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FLIPSIDE Thursday, March 6, 2014

March 6-12, 2014 www.thesouthern.com

ENTERTAINMENT • BOOKS • ART • MUSIC • MOVIES • THINGS TO DO

SIU Arena scores big with contemporary Christian group

CASTING CROWNS

TOP 20 RESTAURANT OF THE WEEKCheck out Chuck’s BBQ in Herrin

IT’S ‘THE ’80S WITH A PLOT’‘Rock of Ages’ at Carson Center

OF THE WEEKCheck out Chuck’s BBQ in Herrin

IT’S ‘THE ’80S WITH A PLOT’

of Ages’ at Carson

Thursday, March 6, 2014 FliPside

JOe sZYNKOWsKiFOR THE SOUTHERN

HERRIN — When Chuck Shahadey invited Ryan Jeralds to his home to talk about a business proposi-tion a few years ago, the men were in wildly differ-ent career positions.

Shahadey, longtime owner of Chuck’s BBQ on Park Avenue in Herrin, was nearing retirement and looking for a trusting suitor to whom he could turn over the keys of his beloved business.

Jeralds, a 17-year employee at Herrin’s pop-ular Mary’s Restaurant, was seeking to leverage his experience and industry knowledge to start something all his own.

The rest, they say, is history.

Jeralds and his wife, Cassie, bought the res-taurant from Shahadey in February 2013 and recently celebrated a success-ful first year. They have worked hard to stay true to the tradition that Shahadey and his wife, Janice, built; but they also aren’t afraid to put their own spin on things.

“People are coming in and saying they’re excited about what we’re doing here,” Ryan said. “We’re tweaking the recipes and adding completely new menu items, and people have responded.”

Among the most notable changes is the Jeralds’ introduction of pulled pork to complement the sliced pork that had previ-ously been on the menu.

“Pulled pork is just something I’ve always done at my house for parties and things like that,” Ryan said. “Every-body always loves it, so I thought we’d bring it here. We’re going through it pretty quickly.”

Chuck’s BBQ can serve up just about any home-style delight, both in the

restaurant and for home parties. Customers can order barbecue by the pound, as well as sweet and spicy hot wings by calling ahead.

But it’s not all about the pork at Chuck’s BBQ. Sun-day lunches of chicken and dumplings are one of the restaurant’s busiest days of the week.

“We’ve got brisket and soups, which are great for the winter weather we’ve been having,” Ryan said. “I try to do a lot of different

things, so there’s some-thing for everybody.”

Chuck’s BBQ is now providing food for the popular SI Opry, which brings music lovers to the city’s civic center on Sat-urday nights for country and gospel music. Ryan is also deeply rooted into the Herrin sports coaching scene and a supporter of the high school.

“We try to help when we can,” he said. “The community is very important to us.”

ADAM TESTA, THE SOUTHERN Chuck’s BBQ in Herrin has been a staple of Southern Illinois’ barbecue scene for several years.

MOVIES ART WINERIES BOOKS FOOD THEATER THINGS TO DO CONTACT US: [email protected]

Adam Testa, Lifestyles writer [email protected] / ext. 5031

Brenda Kirkpatrick, Flipside content coordinator [email protected] / ext. 5089

Brandon Byars, online [email protected] / ext. 5018

Cara Recine, Lifestyles and special projects editor [email protected] / ext. 5075

The southern illinoisan (USPS 258-908) is published daily at a yearly subscription rate of $219.96. It is published at 710 N. Illinois Ave., Carbondale, IL 62901. It is owned by Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa.

Top 20 Restaurant of the Week:

CHUCK’S BBQ

deTAils

What: Barbecue sand-wiches, brisket, wings, chicken and dumplings

Where: 1420 S. Park. Ave., Herrin

Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday – Saturday

7 a.m. to 3 p.m. SundayPhone: 618-988-6566

“We’ve got brisket and soups, which are great for the winter weather we’ve been having. I try to do a lot of different things, so there’s something for everybody.”

Ryan JeRalds, ChuCk’s BBQ

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Flipside Thursday, March 6, 2014 page 3

MOVIES ART WINERIES BOOKS COVER STORY THEATER THINGS TO DO MUSIC exhibits

Off The Wall Group Artist exhibition: anthill gallery and Luna Gallery in the Yellow Moon Café, both on Front street in downtown Cobden; through March; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays, anthill gallery or yellowmoon-cafe.com

Abstract and Collage: Little Egypt Art Centre, 601 Tower Square, Marion; through March 31; 618-998-8530 or www.littleegyptarts.com

Beginnings: Quilts by Pradnya Dharmadhikari, Carbondale Public Library, through April 1, 618-457-0354

Michelle Fredman and Jane Morgan: Artists of the Month, North wall, Little Egypt Arts Centre, 601 Tower Square, Marion; through March; 618-998-8530 or www.littleegyptarts.com

Jo ellen lambert: Artist of the Month, North window, Little Egypt Arts Centre, 601 Tower Square, Marion; through March; 618-998-8530 or www.littleegyptarts.com

Hoyeon Chung: Mixed Media, University Museum, SIU; through March 7;

www.museum.siu.edu; 618-453-5388

sustain 2: National Collegiate Juried Exhibition of Art and Design for Eco Living, curated by Nate Steinbrink, through March 7; www.muse-um.siu.edu; 618-453-5388

The Trunk show: Curated by Eric S. Jones, University Museum, SIU; through March 7; www.museum.siu.edu; 618-453-5388

What’s What, Whose Who? University Museum, SIU; through March 7; www.muse-um.siu.edu; 618-453-5388

The Jacobs Family Art: Paintings and photographs by Bradley and Charles Jacobs, Longbranch Café & Bakery, 100 E. Jackson St., Carbondale; through March 24; benefits Brehm School Foundation; 618-529-4488

