Arts & Draughts at Columbia Museum of Art, this Friday, August 3rd - Art, Drink, and Be Merry!

Art, drink, and be merry!  On August 3rd, the Columbia Museum of Art will host its seasonal Arts & Draughts night. The event, according to CMA Public Programs Coordinator Shannon Burke, "gives people the opportunity to experience the Columbia Museum of Art in an entirely new way." And what a new experience it will be!

On this night, attendees will get to experience an explosion of the senses as the event gears to "expand a visitor's way of thinking about what they can see, hear, and explore at the CMA," according to Burke.

The night is truly an event. Filled with live local music and tastings of a special beer - this time a naturally cloudy Hefeweizen from Widmer Brothers - the evening aims to  get people in the door, then entice them to stay through the exciting escapades that take place thereafter. "By combining great live music and beer tastings, the audience stays and experiences all the CMA has to offer," Burke says. Specifically, A&D night's activities include exclusive tours, performances, scavenger hunts, and art projects.

A&D's inception was in January 2011, where it was held the first Friday of the month. Then, the aim of the event was to "introduce the CMA to a young adult audience when we had extended hours," Burke says. Now, the A&D is a seasonal event, and while the target audience remains constant, the evening has evolved. "A&D is always changing, so in a way if you are planning on attending the event, you should expect surprises. Expect new music, new beers to try, new performances, and great new ways to explore and enjoy the Museum as you never had before!"

This August's A&D will include a collaborative drawing table and multimedia games among other exciting activities. Live musical acts include DJ Matt Porter, Elonzo, Brave Baby, and Whiskey Gentry. Tickets are $8 for non-members and $5 for members, but if you become a member that night you have free admission to the event. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the party ends at 11 p.m.

~ Christopher Rosa, Jasper Intern

Street art and busking -- it's all good even when it's bad

One of the joys of visiting European cities, as well as most larger American cities, is the abundance of artists sharing their talents on plazas and sidewalks throughout town. This guy above is a pretty typical performance artist, but his shtick is something I've not seen before. Or maybe he really is levitating? No matter, it was worth a few coins from my pocket just to watch and wonder.

Columbia is well on its way to being a city enhanced by random artists and performers via the busking movement taking place now. Sure, some of the art will suck -- some of it won't really be art, as fast and loose as we've been playing with that term lately. (Really, is playing with a children's toy art? Even if you're very good at playing with it? And also, just because you're the only person or group of people in town with the guts to do what you do, or present yourself the way you do, does that make you an artist? Even if you are only mediocre at doing that weird but wonderful thing you do? I've enjoyed this debate before with people who call themselves dancers just because they took a few classes. Having reared and paid for the education of a professional dancer who played at dance until she was about 10, then got serious enough about it to study it all over the world, giving up all of her free time and most of her childhood, I get a little tetchy about self-professed dance artists - I don't really care how esoteric your "art" might be. There are hobbies, and then there is art. Both have the propensity to make life joyous. But this is just my opinion, probably loosed a bit generously by the second glass of Pundericher Marienburg Riesling Hochgewachs Finherb I've enjoyed sitting by the Mosel in the little hamlet of Beilstein, Germany.

Having just left the ancient Roman town of Trier where both performance and visual artists inhabited most corners, I'm delighted by the prospects of this kind of casual entertainment becoming a part of the rich arts culture that is growing and thriving in my hometown.

This guy does some lovely, though crafty work -- and there's nothing wrong with crafty -- with wire. I probably would have made a purchase to take back home myself, but my suitcase will be full of several sneaky bottles of a semi-dry auslese. So have a little look at some of the goodies he was peddling. Inspiration maybe?

Amelia Mau to perform at Paradise Ice as part of First Thursdays on Main

Amelia Mau, daughter or Sandy and Frederic Mau, will be performing as part of Paradise Ice's celebration of First Thursday. Check out Amelia at 7 pm on Thursday, August 2nd at 1627 Main Street. Amelia Mau is a classical guitarist from the Columbia, SC area. From a young age she fostered a special place in her heart for all of the arts and eventually found her passion in music. In the spring of 2014 Amelia will graduate from Salem College with a Bachelor of Music degree in guitar performance. Amelia teaches individual and group lessons and performs in small venues in Winston-Salem, NC and Columbia, SC.

Here's a shot of Amelia when she played for us at the Jasper #006 Release Party a few weeks back.

And here's a shot of the whole dang Mau family.

Be sure to stop by Paradise Ice, grab a frozen custard or some other yummy icy treat, and have a listen to the beautiful musical stylings of the lovely Amelia Mau.

Garage/Rockabilly Band Capital City Playboys Are Throwing a Party This Saturday!

By: Casey White, Jasper Intern

The Capital City Playboys have been around since 2009, but its members have been playing in bands around Columbia for a number of years previously.  Marty Fort (guitar and vocals), Jay Matheson (bass and vocals), and Kevin Brewer (drums and vocals) are veterans of the Columbia music scene, and with CCP they hope not only to bring new music to the capital city, but also some of that classic rockabilly vibe . The group will be bringing their classic rock and roll party energy to the Art Bar this Saturday night, along with Buck Stanley, Dixie Dynamite, and Beach Day.

Although the band formed in Columbia, Brewer has since moved to Georgia, due to his obligations to the U.S. Army. Brewer joined in 2004, becoming an official Army musician in 2006. Although serving has forced him to relocate, he says that being an Army musician is the greatest day job he’s ever had.

“Keeping CCP going does take a lot of work and, for me, a bunch of driving,” Brewer says. Although it takes a great deal of effort, and is a 308-mile trip each way, Brewer knows that playing shows with Fort and Matheson is the thing he loves to do most.

Although he doesn’t mind driving to play shows with his band mates, Brewer says that the distance does making writing new material more difficult. The group sends ideas for songs to each other when they get them, fleshing them out when the band can get together, i.e.  when they all have the time. It is often difficult to find that time, because they all stay busy with their respective careers - Brewer in the military, Fort working for the Columbia Arts Academy, and Matheson working at the Jam Room.

Despite the distance, the Capital City Playboys plan to host a show that the people of Columbia will remember.  Brewer also sees the performance as a reunion with the friends and family he had to leave when he moved to Georgia.

“I'm really excited about the show Saturday,” said Brewer. “Not only will it be an epic line-up, but for my wife Gina and I, it will be a bit of a family reunion. Many of our closest friends will be under the same roof for the night. You can expect a stellar performance from every band.”

Buck Stanley is a band fronted by another veteran of the Columbia music scene, Stan Gardner, and features CCP bassist Jay Matheson as well.  The group plays what they describe as stripped down Americana, with pedal steel and fiddle players laying down healthy doses of twang-filled licks. Female-fronted Beach Day (hailing from Hollywood, Florida) will be performing their own compelling mixture of surf and garage rock, while Columbia’s Dixie Dynamite will be starting the night off with some old school country sounds.

The four acts make for a great bill, and promise a fabulous night of great music. Come on out to the Art Bar this Saturday, July 28^th, and experience it!

A Little Princess, Camp Rock, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat all running through this weekend

As I type this, the temperature has passed one hundred degrees yet again.  Wouldn't this be the perfect time to relax inside a nice, cool, dark theatre and see a live show?  If so, you have lots of chances through this weekend, as three local theatre companies present the final performances of their  summer productions. Chapin Theatre Company (aka Chapin Community Theatre) is currently  performing in the Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College, located at  7300 College St. in Irmo.  Currently running is A Little Princess., adapted from the classic novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, with shows tonight (Thursday, 7/26) Friday and Saturday, and a final Sunday afternoon matinee.   This production, directed by Debra Leopard,  features Molly Corbett in the title role, with Jeff Sigley, MonaLisa Botts, and Eliza C. Spence among the adults in the cast.    From their press release:

A Little Princess is the classic story of Sara Crews, a little girl born in India who is sent to a London private school after her mother dies. After word arrives that her father has lost his fortune and disappeared, she is banished to the garret where she must use her creative imagination and spirited optimism to overcome her circumstances. Ultimately, she becomes an inspiration for girls and boys everywhere. An uplifting tale for children of all ages, NewsDay said there is "a lot of magic in it."  Visit www.chapintheatre.org for ticket information.

Workshop Theatre meanwhile is presenting three more performances of  Disney's Camp Rock - The Musical, this Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 PM. Read What Jasper Said about the show at  http://jaspercolumbia.net/blog/?p=1841 .

Town Theatre has four more performances scheduled for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Thursday through Saturday evening st 7:30 PM, and a final Sunday matinee at 3 PM.  Scott Vaughan plays the lead role of Joseph, Shannon Willis Scruggs directs and choreographs, and Lou Warth is the music director.   From their press release:

Based on the book of Genesis, this exciting musical follows the story of a young man with a knack for having prophetic dreams. He incurs the jealousy of his eleven brothers who sell him into slavery in Egypt where his talents eventually save the country from famine and secure him a position as Pharaoh’s right-hand man. In due time, he is reunited with his now contrite and guilt-ridden brethren.  Its catchy music by Andrew Lloyd Webber utilizes a variety of musical styles and genres including rock ‘n’ roll, country-western, reggae, disco and even a French art song. Music is by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and lyrics are by Tim Rice. Joseph… is a winning show that is ideal family entertainment. Prepare to enter a world of dreams, for – as Joseph learns – “any dream will do.”     Visit http://towntheatre.com for ticket information.

