NPF ‘09 Gallery NPF ‘09 Itinerary

Read yesterday’s post here.

Illusions, Foxes and Shriners

You wouldn’t think those three words would be related, but they are. Today started off pretty weirdly. I spent most of last night tossing and turning, pretty much the definition of a bad night of sleep, at anyone’s standards. My feet felt and looked much better, although still swollen. I got to breakfast early and started before the other B&B guests arrived at the dining table; I felt a bit guilty about that. (Sorry Nat, no pics again) Fresh strawberries and blueberries with cream; then oatmeal, bacon and the best ‘biscuit’ (us Aussies would just call them scones) I have ever eaten. I love scones, but without cream and jam, they’re just too dry to bare. This biscuit was honey-glazed and moist on the inside. Honestly, I could eat ten of them just by themselves. Before I left, I showed my puppets off to everyone, seeing as how the innkeeper kindly asked if she could see them (she loved them ).

From there, I headed for my first activity of the day. This was pretty close by, and I happened to accidentally pass it yesterday on the way to Georgia Tech. It’s a walking tour of Fox Theatre. You see, I really wanted to do a historical tour of Atlanta, preferrably walking (obviously I didn’t think my feet would swell again), but there are very few tours available in Atlanta. The Atlanta Preservation Society runs the only selection of walking tours (I’m not counting the Segway tour), but most of them were either in locations I didn’t want to go to, or on dates I couldn’t make it. Fortunately, the Fox Theatre tour was held on a day that I could make it; and being a techie and lover of theatre, I always enjoy backstage tours. 

I walked up to the venue, which has that 20s cinema facade that is so stereotypical of American black and white movie era, but don’t see anyone. Luckily, before asking at the ticket booth - the tour is a walk-up, no bookings required thing - a woman calls out to me and I just catch the group before they start the tour. There’s about 15 people in total, mixed in age. I totally expected the Fox Theatre tour to be somewhat a lot less than what it was. I guess I didn’t check out their site properly, because Fox Theatre isn’t your average theatre.

I won’t give you the whole historical background, but basically Fox Theatre was originally a Shriner building made in 1929. Then as the finances of the Shriners couldn’t cope with the costs, Fox (the Fox, as in Fox news, etc.) bought the space, added a theatre (it doubles as both a cinema and a live performance space), and it continues as such to this day. What makes the theatre amazing is the architecture. The Shriners went with a whole Mediterranean theme, and to start with we go into the Egyptian room, which is decorated with scarabs, Pharoah portraits, bird wings, etc. The room has a small stage, and a large floor area which is either used for seating, or in the days of the 20s, a ballroom for Shriner events. I loved the fan lights (more pics can be found at my Flickr set, which is linked below the post’s title on my site), but was confused as to what the stage was decorated with. The looked like dolls on sticks, which were poseable. It occured to me that maybe a local school was making puppets, seeing as how there’s an upcoming festival (). I took a closer look, it I could have been right: there were little wire loops hanging from below the legs, which perhaps were tug-able elastics that made the dolls poseable. 

The next room was the Moorish room, a space that was mainly used by the Shriners for offices and smaller activities. As to why the Mediterranean theme, according to the lovely guide, it was all because in ‘29 there was an Egyptian craze due to the recent finding of the King Tut tomb. This room had more of a Greek/Lebanon feel to it. From there, we headed out to the balcony, where they often hold small parties (for a price of course), and where you can see the Georgia Terrace Hotel, which is of a Georgian (duh) architectural style. 

We go back inside and go downstairs - by the way, my photos are all dark because the building itself inside was quite dark, and getting good pics was tough - and to the left, and we enter the Ladies’ lounge. This is exactly what you think it is; the ladies’ bathroom. Only so much better than that! The first thing that struck me on entering was the domed effect of the ceiling. The initial room/entrance is quite small, and the curvature of the ceiling creates a lovely effect. In front are $40 000 chairs (!) that you’re not allowed to sit on. Naturally this room too is in an Egyptian theme - the womens’ side of the theatre is Egyptian, the mens’ is Spanish - and to the left there are the actual toilets, plus two phone booths. To the right is the actual lounge, with mirrored tables and plush seats, so the ladies can powder their noses. 

We go out of the lounge, and we’re at the mezzanin foyer, with more plush seats and beautiful stained glass lights. We go all the way down to the right side, where we enter the Mens’ lounge. As mentioned above, this isn’t so much Egyptian - but then it wasn’t really Spanish either, but more Moor. ()

And now we come to my favourite part. I’ve been to The Globe and Drury Lane in London, Abbey Theatre in Ireland, Chuncheon’s puppet centre (which has to be the biggest venue I’ve ever been to, seeing as it’s not a venue so much as a campus), Sydney Opera House and 99% of the Melbourne theatres. Fox Theatre, by a mile, is the best.

