Charleston City Paper

Spoleto Festival USA kicks off with Brazilian hip-hop

Sam Spence — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:33:00 -0400

It's official! Welcome to the 37th annual Spoleto Festival USA! more…

Remembering the past, looking to the future, and finding the Spoleto sweet spot

Jeffrey Day — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:30:00 -0400

Departures were very much a part of the first few hours of the 37th Spoleto Festival.

At opening ceremonies foremost in the remembrance was Ted Stern, the founding chairman of the festival board, who died in January at 100 and to whom the 2013 festival is dedicated. more…

Follow Spoleto, Piccolo, and Fringe with CP's free Spoleto app

Sam Spence — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:06:00 -0400

It's a common dilemma, you're standing at intermission during your favorite Spoleto opera and you can't wait to plan your next show but don't have a City Paper Spoleto guide handy. No fear, the City Paper Spoleto mobile app is here to help. more…

Video: Preview the puppets of A Midsummer Night's Dream

Susan Cohen — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:41:00 -0400

We bet Shakespeare never would have guessed that one day that his fantastical play about love and fairies would be performed by puppets. South Africa's Handspring Puppet Company has adapted A Midsummer Night's Dream over the last few years, and we can't wait to see their War Horse-esque adaptation of the classic story. more…

Compagnie XY gets the South of Broad treatment

Angela Hanyak — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:42:00 -0400

When we heard that Spoleto SCENE was hosting their Le Grand C after-party at a South of Broad mansion, we expected a fancy affair. But like the French acrobatic show, which is a more bare-bones spectacle than the commercialized Cirque du Soleil, the party was a laid-back affair where old friends mingled with new. more…

Video: Behind the scenes with Le Grand C

Erica Jackson Curran — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:05:00 -0400

Yesterday, City Paper photographer Jonathan Boncek stopped in to the Memminger Auditorium to check out the members of Compagnie XY as they prepared for their show Le Grand C, which officially opens tonight after two preview performances. You can read our interview with the acrobats here, but if you want to see them in person, you'd better go ahead and buy your tickets. more…

Stalk your favorite festival artists on Twitter

Erica Jackson Curran — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:49:00 -0400

One of our favorite parts of Spoleto is spotting performers around town, whether it's orchestra members lugging around their heavy instruments in black-tie attire or the star of the festival's big opera eating lunch at Basil. To keep tabs on our visitors, we've created a little Twitter list you can follow. more…

Hot Ticket: Spoleto sell-outs

Elizabeth Pandolfi — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:35:00 -0400

With opening night just a few hours away, you can bet the Spoleto box office phones are ringing off the hook (we know — we've tried calling a couple of times already). And while you'd think that would mean that your chances of getting tickets to some of the most buzzed-about productions are slim to none, it turns out that the outlook isn't as bleak as you'd think. more…

P&C parent company planning development at Meeting and Columbus

Paul Bowers — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:18:00 -0400

Evening Post Publishing Company, the Charleston-based parent company of the Post and Courier, announced this week that it had selected a pair of developers for a 2.8-acre mixed-use project being planned at the northwest corner of Meeting and Columbus streets. The company chose Charleston-based Greystar Real Estate Partners and Charlotte-based Lincoln Harris to develop Phase 1 of a project it is calling Courier Square. more…

Nikki Haley appoints member of white power organization to campaign

Chris Haire — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:08:00 -0400

The Post and Courier just dropped a doozy of a story: Gov. Nikki Haley has appointed an alleged member of a white supremacist organization to her campaign. The man in question: Roan Garcia-Quintana. more…

Hey Eric Holder ...

Chris Haire — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:23:00 -0400

Is it possible to sign a search warrant for your own ass, because it would be really nice if you did that, you know? And can you get Roger Ailes to do it? more…

JAC kicks off jazz series, runs until June 7

Tom Pernecker — Fri, 24 May 2013 09:32:00 -0400

Last night Kevin Hackler and company kicked off the 6th annual Jazz Artists of Charleston (JAC) Jazz Series, which runs until Fri. June 7, or more or less until the end of Spoleto. more…

Order your Whole Foods Memorial Day Bundle day now!

