Jasper Announces New Music Editor

It was the natural thing to do. Kyle Petersen, having served as music editor of Jasper since its inception, had been so intimately involved in the day-to-day running of the magazine, acting as the editor's sounding board, copy editor, proofreader, and both music and literary guru. When the level of responsibilities grew greater than the editor could continue to juggle it was only natural that Kyle move into the position of assistant editor last spring.

But that left the position of music editor empty.

Not anymore.

Effective with the September/October issue of Jasper, Michael Spawn, handpicked by Kyle Petersen himself, is the new music editor for Jasper Magazine.

Michael Spawn was born in Johnstown, NY and raised in Simpsonville, SC. He is a contributing writer for Columbia's Free Times and Stereofly, the author of numerous short stories and two novels, and the drummer for Shallow Palace. His favorite dead band is the White Stripes. His favorite living band is pre-Ratitude Weezer. He graduated from USC in 2008 with a B.A. in English and he wants Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" played at his funeral.

Welcome Michael Spawn!

FILM REVIEW: Grandma

There’s a scene in the new film "Grandma," starring Lily Tomlin in the title role, in which the character of Tomlin’s 18-year-old granddaughter, Sage, played by Julia Garner, flips through a stack of signed first edition books from the second wave feminist canon—books like The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer, and additional works by the likes of Simone de Beauvoir and others—with absolutely no regard for the magnitude and cultural importance of the books she holds in her hands. But for Sage, who is 10 weeks along in an unplanned pregnancy, that’s OK. Sage may not have read the books or know the story of the women who went before her and paved the way for the legal abortion she has asked her Grandma to help her fund, but Grandma, whose name is Elle, did. And so did Mom, whose name is Judy and is played by Marcia Gay Harden in all her long-haired glory. And because they read these books and they live in an environment in which other thinking people read and learned from these books, Sage now lives in an environment in which the word “abortion” is not whispered. Same sex couples may kiss and love and split up and die as if it is a completely common thing to do. Women say “fuck” and nobody winces. Little girls sucker punch bothersome strangers with knuckles wrapped with multi-colored rubber bracelets. Women who are grumpy and irritable are “assholes” rather than “bitches.” And a whole film can go by without the viewer even realizing that the only men on the screen were a cab driver, two jerks in a café, a loser of a boyfriend, a one-lined tattoo artist, and the brilliant Sam Elliott who may have played the best role of his life.

If passing the Bechdel Test was a category at the Academy Awards Grandma would win the Oscar hands down.

No, Grandma is not a fantasy film and there is no science fiction involved. It’s simply a Slice-of-Life film, but the life is one apparently devoid of homophobia (Elle is still mourning the loss of her long-time partner, Violet, whose name is tattooed on her wrist); racism or transphobia (Laverne Cox plays an old friend who Elle and Sage visit as they try to raise money for the abortion and whose sexual identity is never noted); or ageism (as Elle’s most recent partner Olivia, Judy Greer, who looks, acts, and is 40-years-old, is depicted as a too-youthful match for Elle.)

Whether director Paul Weitz ("About a Boy," "Admission") wrote and directed Grandma as a paean to all things healthy and progressive is hard to say. It seems more likely that he set out to create a film in which an unlikely character rises above self-imposed restrictions as she tries to save the day and be there for her granddaughter who is facing something Elle warns the young woman she will think of everyday for the rest of her life. If this is the case, Tomlin carries out Weitz’s wishes with a kind of precision and efficiency that leaves little time for sentimentality. One can only imagine how refreshing it must be to Tomlin, at 76, to play the role of a wise old lesbian poet given how many straight “ditzy dame” roles she’s been cast in throughout her career. Even the closing shot has Tomlin walking healthily and happily down a lengthy road laid out before her as if she has many more stops on her journey ahead.

But that’s not the point of Grandma, the film. As comfortable and validating and reassuring as Grandma is in its understated respect of the diversity of humanity, the film is ultimately about getting along with the people we love, have loved, and want to love more. It’s about the age-old challenge of swallowing our pride when we think we shouldn’t have to. Valuing the happiness of another over one’s own happiness. And more than anything it’s about growing and learning as long as we live. Beautifully written, directed, and acted, Grandma is ultimately a feel-good film about family and both personal and inter-personal growth. See it. Feel good. Feel strong.

Grandma is playing at the Nickelodeon Theatre through October 1st.

-Cindi Boiter

Improv at USC by Rebecca Shrom

Improvisational comedy is everywhere, from SNL to local community theatres. Even if you have not been to an improv show yourself, traces of it can be found all over the media.

The University of South Carolina even has its own thriving improv community that centers around two groups: Toast and OverReactors Improv.

Both groups exist on campus harmoniously, but each serve very different purposes in the community. Toast Improv is a small group that has auditions once a year and tends to take 2 or 3 people a year. But, there are a lot of people who attend USC, and a lot more people who might want the opportunity to do improv. That is where OverReactors Improv comes in. The OverReactors is an open group that holds practices open to the public every Tuesday and Thursday in the Booker T. Washington Theatre at 10:30 pm. For their monthly shows, Freddie Powers (President) and the core group of 3 other individuals (Gabe Crawford, Megh Ahire, and April Drafts-Johnson), hold auditions per show, which allows for a rotating cast of 4 or 5 additional people in each performance.

The open practices can have anywhere from 10 to 30 people, depending on the time of the semester. “We’re entirely open to new members regardless of experience level. So that kind of low stress low pressure environment is really good for introducing people to improv,” Powers explains. But that is the beauty of the OverReactors: you can come and go when you want. If a member knows they have a big paper due in the coming weeks, then they don’t have to audition for the next show if they don’t think they will have the time. (That is the catch of auditioning for a show, if you are chosen; you are required to attend every open practice, and an additional practice only for members of the show cast every week.) And if someone doesn’t want to perform in a show at all, then they don’t have to audition. They can just come and enjoy a practice here and there.

This system allows for people who have demanding majors, or who may not have discovered improv until later on in the year or later on in their college careers, to still have a chance to learn improv and grow as performers.

But on a campus that focuses so much on athletics, the question is: is improv accessible to everyone? Why should anyone who is not interested in theatre or the arts care about improv? Powers explains, “I think something that’s really important about improv is that because of what it is. Because it’s about people making stuff up like from their own experiences kind of it’s very much something that you can watch and laugh at but you can also really relate to. Because everything that’s happening on stage, even if it’s absurd, is still very grounded in people and their relationships and interactions with each other and it’s really easy to watch it laugh at it and see some of yourself in it and laugh at it too.”

The humor in improv isn’t exclusively from acting ridiculous, or being able to make up puns on the spot. Some of the best humor can come from relationships, and the ability for the audience to see themselves in a scene.

But it’s not just the audience who can benefit. There is plenty one can learn from attending a practice. It’s not just about theatre or performing. It’s about everyone. And even if one might not be interested in performing, they can still benefit from coming to practices.

“Improv is very much about building something with your team members ... If everyone is trying to make different ideas happen without considering their team members then nothing really happens,” says Powers, “If you take what your team members give to the scene and build more with them, the cooperation is what makes the team really good, funny, and substantial.”

The OverReactors shows are always located in Benson Theatre (226 Bull St.) at 11:00 pm (Doors open at 10:30) and cost only $5. Their next show is on Sept 18^th, then their shows for the remainder of the 2015-2016 school year will be Oct 16^th , Nov 13^th, Jan 22^nd, Feb 26^th, March 25^th, and April 15^th.

If you are looking for more updates on OverReactors Improv, you can find them on Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram.

