,” he said. “What they do for our economy, our quality of life, our educational system, our health systems, for our vets, our nursing homes, our underserved populations—when you look at the numbers, when you add all of those little things that they’re doing together, it becomes an amazing entity.”

By raising money and growing audiences, AAT is helping that entity.

“In order for our member organizations to continue their education programs they need someone to help them keep the lights on,” Cunningham said. “We are helping with operational support. And also with audience development— we want to grow the untapped market, which is cultural tourism.

Tulsa has so much to offer.”

“We don’t have mountains for skiing,” Oliverson said. “We have the arts.” a January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

aroundtown

TRIDE AND TRUE Tulsa’s ride-sharing future looks increasingly homegrown

by MEGAN SHEPHERD TRIDE co-founders Blake Litton and Mack Parks | GREG BOLLINGER

T

here’s a new fleet in town, and they’re not scared of Uber.

Mack Parks and Blake Litton’s brainchild TRIDE is the buy-local answer to the price-escalating car service options of Uber and Lyft.

The two enterprising Tulsans figured a local alternative in a start-up city would make for a formidable opponent.

“We wanted to start here and take on Goliath,” Litton said.

Litton said their start-up grew out of the same reason that most do: frustration.

“Mack and I drove [for Uber] for fun and to meet new people, and the extra money helped pay some medical bills and student loans I had. We would network with other drivers while out driving, and 99 percent of them hated the way Uber treated their drivers.”

To be more specific, Litton cited Uber’s plunging ride rates and deep commission cuts (often upwards of 25 percent) as a major pain point for drivers. Earnings as little as $3 from a 15-20 minute ride is commonplace, only to have to turn right back around and drive the 15 or 20 minutes back

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

home. Big-ticket rides late at night usually make up for slower afternoons, but not always.

With TRIDE, Litton and Parks aim to take the best aspects of a car service, and make them more equitable, more affordable, and more reliable.

Like its competitors, TRIDE offers three tiers of on-demand transportation: sedan, SUV, and luxury. Customers can tap within the app to order a car, or pre-order rides for a later time. The car arrives, the rider hops in, cruises to their destination, and is then charged within the app. Cash tips are acceptable within the vehicle, in addition to in-app tipping.

Drivers are subjected to background checks, and must present a clean record free of DUI or drug-related offenses, reckless driving or fatal accidents, and cannot have a history of criminal activity.

Perhaps the biggest difference between TRIDE and the bigger guys is that they wholeheartedly reject what Litton calls “the dynamic pricing model.”

This means no waking up to the dismal realization that the foggy 2 a.m. Uber ride that

should have cost $10 somehow rang up at $40. (Hello, New Years Eve 2015.)

“Uber calls theirs ‘Surge’ pricing, and Lyft calls theirs ‘Prime Time’ pricing. It’s where they raise their rates late at night—usually around bar close, big events or bad weather,” said Litton.

“Passengers can sometimes pay 750 percent [more during] Lyft Prime Time pricing, or seven times the normal rates with Uber’s pricing like it did during the early hours of Christmas Eve around 1:30am.”

Typically, dynamic pricing is used to encourage more drivers to get on the road during peak hours. TRIDE combats this by ensuring a sustainable hourly rate despite the number of rides given. Uber and Lyft drivers cite the imbalance of time spent and profit gained as a major frustration with those services, along with the 25 percent commission deduction. With TRIDE, drivers can either make an hourly wage ($20 an hour guaranteed) or a lump payout sum—whichever is greater—less TRIDE’s $1.75 per ride pairing fee and 10 percent commission cut.

At $0.20 more per mile, TRIDE’s rates are slightly higher than Uber and Lyft’s. But Litton said the fact that the company never raises rates makes up for it. “We’re not going to break your pocket book.

Not to mention the passenger is supporting a Tulsa-based business, not a business monopoly in Cali.”

The nascent service has already spread to Austin, Wichita Falls, and Corpus Christi, Texas. Parks and Litton have their sights set on more expansion, hoping to be in Lawton, Muskogee, Bartlesville, Tahlequah, and a few other Texas cities in 2017.

TRIDE also puts a heavy emphasis on driver support and a high standard of service. Each driver gets a personal meeting with a team leader before starting, and Litton said he and Parks make a point to recognize high performance from drivers, and strive to treat each like actual employees, or “family.”

“Tulsa is our home, and we want this to succeed in Tulsa,” Litton said. “We’re a local startup that has been self-funded, and we have a passion to reinvent the way the rideshare industry should be: honest and fair.” a ARTS & CULTURE // 37

thehaps

Come Closer: An Evening of Intimate Dance Fri., Jan. 13, 8 p.m.

T

his selection of dance pieces curated by Liv Jensen seeks to remove the traditional distance between audience and performer. From this new vantage point, dancers’ breath is more apparent and audible, subtle gestures and facial expressions become clearer. A greater connection is made.

Performances include “Diálogo,” a loosely choreographed conversation with oneself, by Luis Eduardo Garcia Garcia, which is unaccompanied by music, “She writes with white ink.” by Marianne Evans-Lombe, “Roommates,” in which Jensen and Anna Bennett explore the implications of living parallel but separate lives, and “Bring Me Water” by Mia Wright and Kevin Ferguson II.

