Today’s the day, my friends! It’s the last day of Spoleto USA Festival 2010 and Charleston Scene continues to ask a question a day as a countdown to the finale.

Want in on the conversation? Follow Charleston Scene (@chasscene) this week and have your say.

Yesterday, we asked our Twitter faithful what they would change about Spoleto. Here’s what they said:

Happy weekend! Only two more days to go before the end of another Spoleto USA season and Charleston Scene continues to ask a question a day as a countdown to the finale.

Want in on the conversation? Follow Charleston Scene (@chasscene) this week and have your say.

Yesterday, we asked our Twitter faithful what Charleston Scene was their favorite. Here’s what they said:

By: Carren Jao

Post and Courier Reviewer

“Banana Manologues” serves up comedy with a side of romance and raunch. John Brennan returns to Chucktown to reprise his role as Gus Weiderman, everyday guy who navigates love and libido’s strange waters. And this time, he’s not alone.

Brennan reworked his original “Banana Monologues” to include Alexis, Weiderman’s sometime long distance girlfriend and sometime sexual frustration, played deftly by fellow The Have Nots! Comedy Improv Touring Company veteran, Camille Lowman. “Banana Manologues” is a must-see if you’re in the mood for the emotional equivalent of a feel-good lighthearted comedy.

In just about an hour, Brennan and Lowman deftly zip through each stage of a relationship: bumbling first forays, romantic highs, niggling doubts and awkward break-up, eliciting knowing nods and ringing laughter from an audience that has obviously been there and done that as well. (Who can’t relate, right?)

Frequent interjections by Sgt. Johnson (Weiderman’s metaphorical banana) and Darcy (Alexis’ “best guy friend” and “dance instructor”) also push the plot along nicely and only add to the entertainment.

Despite its title, “Banana Manologues” is not as crass as you would think. Brennan and Lowman keep the comic fare free from cheap shots and rely instead on their solid script, rapport and showmanship.

Brennan and Lowman also have another ace up their sleeve—their sound. Taking inspiration from the era of shoulder pads and fingerless gloves, “Banana Manologues” revists classics from the 80s, drawing most heavily from most every girl’s secret fantasy movie, “Dirty Dancing.” The action skids abruptly to a stop as the show wraps up unexpectedly, but that can easily be forgiven.

Nostalgia and whiplash aside, “Banana Manologues” puts a new twist to the eternal tug of war between a man’s (erstwhile) mate and his machismo.

See it for the last time tonight at the American Theater, 8 p.m.

Happy Wednesday, folks! 5 more days to go before the end of another Spoleto USA season and Charleston Scene continues to ask a question a day as a countdown to the finale.

Want in on the conversation? Follow Charleston Scene (@chasscene) this week and have your say.

Yesterday, we asked our Twitter faithful: If you were in charge of programming, who would you bring to Spoleto USA 2011? Here’s what they said:

Charleston Scene kicked off “7 questions in 7 days,” where readers weigh in on their Spoleto experience. We’ll ask one question a day in a countdown to the finale on Sunday.  So, follow Charleston Scene (@chasscene) this week and have your say.

We asked our Twitter faithful: What’s been your favorite Spoleto event so far? Here’s what they said :

It’s 7 days to go before Spoleto USA Festival 2010 ends. We hope you had fun because we surely did. In celebration, we’d like to ask you, our readers and followers, to help us summarize the whole experience by answering 7 questions in 7 days.

Radio coverage of the Spoleto Festival continues this morning as ‘Spoleto Today’ features clarinetist Todd Palmer, discussing his role in a new crowd-pleasing clarinet quintet called ‘Gumboots’ by English-American composer David Bruce. Also, visit the Tea Room at Grace Episcopal Church, an annual rite of Spoleto.

Carolina Classics features artistic director and St. Lawrence String Quartet first violinist Geoff Nuttall making the case for Haydn. Also on the program: a Bach Sonata featuring violist Hsin-Yun Huang. Marcus Overton and Jennifer Foster host ‘Spoleto Today’ weekdays at 11 a.m. and Carolina Classics, weekdays at 1 p.m. Tune in on Charleston 89.3FM and visit SpoletoFest.org for more. The programs are brought to you by SC ETV Radio and WDAV Classical Public Radio.

Young dancer to play CBT’s ‘Mermaid’

By Bethany E. Larson, Special to The Post and Courier

James Peronto (left) partners Melissa Rauton (right) in "The Little Mermaid"

Melissa Rauton was once a shy Charleston Ballet Theatre dance student who idolized the company members and strove for technical perfection. Saturday, she will dance the lead role of Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid,’ part of this year’s CBT program for the Piccolo Spoleto Festival.

‘I’ve always looked up to the company, and performing with them is just amazing,’ said Rauton, 17, who began tap and jazz classes at the age of 3 and transitioned into ballet when she was 9. Already trained in three different dance styles and thirsty for more, she relished the opportunity to audition for CBT’s Broadway Dance Project when it launched in 2004.

Designed by CBT dancer Stephen Gabriel at the behest of company Artistic Directors Don and Patricia Cantwell, the Broadway Dance Project provides ambitious, local dance students training in Broadway-style dance.