REVIEW: Marie Antoinette at Trustus Theatre - by Jennifer Hill

“I was built to be this thing and now they're killing me for it." -- Marie Antoinette

Trustus Theater starts off its 31^st season strong with Marie Antoinette by David Adjmi. In the first act, Director Robert Richmond takes the audience down the rabbit hole to a French rave where Marie Antoinette is the Mad Hatter presiding over what appears to be her own opulent, insane tea party, which sets the pace for the evening. This is not a stuffy historical piece by any means. It’s sexy, provocative, humorous, and it eventually takes you to a very dark place.

Jennifer Moody Sanchez is our Marie, the girl who was plucked from Austria at 14 years old to marry wimpy Louis XVI, played by G. Scott Wild, and then went on to become the Queen of France at the tender age of 19. Moody Sanchez is a strong performer, giving us a Marie that is silly and frivolous, but grows strong with backbone as the play goes on, and ultimately descends into madness during her final days.  Moody Sanchez did some of her best work of the night in the second act as Marie grapples with sanity in her prison cell. It’s a series of intense scenes and Moody Sanchez gives a haunting performance. Props to Robert Richmond for being willing to take it so dark. Bold choices are powerful, especially when a director uses them to create a very consistent stylized world, like Richmond has. That said, I would have liked to have seen more vulnerability in Marie at times, something with which we can empathize and connect.

Sanchez is not alone in offering a fine performance. G. Scott Wild gives us a perfect Louis XVI; an awkward, possibly impotent, man-child. Marie’s ladies of the court, Therese De Lomballe, played by Lindsay Rae Taylor, and Yolande de Polignac played by Ellen Rodillo-Fowler are like those two girls at a party who keep pressuring you to take another shot; the kind of women who tell you “go ahead, buy it in both colors” on a shopping trip, the ‘yes’ women to Marie. I especially liked Rodillo-Fowler in her scene as a creepy peasant and Taylor’s scenes as Therese showing true friendship to Marie. Eric Bultman plays the most striking and sexy sheep anyone would ever want to see. That’s right, he plays Marie’s sheep friend, her spirit animal, and he sometimes informs her of the realities of her situation. Bultman physically nails every beat. The terribly handsome Ben Blazer plays Axel Fersen, Marie’s man on the side. Blazer has a nice natural stage presence that is so easy to believe. Paul Kaufmann plays the Revolutionary who imprisons Marie and her family. Kauffman is a strong actor who makes a nice subtle transformation over the second act, in that he starts out with extreme hatred for Marie, but that hatred slowly turns to pity as her execution draws near. Chris Cook plays Joseph, Marie’s brother, come to get answers for why an heir hasn’t been produced in the seven years since Marie and Louis have been married. Cook is a joy to watch: he has impeccable timing and gives some really delightful deliveries that keep the audience laughing. Cade Melnyk, with a face of a cherub, plays the little Dauphin very well. He happens to be in one of my favorite scenes, a carriage ride depicted using only three chairs. The three actors sell it with perfect timing and movement which results in a very believable and entertaining scene.

Costumes by Jean Gonzalaz Lomasto were a joy. Marie’s frocks are one-of-a-kind pieces of art, as were the wigs by Mark Ziegler and the jewelry by Neely Wald. The lighting design by Marc Hearst was on point; I particularly enjoyed a scene where Marie and Axel watch fireworks in the distance. I really enjoyed what Baxter Engle did with the sound during the prison/madness scenes; an echoing treatment that is very effective. The set, designed by Kimi Maeda and constructed by Brandon Mclver is quite impressive as basically a giant reflective guillotine blade, always there, always reminding us where this is all going to end.

And that’s really what it’s all about, right? The falling of a great star. We build them up to burn them down a la 2007's Britney Spears. Marie herself pretty much sums it up toward the end of the second act, “I was built to be this thing and now they're killing me for it”. Overall, it’s a beautiful production, well played and well executed. (Pun intended.) A feast for the eyes. Get your tickets to the disco mad tea party now as shows will be selling out. The show runs through Oct.3^rd.

Correction: A previous version of this review omitted the contributions of Neely Wald. 

The Jasper Project presents ARTS101 - A 6-Part Arts Appreciation Lecture Series

Ever wanted to take that art history class you neglected in college or revisit some of the stories of arts greats you may have snoozed through way back when? The Jasper Project is making it easy to brush up on your cultural literacy and we’re doing it in intimate settings with folks you already know and admire.

The Jasper Project presents ARTS101, a series of presentations by Columbia artists of stature about the great artists who have gone before us and influenced the world of art. All events are informal, free and open to the public and all start at 7 pm at Tapp’s Arts Center.

Please join us.

September 23, 2015 Mary Bentz Gilkerson talks about John Constable

October 28, 2015 Stephen Chesley talks about Edward hopper

November 18, 2015 Tish Lowe talks about Antony Van Dyck

January 27, 2016 Kirkland Smith talks about John Singer Sargent

February 24, 2016 Mike Dwyer talks about Richard Diebenkorn

March 23, 2015 Cedric Umoja talks about Dondi White

Cedric Umoja's Millwood Mural Project - by Jessica Blahut

For years, an abandoned, unfinished mural has stood near the intersection of Millwood and Gervais, a reminder of the obstacle that urban communities everywhere face. However, a group of three artists in partnership with One Columbia hope to bring the mural and community back to life by refinishing the wall with a mural that will speak to the optimistic future of the community.

“I was just driving I saw the wall that needed some finishing,” says local artist Cedric Umoja.  “I just wondered if it was ever going to get done and who started it and that type of thing.”

From there Umoja and others at One Columbia gathered information about the existing mural and how to transform the existing wall into something new and fresh for the community.  Umoja contacted fellow artists Brandon Donahue (Nashville, TN) and Karl Zurflüh (Charleston, SC) to collaborate on this project and a shared vision of growth and revitalization was born.

“We came together and said that this was really about the idea of community, but what does that mean?  What does that word mean to you, visually speaking?” said Umoja.

For Umoja, community cannot exist without the promise of the future.  His portion of the mural is a commentary on the necessity of helping the public grow and prosper now to ensure that it can continue. Zurflüh took a different approach, coming from a graphwriting background, he broke up the word “community” into “commune” and “unity” in order to break it down into its purest definition.  Donahue used the imagery of an insect from African folktales, taking the perspective of growth and rebirth.

This mural, which will bridge that gap between high art and street art, has the potential to be a jumping off point for the visual arts community of Columbia; there has been a growing trend in cities around the country of holding “open walls” and inviting street artists to create murals to enhance the existing urban landscape.

“It’s happening everywhere except Columbia, and I think there’s a lot of wall space for it to happen and grow the city in the right way,” says Umoja of Columbia’s potential to follow in the footsteps of other cities.

“I think that it’s going to elevate the quality of life for people that live there, not just the city, but in the community too,” says Umoja “I think that is what we as artist try to do, a lot of us are trying to make people think but we are mostly just trying to enrich people’s lives and educate them from different perspectives.”

Though One Columbia initiative is funding a portion of the project, it does not cover the entire projected cost of the mural.  The artists are also responsible for prepping the wall, supplying their own materials, and other logistical expenses.  In addition to the labor costs of the three muralists, a filmmaker and photographer who will be documenting and archiving the process will also need to be compensated.  Unfortunately, these factors are getting in the way of this project being realized.

Those interested in supporting the Millwood Mural Project can make a contribution at www.gofundme.com/millwoodmural.

Flowers & Stars Featuring the Works of Manda Stahl McKay & Chris McKay Opens in the Bassett Gallery

 

The Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County (FAC) will hold an opening reception for the first Bassett Gallery Exhibition of the 2015-16 season featuring the works of illustrator and painter, Manda Stahl McKay and husband Chris McKay, professional concert photographer in the Bassett Gallery on Saturday, September 26 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Both McKays are Camden natives. The exhibition will run through October 25. The reception will have a cash bar and light hors d’oeuvres will be provided by Ashley’s at McCaskill’s Farm. The public is encouraged to attend this one-of-a-kind exhibition.

