JUNE

At the City Paper we’re encouraged to research the Spoleto and Piccolo festivals long before they start, letting the A&E editor know which shows we’d like to cover. After making my requests months before the fest and being promised that I could cover them, I did plenty of preparation on each piece. But when it came to the crunch, I found myself assigned to other shows.

I’m also encouraged to blog for the paper on an unpaid basis, especially during Spoleto. This year was different. After several days trying to access the CP blog, aided by a baffled webmaster, I was told that there was a freeze on non-staff members blogging (I’m a freelancer). I already had a bunch of blogs and interviews that I’d personally lined up. I didn’t want to waste even more work, and I thought it was important to let Spoletians know what was going on on a day-to-day basis. So the stories ended up on the Post & Courier’s Spoleto Today website.

Likewise with my video pieces – I made them partly to show the CP’s editor what I could do with a camera, in the inevitable event that the paper started getting serious about multimedia content. The vids were ignored (official line: “we don’t know if we’ll have time to get to them”), so they ended up on the P&C site as well. I also guested on a few of Today’s audio shows/podcasts, interviewing David Lee Nelson and the Charleston Academy of Music. After a wee bit of number crunching, the hard-working people behind Spoleto Today – including Dan & Janet Conover and Geoff Marshall – left the paper or accepted a buy-out as the publishers tightened their belts that Autumn. The remaining veterans now pull double or triple duty at the paper; that’s why you’ll find film writers covering travel or sports writers doing life columns.

More than anything, the festivals are a great excuse to catch up with everyone downtown. I danced at a workshop held by poet/performer Marc Bamuthi Joseph, watched “Monkey” rehearsals with the director Chen Shi-Zheng (we discussed the astounding Japanese TV version and the original source novel), chatted with actress Joy Vandervort-Cobb (we discussed eyebrows) and saw Jay Clifford perform with a section of the CSO. At that show, violinist Brent Price proposed to Katherine Bailey (in a very roundabout fashion) and she accepted. Ah, the summertime!

In 2004 I helped put together a Film Festival on Folly Beach. At the time I was teaching a filmmaking class and the fest was designed as a showcase for their finished projects, as well as work by other filmmakers worldwide. Five years later the fest had grown considerably, moving from the local library to the Holiday Inn Ballroom. Festival coordinator Chris Weatherhead hosted a discussion about filming dos and don’ts with short form director Todd Tinkham. I wanted to jump up and ask him what to do if someone took your credit. I stayed silent in true British stiff-upper-lip fashion.

There were other projects on the horizon. Preproduction began on “Holy City”, a nourish vampire film created by JC Conway. JC plans to spin the concept off into a TV show. I also filmed interviews with Phil Noble and Steve Skarden about their non-profit project, Laptops SC. It aims to get less-than-$200 laptops to underserved schools throughout the state. The interviews were directed by Craig Hadley.

June was also the month that I visited New York. As I’d predicted to myself, it blew my mind. However, the city was much friendlier and easier to navigate than I expected. In my week at Juillard, I grabbed plenty of footage for “Broadway Bootcamp” and saw the immense hard work the students put into their classes: dancing, singing, acting, the bootcampers could do it all.

JULY

Just in time for star Julio Cotto’s birthday, the “Know When To Walk Away” video premiered at Torch in downtown Charleston. I got out of town a few times, nipping to Washington, DC to prepare for my Citizenship Test (to become an English-American) and Walterborough for a “Cold Soldiers” location scout. As we roared through a cobwebbed swamp on a little open-canopy jeep, banana spiders tried to eat my face. To recover from the ordeal, I had to pop into the brand new Apple Store on King Street on my way home.

In Columbia I plugged “Undead on Arrival” at the Richland Library. So far it’s the only time I’ve given a talk about the book.

AUGUST

Some projects sit on the backburner for a while, allowing me to get on with pother things. For over a year I’d been working on a film about local band Black Eyed Susan. In August I completed the short film and hope to screen it in the near future.

At JC’s sanctum sanctorum we held a read-through of the first half of “Holy City”, aided by accomplished actors like Mark Gorman and Andrea Conway. On the “Cold Soldiers” front I invited Jimmy Hager to join the cast. He agreed, then candidly told me that a negative review I’d written of Charleston Stage’s “Denmark Vesey” play had pissed him off (he was the co-star). This led to a rather uncomfortable moment in my living room. I’m glad he still agreed to work on my film despite the critical review. His performance was everything I expected it to be.

