An extraordinary weekend and beyond

 

When I go to the Spoleto Festival in Charleston each spring I usually jam in about 15 performances over five to six days. Some of these are hour-long concerts, some three-hour operas. 
The next few days in Columbia feel a lot like that. I've been busy re-arranging my schedule and I'm still going to miss quite a few things.
Just be obnoxious I've listed just about everything I could find. I'd suggest that instead of going to what you were pretty sure you were going to you should go to something you weren't planning to attend.

Thursday, Nov. 5
Creating YOUR art collection

Want to know why the S.C. Arts Commission collects what it collects? (Please check the YES box.) A panel discussion by current and former art acquisitions committee members (at least it’s not art-making by committee) and Arts Commission visual arts coordinators takes place at 6.
That’s followed by a reception for the second part of “Contemporary Conversations: The S.C. State Art Collection.”

This 60-work show was selected from the 500-work art collection started in 1967.“Contemporary Conversations 2” includes pieces by Tarleton Blackwell, Edmund Lewandowski, Carl Blair, Blue Sky, Sydney Cross, Philip Garrett,

Deanna Leamon, Peter Lenzo and about 35 others.

All of this is free and open to the public at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art at 701 Whaley St. The exhibition runs through Dec. 6. The center is open 11 a.m. -8 p.m. Wednesday; 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call (803) 734-8696 or (803) 779-4571.
(From top: "Game," 1983 by William Halsey; "The Hog Series XXII -Nosedive," 1986, by Tarleton Blackwell; "Blast Furnace Cooling," 1975 by Edmund Lewandowski.)

Mixed media, music, musing on Main

 After a long search it has been found – life on Main Street after 5!

Frame of Mind and others are providing another full Thursday night of the arts.

You’ll find mixed media works (charcoal, layered paper) inspired by nature, Chinese painting and singing by artist Evelyn Wong of Columbia inside FOM. The Carolina Ballet, right, dancers SherryWarren, Ashley Bennett, Miriam Barbosa, and Columbia City Jazz will distract drivers out front.

That’s from 6 to 8:30 p.m. 1520 Main St. (Wong’s show is on display to Dec. 1.0 Call (803) 988-1065.

A block south Anastasia Chernoff’s figurative and abstract sculptures move into the Sheraton Hotel. An opening reception for the show, “ex true sions,” runs from 5 to 10 and the show is up to Dec. 5. (We hope they’re getting a special rate.) (803) 665-6902

And on either side of Frame of Mind, at Gotham City Bagel and the White Mule, you’ll find music.

Man of many talents

The University of South Carolina School of Music is paying tribute to composer, conductor and musician Andre Previn with its first Chamber Innovista concert. The concert covering 50 years of his writing is being done in conjunction with a USC dance performance (see details under Friday).
At the 7:30 concert USC faculty members will play Previn’s Trio for Oboe, “Tango Song and Dance,” “The Giraffes Go to Hamburg,” and “Four Outings for Brass” and several jazz pieces. (See the full story about this that was posted Sunday, Nov. 1.) The chamber series will have four concerts this season. $15 or $50 for the series. (803) 777-4280.

And more art shows

“DIVAS and More...” is populated by those funny singing women paintings by Bill Davis. An opening reception takes place from 5 to 8 at The Frame Shop, 3100 Rosewood Drive. (803) 256-1601.

Friday Nov. 6 

More by Previn – with a lot of help from choreographers

Columbia native, USC instructor and former principal ballerina at the Boston Ballet Kyra Strasberg, right, will dance for the first time since she retired in 2000 in a work created for her and set to her friend Andre Previn’s “Tango Song and Dance.”
“If At First We Dance” was choreographed by Thaddeus Davis, another USC dance instructor. The piece is part of a program that includes a new dance by Luis Dominguez, Artistic Director of Kentucky's Lexington Ballet, to Bach’s cello suites and George Balanchine’s 1934 modern ballet masterpiece “Serenade.” 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday at the Koger Center. $16. Call (803) 777-5112 or (803) 251-2222.

Is it an opera? Is it a musical? Why not both?

Opera at the University of South Carolina takes on the beautiful and difficult “The Light in the Piazza” for a performance tonight at 7:30 and at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8.

The musical, er, opera, is set in Italy during the 1950s when Clara, a young American woman, falls for a young Italian man. Clara’s mother though shows inordinate concert about the budding romance.

“Light,” by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel, won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical.

