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.

Regional radio coverage of the Spoleto Festival continues this morning as Spoleto Today takes you behind the scenes of the 2010 Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto festivals. On today’s program, a visit to the remarkable Colla Marionette Company, presenting live opera with plenty of strings attached. Plus conductor Emmanuel Villaume shares his approach to creating ‘French-style explosions’ on the podium with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. Post and Courier critic Jack McCray also previews the jazz week ahead.
On Carolina Classics are performances by some of Spoleto’s most anticipated performers: soprano Dawn Upshaw, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and violinist Daniel Phillips. Plus a reunion on the podium for Carolinas conducting legend Henry Janiec.
Join hosts Marcus Overton and Jennifer Foster for Spoleto Today — every weekday at 11 a.m. — and Carolina Classics, weekdays at 1 p.m. Tune in on WSCI-FM Charleston 89.3 and visit SpoletoFest.org for live streaming, videos, podcasts and more. Brought to you by SCETV Radio and WDAV Classical Public Radio.

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

Look on the web or in Sunday’s The Post and Courier for your keeper print section - Spoleto 2010 - the complete calendar for Spoleto Festival USA and Piccolo Spoleto 2010. It tells you day by day what is happening, litsing the times, venues, costs and where to get tickets.  If you forget to pull it out of the paper, you can download it here from postandcourier.com.

We also tell you about the Goldring Arts Journalism Program, a collaborative project with The Post and Courier, that brings 19 graduate student and two professors to Charleston to cover the festivals.

Hint: It’s orange, says Spoleto 2010 and has the much discussed Spoleto poster on the cover.

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.

The Spoleto Today team is working on our special section - the only combined calendar that has all the listings for Spoleto Festival USA and Piccolo Spoleto. Pick it up in The Post and Courier on Sunday, May 23, or at various locations around town. Look for daily coverage of the festivals starting on May 28.

So here’s the Piccolo Spoleto Poster by Tate Nation. Do you know what it means? The vote around town was that it was art, but what does that make the Spoleto Festival USA poster by Maya Lin. And just what was she trying to say with that? Here’s her poster:

What would you say if your best friend brought a white painting with a couple of off white stripes for $200,000?

Would you tell him that understand the aesthetic of the famous artist or would you say that the emperor has no clothes and he’s been bamboozled?

That’s the beginning premise of Art which gave it’s last Piccolo performance to a packed Chapel Theatre yesterday evening.

Even though its title is Art, and a painting is the catalyst, the work is more about the complexities of friendship including the things we do to keep it going and what we do when a it all starts going wrong.

Art is  filled with lots of humor and sharp observations.  The interaction between the three characters: the owner of the painting, the sharp, sarcastic friend, and the eager-to-please, put upon friend were fast, furious, and enjoyable.

It’s all a thoughful and funny treatise on the nature and value of art and frendship.

Just as the appearance of  The Seed and Feed Marching Abominable Band heralds my Spoleto experience, the Felder Film Festival signals the end, and it’s rapidly becoming one of the events I look forward to the most.

Over the last several festivals, I’ve enjoyed the short (15 minutes or less) films and documentaries.

Some of the my most memorable ones have been about the Florence Crittenton Home, a store employee’s relationship with creepy mannequins, how Dance Dance Revolution completely changed a life, and a woman who wants to rename the Atlanta Falcons to the Atlanta Tercels.

And I’ll never forget Cupcake, The Killer Kitten.

The 6th Annual Fedler Film Festival kicks off this afternoon with family films from 1:30-3:30pm.  The documentaries start at 5:00om followed by the comedy and drama offerings at 6:00pm.

Come wind down from (or even start) your Spoleto experience with some fun–and free– film watching.

Update:  Saw 12 enjoyable shorts tonight.  My favorites were Une Vignette de Melancolie– an intriguing look  into a bi-polar mind, Worth–an object lesson on adding value, and Remote–a where the present and future meet with chilling consequences.

Oh, and I’ll always look at penguins differently after watching Hector Corp.

They mean justice.

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!)