Jo dodd, Joanna Gray and Rene deGroof: The Pavilion, 1602 Sioux Drive, Marion; 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; through March 26; 618-993-2657

Mike Chervinko: Historic Photographs of the Tri-State Tornado, University Museum, SIU; through March 30; www.museum.siu.edu;

618-453-5388Hometown Teams:

Smithsonian traveling exhibit, Union County Museum, 117 S. Appleknocker Drive, down-town Cobden; connection between towns and sports; artifacts and stories; history of athletics in Union County and Southern Illinois from Gorham to Goreville; through April 16; 618-893-2865 or 618-893-2567

Reinventing Collage: The Art of Romare Bearden, Mounds African American Museum, 216 N. Front St., Mounds; through April 27; 2-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 618-745-6183

Caught in the sweep of History: Egypt in the Civil War — The Second Year exhibit and documentary now on display, The General John A. Logan Museum, 1613 Edith

St., Murphysboro; through April; 618-684-3455; to www.loganmuseum.org

Master Artists from the Museum’s Art Collection: University Museum, SIU; artists featured include Pierre Bonnard, Pablo Picasso, Berthe Morisot, Jacob Lawrence, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Max Ernst; through May 9; 618-453-5388; www.museum.siu.edu

Artist Trading Cards project: Curated by Bob DeHoet, University Museum, SIU; through May 9; www.museum.siu.edu; 618-453-5388

Cast in Carbondale: Sculptures and drawings by visiting artists from the Thomas Walsh Donation, University Museum, SIU; through May 9; www.museum.siu.edu; 618-453-5388

Master Artists from the Art Collection: Curated by Dona Bachman, University Museum, SIU; through May 9; www.museum.siu.edu; 618-453-5388

Modern dialect: American paintings from the John and Susan Horseman Collection,Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, 2600 E. Richmond Road, Mount Vernon; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday; through May 11; 618-242-1236; www.cedarhurst.org

New Work: SIU students and faculty in the Department of Cinema and Photography, Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, 2600 E. Richmond Road, Mount Vernon; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday; through May 11; 618-242-1236; www.cedarhurst.org

COBDEN — The annual Off The Wall Group Artist Exhibition is on display at two sites in downtown Cobden. The exhibit is displayed into groupings that feature artists’ series and collections at anthill gallery and Luna Gallery at the Yellow Moon Café.

Until the April exhibi-tion, anthill gallery will continue changing artist features, including the mixed media painting series produced by Michael G. Bryant, using a personal historic stamp collec-tion; and the wide array of digital images by pho-tographers Tom Bell and Daniel Owens. The exhibit runs throughout March in conjunction with the Luna Gallery at The Yellow Moon Café.

Original paintings in oil, acrylic, encaustic wax and watercolor, wearable works of art, ceramics, heat- and hammer-forged functional iron art and jewelry, weav-ing, mixed media and collage and digital and film photography is included.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays at ant-hill gallery.

Larger paintings and photographs are at Yellow Moon Café’s Luna Gallery, open Tuesdays through Saturdays. Specific hours of operation can be found at yellowmooncafe.com.

The Yellow Moon Café is at 110 N. Front St., and anthill gallery is at 102 N. Front St.

— The Southern

Off The Wall exhibit opens in Cobden

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MOVIES ART WINERIES BOOKS COVER STORY THEATER THINGS TO DO MUSIC

Authors, Books Book signing: By Harry

Spiller, author of “Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan,” 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library, 101 S. 7th St., Mount Vernon; 618-242-6322; www.mtvbrehm.lib.il.us

Book signing: By Daniel Nallery, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 20, C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library, 101 S. 7th St. Mount Vernon; he will talk about his children’s

books; 618-242-6322; www.mtvbrehm.lib.il.us

Comedy The Carbondale

Comedians: 9 p.m. Mondays, Hangar 9, Carbondale; 10 p.m. Wednesdays, Station 13, Carbondale; see The Carbondale Comedians on Facebook

Comedy Nights at Birdies: Features Jeff Batts and Jeff Bodart, 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 7

and 8, Rend Lake Golf Resort, Whittington; $10; 618-513-5507 or visit birdiessports-grille.com.

Theater/Performance dancing With OUR

stars and Falcon Follies Talent show: 7 p.m. Friday, March 7, George T. Dennis Visual and Performing Arts Center, Southeastern Illinois College,3575 College Road, Harrisburg; $5; 618-252-5400; [email protected]

Picasso at the lapin Agile: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday March 7 and 8, John A. Logan College, Carterville; $12/$7; matinee, 10 a.m. Friday, March 7; $2 and JALC students,

employees and retirees, free; adult themes; 618-985-2828 ext. 8287

southern illinois Got Talent Contest: Features Elvis tribute artist Matt Joyce and 10 finalists, 7 p.m. Saturday, March 8, Marion Cultural Civic Center; proceeds to the Good Samaritan Ministries; bring non-perishable food; adults, $25; students, $15; [email protected]; 618-889-0517

C.s. lewis’ The screwtape letters: 7:15 p.m. Saturday, March 8, The Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center, Paducah; literature transformed into a live performance; $49/$39/$29;

www.thecarsoncenter.org; 270-443-9932

An evening with Groucho: 7 p.m. Thursday, March 20, John A. Logan College, Carterville; $15/$10; 618-985-2828

Big Muddy New Plays Festival: April 3-6, C.H. Moe Theater, SIU; includes Joan’s Laughter, 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday April 3-5 and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 6; also, Trixxxie 2.0, reading, 1 p.m. Saturday, April 5 and Be Free, Little Teacup Pig reading, 4 p.m. Saturday, April 5; readings are free; tickets for Joan’s Laughter, adults, $16; students, $6; 618-453-6000; southernticketsonline.com

COBDEN — Southern Illinois independent baseball teams plus a program on the Civilian Conservation Corps will be featured this weekend as part of a Smithsonian traveling exhibit program.