About the Artists:

Manda Stahl McKay is a medical and veterinary illustrator turned painter living in Athens, GA. As a child in Camden, Manda took art classes at the FAC. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and her Master’s degree from the Medical College of Georgia. She then worked for two years as the illustrator at Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine before returning to Athens to freelance in veterinary illustration.

Manda is new to the fine art world, but her paintings have been displayed in numerous solo and juried exhibitions in the Southeast. In 2013, she won Best in Show in the “Southworks” juried exhibition. Her artwork has appeared on album covers for local bands, which is practically a requirement for an Athens artist.

A love of nature is evident in her subject matter. Feathers, shells, bones, fruit, and flowers are arranged in bold, simple compositions. The influence of her former profession can be seen in her realistic technique, but unlike medical illustrations, her paintings are meant to persuade rather than inform.

Chris McKay is best known for his concert photography for such national publications as Pollstar and Rolling Stone. His images can also be found on such international photography sites such as Corbis Images and Wire Image. Chris' work has recently been seen in: Rolling Stone, USA Today, US Magazine, Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal, TV Guide, Huffington Post, NBC News, Parade Magazine, Glamour, Vogue, In Style, Variety, LIFE Magazine, New York Post, VH-1 Behind The Music, The Today Show, MTV3, ABC News, Vibe, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, New York Daily News, Entertainment Weekly, Guitar Player, Rhythm & Drums, Billboard, People Magazine, E! Entertainment Television, BET, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Hollywood Reporter and many more!

His recent work for WireImage /Getty includes:  Ringo Starr, Sam Smith, President Bill Clinton, Fleetwood Mac, Gregg Allman, Amanda Shires, Paul McCartney, Lake Street Dive, Todd Rundgren, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Kacey Musgraves, The 1975, Jake Owen, Steel Panther, The Cadillac Three, Eli Young Band, Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, Lady Antebellum, Jeff Foxworthy, Blue Oyster Cult, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Wet Willie, John Mayer, Run DMC, John Legend, Sarah McLachlan, Aziz Ansari, His Holiness The XIV Dalai Lama and too many other to name. He is the Georgia Music Hall of Fame’s only official show photographer.

For more information, please call the Fine Arts Center at 803-425-7676 or visit the FAC website at www.fineartscenter.org. The Fine Arts Center is located at 810 Lyttleton Street in Camden. Office hours are Monday through Wednesday and Friday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and Thursday 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.

The Fine Arts Center is funded in part by the Frederick S. Upton Foundation and the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding provided by the City of Camden, Kershaw County, and BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina along with donations from businesses and individuals.

DECKLE EDGE — New Literary Festival to Launch in February 2016

 

The inaugural Deckle Edge Literary Festival will be held February 19-21, 2016, in Columbia, South Carolina. The weekend-long festival will feature readings, book signings, panel presentations, exhibitors, writers’ workshops, activities for children and young adult readers, and a wide range of other literary events for many interests and all ages.

The Deckle Edge literary festival will gather and foster the diverse branches of our region’s literary community through an inclusive weekend of public events and programming for readers, writers, and lovers of the written word. While Deckle Edge has its roots in the storied tradition of South Carolina’s literary life, the festival is committed to forging new ground, challenging existing boundaries, and broadening the conception of the literary South.

The festival hopes to appeal to regional and national audiences while remaining a community focused effort, partnering with an extensive network of South Carolina literary and cultural organizations, including Richland Library, the University of South Carolina Press, Hub City Writers Project, the SC Center for Children’s Books & Literacy, Ed Madden and the Columbia Office of the Poet Laureate, South Carolina Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth, the Low Country Initiative for Literary Arts, Jasper Magazine, Richland County schools, and others.

Deckle Edge will be built on the strong foundation of the South Carolina Book Festival, a project of the Humanities Council SC, which announced the festival’s dissolution this past summer. The Humanities Council SC is now actively pursuing a variety of year-round statewide literary initiatives and has been supportive of the plans for Deckle Edge as a new literary event to be hosted in Columbia. “The SC Book Festival was a tremendous gift to readers and writers in the South, and we’re grateful to the Humanities Council SC for sharing their expertise with us as we create something new,” said Deckle Edge co-chair Darien Cavanaugh, “We would not have been able to move so quickly on launching Deckle Edge without their guidance and good will.”

Participating authors and specific panels have not yet been announced. While the festival will not be limited to local talent, programming will highlight a handful of New York Times bestselling authors from the Carolinas, some beloved favorites from past SC Book Festivals, and many voices not previously heard from at South Carolina literary events. “This is Columbia’s literary festival,” said Deckle Edge co-chair Annie Boiter-Jolley, “but it’s also joining the larger conversation about literature of and in the South. We look forward to sharing our vision with writers and readers, and to hearing from them as to what Deckle Edge might become in future years.”

As the festival goes through the process of applying for nonprofit status, One Columbia for Arts and History will be acting as its fiscal sponsor. Deckle Edge has also sought financial support through city and county tax grants, and is currently accepting tax-deductible donations through One Columbia. “Deckle Edge is the right literary event at the right time,” said One Columbia executive director Lee Snelgrove. “What Annie and Darien are building with their partnerships is very ambitious, but this city has already proven that ambition can be rewarded in our arts community. One Columbia is proud to be a partner in establishing this new literary festival.”

Visit the festival web site at www.DeckleEdgeSC.org to donate or to sign up for the festival mailing list, and e-mail info@DeckleEdgeSC.org for more information.

Jasper Magazine September 2015 Release Party: The Music

  We've got a great evening of music to celebrate the release of our new magazine that covers, among other things, giants of modernism like Georgia O'Keeffe, crazy wigs made by some talented folk working at Trustus, dystopian depictions of mutant hogs conjured up by Julia Elliott, and the worst local musician of all time, that asshole Danny Joe.

Come out tonight, September 17th, to the Art Bar to check out the new magazine, socialize, and hear some great local tunes. Here's some of what we've said before about the acts playing, along with links to their music:

Pray for Triangle Zero

"...the heavily reverbed melancholy and hazy melodies he writes are well within the lineage of chillwave, even as he tends towards busier productions and more urgent tempos than would be the norm. He also incorporates some lovely R&B-inflected moments, like on 'Her Bath Salts' and 'Easy, Girl,' which win him easy comparisons to Toro y Moi.

Those tunes are undeniably likeable, but the best stuff here is when Sams is tinkering on the edges of that signature style, when he tries out a more laconic delivery on the bustling 'Ferris Wheeler' or veers into The Soft Bulletin-era Flaming Lips territory on 'Call Out Your Name.'" -Kyle Petersen, Jasper Magazine May 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCtYGWrx7FA

Post-Timey String Band

"A duo composed of vocalist/guitarist/kazoo player Kelly McLachlan and multi-instrumentalist Sean Thomson, PTSB are more Gillian Welch & David Rawlings than She & Him, with a love of the most time-worn idioms of classic folk and blues songs and a blazing authenticity to support their claim as a “string band.”

