REVIEW – The Legend of Georgia McBride at Longstreet Theatre

The show runs from November 10-17 starting at 8p.m. with matinees on the 11th and 12th at 3 p.m.


Georgia McBride opens on Casey, performing his Elvis impersonation act at Cleo’s, a dive bar in Panama City FL. Casey is a rather decent “Elvis” (though Casey’s estimation of his skill is higher than mine). Casey, bless his heart, believes he is on the proverbial cusp of stardom. So certain is he of his impending fame that he purchases a new white jumpsuit befitting The King. After the show Casey heads home to his wife, Jo, only to have his excitement flattened by her pronouncement that the rent check bounced – again – because of Casey’s propensity to use the debit card before checks have cleared. The young couple is threatened with eviction. Not only are they unable to make ends meet, they aren’t able to make those ends wave at each other. Jo unleashes her frustration on Casey and storms out of the room. She returns moments later to announce, proof in hand, that she’s pregnant. Casey is over the moon happy and exuberantly embraces Jo, proclaiming that they will be the best parents “since Mary and Joseph”. Jo reminds him that “their kid died”…

Casey returns to Cleo’s the next night and performs for the usual small house. Afterwards the club owner, Eddie, tells Casey that the club is going in a new direction in an effort to increase business. Eddie has hired his cousin Bobby to be the nightly performer. Casey pleads for another chance which Eddie cannot/will not give. Enter Bobby, aka Miss Tracy Mills - a tall, gorgeous, awe-inspiring drag queen, followed by her co-star, Rexy (full name Anorexia Nervosa. She’s Italian.) Casey is devastated. Tracy suggests he stay on as bartender, which he grudgingly agrees to do. After all, he now has a family to support. In an unsurprising twist, Rexy gets absolutely totally thoroughly and completely wasted before going onstage. Eddie storms in and demands that Casey go on in her place – not as “Elvis”, but as Rexy’s “Edith Piaf”. Casey has never heard of Piaf. Quelle surprise.

Rexy’s binge results in Miss Tracy Mills’ split-second funny clever and “how the hell did she do that” transformation of Casey from Florida cracker to drag queen. Using padding, pantyhose, false eyelashes, a wig, and non-stop performance tips, Tracy deftly “creates” Edith Piaf (well…sort of….). (The last time I saw a transformation like that was watching Jim E. Quick and John Erlanger in Greater Tune at Longstreet.).

Casey is not thrilled with doing drag. He is after all a straight white guy from rural Florida. He has no firsthand knowledge of the art of drag or of the gay community. However, he manages to stumble through his act and somehow the audience buys it. He starts bringing home enough money to pay all their expenses with money left over.

He is embarrassed by what he’s doing and so does not tell Jo.  As far as she knows he has a really good bartending gig.  He is caught out in the lie but I’m not giving up any spoilers there.

This show could easily have been a contrived caricature. In the deft hands of Jessica Fichter and Terrance Henderson (Director and Choreographer/Drag Consultant, respectively), Matthew López’s script is a study in not just the art of Drag (and it is an art) but in humanity.  Casey treats this as an “act” only. Tracy explains that it’s far more than an act for her and for Rexy and for countless other drag queens. When Rexy re-enters, she gives an explosive monologue on the true meaning of the art; “Drag is a Protest”. (Ms. Fichter’s director’s notes in your program explain the historical importance of drag far better than I can here. Read it.)

I saw the show’s preview. There were some halting deliveries at the beginning but those few were quickly smoothed out as the show progressed. Every member of the cast deserves kudos. Terrance Henderson (Miss Tracy Mills) is a gift. He creates a Tracy who is sharp-tongued, witty, and acerbic but who is also caring, empathetic, and (dare I say) motherly. Keyontaye Allison is Rexy, a most bodacious, assertive, fractious drag queen. Rexy’s monologue (mentioned above) is fierce. Anyone who listens to that speech will never again treat drag as “fluff”. Dear Jo, Casey’s truly long-suffering wife, is played by Morgan Passley. Her Jo is frustrated, but she is married to a human bubble machine. Being the only “adult” member of a marriage is a thankless task, but Ms. Passley’s Jo is also funny, clever, and kind. John Ballard plays Jason, the landlord/neighbor/friend faced with evicting Jo and Casey. He balances his conflicting “roles” beautifully. (He also really knows how to fall off the arm of a sofa.) David Britt either had an absolute blast playing Eddie, or he’s an even better actor than I know him to be. His character grows and transforms as much as Casey’s. And Casey, the reluctant drag queen. In the hands of Koby Hall Cayce goes from head-in-the-clouds, youthful Elvis impersonator to a splendid Georgia McBride. His “ah-ha!” moment when he suddenly recognizes his drag “persona” is wonderful to see. 