This production is directed by Ellen Douglas Schlaefer, director of opera studies at USC. Tina Milhorn Stallard, USC assistant professor of voice, will play the role of the mother, with Denise Boylan and John Callison as the lovebirds.

Performances are at 7:30 tonight and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8 at Drayton Hall Theatre, Sumter and College streets. $18. Call (803) 777-0058.

"Moon" rises again

After a decade Allan Fulmer, Jr., and Kathy Hartzog are reprising their roles in “Moon Over Buffalo” a comedy at Town Theatre. Also returning is Allison McNeeley, who made her directorial debut at Town with the show.

Fulmer and Hartzog play a husband and wife who run a touring theater company in the 1950s. The constantly-bickering couple, who are doing “Cyrano de Bergerac” and a Noel Coward play, think movie director Frank Capra is in the audience looking for actors to replace the stars of his new movie. It’s one of many comical misunderstanding in the play written by Ken Ludwig.

The theater is also throwing an anniversary party for the director Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at the theater.

Through Nov. 21. Tickets are $16 with discounts for seniors and young people. 1012 Sumter St. (803) 799-2510 or www.towntheatre.com 

Same time, different story

Another couple, Doris and George, with their own set of problems, are at the center of "Same Time Next Year." The couple has a one-night stand and fall in love, but stay married to their respective spouses. They maintain by meeting once a year and the play at Workshop Theatre chronicles 25 years of these trysts. Chip Stubbs and Vicky Saye Henderson play the couple and Jocelyn Sanders directs. It runs through Nov. 21. Tickets are $18.(803) 799-6551 or www.workshoptheatre.com.

From Russia to the world with art 

Painter Nikolai Oskolkov may be from Russian, but he celebrates the rest of the world, from people playing country music to life in the Caribbean. “Laughter in the Sky,” a solo show by the artist, opens at Portfolio Art Gallery from 4-9 p.m.
The artist will play some music tonight as well on and off all day Saturday. (Bring your banjos and balalaikas.) 2007 Devine St. (803) 256-2434.  It's up through November.

Big ideas, abstract art

 Liisa Salosaari Jasinski tries to get way below the surface with her paintings.

"These paintings explore themes related to the history of universe and the earth, and they also reflect the artist's ongoing study of historical pigments and their attributes,” according to the artist, a native of Finland who lives in Newberry. Gallery 80808/Vista Studios opens with a reception from 5 to 9 and continues through Nov. 10. 808 Lady St.

Local film hits the big screen

Columbia resident Matthew William Jordan’s film “My Sweet Misey,” shot in Columbia and on the coast, opens today. Among the local actors in the movie are Christopher Cook, Steve Harley, Linda Posey, Richard Jennings and many, many others. The stars are Zach Hanks, Anna Chlumsky and Thomas Jay Ryan. The dark comedy follows a man whose past has come around to haunt him. It opens today at Carmike 14 theater and continues with two shows a daily Nov. 7, 10 and 12.

Art in the (Sand)hills

Artists Barbie Mathis, Lori Starnes-Isom, and Rachel Parker have a group show at Village Artists Gallery, 631 Promenade Place. (803) 699-8886. Opening reception 6 – 8. On display through November.

Poet with a big title
American Book Award winner and Pushcart Prize nominee Matthew Shenoda reads his poems at 6:30 at the USC Humanities Buildings. When he isn't writing poetry he is assistant provost for equity and diversity in the School of Critical Studies at the California Institute of the Arts. (We hope he has some poems that use his title as a jumping off point.) (803) 777-54

Dutch poster design

Don’t you occasionally wake up thinking, ‘I sure would like to know more about Dutch poster design?’ It’s your lucky night.

Boston University professor Alston Purvis will give a talk titled “Dutch Poster Design: 100 Years of Innovation” at the Columbia Museum of Art at 6:30. $5.
And the whole museum is open until 8 p.m. because it is the first Friday of the month. Mark that on your calendar for the rest of the year. Well actually for the rest of the year and also next year.

Saturday, Nov. 7

Everything you missed yesterday
 See the various things that started earlier this week or check out the arts calendar to the right. And always remember, if you just went to the opening reception you probably didn’t really see the exhibition.
One special event: Mary Street Alinder, who was a long-time assistant to photographer Ansel Adams and his biographer, will give a talk at the Columbia Museum of Art at 1 p.m. in conjunction with an exhibition of Ansel's work.

Sunday, Nov. 8

From China – with music and dance

Those days when you don’t wake up thinking of Dutch poster design, don't you say to yourself “I could go in for some traditional music and dance from some of ethnic groups of China"?