$5-$15, Living Arts, livingarts.org

RUN

ARTIST DISCUSSION

Race with your arms stretched out like wings at Tulsa Air & Space Museum for the annual Runway Run 5K. Jan. 7, 10 a.m., $25, tulsaairandspacemuseum.org

108 Contemporary hosts a Panel Discussion with Tulsa Artist Fellows on their works in their shared exhibition, Syncretic. Jan. 12, 6 p.m., 108contemporary.org

RACING

AUTHOR

Hundreds of racers compete in the 31 Annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. Jan. 10-14, $30-$245, River Spirit Expo Center, Expo Square, chilibowl.com st

Author Luis Alberto Urrea uses his dual-cultural experiences to explore love, loss, and triumph in “From Tijuana to the World.” Jan. 13, 10:30 a.m., Chapman Music Hall, PAC, tickets available by subscription to Tulsa Town Hall, tulsatownhall.com

First Friday Art Crawl // Fri., Jan. 6, 6-9 p.m. // The Brady arts District // thebradyartsdistrict.com 108 Contemporary: “Syncretic”: Tulsa Artist Fellowship; Gift shop artist of the month, Debra Ashley; AHHA: “[In]translation” by Anh-Thuy Nguyen; “Transformations: Myths Animals, and the Wild Things” by Ann Kim; “Levels & Evens” by Elizabeth Downing; Back Gallery: “State of the Union”; Bar 46: Art by Heather Harris Miller; Bradley’s Sanctuary: “Visions of the Southwest,” photography by Taylor Mitchell; Brady Artists Studio: Pottery by Mel Cornshucker, Donna Prigmore, Chas Foote, jewelry by Rachael Dazey, wire weaving

by Seth Dazey; Caz’s Pub: Graffiti art; Chrysalis Salon: “Precarious Beauty”: Couture & Sketches; Classic Cigars: Art by John Hammer; Club Ma jestic: Hoe You Think You Can Dance? contest; Colors of Etnika: Beaded & leather bracelets by K. Marina; Gypsy Coffee House: “Universal Homogeny” by Wes Jackson, music by Terry Aziere; Hey Mambo: Gigi Carillo; The Hunt Club: Ben Neikirk Band; Living Arts: “Between the Lines” by Luba Zygarewicz; “Displacement” by Monty Little; “Materiality” by Winston Peraza; Mainline Art & Cocktails: “CLOUDOLOGY” by David Holland; Philbrook Downtown: “Text Without Message” by Christopher Wool; Tulsa Artists Coalition: “Beginnings from Forgotten Things” by Marie Walters; Tulsa Glassblowing School: Guest artist Ethan Barnes; Woody Guthrie Center: “Songs of Protest and Hope”; music by Eric Himan; Zarrow Center: Pieces by Tulsa Glassblowing School students, staff, and guest artists 38 // ARTS & CULTURE

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

BEST OF THE REST OkEq Showcase - Behnaz Sohrabian // 1/5-1/31, Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, okeq.org

NO SPIN ZONE

Political commentator Bill O’Reilly and comedian Dennis Miller bring the no-spin zone to the BOK Center on their “The Spin Stops Here Tour.”

Jan. 13, 8 p.m., $78-$128, bokcenter.com

WEDDING SHOW

From florists and bakers to wedding planners and more, find everything to make your wedding perfect at The Tulsa Wedding Show. Jan. 7, 10 a.m.4 p.m., $12-$30, Renaissance Hotel, thetulsaweddingshow.com WOMEN’S CONFERENCE

Embrace Yourself Outreach presents the free Women’s Empowerment Conference, with speakers, poets, music, and performances on the topics of self confidence and sexual, mental, and physical health. Jan. 14, 12-4 p.m., Martin Regional Library CYCLING

Oklahoma Freewheel, a week-long cycling tour through the state will announce the 2017 route at an event at Fassler Hall presented by COOP Ale Works. Jan. 14, 3-6 p.m.

MUSIC

Gap Band co-founder and Tulsa native Charlie Wilson performs at River Spirit Casino’s new Paradise Cove venue. Jan. 14, 8 p.m., $75-$85, riverspirittulsa.com

Smoke Fest // This benefit for Oklahomans for Health will feature live music from Los Boi, Stinky Gringos, Thrill, Peezy, Mr. Link, Marcus & Dolla Dolla, Rich Maserati, Unknown Kapriest, and Zach Thrash. // 1/5, 9 p.m., Lot No. 6, $8, facebook.com 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards Viewing Party // Watch the Golden Globes, hosted by Jimmy Fallon, in a free viewing party at the center of cinema culture in Tulsa, Circle Cinema. // 1/8, 7 p.m., Circle Cinema, circlecinema.com Oen Michael Hammonds // Art Directors Club of Tulsa hosts special guest speaker Oen Michael Hammonds, designer, mentor, and lead facilitator at IBM Design. Hammonds will discuss how his work in the consumer, business, and technology industries helps him to solve a variety of challenges. // 1/12, 6:30 p.m., Living Arts, $10-$25, adctulsa.com Ok, So... Story Slam: Nine to Five // Competitors tell true stories about the daily grind in this monthly storytelling contest. // 1/12, 8 p.m., IDL Ballroom, $5, idlballroom.com

The No Tulsa Sound hosts Tulsa Zine Night at PH Community House, with panel discussion and education on zine culture, music, and more. Jan. 14, 8 p.m., $3-$5 suggested donation, facebook.com/ thenotulsasound MLK PARADE

The 38th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Parade winds through the historic Greenwood District. This year’s theme: “Love Conquers Hate.” Jan. 16, 11 a.m., mlktulsa.com

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

Comfort Creatures // 1/13, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Lisa Lampanelli // The insult comic performs at Brady Theater. // 1/13, 7 p.m., Brady Theater, $25-$39.50, bradytheater.com Tulsa Tonight // 1/13, 10 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Army of Stand Ups // 1/14, 10 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Comfort Creatures // 1/14, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Sunday Night Stand Up // 1/15, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $5, comedyparlor.com A.J. Finney, Henry Coleman, Danny Keaton // 1/11-1/15, Loony Bin, $8-$12, loonybincomedy.com/Tulsa Mark Poolos, Lawrence Killabrew, Jack Merrywell // 1/4-1/7, Loony Bin, $8-$12, loonybincomedy.com/Tulsa

TFA 2nd Saturday Walking Tour: Cathedral District // Tulsa Foundation for Architecture’s walking tour for January will focus on the many ornate and beautiful cathedrals around downtown. // 1/14, 10 a.m., Foolish Things Coffee Company, $13, foolishthingscoffee.com

SPORTS

PERFORMING ARTS

TU Men’s Basketball vs Memphis // 1/11, 7 p.m., Reynolds Center, $15-$44, tulsahurricane.com

