Friday, May 8, 2009

A picture is worth a thousand words: Footlights' La Cage resumes tonight

Posted by John Stoehr on Fri, May 8, 2009 at 9:33 AM

f189/1241707153-la_cage_aux_folles_-_city_paper_6_resized.jpgWe sent two queens to check out Footlights' drag show, La Cage aux Folles, last week. Verdict: Mostly thumbs up. The scuttlebutt, though, is that the audience really needs to get behind this production. First, it takes guts for a community theater to put on this kind of show. You think it's easy for a grown (gay or straight) man to wear fishnets and heels? Second, their courage can't last forever. It needs encouragement and that means more audience participation. Greg and Shane can only do so much. It's up to you now. Besides, take at look at this picture by City Paper's Kaitlyn Iserman. Wanna know what to expect? Take a gander. That's all you need to know, my friend. —JS

Topics: Theater

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Thursday, May 7, 2009

Sheep's Clothing resumes tonight

Posted by John Stoehr on Thu, May 7, 2009 at 10:28 AM

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An original production of an American play by a regional American theater company in a small American town. It's the rarest of things. Fortunately, something like Sheep's Clothing isn't just hard to find — it's actually good. More precisely, it's one to watch. That's what City Paper senior critic Jon Santiago said this week in his review of Spender Deering's play.

Santiago later told me Paul Whitty, as the central character Luggs, is particularly good. Santiago has seen him perform an array of works — from Doubt to Defiance to Hogs to now Sheep's Clothing — and he can tell how much he stretches when he works with PURE. That, and Whitty's funny in a low-key way. Evidently, he wears a pad around his waist to give the impression that he's way overweight. And on top of that, he spends most of the play sitting down and talking and putting on and taking off his socks. Nice staging there.

Here's a snippet of Santiago's critique:

Deering presents this process as what it is: not an elegantly simple, attractively linear progression but a series of fitful negotiations. In Deering's loving appreciation for this process, it's less a water-tight vessel for education than a leaky old boat, in which older men tug boys along in uncertain waters.

The locker room is the sanctuary for these deliberations between men and boys, a safe haven for uncertainty. The play manages to straddle opposing viewpoints. The cast runs riot in the intervening open space. Steven's sin is intruding a woman — the school's principal Jane (Pam Nichols) — into the dialogue. All hell gleefully breaks loose.

The play's dialogue is replete with telling one-liners, so many they threaten to slip the net entirely, lost among the enormous haul Deering pulls up for the audience. Luggs blistering assessment of the neutering of his world — "First it was gym, then phys ed., and now — Kinetic Wellness!" — is a typical, razor-sharp throw-away line.

Full review . . .

Sheep's Clothing
An original production by PURE Theatre
May 7-9, 13-15, 7:30 p.m.
May 10, 2 p.m.
$10-$30
Circular Congregational Church, Lance Hall
150 Meeting St.
(843) 723-4444
www.puretheatre.org

Topics: Theater

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Ring of Fire continues tonight

Posted by John Stoehr on Thu, May 7, 2009 at 10:13 AM

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The Village Playhouse brings the music of Johnny Cash to the Charleston stage with Ring of Fire: The Johny Cash Musical Show. A hit on Broadway, this unique musical show is making its S.C. debut as the final production of the Village Playhouse and Repertory's 2008-2009 Season.

Ring of Fire features not one Johnny Cash, but a full stage of 14 performers and musicians bringing to life the heart of the Man in Black's songs: love and faith, rowdiness and redemption, struggle and success.

The musical features 30 songs, including "Ring of Fire" and "I Walk the Line." Opening is tonight at the Village Playhouse and the show runs on May 7-9, 15-16 at 8 p.m. and May 10 at 5 p.m.

If you can't catch it then, additional shows will be held during Piccolo Spoleto May 22-June 7.

We reviewed the show and if you can believe it, City Paper really liked Ring of Fire. Go figure.

Tickets can be purchased at www.villageplayhouse.com or by phone at (843) 856-1579 and cost $20-$27. —Candice Summers

Topics: Theater

Amazing Grace: A Gospel Celebration opens tomorrow night!

Posted by John Stoehr on Thu, May 7, 2009 at 10:10 AM

970b/1240947638-amazing_grace_poster_sm_resized.jpgGet ready to sing. Producers of The Charleston Christmas Special, Brad and Jennifer Moranz, have prepared Amazing Grace — A Gospel Celebration! for the past two years and it's finally here. The shows run from May 8-10 at The Charleston Music Hall on 37 John St. May 8 is at 7:30 p.m.; May 9 shows are at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; The final show on May 10 is at 3 p.m. Shows include a variety of spiritual and gospel songs performed by Melissa Johnson, Angela Walker, Joey Trail, Amanda Allen, the Harlem Gospel Choir's Rodney Archie, and Charleston's very own Dion Hargrave. Ticket are $19.50-$32.50 and are available by phone at (800) 514-3849 or at www.etix.com. —Reina Gascon-Lopez

BONUS: Check out this audio Brad Moranz sent of a radio commercial for Amazing Grace.

Topics: Theater

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Preview Piccolo at I'On

Posted by John Stoehr on Wed, May 6, 2009 at 11:41 AM

On Weds. May 13, Mt. Pleasant’s Village Playhouse Repertory Theater joins Square Onion restaurant to present Piccolo at the Village Sampler at the Square in I’on, an outdoor block party.

The event, which takes place 6-8 p.m. and benefits the Village Playhouse, features food, wine, and live musical performances. The casts of Ring of Fire: The Johnny Cash Musical, Splish Splash: The Short and Spectacular Life of Bobby Darin, and Rounding Third offer glimpses of their respective plays.

Square Onion provides cuisine and refreshments. Prizes such as artwork, rounds of golf, and season tickets to Village Playhouse are also up for grabs. Tickets run $25 dollars for adults and $12 for children 12 and under. To reserve your spot, call Village Playhouse at (843) 856-1579 or visit their website at www.villageplayhouse.com. —Moira Phillips

Topics: Theater
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