A little sliver of the Rijksmuseum

Jasper loves wonderful old art museums -- the musty, dusty kind with labyrinthine corridors you can easily lose your way in. He sees no need for all the schmancy renovations museums seem prone to these days -- especially not when the gallery spaces are CLOSED FOR YEARs during refurbishment as Amsterdam's Rijkmuseum has been the last two times we were in the city. Having missed seeing Rembrandt's "Nightwatch" for more than 12 years, this time we threw caution to the wind and shelled out the cash to see a mere single -- yet newly renovated -- wing of the monstrous museum, said to contain the larger institution's "treasures." Most of what we met was expected - the Dutch Master Superstars like Vermeer, Hals, and Rembrandt - but we didn't expect to see Andy Warhol's portrait of the Netherlands' Queen Beatrix as soon as we walked in a lower gallery.

Another surprise was this fabulous Grandfather Clock by Maarten Bas, a Dutch artist who designed this clock with a constant 12 hour film inside depicting a person changing the minute and hour hands on what appears to be a dry erase marker board every minute for 12 hours.

The Rembrandts, of course, are mesmerizing. Here is the Nightwatch, which has been cleaned and restored since we last saw it, and now we know that the scene was actually set in daylight and, interestingly enough, it is now lit with LED bulbs.

Here is one of of Rembrandt's self portraits -- he has lots, you know, depicting him as a scruffy young man with a face full of trust and honesty.

And here's another Rembrandt with a trivia question. What do we call the type collar this woman is wearing? (Winner gets a great big congratulations!)

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Jasper 2012 Artists of the Year -- The Nomination Call is OPEN NOW

Jasper 2012 Artists of the Year

Jasper Magazine announces the call for nominations for the title “Artist of the Year” in each of the following five categories:

• Dance
• Theatre
• Music
• Visual Arts
• Literary Arts

Artists, 18 and older, working in the greater Columbia arts community are eligible for the title based upon their artistic accomplishments during the period from September 2011 until September 2012.*

Nominations should be sent to editor@JasperColumbia.com with the subject heading “Artist of the Year” and should be accompanied by

1)   a single paragraph explaining why the nominee should be considered

2)   a brief, but comprehensive list of work produced, performed , published, or presented during the September 2011 – September 2012 time period

Nominations must be received online by midnight September 15, 2012.

Results will be announced in the November issue of Jasper Magazine.

Upon closing of the nomination call, a panel of judges will select the top three candidates in each field and, from these three finalists, the public will be invited to vote online for each of their top choices.

• There is no fee to enter.

• Artists may nominate themselves.

• Artists should be made aware of their nomination and agree to participate in the competition.

• Employees of Jasper Magazine and clients of Muddy Ford Press are not eligible for competition.

The category Dance includes:  performance, choreography, or direction of any form of dance including, but not limited to ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap, ballroom, or folk.

The category Theatre includes: directing or acting in one or more local performances.

The category Music includes: conducting, directing, writing, or performing any style of music in one or more local concerts or recordings; both individuals and groups are eligible.

The category Visual Arts includes: the completion and presentation of any form of non-performing or non-literary arts, such as painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, print-making, mixed-media, etc.

The category Literary Arts includes: the completion, publication, and/or presentation of any form of prose, poetry, or non-fiction writing, as well as playwriting and the writing of executed screenplays.

*Jasper 2012 Artist of the Year Awards will not be awarded based on achievements accomplished prior to September 2011. The purpose of the awards is to recognize artistic achievements accomplished within a calendar year.

The Men Behind the Curtain

{The current issue, #6, of Jasper - The Word on Columbia Arts, features a number of profiles of people who work behind the scenes - costumers, lighting designers, board members, and more. We are pleased to offer you this online extra, an expanded version of the piece focusing on Danny Harrington, Randy Strange and Albert Little, backstage craftsmen extraordinaire.} ___________________________________________________________

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," Oz told Dorothy.  Yet through smoke, mirrors, rigging and a little moxie, that wonderful Wizard managed to rule an entire land, keep wicked witches at bay, and hoodwink an entire population. If acting is believing, stagecraft might well be deception, and a well-designed set with effective lighting makes all the difference in the world.  Jasper talked with three of those men behind the curtain, to find out how it all comes together.

Danny Harrington remembers his mother being involved in theatre on military bases, and after the family settled in Fayetteville, NC, he acted at school, and at the Ft. Bragg Playhouse.  "The two things that interested me in high school were drama, and soccer," Harrington recalls; at Methodist University, he made first string for the soccer team, but a series of away games caused theatre to win out.  “At a small liberal arts school you do it all, acting as well as design,” Harrington says.  His scholarship required him to work on all shows, and he experienced a hectic senior year as tech director for one class, while stage managing the same show for another.  Summer jobs through the Southeastern Theatre Conference pointed to  technical work as viable career option, and he fondly describes the day after junior year when he officially quit Domino's, since when he has always been able to make his living through theatre.

After a year of graduate school in scenography at UNC-Greensboro, he knew he had a talent for design, but experienced some burn-out. By now he had met his future wife Jamie, who was working on a national children’s theatre tour, and the two began looking for projects where they could work together. Summer stock, regional theatres, and other opportunities took them to Ohio, Louisiana, Virginia, and finally Columbia, where Harrington is the Technical Director for the nation’s longest-running community theatre organization, Town Theatre.  He notes that in this field, "you have to be willing to move anywhere; it’s all about supply and demand." Additionally, he has designed sets for Trustus, Columbia Children's Theatre, and the Chapin Theatre Company.

Harrington thinks people would be amazed if they saw "how backstage is way more complicated...or way simpler than they realized," noting that it's all about illusion, and that amazing effects can be accomplished solely by inventive lighting.   Sometimes he will follow a production's original design from Broadway, but the internet makes research on alternate choices easy, and for the upcoming Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Harrington is creating something very different of his own.  He enjoys challenges, mentioning Something's Afoot, where he got to kill off cast members one by one via set pieces - falling chandeliers, exploding staircases, etc.  He also had fun with the special effects for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, working out the logistics of a flying car.

He has been pleasantly surprised at the core group of backstage volunteers, many quite young, that he has developed. Half a dozen or more work on set construction, and as many as a dozen alternate on the running crew for a show (where he often feels like a choreographer himself, coordinating everyone's movements.) Sometimes a father and son may be hanging around the theatre while a mother a daughter are rehearsing ; they see the lumber and tools in the shop, and ask how they can help. Others come from summer theatre camps that he and his wife teach, where they learn the camaraderie that develops among a backstage crew.  One such student, now heading into high school, has been with him a number of summers, and Harrington has been able to train him, entrusting him with more responsibility each year.

Harrington gives the play selection committee crucial input on the feasibility of specific productions and effects, although one imagines that his enthusiasm and gee-whiz attitude might lead him to say "I think we can make that work" to just about anything. He seeks the director's input at least 4-6 weeks in advance, if not earlier, then always fashions  a 1/4 inch model. He tries to make every set as solid as possible, capping platforms with Masonite instead of just raw plywood; he appreciated one actor, an architect by profession, complimenting him on how safe and actor-friendly a particular structure was.  Extra hands are always needed, but what  he could really use right now is some expertise with welding, launching into a complex description of a hydraulic lift for an entrance through a trap door in Joseph.  There's no question that the possibilities of new technology fascinate him, and he adds that he's experimenting more with projection and film effects.  Still a relative newcomer to the Midlands, Harrington remains impressed at the level of support for the performing arts in Columbia, and that even in a tough economy, everyone locally is staying afloat.

Workshop Theatre's Technical Director, Randy Strange, grew up in Columbia, attending A.C. Flora, and dabbling a little in theatre - he remembers playing a "man in a white toga" in Julius Caesar.  Intending a career in commercial art, Strange spent two years on an art scholarship at USC. While excelling in his art classes, Strange was distracted from academics by the rest of college life, and within a week of leaving school, "Uncle Sam came calling."  Strange served two years in Viet Nam as a technical maintenance inspector for Chinook helicopters.  He considered a military career, and had qualified for pilot school, but would have had to train "in-country," and opted to return home, working at Southern Bell as a maintenance administrator for field personnel.  When Bell added its own graphic art division, he made the transition.   He is especially proud of a number of telephone directory covers, and portraits that he designed for the African American History calendars and promotional materials.  After 32 years with Bell, his department shut down during a period of downsizing, and Strange opted for early retirement.  By then he was heavily involved as a theatre volunteer, however; a chance meeting at a party in 1975 with Town Theatre's Technical Director Walter O’Rourke led to an offer to put Strange's creative skills to work on set design and construction.  When O’Rourke moved over to Workshop in the '80's, Strange followed, and has been there ever since - 37 years of community theatre in all, and almost 200 sets he has designed.  He and O'Rourke would split up duties, one designing, the other "figuring out how to make it look real on stage." Strange remembers that "Walter always griped that he'd be working until the day he died," and when O’Rourke passed away unexpectedly, in 2007, the Workshop board offered Strange the job,  which he feels "Walter would have wanted, and I think he had been grooming me for that all along."