TSO Classics: Beethoven’s 4th Symphony // Tulsa Symphony performs Mendolssohn’s “The Hebrides,” Ravel’s “Le tombeau de Couperin” and “Tzigane,” and Beethove’s 4th Symphony. Daniel Hege conducts this concert, which features violinist Rossitza Jekova-Goza. // 1/14, 7:30 p.m., Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Chapman Music Hall, $15-$70, tulsapac.com

COMEDY Blue Dome Social Club // 1/6, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com

ZINE SCENE

Bazar Entertainment - New Blood Showcase Vol. 6 w/ Ethan Sandoval, Griffin Schulz, Laura Cook, Yasamin Bayatfar, Matt Noyes, De’Marrio Oates, Ryan Green, Jackson Nichols, and more // 1/10, 8:30 p.m., The Venue Shrine, $5, tulsashrine.com

Friday Night Lit! // 1/6, 10 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Squeaky Clean Stand Up // 1/7, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com The Mic Drop // 1/7, 10 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Sunday Night Stand Up // 1/8, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $5, comedyparlor.com

TU Women’s Basketball vs Memphis // 1/4, 7 p.m., Reynolds Center, $5, tulsahurricane.com ORU Women’s Basketball vs South Dakota // 1/11, 7 p.m., Mabee Center, $7, mabeecenter.com

ORU Men’s Basketball vs South Dakota State // 1/12, 7 p.m., Mabee Center, $10-$20, mabeecenter.com ORU Men’s Basketball vs IUPUI // 1/14, 3 p.m., Mabee Center, $10-$20, mabeecenter.com ORU Women’s Basketball vs South Dakota Skate // 1/14, 12:30 p.m., Mabee Center, $7, mabeecenter.com TU Women’s Basketball vs Temple // 1/14, 2 p.m., Reynolds Center, $5, tulsahurricane.com WWE Live // 1/15, BOK Center, $18-$103, bokcenter.com TU Women’s Basketball vs UCONN // 1/17, 7 p.m., Reynolds Center, $10, tulsahurricane.com 2017 Ice Bowl Disc Golf Tournament // 1/14-1/15, Chandler Park, tulsadiscsports.org Monster Jam // 1/7-1/8, BOK Center, $15-$30, bokcenter.com

For the most up-to-date listings

thetulsavoice.com/calendar ARTS & CULTURE // 39

musicnotes

Nappy Roots | COURTESY

From KFC to sushi

An interview with Nappy Roots

by MARY NOBLE

O

n December 29, I sat down with rappers B Stille and Skinny DeVille of Nappy Roots before their show at The Shrine. We talked about their upcoming album, a sequel to their 2015 release, The 40 Akerz Project. The 40 Akerz Project was a collaboration between members DeVille and Fish Scales, with an added wildcard of 808Blake, a 31-year-old up-and-coming producer from Atlanta. The trio toured the United States, debuting the new music and interchanging it with classics like “Po’ Folks” and “Good Day.” After the success of 40 Akerz on the road, the decision to make another was simple, this time with the addition of former Nappy Roots members B Stille and Ron Clutch. Another 40 Akerz Project is expected to release at the end of February.

40 // MUSIC

THE TULSA VOICE: Blake mentioned this new album will be a little bit more musical. Can you elaborate on that?

SKINNY: Another 40 Akerz is definitely an extension of the last project. We definitely thought outside the box. We wanted to do bigger records, not just specific to our fan base, but the global industry. We got different writers to come in and help us out, we got the rest of the group on the project a little bit more this album. We’re trying to learn from the last one. The last one was good but we’re trying to make this one better and not get caught up in the run of what the music industry is right now.

TTV: Which is?

SKINNY: I was just telling to him (B Stille) right before this, I’m not impressed. There’s some real artists that are out there rapping but they’re not getting the respect they deserve. There’s an underlying slew of monotony. It’s below average and we’re accepting that as that’s what it should be.

TTV: Do you mean mainstream specifically?

SKINNY: Mainstream is grabbing the lowest common denominator and they exploit that.

TTV: Appealing to the masses.

SKINNY: Yeah, I can’t put my finger on it. It could be me getting older, you know, like when your parents ask “why’re you listening to that garbage it’s not music” and you’re

like “whatever it’s hip hop.” There are the J Coles, Kendrick Lamars, Chance the Rappers—people that are really rapping. There are people that are not really rapping, there’s not talent.

B STILLE: I wouldn’t say there’s no talent, there’s some talent but it’s just there’s more music, it’s more melodic with rhymes now. They’re not good rappers, they’re not good singers—but they’re good at putting them both together. The creativity is there but there’s no substance.

TTV: Have you guys been pressured from your fans or anyone else to make statements about what’s been going on politically?

B STILLE: I think they know the Nappy Roots will consciously do January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

that. We are in tune as far as what’s going on in the world; I think they expect it from us, they don’t have to ask. They know we’ll do it. We got a song on the album called “Superstar” and it’s really delving into the police brutality and, you know, what’s going on with the hip hop generation and law enforcement. It really hit the nail on the head creatively with that song. It’s not preaching. It’s not soapboxing. Actually, it’s one of our more dance-y party records.

TTV: You mentioned when you first started out there being a struggle with marketing Kentucky to the masses. I feel Tulsa artists struggle with the same thing. Is there any advice you may have for Tulsa artists or any other artists having a hard time marketing their city, or who feel like they have to move to make it?

SKINNY: Well, you have to leave.

If there’s no music industry where you’re from, you have to go where the music industry is at.

From there you can see what the music industry is doing and learn and you can bring it back. We’ve always been able to bring our knowledge back to Kentucky and help those artists coming up.

B STILLE: Groups like Nappy Roots have made it easier for people in

no-name places to come out and the world not judge you so much because you’re not from the hood in Atlanta or the streets in New York. Not to say we are the pioneers of that, we came in a time when it was more acceptable. Like Pharrell out of Virginia or Nelly in St. Louis, so we came at a time when people were accepting other places. So now it’s not such an uphill battle. a

TTV: Have these latest projects allowed you to move away from the country image of early Nappy Roots?