Brava to Ashley Jensen, Lindsay K. Wilkinson, Lorna Young, Danielle Wilson, Makenzie Payne, Marybeth Gorman. Lamont Gleason, Valerie Pruett, and Lisa Gavaletz. Every aspect of this production deserves applause. I’d forgotten how much I love Longstreet Theatre. Ms. Jensen’s set design utilizes the levels and the voms and takes advantage of every corner of the space. Costumes, makeup, lights, sound, and traffic direction were spot on. A very special thanks to Terrance Henderson. He and Ms. Fichter make a formidable team. I truly don’t know how this show could’ve been produced without the two of them. (If you missed their “Little Shop of Horrors” at Trustus earlier this year, I hate it for you.)

This show was just delightful. And thought-provoking. And gorgeous. Don’t miss it. 

Notes: There is considerable construction going on along Main Street between Greene and College Streets, so those on-street parking spots are gone. There is after-hours parking in the Wardlaw College lot next to Drayton Hall. The production runs about 2 hours with no intermission, so keep that in mind whilst having another cocktail before the show.

Poetry of the People: Miho Kinnas

This week's Poet of the People is my friend, the poet, Miho Kinnas. Miho's poetry makes distant lands feel familiar… just around the corner, up the street and within reach.

Wildflowers

                        Northern Ireland

From the stone pier
young men jump
feet first
into the Irish Sea
white skin turning pink.
They weren’t around when 
the crescent moon rose in red.

Mackerels jump 
beyond the outer jetty.
The clouds
wispy and broken.
Wind directions shift.
Scales reflect the weak sun.
An old weather saying:
They make tall ships carry low sails.

Bouquets of wildflowers 
protect boundaries 
from evil fairies.
Bright yellow ones are marsh marigold.
Pale ones primrose.
However, says ancient folklore:
the night scent of buttercup
may cause madness.

Two girls on the pavement
along the shuttered shops
learn to roller-skate
and not to hate
but to ask, why.

Helsinki

The engine hummed all night
like a 3-D printer 
building the city.

In the darkest hour
of the white night
the ship jerked once.

Men in blue and yellow 
uniforms hooked 
the anchoring ropes.

On the pier a few workers 
dragged the covered cargo
on wheels slowly across.

The container trucks 
that had gone first 
in Stockholm filed out.

The ferry continues
the Baltic voyage 
the thick fog is lifting.

Seagulls reappear 
in the leftover sunrise
suddenly.

The maritime fortress
built in the eighteenth-century
Suomenlinna 

punctuates the history 
obscures the earlier times
and reminds of the present war.

Nearing the harbor
more gulls circle.
I approach Helsinki from the sea.

The Pitch

Five mornings in a row, my mother tells me about her dreams.
She keeps dreaming about her childhood in Manchuria.

Like the silhouette on the revolving lantern.
Kaleidoscopic.
The sun was stunning dipping into the horizon!
How thick the ice was on the lake in the forest!
Did I tell you about the stolen skates we found 
at the thieves’ market in the morning?

In one of the last dreams I heard
she was a thirteen-year-old entrepreneur.
She and her friends sold cigarettes to passersby
near the Harbin bridge.

Our sales pitch was in Chinese and Russian!
Choyan ma? Su-kirt?
Choyan ma? Su-kirt?

I may die soon.
If you leave now I won’t see you again. 

I didn’t believe her. 
I still hear her voice repeating the pitch
with a chuckle in between.

Yokohama

I am drawing a map  
to my parents’ house on the hill.
The scale is confused.
There are many inaccuracies.

A little corner fruit shop is now a pet store.
Time may be psychological.
My boyfriend was always late. 

Older taxi drivers know the tomb-stone cutter.
Young ones know it like a ghost story.
The road zips through the fire station.

The big chestnut tree
no longer there where all summer
cicadas spent their one week on earth.

They were so loud —we often gave up talking, listened 
to them rolling our eyes to each other and broke into a big laughter. 
That shut them up!  

One day coming home from school a concrete pole blocked 
our view of the hill. My mother complained to the electric company.
It is still there.