A program on CCC sports teams has been rescheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, March 8, in the St. Joseph Church Hall. Kay Rippelmeyer will tell the story of CCC sports teams organized in the 1930s in Jackson, Union, Alexander and Pulaski counties.

Rippelmeyer has been researching Southern Illinois CCC camps for 26 years and will speak about the importance of sports to those working in the camps.

The second program this weekend is on independent baseball teams and is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, March 9, in St. Joseph Church Hall.

Panelists include Louise Ogg, Richard Cerny, Jeffrey Craig of the Clarkes Vintage Baseball Team, Tom Dunn and Will Travelstead. Stories will be recounted about teams that played in Cairo, Carrier Mills, Gorham, Anna and Cobden during their heyday from 1930 through the early 1950s.

Dizzy Dean and other high profile players from major league teams often played on local teams after their season was over.

The St. Joseph Church Hall is at the corner of Centennial and Ash streets.

The programs are free. For additional information call 618-893-2865 or 618-893-2567.

— The Southern

Hometown teams exhibit features two programs

CARBONDALE — The SIU Department of Theater will present the Big Muddy New Plays Festival from April 3 to 6 in the C.H. Moe Theater in the Communications Building on the SIU campus.

This year’s festival will include one full produc-tion of a play, “Joan’s Laughter,” written by Jacob Juntunen, head of the playwriting program;

and the readings of two full-length student-written plays.

“Joan’s laughter” has been described as “an engaging and thought-provoking look at the final hour before Joan of Arc’s execution. Imprisoned and convicted of heresy, tortured and bullied by angry guards, Joan is asked to save her soul by repudiating the voices she says she hears.

“Joan’s Laughter” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Sat-urday, April 3 to 5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 6.

The play is directed by guest artist Megan Smith of Chicago’s Sideshow Theatre Company.

“Trixxxie 2.0” by Kirsten Easton is in development. A reading of the student-written play will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 5.

“Be Free, little Teacup Pig” by Jaclyn Grogan tells the story of a young woman working extra hours to save her fam-ily’s home, and who is unexpectedly tasked with the delivery of a fragile creature to a foreign land and beset by the media, society and an unreli-able family.

A reading of the play will be presented at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 5.

The readings for the two plays are free, and seating is on a first-come first-served basis.

Tickets for “Joan’s Laughter” are $16 for adults and $6 for students and can be obtained by calling 618-453-6000 or at southernticketsonline.com.

For more information contact the Department of Theater at 618-453-5741.

— The Southern

Big Muddy New Plays Festival features ‘Joan’s Laughter’

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CARTERVILLE — “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 7 and 8, in John A. Logan College’s O’Neil Auditorium.

The comedy was written by comedian and actor, Steve Martin and imagines an encounter between Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso in a Parisian bar in 1904.

While both are on the verge of amazing ideas — Einstein’s theory of relativ-ity and Picasso’s painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon — they have a lengthy debate about the value of genius and talent while interacting with a host of

other characters.The play is directed by

Mike Seagle and features adult themes.

Tickets are $12 general admission and $7 for JALC students

A matinee is also set for 10 a.m. Friday, March 7, with general admission set at $2; JALC students, employees and retirees can attend at no charge.

For tickets or more information contact the Office of Student Activities & Cultural Events at 618-985-2828 ext. 8287.

See the rest of the performing arts schedule at http://www.jalc.edu/activities/performingarts.php.

What if Einstein met Picasso at a bar?

WHITTINGTON — The recently opened Birdies Sports Grille at the Rend Lake Golf Resort is adding a new comedy club.

The new stage at Birdies Banquet Room will fea-ture two national touring comedians each weekend beginning this weekend.

Jeff Batts of Benton and Jeff Bodart of India-napolis will be featured at 8:30 p.m. Friday and Sat-urday, March 7 and 8.

Batts has performed his act in clubs and colleges across the nation. He has toured with the Charlie Daniels Band, Weird Al Yankovic and Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Batts has also appeared on Comedy Central and The Howard Stern Show.

Bodart is a regular co-host of the “Bob and Tom” syndicated TV and radio show. He was

a finalist in Comedy Central’s “Up Next” comedy competition and has toured with Ron White and Caroline Rhea.

Tickets for Comedy Nights at Birdies are $10, or $35 with the prime

rib buffet.Birdies is at Rend Lake

Golf Resort, exit 77 off of Interstate 57.

For more information, call 618-513-5507 or visit birdiessportsgrille.com.

— The Southern

New comedy club features two Jeffs

AdAM TesTATHE SOUTHERN

PADUCAH — Josh Hobbs started his sing-ing career performing gospel music in high school. Now, he’s travel-ing the country, living the life of a real rock star every night.

Hobbs, an Anderson, Ind., native, admits the lifestyle really isn’t his own. He’s quieter and more reserved, closer to the life he lived last year than the loud, boisterous, in-your-face personality he’s now living.

The Ball State gradu-ate has been part of the national tour of Broadway hit “Rock of Ages” for two seasons. Last year,

he understudied the role of Drew Boley, the lowly busboy in the famed Bourbon Room with

dreams of being a star. This time around, he’s stepping into the shoes of the egotistical, sleazy, do-no-good Stacee Jaxx.

“It’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had because it’s the exact opposite of who I really am,” Hobbs said.

At no moment is that feeling more prominent than when Hobbs makes his first appearance as Jaxx, belting out the Bon Jovi classic “Wanted Dead or Alive.”

“It’s that moment,” said the actor whose prior experience includes theme park and cruise ship performances. “It’s euphoria. The focus is on me. I am a rock star; I am the rock star. And I get to

go out there and sing one of the greatest Bon Jovi songs of all time.”