SKINNY: I just think maturity.

Growing and just not wanting to do the same thing, you know.

2002 was 14 years ago. When we was trying to get on coming from Kentucky and trying to make a statement you had to think marketing and what you can do to present yourself as refreshing to the world. Because we’re from Kentucky, that’s what we leaned on instead of coming out trying to be Any City, USA. But now, because we’ve had successes and travelled and seen things, our taste palette has grown. It was Kentucky Fried Chicken and now it’s sushi and you might eat a little eel, squid, or calamari. Once you figure out the magic trick there isn’t really anymore magic, so for us it’s trying to keep our fans guessing and pushing ourselves towards new creativity and delivery styles and what-not.

TTV: No one likes to be placed in a box.

SKINNY: Right. As far as the country, it’s in us—how we look at life and put words together and some of the words we use, those elements are going to be there.

But working with 808 Blake—his name isn’t 808 Blake for nothing, and that’s what we’re going for. I come from the car customization era where you have two 15s in the trunk and a 1000 wide amp—you want ‘em to bang. This is hip hop.

I think the fans will be satisfied and appreciate this new direction we’re going in.

THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

MUSIC // 41

musiclistings Wed // Jan 4 Cellar Dweller – Grazzhopper Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Eicher Wednesdays – ($10) The Colony – Tom Skinner’s Science Project

Thurs // Jan 5 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Runnin On Empty Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Time Machine, Darren Ray Mercury Lounge – Paul Benjaman Band River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – KVOO, Brent Giddens Soundpony – Soft Leather The Beehive Lounge – Joshua Yarbrough The Run – Barry Seal VFW Post 577 - Centennial Lounge – AddieRose Solo-ette

Fri // Jan 6 Cimarron Bar – David Dover Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Rivers Edge Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Another Alibi, Jesse Joice Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - The Joint – 38 Special – ($38) Hunt Club – Ben Neikirk Mercury Lounge – The Dustin Pittsley Band Pepper’s Grill – Little Joe McLerran River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – KHITS River Spirit Casino - Margaritaville Stage – Vashni Duo River Spirit Casino - Paradise Cove – Chris Young – ($85-$95) Soul City – Johnny Manchild and the Poor Bastards – ($10) Soundpony – The Grits* The Beehive Lounge – Casii Stephan & The Midnight Sun The Blackbird on Pearl – Dance Monkey Dance The Colony – Dan Martin Band The Venue Shrine – Arson City – ($5) Woody’s Corner Bar – DJ Spin Yeti – Indellia, Sweet Ultra, oldpowdernewgun, Drew Hale

Sat // Jan 7 Billy and Renee’s – Fist of Rage, Vague Vendetta, Reliance Code Cimarron Bar – Seven Day Crash Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Great Big Biscuit Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Delorean, Scott Eastman Hunt Club – Less Than 12 Mercury Lounge – The Urban Pioneers River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Zodiac River Spirit Casino - Margaritaville Stage – FuZed Soundpony – Soul Night The Beehive Lounge – The Electric Rag Band The Colony – Hosty*

42 // MUSIC

The Fur Shop – Inamorata, 40% Dolomite, The Indigos, The Shelter People – ($5-$7) The Run – Brandi Reloaded The Venue Shrine – Let’s Zeppelin: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin – ($9-$10) Vanguard – Bass Race, KrewX, Kiid H4wk, Noizmekka, P.C.P. – ($10)

Sun // Jan 8 East Village Bohemian Pizzeria – Mike Cameron Collective Mercury Lounge – Brandon Clark Soundpony – Brujoroots* The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing

Mon // Jan 9 Hodges Bend – Mike Cameron Collective Soundpony – Terminus The Colony – Singer/Songwriter Night w/ Dan Martin Yeti – The Situation: Open Mic

Tues // Jan 10 Gypsy Coffee House – Tuesday Night Open Mic Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Rod Robertson Mercury Lounge – Wink Burcham, Jacob Tovar and the Saddle Tramps* Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Depot Jazz and Blues Jams Soundpony – Plastic Psalms, Commander Keen The Beehive Lounge – Sloppy Joe Fiasco Yeti – Writers Night w/ Damion Shade

Wed // Jan 11 Cellar Dweller – Grazzhopper Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Eicher Wednesdays – ($10) The Colony – Tom Skinner’s Science Project

Thurs // Jan 12 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Bobby D Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Paul Bogart, Travis Kidd Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - The Joint – Tanya Tucker – ($25-$35) Hunt Club – Hagen Pavey Mercury Lounge – Paul Benjaman Band River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – KVOO, Amarillo Junction Soundpony – The Beaten Daylights The Venue Shrine – Jasin Todd of Shinedown, Trista Maybry – ($6-$10)

River Spirit Casino - Margaritaville Stage – Vashni Duo Soul City – Levi Parham vinyl release party – ($10) Soundpony – Afistaface The Colony – Joe Shicke Band VFW Post 577 - Centennial Lounge – Former Friends of Young Americans

Sat // Jan 14 BOK Center – Red Hot Chili Peppers – ($52-$102) Greenwood Cultural Center – Charlie Wilson After Party – ($12-$20) Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Pumpkin Hollow Band Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Stars, Scott Ellison Hunt Club – Zach Short Group Mercury Lounge – The Grits* River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – FuZed River Spirit Casino - Margaritaville Stage – The Sellouts River Spirit Casino - Paradise Cove – Charlie Wilson* – ($75-$85) Soul City – Buffalo Rogers – ($10) Soundpony – Ten High, The Girls Room, Piss Shivers, Dead Shakes* The Colony – Barton & Long The Fur Shop – Redneck Nosferatu The Venue Shrine – Bart Crow – ($10-$15) Vanguard – Kick Tree, Madewell, The Normandys, Much Less, Blindsight 20/20 – ($10)

Sun // Jan 15 The Beehive Lounge – Hector Ultreras The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing

Mon // Jan 16

Your

VOICE For

Live Music Get the word out

Hodges Bend – Mike Cameron Collective The Colony – Singer/Songwriter Night w/ Dan Martin Yeti – The Situation: Open Mic

Tues // Jan 17 Gypsy Coffee House – Tuesday Night Open Mic Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Duke Mason Mercury Lounge – Wink Burcham, Jacob Tovar and the Saddle Tramps Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Depot Jazz and Blues Jams Yeti – Writers Night w/ Damion Shade

Fri // Jan 13 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Redland Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Boogie Fever, Donte Schmitz Hunt Club – Smunty Voje IDL Ballroom – Dr. Ozi, KrewX, Noizmekka, P.C.P. – ($12) River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – KHITS

Send dates, venue and listings to John@ LangdonPublishing.com January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

filmphiles

T

he year in film was a Catch-22. A good year for original and invigorating cinema, especially of the genre variety. A very bad year for some of my favorite stars, who seemed to topple one after another like mortal dominoes.