The songs themselves range from lonesome country to ramshackle blues, but McLachlan’s voice is best suited to wrenching the nuance out of individual syllables in the most simplistic of country ballads or sad-eyed blues songs. Here, “I Do” and “Tightrope” serve as the best showcases, although “Blues for Charley” and “Lauren’s Song” are the best examples of the group’s songwriting prowess." - Kyle Petersen, Jasper Magazine May 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHogwSjUur8

Marshall Brown

"...Within these fifteen tracks, we find Brown fully embracing and perfecting the anything-goes Neverland pop he began courting on 2013’s Through Vivaldian Colored Glasses. Describing any song or album as ‘Beatle-esque’ runs the very real risk of embarrassing all parties concerned—the artist, the listener, Paul, Yoko, etc. (Ringo would likely remain ambivalent)—but sometimes it’s just the most accurate possible description for a piece of artful pop music, so I’m using it now in what I hope is the best possible way. Second Childhood is the sound of Sergeant Pepper diving headlong into the toybox and treating every discovery like the treasure it is. It’s Marshall Brown being himself completely, while making no bones about his influences and how he can twist them to suit his needs." -Michael Spawn, Jasper Magazine September 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAQtse6IIyE

Danny Joe Machado

"He’s an asshole musician with delusions of grandeur." - Daniel Machado on his alter-ego Danny Joe Machado, Jasper Magazine September 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ogls-FyahM

On Stage Productions Presents: Little Shop of Horrors By Ami Pulaski

 

On Stage Productions in West Columbia is opening its 2015-2016 season with a show that’s larger than life.  Well, one character will be larger than life for sure.  The theater will be opening its production of “Little Shop of Horrors” Saturday, September 18^th.

We follow the story of Seymour, a mild-mannered flower shop assistant who secretly pines for his coworker Audrey.  During a solar eclipse, Seymour discovers a new plant species that takes in the most shocking plant food.  This plant saves the flower shop’s business, but it isn’t satisfied to stop there!

Robert Harrelson, the executive director and president of On Stage Productions, is no stranger to the stage.  His story on the stage began in high school and even led him to New York City, where he owned a theater company and directed several Off-Broadway shows.  Harrelson currently teaches in Lexington District One and devotes his spare time to On Stage Productions, his vision for a nonprofit community theater.

We caught up with Harrelson for a few questions on the upcoming “Little Shop of Horrors”.

1. How long have you guys been working on this particular production? In general, how long does it take to put a show together?

We have been working on this production for 8 weeks.  It normally only takes six weeks for a musical, [but] with the intricacies of adding puppets to the show, it adds another dimension.

2. What can we expect to see in this show? Is it going to be very close to the storyline of the movie?

The movie and the stage version are quite the same but have a slightly different twist [to the] ending.  The musical is very upbeat. It really makes you laugh and feel for the characters.

3. What are you hoping your audiences will take away from the show?

One thing I hope they take away from this production is that live theater has a whole new dimension.  When you have puppeteers and actors playing off of each other, there are truly great experiences for the actors and the audience as well.  This show will transform the audience into a 3D experience as the final curtain descends.  The amazing Audrey 2 was built by Matt and Carrie Marks. This show promises to be a show you’ll want to see again and again. It will make you wonder more about when you are feeding the plants when you should be weeding!

Bring your twisted sense of humor and curiosity to On Stage Productions for the next two weekends!

On Stage Productions

 680 Cherokee Lane West Columbia, S.C.

Performance dates : September  18 ,19, 20,  24 , 25, 26, 27

Thursday 7:30pm

Fridays  7:30 pm

Saturdays 2:30 pm and 7:30pm

Sunday 2:30 pm

Tickets available at www.onstagesc.com

Adults: $19

Seniors/Students/Military: $17

Youth: $15

Preview -- Marie Antoinette at Trustus Theatre by Jessica Blahut

Marie Antoinette, a Trustus Theater production, premiers this Friday at 8 p.m.  Though based in history, this modern adaption of the life the last Queen of France promises to be anything but antiquated.

The play takes place during Marie Antoinette’s reign as revolution threatens the monarchy.  As the severity of her circumstances set in, Marie struggles against the lack of leadership from her husband and the end of the lavish, extravagant lifestyle she has come to revel in.

In the title role, Jennifer Moody Sanchez sees the show as being "hip, sexy, and tragic" says the most challenging aspect of preparing for the role has been "charting the emotional, physical, and mental decay of someone that falls from riches to rags. To fall from such a great height is extremely taxing on an actor." The lead in such recent hits as Venus in Fur,  Sanchez believes audiences will be most surprised by "the humanity of a queen, mother and a wife that history only remembers as a celebrity. She was a very giving person. I didn't realize how much she loved children."

Of course we know not to expect a happy ending. “We all know how it ends for her as she walks up to the guillotine, we all know the ending of the show, but the excitement is getting through it,” says Chad Henderson, Artistic Director at Trustus.

Director Robert Richmond, who has earned acclaim for his work at Folger Theater, the Aquila Theater Company, and other productions across the United States and Europe, manages to make history fresh, sexy, and sassy.  Audiences watch a revolution all to the sound track of modern, French hip-hop.

“It’s something really fresh for Columbia, some people think theater is supposed to be straight laced … but not Trustus and not this show in particular.  It’s fabulous, colorful, sexy,” says Henderson

Audiences are encouraged to buy tickets early, as they tend to sell out.  The production will run for three weeks, from Friday, September 18^th at 8 p.m. – Saturday, October 3^rd at 8 p.m. at Trustus Theater on 520 Lady St. in Columbia.

Art Bar Rocks for the Jam Room Music Festival by Jake Margle

The Jam Room is hosting a barbecue fundraiser this Sunday, September 13^th at the Tapp’s Arts Center, with all proceeds benefiting the Jam Room Music Festival. The festival is in its fourth year and the Jam Room’s Linda Toro has hopes that the fundraiser could help double the number of attendees they had at the first festival. Toro says that the first year of the festival saw about 5,000 attendees, and she would love to see such a large increase in just four events. “We’re always hoping for more people! We’d like to see about 10,000 down on Main St. this year,” Toro says.

The fundraiser will be held at the tried and true Tapp’s Arts Center located at 1664 Main St. The barbecue buffet is being provided by Joe Turkaly Catering with beer and wine supplied by The Whig. Tastings will also be provided by Columbia’s own Crouch Distilling Company. Owned by Phil and Jessica Crouch, they’ve been making whiskey, bourbon, and ryes in small batches since 2014. Our non-carnivorous friends will also be catered to, with plenty of vegetarian options on the buffet.

Tickets are still available for the fundraiser for the price of $26.87 with all proceeds backing this year’s festival.

The Art Bar Rocks Lineup includes: Italo and the Passions Bully Pulpit Boo Hag Due east and more ...

Doors: 6:00 p.m.

This year’s festival is back on Main and Hampton streets with acclaimed alt-rock band Blonde Redhead head-lining for what’s always been an eclectic lineup of artists from around the southeast.

Eleven other bands, ranging from the blues-rock of The Distributors to Mississippi-turned-Nashvillian Cory Branan, who rides a wavering line between punk and country.

The JRMF has become something of a Columbia staple since its inception, and seeing as it only had 9 bands on the roster in 2012, we’re excited to see this labor of love grow steadily.

Here's the lowdown on this year's fest.

The Jam Room Music Festival returns to Columbia's Main Street for it's fourth year!

Don't miss South Carolina's biggest FREE music party featuring:

BLONDE REDHEAD Hiss Golden Messenger Cory Branan The Distributors Patois Counselors Junior Astronomers Rev Matthew Mickens and The Highway Travelers Debbie and the Skanks Colorblind She Returns From War Stefanie Santana Grace Joyner

Not only is this incredible all day show FREE, but admission to Columbia Museum of Art is FREE as well.

FOOD: Village Idiot Pizza and Pub The Wurst Wagen Drip on Main Happiness Bomb Boiled PNUTS Crepes & croissants KC Hotdogs Lowcountry Rocks Lobster K&K Gourmet Sweets

BEER GARDEN by @weirdbeerguysc Featuring: Palmetto Brewing Company Widmer Brothers Redhook Goose Island Kona and more.