Audiences in the region will have a chance to hear Hobbs perform at The Carson Center for two nights of performances.

Whether people have seen the 2012 film adaptation starring Tom Cruise or simply appreci-ate music of an era past, the musical offers some-thing for everyone in a unique format that’s just as much a rock concert as a theater production, Hobbs said.

“It’s the ‘80s with a plot,” he said. “That’s exactly what it is.”

[email protected] 618-351-5031

THE ’80S WITH A PLOT ‘Rock of Ages’ coming to The Carson Center

deTAils

What: National tour of Broadway musical “Rock of Ages,” featur-ing 28 classic songs from the 1980s

When: 7:15 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, March 25-26

Where: The Carson Center, 100 Kentucky Ave., Paducah

Tickets: $35 to $57 and can be purchased at www.thecarsoncenter.org or by calling 270-450-4444.

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Movies Art Wineries Books Cover story theAter things to do MusiC

Good friends love to hang out together, but long hours on the job will

often diminish the quality time one relishes with their closest associ-ates. Those precious moments seem to get even shorter as the years pass.

Three stars who dominated the country music world in the 1990s have found a way to resolve the problem. They combined forces to create the popular Roots & Boots Tour. Now, Joe Diffie,

Aaron Tippin and Sammy Kershaw are spending time together like teen-age brothers.

The triple-threat lineup has 16 combined gold and platinum albums to their credit, plus 42 top 10 records and 14 chart topping singles, including “Pickup Man” for Diffie, “There Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong With The Radio” for Tippin and Kershaw’s classic “She Don’t Know She’s Beauti-ful.”

The Roots & Boots Tour will be making a stop at the Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center in Paducah at 7:30 p.m. March 14.

Success for the tour culminated with the release of “All in the Same

Boat” album last year, a collaboration among the artists that is a mix of old and new music, plus the “Old Friends” novelty tune and a music video for the title track.

Diffie was the first of the trio on the charts. He signed with Epic Records in 1990 and debuted in August of the same year with

“Home,” a tune that raced to the No. 1 position.

The 55-year-old Okla-homa native worked in the Texas oil fields before mak-ing a serious commitment to music.

In 1987, he migrated to Nashville and found a job working for the Gibson Guitar Corp. At the same time, he was gaining a powerful reputation as a songwriter, with tunes recorded by Ricky Van Shelton, Alabama and Billy Dean.

Epic Records signed Diffie to a contract in 1989

but put him on hold for a year. During that hiatus, Diffie wrote and sang background on the Holly Dunn smash “There Goes My Heart Again.”

Born in Florida and raised in South Carolina, the 55-year-old Tippin has a hit list that includes “Kiss This,” “That’s As Close As I’ll Get To Loving You” and “Working Man’s Ph.D.” He broke onto the scene in 1990, at the start of the Gulf War, with patriotic anthem “You’ve Got To Stand for Something” and rallied Americans after 9/11

with “Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Flies.”

The senior member of this tour’s trio, the 56-year old Kershaw knew life in the fast lane at an early age. His father died when he was only 11. He had to work a variety of day jobs to support his family. He added financial support by playing music in the rowdy Southern Louisiana road-houses at night.

Barely in his teens, he had opened shows for country music icons George Jones, Merle Hag-gard and Ray Price. The pressure of growing up too fast led to more than a decade of substance abuse. In 1988, he kicked the habit and quit music, going to work at Wal-Mart.

As fate would have it, while he was out of the business, one of his demo tapes found its way to Mercury Records, which signed him to a contract in 1991. He started paying immediate dividends with debut hit single “Cadillac Style.” His other hits have included “Love of My Life,” “Yard Sale,” “Queen of My Double Wide Trailer” and a re-make of “Third Rate Romance.”

ViNCe HOFFARd can be reached at 618-658-9095 or [email protected].

Roots and Boots features Joe Diffie, Aaron Tippin, Sammy Kershaw

COURTESY THE CARSON CENTER Aaron Tippin, Sammy Kershaw and Joe Diffie are making the rounds on the Roots and Boots Tour, which is rolling into Paducah.

deTAils

Who: Roots and Boots Tour featuring Joe Diffie, Aaron Tippin and Sammy Kershaw

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 14

Where: The Carson Center, 100 Kentucky Ave., Paducah

Tickets: $21.50-$89info: Call 270-450-4444

COUNTRY SCENEVince Hoffard

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SIU Arena scores big with contemporary Christian groupAdAM TesTATHE SOUTHERN

CARBONDALE — The expression “when it rains, it pours” often refers to a string of negative events unfolding in one’s life, but sometimes, good news is also in the forecast.

About five years ago, Brian Scoggin was work-ing full time as a youth pastor in the Atlanta area. His musical hobby — the drums — had fallen by the wayside a bit as he focused on his ministry.

But, one day, noted Eng-lish Christian artist Matt Redman contacted Scog-gin about joining him for a series of performances. The opportunity was a thrilling one, which Scoggin excitedly accepted. Then, the next call came.

This one was from Mark Hall, founder of Grammy Award-winning band Casting Crowns. Scoggin had filled in for the band’s

regular drummer, Andy Williams, while he took sabbatical for the birth of his first child. It turned out Williams had decided to part ways with the band to focus on launching his own ministry with his wife.

Hall wanted Scoggin to join the band full time.

“I actually had a dilemma on my hands that day,” he said, laughing.

In the end, Scoggin signed on with Casting Crowns and has been part of the band’s past several albums, includ-ing “Thrive,” which was released in January. Being part of the band has been an amazing and profound experience, he said.

“God prepared me to be part of Crowns for a lot

of reasons, mostly what he needed to teach me,” Scoggin said. “He’s done so much in my life and my family’s lives.”