It goes without saying all the films on this list deserve your attention, though they are by no means the only ones that do. I would also highly recommend the likes of “American Honey,” “La La Land,” and “Author: The JT Leroy Story,” among a plethora of other films that didn’t quite make the cut. Happy New Year.

1 // MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Kenneth Lonergan’s peerless, tragi-comic melodrama feels like contemporary American literature written for the silver screen. The story of a divorced father returning home to bury his brother and face his demons is fueled by a powerhouse performance from Casey Affleck. No other movie this year was so well crafted by a filmmaker with a meticulous vision.

2 // GREEN ROOM Writer/ director Jeremey Saulnier followed up his gritty “Blue Ruin” with this stunning, tension-soaked thriller.

A punk band playing a gig at a neo-Nazi compound witnesses a murder. Barricading themselves in the green room, they must overcome their fear and a squad of ruthless killers in order to survive.

The late Anton Yelchin gives a career-best performance, and Saulnier’s intense direction feels like Walter Hill for a new generation.

Scary because it’s kind of real.

3 // HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE Sam Neill plays the unwilling guardian of a portly juvenile delinquent (Julian Dennison), on the run from the law through the backwoods of New Zealand in director Taika Waititi’s latest gem, a quirky and adorable comedy. With THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

FINAL CUT Joe O’Shansky’s favorite films of 2016

Julian Dennison and Sam Neill in “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” | COURTESY

his signature style, Waititi captures Neill’s and Dennison’s comedic chemistry with Disney Down Under-style adventures. After first viewing, I watched it again almost immediately.

4 // MOONLIGHT A spiritual cousin to Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” that didn’t take thirteen years to make, “Moonlight” is a moving triptych about Chiron, a gay black boy coming of age in the South. Writer/director Barry Jenkins affords his characters a rare dignity, delicately rendering a series of moments that add up to a lovely, tragic portrait of a young man trying to understand himself.

5 // SWISS ARMY MAN Written and directed by the Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) in their feature debut, “Swiss Army Man” Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe giving career-defining performances as a suicidal castaway and a farting corpse. Essentially an arthouse buddy-comedy riff on “Weekend at Bernie’s,” the film is beautiful, sincere and flatout absurd. One of those films you never forget.

6 // EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!!

The trailers made Richard Linklater’s sort-of sequel to “Dazed and Confused” seem like an unnecessary return to the well. But I couldn’t have been more surprised by how “Everybody Wants Some!!,” in addition to being wickedly funny, achieves an emotional relevance that belies its horny college baseball player conceit.

Linklater is an alchemist at turning his memories into our own.

tine plot twists are expertly woven with Park’s eye for the theater of the erotic. This is masterful filmmaking.

9 // CAPTAIN FANTASTIC Matt Ross, who plays Gavin Belson on HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” should be better known as a writer and director. “Captain Fantastic,” his sophomore feature, is an audacious socio-political critique of American society in the form of a warm family adventure. Viggo Mortensen’s performance as an obstinately radical father is the troubled heart of this funny, poignant, texturally rich film.

10 // THE WITCH Robert Eggers’ directorial debut, a period piece about religious piety colliding with unexplained dark forces in 17th century colonial New England, seemed to divide horror fans. Many found it insufferably slow-moving. But, for my money, Eggers made an atmospheric, eminently creepy, supernatural drama filled with darkly iconic images. The studied script is steeped in period authenticity, down to the antiquated language, and carried by great performances—particularly Anya Taylor-Joy’s Thomasin, the eldest daughter, who is the last human to see her baby brother alive. Released last January, “The Witch” stuck with me all year long. a

7 // ARRIVAL “Arrival” transcends the genre hook of its sci-fi roots.

The surface plot is compelling and moody, as Amy Adams attempts to bridge the linguistic gap between humans and extraterrestrial visitors, but director Denis Villeneuve entwines that with an emotionally resonant tale of loss, grief and the fragility of time.

8 // THE HANDMAIDEN “The Handmaiden” finds Park Chanwook back in the psychosexual vengeance territory of “Oldboy,” transposed to a parlor drama-thriller played out at a mansion in 1940s Korea. The byzan-

Tulsa’s independent and non-profit art-house theatre, showing independent, foreign, and documentary films.

FILM & TV // 43

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in “La La Land” | COURTESY

filmphiles

Oklahoma Film Critics Circle announces 2016 awards THE OKLAHOMA FILM CRITICS CIRCLE ,

a statewide group of film critics, announced its 11th annual list of awards earlier this week, naming the musical “La La Land” the best film of 2016.

“La La Land” director Damien Chazelle was also recognized as the best director of the year.

This is the second time the OFCC has recognized the 31-year-old Chazelle. “Whiplash,” which Chazelle wrote and directed, was named one of the best films of 2014.

In addition to “La La Land,” the Top 10 Films of 2016 recognized by the OFCC are “Moonlight,” “Manchester by the Sea,” “OJ: Made in America,” “Arrival,” “Hell or High Water,” “Jackie,” “Green Room,” “Kubo and the Two Strings” and “Sing Street.”

“OJ: Made in America,” the eight-hour film produced by ESPN, was also awarded Best Documentary.

