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Thursday, June 21, 2012
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Thursday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 10:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, June 21, 2012 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Dante and Delta exhibit at Doma Gallery
* Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
* Charlotte Squawks at Booth Playhouse
* Simplified at The Saloon
* The Edge of Our Bodies at Carolina Actors Studio Theatre
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Wed, Jun 20, 2012 at 8:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, June 20, 2012 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* The Odd Couple at Theatre Charlotte
* Off the Record featuring The Belmont Playboys at The Evening Muse
* Greg Morton at The Comedy Zone Charlotte
* Works by Contemporary Artists at New Gallery of Modern Art
* Aqualads at Snug Harbor
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
News American Idol comes to Charlotte
Posted By Ana McKenzie on Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 3:22 PM
Her head shook from side to side as she approached her friends.
"I don't want to talk about it," Brittany Michelle Elliott announced.
The 16 year old had driven from Concord to Charlotte at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday morning to audition for American Idol. Thousands were at the arena Tuesday for a chance to become part of the twenty four contestants who get to audition in front of America in Los Angeles later this year. Elliott, like so many others, left - as one Idol spokeswoman put it - a nonwinner.
Arts LOL: Comedy in the Q.C.
Posted By Anita Overcash on Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 9:52 AM
Listed below is a roundup of CL's top picks for comedy shows in Charlotte this week. Hopefully, they keep you entertained and, more importantly, laughing out loud.
Folks who found the Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings movies too long will appreciate comedian Greg Morton's condensed renditions. In two-minute intervals, the comedy veteran uses his own live sound effects to sum up the films. Morton's observational humor and impersonations make for an unpredictable fusion. His video tune "Obama Man," set to the peppy children's song "Candy Man," may have gone viral back in 2009, but it still has us laughing. Don't go thinking Morton endorses everything the president does, though. He objects to Obama's wardrobe, specifically those britches Morton refers to in his jingle as "Obama in Mom Jeans". $12-$17. June 20, 8 p.m.; June 21, 8 p.m. The Comedy Zone Charlotte at N.C. Music Factory, 900 N.C. Music Factory Blvd., Suite B3. 980-321-4702. www.cltcomedyzone.com.
Comedians who joke about nothing are a dime a dozen, but that doesn't mean they're all Jerry Seinfelds. Finding humor in day-to-day life and shaping it into funny tales requires talent and great timing. Brian Regan, who performs at The Comedy Zone in Charlotte this week, has a knack for side-splitting storytelling. He makes random events and topics - from UPS shipping issues to why dogs bark - funny without any profanity, raunchy additions or low-blows aimed at gender or ethnic groups. That's not to say Regan doesn't over-dramatize to the point of occasional buffoonery. His animated visuals combined with a sarcastic take on randomness has earned Regan recurring spots on Comedy Central. $45. June 22, 8 p.m. & 10:15 p.m.; June 23, 6:30 p.m. & 8:45 p.m. The Comedy Zone at N.C. Music Factory Blvd., 900 N.C. Music Factory Blvd., Suite B3. 980-321-4702. www.cltcomedyzone.com.
Getting a big break in the entertainment biz usually doesn't happen overnight. Comedian Sara Schaefer knows this, which is why she launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund her Iddy Biddy Teeny Tiny Sara Schaefer Tour. With a YouTube video plea, some crafty bribery (she's promised to knit high bidders items like potholders and blankets) and a little dildo-won't-fit-in-the-suitcase action, she managed to scrounge up $4,437, far surpassing her original goal of $2,500. If you ask us, that's pretty good for an aspiring comic! The New York City-based Schaefer, who formerly worked as a blog writer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, stops in Charlotte for a performance at Petra's Piano Bar & Cabaret. With NYC funny man Scott Moran and local comedians DeVan Penegar, Chris Layton, and Derek Blackmon. $10. June 23, 8 p.m. Petra's Piano Bar & Cabaret, 1919 Commonwealth Ave. 704-332-6608. www.petraspianobar.com.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Tuesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 9:18 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, June 19, 2012 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Botanica exhibit at Genome
* Philanthropic Trends and Strategies for the Future seminar at Mint Museum Uptown
* Guys and Dolls at CPCC's Halton Theater
* American Idol auditions at Time Warner Cable Arena
* Open Mic at The Kilted Buffalo
Monday, June 18, 2012
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Monday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Jun 18, 2012 at 10:57 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, June 18, 2012 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Bootsy Collins at Neighborhood Theatre
* Solid Gold Monday's at Growler Pourhouse
* Open Mic at The Evening Muse
* Great Architect at Snug Harbor
* Karaoke at Dixie's Tavern
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Film / Arts Ships Ahoy!