A boy threw a pebble at my window. I was on the phone 
with another boy. I draw a little heart.
All three hearts were broken.

My mother served bowls of ramen noodle for my friends
complete with pork, eggs, sesame seeds, scallions
seaweed and spinach.

My mother began taking rests
on the way up the hill
the way my father did in his late years. 

The day I saw my mother for the last time 
she staggered out of the house without a cane.
I am fine, I am fine, don’t worry, I ‘m fine. I draw a stick figure.

With her open sky smile she held onto the edge of the fence with her right 
hand, her left hand sparkled a little. I draw her waving hand.

She watched my brother drive me away.


The Difficulties of Open Water Swimming　

It was more turbulent 
than it appeared. But that 
was not the only difficulty.

Pelicans glide by
one after another
sometimes low.

She blends in, assimilates 
appears as an image
in someone else’s success.

Moon straight up.
Eastern horizon deep.
Red of a rose garden.
She discarded garlands.

Change of heart.
Nothing stays still.
The sky abandons every color.

Someone stepped
into the ocean as
she made up her mind.

It’s in the genes, we say 
as if she is a bag of tricks.
Did she think he was
a trick of light?

Twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Miho Kinnas is a poet, writer, and translator. Her poems, translations, essays and book reviews appeared in various journals and anthologies including Best American Poetry 2023. She leads creative writing workshops at various locations including writers.com, New York Writers Workshop, and local schools. Her third book of poetry Waiting for Sunset to Bury Red Camellias will be published by Free Verse Press this year. 

Poetry of the People: Elizabeth Robin

This week's Poet of the People is Elizabeth Robin. She speaks the past into the future with descriptive poems that engage the reader's memory and senses: there is a kindness that engages and you ask for more.

STEPHANIE ELLEN SILER MEMORIAL PRIZE

Omens

           The Alarm
The earth shakes me awake.
The fifth tremor in five days.

            Foul Warning
rain hastens the de-camp
and a knee-knock in the rush
replacement time

              lunch
coconut should feel exotic
aromatic and tropical, the grit-grain
slivers chew like shredded wood

              the commute
i follow the chicken truck
miles down I-26, baffled
jammed ten-high, box-huddled
feathers fly, shit sprinkles
behind the ride to slaughter
windshields grow snow-spots

              house call
cookie cutter cottages clutter
acres cleared for golfing clusters
club joiners locked into homogenized cells
white milk

               bland custard
down time
noodling a poem in the rain
a roofer’s nail-gun ruins the rhythm

               Tequila!
lick salt from the rim
slurp salsa from the chip
slam that shot

down

half moon dents riddle the bar

The Wedding Tree

after “Heaven and Earth” by Patricia Sabree

melding heaven and earth under
a Grandmother Tree, a family expands

in Sunday bests, not broom-jumping
but a rite recast with tree as witness, backlit

by spirits She captures in hanging blue
bottles among the moss: ghosts fire the sky
gold-orange to shock-pink, their dance
slow, save one livened ring-shouter, arms
raised in splayed finger joy, hands outstretched

wide hats shade the facelessness of their story
What do they mask? asks Mr. Dunbar. What
magnet draws them together, knotted
in a seedling branch, to a faceless love?

A Lesson in Sea Glass

tumbled in sea, salt, sand
random rubbish recycles

smoothed and pitted bits
transform noxema jars and skye
vodka, beer bottles, dead crystal
and french wines into shore search
and discovery, gleaning the beach
for the ocean’s spilled-out trophies

blue: slightly unique
well-worn, hard to find
and easy to treasure

everyday whites and greens and browns:
a rare vestige of print or rim or logo

proof some things, spent
old and odd-shaped
attract the discerning collector

The Nose Knows

On July 15, 2022 KRCC reports: Colorado Springs Man Becomes
Fourth Person to Push a Peanut up Pikes Peak with his Nose

if my quest seems silly, why, then, all the tourista
photo-ops? why the headlines: NPR, NBC

Colorado public radio, even? i did it, set a record
seven days up Barr Trail—thirteen miles, mind you—

don’t call me crazy. i planned it out, went through two
dozen peanuts and fought dehydration: life on the edge

how rugged pioneers and champions power-push
peanuts by the nose uphill, to fourteen-thousand one-

hundred fifteen feet: HA! ask me if i’m insane, or bored
or a cheater, pushing not really with my nose, but

a plastic spatula duct-taped to my face, used a CPAP
mask to affix—i am American ingenuity at work—no nut

here, just a man, Bob Salem, proving why i was born
not to solve a pandemic. or close ozone holes. not

to worry over fires floods famine
S U P E R B U G S

nitpick away, pass judgment, “the poster boy for human absurdity”
frivolous goals, you say? but i’m a headline now: who are you?