The widest margin of victory of any category was for Casey Affleck for his performance

WITH THE CAVEAT THAT Martin Scorsese’s “Silence” was never screened for Oklahoma-based film critics, while also acknowledging that it pained me to keep “Sing Street” on the outside looking in, here are my choices for the 10 best films of 2016.

10 // Loving Based on the true story of an interracial couple’s fight for the legalization of their marriage in the late 1950s, this low-key dramatization is masterful for avoiding Oscar-bait grandstanding.

This is a lamenting cousin to the likes of John Ford’s “The Grapes of Wrath,” with Richard and Mildred Loving as the Joads of the Jim Crow era.

9 // Hell or High Water No film from 2016 better captured the disenfranchisement of rural white working class people than this modern day neo-Western, of an anger aimed at a rigged system that fueled the populist phenomenon of Trump and Bernie.

8 // Weiner Documenting disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner’s self-destructive attempt at a political comeback, this is an absolutely fascinating study of a narcissistic train wreck of a man.

7 // Moonlight Writer/Director Barry Jenkins’ poetic triptych of a young African-American man coming to terms with his sexuality and drug-ravaged environment. Each chapter plays like cinematic diary entries in a film that never preaches from a soapbox, humbly told by a 44 // FILM & TV

in “Manchester by the Sea,” while the smallest margin of victory went to Affleck’s co-star, Michelle Williams, who barely edged out Viola Davis’s performance in “Fences” for best supporting actress.

Not surprisingly, “Manchester by the Sea” also won Best Ensemble, narrowly beating “Moonlight.”

Mahershala Ali was name Best Supporting Actor for “Moonlight” and Amy Adams won Best Actress for her work in “Arrival.”

OFCC members are Oklahoma-based movie critics writing for print, broadcast, and online outlets that publish or post reviews of current film releases. Media outlets include The Oklahoman, Oklahoma Gazette, Tulsa World and The Tulsa Voice. TTV film critics Joe O’Shansky and Jeff Huston are members, along with TTV editor Joshua Kline.

Readers can find the complete list of awards—as well as frequent film reviews and articles—at oklahomafilmcritics.com.

2016 WINNERS BEST PICTURE - La La Land TOP 10 FILMS La La Land, Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea, OJ: Made in America, Arrival, Hell or High Water, Jackie, Green Room, Kubo and the Two Strings, Sing Street

BEST DOCUMENTARY - “OJ: Made in America”

BEST ACTRESS - Amy Adams, “Arrival”

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST - “Manchester by the Sea”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”

BEST FIRST FEATURE - Robert Eggers, “The Witch”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight” BEST DIRECTOR - Damian Chazelle, “La La Land”

Best Body of Work - Amy Adams, “Arrival,” “Nocturnal Animals,” “Batman v. Superman” MOST DISAPPOINTING FILM “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice”

2 // O.J.: Made in America Few works have so comprehensively captured the racial division that tears at the heart of our nation’s moral fabric. Director Ezra Edelman uses the ultimate anecdote of the O.J. Simpson murder trial to hold a mirror up to how we got here, and then punches us right in the gut. This sprawling eight-hour saga, broken up into five parts, is a monolith of documentary filmmaking.

Jeff Huston’s favorite films of the year

5 // Arrival Director Denis Villeneuve’s philosophic sci-fi takes at least two viewings to fully appreciate. A cinematic Rorschach test with thematic undercurrents involving existence, linear perception, and the infinite, it’s all rooted in the emotionally wrought journey of a mother (Amy Adams) and the choices she makes.

BEST ANIMATED FILM - “Zootopia”

BEST FOREIGN FILM - “The Handmaiden”

ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING

6 // Manchester by the Sea When Hollywood manufactures tearjerkers about tragedy, grief, and loss, it gives us fraudulent insults like “Collateral Beauty.” But real artists like writer/director Kenneth Lonergan, along with Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams doing career-best work, give us the truth in small masterpieces like this.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - Eric Heisserer, “Arrival”

BEST ACTOR - Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”

Natalie Portman in “Jackie” | PABLO LARRAIN

filmmaker seeking catharsis for his young subject—and for himself.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”

4 // Swiss Army Man There’s nothing remotely conventional about this bizarre dark comedy. Infamously dubbed “The Farting Corpse Movie” at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, Daniel Radcliffe’s cadaver is the cipher for Paul Dano’s id that’s in existential crisis. This is magical realism that wrestles with loneliness, and hopes for resurrection.

3 // La La Land An artful old-fashioned song-and-dance eye-popper of two people falling in love while pursuing their dreams in cynical L.A., imbued with a melancholy spirit that feels more off-Broadway than on. Like “It’s A Wonderful Life,” the inspired final sequence asks us—in its own bittersweet way—which dreams are most important.

1 // Jackie A mesmerizing masterpiece.

With an eye for expressionism, director Pablo Larraín paints a psychological portrait of Jackie Kennedy in the days following JFK’s assassination. Natalie Portman is the Method-level avatar through which Larraín’s aesthetic grieves and resonates.

“Jackie” is a singular immersion into the fragile yet resilient psyche of an iconic figure in the immediate aftermath of an American tragedy.

One final shout-out to a banner year for first-time filmmakers: along with the Daniels duo behind “Swiss Army Man,” Trey Edward Shults defied micro-budget constraints with the haunting “Krisha,” Robert Eggers made Salem Witch horrors all-too-real in “The Witch,” Kelly Fremon Craig channeled John Hughes and Cameron Crowe in the R-rated coming-of-ager “The Edge of Seventeen,” and Richard Tanne’s “Southside With You” imagines Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date with less hagiography and more cultural context than most fawning Hollywood veterans would’ve been capable. a January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

THE FUZZ THE TULSA VOICE SPOTLIGHTS: TULSA SPCA

2910 Mohawk Blvd. | MON, TUES, THURS, FRI & SAT, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 918.428.7722

At a little over one year old, ELDEN is just getting out of the “puppy” stage. We took Elden to a local high school recently and he did so well! He gets along well with children, other dogs, and loves people. If you are looking for a great family dog this is your guy.

