Thursday, May 23, 2013
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Thursday
Posted by Anita Overcash on Thu, May 23, 2013 at 1:59 PM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, May 23, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Charlie Murphy at The Comedy Zone
* Food Lion Speed Street Festival Uptown
* Ida Kohlmeyer exhibit at Jerald Melberg Gallery
* Lights. Camera. NASCAR exhibit at NASCAR Hall of Fame
* Shiprocked at Snug Harbor
Film / Film News Opening Friday
Posted by Matt Brunson on Thu, May 23, 2013 at 11:00 AM
- Universal
- Fast & Furious 6
At Any Price - Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron
Epic - Animated
Fast & Furious 6 - Vin Diesel, Paul Walker
The Hangover Part III - Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms
Midnight's Children - Satya Bhabha, Shahana Goswami
Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's - Documentary
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Arts Theater review: Avenue Q
Posted by Perry Tannenbaum on Wed, May 22, 2013 at 5:12 PM
Concluding their 85th anniversary, Theatre Charlotte has a lot more to celebrate than longevity. For the past two years, production level has been enviably high. Beginning with Rent two years ago, musicals at the venue have been particularly noteworthy for their excellence. With their current Avenue Q, we once again have a cast that yields nothing to the talent we expect at Halton Theater from the vaunted CPCC Summer Theatre with its professional casts. Once again, it's a show that's a bit edgier than the CP norm.
Don't expect a let-up for the upcoming 2013-14 season, when Theatre Charlotte is planning to unleash Gypsy and Hair. That is indeed laying down the gauntlet to CPCC, challenging it to reclaim its presumed musical supremacy as it celebrates its 40th anniversary season this summer.
Of course, you'll find some folks onstage and on the production team who have cashed a check or two from CP. We're just not accustomed to seeing such edgy work from Billy Ensley outside Actor's Theatre of Charlotte, the usual site for his most subversive activities.
There is true fire-in-the-belly audacity from Ensley here, both in how he sees Avenue Q and how he hears it. You'll find the expected lewd gestures from Trekkie Monster as he sings his signature duet with Kate Monster, "The Internet Is for Porn," and maybe a little more than you anticipate as Nicky romances his closeted roommate Rod. Slightly less crass, we're told to expect the cast will frankly pass the hat for contributions during "The Money Song."
News / Opinion Five mayors = One 'thrilling' evening
Posted by John Grooms on Wed, May 22, 2013 at 3:23 PM
Five former Charlotte mayors got together on stage Tuesday night at Central Piedmont Community College, and, as expected, nothing much happened. It was the kind of event Charlotte's elite luvluvluv - a patented, Old-School Charlotte "Let's get a few VIPs together and watch them ramble in vague terms about a variety of subjects, and pretend the whole thing is a valuable community meeting" kind of gabfest.
Gov. Pat McCrory, Richard Vinroot, Sue Myrick, Harvey Gantt and Eddie Knox sat onstage at the Halton Theater event at CPCC. Mayor Foxx, who was busy preparing for his confirmation hearing as U.S. Transportation Secretary, gave a pre-recorded video introductory pep talk about big changes Charlotte is facing, such as a shrinking tax base. Until emcee Steve Crump of WBTV brought up the airport authority issue, Foxx's video was the most exciting part of the evening.
Culture This week's SketchCrowd cartoon (May 22)
Posted by Kimberly Lawson on Wed, May 22, 2013 at 1:15 PM
SketchCrowd is the world's first crowd-sourced comic strip - that is, one created using submission by anyone and everyone. It runs weekly in Charlotte Creative Loafing, The Chattanooga Pulse and Augusta Metro Spirit. Artists can submit their own ideas and review others at www.sketchcrowd.com.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Posted by Anita Overcash on Wed, May 22, 2013 at 9:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, May 22, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Connectivity exhibit at McColl Center for Visual Art
* Daniel Wallace to sign The Kings and Queens of Roam at Park Road Books
* BangBang at Dharma Lounge
* Wit & Whimsy exhibit at Lark & Key Gallery
* The Hot Gates at Snug Harbor
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
News State finally sues Duke for endangering Charlotte's water supply
Posted by John Grooms on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 5:25 PM
Apparently following the axiom that late is better than never, North Carolina is suing Duke Energy over carcinogenic pollution in Charlotte's major water source, Mountain Island Lake. Seven months after a Duke University study found high levels of arsenic in Mountain Island Lake - and two months after a much-publicized report from the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation and the Southern Environmental Law Center on pollution in Mountain Island Lake - the N.C. Division of Water Quality says Duke's coal ash has resulted in pollution that could threaten Charlotte's water supply with carcinogens that can cause central nervous system damage. The Division of Water Quality is adding its claims regarding Mountain Island Lake to an already-filed lawsuit over coal-ash pollution at an Asheville power plant.
- J. Wes Bobbitt
- Duke Energy's two unlined, high-hazard coal-ash ponds on Mountain Island Lake (aka Charlotte's drinking water)
Arts Youth is served at the Blumey Awards
Posted by Perry Tannenbaum on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 12:19 PM
For the record, South Mecklenburg High School's entry in the 2nd Annual Blumey Awards was their production of The Wiz. This will probably be news to most of the audience who packed Belk Theater to capacity for the Blumey ceremonies on Sunday night. Whenever an announcement of a South Meck nomination started booming over the PA system, the response from students, parents, and teachers from their section of the hall was so loud that the title of their show was invariably drowned out.
Other high schools from a seven county area - including Ardrey Kell, Central Academy of Technology and Arts, Charlotte Christian, Charlotte Latin, Covenant Day, Northwest School of the Arts, Providence, and South Point, who actually took home the trophies - didn't set off quite the same earthshaking volume levels when their nominees were announced. But they all came reasonably close, and the din set off when their winners were announced usually equaled the South Meck din.
Nor were these the loudest responses from the audience on a night that continuously crackled with electricity and excitement. The evening was framed with two mammoth teen ensembles, consisting of at least two representatives from each of the 32 high school musicals adjudicated in this year's Blumeys, singing and dancing together. Eight hefty production numbers were strewn between these extravaganzas, including excerpts from all six finalists for the Wells Fargo Best Musical award.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Tuesday
Posted by Anita Overcash on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 11:06 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, May 21, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Maz Jobrani at The Comedy Zone
* Sara Bareilles at Booth Playhouse
* Lights. Camera. NASCAR exhibit at NASCAR Hall of Fame
* Appetite for Risk: Works by Emilio Stanzani exhibit at Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
* Trivia Night at Strike City
Music / Live Reviews Live review: Paramore, The Fillmore (5/20/2013)
Posted by Alison Angel on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 10:26 AM
Paramore
The Fillmore
May 20, 2013
A new album (the group's first in four years) and its first tour on American soil in far too long had Paramore's already ravenous fans literally clawing at the barrier separating themselves from the three original members left standing Monday night. And, no, the sold-out Fillmore wasn't only filled to the brim with tweens - though many had bright hair in an effort to imitate their idol. Paramore is one of the few modern bands which brings together generations. Yes, the tweens and legions of fans which grew up alongside Paramore were there, but parents and grandparents were there too, and they were having just as much fun as the kids.
The moment guitarist Taylor York and flame-haired singer Hayley Williams stepped on stage with only a ukulele to counteract Williams' impressive vocals for "Moving On," the intro on the band's new self-titled album, the roof was pretty much blown off of the place.
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Theater review: Avenue Q
Lots of double-clicking at Theatre Charlotte.
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Today's Top 5: Thursday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
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This week's SketchCrowd cartoon (May 22)
The Freuds at dinner.
