Review

By Eliza Ingle

Post and Courier Reviewer

James McLure’s tragicomic play ‘Lone Star’ reminds us again that we can never go back home again. The College of Charleston Theatre Department’s series called Stelle di Domani performed this three-man ensemble in the intimate confines of the black-box theater transformed by a well-designed set by Kyle Coleman depicting the back yard of Angel’s Bar.

Brothers Roy and Ray, portrayed by College of Charleston actors Spencer Jones and Matthew Giedraitis respectively, pontificate in beer-swilling banter about war, women and days of yore.

Much of the action, of which not much transpires, revolves around Roy who wholeheartedly loves his country, his wife and his 1959 pink Thunderbird. He just is unsure where it all fits in after Vietnam. Jones’ acting is solid and at its best in his more explosive moments.

Ray’s simple-minded brother, Roy, is on much of the time and as he states ‘a Babe Ruth is the one thing I know,’ but we learn he also got to know Roy’s wife quite well when he was away as a soldier.

The third character, Cletis, aptly played by Patrick Ruff is a geeky childhood friend of the brothers who passes the blame of Roy’s wrecked car to Ray.

Directed by Sam McCalla, the one-act play is well-paced and the actors maneuver the small space very well. The actors are confident and the production succeeds in showing a mucked life run more amuck in a single night.

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

BY WILLIAM D. GUDGER

Post and Courier Reviewer

The ninth of the Chamber Music programs at Memminger Auditorium was mostly the Todd Palmer Show.
Palmer and his clarinet have been a regular feature of many of the last Spoleto Festivals.
Palmer was also on board as an arranger, contributing a down-and-dirty version of Aaron Copland’s ‘Hoe-down’ from the ballet ‘Rodeo.’ His partners in this were Tara Helen O’Connor on the piccolo, Stephen Prutsman at the piano, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
This was good clean musical fun with extra percussive effects: thigh slaps and very resonant foot stomps (by Prutsman).
Palmer’s serious artistic side came to the fore in the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, K. 581, a beautiful late work of the composer’s.
I have heard him play it before with the St. Lawrence Quartet and this was the best he has ever done.
His tone was absolutely glowing, and his technique assured, even when a technical glitch with his instrument required restarting the ethereal slow movement.
Geoff Nuttall provided an introduction to the work which portends well for his upcoming role as Artistic Director of this series. He speaks with loving care about the music, pointing out some of the major landmarks we should listen for.
The concert opened with a two-violin arrangement of an aria from Argentine/Israeli composer Osvaldo Golijov’s opera ‘Ainadamar.’ The main part was taken by violinist Livia Sohn who has a particularly rich tone. Geoff Nuttall provided off-stage echoes and the accompaniment was sensitively handled by Prutsman.
I do not care for Golijov’s rather pop-derivative music, but with performers like these the music is as pretty as can be.
This concert repeats today at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Tags: 2009, aaron copland, artistic director, artistic side, chamber music programs, Charleston, clarinet quintet, courier reviewer, dirty version, festival, gudger, lawrence string quartet, livia sohn, loving care, nuttall, o connor, osvaldo golijov, percussive effects, post and courier, rich tone, Spoleto, stomps, tara helen, technical glitch

By Jeff Johnson
Post and Courier Reviewer

The Early Music Series, featured ‘Brio’ performing the music of Sephardic Jews, in front of a packed audience at First (Scots) Presbyterian Church. Exiled from Spain and Portugal in the 15th century, the Sephardi infused their secular ballads of love, passion and married life with the musical idiom and the musical instruments of the countries in which they finally settled.

Counter-tenor Jose Lemos sang the ballads which ran the spectrum from idealized love (’Adio Querida’), to love ballads (’Los Caminos’) to love ballads with a comic twist, (’La Rosa’). His voice is a beautiful tenor in the middle range, where most of the folk ballads were written. Also, he has the counter-tenor’s wide range of high notes which he used to great dramatic effect. Usually singing of the male’s suffering in love, he could, when the drama demanded, switch genders vocally becoming a mother crooning her baby a lullaby (’Dorme’), or a shrewish wife hectoring her husband not to drink so much wine (’Bevio’).

Between the sections of the ballads were brisk dances played by Mary Anne Ballard on viol da gamba and rebec, Steve Rosenberg, on renaissance and baroque guitars, recorders great and small and Danny Mallon, on several different drums, an Arabic tambourine, castanets, as well as a number of very small instruments that clicked. Ballard had a delightful solo playing the tiny rebec with a very long bow. In one of the more complicated dance numbers, Rosenberg played two recorders at the same time. While, Danny Mellon demonstrated the range of the Arabic tambourine in a long improvisation.

‘Brio’ brought out the universal appeal of these nearly lost ballads, creating moments the audience will long remember.