The Tulsa SPCA has been helping animals in our area since 1913. The shelter never euthanizes for space and happily rescues animals from high-kill shelters. They also accept owner surrenders, rescues from cruelty investigations, hoarding, and puppy mill situations. Animals live on-site or with foster parents until they’re adopted. All SPCA animals are micro-chipped, vaccinated, spayed/neutered, and treated with preventatives.

Learn about volunteering, fostering, upcoming events, adoptions, and their low-cost vaccination clinic at tulsaspca.org.

If you’re looking to add some excitement to your life and have an active lifestyle FESTUS is for you! A little over 1 year old, this terrier mix pup needs to be matched with someone that enjoys the outdoors and loves to play. He gets along well with people and other dogs and would be a great addition to any family!

CANDY CANE is just over a year old and would love to find a permanent home. She spends her days in the cat colony room at the Tulsa SPCA showing off her beautiful colors and loving personality.

Candy Cane is a large cat and knows it! This sweet girl needs a home with plenty of space for her to explore and find new hiding spaces.

TIPPI is a 13 year-old Domestic longhair mix. Because she was left in a cage for seven months, she is shy when meeting new people. In an effort to socialize her, Tippi is living in our upstairs administrative office and has become very close with several members of our staff.

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THE TULSA VOICE // January 4 - 17, 2017

ETC. // 45

free will astrology

by ROB BREZSNY

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19):

As I was ruminating on your astrological omens for 2017, I came across a wildly relevant passage written by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman.

It conveys a message I encourage you to memorize and repeat at least once a day for the next 365 days. Here it is: “Nothing can hold you back — not your childhood, not the history of a lifetime, not even the very last moment before now. In a moment you can abandon your past. And once abandoned, you can redefine it. If the past was a ring of futility, let it become a wheel of yearning that drives you forward. If the past was a brick wall, let it become a dam to unleash your power.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Naturalist John Muir regarded nature as his church.

For weeks at a time he lived outdoors, communing with the wilderness. Of course he noticed that not many others shared his passion. “Most people are on the world, not in it,” he wrote, “having no conscious sympathy or relationship to anything about them — undiffused, separate, and rigidly alone like marbles of polished stone, touching but separate.” Is there anything about you that even partially fits that description, Aquarius? If so, I’m pleased to inform you that 2017 will be an excellent year to address the problem. You will have immense potential to become more intimate and tender with all of the component parts of the Great Mystery.

What’s the opposite of loneliness?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Seven Chilean poets were frustrated by their fellow citizens’ apathy toward the art of poetry. They sarcastically dramatized their chagrin by doing a performance for baboons. Authorities at the Santiago Zoo arranged for the poets’ safety, enclosing them in a protective cage within the baboons’ habitat. The audience seemed to be entertained, at times listening in rapt silence and at other times shrieking raucously. I’m sure you can empathize with the poets’ drastic action, Pisces.

How many times have you felt you don’t get the appreciation you deserve? But I bet that will change in 2017. You won’t have to resort to performing for baboons.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Donatello was a renowned Italian sculptor. His favorite piece was “Lo Zuccone,” a marble statue of the Biblical prophet Habakkuk. As Donatello carved his work-in-progress, he addressed it. “Speak, damn you! Talk to me,” he was heard to say on more than a few occasions.

Did the stone respond? Judging from the beauty of the final product, I’d have to say yes. One art critic testified that “Lo Zuccone” is a “sublimely harrowing” tour de force, a triumph of “forceful expression,” and “one of the most important marble sculptures of the 15th century.” I suspect you will have Donatello-like powers of conversation in 2017, Aries. If anyone can communicate creatively with stones — and rivers and trees and animals and spirits and complicated humans, for that matter — it’ll be you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): According to Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, “A certain type of perfection can only be realized through a limitless accumulation of the imperfect.” Let’s amend that thought so it’s exactly suitable for your use in 2017. Here’s the new, Taurus-specific version: “A messy, practical, beautiful type of perfection can be realized through a patient, faithful, dogged accumulation of the imperfect.” To live up to the promise of this motto, make damn good use of every partial success.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini gymnast Marisa Dick has created a signature move that has never been used by any other gymnast. To start her routine, she leaps up off a springboard and lands on the balance beam doing a full split. The technical term for this bold maneuver is “a change-leg leap to free-cross split sit,” although its informal name is “The Dick Move.” The International Federation of Gymnastics has certified it in its Code of Points, so it’s official. During the coming months, I expect that you will also produce one-of-a-kind innovations in your own sphere.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I hope you will be as well-grounded in 2017 as you have ever been — maybe even since your past life as a farmer. I trust you will go a long way toward mastering the arts of being earthy,

Place the numbers 1 through 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once.

NOVICE

practical, and stable. To do this right, however, you should also work on a seemingly paradoxical task: cultivating a vigorous and daring imagination — as perhaps you did in one of your other past lives as an artist. In other words, your ability to succeed in the material world will thrive as you nurture your relationship with fantasy realms — and vice versa. If you want to be the boss of reality, dream big and wild — and vice versa.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Even if you don’t think of yourself as an artist, you are always working on a major art project: yourself. You may underestimate the creativity you call on as you shape the raw material of your experience into an epic story. Luckily, I’m here to impress upon you the power and the glory of this heroic effort. Is there anything more important? Not for you Leos. And I trust that in 2017 you will take your craftsmanship to the highest level ever. Keep this advice from author Nathan W. Morris in mind: “Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly. It’s your masterpiece, after all.”

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): French painter Henri Matisse (1869-1954) turned out to be one of the supremely influential artists of the 20th century. But he was still struggling to make a living well into his thirties. The public’s apathy toward his work demoralized him. At one point, he visited his dealer to reclaim one of his unsold paintings. It was time to give up on it, he felt, to take it off the market. But when he arrived at the gallery, his dealer informed him that it had finally been bought — and not by just any art collector, either. Its new owner was Pablo Picasso, an artist whom Matisse revered.