To help pay the bills, Trevor Erickson kindly tipped me to some Porter-Gaud football games that needed to be filmed. This was my introduction to high school football games, with its pomp, circumstance, ornery coaches and committed communities (some of the schools even printed T-shirts for individual games). The work took me all over the state, from small fields in Charleston to fancy stadiums in Columbia, in all weathers – heat, cold, torrential rain, even lightning storms – the games must go on.

SEPTEMBER

Sam took his first piano lesson and soon learned how to play the theme from “Star Wars”. I got on with my next novel, a mix of fantasy and police procedural called “Virtual Illusion”. And Rink Entertainment assigned me to assist on “Army Wives Gives Back,” where the stars of the hit TV show give brand new Mustangs to real-life army wives.

Over at South of Broadway, I wrote and directed a play called “Planetfall” for a first-ever Playwriting Festival. The on-the-ball actors in the staged reading were JC Conway, Mark Gorman, Jelena Zerega and Bill Davis.

OCTOBER

In October work began in earnest on “Healing Springs”, a documentary about the area in mid-state SC directed by Craig Hadley. The natural springs are said to have miraculous healing properties, and the land is the only half-acre in the state to be deeded to Almighty God. Doesn’t he own everything already?

At Fort Moultrie, Linda Eisen, Mark Gorman and Carol Antman put together a multi-part tribute to Edgar Allen Poe. Various actors performed Poe’s greatest hits, including a memorable “Premature Burial” starring Braxton Williams and “The Black Cat” rendered by Danny Jones.
The Playwriting Festival was a success, leading to talks of a sequel and a workshop in October. Stepping up to read a couple of monologues, I got to add the Devil to my acting resume (which includes a serial killer, a rapist, a cat DJ and a WWI soldier).

I hadn’t heard from the City Paper’s A&E editor since Spoleto, but I continued to write for the news section. For the annual Give Guide, I covered the Trident Literary Association (which battles illiteracy in the tricounty area) & Carolina Autism. Members of the latter organization were on the set of “Dear John”, a Nicholas Sparks movie shooting in Charleston. One of the leads had been given to an autistic child, so CA was on hand to make sure that his needs were met. Their knuckles were rapped for talking to me outside of the Sparks publicity machine, but not too hard – informing readers of CA’s work was a good thing under any circumstances.

While “Dear John” lit up James Island, production on “Cold Soldiers” picked up speed again. Although I’d been working behind the scenes on the film every day, there were still plenty of fights, car chases and dramatic sequences left to film. We gained permission to film on the Yorktown, transforming it into a terrorist-held hostage ship for a day. We were aided by Arlene Lagos, who joined us on the movie as publicist, actress and extra wrangler.

For Boone Hall, I shot and couple of nasty commercials featuring the “Son of Saw.” It got the desired effect – parents called the plantation to complain that the ads were scaring their kids. The “Saw’s Scream” campaign and its star Carl Hedgepeth were so successful that Boone Hall added extra dates to their attraction.

In the same Halloween vein, at the end of the month I went ghost hunting with Darkwater Investigations, a local company that looks for sprectral anomalies in alleged haunted places. We didn’t find any spooks, but I got a fascinating glimpse into the world of a bunch of dedicated, refreshingly cynical folk.

NOVEMBER

Much of November was spent working on a screenplay for “Small Altars”, a feature film project created by Eric Vincent. This is the tale of an artist who accidentally summons a demonic deity who makes his life a misery. The artist is forced to “sacrifice” people to the god (they’re turned into zombies), and ultimately has to choose whether he will sacrifice himself to save the woman he loves. “Small Altars” is slated for production this summer.

The City Paper’s A&E editor called me and told me he hadn’t spoken to me for four months because I’d written Spoleto stuff for the Post & Courier. This despite the fact that I’d given him first dibs for my stories, and that I’ve been writing for the P&C for five years – all on an unpaid basis. For whatever reason, the editor had decided to put the incident “behind him” and I started writing art reviews again. This gave me the chance to cover some great shows at Redux, Corrigan Gallery and Spark Studios, among others.