This is your lucky day.Again.

The Folk Arts Ensemble of Guizhou University performs “Wind from the Plateau” which draws on the cultures of the Miao, Yi and Dong people of southwest China. It’s at 3 p.m. at the Koger Center. $10.  (803) 251-2222.

Tuesday, Nov. 10

Dancing for dollars

Delirium Tribal, a Columbia-based belly dance company, will be joined by musicians

Raquy and the Cavemen, from New York, and local dance group The Power Company. Raquy Danziger plays the kemenche, an Iranian stringed instrument, and has been featured on the Al-Jazeera Network and National Egyptian Television, and released six CDs. The music and dancing starts at 8 pm. The event is a fund raiser for Delirium Tribal and admission is $10. alternacirque@gmail.comalternacirque@gmail.com

Drinking for dollars

Trustus Theatre – the only theater in town where you can get drunk while watching a play – is having a fund raising wine tasting at 9 p.m. The event at City Art includes a wide selection of wines and lots of hors d’ouevres. $45. (803) 254-9735.

Co

Collecting art the Herb 
and Dorothy way

Herbert and Dorothy Vogel are a middle-class couple, who put together a world-class art collection. The couple recently donated 50 works of art to museum in each of the 50 states – the 50 that came to South Carolina recently went on display at the Columbia Museum of Art.
“Herb and Dorothy” is an acclaimed movie that tells their story.
You can see it at 6 p.m. at the Nickelodeon Theatre, 937 Main St. A panel discussion about art collecting follows. (803) 799-2810 or 252-3433.

Wednesday, Nov. 11 

Perfectly good guitars

Threefifty Duo may not be smashing guitars – just ideas about guitar music. The Brooklyn musicians will string together classical, rock and contemporary classical in a concert at 7:30.
The concert, put on by bigSphinx Productions and the Columbia Guitar Society, is at the Columbia College music and art building. $6. For info go to www.bigsphinx.com

Nude Tuesday!

A ceramic sculpture by Anastasia Chernoff. It will be part of a show of the artist's work at the Sheraton Hotel, 1500 Main St., opening Thursday.

Dancer's friendship with composer Previn brings new dance - and the dancer - to stage in Columbia

This week a new dance set to the music of Andre Previn and a full concert of his music will be seen and heard in Columbia. So what does  the composer, conductor, musician, and close associate of Hollywood, have to do with a city in the middle of South Carolina?

Kyra Strasberg, (top) a former principal ballerina with the Boston Ballet, Columbia native and USC dance instructor, met Previn through a mutual friend several years and struck up a friendship.

Early last year she attended a concert by Previn, left, and violinist Joan Kwuon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they played one piece she was very taken with.

“It was this little ditty- ‘Tango Song and Dance,’” Strasberg said. “I asked if he’d mind if I had someone work on a dance for it and he said, ‘Not at all darling.’”

The result is “If At First We Dreaqm” choreographed by Thaddeus Davis, who also teaches at USC. It will feature Strasberg in her first performance since she retired in 2000 after 15 years with the Boston Ballet. The piece has its premiere Friday.

Early in the process Strasberg connected the university school of music and Thursday it will do a full concert of Previn music including “Tango Song and Dance” played by USC faculty members violinist William Terwilliger and pianist Marina Lomazov. (For the dance performance the music will be played by Ashley Horvat, associate concertmaster of the S.C. Philharmonic and pianist Rosemarie Suniga, a graduate student at USC. Previn wrote the 2001 piece for violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, to whom he was married from 2002 to 2006. The two continue to work together.)

The original plan was for Previn, who has scored films, won Academy Awards, been music director of the London Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic, to attend, but a conflict arose and he has engagements in Japan this week.

“The whole idea was to get him here, but it just didn’t work out,” said Susan Anderson, USC dance program director.

Still, this year marks Previn’s 80th birthday and a number of concerts in his honor are taking place.

 “If At First We Dream” has a strong theatrical and narrative drive, Davis said. In it, Strasberg fills the role of the more experienced woman to a large company of younger women engaged in a dance of possible love with three men.

“There’s more pure theater pushing the piece along,” Davis said. In addition, the dance will have sets and the potential of having some set pieces directed him into a more theatrical approach, Davis added.

“Thaddeus is really, really good at doing really, really diverse contemporary choreography,” Anderson said.
And the dance could have a life beyond USC.
“We’ll get (Previn) a video of it and when he sees what Thaddeus has done with the piece, he’ll be interested,” Strasberg said. 