Being part of the band has allowed the Scoggin family the opportunity to see the world and to meet people of different backgrounds, learning to appreciate all kinds of people and the ways God has blessed them.

Scoggin’s journeys will bring him to Southern Illinois on Saturday, March 15, when Casting Crowns performs at 7 p.m. at the SIU Arena. The band will be joined by Laura Story and For King and Country for the show. Tickets are $18 to $50 and can be purchased online at www.siusalukis.com or by calling 618-453-2000.

The band is touring to promote “Thrive,” a con-cept album in the sense that the entire album is inspired by a single Bible chapter, Psalms 1. The imagery on the album cover features a tree with its limbs and roots extended, showing the importance of being rooted in God’s word and reach-ing out to share Jesus’ love

with others.It features 12 songs — six

of which focus on each side of the relationship with Christ, Scoggin said. The band wanted to make sure it didn’t fall into the trap of simply releasing another album for the sake of releasing another album.

“We really felt we had to say something strong,” Scoggin said. “There was no way we were just going to put out another album. Every single song just nails you somewhere.”

While Casting Crowns has found its place among contemporary Christian acts, there are still people hesitant to listen because of the Christian label. That’s often a difficult hur-dle to overcome with the mainstream presentation of extreme Christianity.

“Jesus gets a bad rep with the Christian label,” Scoggin said. “If people will give it a chance, they won’t find protests and picket lines in our songs; they’ll find love and accep-tance and God’s word. And God has never let us down.”

[email protected] 618-351-5031

PROVIDED BY SOUTHSIDE ENTERTAINMENT Christian group Casting Crowns has won several Grammy and Dove awards through its tenure. The band, led by youth pastor Mark Hill, will perform in Carbondale on Saturday, March 15.

CAsTiNG CROWNs

WHAT: Concert also fea-turing Laura Story and For King and Country

WHeN: 7 p.m. Saturday, March 15

WHeRe: SIU ArenaTiCKeTs are $18 to $50

and can be purchased at www.siusalukis.com or by calling 618-453-2000.

MOUNT VERNON — “South Pacific,” an oper-etta, will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, March 6 to 8 in Mount Vernon Township High School. This is the 73rd operetta presented by the school.

The performance will feature a full orchestra directed by Rolland Mays. It’s the 25th year Mays has directed the operetta.

Mount Vernon Town-ship High School is reportedly the only school in Southern Illinois that presents its operetta with a

full orchestra.Since 1942, MVTHS

has missed only three years in presenting the operetta, once during the World War II recov-ery efforts and in 1990, when the production was moved from fall to spring.

Mays points out that his mother played in the orchestra in the 1940s.

This year’s event will also include a display featuring memorabilia from past years.

Tickets are $5. For more information, email [email protected].

— The Southern

Operetta highlights spring performance in Mount Vernon

Concerts

southern illinois saturday Night Music:

Features Seven Day Weekend, Shutting Down The Moon and DJ Special K, 7-10 p.m. Saturday March 8, 218 N. Illinois Ave., Carbondale; for teenagers and families; no drugs, alcohol or smoking; $2; 618-967-9572; [email protected]

The Bankesters: 5 p.m. Sunday, March 9, The Old Feed Store, 111 N. Appleknocker Drive, Cobden; doors open 4 p.m.; concert-goers may bring personal coolers; soups, sandwiches, popcorn and soft drinks available; tickets, $15; www.brownpapertickets.com; www.theoldfeestore.com

Casting Crowns: Plus Laura Story and For King and Country, 7 p.m. Saturday, March 15, SIU Arena; $18/$24/$30/$35/$50; SIUtickets.com; 1-877-Salukis

The Renee Rosnes Quartet: Jazz, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March

22, Shryock Auditorium, SIU; Steve Nelson on vibraphone, Peter Washington on bass and Lewis Nash on drums; general admission, $12; students, $6; SIU students with valid ID, free; 618-453-6000; SouthernTicketsOnline.com

Kentucky Talent search 2014:

7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 8, Kentucky Opry, 88 Chilton Lane, Benton, Ky.; $16/$15/$10/$7.50; www.kentuckyopry.com; 888-459-8704

The Roots & Boots Tour: 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 14, Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center, Paducah; features Aaron Tippin, Joe Diffie and Sammy Kershaw; $89-$21.50; 270-450-4444

Operetta south pacific: 73rd

operetta, 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, March 6-8, Mount Vernon Township High School; orchestra directed by Rolland Mays; $5; [email protected]


CASTING CROWNS


COBDEN — The Bank-esters will be showcasing their newest CD, “Love Has Wheels,” at 5 p.m. Sunday, March 9, in The Old Feed Store.

The new CD features the regular line-up of singing sisters Emily Bankester on fiddle, Alysha Bankester on man-dolin, Melissa Bankester Triplett on bass, Kyle Triplett on banjo, and mom Dorene and dad Phil on guitars. Guest artists include Sierra Hull, Josh Williams, Rob Ickes, Jim Hurst, Kenny Malone and Larry Atamanuik.

The Bankesters’ song “Looking Forward to Look-ing Back” was the fourth most played song on blue-grass radio for the month

of December and took the No. 1 spot on Bluegrass Today’s chart in February.

Emily won the first International Bluegrass Music Association Momentum award for Vocalist of the Year and the band has been nominated IBMA’s Momentum award for Band of the Year.

Doors open at 4 p.m. at 111 N. Appleknocker Drive.

Concertgoers may bring personal coolers. Soups, sandwiches, popcorn and soft drinks will also be available.

Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com.

For more information, go to www.theoldfeestore.com.

— The Southern

The Bankesters feature new CD ‘Love Has Wheels’

PROVIDED BY THE BANKESTERS The Bankesters perform Sunday at The Old Feed Store in Cobden.

