Curtains rise again for high school musicals

Plus: Longer waits for on-hold library books; Answering reader question on SouthPark development; Hot tech job for Charlotte Knights; American Airlines and Red Ventures battle in court

Good morning! Today is Monday, January 24, 2022. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.

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Today’s Charlotte Ledger is sponsored by SPARK Publications. SPARK Publications publishes nonfiction books that help your business grow. Thinking about writing a book? “Ask Fabi” is a free virtual Q&A held on February 10, at 6:00 pm (EST). Register here!

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After two years of dark stages, musical theater returns to high school auditoriums; casts learning to ‘block’ scenes with social distancing in mind

High school musical theater students from across the Charlotte region performed in a scaled-down 2021 Blumey Awards last May at the Belk Theater. The Blumeys, sponsored by Blumenthal Performing Arts, recognize excellence in local high school musical theater. This year the Blumeys will be bigger again, as more high schools are bringing back their school musicals. (Photo courtesy of Blumenthal Performing Arts)

by Morgan Tringali

Covid robbed high schoolers of so many aspects of their four-year experience, but one hit particularly hard for those who love to sing, act, play instrumental scores and produce props: the cancelation of high school musicals. 

Many schools were days away from opening night or had just begun their show run in March 2020 when Covid abruptly closed schools and canceled performances.

Theater departments attempted to pivot by meeting virtually or outdoors last school year, but only a few schools in the area were able to stage full shows. Even in the best of circumstances, performances were done outside, online, or with few members in the audience. 

This year, high school musicals are coming back — with some interesting changes in the new Covid world. 

At Mallard Creek High School, students will perform the show “Ranked” from March 17-20, although fewer students have expressed interest in doing the musical this year than in previous years, theater teacher Brittany Bram said. 

The opposite is true at Myers Park High School, where there’s a lot of interest in the upcoming production of “Mamma Mia.” Theater teacher Amanda Roberts said a large number of new students have signed up, and she said she believes “a driving push behind this is because students have missed participating in theater and are more open to just trying so they can be part of the experience.” 

At both Mallard Creek and Myers Park, Covid is forcing theater programs to get creative with rehearsing and staging, so students stay safe during practices and performances. And they’ve had to be flexible. 

Mallard Creek has had to cancel several rehearsals due to actors being sick with Covid. Students are wearing masks while performing, which can be hindering to actors, especially when trying to sing, Bram said. 

One element of rehearsals that Mallard Creek actors have struggled to cope with is having to keep their physical distance from one another, both while on stage and hanging out during rehearsals. “The cast was a big fan of physical contact. Lots of hugs and encouragement,” Bram said.

Now, casts must find new ways to cheer each other on and theater programs must “block,” or position actors onstage, with social distancing in mind. “There is no physical contact onstage” if possible, Bram said, to allow for social distancing.

To avoid the challenge of singing through masks, Myers Park is moving its shows outside, where students don’t have to mask up. “Mamma Mia” performances will begin at the end of April, and Roberts says she’s hoping the spring weather will be nice enough to host outdoor performances. 

“Of course, if it rains then we will adapt as only theater programs can,” she says.

Andie Maloney, vice president of education at Blumenthal Performing Arts, said teachers “have seen how detrimental it is to teens to not have some of those connections of not being able to express themselves through musical theater.”

Each year, the Blumenthal hosts the annual “Blumey Awards,” which are like the Tony Awards show for local high school musicals. Last year, the Blumenthal hosted a slimmed-down, pre-recorded version of the Blumeys that aired on PBS Charlotte, but this year they’re planning a more robust event. 

“Musicals provide a sense of escapism,” Maloney said. “It allows people to dive into topics, some of which can be difficult; it provides a great vehicle to have conversations, as well as a wonderful form of entertainment.”

Morgan Tringali is a high school junior at Salem Academy in Winston-Salem. She recently completed a two-week internship with The Ledger, learning the business and craft of local news. She’s a lifelong resident of Charlotte.

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Today’s supporting sponsors are Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews…

… and T.R. Lawing Realty:

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Hold, please: The wait is longer for books on hold at the library

It’s taking longer than usual these days for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library patrons to get items they’ve placed holds for — delays that library officials say are due to supply chain delays and worker shortages.

“You might have noticed your holds aren’t arriving as quickly as you’re used to. Or those Halloween titles you requested for your children weren’t on the shelves until well into December!” library staff wrote in a blog post earlier this month.

Supply chain delays and labor shortages mean “some titles have been delayed or canceled altogether,” they wrote. “Books are sitting in warehouses or container ships for months, waiting for workers to process them and ship them to us.”

Typically, library patrons only need to wait a few days to a few weeks for items on hold, depending on the popularity of an item and the length of the waitlist.

Asha Ellison, the library’s interim chief marketing officer, told The Ledger last week that library’s tech services department is taking on some of the work that the library typically contracts out to its vendors to speed the flow of materials along.

So, if you’re one of the 92 people currently on the library’s hold list for a hard copy of “Invisible,” Danielle Steel’s latest novel, we’re guessing you may be waiting a little while? —CB

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You Ask, We Answer: What’s the latest on The Colony in SouthPark?

Today we bring you the latest installment of “You Ask, We Answer,” The Ledger’s effort to help satisfy your burning🔥 development questions.

As we always say, there’s no rezoning request we can’t track down; no land sale we can’t sniff out; no mysterious bulldozers we can’t explain. Have a question? Ask us here.

Today’s question comes from Ledger reader Jeff, who writes:

I was wondering if you could find out any news on The Colony development. It has apartments there that are getting ready to go to market any time now. The rest of the lot looks terrible to be on the main stretch in SouthPark. Do you think the developers will ever build the Publix and Lifetime Fitness that they say were committed for that project? With commercial development so hot in Charlotte right now, it seems very odd for that to sit for so long. The city should at least tell them to clean up the lot and grass the lot.

