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Tuesday, July 30, 2013
News North Carolina makes it on The Colbert Report
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 10:27 AM
It was bound to happen. National news outlets have been eyeballing North Carolina like a plate of pimento cheese fries. Last night, our state got a shout-out from Stephen Colbert. While the toilet/Charlotte comparison was messed up, there's no denying that the Tar Heel state is ripe for ridicule. Last week, the General Assembly passed a bill allowing concealed handgun holders to bring their weapons into bars and restaurants. Check the clip below; it starts around 4:05.
Music Kandia Crazy Horse releases "California" lyric video
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 10:26 AM
Former Creative Loafing music editor Kandia Crazy Horse is delving deeper into the field she so often writes about by releasing some music of her own. She's put out a lyric video for her debut single, "California."
The slow-rolling tune features her soulful vocals over a backdrop of acoustic and steel pedal guitar. It's a solid start quickly showcasing her vocal range and tone and we look forward to hearing more. Check it out:
Music / Live Reviews Live review: Beyonce, Time Warner Cable Arena (7/27/13)
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 10:12 AM
Beyoncé
Time Warner Cable Arena
July 27, 2013
- Rob Hoffman/Invision for Parkwood Entertainment/AP Images
This year has been huge for R&B singer Beyoncé, since getting back in the game after having baby Blue Ivy. She "sung" the National Anthem at President Obama's second inauguration; she performed at this year's Superbowl half-time show, offering a short Destiny's Child reunion with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams; she celebrated her fifth wedding anniversary with Jay Z in Cuba (garnering some criticism); she won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance for her single "Love on Top"; and she released her feature-length documentary film, Life Is But a Dream on HBO.
And then she came to Charlotte.
Beyoncé, Queen Bey, Mrs. Carter - whatever you want to call her - made a stop at Time Warner Cable Arena this past Saturday on her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. And yes, those magnificent thighs were in full effect.
Arts Theater review: Narrow Daylight
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 10:00 AM
Let other judges who served on the panel at Actor's Theatre of Charlotte speak for themselves. When I narrowly named Sevan Kaloustian Greene's Narrow Daylight as the best play in last year's inaugural nuVoices Play Festival, half of my decision rested on what was already before my eyes in a reading stage production - a tough, topical situation treated with a deft blend of comedy and explosive drama. Greene's protagonist, Lena, is an Iraqi widow who flees her homeland to the only place of safe refuge she can think of, the Florida home of Susan Davis, mother of the American soldier who was her husband.
Susan, grieving over the recent deaths of her son and her husband, is too bitter and depressed to welcome Lena with open arms, even though she is pregnant with her first grandchild. On the contrary, Susan suspects that Lena is gaming the system, first luring her darling Nathan into marriage, then using his death as a passport to the U.S. and his GI benefits.
So where is the comedy? It flutters in from next door, wearing tacky slacks. A person of well-meaning Gloria Rogers, Susan's longtime best friend, is capable of talking a blue streak heavily laced with Southern Baptist cheer. Right now, the biggest event in Gloria's world is the arrival of the new Super Target - a first in provincial Panama City. She'll be joined by her daughter Anne-Marie, Nathan's last girlfriend before he enlisted, soon coming home for Christmas vacation. Until Susan emerges from her catatonic self-pity, Gloria and Anne-Marie must personify the culture shock of Lena's coming to America.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Tuesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 9:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, July 30, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Desserts, Drinks & Derby! A night of fun with the Charlotte Roller Girls at Bulldog Beer and Wine
* Poetic Palette: The Adult Edition at Red@28th
* Train, The Script and Gavin Degraw at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
* The Painted World: Creative Writing in the Galleries at Mint Museum Uptown
* Trivia at Strike City
Monday, July 29, 2013
News / Opinion McCrory says it all: 'I don't know enough'
Posted By John Grooms on Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 2:23 PM
At a Friday press conference, "Governor" Pat McCrory announced that he will sign the controversial "voter ID" bill into law, even though he hadn't even read one of the bill's crucial components - and showed a pretty weak grasp of state policy on voter registration. By the time the bill finished snaking its way through the General Assembly, it had morphed from a mere voter ID law into an all-purpose vote-suppression campaign, making far-reaching changes to the way North Carolinians may or may not vote, and earning nationwide notice as the country's most suppressive voting law.
- Flickr (Creative Commons)
McCrory praised the bill to reporters as just the perfect thing to "restore faith in elections." However, when an AP reporter asked the guv how three specific parts of the bill would help prevent voter fraud, McCrory scrambled for answers. In addition to requiring a government-issued photo-ID card, the bill also ends same-day voter registration, cuts early voting by a week, and abolishes a program that let high school students register to vote in advance of their 18th birthdays.
Arts Theater review: Monty Python's Spamalot
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 2:09 PM
In various tales that began cropping up in the Middle Ages, the Holy Grail has variously been a serving dish, a dinner plate, a precious stone, or a drinking cup. Of those, the cup seems to have captured the imagination most strongly, I presume because it is the only one of those objects that we can easily visualize touching the lips of God - you know, during Passover? Whatever the sacred relic may have been, it hadn't traditionally been the object of satire, mockery, or lampoon until a sextet of mad Brits perpetrated Monty Python and the Holy Grail in 1975.
Nor was that the end of Monty's impudence and sacrilege. For lo, in the year 2005, there came upon Broadway a new tuneful adaptation yclept Monty Python's Spamalot, mocking King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, the Holy Grail, and Broadway musicals. This new stinkbomb, thrown by co-writers Eric Idle and John DuPrez in the face of all that is holy and English, merely won the Tony Award and has triumphantly toured here twice, first at Ovens Auditorium in 2006 and last year at Knight Theater.
The current version capping CPCC Summer Theatre's 40th anniversary season isn't exactly chopped liver compared to those national tours - unless you scrutinize the production values. Both scenic designer Joe Gardner and costume designer Jennifer Matthews have prioritized shrewdly, but you can detect areas where they are scrimping and stretching their budgets. Poor Brandon Riddle was mostly precious as the effete Sir Robin, but he was the victim du jour of Halton Theater's notoriously fickle sound system at the Sunday matinee, so much so that I found myself wincing whenever he sang.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Monday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 9:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, July 29, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog at Actor's Theatre of Charlotte
* Mona at Milestone
* Vans Warped Tour at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
* The Monday Night Allstars at Double Door Inn
* Trivia at Sir Edmond Halley's
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Film / Film Reviews Weekend Film Reviews: The Wolverine; The Conjuring; R.I.P.D.; Red 2; and more
Posted By Matt Brunson on Sun, Jul 28, 2013 at 1:00 PM
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Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
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Question the Queen City: The historic Wearn House can still be saved 2
Though it's been on the chopping block for years, there's still hope for the historic structure.
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10 best movie striptease scenes
Salma Hayek, Jessica Alba and more.