Like Harrington, Strange advises on play selection, and meets with each director.  His sets often feature intricate detail and subtle touches that silently but clearly define a particular location or moment in time.  He is likewise detailed in person, soft-spoken, already anticipating components that will be needed in six weeks, and fretting over 17 scenes in the first act of next fall's Legally Blonde.  Strange  doesn't mind the challenge, but always worries that scene changes may slow down the pace of a show.  He tries whenever possible to reduce the scope and complexity of a set.  "It has to be actor-proof," he grins.  "If there's a way of breaking it, they will."  He too suspects that viewers may have no idea how tiny the available space may be.  "I think we pull miracles off quite often,"  he says.  "The fun aspect of theatre is that you meet a lot of wonderful people.  This wonderful artistic outlet has kept me out of trouble - for the most part - and is very rewarding,” especially when the hard work of so many people comes together just in time.

He sees theatre, and volunteering, as "something that can hook you, and that you develop a passion for." At first he was the youngster, working with most of Workshop's original founders, but now he's the veteran:  "There's a whole new world of opportunity, to meet a variety of friends that you'd have never met in any other venue, much younger people you wouldn’t meet in a normal job." The biggest thing he needs currently is some strong young bodies to help with actual construction. Students from USC and from youth theatre classes have been traditional sources, but currently Strange doesn't see as much passion among performers who in years past might have come out for auditions, then stayed to help build the set. "There are so many avenues of entertainment in Columbia, that theatre sometimes suffers," and there's great competition with other venues for talent and manpower backstage. Harrington agrees, finding that ironic, given that theatre in fact can combine many art forms: music, dance, performance and visual art simultaneously. Strange can round up 4-6 volunteers in a pinch, but often it's just him and one or two of the "hard core." "Thank God we have the Alberts of the world," he concludes.

Albert is of course longtime Workshop volunteer Albert Little.   When Little joins the conversation, an impromptu cast party of two breaks out, as both men rib each other, reminiscing over old shows, old stories, and old pranks played.  "That was Walter," Strange interjects.  “I would tell them they would burn in hell," Little teases. "We worked hard, and had lots of fun along the way,” even if that meant painting the floor at midnight in advance of opening night. Referring to O’Rourke, but by transference Strange too, Little acknowledges that "he wanted me to grow as a technician, and a carpenter.  Walter would always take suggestions; they would let you try to build something on your own. Whenever I was ready, they'd teach me more,” even if he ended up wearing more paint than made it to the wall.  During Into the Woods, foliage moved rapidly on and off stage, flying in and out, and Little appreciated the free rein he was given to do rigging some 25 feet in the air, a much-needed niche he has continued to fill.

Like Harrington, Little grew up in a military family that eventually settled in Sumter, SC.  Three of his school band directors were involved in the Sumter Little Theatre; soon after graduation, he saw a couple of productions there, and felt compelled to get involved.  "I had seen movies...and knew that it takes numerous shots.  Unlike film, live theatre is right there in your face, and that intrigued the hell out of me: making the best out of you never know what. Someone could trip, or forget an entrance, and I said 'I’ve got to be a part of this.'“

After a year at USC-Sumter, he drove a milk truck for Sumter Dairy, and volunteering onstage and behind the scenes became his passion. A move to Columbia with a partner, who was working on an MFA, led to backstage work, "or occasionally filling in as a spear carrier" at USC. Little drifted among assorted temp assignments and odd jobs (including, like Harrington, a stint delivering for Domino's)  before landing a job as a driver for the city Sanitation Dept.  After his partner moved to California, Little recalls that "I was lost.  The itch was driving me crazy," and he knew "I have GOT to do more theatre."  As soon as his work schedule with the city became stable, he showed up at Workshop.  Connections made there led to a job for 11 years as a runner at Chernoff-Silver, and now Little works for the Richland County Dept. of Public Works as an Engineering Technician for Storm Water Management. "My life is a happy accident," he concedes. “They made it fun - they are my best and longest lasting friends,"  Little says of his theatre colleagues. "When I came to Columbia, it scared the shit out of me," he laughs, discussing with Strange the wealth of talent found locally.  "We are blessed to have so many people, who are willing to give so much time."

Little offers a possible explanation:  in countless little rural towns in the state, there are a few artistic types who have greater aspirations. " Smaller communities may place a stigma on creativity - you know, 'that child just ain't' right,' " he jokes. "So kids move here, to a bigger town, and explore different possibilities with regard to the arts.  Columbia became a really great mecca, where you can see opportunity.  It’s a magnet for people to migrate here, and show off their wares.  They may not want to move to New York or even Atlanta, so they will come to Columbia, to see what works out for them. "   It becomes quite clear that Little isn't talking about just theatre volunteers, or even artists in general, but also about himself, and about finding oneself in ways beyond just a hobby.  It’s an unexpectedly moving and profound moment, as he describes that yearning that so many young people in creative fields experience.

Harrington, Strange and Little all turned to theatre as a fun activity.  For Harrington, stagecraft became a career for a young professional just now hitting his creative stride.  Strange discovered an outlet to develop his artistic skills, and now carries the torch that was handed to him from his mentor. For Little, volunteering backstage has become a calling.  Arthur O'Shaughnessy wrote "we are the dreamers of dreams...we are the movers and shakers of the world for ever, it seems."  These men behind the curtains of local theatre in Columbia make the magic, helping us to dream those dreams.

~ August Krickel

Photography by Jonathan Sharpe

TONIGHT – “Kristina Stafford: a long way home” at Gallery V

Opening Reception at Gallery V – Contemporary Art & Fine Craft

5 – 8 pm

Tonight, Gallery V opens its new show, Kristina Stafford’s “a long way home.” – an exhibit of mixed media sculpture that incorporates clay, metal, paper, flocking, and paint in installations, wall mounted pieces, “landscapes,” and functional flower vessels.  Stafford, a recent Columbia transplant, frequently works with combinations of two and three dimensional elements, and in this show, incorporates functional pieces with similar themes.  “I love to make pieces that hold flowers,” she says, “the pieces are decorated objects that become even more adorned after flowers are added.”

The title of Stafford’s show references her recent move to Columbia from New York.  “I asked myself what home is, or what home means,” she says.  “’A long way home’ is just me feeling I have miles to travel and places to see and experiences to be had before we are home.  So this show for me is about taking a look at my surroundings, reacting to them, decorating them, and sort of allowing myself to wonder where home might be next.”

The opening reception is tonight (July 19) from 5 – 8 pm, and the show runs through August 11^th.  Gallery V is located above Good for the Soul at 631-D Harden Street, in Five Points.  See more of Stafford’s work at kristinastafford.com, and find more information about the Gallery V at facebook.com/GalleryVArt.

-- A. Boiter-Jolley 

Photo credits: Kristina Stafford

Talented Young Cast Rocks the House at Workshop - A Review of Disney's Camp Rock - The Musical

Workshop Theatre's summer show, Disney's Camp Rock - The Musical, is enjoyable, family-friendly fun, set to an energetic rock beat, providing a nice chance for some talented teens and tweens to take center stage.  Based on two popular Disney tv movies that were vehicles for Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers, the show isn't exactly Sondheim, but aiming for the 8-18 age bracket means it's by no means a children's show either. Instead, we re-visit comfortably familiar themes of puppy love, teen rivalries, and summer camp hijinks, accompanied by a lively, contemporary pop-rock score. Sure, like any Disney product there is a little sense of some pre-packaging for a target demographic.  The book, by Robert L. Freedman and Faye Greenberg, is based on scripts and characters from five authors, while the score, "adapted, arranged, and orchestrated" by David Lawrence (a veteran Disney composer, who worked on all three High School Musical films, and is the son of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme) incorporates numbers from 20 (!) songwriters, meaning that there was just a little assembly line work going on. Chief among those writers is Kara DioGuardi, the American Idol judge who has written hits for former Disney starlets like Brittany Spears, Christina Aguilera and Hilary Duff, while others have worked with everyone from Kelly Clarkson to Katy Perry.  What impressed me most was how admirably and professionally the cast of 33 local youngsters (only a few are past their teen years) acquitted themselves on stage, demonstrating yet again that there is an entire generation of new local performers waiting in the wings.

The titular Camp Rock is a summer performance/music camp for kids, run by Brown Cesario (George Dinsmore), an aging rocker from the early MTV era, who capitalizes on the popularity of his three nephews, members of a popular boy band, Connect 3. When rival Camp Star (more luxurious, more regimented, and founded by the drummer Cesario fired 15 years before) threatens Camp Rock's future, it's no plot spoiler to reveal that the protagonists will have to overcome personal issues and teen drama, to pitch in together for a battle of the bands.