Tags: 2009, anne ballard, baroque guitars, becoming a mother, castanets, Charleston, comic twist, counter tenor, courier reviewer, dance numbers, festival, first scots presbyterian church, folk ballads, long bow, music series, musical idiom, post and courier, rebec, scots presbyterian church, sephardic jews, shrewish wife, small instruments, Spoleto, steve rosenberg

By Dottie Ashley
Post and Courier Reviewer
When Libby Skala alights on the stage, her arms covered with a pink pashmina, she moves as gracefully as a butterfly.
It’s then you realize her delicate movements serve as an integral part of the play “A Time to Dance,” which opened Tuesday at the Footlight Players Theatre as part of Piccolo Spoleto.
The playwright and actress, who lives in Berkeley, Calif., tells of the fascinating life of her great-aunt Elizabeth Polk, known as “Lisl,” who was a modern dancer in Austria, and who, after coming to America in 1939, taught dance and introduced dance therapy as a treatment for deaf children.
Skala fills the stage not only with the persona of Lisl but also portrays numerous other characters. As she says “To move is to express individuality and express life.”
Skala’s Austrian accent is convincing but not overwhelming, and her character is matter-of-fact about the poverty Austria faced after World War I as children were sent to Denmark to live so they wouldn’t starve.
During the performance, Skala beats on a small drum and shakes a tambourine, varying her choreography and moving freely in her black tunic and long pants.
Skala’s characterization is disarmingly honest and belies her angelic countenance, when as Lisl she describes her mother’s coldness toward her when it was feared she would die as a baby. But when she didn’t die, and there was another mouth to feed, her father strove to become successful in a new business, which ultimately enabled the family to escape the Nazis.
Humor emerges when Lisl confesses she married her boyfriend because she fell in love with his enormous bathroom!
Shortly after, as Adolf Hitler marched into Vienna, Lisl expresses terror and then suddenly, peace.
“I always believed I existed before birth, and that I will exist after death,” Lisl says. “It is the strong inner core I possess.”

Tags: adolf hitler, aunt elizabeth, austrian accent, choreography, coldness, coming to america, countenance, courier reviewer, dance therapy, deaf children, footlight players, individuality, inner core, lisl, long pants, pashmina, Piccolo Spoleto, post and courier, tambourine, time to dance

By George Hubbard

Post and Courier Reviewer

I’m going to spend today in a quiet, dark room with a cold towel on my face. Then, perhaps, I will recover from the assault on my hearing by the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra.

Their Tuesday afternoon ‘Bicentennial Tribute to Mendelssohn’ was loud enough to bulge out the windows of Circular Congregational Church — though mostly well-played, and occasionally superbly played, it was just overkill.

‘Fingal’s Cave,’ which opened the program, held no surprises, but it just keeps on coming — that six-note theme drives right into one’s skull after a bit.

Conductor Donald Portnoy had his forces well under control, however. They didn’t slip their leashes until later.

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Luiken gave a delightful account of the rarely heard concert aria ‘Infelice.’ Her voluptuous sound carried her crisp Italian diction clearly over the orchestra, though one would have appreciated a printed text. (Surely another hundred sheets of paper wouldn’t have broken the budget.)

‘Hear Ye, Israel’ from ‘Elijah’ was nicely sung by soprano Jill Tehaar Lewis, her diction also was clear, though her voice had a bit of a troubling vibrato in the upper register.

Lewis and Luiken joined forces on ‘Ich harrete des Herrn’ (’I Waited for the Lord’) from the composer’s ‘Lobgesang.’ Their voices were expertly blended, but at times they had difficulty being heard over the orchestra.

Closing the program was Symphony No. 1, Opus 11, written when the composer was just 15. The orchestra got the bit in its teeth and just kept playing louder and louder.

The third movement, marked ‘Menuetto,’ came off more as a heavy-footed clog dance, and the closing ‘Allegro con fuoco’ became painful long before the end. One was grateful for its all-too-brief pizzicato passages.

Tags: bicentennial tribute, bulge, circular congregational church, cold towel, courier reviewer, donald portnoy, elijah, festival orchestra, george hubbard, italian diction, leashes, mendelssohn, mezzo soprano, opus 11, piccolo spoleto festival, pizzicato, post and courier, symphony no 1, tuesday afternoon, vibrato

By Mary Solomon
Post and Courier Reviewer
Adda Kridler and her violin took our breath away at yesterday’s Early Music Series concert at First (Scots) Presbyterian Church.
Bach’s Partitas for solo violin are not everyone’s cup of tea, but Kridler attracted a sizable and appreciative audience for her performance as she played some of the greatest works written for solo violin.
Unlike sonatas, which usually have three movements: fast, slow and fast, the partitas, more often than not, have five or even more movements.
Partita 2 opened her concert and was made up of five sections: “Allemanda,” “Corrente,” “Sarabanda,” “Giga” and “Chaconne.” The “Chaconne” was the most famous of these. It’s a long (15 minute) theme and variation movement which she played very well indeed.
The music of Partita 3 is much more familiar and opened with a well-known “Preludio.” It’s a fast, whirlwind of a piece which she handled with a maturity not evidenced by her age. The second part is a slower, tuneful “Loure”.
“Gavotte”, “Menuet 1”, “Menuet 2” and “Bouree” were followed by the closing “Gigue”. They were all bright, crisp and cleanly played, but it was the “Gigue” that left her audience gasping for breath.
Kridler is a young violinist of remarkable talent. She plays with an outstanding technique, obviously enjoys what she does, and has excellent stage presence. Her performance brought heavy and insistent applause, a standing ovation, yells from supporters for more, and a bouquet of flowers. We will probably hear a lot more from  this young soloist who made her debut at Piccolo yesterday.

Tags: review