Elizabeth Robin, an award-winning poet, has three books: To My Dreamcatcher (2022), Where Green Meets Blue (2018),  Silk Purses and Lemonade (2017). In 2023 Robin established the 24-stop Hilton Head Poetry Trail and appeared at Piccolo Spoleto as a Sundown Poet. See her website.

Event Featuring Works by Five Artists at Rob Shaw Gallery

On Friday, October 6, from 6 to 9 p.m., Rob Shaw Framing and Gallery will host a reception for a month-long show featuring works by artists Rebecca Horne, Rob Shaw, George Stone, Tianova, and Cody Unkart. The gallery is at 324 State Street in West Columbia.

The show represents an array of styles, from highly representational to eclectic and abstract. At the opening reception, the artists will be on hand to discuss their artwork, which will be available in the gallery for viewing and for sale throughout October.

Ruby River by Rebecca Horne

Since 2018, Horne has focused on mixed media and fluid acrylics, rendering highly textured and multi-dimensional works. In addition to receiving numerous awards in juried shows, Horne was recognized in 2020 by Destig Magazine as one of the top 20 artists of the year. Her work has appeared in a juried Piccolo Spoleto exhibit and in the Vernum Ultimum Gallery international show as well as in other prestigious shows and galleries.

Shaw’s newest works feature large, bright, colorful paintings that represent a bold new direction defined by loose strokes and fresh colors. His art continues to be inspired by iconic South Carolina landscapes and city scenes: “My work has always been impressionistic and, thus, abstract to an extent. Lately I have been pushing the boundaries of the subject matter even further,” says Shaw.

A Stroll Among the Oaks by George Stone

Stone is a representational oil painter focusing primarily on landscapes and still life subjects. Presenting a clear concept, accurate drawing, expressive values and colors, and a well-designed composition, Stone evokes moods in his landscapes by capturing the quality of light present at different times of day, different seasons, and different locations.

The Sun by Tianova

Tianova’s preferred media are oil, acrylics, and watercolor. Using negative spaces to transport the viewer through emotions ranging from nostalgia to present-moment awareness, her work captures the intimacy of solitude and silence and the tension between realism and dreamscape.

Gervais Bridge at Noon by Cody Unkart

Unkart’s paintings depict intimate spaces that he visits daily, including views near his home in the New Brookland Mill Village, the Congaree River, and the Vista. Inspired by colors, shapes, and forms that change with the seasons, he enjoys painting from observation, slowing down and being present to the fleeting beauty and liveliness of ordinary surroundings.

Rob Shaw Framing and Gallery is a full-service frame shop and fine art gallery. Since opening his gallery in April of 2019, Shaw has showcased the work of many South Carolina artists. For the remainder of 2023, the gallery will host First Friday at Rob Shaw Gallery receptions every month.

The Beat: Bedlam Hour Returns With New Album, Live Shows

By Kevin Oliver

The last time anyone in South Carolina heard from the positive hardcore band Bedlam Hour was in 1995, when the band released **Contact**, their final album–until now. Rumblings started online earlier this year as Bedlam Hour archival videos surfaced on YouTube, posted by bandleader Chuck Walker; news of new material on the way soon followed. Larry Parker’s River Monster Records signed the band, released **Win A Billion Dollars!** on May 1st and announced a trio of live shows, which happen this coming weekend in Charleston, Columbia, and Myrtle Beach. 

Here’s a brief history lesson for those unfamiliar with the impact Bedlam Hour had on the Columbia music scene in its prime. Formed in 1983, the band was an unpredictable, entertaining live experience, with cereal and hot dogs involved in classics such as “Frankenberry Mosh.” The song “Grey Sweater” has been mentioned in several “Best Columbia Songs” lists over the years, and the album it appeared on, 1987’s **Rock The Cradle** made them one of the first bands from the local rock scene to put out a record on a widely distributed indie label, Positive Force. Over the next 8 years the band toured internationally before what Walker terms as a “hiatus” in 1995.

“I was a first year teacher and wrote that album in my garage in Georgetown,” Walker says. “We recorded it at the Jam Room in two days.” After a few shows in support of the album, the band decided to take a break, he recalls.

