Have you seen our Tweet wall? It will be making appearances around town at special events. It is the brainchild of Sarah Zimmerman, a Goldring Arts Journalism writer who studies design. It is the Twitter feed for all items Spoleto and Piccolo.

Tweet and join the conversation. Use #spoto to appear on the wall. (Hint: It changes every 6 seconds.)

Tags: tweet wall

That’s what is happening at noon. I know what Mayor Joe Riley is going to say because he has said it every year, but it’s still inspiring for the arts.

There is always a surprise at the opening at the corner of Broad and Meeting St. But go now and get a good parking spot. And look for the shade. It’s going to be a warm one.

Our Goldring Arts Journalism members will be hanging there, so look for people wearing the orange press passes. And check out our blogs and videos as we cover the festival as it has never been covered before!

You can contact us at Spoletotoday@postandcourier.com or leave comments for us. We’ll be checking for them early and often.

Here’s a comment from a reader this morning:
“We attended Present Laughter last night and it was fabulous. As good as I have seen in NY, Edinburgh and Vegas!”
Linda and Mike Leatherwood

The Post and Courier’s special section for Spoleto Festival USA and Piccolo Spoleto is rolling on the presses right now. It will be in Sunday’s Post and Courier. Keep it handy, since it is the combined calendar of all events. Or you can follow us daily in The Post and Courier, or on postandcourier.com/news/spoleto for all the news that happens this year.

And yes, we have that poster from Maya Lin on the cover. Any comments about the connection between South Carolina and Rhode Island are greatly appreciated.

Once you’ve been to Charleston during Spoleto, the spell of the city hooks you. Here’s a message from one of the Spoleto interns from last year, who is now longing for the Holy City. She’s also writing a blog for Southern Living.

Hi!

An Alabama native, I interned with Spoleto last year as a public relations apprentice—which meant daily perusings of P&C’s Spoleto Today. Though I’m back in Birmingham these days, I’m craving Spoleto and keeping up with everything thanks to your website!

I’m interning at Southern Living and blogged about weekend’s events on the Travel blog. I just wanted to let you know that there is a link to your website. If there is anything you can do to help drive traffic to our blog, I’d appreciate it—the website is another gateway to a plethora of Charleston  information (decades worth) for visitors.

http://talesfromtheroad.southernliving.com/

Thanks so much! Good luck with the finale—I sure miss The Post & Courier!

Ashlyn

(Thanks Ashlyn!)

By Loretta Haskell
Post and Courier Reviewer

The life of Jackson Pollock, as well as his contribution to twentieth century abstract expressionist art, is rich in material for anyone interested into delving into the creative mind and lifestyle. The Contemporary Theatre Lab premiered Richard Rashke’s ‘Season to Season’ last night at the Footlight Players Theatre and offered us yet another perspective of the famous painter’s life and work.

Actors Kristen Kos as Lee Krasner, JC Conway as Jackson Pollock, Linda Eisen as Peggy Guggenheim, David Abrams as Harold and Jacqualine Helmer as Stella Pollock, performed ‘Season to Season’ in a strong opening performance.

Making art is never easy and ‘Season to Season’ addresses the various personalities and interpersonal dynamics that are a part of the process. Condensing the lives of five very complicated people is not an easy task and Rashke has taken a very strong point of view in his writing of this play. The responsibility for the ensemble to do it justice in the two-hour running time is an even greater responsibility.

The Contemporary Theatre Lab is a new local company and just beginning to experiment locally as an ensemble with repertoire. With more time working together, a dedicated rehearsal and performance space, and the opportunity to workshop different repertoire, it promises to be a relevant new theatre lab in Charleston.

‘Season to Season’ will be performed again today at 9 p.m., on Friday at 5 p.m., and on Saturday at 6 p.m. Note that this performance contains adult language.

Tags: abstract expressionist, adult language, Charleston, contemporary theatre, courier reviewer, creative mind, david abrams, expressionist art, famous painter, festival, footlight players, helmer, interpersonal dynamics, jackson pollock, jacqualine, lee krasner, local company, loretta haskell, peggy guggenheim, performance space, post and courier, Spoleto, strong point

Two days later, I’m still thinking about this performance - and it was just a ukulele.