Do I Sound Gay?: A Q&A w/ documentary filmmaker David Thorpe

by: Wade Sellers and Jake Margle

Writer and filmmaker David Thorpe’s feature documentary Do I Sound Gay? has been gaining steam since its screening at the Toronto Film Festival. A graduate of Irmo High School and now living and working in New York City, Thorpe has put together an entertaining and poignant film about cultural perceptions and stereotypes. Enlisting the help of recognizable names in the gay community (i.e. Dan Savage), close friends, family, and interviews with random people on streets from Paris to New York, Thorpe examines people thoughts on the male gay voice, a subject born from insecurities about his own. Jasper sat down to talk with Thorpe before his film begins its run at The Nickelodeon on September 10^th.

Jasper: How did the initial concept for the film begin?

DT: I really had this lightning bolt moment, where I realized that the voices of my own community were really alienating me and persecuting me. It was flash point for alienation that I was feeling at the time about being gay, you know? It made me wonder, why are some gay men the way they are, why do we all talk like this? Is it something society forced on us or is it who we really are? Even scarier or more strange was wondering about myself and, “did I sound like this?” I think I knew, I kind of did at times. So I wondered, why did I sound like this? Why didn’t I like it? It was just this hurricane of emotion about my voice. And this emotion about my voice all came in the form of questions about voice and I think there’s a perfectly good reason for that, which is that, for a lot of gay men our voices are our “tell.” We feel like it is what, for lack of a better phrase, gives us away.

Jasper: You are a writer, correct?

DT: I was a journalist doing mainly lifestyle journalism but also a fair amount of gay-related journalism. Then I was a communications director for five years prior to making the film, at a large AIDS organization in New York City. That’s where I was able to do a lot of creative activism in trying to get media attention and political attention around AIDS issues which had kind of fallen off the map. In many ways, it prepared me to work out this story about my voice. Because in a lot of ways I think the film is a form of creative, funny activism around a serious topic.

Jasper: Had you ever approached filmmaking before?

DT: Yeah, I had dabbled in film for sure. You know even in Do I Sound Gay?, you see clips from a public access show that I did with friends, in which I put in way too much time and energy. So, I knew that I loved film, but I had such a love for writing that it wasn’t the fullest idea that came to mind. I was gonna write a book about the gay voice, but the deeper I went into it the more I realized that it would only make sense to [make a film].

Jasper: How long was the filmmaking process?

DT: It was sort of between 4 and 5 years depending on where you start and depending on what you call the end.

Jasper: Did you kind of have a loose outline of what you were trying to achieve?

DT: Oh God no. We did not have an outline or a plan. The project kind of unspooled in a really kind of organic way over the years. You know, from just sort of a topic that I felt I needed to explore to just kind of shooting and exploring ideas, to kind of the trailer. It all kind of organically layered on top of itself as more people heard about the project and there seemed to be deeper and deeper interest in seeing it made. Which includes everything from my investors, to the Kickstarter which had like 2,000 individual backers and raised $120,000. I would never have dreamed that in the beginning. that I was going make a feature independent doc-film that was going to have a national profile in the media and with critics. I think it’s much better that I didn’t know that going into it because it might have been too scary. I might have been more calculating than I should have. The project was really kind of a genuine expression of a first-time filmmaker.

Jasper: Was there a point when you were making the film that you realized that a lot of people were reacting in an electric way?

DT: Yeah, I mean very early on I saw the power of the question alone, “do I sound gay?” Because 10 out 10 people that I would talk to about the stereotype of the gay voice suddenly would light up and tell me what they thought it was, or that they had always wondered what it was, or they talked about their own voices, gay and non-gay people alike, so I always knew that the topic was very resonant with people, and that was very exciting and among the reasons I felt compelled to keep going. We did many, many rough-cut screenings over the course of a year and, you know, we did our homework, and we knew from those screenings a lot of people were finding the film very thought-provoking and compelling regardless of whether or not they were gay.

Jasper: What were some of your friend’s reactions when you first told them about making the film?

DT: (laughs) Well I think my friends and family were taken back. I think they were really surprised to hear that I didn’t like my voice, that I still had issues about being gay or sounding gay. And, you know, it was something I had never spoken about with them, but, you know, certainly my gay friends, as taken back as they might have been by the idea of going to a voice coach. All of them right away knew exactly what I was feeling in terms of internalized homophobia, and shame, and my self-consciousness. There was always, I think, a lot of empathy from gay people. And, you know, at the beginning of this I really didn’t know how gay audiences would react, and I was fearful that I would be criticized for airing dirty laundry, for talking about shame. Instead, it seemed like, by and large and overwhelmingly, gay audiences find the film a useful way of opening up that conversation. That being gay or being a minority or frankly, being an individual is, for a lot of people, definitely a challenge. That sometimes we’re better at being another.

Jasper: One of the strongest moments in your film is meeting the young man who was being beat up in class for the sound of his voice.

DT: I read about the assault online. It made national news and headlines around the country as a lot of these vicious attacks do. What I kept reading in interviews was that his voice always played a role in his getting bullied, and that really jumped out at me. So I reached out to him. I spent a day with them and got to know them. And I have stayed in touch with them, last I heard from his mom is that he’s doing well. I think a lot of people found that scene very touching and very telling about how dangerous it can be to make yourself visible or, in this case, audible, as gay or feminine.

Jasper: Did your point of view, or focus, change as you got deeper into making the film?

DT: I kind of understood how I got from A to B but maybe not how I got from A to B to C to D to E to F to G and so forth. I always knew my sense of where we would end up once I had done all the shooting and actually lived the experience of the journey. But I think there was so much more between A and Z that I didn’t clearly know or understand and that’s what the film is, is all that stuff in the middle.

Jasper: Having a wide positive response like this, does it validate any of the questions you were asking when you began making the film?

DT: Yeah, this was always a very personal project that I was going to complete regardless of the form that took. Whether it was watching it in my living room or sort of a large feature film. I was gonna do it no matter what. But it is gravy, it is the cherry on top when it turned out that what I wanted to do and say and explore resonated with so many people. And it does give you confidence you know, like, “Hey maybe what I have to say is something a lot of other people would be interested in hearing.”

Jasper: How do you find this message resonating with the people and the groups and communities that it’s been playing in?

DT: With every Q&A that I’ve done, and I’ve done a lot at this point, there are always a lot of questions for me but there are always a lot of people who share stories from their own lives: gay people, women, people of color. And they talk about their own perceived flaws and how they have or haven’t gotten past them. One of the most ratifying things for me is that the film seems to prompt people to think about themselves and maybe embrace perceived flaws or have a sense of, “Hey! Everybody has insecurities,” and you can reach out to family and you can reach out to friends and try to grow and move forward.

----

Do I Sound Gay? runs at The Nickelodeon from September 11^th through September 17^th. Director David Thorpe will be present and participate in a live talk back after the September 13^th screening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-SUNbPwPu4

Game Day at First Thursday on Main

Reality check:  Columbia is both a sports town and an arts town.

And tonight First Thursdays on Main will be shouting that out loud and clear when a dozen or more arts venues will be showing the Carolina game alongside one of the best collections of arts and vendors and exhibitors this event has ever seen.

Starting at Tapp's Arts Center, where you can grab a beer and check out the opening of Figure Out, a beautiful exhibit of nudes expertly curated by Molly Harrell and Billy Guess and sponsored by Planned Parenthood, you can wonder on up Main Street and, this month, in addition to some fine music, visual arts, adult bevs, and a One Columbia cruise ship-vibed party, you'll also be able to keep tabs on the game.

Unlike the subjects of the visual arts at Tapp's -- Main Street has you covered, whether you're a sports fan, an arts fan, or both.

Renewal and Synthesis: Lucas Sams’ Frame of Mind Series

by Jasper intern Ami Pulaski

Originality is the specter chasing down artists of all disciplines, and new work can often lead them down previously unimagined paths. Even the newest of beginnings, though, there’s often a twinge of the familiar lurking beneath the new surfaces.

