Tuesday, Oct. 29, noon-1:30 p.m.

When the man responsible for Walmart’s global presence speaks, you better believe that the local business community will be at the Hyatt Regency Hotel to listen. Rick Webb, Walmart vice president of global business processes, is the special guest speaker at the Center for Executive and Professional Development’s Executive Management Briefings luncheon in Tulsa. Event begins at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 29, and will be followed by a special presentation (1:45-3 p.m.) celebrating the center’s 60th anniversary. The Center for Executive and Professional Development is a program of the Oklahoma State University Spears School of Business. The Hyatt Regency is located at 100 E. Second St. in downtown Tulsa. The celebration includes networking, presentations by school faculty, a question & answer panel and more. A similar event will take place at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City on Nov. 7. Registration for the forum with Webb is $85. For more information, see www.cepd.okstate.edu.

Fall is in the air, and it can also be in your cocktail glass. All of those great fall aromas and flavors can find their way into refreshing drinks just in time for the cooler weather.

Jenny Bradley, bar manager at Tulsa’s The Vault, offers three craft cocktails that are sure to chase away that chill in the air.

The first is the Gin and Jam. Gin and lemon juice are mixed with jam, which is served on a spoon and stirred into the drink. For the fall months, The Vault serves this using house-made cranberry orange and spiced apple preserves. To make it at home, simply combine 1 3/4 ounces of Broker’s gin, 1/2 ounce of lemon juice and a spoonful of desired preserves in a small rocks glass and stir.

The Sazerac, as Bradley describes, “is a classic New Orleans drink and one of the oldest cocktails, as well. It uses absinthe and bitters to highlight the flavors of the rye whiskey. The absinthe adds a lightly sweet licorice aroma to the drink without greatly altering the flavor.”

To concoct a Sazerac, chill a rocks glass and set aside. Add two ounces of Bulleit Rye, one sugar cube, two dashes of Peychaud Bitters and one dash of Angostura Bitters. Stir all ingredients over ice in a second glass. Add absinthe to the chilled glass and swirl it around to fully coat the interior, then dump out excess. Strain drink into first glass. Garnish with lemon oil by cutting a piece of peel and pinching between the fingers to expel the oil over the surface of the drink.

“The spice from the ginger blends nicely with the earthy sweetness of the apple brandy,” says Bradley of a cocktail called Raquel’s Spell.

To make it, combine 1 3/4 ounces of Laird’s Apple Brandy, 1/2 ounce of lemon juice, 1/4 ounce of Benedictine, 1/4 ounce of ginger syrup and two dashes of apple bitters in a shaker. Shake and strain into a sugar-rimmed martini glass. Garnish with an apple slice.
 

I’m not sure if it qualifies as ironic or just funny that an acquaintance from the Atlantic Coast recently told me he was planning a move to Tulsa next year, based on the number of theater opportunities here.

First, just think about the statement on its own. A performer opting to leave the Coast for the Midwest and choosing Tulsa over other possibilities? That’s quite something in the era of instant celebrity via YouTube and the plague that is reality TV.

 Where the irony comes in is that just a week earlier, while discussing the general theme of this blog, a local figure in the arts had mentioned that the vibrancy of the arts here is a bit of a secret and that word getting out had both potential positive and negative impact.

Well, it would seem the word has gotten out about the scene here in some circles at least. Asking this acquaintance his thought process and reasoning was pretty revealing and interesting to me since this blog is about my own relocation here and exploration of visual and performing arts in Oklahoma.

The acquaintance – we’ll call him Bob – changed careers a few years ago for one of those reasons unrelated to a bad economy. He gave up a steady day job to pursue acting in theater. He’s had a couple of decent roles, but it has been a struggle. Higher property values and thus overhead, greater competition from the largest theaters and the pressure for financial success have diminished smaller theaters and troupes, my friend tells me. The result is fewer opportunities for enthusiasts, who might very well be talented but might not have the chance to demonstrate it in the huge city-states of the East Coast.

So, Bob did some research and discovered a little city in northeast Oklahoma with an excellent live theater scene, with venues large and small and with a population seemingly supportive of both traditional and experimental theater. He said he went to the effort to make a few calls, including to a woman who wrote and had produced a play of her own here in town when she was still a teen years ago. He mentioned a few other people and venues, with which, I am ashamed to say, I am not very familiar. Bob’s conclusion – for someone interested in theater and having been willing to give up a day job to pursue acting (and eventually writing and directing), Tulsa offered what he believes to be the best opportunity for success – success however he defines it. He made a plan and is already asking me about neighborhoods, etc. (I’m assuming he is also asking people who might know about such things!)

Most importantly, from this blog’s perspective, is that this conversation has reinvigorated my own interest in small, mid-size and cutting edge theater in Oklahoma. So far, I’ve concentrated on the visual arts and they remain a great passion of mine. But so too is original theater and I’d like to explore more of it.

That’s where you, dear readers, can help. What is your favorite small or mid-size live theater venue? Where did you see the most original theatrical production? Which theater or theaters do you think are beneath the radar but which deserve greater attention? With your help, I’m sure we can help enthusiasts around the state learn a little at the same time I do. You can respond to this blog posting or email me direct with your suggestions, and I promise each will be explored.

And along the way, we might just help Bob well ahead of his arrival in Green Country.

-Michael W. Sasser is Oklahoma Magazine’s senior editor and an award-winning journalist. For comments or suggestions, reach him at [email protected].

Remember watching TV that first day of your Christmas holiday break from school? You could bet that somewhere on the dial you’d find Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney and friends singing in a train car bound for New England. The classic musical filled with gorgeous songs like “White Christmas” and “Blue Skies,” as well as those amazing dance numbers with Vera Ellen and the hilarity of Danny Kaye is now a theater musical. The Hollywood holiday favorite jumps to the stage when Celebrity Attractions brings Irving Berlin’s White Christmas to the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall (Nov. 5-10) and the Tulsa Performing Arts Center (Nov. 12-17). The charm and fun are still there, even if the film’s beloved stars aren’t. The OKC Civic Center is located at 201 N. Walker Ave., OKC. The Tulsa PAC is located at 101 E. Third St., Tulsa. For times, more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.okcciviccenter.com and www.tulsapac.com.