Shakespeare takes a leap. Eartha Kitt gets some love. Spoleto Festival USA inks its lineup.
Maura's Three for the Week in Charleston, 2/10/25 - 2/16/25
This week has plenty for the head and the heart. Charleston’s stellar cultural organizations are burrowing deep into their areas of expertise. In the former, you’ll find a heady immersion in classic influences on modern design, by way of Drayton Hall. For the latter, love is in the air ahead of February, with offerings including South Carolina Ballet’s staging of Romeo and Juliet. There’s more, too, including the splashy tour of the Boutiques at Bal Harbour, a weeks-long pop-up made from luxuriously tricked-out containers. All this over the week, and SEWE, too. Enjoy.
Cross balletic paths with star-crossed lovers
Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St., downtown Charleston, Tues., Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
]\Image: South Carolina Ballet returns to Charleston with Romeo and Juliet./Provided
South Carolina Ballet again lands in town with great aplomb, this time at Charleston Music Hall to present Romeo and Juliet, starring Principal Dancers Claire Rapp and Joshua Van Dyke as the star-crossed lovers. William Starrett, South Carolina Ballet’s CEO and artistic Ddirector, first brought his vision of Shakespeare’s ever-resonant romantic tragedy to the stage in 1985. This latest staging furthers the choreographer’s legacy of blending the timeless tale with the evocative power of ballet.
For tickets and information, click here.
Eye some modern approaches to classic design
Charleston Library Society, 164 King St., downtown Charleston, Tues., Feb. 11, 6 p.m.
Yes, design enthusiasts, classicism can marry well with a modern world. In partnership with Drayton Hall Preservation Trust, the Charleston Library Society explores this and more in Classical Influences On Modern Design, a panel featuring nationally recognized, next generation practitioners in the arts who will discuss how the principles of classicism influence their work and how they incorporate this traditional design language into the houses, interiors and exhibitions they create. Panelists include interior designer Elizabeth Lawrence, partner, Williams Lawrence, New York City; architect Steven Spandle; and Dr. Carter C. Hudgins, president and CEO of the Drayton Hall Preservation Trust. The panel will be moderated by Haskell Harris, founding style director at Garden & Gun Magazine.
For more information, click here.
Laud the legacy of South Carolinian Eartha Kitt
International African American Museum, 14 Wharfside, downtown Charleston, Thurs., Feb. 13 , 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Pay fitting tribute to Eartha Kitt, the groundbreaking actress, singer and activist whose journey from a South Carolina cotton field to international stardom is a Carolina tale like no other. The evening will feature South Carolina native Sandhi Santini’s EARTHA – From Cotton To Caviar, a one-woman show mixing dramatic narration, live music and projected visuals. Music will be provided by an interactive trio led by music director Marco di Gennaro. Former Charleston Poet Laureate Marcus Amaker will serve as Griot (storyteller) for the evening, weaving in poetic reflections between performances to deepen the evening’s themes of resistance, resilience and the ongoing fight for civil rights.
For more information, click here.
Take in Tiffany, Etro and more at a Mount P. Zen garden pop up
Bal Harbour Shops Access Pop-up Tour, 101 Ferry Wharf Rd, Mount Pleasant; open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Fri., April 4, with grand opening party on Thurs., Feb. 13.
The Bal Harbour Shops Access Pop-up Tour, the first-ever traveling luxury retail event, makes a stop on its tour in Charleston, setting up shop at the Ferry Wharf in Mount Pleasant near Patriots Point, and bringing 11 renowned luxury retailers including Tiffany & Co., Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Balmain, Assouline, Etro, Cremieux, Golden Goose, Johanna Ortiz and Lanvin. Peruse modular shipping containers transformed into a 17,000-square foot tropical Zen garden of a setting with palm trees, Koi ponds and fountains, and enjoy a bite or clink a glass at The Whitman Restaurant, with its full bar and lounge.
For more information, click here.
Bonus Two: Find out what a 1774 buggery trial reveals about early America.
Unitarian Church in Charleston, 4 Archdale St., downtown Charleston, Tues, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.
Here’s a compelling event the week of Valentine’s Day from South Carolina Historical Society, which may well illuminate the nature of romantic love in new ways, doing so by revisiting historic events. On the eve of the American Revolution in 1774, the British army considered the case of a chaplain, Robert Newburgh, who had been accused of having sex with a man. Today, this buggery trial reveals surprising truths about early America. In his new book, Vicious and Immoral: Homosexuality, the American Revolution, and the Trials of Robert Newburgh, John G. McCurdy, professor of history, Eastern Michigan University, mines male intimacy with an unparalleled glimpse inside eighteenth-century perceptions of queerness. The event kicks off the organization’s Winter Lecture Series, Untold Stories of the American Revolution.
For more information, click here.
One for the Future: Spoleto Festival USA’s 2025 lineup
various locations around Charleston, from Fri., May 23 - Sun., June 8
Spoleto Festival USA announced the lineup for its 49th Festival, which this year includes six world premieres and two U.S. premieres across opera, theater, music and dance.
Highlights include a musical journey with cellist Alisa Weilerstein’s Fragments; the world premiere opera production, Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of The Screw, and another in the grand concert staging of Jules Massanet’s Thaïs. Arts lovers can also see the debut of Manual Cinema’s The 4th Witch, a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and the return of Australian circus troupe Gravity & Other Myths.
In theater arts, you’ll find the U.S. premiere of White Box, which blends artistic disciplines to recount an ill-fated 1897 North Pole expedition of three scientists. The Festival’s dance offerings include Limón Dance Company and tap dance company Music From The Sole. Fashion icon and entertainer Isaac Mizrahi brings his signature wit and irreverence to Spoleto with I Know Everybody.
Music offerings include two choral concerts by the Spoleto Festival USA Chorus; the beloved Bank of America Chamber Music series; a performance by the famed Kronos Quartet; and three concerts performed by the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra. Among The Wells Fargo Jazz series featured artists are Cécile McLorin Salvant, Phillip Golub, Ambrose Akinmusire, Etienne Charles, Vijay Iyer Trio and Branford Marsalis.
The Cistern Yard Front Row Series rolls out headline acts including Charleston-based Band of Horses; Patti Smith; Appalachian singer-songwriter Valerie June with folk singer and guitarist Jake Xerxes Fussell; blues icon Mavis Staples; singer-songwriter Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers) with newcomer MJ Lenderman; Lucinda Williams; Yo La Tengo; Corinne Bailey Rae; and Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy. This year, the Front Row series also expands to new venues for intimate acts on the rise, including spoken word poet aja monet; Pakistani composer and vocalist Arooj Aftab; and Indian-inspired, Brooklyn-based party band Red Baraat, fronted by Sunny Jain.
Stay tuned for my own must-see suggestions in the weeks to come.
Tickets are available for purchase beginning February 21 at 10 a.m. at spoletousa.org or by calling 843.579.3100. For more information and a full lineup, visit the website.
I love this new platform! Thanks for creating this wonderful new way of exploring all the arts offerings throughout the region CultureSouth!