At the end of the month I took my Citizenship test. To become a bona fide US citizen you have to pay a fee of almost $1000, take an oral and written test, and learn about American history, politics and geography. Sample questions: Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? How many years does a US Senator’s term last? What did Susan B. Anthony do?

The experience was scary for me because I knew my future was in the hands of a bureaucrat. One wrong word and I’d be $1000 poorer. The guy who tested me was actually quite friendly – he said he was pleased to find a candidate who could speak English. But my hands were still shaking so much that I could hardly put the pen back in its holder.

My wife and I were told that we had passed and that we’d narrowly missed the deadline to take the Oath of Allegiance that day. We were informed that it would happen next week. Six weeks later, we’ve heard nothing from the INS.

DECEMBER

While interviewing the Lost Trades boatbuilding crew for Charleston Magazine, I’d expressed an interest in helping them finish their catamaran and sailing with them. Glad I didn’t; the ship was wrecked in a storm off the coast of South Carolina. The crew survived, saying that the grilling they got from the insurance company was worse than any squall.

With Christmas approaching I donned a white beard and red suit to play Santa – my sixth Holiday season as Mr. Claus. Adding padding to my stomach to round out my belly, I sweated through 80 degree heatwaves. I was always either too hot or too cold. I felt nauseous. My feet hurt. I had strange cravings for cookies and candy canes. I started to realize what it must be like to go through the early stages of pregnancy.

By year’s end, the scripts for “Holy City” and “Small Altars” were coming together and “Cold Soldiers” is nearing completion at last. The Bootcamp documentary premieres on January 25th. The wheels of publishing turn slow, so it’ll be 2010 (at least) before “Cat City” is printed. But at least I feel like I’ve gained closure on a couple of issues – the City Paper editor’s code of silence ended, and I called my dad after months of not hearing from him (he’s a busy man, apparently). I’m reminded more than ever that I can’t achieve my goals alone. With my family and friends I can create - and complete - bigger and better projects in 2009.

With Piccolo Spoleto reaching its last weekend, I've just finished reviewing my last batch of plays for the local papers. Since the festival is about more than just theatre, there are still other events to cover; tonight I'll be spending An Evening with Jay Clifford at the American Theatre.

Last night I was at the fifth Felder Film Festival, and it was great to watch my short film Undead on Arrival with a crowd of people - a very different experience from watching hit counters on a YouTube site. That's why internet video won't be replacing TV or movie theaters just yet...

On Tuesday I saw Cloud Tectonics at Lance Hall, near the Circular Congregational Church. PURE Theatre managed to breathe fresh life into a show they've done a few times already.

The next night I saw The Great War, a multimedia story told with miniscule models that were videotaped and beamed onto a big screen. One of the best elements of the show was the sound and music, provided by

True Romance: PURE Theatre restages its 2007 Piccolo hit

With Piccolo Spoleto upon us, it's surprising to learn that PURE Theatre has only been rehearsing Cloud Tectonics for a few weeks.

This is a show full of emotionally complex moments. It requires audience members to stretch their imaginations, with the actors conjuring set pieces out of thin air (there's no set dressing and only a couple of props). It's an out-there acting challenge, even by contemporary standards.

Has PURE lost its work ethic? Is the five-year-old company acting its age?

Not quite.

The short rehearsal period is a necessary evil caused by actor and director availability, along with the performers' confidence in the material. After all, they've done the show before, in their fourth season and during Piccolo 2007.

The lines of the play are stuck in their heads like primal poetry. All they have to do is put the play back on in a new venue and recast one role.

How much rehearsal time could that possibly require?

In a nutshell, Cloud Tectonics is a boy-meets-girl story. A hardworking man picks up a bedraggled hitchhiker on his way home. Back at his house, the pregnant hitchhiker fascinates him with her strange perspective on the world. His infatuation grows — until his brother turns up to shatter the magic.

But the play is more than a traditional love story, thanks to the careful writing of playwright Jose Rivera. The boy and girl are named Anibal de la Luna and Celestina del Sol, drawn together like celestial bodies in an ever-spiraling orbit. Celestina exists out of time, losing track of previous relationships and the date of her baby's conception. Clocks stop. A night lasts two years in Celestina's mesmerizing stride.