I think it’s quite possible you will have comparable experiences in 2017, Virgo. Therefore: Don’t give up on yourself!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “The self in exile remains the self, as a bell unstruck for years is still a bell,” writes poet Jane Hirshfield.

I suspect that these words are important for you to hear as you prepare for 2017. My sense is that in the past few months, your true self has been making its way back to the heart of life after a time of wandering on the outskirts. Any day now, a long-silent bell will start ringing to herald your full return.

Welcome home!

MASTER

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In accordance with your astrological omens for 2017, I’ve taken a poem that Shel Silverstein wrote for kids and made it into your horoscope. It’ll serve as a light-hearted emblem of a challenging but fun task you should attend to in the coming months. Here it is: “I’ve never washed my shadow out in all the time I’ve had it. It was absolutely filthy I supposed, so I peeled it off the wall where it was leaning and stuck it in the washtub with the clothes. I put in soap and bleach and stuff. I let it soak for hours. I wrung it out and hung it out to dry. And whoever would have thunk that it would have gone and shrunk, for now it’s so much littler than I.” SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Walk your wisdom walk in 2017, Sagittarius. Excite us with your wisdom songs and gaze out at our broken reality with your wisdom eyes. Play your wisdom tricks and crack your wisdom jokes and erupt with your wisdom cures. The world needs you to be a radiant swarm of lovable, unpredictable wisdom! Your future needs you to conjure up a steady stream of wisdom dreams and wisdom exploits! And please note: You don’t have to wait until the wisdom is perfect. You shouldn’t worry about whether it’s supremely practical.

Your job is to trust your wisdom gut, to unleash your wisdom cry, to revel in your wisdom magic.

If you’d like to enjoy my books, music, and videos without spending any money, go here: http://bit.ly/LiberatedGifts. t h i s w e e k ’ s h o m e w o r k // T E S T I F Y AT F R E E W I L L A S T R O L O G Y. C O M .

46 // ETC.

January 4 - 17, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

ACROSS 1 “Gee whiz!”

5 Small bit of ointment, e.g.

8 Visibly stunned 13 Take countermeasures 18 “Toy Story” human 19 Top-of-the-line, ratings-wise 20 Sneaker features 21 They may cause one to miss the mark?

22 Prickly optimistic view (Part 1) 25 Kind of ballerina 26 Some gems 27 It may have a tongue in it 28 One working on potatoes 29 Sportscaster Berman 30 Veggie in a fairy tale title 31 “Stop, horse!”

32 Intense, adverse criticism 33 Large cutting tool 35 Like anything that just won’t do 41 Amazon parrot 44 ___ Today (newspaper) 45 Fencing weapons 46 Paddle relative 47 Speedway shape 48 Smack but good 50 Mollusks 52 Heavy instrument 53 Prickly optimistic view (Part 2) 56 Highway sections 57 Female farm creature 58 Sported 59 Amazing reviews 60 Brain-twister 61 Town relative 62 Faked out a defender 63 Major airports 64 Wife or husband

67 68 69 72 73

Filled with freight Extra plentiful Start to mature?

Shimon of Israel Prickly optimistic view (Part 3) 76 Eyeballs of romantic poetry 77 Coats with goo, “Ghostbusters”style 78 Stork relative 79 Minuscule amount 80 Poem that glorifies 81 Name on many tractors 82 Dined 83 Historical record 84 Stick-in-the-mud 87 Physical discomfort 90 Snake-eyes pair 91 Tied up, in scores 93 Clock standard, briefly 94 Letter openers?

97 Fish filet sauce 100 Killed, as a dragon 102 Elaborate hanging 104 Helps a crook be a crook 105 Prickly optimistic view (Part 4) 107 Admiral’s charge 108 How some topics may be debated 109 Figure-skating jump 110 Straight up, in a bar 111 Comforting type of bear 112 Type of alcohol 113 Prefix with “approve” or “respect” 114 ___ about (roams) DOWN 1 Canvas support 2 Garden dwarf 3 Some Madison Avenue workers

4 Salon employee, at times 5 Small contraption, generically 6 Some insects 7 Hive dweller 8 In spite of, briefly 9 Rich, elaborate cake 10 Painful exercise aftermath, sometimes 11 Apex 12 Suffix of exaggerations 13 Some TV fare 14 Discoverer’s cry of old 15 Seed covering, sometimes 16 Inviting word 17 Ex-leader of Russia 19 Hank Hill’s town 23 Oblong yellow fruit 24 Sound type at either end of Alaska 28 Applies oneself diligently 31 Trash and such 32 Energy sources 33 Cotton unit 34 Like James Bond 36 Approached 37 Rotates 38 All tied up?

39 Where to find washing instructions 40 Demagnetize a tape 41 What the greedy always want 42 Formally declare as true 43 24 cans, often 48 Young pig (var.)

49 Cautious 50 Movers’ partners 51 Recitation of prayers 52 Small amounts 54 Type of cheese 55 Plod along

56 Vilify in print 60 Chaka Khan’s music group 61 Pool hall staples 62 Rocked out 63 Stereo’s ancestor 64 Easy-going parody 65 Fancy “hidden” 66 Formed into a ball 67 Scottish property owner 68 “___ Without a Cause” 69 Loudness unit 70 Pro ___ (in proportion) 71 And others, for short 73 Blockage of the intestine 74 Industry magnate 75 Fork part 77 Passover ritual 81 TV’s saga about the Carringtons 82 After-prayer words 83 Showy fall blossom 85 Like a small i 86 Annually 88 Tequila sources 89 Incite to action 92 LP material 94 Like active deckhands 95 Daily sustenance, biblically 96 Dermatologist’s concerns 97 Only president ever on the Supreme Court 98 “___ to leap tall buildings ...”

99 Wind instrument insert 100 Fired, as a weapon 101 Strongly opposed, of old 102 Vehicle to hail 103 Thing to sing 105 Word in many titles 106 Possessed at one time

Universal sUnday Crossword How do yoU see iT?

By Timothy e. Parker

© 2017 Universal Uclick

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ETC. // 47

Pleas e re cycle this issue.