‘Students audition for Broadway Dance Project at the beginning of each September,’ said Gabriel, who is in his 14th season with CBT, ‘and I choose the dancers I think are most suited for the production. We work on the production for nine months, starting in September and performing in May. The last two years we’ve been in Piccolo Spoleto and it’s been really rewarding.’

Rauton has auditioned and danced with Gabriel’s handpicked children’s company every year since it began.

As a testament to her loyalty and dedication, Gabriel created last season’s Broadway Dance Project production of ‘The Little Mermaid’ with Rauton in mind for the lead role of Ariel.

‘I didn’t even like dance until I started classes at CBT,’ admitted Rauton, who recently received a dance scholarship to attend Point Park University’s Conservatory of Performing Arts, where she will major in dance with a focus in ballet. She added, ‘Seeing as it’s my last year here, I’m so honored to play the lead.’

Outside of Rauton, ‘The Little Mermaid’ cast is made up of five CBT company members and the 27 young dancers, ranging in age from 11-17, enrolled in the Broadway Dance Project.

‘Sometimes,’ said Gabriel, ‘the students are so young that they don’t really know the technique, but they have that in other classes. My real job is to try to teach them to perform.’

Performance is a skill Gabriel knows well. Growing up in Kansas City, Mo., he fell in love with Broadway at a young age and found jobs dancing with shows in Branson, Mo.

‘Everyone used to tell me I should dance in Las Vegas or New York,’ said Gabriel, ‘But I always thought that ballet was more of a challenge, and I like being challenged. However, I do like to choreograph in a lot of different genres — modern, Broadway and ballet. Sometimes it just becomes a fusion of them all.’

The love of a challenge, as well as the overarching love of all dance styles, is something that Gabriel and Rauton share, which is perhaps what makes him the perfect mentor for the young dancer.

But for Rauton, the biggest part of the challenge isn’t learning choreography or remembering technique while also performing, it’s emotionally connecting with her character. The role of Ariel requires a vast emotional range, from exuberant to heartbroken. The dancing comes naturally to Rauton. The acting does not.

Knowing she struggled with emoting and acting, Gabriel cast her in roles with over-the-top personality. For example, she danced the role of the Wicked Witch of the West in the Broadway Dance Project’s ‘Off to Oz,’ which debuted in 2009.

‘I’ve always been more of a shy dancer,’ said Rauton, ‘and Stephen has helped me learn to act and dance at the same time. He kept challenging me year after year. I feel so grateful to him, and honored to have the opportunity to dance with CBT. I definitely think they helped me get better in every aspect.’

Bethany Larson is a Goldring Arts Journalism Program writer. Reach her at blarson@syr.edu.

If you go

What: ‘The Little Mermaid.’

When: June 5 at 1 and 3 p.m.

Where: Charleston Ballet Theatre’s Studio, 477 King St.

How much: Adults $26, Children 6-12, $16.

BY WILLIAM D. GUDGER
Post and Courier Reviewer
What do Mistress Flora and Mr. Tom Friendly do when they are not singing their ballads on the stage of the Dock Street Theatre?
They don’t head for the beach (it was a stormy day anyhow), but sing a wonderful program of songs and arias in the second Intermezzo.
The sanctuary of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church was filled with the lovely sounds of soprano Andriana Churchman (aka Flora in the opera) and baritone Tyler Duncan (Tom Friendly in “Flora”).
Aided by the sensitive collaboration of pianist Erika Switzer, the two singers charmed a large, appreciative crowd Friday afternoon.
(Note to crowd: don’t destroy the carefully planned sequence of songs by applauding within a group of songs, much less between a recitative and aria, or worst yet, during an aria.)
Divided between the two singers, a group of Robert Schumann’s Lieder opened the program, a bow to his 200th anniversary.
Moving through an unusual, and consistently dreary, set of songs by Ukrainian composer Yakov Stepovyi by Ms. Churchman, we got to more familiar ground in Mr. Duncan’s “Let us Garland Bring,” songs to texts of Shakespeare by English composer Gerald Finzi.
The operatic side of the program was a couple of duets, from Mozart’s “Figaro” and Rossini’s “Barber,” plus two French arias.
Ms. Churchman was so engagingly sensuous in the “Gavotte” from Massenet’s “Manon” that the  audience interrupted her with applause.
Mr. Duncan acted and sang well in an aria from Bizet’s “Pearl Fishers.”
The duets left us wanting to see the two singers on the operatic stage in something more substantial than “Flora.”

After a tough fiscal year, Ginny Deerin, CEO and founder of non-profit after-school organization Wings for Kids, has taken her fundraising efforts to the streets.

Wings for Kids is currently $120,000 short of its aim for yearly fundraising. In order to help her organization reach its goal by June 30, Deerin has set up camp on the corner of Calhoun St and King St, where she will spend fourteen hours a day dancing and making phone calls until she raises the money. As of 4 P.M. yesterday, her first day on the street, Ginny and her team had helped raise $50,000.

“We could have said ‘Oh well, too bad, tough year,’” said Deerin. “But we’re a tough fiscal organization, so we said ‘Hey, we’re going to pull this off.’”

If you want to help Deerin reach her goal, you can stop by the corner of Calhoun St and King St or donate at www.wingsforkids.org.

To see Ginny dance, go to our Video page here on the blog.