This Thursday, September 3^rd, at 6 p.m., Columbia artist Lucas Sams will be kicking off a new series at Frame of Mind eyewear boutique and art gallery in West Columbia that showcases fresh work from a familiar face. It's called, fittingly, "[Artist name's] Frame of Mind." For Sams, that means a bit of old mixed with a bit of new.

“The pieces are basically the first images I made after many months of not working on any new original work,” explains Sams. “[These paintings] are both a return to how I was working a few years ago and a new synthesis of modes of expression and forms of representation entirely.” He calls this collection "New Mythologies."

The show promises to build on the shoulders of Sams’ already established style. One of the works is a reimagining of an older piece, and ideas aren’t the only things being recycled at this show—Sams also painted over one of his older paintings for this series as well.

What better way to spend a Thursday night than perusing new work from a young and very talented local artist?  The show begins at 6:00 p.m. and runs until 8:00 p.m. at Frame of Mind’s art gallery on 140 State St. in West Columbia. Check out the Facebook event for more information.

University of South Carolina School of Music Calendar of Events OCTOBER 2015

Yes, the students are back and so is the traffic and the endless coffee shop lines, the scarcity of parking spaces with their hateful meters, the gridiron obsession, and the schnockered Greek groupies skittering across our main thruways like potted squirrels in a rigged game of chance.

The upside? We live in a university town and, as a city and an arts community, we are almost always invited to take advantage of the plethora of new arts experiences our universities offer us. Case in point--the calendar for USC's School of Music for the month of October alone lists no less than 15 events, most of which are free.

Yes, Columbia is a university town, but these universities are part of what makes us an arts town--nay, an arts destination-- as well.

Thurs., Oct. 1, 7:30 p.m. USC Concert Choir and University Chorus Concert Main Street United Methodist Church

Free

The USC University Chorus presents "Peace and Reconciliation" and includes freedom songs from the U.S. and South African traditions, spirituals, and texts that offer words of peace and hope. Featured composers are William Dawson, Jeffery Ames, Maurice Durufle, Robert Hugh, Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory.

Fri., Oct. 2, 1:10 – 2:00 p.m.

Music & Culture Colloquium: OutKasted Conversations: Searching for Contemporary Southern Blackness in Digital Spaces

School of Music, room 232

Presented by Dr. Regina N. Bradley, writer, scholar and freelance researcher of African American Life and Culture. She is a recipient of the Nasir Jones HipHop Fellowship at Harvard University (Spring 2016) and assistant professor of African American literature at Armstrong State University. Dr. Bradley's expertise and research interests include hip hop culture, race and the contemporary U.S. South, and sound studies. Co-Sponsored by African-American Studies. Refreshments served.

Fri., Oct. 2, 7:30 p.m. Southern Exposure New Music Concert: Apparition with Soprano Tony Arnold and Pianist Jacob Greenburg USC School of Music Recital Hall – Free

Contemporary music’s leading soprano, Tony Arnold consistently receives accolades around the world for the warmth and beauty of her voice, her extraordinary technical facility, superb musicianship, and riveting stage presence. Arnold’s long-time collaborator pianist Jacob Greenburg has been praised for his “brilliance,” “heroic dexterity,” and the depth and nuance he brings to interpretations of both old and new repertoire (New York Times).

Arnold and Greenburg’s Southern Exposure program will include American icon George Crumb’s haunting “Apparition,” which sets texts from Walt Whitman’s elegy for Abraham Lincoln, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.”  (2015 is the 150^th anniversary of Lincoln’s death; Whitman wrote his elegy shortly after Lincoln’s assassination, in the summer of 1865).

Oct. 4, 3:00 p.m. Cornelia Freeman Concert Series USC School of Music Recital Hall

Single concerts: $12 adults; $10 seniors citizens, USC faculty and staff; $5 students. Series tickets: $50 adults; $40 seniors citizens, USC faculty and staff. Reserved seating for this popular concert series is an additional $100 per series. Purchase tickets online, call 803-576-5763 or at the door. Featuring the university’s esteemed music faculty performing a diverse repertoire, this popular chamber music series has been raising scholarship money for more than 20 years and takes place on Sunday afternoons in the fall.

The program:

Walter Rabl - Quartet for Piano, Clarinet, Violin & Cello, Op. 101

Joseph Eller, clarinet; William Terwilliger, violin; Robert Jesselson, cello; Charles Fugo, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonato in E Major Op. 109

Joseph Rackers, piano

Alexander Borodin - Prince Igor’s Aria  (Prince Igor)

Giuseppe Verdi - There Stood a Gypsy (Il Trovatore)

Richard Conant, baritone; Charles Fugo, piano 

Thurs., Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m. Jazz Faculty Recital USC School of Music Recital Hall – Free

Fri., Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m. Scott Price Faculty Recital: Sensory Friendly Concert USC School of Music Recital Hall – Free

We especially give a warm welcome to our patrons with autism and other special needs, as well as therapists and family members to attend and enjoy this free and sensory-friendly concert. The concert environment will be kept friendly for everyone including lighting and seating. Audience members are welcome to attend all or as much of the concert as they like, and can come and go as needed. Autism-related behaviors are understood and welcomed.

Sunday, October 11, 3:00 p.m.

Music Inspired By Art: Opus Two Concert

USC School of Music Recital Hall – FREE

William Terwilliger, violin, and Andrew Cooperstock, piano, play a premiere performance of new work by Meira Warshauer inspired by Christian Thee’s trompe l’oeil Secret Garden Orientation Gallery at the Columbia Museum of Art and works of art by Alex Powers and Philip Mullen.

Sunday, October 11, 4 p.m.

Reimagined: USC Symphonic Winds Concert

Koger Center for the Arts – FREE

Cormac Cannon directs Symphonic Winds for a diverse program including the music of Mathew Browne, Debussy, Gordon Jacob, Saint Saëns, Joseph Schwantner, Frank Ticheli and Paul Hindemith.

Tues., Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m. Ronald Davis Faculty Tuba Recital USC School of Music Recital Hall – Free

Ronald Davis with Charles Fugo, piano, present the music of JS Bach- Sonata in E-flat major, Edward Gregson- Alarum, Blagoj Canev – Passacaglia and Paidushka, Jan Sandström- Song for Lotta, and Philip Sparke- Tuba Concerto.

Wed., Oct. 14, 4:30 p.m. Sarah Frisof Guest Artist Flute Recital USC School of Music Recital Hall – Free

Sarah Frisof was a semi-finalist in the 2009 Kobe International Flute Competition, and 2nd Prize winner of both the National Flute Associations’ Young Artist Competition in 2008 and the Heida Hermann’s International Woodwind Competition in 2007. She is the principal flute of the Dallas Wind Symphony and a frequent performer with the Dallas Symphony. Her interests in outreach and education have led her to Zimbabwe and Brazil, where she directed music programs and participated in humanitarian efforts. She earned her Doctorate from the University of Michigan, her Master of Music from the Juilliard School, and her Bachelor of Music from Eastman School of Music. She will be accompanied by Winifred Goodwin for this recital and will play works of Gieseking, CPE Bach, Dohnanyi, and Burton. Jennifer Parker-Harley, USC associate professor of flute, will join her for a duet by Christopher Theofanidis.

Thurs., Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m. Jeffrey Smith Guest Artist Trumpet Recital USC School of Music Recital Hall – Free

Jeffrey Bernard Smith is professor of trumpet at the University of Veracruz, the Instituto Superior de Musica del

Estado de Veracruz, and the Centro Mexicano Posgrado Puebla. He joined the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra as principal trumpet in 2008 and has participated in many summer festival orchestras including the East-West International

Music Festival in Altenburg Germany from 1995-2000 where he has been a featured soloist on various occasions. Smith has appeared as soloist with the Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra, Xalapa Symphony, Bellas Artes Chamber Orchestra, the East-West International Music Festival, la Banda de Leon Guanajuato, and others. He is in high demand in Mexico giving courses, master classes, and lessons throughout the Republic including Xalapa Veracruz, Tlaxcala, Queretaro, Tlahuitoltepec Oaxaca, Merida, Leon Guajuato, Mexico City.