Katie Foshee has done nice work in any number of ensemble and supporting roles in recent years; here she graduates to romantic lead, the rocker chick Mitchie, and doesn't disappoint. Resembling a prettier Danica McKellar (Kevin's dream girl on The Wonder Years) Foshee displays a strong, appealing voice, and a talent for quick bantering dialogue. Nominal male lead Alex Cowsert, as Shane, likewise distinguishes himself vocally, especially in a couple of sweet love songs with Foshee. I say "nominal," since middle brother Nate (Avery Herndon) gets a romantic sub-plot too, and he very nearly steals the show with the song "Introducing Me," also featuring Alex Webster as the winsome Dana.  I recall Herndon from the ensemble in Spring Awakening this winter at Trustus, but, like Foshee, here he gets a chance to showcase some serious vocal talent.   When he and Webster sing together, they are just adorable; if they were any cuter, they'd be puppies.  Of course, there has to be a teen diva in the show like this, and Kathryn Reddic plays "mean girl"  Tess with gusto, plus gets some of the best dance numbers. Also of note is Marc Smith as Tess's rival Luke; his R&B-themed song "Fire" is done in an ultra-deep, resonant baritone, quite rare in a world of Ushers and Chris Browns.  Catherine Davenport, Tara Wallace and Mellie Boozer make the most of supporting roles as Mitchie's fellow campers, while the tiny Quincy Sykes gets some good laughs as a precocious and mischievous drummer-girl-in-training.  As above, the entire cast does fine in the group numbers, and even the youngest performers (some seem about age 8) keep up move for move, step for step, with their older peers.

Musical Director Daniel Gainey (also a gifted actor, as we saw in In the Next Room at Trustus just a few months ago) achieves a full, rich sound from his young and largely female cast.  At no time do we ever hear "Hard Knock Life"-style, sing-song children's voices; instead we hear the same catchy harmonies featured in any top 40 song on the radio today.  Choreographer Katie Hilliger also ensures that everyone's movements on stage are fluid and similar to the moves in any popular rock or hip-hop video.  The cast sings to a recorded score; that combined with 33 wireless mikes guarantees that there will be some issues with volume and feedback, but I have to say that any minor glitches were resolved almost instantly, and by and large, Baxter Engle's sound design is effective. Most of the cast have long hair and/or hats, and so for a pleasant change, head mikes were inconspicuous.

Director E.G. Heard makes everything flow and sound quite naturally; most of these kids could do a quite credible job playing these same roles in some professional touring version of this show.  Randy Strange's set incorporates a lush, realistic, painted drop (credit also goes to scenic artists Ed Sexauer, Beth Burnside and Pam Johnson) that depicts a lake and adjoining dock. Combined with the stage floor painted to suggest the shadows of foliage overhead (Barry Sparks' lighting design contributes to this effect too) and a couple of basic log cabin facades, the location is instantly and clearly defined, while leaving most of the stage free and uncluttered for the dance numbers.  Sparks also includes some nifty and inventive lighting effects in the pieces performed by the Star Campers, including "Tear It Down," featuring Reddic and Smith.  While most of the costumes are ostensibly "street clothes" and typical casual wear, Alexis Doktor plays with a lot of fine nuances; one camper wears a sequined shirt, another prefers tie-dye, and a third wears a plaid mini-skirt with dark leggings, each embodying a particular "type" of high school fashion and preference.  The Star Campers, on the other hand, all wear uniform-like, general issue t-shirts, making a subtle statement about the difference between the two groups.  When we notice one Star Camper wearing a slightly different and more attractive design, it's no surprise that she will turn out to be important to the plot. Even Dinsmore sports an authentic CBGB shirt, immediately defining Cesario's era before he has to say a word. I do wish that Cowsert and Herndon were clothed in a bit more glam fashion, to signify that they are actual rock stars, but youngest brother Jason (Ethan Cash) sports a funky hat and short pants, capturing the look of a pre-teen idol.

Don't get me wrong - like most Disney fare, much of Camp Rock is light-weight, derivative, and enjoyable for the moment, yet disposable. The plot is resolved via a deus-ex-machina slipped in so quickly you almost miss it.  Few of the many supporting characters are really developed, even though the entire play runs under an hour and 45 minutes.  A central conflict (stemming from Mitchie alienating her friends, by driving them so hard to succeed) was echoed in at least two reruns of The Big Bang Theory this past week alone, as well as in the final season of Buffy, at least one episode of Saved By the Bell, and probably many others previously.  Herndon's inability to communicate with the girl he's crushing on goes all the way back to She Stoops to Conquer in the 1700's.  The rousing Act 2 opener "Heart and Soul" is very reminiscent of the late 80's hit "Wild Wild West" by The Escape Club, while Mitchie and Shane's power ballad "Wouldn't Change a Thing" reminded me a bit of the Ann Wilson-Mike Reno duet "Almost Paradise."  And just about every musical number has a parallel scene in High School Musical.   Still, these are excellent sources to borrow from, and most audience members won't recognize how familiar it all seems.  The joy of Camp Rock is in the accessible, upbeat music, and how proficiently the local cast brings it all to life.  An earlier generation followed Jem and the Holograms; for me, it was the Monkees, Scooby Doo and the Partridge Family, and those older still may recall Dobie Gillis or even Andy Hardy;  Camp Rock is simply the latest incarnation of this same youthful, escapist entertainment.  I cannot imagine any teen or tween not enjoying it.  As for adults?  Well, I had an excuse to go: reviewing the show.  And my first thought when the lights went up?  "Those kids rocked the house!"  So I'd advise you to take your children or grandchildren, or find some younger siblings, cousins, or neighbors' kids, and treat them to an evening of theatre, one tailor-made for their musical tastes.  They’ll have a blast, and you might just too. Disney's Camp Rock - The Musical runs through July 28th at Workshop Theatre; contact the box office at 803-799-6551 for ticket information.

~ August Krickel

The Godzillafication of the Art Bar? By Jasper intern, Casey White

 

Sean McGuinness has taken his lifelong passion and obsession with Godzilla to the next level in his artwork. McGuinness uses his collection of Godzilla collectible figures, digital photography, and Photoshop in order to create his pieces. He has become known for his “Godzillafication” works in which he places the image of Godzilla into famous paintings and pieces of art. McGuinness will be showing these works along with some others at the Art Bar on July 19^th at 8 p.m.

When collectors of kaiju -- the Japanese word for strange beasts -- began displaying their collections on the web, McGuinness wanted to take part in the action. However, he wanted people to continue visiting his site rather than just looking at his collection once. This led him to create comics using his Godzilla figures along with other famous kaiju. Over the last 12 years, McGuinness has produced about 1,800 comics with his collectible figures.

It wasn’t until his wife encouraged him to make “real art” that McGuinness began working on Godzillifying pieces of art. His first, and now signature, piece was “1954 in 1865” in which Godzilla can be seen stomping through Sherman’s burning of Columbia. The piece got McGuinness nominated for Artist of the Year at the Columbia Museum of Art Contemporaries. Although he didn’t win the award, he felt that the nomination was a sign that he should dig deeper into the idea of Godzillafication.

McGuinness hopes that through his artwork the legacy that is Godzilla will live on in a world that may be inclined to forget the monster. “Godzilla is an icon of over 50 years,” McGuinness said. “Not that he needs my help, but I want to keep his message and his atomic fire alive in this world of distractions like iPods, smart phones and etch-a-sketches.”

His show at the Art Bar will be the first of this type for McGuinness. In the past, he has done some convention circuits, including Nashi-Con and Cola-Con, but he has never put together a personal show of this scale. The show will include two exclusive prints that use the Art Bar as a medium, and these prints will never be used again. The Art Bar is scheduled to project video of some of Godzilla’s greatest fight scenes, and McGuinness will be selling prints of his artwork as well.

“I want them to take away some of those pieces so they have a little bit of me and Godzilla in their homes. Or at least tell their friends around the water cooler or bar, ‘Guys, I saw this really funny thing last night,’” McGuinness said.

Even if those who attend the show at the Art Bar don’t take away a piece of his artwork, McGuinness hopes that they will take away some sense of happiness or excitement about the art that he is creating.

The show is scheduled to take place on July 19^th at the Art Bar at 8 PM, and the show will be on display for about a month. The Art Bar is located on 1211 Park Street. 

 -- Casey White, Jasper intern

Columbia artists in the Conch Republic -- A Guest Blog by Chad Henderson

Note: This story goes best with Jimmy Buffet on the radio, a Hemingway novel on your nightstand, and a Key Lime specialty drink made with generous pours…

During the week of July 4^th, four Columbia artists traveled down I-95 heading for the Southernmost point in the United States – Key West. Our Columbia collective consisted of myself (a local theatrical director), local dancer (turned stage manager for this trip) Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, and local actors Paul Kaufmann and Eric Bultman. Of course, some much-anticipated vacationing was expected – but our reason for traveling to the Conch Republic derived from an invitation from The Studios of Key West to be part of “One Night Stand” – a highly popular 24-hour theatre project that was celebrating its fifth incarnation.

The Studios of Key West (or TSKW) describes itself “as a place that provides a truly collaborative and supportive environment for creative experiences.” They offer studio space, lectures, workshops, residencies, partnership projects and nurture the creation of work. Their publicized mission is to “build audiences and support the advancement of established and emerging creative people in the Florida Keys.” TSKW is driven by a distinct cultural and educational mission to support creative community development, nurture artists and the artistic process, while forging collaborations that celebrate and advance Key West’s unique sense of place. And let me assure you – I have yet to experience any place in this country which offers such an inspiring array of opportunities with distinct cultural individuality.

Paul Kaufmann and I first went to TSKW in 2009 when we were part of their first theatre troupe residency. We stayed in The Mango Tree House - one of the studios’ residencies where the oldest mango tree on the island actually drops fresh delicious mangoes into your backyard. Our residency lasted two weeks, and we workshopped a new script called “Homo Apocalyptus” written by playwright Dean Poynor and featuring local actors Monica Wyche and Sydney Mitchell. TSKW provided us the time and space to explore and shape this story daily. This script went on to have productions mounted at Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston, and at an arts festival in Cairns, Australia.

