CURRENTS
Here’s a fast rundown of this year’s highlights: The Festival’s new production of Salome, Richard Strauss’ 1905 opera, based on Oscar Wilde’s play of the same name, opens the season. Shakespeare’s Globe theatre returns with a rotation of Twelfth Night, the Comedy of Errors and Pericles. The 2019 Wells Fargo Jazz Series will celebrate the Afro-Cuban jazz tradition in the United States as well as three generations of female jazz artists—pianist and composer Carla Bley, drummer and vocalist Terri Lyne Carrington, and bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding.
JEWELRY FIT FOR CLEOPATRA
Odds are, if you’ve spent any time in the Holy City, you’ve strolled through the Charleston City Market. It’s one of our nation’s oldest public markets and home to more than 300 vendors. Amidst the hustle and bustle, one store stands out for its unique jewelry that you won’t find anywhere else in the city: […]
CARRYING ON THE GULLAH TRADITION
Spirited and diverse, the South Carolina Sea Islands’ musical masala of West African rhythms, gospel, children’s rhymes and dance tunes come together with a contemporary spin in the band Ranky Tanky, named after the Gullah phrase meaning “work it” or “get funky”!
GARDENING TIPS FROM A PRO
British horticulturist and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll once suggested that any garden can be tamed into an “impression of beauty and delight.” If she had visited Charleston, she would have promptly realized that our landscapes surpass mere impressions—with or without taming! The Lowcountry’s natural beauty has always inspired us to turn our private, as well […]
THE NEW ACTIVE LIVING
Retirement living isn’t what it used to be. In the past, the idea of a “retirement community” might include a golf course, maybe a swimming pool, and a few amenities to keep residents occupied. Such a concept may have worked fine then, but today’s 55-plus home buyers want so much more.
OF THE SEGREGATED SOUTH
Novelist Anna Jean (A.J.) Mayhew, originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, now lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina, with her Swiss-born husband. Her writing reflects her vivid memories of growing up in the segregated South. Mayhew’s first novel, The Dry Grass of August, won the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction. The novel was also a finalist for the 2012 Book Award from the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance.
THE MAESTRO
Hermina (Hermine) Barbot managed something few other Charleston women of her day could even imagine: She was famous in a good way. In an age when “ladies” were warned that their names should never appear in the newspaper, Madame Barbot made headlines on a regular basis and always received star billing.
THE KINGS OF QUEEN STREET
Of all the arts, theater is the most democratic. Advanced education is not a prerequisite, nor even literacy. And, as a rule, emotion carries more weight that intellect. Not to say that having a certain sophistication won’t enable a patron to appreciate literary allusions, historical references, in-jokes and subtle jabs of wit.
CURRENTS
What’s New, What’s Happening, What’s Now
GARDENING UNDER GLASS
While I’ve always found terrariums enchanting, I used to associate them with folksy macrame crafts. Both were frequently displayed together in artist co-ops during the 1970s. Somewhere along the line the crocheted rope craze faded, and terrariums became as obsolete as 8-track tapes. I’m glad these miniature glass gardens are making a solo comeback, but please don’t assume that Baby Boomers “invented” them.