Anyone sitting in the majestically lit Cistern Yard Saturday night would describe Jake Shimabukuro’s ukulele performance as awesome. Not “awesome” in a lack-of-a-better-word, “totally cool” context; but in an “awe-inspiring” context. But it was totally cool, too. This Hawaiian native admits, he knows what you’re thinking: How can a ukulele concert be awesome…much less impress everybody that filled the Cistern Yard?

But what Jake does with the four-string instrument is nothing short of pure genius. Definitely - he’s a genius. The crowd even got rowdy for Jake at times, which says a lot considering a big chunk was senior citizens. He was “discovered” on YouTube.com, with over 3 million hits of a clip of him playing George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in Central Park. But watching YouTube doesn’t begin to do him justice. On the internet, his fingers move so fast on the little instrument that his hand becomes completely blurred because the computer screen can’t keep up. But watching his fast fingers, live, is hard to believe, too. The only thing more impressive and awe-inspiring than watching him play is listening to him play. His notes are so delicately precise at times that you’re amazed that you could hear such a soft, sweet note; and then they get so aggressively energetic that you wonder how the strings haven’t popped. Bottom line: I was moved to tears. And I won’t soon forget this one.

- Emily Lane

If you’ve been following us, you know by now that Spoleto Today on the radio has partnered with ETV and The Post and Courier to give you bits and sounds from Spoleto Festival USA and Piccolo Spoleto. We at The Post and Courier - meaning Tim Page, Jack McCray and Adam Parker - occasionally show up on the radio to tell you what we are excited about seeing.

On Spoleto Today with Marc Overton & Jennifer Foster starting at 11 a.m. on WSCI-FM 89.3 in Charleston or online at www.spoletochambermusic.org will be talking about:

When mandolinist Chris Thiele talks, we stop to listen, because the subject could be anything: Bluegrass, New Grass, Beethoven, Bartok … or Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Go behind the scenes and onstage to the big weekend bash for Spoleto’s Chamber Music Man, Charles Wadsworth.

And on Carolina Classics with Jennifer Foster in the afternoon:

It’s another complete concert from the 2009 Spoleto Chamber Music series. We’ll take you to Memminger Auditorium to hear one of Beethoven’s great masterworks, the ‘Kreutzer’ sonata, played by violinist Chee-Yun and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott. And don’t miss Franz Schubert’s haunting elegy for clarinet, voice and piano, ‘The Shepherd on the Rock.’

A tip of the cigar to Garden & Gun, a favorite magazine in these parts, for its unbridled enthusiasm for “The Ukelele Unleashed” in an online Talk of the South feature of the same name. G&G mentions Spoleto Jazz Series artist Jake Shimabukuro’s week of gigs, including tonight in Nashville, Thursday night in Chattanooga, Friday night in Atlanta, and Saturday night here among we’uns at Spoleto.

He’s a busy guy.

Tags: Atlanta, Chattanooga, Garden & Gun, Garden and Gun, Jake Shimabukuro, Jazz, Nashville, Spoleto, ukelele

On Wednesday’s Spoleto Today:

Marc Overton talks to Spoleto’s contemporary music expert John Kennedy.
We’ll hear the intriguing sound of alternatively-tuned pianos from composer-performer Michael  Harrison.
Jennifer Foster chats with Alisa Weilerstein about her Spoleto chamber music experiences.
Chee-Yun, Alisa Weilerstein and Anne-Marie McDermott perform Mendelssohn’s ‘Piano Trio in D minor’ from Tuesday’s chamber music concert.

Listen at WSCI-FM 89.3 in Charleston or online at www.spoletochambermusic.org, beginning at 11 a.m.

All the Spoleto Today programming is coming together and helping each other out. The P&C’s Jack McCray, i.e. our jazz man and our overview critic Tim Page can be heard on the Spoleto Today program with Marcus Overton and Jennifer Foster. They will have lots of cool interviews and classical music.

Weekdays Friday, May 22 through Friday, June 5. The lineup includes:

11 a.m. – 12 noon - Marcus Overton & Jennifer Foster host Spoleto Today. This one-hour show will give listeners a daily tour of the art, the players, the sights and sounds of one of the world’s most comprehensive arts festivals

12 noon to 1 p.m., Jennifer Foster continues with The Mozart Café (available only on WDAV).

1 to 3 PM, Carolina Classics offers next-day broadcasts of Spoleto Chamber Music concerts, Piccolo Spoleto performances and more.

Here’s the link:

http://www.classicalpublicradio.org/site/