While we were in Key West in 2009, we were also asked to participate in “One Night Stand” during that residency. So, imagine our excitement when we were invited to participate again in 2012! Bags were packed and loaded, and four travelers from Columbi-Yeah took their talents south for a week-long stay, and 24 hours of theatrical creation.

Our group was split between two residencies –Bonnie and I inhabited a lovely studio-style apartment with a private court-yard complete with a pool. Paul and Eric stayed in the newly renovated Ashe Street cottages just behind “The Armory” – the building that TSKW uses as their business headquarters. Paul and Eric had the pleasure of sharing the cottages with Danish artists-in-residency Lise Kjar (Installation/Sculptor/Video Artist), Gina Hedegaard Nielsen (Installation Artist/Sculptor), and Grette Balle (Textile Designer/Painter). Trust me folks, look these women up – they’re amazing and their work is just as awe-inspiring.

The week ensued with your local heroes partaking in some of the expected touristy fare: Sloppy Joe’s visits, sunset celebrations, sunning on gorgeous beaches with blue water, drinks up and down Duval Street bars (think the Bourbon Street of Key West), lunches at Fish Shacks where your meal was caught that day, drinking water from coconuts, and petting polydactyl cats at the Hemingway house. However, we were able to enjoy the colloquial treats of the island with our new Danish friends, and New York filmmaker and painter Christopher Bennett (also a TSKW artist-in-residency).

The time flew by, as it does when you’re having fun in paradise; and soon the weekend was upon us. On Friday, all of the “One Night Stand” participants gathered at the afore-mentioned Armory at 7pm. TSKW Deputy Director Elena Devers took the stage in the main gallery space, which was borrowed and transported from the beautiful St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Duval Street. She started by welcoming everyone to the Fifth “One Night Stand” – which was met with thunderous applause from all those involved. In the room at that moment were four writers, four directors, twelve actors, four stage managers, a collection of visual artists and their assistants who would serve as scenic designers, and four teams of costume and props designers.

The goal was seemingly simple – write and produce four new shows in the span of 24 hours. After names were drawn from baskets to team up writers, directors, actor groups, and designers – the project had begun.

As a director I was asked up to the stage to draw a writer out of the basket. I drew and opened the paper to reveal I’d be directing a show written by locals Mike Marerro and Chris Shultz, co-author of local publication “Quit Your Job and Move to Key West: The Complete Guide.” I had worked with Schultz during my last visit when he was an actor in the play I directed for “One Night Stand” in 2009. Drawings concluded and our team was assembled, with Bonnie Boiter-Jolley stage managing my show and Paul Kaufmann and Eric Bultman acting with another team.

Besides the teams being assembled, there were a few extra guidelines for the shows. The plays had to be no longer than 10 minutes, there was a hand-mirror that had to be used as a prop, and each script had to include the iconic line “Powerful you’ve become, the dark side I sense in you.” Each writer also had a draw a specific location – we drew “Outer Space,” appropriate considering the required line of dialogue.

We left The Armory around 8pm, and the writers took off into the night to spend the next eleven hours drinking coffee (or beer) while constructing a 10-minute play that would be performed at a 7pm and 9pm showing the following night. I have no idea how the other teams spent the rest of their night, but we decided to do what we did best – be care-free and have some dinner and drinks with our Danish friends and Chris, the filmmaker.

My alarm went off at 6:30am the next morning, and Bonnie and I headed to the Armory. We arrived at 7:15am, met with a table covered in tasty morning treats and the most important element: a warm urn of coffee. I sat down at a table with writers Chris and Mike, and they looked on as I and the designers read the script. The actors were returning to the Armory at 8am, so there was little time to assess the story and decide what was needed from the designers.

The title at the top of the page read “Frank Hates China” – which instantly warranted a chuckle from this director. The story was simple: a group of tourists are visiting a viewing platform on the moon where they can get the best view of a soon-to-pass meteor. However, when the meteor goes off its expected path and crashes into the earth, the group loses their cool and struggles to pull it back together. The tour group was led by a just-doing-her-job guide played by theatre newcomer Ashley Kamen. The tourists consisted of a over-the-top Star Trek fan played by Brandon Beach – a popular leading-man in the Key West theatre-scene, a Star Wars nerd dressed as Yoda (remember the required dialogue) played by Mike Mongo – a entrepreneur who lives in Key West, goes to church in Jamaica, and has a web design business in Miami, and finally a widow who has brought the ashes of her husband Frank along for the visit played by Key West theatre critic Connie Gilbert.

After the first pass on the script, I asked our scenic designer Corynn Young to explore a Jetsons inspired moonscape with a dash of Metropolis. She alerted me she was a painter and not a scenic designer, to which I replied, “Just do whatever comes to you. There’s no way to go wrong - just have fun.” I then went down the props and costume list with our designer Kelly Duford – who does some work with Key West Burlesque. Kelly and her mother took off to scrounge through costume shops at the local theatres and use the $150 budget to get any other necessary materials.

Once the actors showed up at 8am, we immediately headed to a convention center near Mallory Square Dock where the famous sunset celebrations take place. We made a conference room our rehearsal space, and began blocking immediately following a quick read-thru. Bonnie, who was just planning on stage managing, became a performer in the show out of necessity. She walked the ill-fated meteor across the stage and then made a quick change of direction towards earth – which we were hoping would incite some laughter that night at the performance (it did, by the way).

Lunch was served at noon, and we had some visits from our tired writers just to make sure everything was working out. After a few more runs, I asked the actors to depart and learn lines for two hours. After that break, we reconvened at the Armory to continue rehearsing in an art studio upstairs.

There were varying degrees of success with the line-learning. Brandon Beach, who was quite experienced, was having the most difficulty. Whether it was the strange vernacular of his Captain Kirk inspired lines or the pressure of the situation – I don’t know. However, I had faith it would all come together. The others were off-book, and sometimes having the support of your cast can make all the difference.

We made our way downstairs to the main gallery for the one-and-only technical rehearsal at 5:00pm. The cast had one chance to run the show on the stage, and we were able to set levels for the three sound cues we had for the show. The cast was having intense problems remembering their lines at that moment – but still; optimism was the name of the game.

We left the technical rehearsal, and had a pizza dinner that was served in the court-yard behind the Armory. As I dined on delicious local slices with Bonnie, Paul, and Eric – I noticed members of my cast pacing around trying to recite their lines as they chewed cheese and drank a relaxing beer. Brandon Beach was sitting at a table under the aforementioned mango tree with his head in his script, when a mango almost fell directly on him – barely missing his head and landing behind him in his chair. He quickly moved to a more secure area to continue studying.

With the show an hour away, I asked Paul and Eric how their show was going. They seemed optimistic and devoid of anxiety. Minutes later I saw both of them exit their cottage with leather cowboy-wear featuring tassels…Bonnie and I could only smile as we tried to imagine what we were about to see our travel-partners perform.

At 6:30pm my cast convened in the makeshift backstage area in the main gallery. They put on costumes, make-up, and prepared to perform this show that had been written less than 24 hours earlier.

The first show at 7pm was sold out and had a very supportive audience. Two of the shows preceded ours, and then it was our turn. The audience clapped and laughed as our outer-space moonscape backdrop was revealed. Then I hit play on Bonnie’s iPhone that was plugged into the sound board. My cast came bounding down the aisles in the audience making their way to the stage by way of space-walking leaps as “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (The 2001 Space Odyssey Theme, or Gamecock Football intro music) blared through the speakers. As the final climax of the song hit, the cast was on stage and met with applause. So far so good…

The show commenced with very few mistakes. A few lines were dropped or changed, but it still looked very competent. There was a prompter off-stage to help in some of those situations – and the audience expected there to be some difficulty. However, when the show was drawing to a close, Brandon Beach – our struggling experienced actor – drew a complete blank on his final monologue. With complete confidence, he crossed the stage and took the script from the prompter inciting the loudest laugh all night. He then recited his last monologue, then threw the script down on the stage calling out, “who writes this shit?” More laughter. He then crossed to his last mark, and said the last line leading the cast off-stage. The audience cheered like they were having the best time of their lives.

As soon as they were off-stage I told Brandon, “Well, that certainly worked. Keep it for the 9pm – we’ll pretend we planned it the whole time.” He laughed and agreed.

Paul and Eric’s show followed, and it was the final one of the evening. The show titled “An Incident Proposal” was story about Eric’s character and his prostitute friend in 1950’s Key West. When Paul’s character entered the story he proposes $10,000 for a night with Eric’s “wife”. Well, the deal goes down, and Paul and Eric’s excellent performances brought a lot of comedy and presence to the show. The audience was enjoying it immensely, and by the end of the show we realize that Paul’s character is a wheeler-and-dealer who’s had a history of abandoned wives and crooked financial deals.

The first audience was escorted out after the show, making way for the almost-sold-out 9pm audience. The emcee told the new audience that “the 7pm show was more of a dress rehearsal and that they were about to get the ‘real’ show.” So the show commenced, and yet again – the shows got great laughs and response from a lively crowd.

