Atlanta's New Midtown Festival of the Arts Arrives!

After two years of planning, Atlanta's new Midtown Festival of the Arts (a client) finally arrived on Peachtree Street yesterday.

It's awesome to witness the throngs of residents and visitors shopping, dining and strolling between 10th Street and 5th Street, just a few blocks from my Midtown residence.

I first learned about plans for the Midtown Festival of the Arts on a call during June 2009. A small group of Midtowners was working hard to secure sponsors and permits to set a very high standard for future event planners seeking to close Peachtree Street. By all indicators on Friday and Saturday, the work of this core group, as well as hundreds of additional volunteers who came on board during the last year, has paid off big time.

One of the best things about Midtown Festival of the Arts is the food. My girlfriend and I shared a break on Saturday to dine at "Plates On Peachtree," where we were treated to gourmet samples from Bacchanalia, Ra Sushi, Gordon Biersch, South City Kitchen, Ecco and other culinary arts establishments across Atlanta. I highly recommend the sweet corn ice cream and lobster corn dogs, courtesy of Park 75.

Several media outlets previewed or reviewed the Festival this week. Today's weather is bound to cooperate, making for a pleasant afternoon in Midtown Atlanta.

We're heading back to the Festival on Sunday to pick up some hand-made pottery art from a couple of the artists along Peachtree Street. Hope to see you there!

Goodbye, Georgy Girl

Lately it seems that the only time I find to blog is right around the time some celebrity dies.

Sorry for another bad news post, but this one is about the passing of Lynn Redgrave, one of the nicest celebrities I had the pleasure of escorting for a morning media tour in Atlanta.



In early 2004, Redgrave was in town performing "The Exonerated" on stage at then-client, Georgia Tech's Ferst Center for the Arts. We picked up Redgrave (in my Volvo, mind you) at the Georgian Terrace Hotel in Midtown Atlanta, and Ms. Redgrave, her personal publicist and I (as P.R. for the Ferst Center) trekked over to WAGA-TV Fox 5's set for a "Good Day Atlanta" interview.

Redgrave was so polite, eager to discuss "The Exonerated" and happy to answer my silly questions about her roles in "Georgy Girl" and "Shine" (I chickened out and did not ask about her work with Woody Allen for "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask"). She kicked-butt on her TV interview, too -- I was disappointed that travels out of town later that day prevented my attendance at the play to see her in a real performance.

Ms. Redgrave provided one of those celebrity interactions before my habit of asking Olympic-related questions kicked in, so I did not speak with her about any Games connections during our brief conversations. Just remembered she laughed during my attempts at quoting her "Shine" co-star's line to her character, imploring Redgrave to "Talk to the Stars!"

I hope she is.

Photo via Yahoo! credited to the Everett Collection

Canada Comes To Atlanta!

I miss Canada something awful!

It's been six weeks since the flight home from Vancouver, and often I find myself jonesing for some late night pizza on Granville Street (complete with toasted sesame seed crust), Yaletown sushi, a glass of ice wine and on-the-street chatter about Olympic tickets.

So it was a great surprise to confirm recently that the iconic Canadian brand Cirque du Soleil soon will return to Georgia, bringing their new insect-themed tour "OVO" to Midtown Atlanta in November.

Edelman, where I work, is again partnering with Cirque du Soleil for "OVO" on the heels of last year's "KOOZA" tour and the 2006 Atlanta stop for "Corteo." The video for "OVO" looks great -- hoping to catch a live show preview in one of their summer tour stops.

Several times since returning to Georgia, fellow Olympic enthusiasts shared feedback and impressions from the Vancouver Olympic Opening Ceremony at B.C. Place, and more than a few folks also expressed their take on why Cirque du Soleil was not part of the big event -- "where the heck were they?" some inquired (the answer is in this Sept. 2008 news article regarding a joint statement by VANOC and Cirque du Soleil).

One senior, local P.R. veteran is convinced that Cirque du Soleil produced the Opening Ceremony of Albertville in 1992 (from what I can tell, it was in fact a French producer -- anyone know the answer?).

No matter the status of Cirque's five-ringed work, it will be cool to again see the Maple Leaf/l'Unifolié unfurled with Atlanta's skyline on the horizon.

Photos via Cirque du Soleil

Getting to Know Tara

After hearing Oprah Winfrey's comments about Chicago being her "Tara" (see video in April 8 post below) and the 2016 Olympic bid, I could not help but take in tonight's screening of "Gone With The Wind" at The Fabulous Fox Theatre (disclosure: a client of Edelman, the P.R. firm where I work).

It was a great movie going experience as the audience really got into it -- fun to hear folks laugh, cheer and even applaud en mass ... for a film of 70 years!

The folks at the Atlanta Film Festival hosted a special screening which finally afforded me views of the entire picture, which is, of course, excellent and best experienced in its original format. Previously, viewing "GWTW" was only possible via PBS or poor VHS options (I could not sit through the whole thing on videotape back in high school).

This year's Atlanta Film Festival seems to have a little bit of everything and something for everyone. Opening night included an interesting documentary "The People Speak," which was quite good (I'm now inspired to read the book which inspired it, referenced briefly in "Good Will Hunting"). Also planning to screen some of the upcoming films on the Festival schedule.

And when the projectors stop reeling, will have to at last read "GWTW" and stroll on over to the Margaret Mitchell House (just a few blocks from my "Tara" on Myrtle Street in Midtown). But that shall have to wait at least until tomorrow.

After all, tomorrow is another day!