The controversial move by the Carolina Ballet to relocate some of its performances from Memorial Auditorium has prompted a meeting this evening between Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and representatives of several Raleigh arts organizations. But behind the scenes, the conflict over performance space centers on a more pervasive issue: Raleigh’s largest venues are now competing […]
Zack Smith
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Posted inFilm & Television
The low-budget auteurs of Nevermore keep it real—and scary
Nevermore Film Festival Carolina Theatre Feb. 20-22 Ever since Kevin Williamson, a native of New Bern, N.C., wrote Scream, there has been a flood of increasingly lame horror movies in the American cinema. While he captured lightning in a bottle, perhaps, with his clever, hugely successful send-up of the teen slasher film, it was all […]
Posted inArt
Manbites Dog’s The Receptionist
The Receptionist Manbites Dog Theater Through Feb. 28 In Franz Kafka’s The Trial, the victim of anonymous torment was a small-time bank manager. In Manbites Dog Theater’s production of Adam Bock’s The Receptionist, times have evolved enough that even the lowliest of underlings are subject to persecution. An increasingly dark comedy that combines the banality […]
Posted inArt
RLT’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Raleigh Little Theatre Through March 1 In the latest issue of The Believer, Brock Clarke has a piece on the use of artifice and metafiction in Muriel Spark’s novels. In Jay Presson Allen’s theatrical adaptation of Spark’s most famous work, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the drama is […]
Posted inArt
Speaking nerdish with Junot Díaz
For an author held in high regard by virtually every serious literary establishment on the planet, talking with Junot Díaz is amazingly fun. Over the course of an interview to promote his appearance at Duke’s Richard White Lecture Hall Wednesday, Feb. 18, our conversation touched on everything from Mel Gibson’s plans to do a film […]
Posted inArt
Gustafer Yellowgold hooks kiddies early with alt-rock hooks
Gustafer Yellowgold The ArtsCenter Jan. 24 “Are you ready to soft-rock?” asks Morgan Taylor as he addresses a crowd of pre-teens and their parents at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro. It’s Saturday morning and a packed room full of kids have been dragged away from their cartoons to witness Gustafer Yellowgold, a fusion of indie rock […]
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Taylor Mac’s The Young Ladies of…
The Young Ladies of… PlayMakers Rep Through Jan. 11 One must give Taylor Mac credit. As he explained to Friday night’s audience at Playmakers’ production of his one-man show The Young Ladies of…, he had been rushed to the hospital for a kidney stone the night before (he was still passing it) and was, in […]
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Paperhand Puppet Intervention’s first adult-oriented show
If the thought of Wall Street executives enjoying $100 million bonuses while millions struggle to pay the bills sets your blood boiling, the Paperhand Puppet Intervention offers the opportunity to see them burning in hell. Well, the Buddhist hell, anyway: The Hungry Ghost, which kicks off the group’s 10th year with its first winter show, […]
Posted inFilm & Television
The difference of a decade
In 1999, life was good: The economy was strong and jobs beckoned for college students like me. George W. Bush was just a Texas governor, and the only threat to our booming economy was the looming Y2K bug. Remember those times? It was a markedly good year at the movies, too. Perhaps no film from […]
Posted inArt
Redheaded Robbie’s Christmas Story
Redheaded Robbie’s Christmas Story: The Musical Ride Again Productions, Tar Heel Tale Tellers, UNC Department of Communication Studies @ Studio Six Theatre, UNC Campus Nov. 20-23 Redheaded Robbie’s Christmas Story is a hard play to evaluate; it’s a 45-minute “synthetical performance” adaptation of a children’s book. What that means is that it’s a bare-bones production […]
