Face the future with fine Southern minds
Maura's Three for the Week in Charleston, 4/8-4/14
Glean forward-looking “Eureka!” moments from Charleston’s most creative thinkers. Consider how the next generation may contend with climate change, by way of an acclaimed Southern artist. Have a much-needed chuckle at a dubious times to come in a musical comedy via Footlight Players. In the Charleston cultural scene this week, for better and worse, the future is ours.
Editor’s note: The future is bright this week for Culture South. Expect increased coverage via think pieces, reviews, happenings and more coming from me and other culturati committed to keeping the arts front-and-center in our region. Let me know your thoughts — and, if something resonates, please consider sharing it with others. Let’s keep the conversation lively and artful.
Noodle through inspired notions at PechaKucha 45
Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St. in downtown Charleston, April 10, 8 p.m.
Charleston’s superstar creatives converge in the forty-fifth go at PechaKucha 45. The name of this popular confab translates into “chit-chat” in Japanese, but the talk delivers far more than that. Innovative locals float new ideas — while restricted to 20 slides with 20 seconds allotted each. (I presented a few years back, and it is as daunting as it is dynamic.)
The 45 lineup features Lynnette Brooks-White, director of The Plantation Singers; Kevin Taylor, artist; Eden Fonvielle and Noodle McDoodle of The V-Tones; Camille Lowman, actor and member of the PURE Theatre core ensemble; Bruise Wayne, graphic artist and “Under the Radar” honoree; Mike East, president of TTS Studios; and Manny Houston, multi-threat entertainer. Robin Phoenix Johnson, founder of the Best Medicine Brigade and veteran of PK 42, will serve as emcee and Josh Silverman will be DJ.
For tickets, visit charlestonmusichall.com.
Face down a ‘Brave New World’ at Redux
Redux Contemporary Art Center, 1056 King St. in downtown Charleston, March 29- May 18
Redux Contemporary Art Center has a bold new show in “Brave New World,” the solo exhibition of the work of acclaimed artist and Alabama native Tyrone Geter. Curated by Leila Davenport Ross of Show & Tell Art and Design, the show highlights the most recent series of Geter’s large-scale charcoal drawings and found art sculptures, which mine families, with an emphasis on children, as well as the ever-escalating climate crisis. All of this is through the lens of Geter’s fine eye on both the inherited burden and the power to adapt to a challenging future.
For more information, visit reduxstudios.org.
Take a break at ‘Urinetown’ via the Footlight Players
Queen Street Playhouse, 20 Queen St., downtown Charleston 1A, April 12 - 28
When it comes to the future, the Footlight Players is going dystopian with the Tony Award-winning musical comedy, “Urinetown: The Musical.” The plot centers on a 20-year drought and rampant corporate greed, which together have led to a fraught reliance on public bathrooms. That being said, the sizable fun is in the sendup of musical theater, offering satirical salve for our mad, mad, mad world.
For tickets, visit footlightplayers.net.
Bonus: Pay as you please for “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”
Dock Street Theatre, 135 Church St., downtown Charleston, April 10 - 28; Pay-As-You-Please offer is on April 10, 7:30 p.m.
The immediate future is bright, too, at Charleston Stage. The company is set this week for a pay-as-you-please performance of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” the award-winning Broadway hit about the mega-star and her hit parade.
For Pay-As-You-Please nights, patrons are encouraged to pay as little as $15 (or as much as they wish). Sales for “Beautiful” open online April 9 night at 7:30 p.m. (24 hours prior to the performance).
For the offer, visit here.