Opening May 31, at the Georgetown Palace Theatre, is the musical called “Bright Star.” Inspired by a true story, it features a Tony -nominated score by actor-writer-songwriter Steve Martin and singer-songwriter Edie Brickell, a name familiar to many Wimberley residents.
While the Georgetown production of the musical includes a live bluegrass band, both composers say the music is definitely “Americana.”
In a Broadway Direct article by Andy Propst in which he interviewed both Martin and Brickell in 2015, he relates the play’s beginnings.
“Bright Star had a marvelously interesting beginning,” wrote Propst. “It all started in Brickell’s kitchen. While she was cooking, she was also listening to a track that Martin had sent of a banjo line for a song. “I noticed [that] when this one part rolled around, I would sing, ‘Woo-woo,’ and it dawned on me that it sounded a little bit like a train,” Brickell says.”
According to the article, the “gut response to Martin’s music quickly sent Brickell to her computer. Knowing that she wanted to write a song about a train with the music, she remembers how she started Googling names of Southern trains. From that impulse, Martin and Brickell wrote the song, “Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby” which they recorded on a 2013 Grammy Award-winning album, “Love Has Come for You.”
In Brickell’s research she also came across the true story of a Southern woman who discovered that her past was “made up.” From that, Brickell said in the article, “Steve basically took the one incident and then his imagination took over.”
The play, set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Caroline in
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and what to see from managing editor Teresa Kendrick.
the 1940s, is a tale of love and redemption. A literary editor, Alice Murphy, meets a young soldier just home from WWII. Haunted by a unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past.
Called “refreshingly genuine” and “daringly hopeful,” the musical is applauded for its “beautiful melodies and powerfully moving characters.”
An opening night after party is planned for ticket holders on the 31st. For those interested in attending, tickets are available at getpalacetickets. com.
Roam: San Antonio’s King William District and Villa Finale My roam this week took me to the south side of San Antonio to the historic King William District. The neighborhood is roughly 15 blocks and is bordered on the west by the San Antonio River and its gorgeous River Walk, on the north by César Chávez Boulevard and on the south by E. Guenther Street. Fifty stately homes, many designed by prominent architects and built in the 1880s, are part of the district. Most are immaculately preserved with pretty gardens on one- and two-acre lots.
As you walk or drive through the quiet area you’ll see homes built in a variety of styles. Second Empire, Italianate, Victorian and something called the Texas German Vernacular native limestone are most frequently seen. Two architects, Alfred Giles and Albert Beckman, left their mark on the area by designing some of the most impressive homes. The Carl Groos House at 335 King William St., designed by Giles, was designated a Texas Historic Landmark in 1977 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is an imposing Victorian- style home built of native limestone.
The area was named after the Prussian ruler Wilhelm I. One of the first families to buy a lot in the area was the Ernst Altgelt family. Their home was completed in 1867, and by city ordinance, Altgelt was given the honor of naming the street. He anglicized Wilhelm to King William and the street, and eventually the district, was known as King William.
After cruising the district by car and stopping to watch runners on the trails provided by the River Walk, I stopped to tour a home at 401 King William Street called Villa Finale. Now a museum, Villa Finale was built in 1876 as a simple stone frontier building. Its significance is that the home evolved from a one-story, four room house into a “monumental Italian Renaissance Revival Tower.” The home went through several owners, including Ike T. Pryor, probably the most famous cattleman in Texas.
In 1967, Walter Mathis, who was a San Antonio civic leader, bought and restored the property. It had been used as a boarding house for some 30 years. Remarkably, he went on to purchase and restore fourteen more historic properties in King William, focusing on restoring the roofs and foundations. Docents at the museum told me he worked in the finance industry and brokered one of the largest deals of the day, the merger of Pepsi and Frito-Lay.
A die-hard collector, Mathis filled his home with fine and decorative art. Not rigid in his approach, he collected what he liked. In the living room was a large collection of Napoleon artifacts. In the hall and throughout the house were many handsome bronzes. In the dining room, among the large collection of sterling silver, were 17 cow-shaped silver creamers, one for every guest at the table. In the library were 2,000 books, many of which were Waverly Novels by Sir Walter Scott. In the kitchen, beautiful Wedgewood pieces were displayed next to coppertone appliances which were all the rage in the 1970s.
While the home is filled with very fine collections, the house does not come off as stuffy. I wanted to take a nap on the sofa in the den off the kitchen and lean against one of the kitchen work tables, before the docent stopped me. I felt comfortable there, probably because the rooms were on the smaller side and his collections felt “personal.” You can tell that Mathis loved beautiful things that delighted him.
Repairs were being made on the second floor, so touring the large collection of Texas items upstairs was out of the question. But it didn’t matter. At 6,894 square feet, 13 rooms, eight fireplaces and four bathrooms, there were plenty of other things to see. For the $12 entrance fee, it was a wonderful way to peek inside one of the homes in the King William district.
Rave: The Liberty Bar Just blocks from Villa Finale, in King William, is the Liberty Bar at 1111 S. Alamo Street. Not to be confused with its earlier incarnation on Josephine, the new Liberty Bar is housed in a restored convent. The two-story restaurant can be accessed by an elevator that opens to the exterior, if taking the stairs isn’t a comfortable option.
The Liberty is an easygoing place with an eclectic menu and full San Antonio vibe. I could get, among other things, Matzah Ball soup, a dish called the “Beirut Flashback” of hummus, baba ghanoush, and tzatziki, or burgers, homemade fettuccine, steaks, pizza and an Argentinian salad. I ordered the Chile Relleno en Nogada, a stuffed poblano chile drizzled with walnut cream sauce and topped with pomegranate seeds. Usually a Christmas-time entree, I jumped at the chance to make it my lunch.
I arrived just after 3 p.m., at the start of Happy Hour, and the upstairs bar was lively. My waiter, though friendly, couldn’t remember anything I asked for from him, but it didn’t seem to matter. The food, once it arrived, was delicious. I decided to adopt the Liberty’s vibe and enjoy a lazy lunch from my table overlooking the beautiful King William homes on Madison Street.