When you walk up the stairs to the balcony, the first thing you see is the ceiling of the venue. It is painted blue, and anyone paying attention will notice the coolest thing ever: faint clouds float across the top of the blue ’sky’. I happened to be going up the stairs at the same time as the guide, and I asked her immediately as to whether I was seeing things. (It really is so subtle, you would miss it if not looking for more than a few seconds) She explained it later in the talk, but I have forgotten the technical term for the machine that does it; it’s definitely an old projection machine, something like a pentograph… I know that’s wrong… Anyway, the ceiling is also studded with twinkling ’stars’. (Photos of the inside of the theatre didn’t work all that well; so I took some short video. You can find it at here and here - it wouldn’t embed. But I recommend both checking out the pics on Flickr and the video, because the contrast in the pics offer more detail in some cases, and less in others)

The stage itself is a proscenium arch, with turrets at the top and at the sides of the stage, and beautifully adorned ‘windows’ (not quite windows, not quite boxes…) which hides the huge (3622 pipe) organ from sight. There were no shows bumped in at the theatre, which was disappointing for most - not for me! I love seeing the bare workings of a venue, and it was great to see the flies, back wall, and wings as they are. The side walls of the seating area have brick walls/turrets, which lead all the way up to the back of the seating and join the rest of the design: canopies.

The whole effect makes you feel as if you’re outside in an amphitheatre, and with the Moor designs, warm colourings of the seating area and proscenium curtains, and the blue ‘night sky’ above, it is a magnificent achievement. This is one of those venues where I go: "Oooh, I want to work here!" After a brief intro to the space, we headed downstairs and back into the stage to the stalls. It was even better; my techie eye discovered a feature of the lighting rig that I wished we used in Australian venues. The front of house lights, hung from the edge of the balcony, had a metal grill underneath, most likely used for increased safety in case of falling lights. (I know, I know, it’s not that exciting. But techies would understand it )

We head out, and to the last room, which is basically the refreshments area, and of Moor design. Nothing special in there worth mentioning. There was also a merchandise stand which was open, and I bought a book about the space, which has some amazing photos of the theatre. The Decorative Arts of the Fabulous Fox Theatre, which just happened to be on sale ($5!) is full of great images, but my favourite is a view of the seating/balcony from downstage, including the blue sky. If I have a chance when I get home, I may scan some of the pics in.

The whole tour took 2.5 hours, and costs $10 per person. If you’re in Atlanta and are into theatre - or just want to see something historical - do go take one of these tours. Note that you need to check ahead of time if the tour will be available, as sometimes they cancel due to performances/bump ins/outs (load in/outs), etc. The tour guide was really friendly and informative, so I’d be tempted to check out another tour if I had the time.

Free Pot Likker

So from Fox Theatre, I had some time to kill before getting my luggage and taking it to my second accommodation (people who aren’t aware, I had to book extra accommodation because of the timing of my flights; my festival accommodation was sorted, but I couldn’t extend my stay). So I went to find some lunch. (Forgive the food review, my sister loves food blogging so this is mainly for her)

My pick for today was Mary Mac’s, which has American ’southern’ food. This is one of my ‘must eat at’ places, and I’m so glad I went. Established in 1945, this is one of Atlanta’s best known restaurants. The place is pretty big, with different dining rooms. The first thing the waiter tells me is that you write down your order on a docket, and then they take it. If you’re a first-time eater, they give you a complimentary Pot Likker (pronounced Pot Licker), which is basically a hot broth with a cornbread roll. That was delicious; as good as my mum’s chicken soup. 

Next I had my main, which you get with two sides. I was worried about having too much food, otherwise I would have also ordered a dessert (peach cobbler sounds so good). I went totally southern, and ordered fried chicken, macaroni and cheese (side), and Bartlett pear salad (side). The fried chicken was great, tender, with the fried skin making it even better. The mac and cheese was good, but not my favourite way to eat it. I was expecting the cheese to be more of a sauce, but instead it was strings of cheese - not bad, just not my particular thing. The pear salad was pears cut up with cheese gratings over the top; sounds weird, but it was very good.

The whole thing was actually pretty cheap too, and the waiter was very nice.  

Change of venue

So once I ate, I headed back to my B&B to get my luggage. I had the opportunity to walk down a different area and I checked out the beautiful houses. I’ve felt pretty safe in Atlanta so far, minus a few moments which were a natural reaction to just being someplace new and unfamiliar. The houses along the way are pretty much colonial American, wooden and painted; in between there are more modern brick buildings, and I’m still confused by the width of the streets. 

Confusion still gets me in odd ways; like yesterday, it’s not what I’d expect. The pedestrian crossings instead of the wrong-side-of-the-road driving; today it’s the $1 note. You see, in Australia we only have $1 coins, and so every time I get change here, I keep expecting coins and not notes. 

Anyway, I took a taxi from my B&B to my new destination, and once again have taken the afternoon to rest my feet. Although it’s been cooler today, my feet have swollen back up again due to being active, so I’m resting. That’s two activities I’ve missed now, although this afternoon’s plans was just filler because I couldn’t find anything I really wanted to do. 

Tomorrow’s activities: check in at festival, see first show The Emporer’s New Clothes by Grey Seal Puppets (yep, the same guys who wrote The Foam Book!) Read next day’s diary post here.

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