The PopCulteer
March 19, 2010

Setting the record straight.

Last week I wrote about the proposed production of the musical “Lil’ Abner,” which is slated to star Charleston’s mayor, Danny Jones. There were a few misconceptions on my part, and a couple of attempts at subterfuge by people in the comments section of this blog. Mayor Jones took the time to contact me to clear up a few things, and in the interest of fairness and accuracy, I am going to revisit this topic.

First, I still think the idea of Mayor Jones playing the lead role is a bad one. I also think that billing this as a “reunion” when the original female lead is not a willing participant is a mistake. It would be like holding a reunion of Hall and Oates, without Hall. If you recall, my long-time girlfriend, Melanie Larch, the co-star of the 1986 production of “Lil’ Abner,” was asked to be involved with this “reunion.” She declined. She thought it was a bad idea, but kept quiet about it out of respect to the other parties involved.

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The Arts Council of Kanawha Valley will hold a series of public meetings to identify arts organizations, artists and people who want to contribute, be involved and/or learn more about the council.This is a great idea, and can help build bridges between the different organizations and people to whom the arts are important.

A full schedule of organizational meetings can be found by clicking the “read more” link.

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This week’s early dose of art is yet another image from the top-secret animation project, set to debut on Radio Free Charleston’s 100th episode in a few weeks. This is shot of the United Bank Building, with a difference. And OH! WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Click it to see it bigger. And don’t forget to watch last week’s episode of the show.

Below, you see the exact images Syd Barrett saw in his mind when he wrote this song (if the video is missing, click here):

It explains so much, doesn’t it.

After the jump, check out this week’s bonus video, one of last year’s episodes of Radio Free Charleston, featuring Blue Million, recorded at Bruno’s, across Lee Street from The Clay Center. Alan Griffith and Blue Million return to Bruno’s this coming Friday night.Try the brick-oven pizza!

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The PopCulteer
March 12, 2010

Dogpatch Blues

One of the worst-kept secrets in town over the last few months has been the just-officially-announced “Reunion” production of the musical “Lil Abner” that is supposed to take place this fall. Kanawha Players, an organization that’s been dealing with some pressing money and organizational issues of late, has apparently signed on to stage this musical at the behest of Charleston’s Mayor, Danny Jones (right). Jones is putting up the money for the production, but there’s one big string attached.

Danny Jones wants to reprise his role as Lil’ Abner. A role he played on stage before….in 1986.

I believe that, by the time the projected play dates come around, our illustrious Mayor will be 60 years old. The title character of “Lil’ Abner” is supposed to be 18. Now this should just be a fun little news story about our goofy mayor and his latest misadventures, but it’s taken a darker turn, and I have a personal stake in it.

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Radio Free Charleston’s ninety-fifth episode, “Glen Brogan’s Visible Grimace Shirt,” is in the books, or at least in this post, up at the top (and if it isn’t, click here). This episode of RFC showcases new music from Eva Elution and vintage music from Mother Nang. We also have our usual animation and mind-hurting weirdness. Plus we revisit the very first 60 Second Art Show, featuring the art of Felix Krasyk.

We shot our host segments Saturday morning, taking advantage of the gorgeous weather. Our location was Kanawha Boulevard, just East of the latest prolonged blockage of Charleston’s favorite artery.

One of the reasons we picked this location is that it’s near The Boulevard Tavern, where Mother Nang is playing this Friday.

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Today’s artistic wake-up call is a digital painting, “Saturn.” It’s an exercise in color composition and black space. The yellow sphere is supposed to be Titan, but I moved it inside the rings because it looked better there. Click the image to see a bigger version.

Swiped from Mark Evanier’s blog,above you see the trailer for a UK cinema event. I’m sure it’ll come out on DVD over here eventually. Fans of Monty Python take note….this one’s for you.

This week we’re going to revisit a couple of episodes of Radio Free Charleston from last summer. Up above you should see episode 73, with OVADA and The Limbs, plus A Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie, and host segments that were shot downtown, in front of FestivAll-related art installations by Amy Williams and Mark Wolfe.

After the jump, check out episode 74, with music from Slate Dump and J. Marinelli, plus another Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie, a quick visit from Mad Man Pondo and a friend, and end credit music from Jerry Fugate.

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The PopCulteer
March 5, 2010

“Alice” A Winner

Tim Burton’s “Alice In Wonderland” is the closest yet that anyone has come to capturing the magic of Lewis Carroll on the big screen. This is darker, by far, but it seems truer to the spirit of the original works than other movie attempts.

Part of the reason for this is the nature of Carroll’s two “Alice” books. The surrealism takes precedent over the plot and the experience of the stories is dependent upon the imagination of the reader. It’s an example of the art of description.

Once interpreted visually, a little bit of the magic is depleted, and the weaknesses of the story become more apparent. The innocence of Carroll’s work doesn’t hold up to a strict intepretation.
Screenwriter Linda Woolverton gets around this by telling a different story than Carroll did. In this telling, Alice is a nineteen year old woman about to be married, who is drawn back to Wonderland (or “Underland”) in its time of crisis. There are slight echoes of King Arthur returning to Britain in its time of greatest need, only in this case, Alice is not a king, but merely a stabilizing force of near-sanity in a pre-Dadaistic world of Victorian surrealism.There is a reason for Wonderland in this telling.

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