The past weekend was one of those rare times when Yogi Berra's famous comment about "deja vu all over again" made a fair amount of sense.
In addition to coping with the wind and the rain, those folks in the local entertainment community known as "presenters" had to spend countless hours in the last week scrambling to confirm commitments if possible, reschedule when feasible and cancel when there was no choice. In cases involving off-island artists, transportation was the key to success or failure.
All that jazz: The Arts Alive organization was fortunate in that the Junior Mance Trio had flown into St. Thomas on Monday. Unfortunately, there was no way for the jazz artists to play Wednesday night in Tillett Gardens. And because there appeared to be no way for them to get over to St. John on Thursday afternoon, their concert that night at the St. John School of the Arts was canceled. It turned out that one company did put ferries back into service at 4 p.m., but by then the cancellation had been announced.
Fortunately, the musicians were available (after all, the airport was closed) and amenable to playing Friday at Tillett Gardens. The tarps and tents went up, the piano was re-tuned, and the word went out that the dress code for the evening was casual — jeans, sweats and waterproof shoes. Tickets from the St. John concert were honored, about eight folks took up that offer, and while the crowd was not a full house, it was substantial, and a very upbeat time was had by all.
Gospel regroup: The Jubilation! Caribbean Gospel Concert got buffeted by a hurricane for the second time. The two-night event, with musicians due to come from Barbados and Trinidad as well as throughout the territory, was postponed from last month to last weekend due to Hurricane Jose. With Lenny's approach, the decision was made in mid-week to cancel the Friday program, mainly for travel logistics reasons, but keep the Saturday one intact.
In rescheduling the concert from October, the organizers fortuitously changed the venue from the Palms Court Harbourview courtyard to the V.I. National Guard Armory, a location all but impervious to wind and rain.
The Barbadian group Promise and Trinidadian vocalist J. Errol Lewis arrived safe and sound on Saturday and all of the Virgin Islands individuals and groups scheduled to take part were able to do so except for vocalist Harrella Goodwin, who couldn't get over from St. Croix. The concert was a fund raiser for the relatively new Jubilation! Christian Channel on St. Thomas-St. John Cable TV, and general manager Gloria Gumbs says the channel (56) will be airing its recording of the event several times in January and February.
World view: All week long, advertisements and commercials assured the public that the two Third World concerts would take place Saturday night at the Reichhold Center for the Arts. Technical and marketing staffers were confident that the last vestiges of Hurricane Lenny would have moved on by then, and rightfully so. What they didn't take into account were the logistics of getting the band to the island.
The Cyril E. King Airport was closed much of Friday as intermittent rains and wind gusts continued to strafe St. Thomas, and American Airlines, the carrier for the band, canceled all of that day's flights. The musicians were able to get into San Juan, however, and there they spent the night. They arrived on St. Thomas Saturday morning aboard a Sunair flight and immediately went off with Reichhold box office manager Pamela Toussaint to local radio studios to let folks know Lenny couldn't keep reggae away.
When the early show got under way, shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday, the Reichhold's covered section was about half full; however, by the time the band finished its second song, stragglers had filled the cushioned seats and the first few rows in the open air.
Demonstrating his ability to juggle two simultaneous shows, Reichhold director David Edgecombe introduced the band then dashed across the University of the Virgin Islands campus to direct the opening night of the fall Little Theater production, "Kirnon's Kingdom," one of his own plays. Robert Luke handled the intro for the second show, which started around 10:10 p.m. "Attendance was good, and the crowd was on their feet almost the entire time," Reichhold tech director Tony Caparelli reports.
Triathlon, Take 3? The Coki Point Triathlon, another event that was rescheduled from October due to Hurricane Jose, was to have taken place Saturday morning in Smith Bay. The community service event, organized by area businesses, was to consist of competition in three fields — swimming, running and picking up bagfuls of litter.
Organizers, again, had hoped that Saturday was far enough from Wednesday for things to be back to relative normalcy. But they gave up their optimism Friday, announcing that because of heavy surf at Coki Beach, where the swimming segment was to have been held, the event had to be postponed a second time, to a date to be determined.
