Arts Talk

By Compiled by STEVE PERSALL, JOHN FLEMING and MARY ANN MARGER

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 8, 2000

Tampa Bay Titan

St. Petersburg mechanical engineer Kirk Barker has a special interest in the Disney football film Remember the Titans, the most popular box office draw in the U.S. last week.

Barker, 45, was a linebacker and running back for the T.C. Williams High School Titans during the 1971 season that inspired the film. Barker was interviewed by researching screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard and served as a technical advisor last year during the film's production in Atlanta. He's also a minor character in the movie, played by actor John Michael Weatherly.

Barker's impression: "Disney didn't let the truth get in the way of a good story."

The film traces the uneasy racial integration of two (in reality, three) Alexandria, Va., high schools and the state championship football team that emerged. Barker mildly disputed the film's version of those events.

"The kids weren't the ones with the (racial) problems," he said. "It was the adults. We were too tired after practice to fight. And, they made the games look close, but we dominated people."

Ybor movies, past and present

Muvico Theaters recently introduced the future of Ybor City's movie entertainment by donating an artifact from its past.

The new Centro Ybor entertainment complex, featuring Muvico's Majestic 20 multiplex, was built on the former location of the Centro Espanol building.

During demolition of that landmark, a vintage Super Simplex projector from the 1940s was salvaged. Muvico renovated the projector and donated it to the Ybor City State Museum during an open house last week.

"I can't tell you how thrilled we are to have this," said museum executive director Melinda Chavez. "It's quite a specimen, and we have a very special place for it in the front window."

After the presentation, guests got a glimpse of the future for Ybor City moviegoers. Muvico introduced its Premier theater section featuring gourmet snacks, wine, cocktails and reserved, leather-cushioned seating with wood armrests.

Because of liquor license restrictions, the Premier section is open only to ticketbuyers age 21 and older.

"This is for adults to have a sophisticated, grown-up time without teens, without kids," said Muvico spokesman Wayne Garcia.

Admission to Premier seating is $10, an increase from the $7 adult ticket price for Majestic 20's other auditoriums. Free popcorn is included with that fee.

Quote of the week

"If the orchestra wants to get a great conductor to come here, it needs to establish an endowment, and it needs to solve the hall problem in Tampa."

-- Jahja Ling, who is stepping down as the Florida Orchestra's music director in 2001. He was speaking of the fact that the orchestra now roams among three halls: the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater and the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg.

Art beyond Tampa Bay

"Art Nouveau, 1890-1914" at the National Gallery of Art in Washington opens today through January. The largest and most comprehensive show ever on the subject, it was organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where it premiered. (202) 737-4215 or http://www.nga.gov.

Fame game

Artist Josette Urso of Tampa and New York is exhibiting "The Ballinglen Paintings/Summer 2000" in a one-person show at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts in New York through Oct. 28.

Film scholarship contest

The Film Foundation of Tampa Bay is seeking applicants for its Linda Perry/Touch the Future Scholarship program. One or two scholarships worth $1,000 each are expected to be awarded in 2001. Tampa Bay students enrolled in upper division or graduate film programs, and who will be serving a paid internship within the industry, are eligible. Deadline for application is Feb. 16. Call (727) 464-7240 for information.

- Compiled by St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall, performing arts critic John Fleming and art critic Mary Ann Marger

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