The others she’s interested in seeing her dance are her daughters who were born after she retired.
“More than anything else I want them to see it,” she said. “And I forgot how much I liked to dance. But it’s a lot different now – a lot more free.”

“If At First We Dream” is part of a performance that includes a new ballet by Luis Dominguez, artistic director of the Lexington (Kentucky) Ballet set to Bach cello suites and George Balanchine’s 1934 “Serenade.” 

The night before the dance 50 years of Previn’s music will be on center state. The concert ranging from contemporary classical to jazz launches the Chamber Innovista concert series at the USC School of Music.

The Trio for Oboe Bassoon and Piano from 1994 starts the concert and several jazz pieces from the 1950s wrap it up. In the middle is the 2000 piece for vocal and flute “The Giraffes Go to Hamburg” about a pair of giraffes taken from Africa to a German zoo, inspired by and set to a passage from the book Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen.
There’s even a piece for nothing but brass.

Among the performers are Peter Kolkay, bassoon, pianists Lynn Kompass, mezzo-soprano Janet Hopkins, (right) flautist Jennifer Parker-Harley and trumpeter Dick Goodwin.

“The way the program was selected was very simple – put a call out to faculty who would be interested and available,” said series organizer Joseph Eller, “then see what Previn wrote for instruments that we had available and go from there.”

More about Previn
Born in Germany, Previn and his family fled the rise of the Nazis in the late 1930s and settled in Los Angeles.  In the late 1940s and early 1950s he drew attention for his film score arrangements and scores for the movies “Elmer Gantry,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Painter Your Wagon” and Gigi,” for which he won one of his four Academy Awards.

Previn has been music director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Starting in the ‘50s, Previn toured and recorded as a jazz player. With drummer Shelley Manne and bass player Leroy Vinegar, he recorded the first jazz version of the score for “My Fair Lady” which was the first jazz album to sell a million copies. He began playing and recording jazz again a few years ago.

Previn’s 10 Grammy Awards are for everything from a jazz recording to chamber and choral music and movie soundtracks. 


He wrote the operas “A Streetcar Named Desire,” from 1997, and “Brief Encounters” which premiered in May this year.

He’s been married five times, mostly to high-profile women including jazz singer Betty Bennett, composer and musician Dory Langdon, actress Mia Farrow. (Pictured with Mutter.)

USC dance, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7. Koger Center. $16. (803) 251-2222.

Chamber Innovista, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5. USC School of Music.  $15 or $50 for the series of four concerts. (803) 777-4280

Good news for the arts on the mayor's race front

Great news for Columbia and the arts. Steve Morrison is close to joining the race for mayor. He and his wife Gail have been actively involved in all kinds of arts. He was chair of the Columbia Museum of Art and Gail headed the search for a new orchestra music director. And they both attend all kinds of arts events - I've seen them at every sort of art activity you can think of. Steve also has an incredible record of service to those in need. The State has a story today.http://www.thestate.com/local/story/1006968.html

Some scary - and not so scary - happening this weekend

Thursday, Oct. 29

An artist exploring an artist

Stephen Chesley tries to get a grip on the last month of Vincent Van Gogh’s life with the exhibition “27 Days in July.”  Inspired by a painting by Van Gogh he saw at the Columbia Museum of Art, Chelsey decided to look into the tragic artist’s final works. During his last 27 days, Van Gogh painted 23 pieces, so Chesley did the same number of paintings of the same sizes during the same period.

The exhibition opens with a reception  from 6 to 8. The show is up through Nov. 3 at Gallery 808/Vista Studios, where Chesley has a studio. (803) 252-6134.
(For a full story on “27 Days” go to the Sunday, Oct. 24 story below.)

A familiar blood sucker

The ever-popular “Dracula” by the Columbia City Ballet is back with a slightly new bite –updated casting, choreography, costumes and music.

The ballet by Columbia City Ballet artistic director William Starrett was first done 15 years ago. In keeping with the renewed interest in all things vampire it has a new look that, at least judging by the photos, looks heavily-inspired or appropriated from the popular “Twilight” movies.

Swapnali Ahire, a native of Columbia who is studying fashion in Los Angeles, designed new costumes.