As before, Sharon Graci plays Celestina del Sol. The PURE co-founder is fresh from a stint on Army Wives (presumably one of the reasons for the short rehearsal time). Her performance is the bedrock of this show; last year, she made her character a hauntingly beautiful pleasure to watch.

Anibal de la Luna is played by Rodney Lee Rogers, also appearing in Eurydice and The Tragedian (another reason for the stripped-down rehearsals). Music is provided by guitarist Michael Moran. Matt Bivins, who has played Anibal's brother Nelson, is moving to Chicago. PURE regular David Mandel takes Bivins' place.

The other major change is the space.

PURE has left its black box space in the Cigar Factory, its home of five years, now that the downtown building is being turned into condos, shops, and offices. Cloud Tectonics is being produced at the equally intimate Circular Church instead, with the same alley seating configuration on either side of the performance area.

Rogers' main concern has been transferring the play wholesale to a new place. "We had to research how to draw on the floor in the church," he says, referring to the lack of furniture in Anibal's house (there are mere outlines instead). "We're trying to keep the simplistic beauty of the piece."

PICCOLO SPOLETO • $25 • 1 hour 20 min. • June 5-7 at 7:30 p.m. • Circular Congregational Church, 150 Meeting St. • (888) 374-2656

An all-female show flips Shakespearean stereotypes

BY NICK SMITH

What is it? Desdemona celebrates Shakespeare's bawdy sense of humor shot through with 21st-century irony and intertextual wit. Writer Paula Vogel is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who gives Shakespeare's female characters their due. She fleshes out a backstory for the unjustly vilified Desdemona, providing her with complexity and a lust for life that propels her relationship with Cassio's lover, Bianca — a larger-than-life brothel madam (aren't they all?) who shows Desdemona a trick or two.

Why see it? Think Sex and the Shakespearean City, with Othello's Desdemona as Carrie Bradshaw. The show got a favorable review last August from City Paper critic William Bryan, who marveled at actress Kaitlin Winslow's fake orgasm. With nine months to incubate the show, CofC's Theater Department thesps should have a hit on their hands.

Who should go? If you think Shakespeare's women got a raw deal, you'll appreciate Vogel's attempt to reset the balance. If you have a short attention span, you'll like this too; the play is performed in 30 cinematic "takes."

Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief • Piccolo Spoleto's Stelle Di Domani Series • $12-15 • 1 hour 30 min. • June 5, 7 at 5:30 p.m. • Chapel Theatre, 172 Calhoun St. • (888) 374-2656

Center Stage likes black comedy

BY NICK SMITH

What is it? David Lindsay-Abaire's 1997 play about a young man who learns that his missing 400-pound dad was murdered while hiking through the Poconos. The youth sets out to avenge his father's death.

Why see it? Lindsay-Abaire has playwriting awards out the wazoo, including a Pulitzer, an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award, and an award from the S.C. Playwrights Festival. With A Devil Inside, he's created a cruel yet wildly imaginative world that maintains a loose orbit around contemporary culture. The young protagonist and the wacky milieu are perfect for the College of Charleston's theater department.

Who should go? Fathers, sons, hikers, PURE Theatre regulars, and other fans of finely written, quirky, contemporary theater. Morbidly obese folks might want to sit this one out.

PICCOLO SPOLETO • $12-$15 • 2 hours • June 4-7 at 7:30 p.m. • Theatre 220, Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip St. • (888) 374-2656

A Brief guide to the Piccolo play This War is Live

Preview written by NICK SMITH

What is it? A left-leaning documentarian investigates the Armed Forces in Iraq — with shocking results.

Why see it? Plays at Footlight don't get any edgier than this. This War is Live, directed by local theater veteran J.C. Conway, premiered as part of the theater's Late Night program this year. It immediately split audiences between lovers and haters of its movie-style pacing, heart-on-sleeve characters, Bush-baiting, and coarse language. An added dash of nudity and a streak of violence make this a memorable night of theater. As the performers interact with video sequences and documentary-style footage, a serious attempt is made to resurrect the grimy ghost of the Iraq War's early phases.