At the end of both shows, the audiences were asked to pick a “crowd favorite” by round of applause. Both times, the emcee awarded the title to “Frank Hates China” – which meant absolutely nothing, but it did add a sweet cherry to the top of this already rewarding sundae of collaborative arts.

Paul, Eric, Bonnie, and I were humbled by an embarrassment of riches while in residency at TSKW. We dined and conversed with international and national visual artists, collaborated with local theatre artists, and were able exercise our craft for audiences in the Conch Republic. A truly unique experience that is just as amazing as the memories it creates.

As we began our 13+ hour-long trek back to Cola on Monday, I was thinking about how the locals of Key West were so supportive of “One Night Stand”. We actually produced a 24 hour theatre project at Trustus years ago. While the actual event was a testament to the talents we have in this city, we had a hard time selling 134 seats to our local audiences. TSKW filled hundreds of seats two shows in a row … that fact alone started an itch that I feel needs scratching.

Maybe its time for another 24 hour theatre project here in Columbia! We’ve certainly got directors, writers, and actors who could pull it off. We’ve even got an excellent group of visual artists in this city who could bring the scenic design to life in a big way. We don’t suffer from a lack of venues either. I also think, with the right press, we could generate a lot of excitement for this unique type of project.  Plus – we’re all enjoying multi-disciplinary collaborations these days – so why not? What do you say Columbi-yeah? Is it time for another go at it? Do you want to see what can happen when theatrical creations come to life in 24 hours? Let’s make it happen!

Note:

Artists interested in residencies should check out www.tskw.org for information.

More about tomatoes than you probably want to know - but read this anyway. What Jasper Said!

“It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.”

-- Lewis Grizzard

It's no surprise to those of you who choose to read What Jasper Said that there is art in everything -- music in the crackle of a fire and dance in the sway of the trees, for example. No matter how you feel about all things great and small, it's impossible to ignore the fact that nature provides us with some of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring sights  we ever have the joy to see.

Take, for example, the lowly tomato.

If there's a caliper by which any Southern garden can be gauged, a singular standard of judgment -- not necessarily of quantity but of quality -- it is the wholly unlikely but potentially perfect tomato. The master measure of any gardener worth her salt is the firmness, roundness, color, texture, and taste of the lycopersicon esculentum -- literally, "edible wolf peach."

From the meaty fruits that grow in twisted bushes out by the barn (pronounced "may-ters") to the glorious globes meticulously mulched and precisely staked by women's garden clubs (pronounced "toe-mah-toes"), Southerners will stretch budgets, backs, patience, and sometimes even the truth to brag about their exceptional poma amoris -- love apples of the vine.

As versatile as the very soil in which we sow them is the tomato itself, which we boil, broil, stew, stuff, pickle, puree, glaze, grill, sun-dry, simmer, saute, fry green with cornmeal and pepper, slather with mayo on snow-white bread, or juice and stir with vodka and Tobasco. A dieter's delight, tomatoes are low in sodium, free of fat and cholesterol, and a superb source of potassium, beta carotene, and vitamins A and C to boot. One medium tomato is 35 calories -- and that's if you eat the whole thing. Which many of us do. Happily.

Eighty-five percent of the 30 million back-yard gardeners in America grow one or more of the literally hundreds of tomato varieties with which geneticists and seed-savers have provided us. With the likes of Big Girls, Better Boys, Bonnies, and more exotic mutations such as Royal Chico, Macbeth's Bloody Hand, and Sub-Arctic Plenty (touted as being the world's earliest tomato, coming into fruition in just six weeks), tomato production has doubled worldwide over the last two decades with the average person eating 80 pounds of them every year. Nowadays, South Carolina is among the top five states in tomato market production, and we, by the way, produce the kind that you can actually eat -- not those green, mealy, gassed  tennis balls the other coast is known for.

But tomatoes didn't become fashionable in our region until after the Civil War. It's thought that the original aggie-sized fruits grew wild in South America, probably Peru, and were eaten by the ancient Incas. Along with other treasures, early explorers took tomatoes back to Europe where both Italians and Spaniards readily adopted them into their diets and, eventually, brought them to the New World. Even then, colonial Americans eschewed tomato consumption based on the bad reputation of the tomato's kin -- the dreaded nightshade family, which makes them kissing cousins with the potentially poisonous mandrake and belladonna.

Thomas Jefferson was one of the first farmers to take a chance and plant tomatoes in his garden in Monticello in 1781. And to publicly prove the tomato's virtue, another champion, whose name we've lost to history, stood on the courthouse steps in Salem, New Jersey in 1820, where he publicly devoured one of the delicacies -- and lived to tell the tale. That and like testimonies, combined with enlightened plant breeders who produced plumper, tastier tomatoes, made the prospects of stewing up a pot of summer soup (tomatoes with okra and corn), much more palatable to the Southern chef.

To set the record straight -- yes, the tomato is a fruit and not a vegetable. That said, even though a USDA official during the Reagan administration, in response to the mandate to cut the school lunch program budget, proclaimed that not only was the tomato a vegetable but that ketchup satisfied a veggie requirement on our kids' lunch trays. After a pelting of rotten tomatoes, he left his post. In reality, tomatoes are fruits of the berry family.

This weekend, we honor the tomato at Columbia's own Palmetto Tasty Tomato Festival with music, socializing, and most importantly, mater munching. Next year, Jasper told me he'd like to sponsor an art exhibit to coincide with the fest. But this raises the question -- is it even possible to capture the elusive beauty of the blessed fruit on canvas? I don't know, but I'd like to find out.

For more on the Palmetto Tasty Tomato Festival please visit the website and consider buying your tickets early. In the meantime, my friend Tracie Broom has shared some of  her photos depicting the beauty of tomatoes with Jasper. Take a look below, lick your lips a bit, and come and see us on Sunday at the Palmetto Tasty Tomato Festival at City Roots urban farm in Columbia.

A year of Jasper -- a message from Cindi

It's about this time in the magazine cycle that I always start feeling a little sappy. The magazines are hot and ready and waiting to get into the hands of artists and art lovers all over the city. Any number of people have volunteered to help out with the release event in any way from serving to setting up to cleaning up to sharing their artistic talents. My family members have all checked in to see what their jobs are and taken over important tasks so I know we're covered in those areas. I'm even still getting phone calls from friends asking if there's anything they can do to help. (Margey Bolen will be checking IDs tonight, for example.) And I find myself just a little verklempt. I can't help it -- I'm a wimp.

This issue of Jasper represents the completion of our first full year of publication -- six issues, every other month, when we said we would bring them to you, and with complete financial transparency. Every ad penny -- and plenty of non-ad pennies -- have gone into printing the magazine and paying our staff and contributors a very modest honorarium. The editors work for free.

This is what is so overwhelming.

Just like all the talent coming on the stage tonight, every single person involved in Jasper, from the creating of it to the sustaining of it to the celebration of it, cast their lot with the magazine simply as a labor of love. They love what they're doing -- they love what other artists are doing -- and they want to be a part of something good.

I do feel good about what we've done this year. In today's issue of Jasper I list every single individual who has made a contribution to Jasper throughout the last year. (I SO hope I didn't forget anyone!) I can't thank them all enough for being a part of this mission. I neglected to include all the talented artists who have come to the release parties and played or performed for us -- usually just for beer (and cheap beer at that.)

So, officially, to all the performers who have celebrated with us, the artists who have appeared in our pages, the contributors who created those pages, the editors who share their expertise, the dozens of volunteers, the Krewe de Jasper, the readers, the advisors, and the extended Jasper family -- Thank You.

Here's to an exciting new year!

Cheers,

Cindi 

New Music: The Hollerin' River Talkers + TONIGHT = Jasper #006

Our magazine release parties (if you’ll forgive me for saying so), have had some fairly awesome live performances. And while I have written about our headlining band The Restoration in the past, I want to take some time before the party tonight to tell you about a new, lesser known act who is also capable of blowing your mind.

The Hollerin’ River Talkers, a diverse project-group of singer/songwriters spearheaded by Shallow Palace leader Greg Slattery, is dedicated to reviving classic old folk and blues tunes into a modern context. This task is something that, to put it simply, they blow out of the f***in’ ballpark.

Marshall Brown is the lead-off singer in the troupe, and contributes a (for-him) relatively straightforward vocal that still brings the Donovan-esque psychedelia he is known for to “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home.” Daniel Machado (of the The Restoration) makes a banjo-led attack on “Mary,” an old folk tune about how cheating on your wife ain’t gonna get you to heaven, while Aaron Berg and Slattery both take a gorgeously dirty stab at the blues standards “Catfish Blues” and “Death Room Blues.” Todd Mathis rounds out the set with a dirty rock take on the gospel tune “Wade in the Water,” the only tune which fully makes use of drummer Steve Sancho’s presence.

All of these tunes are ragged and sparse, but that’s not what makes them great—it’s the fact that each contributor never forgets the feeling that these songs first inspired, with lust, laughter, and longing all mixed up in equal measure. It’s a short collection, but I guarantee you’ll want to hear it again and again.

