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Thursday, June 7, 2012
Film / Film News Opening Friday
Posted By Matt Brunson on Thu, Jun 7, 2012 at 11:00 AM
- Music Box Films
- The Deep Blue Sea
The Deep Blue Sea - Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston
The Intouchables - Francois Cluzet, Omar Sy
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted - Animated; voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock
Prometheus - Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Friday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Jun 7, 2012 at 10:31 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, June 8, 2012 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Charlotte Squawks at Booth Playhouse
* Folk Devils, Moral Panics & Pinups exhibit at Baku Gallery
* Dan Sartain at Milestone
* The Marvelous Wonderettes at Actor's Theatre of Charlotte
* Screaming Females at The Haunted Mill
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Thursday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Jun 7, 2012 at 8:21 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, June 6, 2012 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Opening reception for New Work by Cristina Cordova at Hodges Taylor Art Consultancy
* Ghost Wolves at The Evening Muse
* Aziz Ansari at Belk Theater
* Blind Pilot at Neighborhood Theatre
* Car Craze at Warehouse Performing Arts Center
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
News / Opinion Last few days to help the Urban Ministry Center
Posted By Ana McKenzie on Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 6:06 PM
The local Urban Ministry Center is running against nine others across the country for $50,000 from Drop of Good: The Maxwell House Community Project. It would use the money to upgrade its art studio, build gardens, renovate the multi-purpose room and build outdoor seating.
The center provides temporary shelter for homeless individuals, substance-abuse treatment and a soup kitchen. It serves a much-needed role in this community and would only do more with some help. Vote here.
Arts LOL: Comedy in the Q.C.
Posted By Anita Overcash on Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 5:40 PM
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.
Warning: Aziz Ansari's rants about everyday occurrences may send innocent victims laughing themselves into near-death experiences. That may be why his current stand-up tour is called Buried Alive? We don't know, but we sure as hell want to see him, regardless of the risk. The comedian and star of NBC's Parks and Recreation can make a simple trip to Cold Stone Creamery into a sidesplitting encounter. Ansari, who has Carolina ties - he was born on Colombia, S.C. and grew up in Bennettsville - is even better at mocking celebrity sightings and social functions. Take his commentary on rapper 50 Cent's discovery that grapefruits are um, not grapes. We're still laughing about the oranges. (Don't ask. Just go see him.) $37. June 7, 7:30 p.m. Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St. 704-372-1000. www.blumenthalarts.org.
Live from Charlotte, it's Charlotte Squawks! The Queen City's version of Saturday Night Live is back for its eighth year of parodying the city's pop-culture, politics and sports. For this year's installment, titled "8 Misbehavin'," Squawks creative team Mike Collins and Brian Kahn are collaborating with Charlotte-area singers, dancers, actors and comedians to make fun of everything from our oh-so-talented Bobcats to the hoopla over the Democratic National Convention (with spoofs of some of the election's more familiar faces). Promised skits on Cam Newton, Occupy Charlotte and Ballantyne secessionists are already on the menu, making this show a must-see for the sarcastic, satirical-minded. $29.50 and up. June 8-9, 8 p.m., June 14, 7:30 p.m., June 15-16, 8 p.m., June 21, 7:30 p.m., June 22-23, 8 p.m., June 27-28, 7:30 p.m., June 29-30, 8 p.m. Booth Playhouse, 130 N. Tryon St. 704-372-1000. www.blumenthalarts.org.
Make sure you know Spanish before you go to the Neighborhood Theatre tonight, or you'll spend the evening with a blank, bewildered smile plastered across your face. Colombian comedian Suso El Paspi of comedy talk show The Suso Show, is spontaneous and interactive in his act. Sit up front for the full Suso experience, which usually includes one helluva tacky outfit and lots of crazy expressions. Those with a limited Spanish vocab (meaning "si," "gracias," and "quesadilla" are about all you understand) shouldn't fear snagging a close spot either. After all, you'll never know when he starts picking fun in your direction anyway. $30-$40. June 9, 8:30 p.m. Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th St. 704-358-9298. www.neighborhoodtheatre.com.