Laura Cannon — Fri, 24 May 2013 09:05:00 -0400

This year, take it easy on Memorial Day when you take advantage of Whole Foods' bundle deal, below. Place your order soon, while supplies last! more…

Video: Le Villi/Mese Mariano dress rehearsal

Erica Jackson Curran — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:47:00 -0400

One of Spoleto's grand operas this year is a double bill featuring Puccini's Le Villi and Umberto Giordano's Mese Mariano. Le Villi, Puccini's first, rarely seen opera, is about a young man who abandons his lover and is then tormented by her spirit after she dies. more…

CJO stages an outstanding reimagining of Porgy & Bess

Brooks Brunson — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:00:00 -0400

Last Saturday, Charleston Jazz Orchestra premiered a completely fresh production of Ira and George Gershwin's classic American folk opera, Porgy and Bess. After the success of the 2012 Broadway revival of the piece, Charleston Jazz Orchestra wanted to bring the work back to its Charleston roots. What they came up with was something completely different from what anyone could've expected: a concert and a concert alone. And that meant no actors and no sets.

Cartoon 'child porn' & 3D printer guns, the 1st Amendment protects them both

Chris Haire — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:50:00 -0400

I feel for the gun nuts, I really do.

As I a staunch First Amendment freak, I feel their pain. more…

On Repeat: A look back at some Piccolo veterans

Susan Cohen — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:35:00 -0400

Piccolo season is always a good time to see new plays, but it's an equally good time to catch that production you missed during the fall theater season, or even a couple of Piccolos ago. Here's our rundown of some of the productions returning (in whatever sense) to the festival this year, and what our reviewers thought about them. more…

Hip-hop folkie McKenzie Eddy opens new music venue, gallery

Tom Pernecker — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:28:00 -0400

Young Platinum by McKenzie Eddy

Musician McKenzie Eddy can now add another title to her resumé: entrepreneur. With the recent opening of King Dusko at 541 King St., Eddy marks her first Holy City venture into the art gallery, coffee shop, music venue, and bar business. more…

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra to play Pour House June 4

Kalyn Oyer — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:42:00 -0400

Jonathan Scales started playing the steel pan at college when his friends convinced him to join the Appalachian State steel band. Fortunately for everyone else, it was love at first ping. more…

S.C. pint bill makes it through Senate and House, awaits Haley's signature

Susan Cohen — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:32:00 -0400

Back when we wrote about the South Carolina Senate's pint bill in April, things weren't looking so good. The Senate Judiciary Committee had amended a bill that would allow state breweries proposed to sell 64 oz. more…

Spoleto kicks off unofficially at the Halsey's Rebound opening

Susan Cohen — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:22:00 -0400

For all intents and purposes, Spoleto starts tomorrow, May 24. But only festival amateurs really trust that date, even if it is posted on Spoleto's website and in its program and on our website so on and so forth. more…

The Agenda: Drivers, Folly police prep for Memorial Day, Gowdy scolds IRS official, Boeing praises N. Chas.

Sam Spence — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:07:00 -0400

Cheap gas = crowded beaches - Low gas prices (Sun News) this Memorial Day weekend should make for crowded beaches (AP) as crowds flock to the coast for the unofficial beginning of summer over the long weekend.

Folly booze ban - Live 5 News reports that Folly Beach Public Safety will amp up patrols this holiday weekend and over the summer as the town tackles its first summer since it passed the alcohol ban for the town's beach. more…

Sign up now for FREE beer festival tickets

Laura Cannon — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:31:00 -0400

Good news! If you missed the early brew offer from Mt. Pleasant International Beer Festival, you sign up to win your pair of FREE tickets here. more…

Isn't it time we quit talking about Tiger Woods?

Chris Haire — Thu, 23 May 2013 06:58:00 -0400

Tiger Woods is the Amanda Bynes of golf.

Scratch that. more…

Video: Matsukaze dress rehearsal

Erica Jackson Curran — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:34:00 -0400

Matsukaze — the Japanese opera from a Chinese director sung in German — opens on Friday, but City Paper stopped in to the dress rehearsal to get a sneak peek of what's in store. Read our preview of the show here, and check back Saturday for our full review. more…