To listen/buy all of these tunes: http://rivertalkers.bandcamp.com/

Come out and see us tonight at Tom Law's Conundrum Music Hall on Meeting Street in West Columbia. We're starting at 7:30 with poetry from Kristine Hartvigsen and Cassie Premo Steele, three short films by Wade Sellers, the Next Door Drummers, a set of classical guitar from Amelia Mau, a solo set from Rhodes Bailey of the Whiskey Tango Revue, then the Hollerin' River Talkers and The Restoration, who will be missing their drummer so they'll be laying down some pretty damn good blue grass. JoeTurkaly will be making supper ($) and two bars will be open. The event itself is free. All to celebrate Columbia's badass arts scene and the release of Jasper #006 -- a solid year of bringing you the magazine we said we would, when we said we would, and in the best possible shape we could get it to you.

You can count on Jasper.

Book Review -- The Accidental Candidate: The Rise and Fall of Alvin Greene, by Corey Hutchins and David Axe, with art by Blue Delliquanti and cover by Dre Lopez

Before I begin, I should admit to no real expertise with graphic novels. I have read only a handful before tackling The Accidental Candidate, the new book from Free Times reporter Corey Hutchins and freelance war correspondent and graphic novelist David Axe, with art by Blue Delliquanti and cover art Dre Lopez. However, each time I return to the medium, I am amazed by its power to tell a story in a way fundamentally different, but equally as compelling, as a traditional novel. The interaction between word and image and the momentum and movement that a narrative gains from the frame structure has its own beauty, and one should read a graphic novel or two for that experience if nothing else.

But enough about the medium -- let’s talk about this particular book, which is not technically a “novel," but a graphic non-fiction work; an emerging genre in which co-writer David Axe is a leader.  The book chronicles, as the subtitle says, “The Rise and Fall of Alvin Greene,” South Carolina’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010.

If you’ve already forgotten this bizarre, and embarrassing, political spectacle -- the kind of thing that can only happen in South Carolina -- here's the quick and dirty summary. Knowing that unseating Tea Party kingmaker Jim DeMint from his Senate seat was likely going to a be a Sisyphean task, nobody really geared up to take on the charge other than one former State House rep -- who did only minimal campaigning before the primary --  and Alvin Greene, a 32-year-old unemployed Army vet of whom nobody had ever heard, and who didn’t bother to campaign at all. But something strange, improbable, and a little suspicious happened -- Greene won the primary in a landslide. Suddenly Greene became a huge story, as countless media outlets ran interviews of the socially awkward man, who lived with his father in Manning, SC, and who seemed to have painfully little political acumen, if indeed he had any at all.

The depiction of Greene by both the writers and Delliquanti seems to be deliberately unadorned, conveying not only the uncertain sense that Greene might not be “all there,” but also that he lives his life largely in his head as a misunderstood loner whose poor communication skills make him come across as less intelligent than he actually is. Hutchins and Axe don’t shy away from some of the more off-the-wall ideas that Greene came up with during the race -- his suggestion that action figures of himself be made and sold to jump-start the economy and his claim that DeMint single-handedly started the recession, for example -- but they avoid making those moments merely punch lines. Greene's opponent in the primary, Vic Rawl, also comes off pretty well as an embattled defender of election fairness and democratic responsibility. It is primarily party figures on both sides who come off badly, as the writers read the Tea Party riot act and come down on the bumbling ineffectiveness of leadership in South Carolina's Democratic Party.

As compelling as the basic story is here, though, it’s a little too straightforward and limited to carry the book by itself, so the writers use the story as a jumping off point to illustrate some troubling truths about our political discourse. Hutchins himself becomes one of the central characters in the book, as he recounts not only Greene’s story, but also his own role in the debacle. An astute reporter with a knack for long-form intensive journalism, Hutchins was the first and only reporter to cover Greene before the election, and also had the benefit of conducting some of the most in-depth interviews the candidate was willing to give. While his winning portrayal of himself might come off as self-serving to some, it also seems rightly earned, given his extensive coverage of the events in Columbia’s Free Times.

Hutchins and Axe's depiction of Hutchins' own efforts point to a glaring failure, in most traditional media outlets, when it comes to covering politics, as many of the biggest and most important stories go unreported while exhaustive attention is given to the horse race of polling and acquiring the cheap sound bite. Hutchins and Axe draw connections from Greene’s story to a variety of these issues, including the controversy over faulty voting machines (South Carolina bought their current batch from Mississippi, after the latter decided they weren’t reliable enough); the known shady practice by Republican operatives of  planting poor black candidates in races in the South; the rise of the Tea Party; and, DeMint’s connections with the cultish fundamentalist group in DC known as The Fellowship.

In doing this, the team's work fits into the emerging trend of non-traditional reporting techniques made both possible and necessary due to the rise of the Internet and 24-hour cable news. While most of the story comes directly from Hutchins' own reporting on Greene, there is also a deft use of quotes from other journalists and national political figures that lends the book a weighty sense of argument.

-- Kyle Petersen

(In addition to being the music editor for Jasper Magazine, Kyle Petersen holds a master's degree in English from USC and is currently pursuing a PhD in American Literature. He is also a former employee of the SC Democratic Party Headquarters.)

CMA's Design from the Collection -- a review by Jeffrey Day

As much as I like The Art of Seating, a show of 200 years of chairs at the Columbia Museum of Art, I was more excited to see what the museum would do with the companion design exhibition. For Design from the Collection, members of the museum affiliate group the Columbia Design League mined the museum collection for examples of good design. I feel a close connection to many of the objects in the exhibition, having had an opportunity to see many quite a few times and to remember when the museum acquired some.

When we think about museums, great paintings and sculptures first come to mind. The works in Design from the Collection are more prosaic – chairs, desks, teapots, dishes – but their functional origins and often humble material coupled with thoughtful and beautiful design provide a model for the possibilities of beauty in our daily life.

One piece I’m always happy to revisit is Danish designer Georg Jensen’s chocolate pot from 1930. The silver pot is seven-inches high with sleek lines and a low-set teak side handle and matching lid handle; the best way to describe it is charming. Another simple piece, a 1958 teapot by John Prip, is the made of stuff even more basic - pewter and plastic – which doesn’t prevent it from being a delight.

One piece I don’t recall seeing before is Gilbert Rohde’s dressing table from around 1940, but it has belonged to the museum for a decade and is certainly memorable. With its sleek, rounded lines this dressing table made of ebony veneer and quilted maple with a top of glass suspended by steel tubing looks like it could speed around one’s bedroom. It’s the perfect marriage of elegant modern design coupled with a high level of craftsmanship.

As companion to The Art of Seating, the exhibition appropriately has a lot of chairs; chairs that make you rethink chairs, really appreciate chairs, toss your stupid and ugly chairs. The earliest chair, and about the oldest work in the show, is a 1915 bent wood rocker by chair innovators Thonet. (The Austrian company’s chair No. 18 has been manufactured since 1876.) It has rockers and arms made of one continuous oval of bent wood. It is a marvelous melding of new technology, function and beauty – as are all the best pieces in the show.

Eero Saarinen is best known as the architect of the TWA terminal at JFK Airport in New York and the Dulles Airport main terminal, but he created furniture just as cool as those buildings. The exhibition contains two of his most iconic designs – the tulip chair and tulip table. (These were first manufactured in 1956, but like quite a few of the post-World War II furniture pieces these particular items were made a couple of decades later in response to a renewed appreciation of mid-century design.)

Among the other well-known designers represented in the show are Charles Eames and Ray Eames with a molded plywood chair from the 1940s, a cast aluminum and fabric chair from 1958 (along with the Rohde’s dressing table, it’s my favorite piece), a 1946 wooden slat bench by George Nelson, and a ‘40s carafe by Russell Wright. On the unknown end is Danish designer Poul Jeppesen’s modern, but warm and inviting wood and cane armchair from 1950.

Entering the exhibition through the Art of Seating, you’ll be greeted by pieces such as these. Near the end of the show you will wonder if you’ve wandered into another exhibition entirely. You’ll find works that fit firmly in the fine crafts category – glass, ceramics, basketry – as well as a few pieces that are simply sculpture. The exhibition text panels are also puzzling. Several are written with a personal point of view by committee members while others read like standard museum text although all are credited to committee member. These confusing turns may be the result of a committee-created exhibition – in this case it looks like the work of two committees that never met. Both these things badly undermine what is largely an excellent show.

On the plus side, the objects are creatively displayed – especially the chair perched atop platforms attached to the gallery walls. The exhibition is on display through July 29.

-- Jeffrey Day is a frequent contributor to Jasper and What Jasper Said, and the former senior arts writer for The State

Song for Jeffrey By Alex Smith, Sports Editor, Jasper Magazine

A few miles down the road from the fortified compound that houses Jasper Magazine, something is cooking at The Free Times in the Rant And Rave section, and when something starts to cook on that burner, the responses can go on longer than some of the threads on Chris Bickel's Facebook posts, only it's not inter web realtime, so that means weeks. I wanted to throw my pat of butter onto this particular griddle in a somewhat public forum before everybody forgets how the whole fucking thing started (I'm just as guilty as the next: we have given ourselves the attention span of gnats with this internet thing-I hear heckles that 'this internet thing' is what is allowing me to have my say about something while it's still remotely topical…just remember, if you're close enough to hear you're close enough to chew the face off of…).

