Cover Story
The Legacy Theatre’s The Music Man
Unabashedly nostalgic to the point of corniness yet at the same time emotionally complex, Meredith Willson’s The Music Man is a masterpiece. This wonderful new production at The Legacy Theatre (through Aug. 1) will sweep you away. It is exactly what we need right now, a rebirth of community through theater. Director Scott Richardson and…
FUN PUBLIC ART
Take a stroll at Lincoln Memorial Garden and discover a giant Sleeping Troll. This fun addition near Council Ring 1 is the first of three public art projects created through the Springfield Art Association (SAA) high school summer art camps. SAA education director Erin Svendsen was inspired by Danish sculpture artist Thomas Dambo, who is…
Heart operation #2
Heart operation #2 I had a pacemaker put in in 2010, I wrote this at that time. It was experiencing the lake in a different manner. I have two wires in my heart no big deal but they’ve altered my actions for a while also my observations this dawning I sat in the shallows not…
Letters to the editor 07-15-21
NOT NARCAN ALONE To follow up on the excellent article by Madison Angell on the JOLT Foundation (“Reducing harm, saving lives,” July 8), she references JOLT’s commitment to make readily available injectable or inhaled naloxone (Narcan) to those who have regular contact with opioid users – all of whom are at risk for fatal opioid…
State’s credit rating gets upgraded
As I write this, two of the three national credit rating agencies have upgraded the State of Illinois’ rating in a week’s time. And the only remaining holdout owes us one. Bigtime. As you know, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded its Illinois rating by a notch in late June and S&P Global Ratings followed suit on…
Congress fails schoolkids struggling to learn online
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weaknesses of the U.S. broadband infrastructure – a problem that hit schoolchildren especially hard. Millions of them had to struggle through online learning with little internet access, or none at all. The compromise infrastructure package announced last month by a bipartisan Senate committee and supported by President Joe Biden includes…
From Rochester to the world stage
When Ray Bruzan of Rochester researched a previous book, published in 2017, he discovered that an internationally known violinist had been born in Rochester in 1887. He had never before heard of Louis Persinger; to help others know of this amazing virtuoso, Bruzan wrote a children’s book, The Violinist of Rockychester. Now, Bruzan has published…
Every dish tells a story
During the Vietnam War, the CIA ran a clandestine sideshow in Laos. Known as the Secret War, it was the largest CIA operation in history. The CIA built an air base in the mountains of Laos from which it could launch military attacks. This base was so secret that not even Congress was aware of…
Live music lives on
As we continue to bask in the glorious return of so much live music going on that no one could possibly experience it all, perhaps we should pause and take a moment to remind ourselves that we are coming out of a global pandemic. I try not to ponder upon the subject too much, but…
Help for home care
Home care can be back-breaking work. Sherry Morris of Riverton, 64, is a home health aide. She cares for a man about her own age who suffers from a degenerative disease. “I do all the driving to his doctors’ appointments, to his pharmacy, to his groceries or anything he needs.” Morris said after years of…
Editor’s note 07-15-21
When everyone says the U.S. has to “do something” in Haiti, the Biden administration has resisted sending in troops or billions of dollars, typical crisis reactions which have led to corruption. Many fear all is lost in Afghanistan now that Biden is pulling out U.S troops, but it’s too soon to count out home-grown resistance…
East-side teen empowerment zone
Parks are the place to be over the summer. But not every area of town has had the same amount of investment and programming. A new effort aims to help change that. On July 7, community leaders and children gathered at Comer Cox Park (301 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive) where they played games…
Slow burning Pig and chilling Heart, but Gunfight misguided
Cage carries slow-burn Pig Most actors would look ridiculous lugging around the load of melancholy on Nicolas Cage’s shoulders in Michael Sarnoski’s Pig. Yet, the myriad eccentric performances the screen vet has gleefully embraced over the years has prepared us for anything he might attempt. Compared to other roles he’s taken, Rob, a self-exiled chef…