On the walls: It's rare these days to come upon a solo showing on St. Thomas of work by an off-island artist. The opportunity exists through Wednesday at Romano's, the Italian restaurant on the road to Coki Point just a short ways in from Smith Bay Road.
The oil and acrylic paintings on exhibit are by Miguel Gomez, an artist in the Dominican Republic who was commissioned by restaurateur Tony Romano several years ago to create an original work that would be reproduced in miniature on the bands of the premium cigars Romano sells under his own label.
Predominantly female figures in bright primary colors populate Gomez' works, which comfortably incorporate elements of the abstract and the elemental in an ambience of fantasy that all but vibrates with rhythm, abandon and grace. Facial expressions are as dramatic as bodily contours in studies and scenes that capture the "Gaga" folkloric heritage of the artist's homeland.
There are basically small paintings and large paintings, and they are priced, respectively, at around $675 and $2,800 — a level in keeping with what gallery-goers in these islands are accustomed to finding for the works of local artists. The show may be viewed between 6 and 10 p.m. any evening the restaurant is open — and that's nightly except Sunday. Call 775-0045 to learn more.
No turkeys here: ‘Twill be the night before Thanksgiving and all through the Old Mill, people a-plenty will be stirring. That's because the Contant night spot will be the scene of a Thanksgiving Eve Battle of the DJs — with Calabash, the Witch Doctor, and Wendell of Westline Productions the contenders. There'll also be a special guest appearance by St .Croix's popular DJ "Poppy" Pops.
The music kicks in at 10 p.m. and goes "until." Admission is $10 at the door.
Next up: Lenny pretty much wasted the week that was, and fast upon us in the one to come is the long Thanksgiving Day weekend. That means one thing on St. Thomas and another on St. John.
The fall Arts Alive Arts and Crafts Festival in Tillett Gardens has long been the traditional kickoff of what nowadays are generically called "the yearend holidays." In keeping with custom dating back 19 years, it will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. the first two days and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the final one.
There'll be the usual impressive array of 40-plus exhibitors and live music throughout the fair. A total of $500 in awards will be given out, for best in fine arts, best in crafts, best student exhibit and best of show.
The artisan coming from farthest away is Matthew Calder, who arrive on island from England Friday night aboard the second large-aircraft flight to come in after Hurricane Lenny. Calder, using a lathe, shapes "wet" wood into sculptural pieces that "move" as they dry. He polishes them to a high luster that somet
imes makes them appear at first blush to be glazed ceramic works. He'll conduct demonstration workshops with slide showings as well as exhibit at the fair.
Other attractions will include "rocking chair printing experiments" especially for young people by Gerard Lehner on Saturday at 10 a.m. and the "Empty Bowl Project" silent auction of donated ceramic bowls with the winners to be announced Sunday at 2 p.m. (proceeds will benefit local agencies that provide assistance to the hungry and homeless).
On St. John, the event of the season is the Mongoose Junction Millennium Kick-off Celebration on Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. Another traditional lead-in to the holiday shopping season, this occasion in other years has been called the Fall Evening in the Courtyard. It will feature art show openings, live music, fashion shows, shopping, and dining and dancing if you're so inclined — all in the amazing architectural setting of the seasonally-decorated shopping center just a short walk from the Cruz Bay ferry dock.
At Wicker Wood and Shells, artists Carolyn Caldwell and Shari Erickson will be on hand to discuss their recent paintings in an exhibition opening that night. Bead jewelry-maker Lynn Paccassi-Berry and Carol Richardson, who is known for her mixed media jewelry and gourd art, will also be there along with their work.
Those who haven't shopped at Mongoose Junction in a while will find some changes: Bougainvillea has moved downstairs and expanded, Big Planet has moved upstairs and expanded, and new tenants include the Kariba Designer Jewelry and Ocean Leather shops. To learn more, call 693-8090.
To be scene: This is the first Scene & Herd column to be published in The St. Thomas Source. The weekly column has been a forum for previewing arts and entertainment events open to the public in various Virgin Islands publications since 1985. Information to be considered for inclusion in future columns should be faxed to 776-4812 or e-mailed to jetsinger@viaccess.net. Or you can phone 776-4812 and leave a message for a call-back.