“My wife and I were starting our family, several of the band members had moved away for their families and careers, it was a good time to take a break. So I checked out of the professional music business, though I still regularly wrote and recorded music, and stayed active as a player and singer in church for 27 years, which helped me develop my skills.” Walker is still teaching, and is now both a father and grandfather, and survived a cancer diagnosis in 2021.

Walker has always been more of a musician than the hardcore scene would give him credit for, whether it’s the perfect pop structure of “Grey Sweater,” the alt-rock precursor of his side gig with the band Virgin Ironpants, or the little-known garage project Mill Village Apostles that saw him write new punk and hardcore style music for ancient church hymns. Bedlam Hour drummer Derek Roddy has been the band member who took the professional musician path the most, he is well known internationally as a music educator and drum clinician and has played with several major death metal acts including Nile, Malevolent Creation, and Hate Eternal. It was Roddy that prompted this new chapter of the band, Walker says.

“This new album is the result of a dinner conversation between me and Derek, when we talked about the 40th anniversary of the band and how it would be fun to play a show,” Walker says. “Derek recommended we record something new to go with it, and I went home and wrote most of this album.”

The other core band members represented on the new material include bassist Adam Kolesar, who lives in New York, Scott Kenneally and Ed Baker, who are in Columbia, Brian McKenzie in Myrtle Beach, and Roddy, who lives in Florida. Johnny Walker contributes saxophone parts, and guest vocalists include Billy Riot of Soda City Riot, Chris McLane and David Sease of Stretch Armstrong, and Dylan Walker, Chuck’s daughter. 

“We recorded all of the tracks at Brian McKenzie’s studio, The Spiritual Center for the Creative and Sonically Inspired,” Walker says. “Brian and I handled production, and co-wrote two of the songs.” With modern recording techniques, the parts were done in various locales, from Roddy tracking drums in Florida to Ed Baker doing his keyboard parts in his own Columbia studio. For the live shows, all of the musicians will play live with the band, along with some of the guest vocalists. 

Getting back to Bedlam Hour after all these years has been both easier and more enjoyable than Walker had imagined, he notes.

“We are older and wiser, and technology has made punk rock a lot easier in terms of production and promotion,” He says. “Bedlam Hour was always its own category, we never really fit into trends–we just tried to create music that we loved and put on the kind of live show that we would like to see.”

The new Bedlam Hour album reflects both that newfound enthusiasm and the maturity that comes with several decades of personal and musical growth. Walker’s take on the new material shows that personal side, especially.

“Brian once pointed out that Bedlam Hour was a combination of heartfelt lyricism and humorous mosh-fueled bedlam,” Walker says. “So, the new record has "RE: Generation" which deals with staying positive and keeping the punk rock DIY ethos alive across generations. That song is also an anthem of encouragement for anyone going through tough times. "Quest For Truth" deals with the search for significance through reflection, exploration, and logic. "$1 Billion" tells the story of growing up in South Carolina punk rock, falling in love with my lifelong soulmate (my wife of 32 years), and becoming a proud grandfather. "Uncle Sam Slam/Kashi Moshy" is a humorous and autobiographical ode to living in an old man's body and all that comes with it. "Never End" is a love song to the South Carolina hardcore scene and a celebration of getting together to celebrate punk rock life.” 

This weekend’s flurry of shows isn’t a one-shot deal, Walker confirms. “My plan is to stay very active in music for the next 15-plus years,” He says. “There are already plans for future Bedlam Hour releases, and I am working on a new project called Astronaut Assembly for 2024-2026. Brian and I perform in a 60s garage rock cover band called Small City Rock, you can see us performing at the beach this summer.” 

Bedlam Hour plays the New Brookland Tavern on Saturday, June 17th. Brandy and the Butcher and Soda City Riot open this show. 

Facebook Event and Tickets

Shaping the Summer Music Scene – USC School of Music’s Southeastern Piano Festival Returns for 2023

By Emily Moffitt

From June 11-17, 2023, Columbia will transform once again into a cultural destination for piano and classical music enthusiasts alike as the University of South Carolina School of Music’s Southeastern Piano Festival returns for its twenty-first year. The lineup this year includes distinguished pianists John O’Conor, Roman Rabinovich, Ying Li and Anthony de Mare. The festival has always had its roots in Columbia culture: founders Marina Lomazov and Joseph Rackers served as professors of piano at the School of Music. This year, Phillip Bush and Caroline Earp stepped into the leadership roles of Artistic Director and Executive Administrator respectfully. Earp believes one of the reasons that makes the festival so great is that “it’s a week of many different musicians showing off their own masterful interpretations of the instrument and the repertoire.” The festival draws in guests from across the Southeastern United States and gives pre-college age pianists an experience of a lifetime. Bush states that the festival is “an opportunity for the USC School of Music and particularly the piano department to showcase the work we are doing and the artistic values to which we are committed.”

