Thursday, January 28, 2010

Pounding nails pounding drinks pounding marimbas pounding prose pounding paper pounding prostitutes


Thursday, Jan. 28
Pounding nails again
Steve Harley is back at Trustus Theatre for the first time in a dozen years to take on about a dozen characters in  “Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead.” Harley originally did the play at the theater in 1997.

In the play by Eric Bogosian (who wrote the play for himself and performed it many times) Harley takes on the guise of characters ranging from a subway drunk to a self-satisfied suburbanite to a fire-breathing radio preacher and a self-help guru. The play provides an entertaining and provocative commentary on the state of the United States. Even though it is a decade old it still rings true. 

Harley was a staff actor at the theater for several years in the '90s. I never tired of watching him work and miss his presence on stage. This is a show that proves, all in one place, how versatile and talented he is.

You can find all these guys at the Trustus black box theatre tonight through Feb. 6. Performances are at 7:30 Thursday and 8 p.m.  Friday and Saturday. $12. Call (803) 254-9732.
(Saw this Thursday night - kicks butt still.)

Island reading
Jamaican writer Colin Channer is the author of the novels Waiting in Vain, a critics’ pick by the Washington Post, and Satisfy My Soul, and the novellas I’m Still Waiting and The Girl with the Golden Shoes.  His work is considered some of the most important to come out of the Caribbean during the last 15 years.

He’ll read tonight as part of the Minority Writers Series at USC.

A resident of New York, he co-founded the Calabash International Literary Festival Trust with poet Kwame Dawes of USC.

A reception at 6:30 p.m. will be followed by a reading at 7 p.m. in the Gambrell Hall fourth floor lounge. (803) 777-0307.

The series continues Mach 19 with readings by young writers Reginald Dwayne Betts, Randall Horton, Marcus Jackson and John Murillo, and Tracy K. Smith, a poet with two books to her credit, who teaches at Princeton University, April 23.

Friday, Jan. 29
Warm up at "Whorehouse"
There’s nothing like a musical about a cathouse to ward off the winter chill. Workshop Theatre is saddling up “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” which was last done at the theater a decade ago.
Back on board is Scott Blanks as the sheriff who is “friends” with the madam of the house played by Caroline Jones Weidner. Hunter Boyle in a god-awful blond wig is filling the role of the television reporter trying to shut the place down. He played the role 20 years ago.

Jeanette Arvay Beck is directing the show – the first time she’s done a play at a community theater in 12 years.  It’s choreographed by Cindy Flach and William Shuler is musical director.

The 1978 show is based on a true story about a bordello that operated for about 100 years before being shut down in the 1970s.
The show opens tonight at 8 and runs through Feb. 13.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $14 for students. It’s not for little kids. (803) 799-6551.

Inspired by Lorca
USC theatre student Sydney Mitchell is staging an original one-act play inspired by the work of Spanish poet and playwright Frederico Garcia Lorca.
“Lorca: Alone in a Dream” will be done in the catacomb-like basement of Longstreet Theatre (you really have to see this place.) Mitchell has acted in many shows at USC and Trustus. 
8 p.m. tonight, 8 and 10 Saturday and 3 and 8 Sunday.
Free. The theater is at Sumter and Greene streets. (803) 777-4288.



Saturday, Jan. 30

Young fiddlers
The Indiana Violin Virtuosi have played at festivals around the world, have been the subject of an Emmy-nominated documentary, played the public radio programs  "A Prairie Home Companion" and "From the Top." 
If you know public radio shows the last one will give you a hint about what sets this group apart - they're pretty much kids.
The musicians from the String Academy of Indiana University are all between 13 and 19, They'll play the music by Bach, Bartok, Vivaldi, Teleman and others (including works written specifically for the group) at the USC School of Music at 7:30. Call (803) 777-4280. Free. 

Pitch in and drink up for music students
Strangely the same night the School of Music is holding a scholarship fund raising event. “Steel into the Night” by the Friends of the School of Music. Music by the Ross Holmes Band and the Palmetto Pans steel drum band along with drinks and hors d'oeuvres.  
Admission is $25; $10 for students and alumni although you have to be 21. It starts at 8:30 at 320 Senate St.  
For those who want to spend and eat a little more can ante up $150 for dinner and drinks starting at 5:30.  
For tickets call 777-4280 or email lgibson@mozart.sc.edu.

Dancing on thin ice
The junior and apprentice company of the Carolina Ballet will present the charming “Les Patineurs” (The Skaters) which is set on an (imagined) skating pond where a snowball fight breaks out as does romance. Several of the main company members will dance, but this is a showcase for the younger talent.
The ice storm takes place at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. today and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Columbia Music Festival Association space, 914 Pulaski  Street.  $10. 771-6303.

Jazz, gospel and so on at museum
Last-minute addition at the Columbia Museum of Art from 11 - 3: jazz, gospel, visual arts. That part is free but regular admission to galleries. (803) 799-2810.

Sunday, Jan. 31
Paper pleasures
Jocelyn Chateauvert of Charleston does wonderful things with paper. 
She makes it float, dance and take on forms one normally doesn't connect with this material that's so much a part of our daily lives (even in this alleged paperless society.)
"Within and Out," an installation of her work, can be seen at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art starting today. A first look can be had at a reception today from 3 to 5 at the artist-in-residence space at the center. (You can also see the big show "Olympia" while you're at the center.) Admission to the event is $5.
"Within and Out" remains on display through Feb. 28. Contact the center, 701 Whaley St., at (803) 779-4571


New and old from USC musicians
During her concert violist Constance Gee of USC will play a new works by Reginald Bain also of USC. The piece “Tilings” will be part of a program with Paul Hindemith’s Sonata for Unaccompanied viola, Zoltan Kodaly’s “Elegy” and Sonta for Viola and Piano by Rebecca Clarke.
The free concert is at 3 p.m. at the USC School of Music, College and Assembly streets.
777-4280.  

Monday, Feb. 1
All-American flute
Jennifer Parker-Harley’s concert called "Lyrical American Flute" is made up of music by Robert Beaser, Joseph Schwantner, Jennifer Higdon, and Aaron Copland. The free 7:30 concert is at the USC Music School.

Tuesday, Feb. 2 
Wind and woods  
Not to play favorites, but this sounds like a great concert.
The RoseWind Duo – that's USC music school faculty members Clifford Leaman on saxophone and percussionist Scott Herring– play “Shadows of Wood” by Eckhard Kopetski; “Frame” by Graham Fitkin; “Subliminalization” by John Valerio (also of the USC School of Music faculty); and “Memoriale” by Paul Siskind. Herring will go solo for “Virginia Tate” by Paul Smadbeck and Leaman does the same on “Twice Removed” by Shi-Hui.
Free at 7:30 at the Music School. 

Wednesday, Feb. 3 
 In and out of the galleries
Artists Gwylene Gallimard and Jean Marie Mauclet, who created the exhibition "Olympia" at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art, will talk about art inside and outside galleries. It's at 7:30 at the center, 701 Whaley St. 238-2351.

 

1 comment:

  1. Marcus Jackson was interviewed for the article, "Photo Exhibit Showcases Black Poets." Please read it at http://alanwking.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/photo-exhibit-showcases-black-poets/

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