Arts Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 9:45 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, June 5, 2012 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Rhyme Deferred at Duke Energy Theatre
* Aqualads at Snug Harbor
* Tranquility exhibit at RedSky Gallery
* Rich Guzzi Hypnosis Show at The Comedy Zone Charlotte
* Tosco House Party Open Mic at The Evening Muse
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
News / Democratic National Convention 2012 DNC protest parade route kept at least two blocks from arena
Posted By Ana McKenzie on Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 12:45 PM
The city of Charlotte has established a parade route protesters can take during the Democratic National Convention. Trouble is, it keeps them at least two blocks from Time Warner Cable Arena, where President Obama is supposed to speak, according to the Associated Press.
A route of just over a mile has been set aside for protesters who also get an organizing area at Pearl Street Park. Anti-Democrat activists say the routes do not get them close enough for their message to be heard.
City officials hope the protests will be peaceful but are preparing for potential violence similar to what was seen at the recent NATO conference in Chicago.
- Charlotte Society of Professional Journalists
- DNC protest parade route
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Tuesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 9:36 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, June 5, 2012 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Beer Ed at Growlers Pourhouse
* Forrest Tourist at Milestone
* 40th Annual Members Show at The Light Factory
* The People's Conference at Red@28th
* Lawrence Thomas at The Comedy Zone Lake Norman
Monday, June 4, 2012
Arts Theater review: La Cage aux Folles
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 11:59 AM
Critics up in New York were almost universally wowed by the most recent revival of La Cage aux Folles starring Douglas Hodge and Kelsey Grammer, and the production, directed by Terry Johnson, won Tony Awards for Best Musical Revival and Best Director, with Hodge taking Best Actor honors. I was unimpressed by Johnson's take: homophobe politician Monsieur Dindon was portrayed as buffoonish rather than dangerous, the cross-dressing Les Cagelles chorines impersonated body builders more resolutely than women, there was no chemistry between Georges and Albin, and their son Jean-Michel was an absolute monster until the denouement. Luckily, the touring version of the production begs to differ. Paying a visit to Blumenthal's Belk Theater on a six-day run, the show proved to be a worthwhile experience.
Now I'll admit that I saw an understudy in Grammer's role as Georges in NY, which could account for nearly all the deficits of warmth and chemistry. Yet the core of the production seemed fundamentally misguided. Johnson's ruling principle, as he reprised this 1983 Jerry Herman-Harvey Fierstein classic, seemed to be that homophobia had become a laughable ancient relic during the intervening 27 years. As for the Arnold Schwarzenegger posturings of Les Cagelles, I'll leave it to others to parse out how political correctness yielded such a repellent blunder.
So while others may be deeply disappointed, I'm happy that the current touring version of La Cage, still directed by Johnson, is radically different from the one I witnessed two summers ago at the Longacre Theatre. Johnson has added a pre-show where one of the chorines works the audience, so the reality of North Carolina's embarrassing Amendment One is addressed even before the overture whisks us away to St. Tropez. The high-kicking Les Cagelles are less butch now than they were in 2010, their costumes more feminine and peacocky when they dance in their elegant birdcage. Best of all, the pompous starch has been restored to Dindon.
Arts Arts Flash: Q&A with Sharon Dowell
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 10:01 AM
Charlotte-based contemporary artist Sharon Dowell uses her travels - from far away lands like Iceland and Ireland to various states within the U.S.A. - and history as a muse. Most recently, she's been delving into the past of London's biker subculture in the 1960s. The curator for Culture Initiative and Baku Gallery's Folk Devils, Moral Panics & Pinups exhibit, Dowell knew little about motorcycles and the Mods vs. Rockers phenomenon before she started researching in preparation for the show, which runs through June 30. CL spoke to Dowell about the exhibit, as well as her own artwork and upcoming projects.
Creative Loafing: What are the themes of Folk Devils, Moral Panics & Pinups?
Sharon Dowell: It's all about '60s London. Back then there were these guys, and they called themselves the Rockers. They hand built motorcycles. They were wild and crazy, and they all dressed like Elvis with black leather. There was this other group called the Mods, and they were the guys who rode the Vespas and scooters. They dressed really preppy. They snubbed drinking, but they did crazy amounts of amphetamines. And they were the mean ones. They carried knives. So, [the Mods and the Rockers] didn't like each other. There was a bank holiday at Brighton Beach, and that's where everything exploded. There was this big fight. In the newspapers back then, they called them "Folk Devils," "Moral Panics," and I thought that was a cool name. I've asked all the artists to create works based on that. I've done a bunch of small pinup girls with helmets or goggles - kind of mod. I'm also collaborating on a huge painting with cutouts for faces with Cher Cosper.
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