Movies Art Wineries Books Cover story theAter things to do MusiC Wineries FRidAY

#Pop: 7-10 p.m., Walker’s Bluff

Blue Afternoon: 6-9 p.m. Rustle Hill Winery

sATURdAY Marty davis: 2-5 p.m. Blue

Sky VineyardTim Whiteford: 2-6 p.m.,

Owl Creek Vineyarddirtwater Fox: 3-6 p.m.,

Walker’s BluffThe Voyageurs: 3-7 p.m.,

StarView VineyardsJonathan Baker: 3:30-

6:30 p.m. Von Jakob Winery & Brewery

Adam Williams: 6-9 p.m. Rustle Hill Winery

dave Caputo Band: 7-10 p.m., Walker’s Bluff

sUNdAY sabrina & Tony: 2-5 p.m.

Blue Sky Vineyarddan Barron duo: 2-5 p.m.,

Walker’s BluffThe dano show: 2:30-

5:30 p.m. Von Jakob Winery & Brewery

dave simmons: 2-6 p.m., Owl Creek Vineyard

FiNd THeM HeRe Alto Vineyards: Illinois 127,

Alto PassBlue sky Vineyard: 3150 S.

Rocky Comfort Road, MakandaHonker Hill Winery: 4861

Spillway Road, CarbondaleOrlandini Vineyard: 410

Thorn Lane, MakandaOwl Creek Vineyard: 2655

Water Valley Road, Cobdenlincoln Heritage Winery:

772 Kaolin Road, CobdenPheasant Hollow Winery:

14931 Illinois 37, Whittington

Rustle Hill Winery: U.S. 51, Cobden

starView Vineyards: 5100 Wing Hill Road, Cobden

Von Jakob Winery & Brewery: 230 Illinois 127, Alto Pass

Walker’s Bluff: 326 Vermont Road, Carterville

Bars & Clubs THURsdAY

Carbondale: Hangar 9, AD/CB

PKs, Max Hay Tres Hombres, Storm CrowsMarion: The Mansion,

Big Lake Country Band, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Thompsonville: Lion’s Club, The Swing N’ Country Dance Band, 7-9:30 p.m.

FRidAY Carbondale: Hangar 9,

Secondary Modern w/The Flowers of Evil and Jenny Johnson Band

PKs, Indigo Blues BandTres Hombres, Max Allen

Banddu Quoin: American

Legion, The Egyptian Combo, 8 p.m.-midnight

ina: Community Building, Friday Night Jam Band, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Marion: Youth Center, Craig’s Country Band, 6-9 p.m.

Whittington: Corner Dance Hall, Rebel Country Band, 7:30-10:30 p.m.

sATURdAY Benton: Gwen Wynn Senior

Center, Swing N Country Dance Band, 7-9:30 p.m.

Carbondale: Hangar 9, Jackhead w/The Swamp Tigers and Mr. Swamp Fox

PKs, The Big IdeaTres Hombres, Barnacle Billy

and the Zebra MusselsHerrin: N-Kahootz Night

Club, Mudsills, 9 p.m.-1 a.m.Marion: American Legion, 90

Proof, 7:30 p.m.Hideout Restaurant, Bob

Pina, piano 5:30-9:30 p.m.Eagles, Salty Dog, 7-10 p.m.Thompsonville: Old Country

Store Dance Barn, Lil’ Boot & Classic Country, 7-10 p.m.

sUNdAY Marion: Eagles, Salty Dog,

6-9 p.m.

MONdAY du Quoin: Derby’s

Community Hall, Jerry’s Jammers, 7-9 p.m.

Marion: Youth Center, Craig’s Country Band, 6-9 p.m.

TUesdAY Herrin: Teen Town, Country

Ramrods, 7-10 p.m.Marion: Hideout Restaurant,

Bob Pina, piano 5:30-8:30 p.m.Thompsonville: Lion’s Club,

Mike’s Band, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

FiNd THeM HeRe Hideout Restaurant:

2602 Wanda Drive, Marion 618-997-8325

Cornerdance Hall: 200 Franklin St., Whittington 618-303-5266

Curbside: 227 W. Main St., Carbondale 618-490-1539

derby’s Community Hall: 214 High St., Du Quoin 618-201-1753

Gwen Wynn senior Center: North 9th St., Benton 618-967-4635

Hangar 9: 511 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale 618-549-0511

Herrin Teen Town: 105 N. 13th St., Herrin 618-889-3651

Just elsie’s: 302 Jackson St., Orient, 618-932-3401

lion’s Club: South Street, Thompsonville 618-218-4888

Marion American legion: Longstreet Road, Marion 618-997-6168

Marion eagles: Russell and Longstreet Roads, Marion 618-993-6300

Marion Youth Center: 211 E. Boulevard, Marion 618-922-7853

N-Kahootz Night Club: 115 W. Cherry St., Herrin 618-942-9345

Old Country store dance Barn: Main Street, Thompsonville 618-218-4676

PK’s: 308 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale 618-529-1124

steeleville American legion: 303 S. Chester St., Steeleville 618-965-3362

Tres Hombres: 119 N. Washington St., Carbondale 618-457-3308

The Mansion: 1602 Heartland Drive, Marion 618-917-5230

Cafés Coulter, Goot and Wall:

7 p.m. Thursday, Grotto Lounge/Newell House, 201 E. Main St., Carbondale; 618-549-6400

The Gordons: 7 p.m. Friday, Cousin Andy’s Coffee-house, Church of the Good Shepherd, 515 S. Orchard Drive, Carbondale; $10; students, $5; www.cousinandy.org

Brendan scahill: 8-11 p.m. Friday, Fat patties’ Red Corner, 611 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale; 618-529-3287

Fiddlerick Johnson: 8-11 p.m. Saturday, Fat patties’ Red Corner, 611 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale; 618-529-3287

1/2 way to Walker’s Bluff on Reed Station Rd.Carbondale, IL

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CARBONDALE — The Renee Rosnes Quartet will present a jazz concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 22, in Shryock Auditorium at SIU.