This is a big, prominent development in SouthPark — if you’ve driven to SouthPark Mall anytime in the last year, you’ve likely seen the site, which used to be The Colony apartments. It’s one of several big projects in the works in SouthPark, which is going to look a lot different in the next few years.

We talked last week with Tim Hose of Synco Properties, which is developing the property. In response to Jeff’s questions, he told us:

• The first of the 340 apartments that are under construction should be ready for move-in in June, with the rest of the building completed by the end of 2022. It will have all the standard luxury apartment amenities: swimming pool, fitness center, yoga/Pilates, his and hers spa stations with sauna and mani/pedi stations and massage rooms, “state-of-the-art sports simulators,” game room, card room, dog grooming station, pet park and top-of-the building lounge area.

• Developers are starting to plan for the second phase of residential development. They don’t know exactly what those will look like, or how many units will be added.

• On the commercial building, which comes next, Synco’s partner Schlosser Development expects to file permits next month to build 100,000 s.f. of retail with 45,000 s.f. of office on top of it. Construction is expected to start in May. Original, pre-pandemic plans called for a Publix, Lifetime Fitness and a movie theater — but the gym and movie theater now are no longer part of the project. Publix is still expected to be in. This first commercial building will be on the interior of the site.

• A second commercial building, following shortly after the first, would be smaller. Developers aren’t ready to announce tenants yet, but Hose said: “The two tenants for the other buildings are damn exciting.” He said one is a familiar Charlotte name and one is not and that both would be “great additions to the SouthPark area.”

• Developers are also talking to restaurants about locating in the project, including some in freestanding buildings.

• While future phases are in the planning stage, developers are planning a grassy 6-acre temporary park — a “SouthPark green” — where people can hang out.

As for the weeds by Sharon Road, Hose says an active construction site will always be messy but that it will improve as the first phase wraps up: “As that nears completion, that whole area will get cleaned up.” —TM

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Hot tech job: Overseeing the robot that calls balls and strikes at Charlotte Knights games

Here’s a good one: Major League Baseball is looking for someone in the Charlotte area to be responsible for technology being tested that will help umpires call balls and strikes.

The league posted job openings for “ABS Techs” last week in 13 cities with AAA baseball teams, including the Charlotte Knights. ABS stands for “Automated Ball and Strike” system, which is being tested to see if it can help home plate umpires call pitches more accurately.

The technology has been tested previously in other minor leagues, but this latest experiment is the closest it has come to the major leagues. The technology senses the position of the ball relative to the strike zone — like it does on baseball TV broadcasts — and relays the information instantly to the human home plate umpire, who still indicates if the pitch is a ball or strike.

Responsibilities, the job posting said, include arriving at the ballpark two hours before the first pitch, helping the umpire with set-up, helping track data on how well the device works and submitting a detailed post-game report.

Qualifications include exceptional knowledge of baseball rules, strong computer proficiency and “exceptional knowledge of iPhone operation.”

Applications are being accepted online.

Umpire Enrico Pallazzo makes a “strike” call using an early version of the Automated Ball and Strike (ABS) system in 1988.

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Correction

An item in Saturday’s newsletter misstated the number of apartments the City Council approved on 36th Street in NoDa. It is 211. (Our summary had said 400+.) Apologies.

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In brief:

• American frequent flier battle: American Airlines and Red Ventures are battling in court over an app developed by a Red Ventures travel website, The Points Guy. The app helps users track their frequent flier mile balances, but American says having third-party apps log in to its website violates the airline’s terms of service. “If the consumer wants to track their points, just like their finances, you should be able to track it in apps,” The Points Guy’s founder said. Red Ventures is based in Indian Land, S.C., south of Charlotte. (Dallas Morning News)

• College scholarship settlement: The city of Asheville agreed to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit that alleged it was improper for the city to give money for a scholarship program for Black and minority students. Under terms of the settlement, the scholarship will be for “first-generation college students” without regard for race. (MountainXpress)

• Dinner and a movie: A new dine-in movie theater offering heated seats, food, beer and cocktails is opening in the same University City space vacated by Studio Movie Grill last year. Cinergy Charlotte will open this spring with 10 theaters. Studio Movie Grill opened in late 2019 but filed for bankruptcy during the pandemic. (Biz Journal)

• CMPD lawsuit: The sister of a man who died in police custody in January 2020 has sued five Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers and the City of Charlotte, saying the officers failed to get her brother medical help after watching him swallow cocaine. The four officers and a sergeant were cited for termination by Police Chief Johnny Jennings for not following policy of seeking medical assistance for Harold Easter, and all five resigned from the force. Police video footage showed Easter shackled to the floor of an interview room alone as he suffered heart issues and a seizure. (Observer)

• LaMelo jerseys are 🔥: Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball ranked 15th in sales of player jerseys since Oct. 19. It’s the first time any Hornet has made the list since the NBA returned to Charlotte in 2004. (Erik Spanberg on Twitter)

• Recycling delay: City of Charlotte recycling collection is on a one-day delay this week, so households that are scheduled to have their recycling collected this week should put their bins out one day late. Also, if your trash was scheduled to be picked up on Friday and it was not picked up, it’ll get collected today. (City of Charlotte on Twitter)

• Cam nominated: U.S. Rep. Alma Adams has written to the governors of North and South Carolina to nominate former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton for the states’ two highest honors — the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in North Carolina, and the Order of the Palmetto in South Carolina. She dated her letter Jan. 15 — National Hat Day. (QCity Metro)

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Taking stock

Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:

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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project