Thursday, January 31, 2008

PURE extends dates of The Tragedian

Posted by John Stoehr on Thu, Jan 31, 2008 at 2:58 PM

PURE Historical, a branch of PURE Theater, has added dates to its amazing one-man play, The Tragedian. Written and performed by Rodney Lee Rogers, the monologue is the story of Edwin Booth, the great 19th-century actor famed for playing Shakespeare's Hamlet and Richard III, and older brother of John Wilkes, the man who killed Lincoln.

The additional dates are part of PURE's plans to offer works like The Tragedian (small, intimate, easy to produce) on an ongoing basis in venues around the city (though they hope to establish a more permanent home in the coming months). All the dates below are at the Circular Church on Meeting Street. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25. —J.S.

Thursdays in February, March and April:

February 14 & 28

March 6, 13, 20 & 27

April 3, 10 & 17

Topics: Theater

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

New study: Arts central to happiness in 21st century

Posted by John Stoehr on Wed, Jan 30, 2008 at 12:11 PM

From today's Toronto Star — JS

Public called key to arts funding

Jan. 30, 2008

Martin Knelman

Entertainment columnist

There is a fundamental disconnect between politics and culture, which sometimes seems like a form of enmity, according to British think-tank guru John Holden, who will give a public lecture this afternoon at the Ontario College of Art & Design.

Holden's proposed solution: those working in the cultural field who need to secure more funding should try to make their case directly to citizens, rather than politicians, and thereby raise awareness in the community.

Holden, who works for London-based think-tank Demos, is on a speaking tour across Canada.

"Politicians want to distance themselves from the arts," he said in a phone interview the other day. The reason: artists take risks, but politicians are in the business of minimizing risk.

His views arise from a study he did for Demos, called Cultural Value and the Crisis of Legitimacy.

In the U.K., cultural organizations were forced to justify their existence by the Thatcher government circa 1980. As a result, studies were commissioned.

The outcome: a heightened general awareness that most people, not just the elite, make culture part of their lives and consider it very important.

Holden argues that increased economic prosperity has not increased the level of happiness. That's where the arts come in.

During the Tony Blair era in Britain, there was a great emphasis on culture, and an awareness that in the long term it has to be part of the social and economic agenda.

Holden claims culture can be an ambassador for Canada just as it is for Britain. "It has become central and can no longer be considered peripheral, as it was in the 20th century," he says.

See also this article from the Edmonton Journal

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Weekend Arts Wrap: 01.29.08

Posted by John Stoehr on Tue, Jan 29, 2008 at 2:55 PM

Yeah, I'm a day late on this wrap thing. So sue me. Nothing in the news biz is certain. What is certain is that last weekend was busy. Lots of theater, dance, visual art, and music to be had by fans, fanatics, connoisseurs, and the mildly interested. Here are the reviews we did over the weekend. —JS

The Charleston Ballet Theatre's gave two sold-out performances of Twisted Tango.

The CSO introduced its new principal cellist at the Backstage Pass series.

Footlight Players opened their production of Crowns.

Frank DeFord at CofC

Posted by John Stoehr on Tue, Jan 29, 2008 at 1:53 PM

From a press release I got today — JS

. . . . .

The Friends of the Library is hosting Frank Deford on February 19th at the Sottile Theatre for a panel titled, “Pros and Cons: Are Athletes Role Models?”. Mr. Deford will be joined on the panel by Bobby Cremins, Citadel Athletic Director and former NC State Basketball Coach Les Robinson and WNBA superstar and Olympic gold medalist Katrina McClain. The panel will begin at 7pm.

Mr. Deford is a well-known sports commentator and journalist – on radio, Deford may be heard as a commentator every Wednesday on "Morning Edition" on National Public Radio. On television, he is a regular correspondent on the HBO show, RealSports with Bryant Gumbel. In magazines, he is senior contributing writer at Sports Illustrated and has been writing for the magazine since the 1960s.

The author of fifteen books, his newest, The Entitled, a novel about celebrity, sex and baseball, was published in 2007. Moreover, two of Defords books-the novel, Everybody's All American, and Alex: The Life of a Child, his memoir about his daughter who died of cystic fibrosis - have been made into movies. His book, Casey on the Loose, is being turned into a Broadway musical. Cathy Schulman, producer of 2005's Academy Award-winning best picture, Crash, is producing Deford's next film, a comedy, The Sister-in-Law.

Charleston is funny and we can prove it

Posted by John Stoehr on Tue, Jan 29, 2008 at 1:46 PM

South Carolina doesn’t have the best rep. We're repeatedly teased by the bigger kids on the block (we're talking to you, NYC).

While the Yanks may have a case when calling us rednecks (see the Redneck Summer edition of The City Pap), they can't say we're not funny.

At the ECNY Awards Monday night, both I Eat Pandas and The Harvard Sailing Team took home the gold in their comedy categories (Best Improv Group and Best Sketch Comedy Group, respectively).

These two — singularly isolated from the steady stream of comedic genius that flies from the Big Apple — performed in Charleston just days before their dominance was declared.

And their performance here was not just a case of comedic charity.

Speaking with the Kramer-esque Adam Lustick after the Harvard Sailing show two Thursdays ago, he was unable to contain his “thank-yous."

Lustick was so jazzed that Charleston had hosted his up-and-coming gang of funny people that he unreservedly called us as "the best audience ever."

Take that, America!

It looks like we are the teacher’s pet now. —Meaghan Strickland

Topics: Comedy
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