Sunday, October 18, 4 p.m.

USC Wind Ensemble Concert

Koger Center for the Arts – FREE

The program opens with Edvard Grieg’s Funeral March for Rikard Nordrak and continues with Antonin Dvorak’s charming Serenade in D Minor, Op. 44. After the intermission, guest conductor Paul DeCinque conducts David Maslanka’s epic work, A Child’s Garden of Dreams. This very powerful work is based on writings by Carl Jung and is one of the cornerstones of the wind band repertoire.

Tues., October 20, 2015, 7:30 p.m. 

USC Symphony Orchestra: John Williams Extravaganza!

Guest Artist Michael Ludwig, violin

Koger Center for the Arts

Michael Ludwig and the USC Symphony Orchestra perform Signature Editions of composer John Williams’ most beloved film score classics, including music from Hook, E.T., Harry Potter, Schindler’s List, Superman, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, andStar Wars. Save with a season subscription (6 concerts) and enjoy the best seats in the house: $150 general public; $110 senior citizens, USC faculty and staff; $45 students. Single concert tickets are $30 general public; $25 senior citizens, USC faculty and staff; $8 students. Call 803-777-7500 or Koger Box Office, corner of Greene and Park Streets (M-F 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or online at kogercenterforthearts.com.

Tues., Oct. 27, 7:30 p.m. USC Chamber Orchestra Concert Johnson Hall, Darla Moore School of Business, level 1 Free

On the program: JS Bach- Brandenburg Concerto, Mozart- Symphony 29, Cynthia Folio’s new work, Winds for Change for flutes, strings and percussion.

Wed., Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m. Guest Artist/Alumni Concert

USC School of Music Recital Hall – Free

USC alums and members of Pershing’s Own Army Band, Washington D.C. - James Miller (flute), Robert Aughtry (flute), Cheryl Ani (clarinet)

Soda City Cirque - ‘Finding Elysian’ is the Cat’s Meow

 By Kristine Hartvigsen

It’s pretty clear that cats “own” us humans and sometimes revel in ignoring us when we’re baby-talking our best to get their attention. But imagine if the humans were to ignore a cat. And what if that cat were a neglected feline goddess from an idyllic celestial world called Elysian – a world experiencing the dire consequences of its citizens’ emotional neglect. Resolving these conflicts is the premise behind Soda City Cirque’s stunning new show “Finding Elysian.”

“Finding Elysian is about the idea of co-existing worlds and time travel,” company member Kendal Turner explains during a company rehearsal at an Irmo gym. “It’s the case of a missing cat,” Artemis, who has been stolen and carried back to Elysian, where she was the goddess ruler before she ran away, unhappy about being taken for granted.

The delightful 90-minute play opens in the laboratory of scientist Tess (played by Kendal). Artemis the cat (played by Rachel Hipszer) plays on the floor while Tess conducts experiments in the hope of finding an alternate world and a vehicle for getting there. It is late, and Tess decides to go to sleep. She soon is awakened by a commotion in the other room, and she finds that Artemis is missing and there is a magic porthole now glowing from her wall. Believing she must be dreaming, Tess steps through the porthole.

What follows is a medley of discoveries accompanied by Elysians performing various vignettes that include fire-handling, trapeze, hula hoop, pole and belly dance, acrobatics, and more. Tess learns her cat’s true identity and that Artemis’s absence has created darkness and tumult where joy and love once resided. Ultimately, Tess joins forces with the Elysians to save Artemis and restore their ailing utopia.

The story is loosely based on the mythical Elysian Fields, which represent paradise or heaven in Greek mythology. “We are 100 percent collaborative,” Kendal says. “Anyone in the group can introduce an idea. … We all come up with the story idea together, and I write the script. Everyone is in charge of the individual pieces that they bring to the show.”

Standout performances abound. As Artemis, Rachel Hipszer is dazzling on an apparatus called the “canes” on which she seems to defy gravity (as cats are known to do). Exemplifying polish and enormous physical strength, she executes a number of amazing moves from a handstand position atop vertical canes. She also later performs a mesmerizing aerialist routine hanging from fabric silks that descend from above.

Mike Tanner, who plays Mason, makes spinning plates on a stick look easy. But his pièce de résistance defies imagination. He places three planks separated by spacers atop a single spindle, climbs on top and balances on the constantly rolling contraption while simultaneously maneuvering his body in and out of hand-held hoops. It is, truly, out of this world.

There a number of “firsts” in this – Soda City Cirque’s fourth official performance. “This is the first show when we have had multiple speaking characters,” Kendal says. It’s also the first time Soda City Cirque has had several fire performers on stage all at the same time.

For this performance, the troupe is partnering with Palmetto Place Children’s Shelter and giving free tickets to children from the shelter. “It’s always fun when there are kids in the audience,” Kendal says. “And they get to experience the magic that is live theater.”

As the visionary Gidget, Elizabeth Feretti is hypnotic on the trapeze, epitomizing grace and determination high above the circus floor. As faerie Lenora, Eva Romero captivates the audience with a pole performance that celebrates feminine strength and beauty. As Celeste, Gina Wolfe performs a trapeze-like routine hanging from a hoola-hoop and also carries out an exciting piece with a flaming hoola-hoop while she is flanked by several other fire performers. There really is so much to love in this production.

Kendal is especially proud of the show’s opening act, during which six company members pull off a grand acrobatic performance, creating geometric structures with their bodies.

“We have never done that before, multi-person ‘builds,’” she says. Troupe members are regular people, and most work a full-time day job. “We are all normal people with extraordinary talents. We are normal people with normal bodies.”

It is imperative that the company continually challenge itself. “We have three new members for this show. We are trying a lot of new things. We don’t want to stagnate,” Kendal explains. “In order to get our audience to come back, we have to keep testing ourselves. … Every time we do a show, I worry that no one will come out and see it. Is anyone going to care about this as much as we do?”

In the end, Finding Elysian is about finding balance, living consciously, and celebrating diversity. “For me, it symbolizes the simple act of saying thank you,” Kendal says. “A lot of us don’t take the time to say: ‘I see you; I hear you. Thank you!’”

Finding Elysian will be presented over two consecutive weekends, September 4-5 and September 11-12 at 7:30 p.m. at Conundrum Music Hall in West Columbia. Bring a lawn chair. Tickets are $20 for general audiences and $10 for children under 10. Available for purchase online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2118879. Find Soda City Cirque on Facebook.  

Community Talk: Jam Room Music Festival 2015, with Tracie Broom on Headliner Blonde Redhead

My 20-year Love Affair with Blonde Redhead, Jam Room Music Festival Headliner And why I screamed out loud when they were announced

By Tracie Broom

I’m in a magical long-term relationship that is continuing to roll strong, thanks to the Jam Room Music Festival. While friends know that I connected with my super-wonderful partner Scott at the 2014 festival, resulting in a really rather phenomenal LTR, I’m actually talking about my two-decade love affair with this year’s JRMF headliner band, Blonde Redhead.