Renee Rosnes, a cel-ebrated jazz pianist and composer, will be joined by fellow world-class jazz performers Steve Nelson on vibraphone, Peter Washington on bass, and Lewis Nash on drums.

“To be able to offer an artist of this caliber is just an extraordinary opportunity for our students and our com-munity,” said Philip Brown, professor of jazz studies at the SIU School of Music. “It reflects the ongoing commitment of the university to promote greatness in the region.”

According to Rosnes, the repertoire for the Carbondale concert will be varied, with new and older original composi-tions, classic material from jazz masters such as Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, and original arrangements of songs from the “Ameri-can Popular Songbook.”

Canadian-born Rosnes established a reputa-tion as a major talent after relocating from

Vancouver to New York in 1986. She has recorded and toured with a verita-ble “Who’s Who” of jazz.

Aside from leading her own bands, Rosnes is a member of jazz bassist Ron Carter’s Foursight Quartet and frequently performs with her hus-band, acclaimed jazz pianist Bill Charlap.

She has released a series of 12 albums, four of which have garnered Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy). Her recordings reveal her to be both a powerful and sensitive musician with a huge range. Also a formi-dable composer, Rosnes was named Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada’s Composer of the Year in 2003.

The concert is free to all SIU students with a valid ID. Tickets for adults are $12 and $6 for other students.

Tickets may be obtained by phone at 618-453-6000, online at South-ernTicketsOnline.com, or in person noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the McLeod Theater Box Office in the Communica-tions Buildling.

— The Southern

Renee Rosnes jazz quartet to perform March 22 at Shryock

PROVIDED BY JOHN ABBOTT Internationally accliamed jazz artist Renee Rosnes and the Renee Rosnes Quartet perform March 22 at SIU.

ROGeR MOOReMCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE NEWS

With “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” Dreamworks Animation sets its “Way-back Machine” to the early 1960s and charmingly revives one of the most popular features of the old “Rocky & Bullwinkle Show” — the one about a dog, and his boy.

This winning, witty and warm cartoon captures the flavor, the tone and some of snappy pace of the TV shorts that began with the droll voice of Bill Scott intoning, “Peabody here, my boy, Sherman ...”

Mr. Peabody is a Nobel Prize-winning pooch who “invented the fist-bump, auto-tune and Zumba,” and then adopted Sher-man. He’s given the boy, now 7, a head-start on school by taking the kid time-traveling. The Way-back Machine has, we can see from the photos deco-rating their apartment walls,allowedSherman to meet everyone from

Gandhi to Einstein, Leon-ardo to the Wright Broth-ers. He’s given Van Gogh painting suggestions, caught a Jackie Robinson home run and short-circuited Ben Franklin.

“Where are we going today, Mr. Peabody?”

“Not where, Sher-man. When.”

As long as Sher-man keeps this a secret, nobody will be the wiser as to why he knows, for a fact, that George Wash-ington never chopped down a cherry tree. Of

course, Sherman can’t keep a secret — not even from the mean girl, Penny, who bullies him.

And that’s when the trouble starts. Fans of the old Jay Ward TV show may take longer in adjusting to the new voices — Ty Burrell of “Modern Fam-ily” is a droll-enough

Peabody, Max Charles (“The Neighbors”) is Sherman. But the witty word play and the pull-out-all-stops supporting cast start to pay off.

Kids will dig the slap-stick, and adults will be tickled at one-liners, run-ning gags and puns.

‘Mr. Peabody’ still has history lessons for ‘Sherman’ — and the rest of us

AP | DREAMWORKS Mr. Peabody (voiced by Ty Burell), Penny (voiced by Ariel Winter) and Sherman (voiced by Max Charles) in a scene from ‘Mr Peabody & Sherman.’

MR. peABOdY & sHeRMAN ***

Rated PG for some mild action and brief rude humor; animated with the voices of Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Patrick Warburton, Stephen Colbert, Leslie Mann, Stanley Tucci; directed by Rob Minkoff; opening Friday at Carbondale 8, University Place 8 and AMC 8 in Marion.

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Winery: Fri. & Sat. 10-9 Sun. 12-5Restaurant: Fri. & Sat. 12-9 Sun. 12-5



King Leonidas slipped into legend at the Battle of Thermopylae, martyred with 300 Spartans for the sake of Western Civilization and Spartan glory.

So it was too much to hope that someone with Gerard Butler’s charismatic, bellowing swagger would be around for the sequel, “300: Rise of an Empire.” His Leonidas and his oiled-down eight-pack are sorely missed, as are the quotable quatrains of that famous fight, the Spartan trash talk that sings through the ages. So many Persian arrows will rain on them that they will “blot out the sun”?

“Then we shall fight in

the shade.”There’s nothing that

moving in “Rise of an Empire,” a more visually stunning but less thrill-ing epic with bloodier slo-motion swordfights, this time at sea. It lacks the heroic proportions and

poetry of “300,” mainly thanks to a less impressive cast and murky, forget-table script.

Sullivan Stapleton (“Gangster Squad”) is Themistokles, the Greek general who took the oracle’s prophecy that

Greece could only be saved “by a wall of wood” (i.e., ships) to heart and fought the enormous Persian fleet at Artemisium and Salamis. That prophecy, by the way, isn’t shown — a clever and quotably theatrical moment discarded as Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) relates this oral history.

The movie opens at the end of Thermopylae, flashes back to the earlier Battle of Marathon, then flashes forward to the fictive present as Themis-toklesrallies the city states and prepares for battle at sea as Leonidas marches to his fate at Thermopylae.