Posted By Anita Overcash on Sat, Jun 16, 2012 at 11:00 AM
It's time again for the Main Library's annual Summer Film Series, and perhaps mindful that many families may not be able to afford a beach vacation that would allow them to see the ocean for themselves - or maybe because 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic - the venue has elected to showcase a nautical theme: Ships Ahoy!! 8 Classic Seafaring Films.
The series, which will take place for eight consecutive Saturdays throughout the summer, begins with 1958's A Night to Remember, an adaptation of Walter Lord's novel about the Titanic's fateful encounter with that iceberg. Largely considered by film critics and scholars to be the best movie ever made about the disaster (sorry, James Cameron fans), it's certainly the most factual, offering only brief vignettes concerning the passengers while spending most of its time with the officers, and approaching the tragedy from a stance that almost qualifies as docudrama. Free admission. June 16, 2 p.m. ImaginOn's Wells Fargo Playhouse, 300 E. 7th St. - Matt Brunson
Arts Beertastic stash
Posted By Anita Overcash on Sat, Jun 16, 2012 at 10:00 AM
Calling all beer aficionados — the chilled froth of Carolina crafted beers is waiting to linger on your carefully cultivated mustaches (or upper lips for you gals) at the inaugural Brew Stash Bash.
Folksy, indie bands — the Farewell Drifters, Brown Bird and Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons — will serenade and strum as tasters treat their practiced palettes with the finest from Carolina-based breweries. The lineup includes NoDa Brewery, Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Four Friends Brewing and more. $5 for four sampling tickets. Music portion is free and open to the public. June 16, 1 p.m. U.S. National Whitewater Center, 5000 Whitewater Center Parkway. 704-391-3900. www.usnwc.org. - Mary Stevens
Arts Lots to see at CL Art & Music Festival
Posted By Anita Overcash on Sat, Jun 16, 2012 at 8:00 AM
Here's a little something from us - it's the CL Art & Music Festival at the N.C. Music Factory. Four local bands will play and more than 20 regional artists will showcase and sell a variety of works including ceramics, paintings, photography, mixed media, wood crafts, jewelry, clothing and other handmade items.
You can do your part to support the arts by attending, and even more so if you buy something (they don't call em' "starving artists" for nothing, right?). Proceeds from Creative Loafing's on-site book/CD sale will benefit The Arts & Science Council. Free admission. June 16, 12-9 p.m. N.C. Music Factory, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Arts Catching the CAST Quad
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Fri, Jun 15, 2012 at 10:54 AM
The theater aggregation up in NoDa began on Memorial Day weekend, just before my wife Sue and I fled Speed Weeks for Spoleto Festival USA. Carolina Actors Studio Theatre opened a five-week run of The Edge of Our Bodies on Thursday and, instead of booking that one-woman show for Sunday matinees, layered on a double-bill. Eliza, a one-woman show based on the book of poems by Dede Wilson starts the afternoon at 2:30 - or it does if the lightbooth operator shows up on time - and an original choreopoem by Dee Abdullah, Under the Red Cloak, follows at 5 p.m.
That double-feature has one more showing this Sunday. But there's a fourth show running at CAST, and it's the best of them all. Keith Huff's A Steady Rain, the debut effort by 700 Miles South Productions, joined the rotation on the weekend after Memorial Day, with late-night 10 p.m. performances on Friday and Saturday nights through June 30. Four plays running at the same time in the same venue is a new all-time Charlotte record, I'd wager.
Directed by Michael Harris with nifty lighting design by Michael R. Simmons, Steady Rain creates a dark film noire flavor with just two characters, Chicago policemen Denny and Joey. One is more corrupt than the other. Denny is on-the-take, cheating on his wife, and an unapologetic racist who employs such choice epithets as "rice puppy" in categorizing suspects and victims. Trying to lay off the booze, Joey is reluctantly on-the-make with Denny's wife as the crooked cop digs himself into deeper and deeper trouble. Covering up for his partner's derelictions of duty is jeopardizing Joey's job as well.
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