Before getting into music nerd territory, I’d like to go ahead and lay down my top 5 reasons why Oct. 3 on Main Street in Columbia, S.C. is going to be amazing:

1. It is a miracle that a band of the international stature and coolness of Blonde Redhead is playing in Columbia, S.C. – at a free festival, no less. I cannot overstate this.
2. It’s their only Southeast gig on this tour. Total booking coup! (That in mind, if you are a fan, consider donating what you would have spent on gas and hotel to the nonprofit Jam Room Music Festival. I did, and it feels GREAT.)
3. They are the best, and most consistently excellent, live band I’ve ever seen. Like many of you, I have seen tonzzzz of great bands, so this is a pretty big deal. They combine technical virtuosity with a dreamy, melodic, and very modern sound based in the math rock and post-punk electro-indie thing of the early 2000s, now transmogrified into the kind of highly-produced, creamy-but-ultra-cool music you can listen to while working on the computer or cleaning the house. Live, they kill it all.
4. The JRMF is the best festival in the Midlands for combo of high-quality indie bands, very chill street scene, and the fun of running into a frillion people you know and like very much from various eras throughout your life here.
5. The organizers don’t do it for the money; they do it because they love music and they love their community. This is powerful juju and it works.

I first heard about Blonde Redhead when I was an undergrad at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. A Brooklyn-based band, they were playing in the basement of WestCo dorm. I wish I could remember more about the show, but suffice to say that it was during their noise-ish days, probably 1994, the year they formed and released their self-titled debut, or maybe 1995 when they released La Mia Vita Violenta. To be honest, I don’t remember much about the show, but I went on to follow them throughout my years living in San Francisco, seeing them just about every time they performed live between 1997 and 2009, which was only maybe five times.

A Blonde Redhead show was a rare treat, even in a major market like SF.

Japanese singer/guitarist Kazu Makino is not only the definition of the term “hauntingly beautiful” and wears the most remarkable designer outfits, but the Milanese twin brothers, Amedeo and Simone Pace (guitar and drums, respectively) are wildly salt-and-pepper handsome. They make quite an impression hitting the stage. Then they start playing one of their rolling, wistful yet badass songs, she takes the mic, closes her eyes, starts swaying, and then unleashes the most ethereal singing voice in all of the indie music world, breathy yet unconcerned: the perfect formula. The whole audience tends to be transfixed at this point, having fallen in love with all three of them.

Which brings me to a fun fact: Kazu and Amedeo’s romantic relationship.

From Stereogum, who explains it best:

“The real heart-swelling moment [of the album Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons] comes from ‘This Is Not.’ Makino and Amedeo's romantic relationship is not a band secret and it gives them a palpable chemistry during their live performances, but you can hear it in her voice with this song. Lyrically straightforward, she describes the silver linings of a failed courtship in a love letter to both Pace twins: "She left everything/ traveled to the other side of the world … a series of meaningless movements/ And then by chance she met/ You and your brother/ The moment she saw you/ She knew you were made for her."

I mean, it’s pretty compelling stuff.

I remember when Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons – my favorite of all of their albums – was released in 2000. It was the height of the dot com era in San Francisco, I had extra cash from reviewing cell phones for CNET, and I’d already gotten to see the band live at Bottom of the Hill once, maybe twice. I want to say that I nabbed that record from Napster, as well as a live recording at Bottom of the Hill at one of the shows I attended – I still have it and love it when it comes up in my iTunes shuffle. (I have since paid full price for all of their subsequent albums; it took a year or two for me to grasp that illegal download portals were killing artists more than they were killing “the Man.”) I get excited whenever they release a new album, such as the most recent, 2014’s Barragan.

My top 10 Blonde Redhead songs to look up and give a listen:

1. “This is Not,” Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons, 2000
2. “Elephant Woman,” Misery is a Butterfly, 2004
3. “In Particular,” Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons, 2000
4. “Falling Man,” Misery is a Butterfly, 2004
5. “Missile,” In an Expression of the Inexpressible, 1998
6. “I Still Get Rocks Off” (their breakout hit), La Mia Vita Violenta, 1995
7. “My Impure Hair,” 23, 2007
8. “Futurism vs. Passeism,” Fake Can Be Just As Good, 1997
9. “Dripping,” Barragan, 2014
10. “Penultimo,” Barragan, 2014

I could go on and on about Blonde Redhead and their history, or you can just Google them and discover for yourself what an enormously huge deal they are internationally and in the States.

I screamed out loud when Jam Room Music Festival founder Jay Matheson announced them as this year’s headliner at a festival kickoff party at The Whig this summer. Tears followed. Kind-of accidentally made a scene. I don’t really get hysterical in public, because I am supposed to be all grown up and such, but it was just such an exciting shock that somehow, quite magically, these guys had landed one of the rarest birds in indie rock royalty, ever.

Let’s go see this band together! They will play the final set of the Jam Room Music Festival on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Main and Hampton Streets in downtown Columbia, S.C. Free! There will be good beer by The Whig, bike valet by the Cola Town Bicycle Co-op, progressive local food vendors and more.

You can check out the rest of the lineup and donate funds to the nonprofit Jam Room Music Festival at www.jamroommusicfestival.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uger0WtSUso

Third Annual Figure Out: A Figurative Nude Art Show brought to you by Planned Parenthood and Tapp's Arts Center

 

Tapp's Arts Center (1644 Main St.) will continue its partnership with Planned Parenthood South Atlantic by joining with local artists to celebrate the human figure. A fundraiser in its third year, Figure Out will include painting, drawing, sculpture, mixed media, film and photography.

The exhibition will include a special wall of art by Leslie Pierce. Pierce, who passed away earlier this year, was a volunteer and director of adult programming and partnerships at Columbia Museum of Art. She was a beloved supporter of the arts in Columbia who became involved in Figure Out in 2013, as an exhibiting artist and as a committee member.

In addition to special events surrounding the show, Figure Out will be on exhibit throughout the month of September at Tapp’s. This show is curated by Molly Harrell and Billy Guess. Proceeds from art sales support the work of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.

Figure Out Special Events

•       Wednesday, Sept. 2, 5:30-7 p.m.: Sponsor/ artist reception

•       Thursday, Sept. 3, 6-10 p.m. (during First Thursday on Main): Figure Out opening night.

•       Wednesday, Sept. 16, 12 – 1:30 p.m.: Panel discussion and lunch on Art & Sexuality. A light lunch will be provided for attendees who register in advance by contactingwill.bigger@ppsat.org.

More than 40 artists will participate and have pieces on display as part of Figure Out, including Michaela Pilar Brown, Sarah Madison Brown, Billy Guess, Ron Hagell, Molly Harrell, Whitney LeJeune, Dre. Lopez, Gwynn Pevonka, Kirkland Smith and Dalvin “Mustafa” Spann.

For more information about Tapp’s Arts Center, visit www.tappsartscenter.com or call (803) 988-0013.

About Tapp’s Arts Center Tapp’s Arts Center is the premier contemporary art center in downtown historic Columbia. Tapp’s is a gathering place for creative exploration and is dedicated to bridging connections in creativity by offering workshops, classes, affordable studio rentals, exhibition space and cultural events to help artists and art enthusiast create, learn and grow.

About Planned Parenthood South Atlantic Each year Planned Parenthood South Atlantic serves thousands of women, men, and teens. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic provides high-quality, nonjudgmental, reproductive healthcare and medically accurate, age-appropriate sexuality education. Our services include vital life-saving cancer screenings, STD/STI prevention, testing and treatment and access to safe, legal and ethical abortion services.

CALL for NOMINATIONS – Jasper 2015 Artists of the Year

Jasper 2015 Artists of the Year

DEADLINE = MONDAY AT MIDNIGHT!

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

Individual 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 15, 2014 until September 15, 2015.

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

• a brief but detailed and comprehensive list of work produced or performed during the designated time period

Nominations must be received online by midnight September 21, 2015. 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 the public will be invited to vote online for their top choices.

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

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.

New This Year:  Only individual artists may be considered for nomination. While arts groups, such as musical groups or arts troupes, are no longer eligible for consideration, individuals within those groups may be nominated.

Jasper 2015 Artist of the Year Awards will not be awarded based on achievements accomplished prior to September 2014. The purpose of the awards is to recognize artistic achievements accomplished within a calendar year. 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.