The Persian fleet is led by the fictional she-devil Artemisia, played by one-time Bond babe Eva Green,

a seductive swordfighter in jet black hair, Egyptian eye makeup and ancient Persian fishnet stockings.

Director Noam Murro did the college professor romance “Smart People,” in no way a recommendation for directing a red-blooded digital epic of an ancient sea battle. Zack Snyder, who directed the original film, had a hand in the tin-eared script. It’s not graphic novel creator Frank Miller’s fault that Thermopylae, the basis for his “300” book, made for more elegiac history

than Salamis.But the design is stun-

ning, an improvement over 2006’s “300.” And the action never disappoints.

It’s a pity this colorless cast doesn’t hold a candle to the Butler/Headey/ Michael Fassbender/David Wenham crew of the original, that the writers couldn’t conjure up thrilling speeches to match the original.

Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that these pretenders spoiled their franchise, and here their movie lies.

‘300’ sequel is prettier but less thrilling

AP | WARNER BROS. PICTURES Eva Green stars in ‘300: Rise of an Empire,’ opening Friday in 2D and 3D.

‘300: Rise OF an eMPiRe’ **½

Rated R for strong, sustained sequences of stylized bloody violence throughout, a sex scene, nudity and language; starring Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Jack O’Connell, Andrew Tiernan, David Wenham; directed by Noam Murro; opening Friday at Carbondale 8, University 8 in Carbondale and AMC 8 in Marion.


618-351-5049thesouthern.com/top20

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“Stalingrad” is a huge, old-fashioned combat spectacle, a war story told on a vast scale and shown on vast IMAX movie screens, in 3-D.

It’s Russian — oh so very Russian, an epic of “The Great Patriotic War” that mixes vivid, blood-and-guts combat with chest-thumping patrio-tism and pathos.

And unfortunately, it’s more than a little clumsy, from its absurd fram-ing device to the simple head count of the cast of “fathers” who saved a young woman, and the world, during the “blood-iest battle in history.”

In late 1942, Soviet reinforcements cross the Volga River and storm, literally, through a wall of fire to seize an apartment building on the front lines. They rescue a young rape victim, Katya (Mariya Smolnikova), and struggle to protect her from the Germans, led by a mourn-ful, war-weary captain (Thomas Kretschmann), who are on the brink of throwing the Soviets out of the city.

Kapitan Gromov, played by an emotional Colin Farrell look-alike (Pyotr Fyodorov), worries that his tiny band will be too busy saving Katya to save Mother Russia. But in the symbolism of the cinema, she is both girl-victim and Mother Russia — traumatized by war, clinging to vestiges of civilization in her par-ents’ art- and piano-filled apartment, hell-bent on hanging on and having her revenge.

Director Fedor

Bondarchuk (the fine Afghan war thriller “9th Company” was his) stages the room-to-room, hand-to-hand fighting with a brutal, bloody brio. The thoroughly ruined sets, from the riverfront with its improvised rafts float-ing troops across, to the everything-is-burned-bombed-and-broken apartment blocks, put us inside the battle.

But this film was plainly built for the Putin-esque Soviet — sorry, Russian — market. Every excess has an old fashioned hint of Soviet-era propaganda about it. As interesting as it might be to get a whiff of how the Russians see themselves and their his-tory, Bondarchuk keeps finding ways to turn off overseas audiences.

Take the frame in which the story is told. Bond-archuk’s famous actor-director father Sergei (“Waterloo,” “War and Peace”) plays an elderly Russian doctor telling the story of his mother’s sur-vival to a bunch of injured

Germans trapped in a building collapse in the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Heroic Soviet — sorry, Russian — rescue teams went there to save the day.

The old doctor tells

the story of the battle through the eyes of his mother, who always told him he had “five fathers,” the men who saved her and perhaps fathered him during or after the battle.

The problem with that? There are plainly six, not five, men heavily invested in Katya’s survival. At one point, they even pose on

the steps of the apart-ment building — six of them. Who was left out of Mom’s count: the kapitan, the silent opera singer turned killing machine (Aleksey Barabash), the piggish sniper (Dmitriy Lysenkov), the gruff Navy warrant officer (Oleg Volku), the one they call “Angel,” or the other they call “Sissy”?

Landing Kretschmann, whose big break was saving “The Pianist” at the end of Roman Polan-ski’s WWII film, meant building his character up, giving him a Russian “comfort woman” (Yanina Studilina) whom he holds hostage because she’s a dead ringer for his dead wife and treats as his lover-confessor — even though they don’t speak each other’s language.

Convincing digital dive bombers attack and missiles fired from

German “Moaning Min-nie” launchers streak through the smoke-filled skies. Jews are murdered, and back-talking Soviet sailors are summarily exe-cuted. Every so often, for the sake of a plot device, a soldier of this side or that one yells “Freeze” (in Russian or German, with English subtitles) rather than carrying on the kill-ing spree, just so we have the hint of foes taking prisoners and debating, face to face.

It’s a movie every bit as bloated as the biggest movies Bondarchuk’s dad made in his heyday.Inde-tail and combat spectacle, “Stalingrad” is hard to beat. And whatever its failings, one can’t help but be curious about a story as connected to national identity as this one — a film that, like today’s Russia, feels more Soviet than Russian.

War is melodramatic hell in Russian film ‘Stalingrad’

AP | SONY PICTURES Philippe Reinhardt and Mariya Smolnikova in a scene from ‘Stalingrad,’ a film set in World War II Russia.

stalinGRad **

Rated R for sequences of war violence; starring Pyotr Fyodorov, Mariya Smolnikova, Thomas Kretschmann, Yanina Studilina, Dmitriy Lysenkov, Aleksey Barabash, Andrey Smolyakov, Sergey Bondarchuk; directed by Fedor Bondarchuk; opening Friday at University Place 8 in Carbondale.


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