  Ed [Madden, Poetry Editor] and I were in the bullpen out at the compound at Muddy Ford about a week ago, grinding the pigment out of wildflowers to use for the various colored ink for the upcoming issue (you don't just write when you're on staff at Jasper). As the man said so long ago, "we spoke of movies and verse, and the way an actress held her purse, and the way life and times could get worse…" Then we spoke of Jeffrey. Ed mentioned somebody bitching about our mutual friend Jeffrey Day and one of his less than enthusiastic notices concerning some or other arts related event here in town. We agreed not only that bitching about a review was unwarranted and whiny, but that (you can quote me on this) Jeffrey Day is the best all-around arts critic writing in Columbia. Imagine my surprise when, perusing the new issue of the Free-Times the next day [June 26-July 2], I got to the very last words that weren't ad copy, and they read, "I found a little Jeffrey Day dribble in my Free Times this morning (Arts, June 20). Apparently, the guy is like treatment-resistant gonorrhea; you may think he’s gone, but he ain’t."

I love the Free Times. I have had a man-crush on its editor since I saw his band open for The Violent Femmes when I was 15 years old. When it comes to full coverage journalism in Columbia, The Free Times has no competition, and their work is consistently terrific. And, like most people, I love the Rant And Rave section. So, let me make it completely clear that in no way am I trying to defame The Free Times when I say, in regard to the quote above: Fuck. That. Shit.

Here are a few more choice words in regard to that quote. I've known Jeffrey for going on 25 years, and I consider him a friend, but my anger about those words being said about a friend is beside the point, and what's more, personal, and I'd like to keep this out of that realm. I will, therefore, dispense with attempting to address the anonymous coward who spilled that bile onto the back page of an otherwise decent news rag, and try to look at the bigger picture.

The above quote is indicative of a problem some of the people involved in Columbia's arts community have that can end up being fucking deadly: everybody wants press, but none of them are willing to take criticism from anybody who knows what they're saying. First, let me say that, if you're an artist and you can't take the ugly words the same way that you take the kind words that people say about your art, if you can't be humble in the face of adulation and venom, throw that towel in. Now. You're a kiddie swimming in the big person pool. Get out until you've grown up a little. Beyond that, if our arts scene (which, listen, don't get me wrong, seems to be flourishing and cohering so successfully at this point that it's making me nervous) is nothing but a bunch of people smiling and waxing each others' cars, the whole thing will either burn bright very briefly and then die (again) because, take my word, that kind of enthusiasm can not be maintained without serious drugs; or those grinning waxers will turn around after telling you they love your work and tell somebody else how shitty they really think it is, this behavior will proliferate, and the whole thing will fizz out like a soggy sparkler and die (again).

Be honest about what you think and feel when you experience a work of art, and be willing and able to back it up, especially if your thoughts and feelings are negative. This will create dialogue, which will create working and personal relationships, which will create community. That's one thing.

The other is, for FUCK'S sake, we artists should get down on our knees and praise Allah for allowing us to have an art critic like Jeffrey in this town. Jeffrey is knowledgeable about enough aspects of both visual and performing arts that he can write incisive criticism about what he sees, whether it's a review of a musical at Town Theatre, a symphony performance at the Koger Center, or the latest show at the Columbia Museum of Art. He does so without any bells and whistles, without flexing his intellect publicly, and in such a way that a person reading his reviews does not have to be an aficionado to understand what he has written. He has been a paid writer for virtually every print outlet that covers the arts in Columbia, and when times got tough, he continued to do it for free online. Somehow, Jeffrey sees it all, and he reports on it honestly and thoroughly. People have faulted him for being too harsh a critic as long as I've known him, and, again, let me say it: Fuck. That. Shit.

Jeffrey has seen what the arts community in this city is capable of, and the reason we should be grateful for him is that he holds us to that high standard, and if we weren't around to know about the standard he's holding us to, he'll be glad to tell us about it. He is a good man. He may be a grumbling, naysaying curmudgeon sometimes, but if he knows you, he'll laugh at himself with you about it, especially if you're like me, and he knows that you'll only put up with his grumbling for so long before you pull out your tickle-bat and whack him with it (I'll tell you more about the tickle-bat some other time).

Jeffrey wrote a review of a play I directed in 2005 that has been the kindest thing written about any single artistic endeavor I've been involved with. It ended with the phrase, "…one of the ten best plays to be performed in Columbia in the last ten years." No shit. It was such a good review that I started telling people I'd paid him to write it, or that myself and the cast had gotten him loaded, like Joe Cotten in Citizen Kane, and finished the review for him after he passed out. He also wrote a very poor review of a show I directed in 2000 that I thought was perfect. Ultimately, I believe it was that poor review that made Jeffrey my friend. He would come sit and talk with me and whoever I was with (or vice-versa) when we'd see each other out at the bars or around town. I noticed that, for a long time after that poor review, he didn't seem to come and sit and talk when I saw him, and at first it puzzled me, but then, I realized that he probably thought I was pissed at him about the review (reading that Free Times quote and thinking about how much of that bullshit he's probably had to endure over his career makes me feel naive for ever wondering why he would have thought he should approach an artist with kid gloves). I saw him out one night. I was a little in my cups, so I told him that he needn't ever worry about me being an asshole to him if he wrote a bad review of one of my shows because, ultimately, good or bad, I wasn't doing it for him. I think most people would have been more than a little off-put by some drunk jerk coming up and telling them that they didn't care what they thought, but after that, Jeffrey seemed so much more relaxed and willing to talk when we would see each other.

The part I'm not sure about is whether I told him about the quote. After his bad review came out, I happened to read an interview from the 60's with Miles Davis. To bolster the esteem of the cast of the play Jeffrey had panned, I printed this quote out and hung it backstage:

"I get sick of how a lot of them write whole columns and pages of big words and still ain't saying nothing. If you have spent your life getting to know your business and the other cats in it, and what they are doing, then you know if a critic knows what he's talking about. Most of the time they don't. I don't pay no attention to what critics say about me, the good or the bad. The toughest critic I got, and the only one I worry about, is myself. My music has got to get past me and I'm too vain to play anything I think is bad."

What came after this, which I left out for my cast, but include here, is this:

"No, I ain't going to name critics I don't like. But I will tell you some that I respect what they write -- Nat Hentoff, Ralph Gleason and Leonard Feather. And some others, I can't right off think of their names. But it ain't a long list."

The list might not be long, but this vain, self-critical artist is glad to say that Jeffrey Day is on it.

-- Alex Smith, staff writer, Jasper Magazine

(Alex Smith has written about The Next Door Drummers and artist Cedric Umoja for Jasper Magazine. In the upcoming issue, releasing on July 12th, he writes about music director Tom Beard, Lighting designer Aaron Pelzek, and experimental musician C. Neil Scott. Alex Smith is NOT the Sports Editor for Jasper Magazine.)

Happy 4th from your friends at Jasper - The Word on Columbia Arts

“One night I dreamed that I painted a large American flag,” Johns has said of this work, “and the next morning I got up and I went out and bought the materials to begin it.” Those materials included three canvases that he mounted on plywood, strips of newspaper, and encaustic paint—a mixture of pigment and molten wax that has formed a surface of lumps and smears. The newspaper scraps visible beneath the stripes and forty-eight stars lend this icon historical specificity. The American flag is something “the mind already knows,” Johns has said, but its execution complicates the representation and invites close inspection. A critic of the time encapsulated this painting’s ambivalence, asking, “Is this a flag or a painting?”  -- (from the Museum of Modern Art's Gallery Label text, 2011)

When Johns made Flag, the dominant American art was Abstract Expressionism, which enthroned the bold, spontaneous use of gesture and color to evoke emotional response. Johns, though, had begun to paint common, instantly recognizable symbols—flags, targets, numbers, letters. Breaking with the idea of the canvas as a field for abstract personal expression, he painted "things the mind already knows." Using the flag, Johns said, "took care of a great deal for me because I didn't have to design it." That gave him "room to work on other levels"—to focus his attention on the making of the painting.

The color, for example, is applied not to canvas but to strips of newspaper—a material almost too ordinary to notice. Upon closer inspection, though, those scraps of newsprint are as hard to ignore as they are to read. Also, instead of working with oil paint, Johns chose encaustic, a mixture of pigment and molten wax that has left a surface of lumps and smears; so that even though one recognizes the image in a second, close up it becomes textured and elaborate. It is at once impersonal, or public, and personal; abstract and representational; easily grasped and demanding of close attention.  -- (From The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 232.

Jasper Welcomes Jillian Owens to the Theatre Review Team

 

As Jasper builds our blog to provide readers with up-to-date reviews of theatre and dance, we welcome Jillian Owens to the Jasper Theatre Review Team. Along with August Krickel, Jeffrey Day, Arik Bjorn, and others, Jillian will be lending her critical eye to opening nights of theatre about town and sharing her insights with you as quickly as possible so that you can make informed decisions about how to best spend your local theatre dollars.

A Columbia transplant, Jillian Owens graduated from the University of South Carolina with a BFA in Theatre and English.  She has worked in many areas of theatre, both locally and nationally, including set design, lighting design, costume design, stage/production management, and acting.

By day, Jillian works for the South Carolina Arts Commission as their Grants Manager.  By night, she writes at ReFashionista.net, her world-renowned recycled fashion blog.

Please help us welcome Jillian to the Jasper Family!

Would you like opening night of your play reviewed? Please contact August Krickel at Akrickel@JasperColumbia.com