Roy Orbison rarely expressed anything celebratory in his work. In songs like Blue Angel and Mean Woman Blues, he -- and we -- found joy in heartache, beauty in the shades of gray in which Orbisons music resides. So one wonders what the late singer would have made of the multi-tiered hubbub (including a documentary film, a gallery exhibit, a concert, and an awards banquet) kicking off this week. Perhaps the most compelling of the events is Mercy: A Roy Orbison Pilgrimage -- a display of Dallas entrepreneur Glen Agritelleys Orbison memorabilia, the largest private stash in the world. The exhibition features nearly 100 items from Orbisons career, among them a signed guitar, vintage concert posters and sheet music, and costumes the singer/songwriter wore on stage.
The opening of the exhibit on Friday, January 25, commences with a talk by Agritelley at 11 a.m. Its followed at 8 p.m. by a tribute concert featuring the Truly Lover Trio and the world première of Kim Scharnbergs Suite on the Tunes of Roy Orbison as performed by the Herberger String Quartet.
Jan. 25-April 18, 2008