The new Drac is Josh Alexander, a new ballet company member who has danced with the Carolina Ballet Theatre,  Greenville Ballet, California State University and the South Carolina Contemporary Dance Company.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Friday, October 30  and Saturday, October 31 at the Koger Center.  During the Oct. 31 performance there’s also an adult costume contest with prizes. Tickets are $12-$45. For Thursday’s performances student ticket are $10. (803) 251-2222 or www.capitoltickets.com.

Two haunting plays plays on the river

The High Voltage Theatre Company’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is still running like a headless horseman for a few more days but the company has another scary show opening tonight – “Frankenstein.”

“Frankenstein” will be at a newly-created theater space at the south end of the Cayce/West Columbia riverwalk near the old locks. If you’ve never been to this area it’s well worth checking even in the daytime. This will be one of the few times you can go there after dark legally.

For tickets and information about how to get to the performance call (803) 960-3200 or (803) 754-5244.

And more creepy stuff
"Mr. Poe's Nightmare" by the Actors Theatre of South Carolina haunts the Richland County Public Library at 7. The play by the Charleston-based group stars Lee O. Smith and Chris Weatherhead and is directed by Clarence Felder. Admission is free. The library is at 1431 Assembly St.

 

Friday, Oct. 30

Actors gets a fright

The play “Extremities,” in which a woman captures the man who tries to rape her, is an intense and frightening piece of theater.

In reality as well.

The play was set to open at last week at Trustus Theatre, but lead actor Monica Wyche, pictured, took a spill and got a concussion. She's on the mend and the play is on again starting tonight at 8.

 The delay and Wyche’s injury has somewhat overshadowed the fact that “Extremities” was the first play Trustus ever did. That was 25 years ago.

In the play by William Mastrosimone a woman turns the tables on a would-be rapist. She ties him up and shoves him into the fireplace. When her roommates return home, a kind of trial takes place.

Artistic director Jim Thigpen is directing the cast that also includes E.G. Heard, Altonia Chatman and Christopher Cockrell.

It runs through Nov. 14. 803-254-9732. Visit www.trustus.orgwww.trustus.org

Zombie stomp

Another dance group, Unbound Dance Company, has its own version of Halloween art with “Carpe Noctem.” It will include the company’s take on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” singer Dell Goodrich, art by Travis Teate, Scott Bibly and Mike Krajewski, the Vista Ballroom dancers belly dancer Natalie Brown and some other things. Costumes are encouraged. It starts at 6:30.

Admission is $15. (803) 528-9011 or www.unbounddance.com

Black and white and masked

For the more well-heeled head to the black and white masquerade party at the Columbia Museum of Art.   “Masquerade de Macabre” will not only probably be a good time and raise money for a chandelier by glass artists Dale Chihuly for the museum.It starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $50. Call (803) 799-2810.

Building a fire
Columbia's alternative circus, belly-dance fire-eatin' group Alternacirque does its last outdoor show of the season at 9:30 at the Art Bar. Why don't they just get more fire eaters and continue through the winter" 

 

Old horns

Musician and scholar Nikos Xanthoulis, a native of Greece, is giving a recital and lecture on the sounds of ancient Greece. Xanthoulis uses original manuscripts, pottery, and traditional instruments to find the ancient sounds of the ancient world.

He is principal trumpeter with the Athens Opera and has performed around the world and written operas and scores for plays.

Just a week ago, he gave the same presentation at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

The free event is at 7:30 p.m. at the USC Music School recital hall.

(803) 777-4280.

Tuesday, Nov. 3

A different set of strings

The players for the next Art of Music concert at the Columbia Museum will be using violins in a very different way than those who performed at the chamber series.

The High Lonesome Bluegrass Band plays in conjunction with the Ansel Adams exhibition at the museum, capturing an American essence. The South Carolina group plays both contemporary and traditional bluegrass and will be joined for the concert by Pat Ahrens, a musician and huge proponent of traditional music.  The concert starts at 7, but the doors open at 6 p.m.  $10 and $8 for museum members. (803) 799-2810.

(This week is rather slow - next week you'll be slammed.)

Nude Tuesday!

"Tina" by Tish Lowe of Columbia.
www.tishlowe.com

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Just a reminder that you can purchase ads on this website.

Those logos for the Halsey Gallery, the Brooks Center and so on to the right are ads. Each links directly to the group or business website. 

If you are an arts group this is a great way to take readers of Carolina Culture directly to your site. If you are a business this site puts you in touch with high-income, high education customers. Carolina Culture by Jeffrey Day averages 100 visitors a day. (This week it ranged from 60 on Saturday to 140 today.)

For information rates contact us at carolinaculture@hotmail.com