Previously: Spanish sugar farmers in the Caribbean have depleted their supply of native slaves. They send their slavecatchers north to the Land of Giants – what is now the southeastern U.S. – and find a cheap labor pool in a place called Chicora. Luke de Ayllon, an influential Castillian planter, wants Chicora for himself. So he travels to Spain to meet with King Charles I (or II, III, IV or V, depending on the circumstances.)

Back in colonial times Spain was a franchise.

The Pinball Wizard is alive and well at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina

I left the Arts Center’s new production of “The Who’s Tommy” feeling moved, inspired, and… confused. Moved, because the final number, “Listening To You,” is seriously, over-the-moon transcendent. Inspired, because I’m always inspired by terrific performers pouring themselves out with abandon. Confused, because the ending doesn’t make much sense. You walk away knowing you’ve been through something, but you’re not sure what. Some kind of catharsis has occurred, but its meaning is too vague to process. Is it the play that’s dense, or you?

Remember that early 80s movie “Top Secret?” It was a sleeper, brought to us by the zany folks who brought us such masterpieces as “Airplane!” and “Kentucky Fried Movie.”

Here was a classic line:

He: “I’m not the first guy who fell in love with a woman that he met at a restaurant who turned out to be the daughter of a kidnapped scientist only to lose her to her childhood lover who she last saw on a deserted island who then turned out fifteen years later to be the leader of the French underground.”

She: “I know. It all sounds like some bad movie…”