Who should go? With its ironic humor and fatalistic storyline, the show's aimed squarely at a younger, HBO-watching crowd. Its overt criticism of the war, the media, and the government will have liberals nodding their heads in agreement; conspiracy nuts will love the Deep Throat-style character, Mr. X.

PICCOLO SPOLETO • $15-$20 • 2 hours • June 6 at 9 p.m.; June 8 at 7:30 p.m. • Footlight Players Theatre, 20 Queen St. • (888) 374-2656

A haunting, stage-struck love story that defies time, the natural order, and customary theatrical conventions

BY NICK SMITH

What is it? A haunting, stage-struck love story that defies time, the natural order, and customary theatrical conventions. This show is back by popular demand. The actors have had a year to mull over its subtleties, but they'll have to work hard to recapture the fresh, lively feel of their past performances.

Why see it? This is PURE Theatre in its truest sense — a great tale performed by a small cast with minimal props and an invisible set. The stripped-down production means there's nothing to distract the audience from the acting and Jose Rivera's magical realist dialogue. Rivera's work has been favorably compared to the writing of Nobel Prize-winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez. PURE has produced this show a couple of times to great acclaim, most recently at Piccolo Spoleto 2007.

Who should go? This one's for the lovers. Cloud Tectonics centers around the fascinating relationship between Anibal de la Luna and Celestina del Sol, played by real-life couple Rodney Lee Rogers and Sharon Graci. Luna and Sol's adventures are by turns bizarre, intriguing, and out-and-out romantic.

PICCOLO SPOLETO • $25 • 1 hour 20 min. • June 4-7 at 7:30 p.m. • Circular Congregational Church, 150 Meeting St. • (888) 374-2656

I've been all over Spoleto and its Piccolo fringe since it started. One of the most enjoyable experiences for me has been recording podcasts for Spoleto Today ("SpoTo Spocasts"), the Post & Courier's daily audio coverage of the festival.

You can hear an conversation between SpoTo honcho Janet Edens, myself and three enthusiastic ladies from the Charleston Academy of Music here.

Today we discussed the best of the fest so far.

With events going on all over town throughout the day, I find myself writing up my coverage late at night and into the wee hours of the morning.

Maybe I should skip the aftershow parties and get straight to work?

Nah. It's not going to happen.

On the weekend I was invited to the Post & Courier's cozy recording studio/broom closet to interview David Lee Nelson, director of Lobby Hero and star of Silence of Lucky.


David likes to talk (hell, he's a stand up comic living in New York), so he was an easy man to interview. In fact we could easily have talked for half an hour instead of ten minutes. But in our allotted time we covered both his shows, which are part of Piccolo's Stelle di Domani series and feature College of Charleston alumni like Mr. Nelson and local theatre star Jamie Smithson.


You can listen to the podcast here. In the picture, I'm on the left and David's on the right.

In Charleston during the Spoleto Festival and not sure what to see? Fear not, I'm here to help. I checked out the Chinese opera Monkey: Journey to the West on Friday and you can read my review here. Some people found it bewildering, too contemporary or too exotic for their tastes. I ate it up like a tasty peach.

On saturday I caught Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief by Paula Vogel. I'd heard great things about the show and although it's slight, it still packs a wallop as it charts the Othello heroine's lusty life up to her final brush with death.

After that I went straight to see A Devil Inside, a zany murder mystery at the College of Charleston. The real star of the show was actor/set designer Richard Dunn, who provided some mesmerizing monologues and crammed half a New York street onto the stage with a split set.

I had to run as if the devil himself was after me to get to the Footlights Theatre for This War is Live, a late night take on the Iraq conflict from the perspective of embedded journalists. As far as I'm concerned, there aren't enough plays that have journalists as the heroes. But maybe I'm biased.

Late Night @ Footlights director JC Conway discusses This War is Live, a Piccolo Spoleto show that runs through June 8.

This week, the Spoleto Festival has descended on Charleston like a day-glo fog. I can see the signs already: Calhoun Street jammed with out-of-state vehicles, tents nestled on Marion Square like a Native American reservation, and Chinese acrobats shopping at the local Asian grocery store (what's wrong with Publix?).

