Category Archives: The Back Channel
Taylor Mac: master of audiences
We fell in love with Taylor Mac’s tragic sense of humor, ribaldry, and affection at this year’s Spoleto. So did everyone else, it seems, after the cross-dressing performance artist left town. His virtuosic command of the audience, his assurance on stage, his ability to provoke and coddle and swing your emotions. The man, so to […]
Flip-flopping at Spoleto, Italy
First there was talk of sharing an opera, now there’s none.
Dan Wakin, the classical music reporter for The New York Times, is in Italy covering the Festival of Two Worlds, the counterpart to Charleston’s Spoleto Festival USA. He writes that the two festivals are considering sharing an orchestra next year, at a cost that was […]
Back to CCP’s Unscripted
Thanks to all the 5,000-6,000 readers who spent time with us during this year’s festival. Since about May 19, Spoleto Buzz has been my job and my passion. It’s been a blast the whole way.
Of course, there’s more to Charleston than Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto. Much more.
That’s why I invite you to switch tracks with […]
Crunching numbers
Spoleto released figures on ticket sales yesterday.
The final tally is $2.86 million in sales.
A total of 73,157 tickets were sold this year, down from 73,390 last year.
This year 70,257 tickets were in single ticket sales while 2,900 were in group sales.
In 2007, single tickets amounted to 69,690 while group sales added up to 3,700.
There’s not […]
It’s a wrap (plus blog stats)
It’s finally over.
Last night at Middleton Place was a terrific cap to this year’s Spoleto Festival.
We’ve seen a lot this year. Some expected, some unexpected, a lot of it memorable, all of it worth doing all over again.
But not for another year.
Meanwhile, it’s time to see what we’ve accomplished.
Here’s the breakdown of what we’ve done, […]
This year’s innovations in theater
One more bit of reflection before we go. This time on theater. I have talked at length about my favorite show, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. And I have plumbed (some of) the depths (briefly) of Bamuthi Joseph’s incredible hip-hop play, the break/s. Others in need of discussion are The Cody Rivers […]
The final rankings
Here’s my final rankings in theater, musical theater, opera, and dance for this year’s Spoleto. You’ll notice three of these are Piccolo events, one of which is comedy. Remember this is entirely subjective.
1. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
2. Low Tide Hotel (yes, this is a Piccolo Spoleto performance)
3. The Great War by […]
Knowing where the buck stops
Ellen Moryl called me yesterday. She’s the director of the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs, which puts on Piccolo Spoleto. She’d read my post about the fiasco of Wayang Modern, Geoffrey Cormier’s shadow puppet show that looks like it would be good for kids but is in fact really not for kids as all. Her […]
Wadsworth to retire after 2009 festival and 80th birthday
Charles Wadsworth, the director of Spoleto Festival USA’s chamber music series for more than 30 years, announced yesterday that he will retire after the conclusion of the 2009 festival.
The year will mark Wadsworth’s 80th birthday and the 50th consecutive season in which he has curated chamber music, beginning with Gian Carlo Menotti’s Festival of Two […]
Piccolo Fringe wraps
Tonight was the 84th and last show of this year’s Piccolo Fringe called the Fringe Finale. It featured the one and only Have Nots! and the whole Theatre 99 gang. Guests included the Upright Citizens Brigade, Jazz Hand: Tales of a One-Armed Woman, and The Cody Rivers Show. There were many gems but my favorite […]
