The Beaufort Theater Company takes on an American classic that’s every bit as relevant today – and maybe just as shocking – as it was 50 years ago.
To Kill a Mockingbird has been on my mind for a while now. Last year – as the novel celebrated its 50th anniversary – I reread it for my book club, attended a birthday party for it at our local library, and wrote about it in my column.
From Rants & Raves, June 2010: “I can’t imagine Harper Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird in hopes that her readers would come away feeling “comfortable.” I don’t think any serious author writes for that reason. What I found, upon revisiting TKAM as an adult, was a beautiful, funny, poignant story… that made me deeply uncomfortable. And I needed it. I needed to feel – really feel – how things were at that time, in that place, for those people. I needed to wrestle with their contradictions, recognize their flaws and their gifts, watch as some of them evolved while others stagnated. I needed to see my own resemblance to these characters – even some of the “bad” ones – and acknowledge our kinship. I needed to feel uncomfortable.”
Big tunes and lots of dance in store at Hairspray!
Break out the Aqua Net — the glamour do is back! “Hairspray,” Broadway’s big musical comedy, will be rockin’ the Arts Center this spring with the music and dances of the trend-setting ‘60s — and some very cool coifs.
Casey Colgan returns to Hilton Head Island April 27-May 29 (preview performances are April 27-28) to direct this new-millennium mega hit, winner of eight Tony Awards and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. He also stars as Edna Turnblad, the protagonist’s mom, in a role traditionally played by a man.
The five internationally acclaimed artists who will perform next at the USCB Festival Series have studied under exceptional professors at the best schools, have won major prizes and have played the world’s finest music at the world’s grandest venues and music festivals. They have also performed with great artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Jaime Laredo, Joshua Bell, Menahem Pressler and the St. Lawrence String Quartet and played with great orchestras in music centers such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, Paris, Quebec, Montreal, Moscow, Tokyo, Cologne and London. On May 1, they will play Schubert, Berio, Mozart and Dvorak in Beaufort, South Carolina.
New coffee table cookbook serves up the flavor of the South in stories, images and, of course, recipes.
“The South is a place where tea is sweet and accents are sweeter, macaroni and cheese is a vegetable, front porches are wide and words are long. Buttermilk pie is a staple. Y’all is a proper noun. Chicken is fried and biscuits come with cream gravy. Everything is darlin’ and someone’s heart is always being blessed.”
Spring book sale to feature fine collection of Civil War literature.
Civil War enthusiasts will have extra incentive on Saturday, April 30 to line up for the annual Friends of the Beaufort County Library Spring Book Sale.
Beaufort Children’s Theatre is back on stage at the USCB Center for the Arts with Seussical, Jr. one weekend only: April 16 at 7 PM and April 17 at 3 PM. Join 70 aspiring local actors, ages 6 – 18, as they perform what has become one of the most popular shows in America! In this fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza, Tony winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (“Ragtime,” “Once On This Island”) have lovingly brought to life all of our favorite Dr. Seuss characters, including Horton the Elephant, The Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, lazy Mayzie and a little boy with a big imagination – Jojo. “Oh, the Thinks You Can Think” captures the show’s spirit of imagination, as the colorful characters transport us from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus to the invisible world of the Whos.