Spoleto is a 17 day festival of music, theatre and dance. Visual art is non-existent, because it's harder to charge an entry fee for art shows. But fear not, all lovers of marsh paintings. There's also a Piccolo Spoleto - a fringe fest organized by the city's Office of Cultural Affairs. Piccolo is full of plays, musicians, comedy and -yay! - artists.

I'll be covering as much of the festival(s) as I can and contributing reviews, podcasts and videos to Charleston's local papers. If I ever get past all the traffic on Calhoun Street.

An interview with Orpheus from PURE Theatre's production of "Eurydice" for Piccolo Spoleto.

An interview with Nathan Koci of New Music Collective. Koci plays "Big Stone" in Eurydice, produced by PURE Theatre for Piccolo Spoleto.

PURE Theatre are producing "Eurydice" at 10 Storehouse Row this week. I interviewed the heroine's father.

PURE Theatre is producing "Eurydice" at 10 Storehouse Row, N. Charleston, May 23-26 as part of the Piccolo Spoleto festival.

This has been the busiest week of the year so far for me and I’m pooped. I started the week with three acting classes in a row, teaching at the Lowcountry Senior Center (where we’re planning a Shakespeare-themed showcase), South of Broadway in North Charleston and in Pine Forest, Summerville.

On Tuesday I directed a music video for Know When to Walk Away. It will be submitted to a competition created by Zach Braff to build a compilation film to accompany the Jay Clifford song.

The catchy tune will be featured in an upcoming episode of Gray’s Anatomy, so hopefully you’ll be hearing it everywhere soon.

By Wednesday I was working furiously on City Paper previews for Piccolo Spoleto. It gave me a chance to interview several cool creative people, including David Lee Nelson of Skinny White Comics and Chris Smith of the sketch comedy group Harvard Sailing Team. Check out their swanky new website!

I also took my eight-year-old son to baseball practice. It’s great to see him involved in the ultimate American pastime (no, i don’t mean video poker). Sam could be a great player if he ever stops lollygaggin’ on third base.

Thursday night I was a judge at Charleston County School of the Arts’ Spring Playfest. Talented high school-aged kids put on ten minute plays and I assessed their merit in terms of vocal ability, stage presence, believability etc.

Friday I appeared on Lowcountry Live to plug Undead on Arrival. I was the last guest on the local chat show, on after the dog. I think that would make a great title for my memoirs.

Today I’ll be signing copies of the novel at Waldenbooks, then racing to the Charleston International Film Festival to usher in audiences and introduce a couple of the films.

Strangely, despite the fact that I’m a film critic for the CP and I’ve covered the festival in depth, I haven’t been contacted by the organizers (I’ve had to chase them up) and I’ve been given no press pass or invite to the awards ceremony. They must know what a party crashing freeloader I am.

In between all that I’ve been auditioning for film roles, chauffeuring my family hither and yon, and trying to catch some zzzs. Of course, I couldn’t do it all without the support of my friends, colleagues and students. Thanks guys.

Buxton’s East Bay Theatre shuttered

Aw, now this is a pity. From the City Paper's A&E Blog:

Venue News: Buxton’s East Bay Theatre shuttered

The former site of ghost storytelling, the Magnolia Singers, and many Piccolo Spoleto concerts, Buxton’s East Bay Theatre, a tiny nook seating about 70 at the most, closed in December.

Owner Julian T. Buxton III told me the reason was financial. He couldn’t meet the cost of a lease held by the Southeastern Management Group. The theater was built in 2005 using 40 seats from the old Garden Theatre on King Street (currently occupied by an Urban Outfitters).

The seats have now been sold to a “guy living on Edisto,” Buxton told me, “for his own private theater.” Chad Yonce, of Southeastern Management Group, told me the space is being turned into — what else? — condos.

“I’m sad to see it go,” Buxton said.

In its inaugural year, I co-directed a play at the theatre called Christmas in Charlestowne, and visited it last year to discuss a multimedia ghost production.

I've also attended Piccolo shows there like Hobo: The Musical and Paul Thomas: Late Bloomer, where the performers made great use of the modest space.

I also filmed Pirates! The Revenge of Colonel Rhett at the East bay Theatre. This inventive show is making a welcome return at the Charleston Convention Center.

Like Buxton, I'm sad to see it closed. It's yet another example of the arts being squuezed out of downtown Charleston by rising rent costs. For shame!