Earp herself holds the piano in high regard; she credits the instrument as her first love. “Because the piano was my first love within the world of music, it’s extra special to me to serve in this role—it feels like a real full circle moment.” Earp said. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance, but she is ecstatic about working on SEPF since it allows her to share the wonder of piano with Columbia. She also addressed the power of the festival to attract prospective college students to the university; “The SEPF team and Tayloe Harding—the Dean of the School of Music—believe this is truly a wonderful opportunity to highlight what our school has to offer. Young musicians that participate throughout the week get to study with our illustrious faculty and get a personal look into USC’s School of Music.” Of course, it is difficult to isolate one specific thing that Earp is looking forward to the most about the festival; the idea is like picking a favorite child or song.

The festival will host several concerts that easily appeal to newer fans of classical music, or any interested guests who want to experience live music. The content ranges from unique works to standard repertoire, but accessibility to new audiences does not go unnoticed. “The opening celebration concert is very accessible, and we hope it will prompt attendees to attend more concerts throughout the week,” Earp said. The opening concert features the School of Music faculty including Bush and Associate Director of SEPF Nicholas Susi in a diverse and delightful program that features a few four-hand and eight-hand pieces. Later in the week, Anthony de Mare will perform selections from his project Liaisons: Reimagining Sondheim from the Piano. This project is a culmination of the efforts of de Mare and multiple modern-day composers like Steve Reich and Jonathan Batiste. Earp said, “De Mare’s Liaisons project consists of unique takes on recognizable show tunes. It appeals to fans of contemporary music and musical theatre all at the same time.”

De Mare will also host a lecture with Bush—who also serves as a professor of piano at the School of Music—to discuss the field of piano pedagogy. The lecture series formed in 2005 and was named after Marian Stanley Tucker, a staple of the Columbia music community who taught children the joy of piano playing for almost six decades. Earp highlights the importance of her impact on Columbia’s musical landscape, as there has been an endowment created in her name that supports the lecture series. “We always want to make sure that we recognize [Tucker’s] lasting impression on the lives of everyone she came across,” Earp said. “The lecture series in turn functions as educational outreach for piano teachers and connoisseurs who want to learn more about piano pedagogy.”

The SEPF team also includes Elizabeth Churchya, a doctoral candidate at USC in Music Performance who serves as the Associate Administrator, and Graduate Assistants Zhenyu Gao and Megan Rich. Earp considers the team, as well as School of Music Marketing Director Marlena Crovatt-Bagwell, invaluable to the planning of the festival. Outside of SEPF, Earp’s other role in the university is the Director of Alumni and Donor Engagement for the School of Music. When asked about the experience of working with the team outside of the academic school year, Earp said “getting to interact with my colleagues outside in separate roles and contexts, but still in the realm of music performance, has been a wonderful experience. This is something we are all passionate about, and I am overjoyed to see it all unfold and to watch everyone’s efforts come to fruition.”

Earp notes that every year, the Southeastern Piano Festival at the USC School of Music grows in its prestige. The Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition held at the end of the festival week is now considered one of the most prestigious piano competitions in the Southeast for pre-college students. The high rate of return from out-of-state attendees motivates the leadership staff to continue transforming Columbia into a cultural landmark for musicians everywhere. “It’s inspiring to hear piano artistry at the highest level from the visiting guest artists and to witness the talent and dedication of the young aspiring pianists attending the festival,” Bush said.

Tickets are available to purchase for each performance on the Koger Center website. Each performance will be held at the School of Music’s Recital Hall, and tickets for each performance are $20. More information about the Southeastern Piano Festival at the USC School of Music can be found online as well.

Tall Women in the Hall

Former Jasper Board member, visual artist and art educator Ginny Merett’s new exhibit Tall Women opens today, June 4, 2023 at The Hallway: Community Art at 701 Whaley. Each of these tall collage pieces, roughly 12x60”, showcase a beautifully constructed unique character with a big personality. According to Merett the series “pays homage to all women who stand tall even in the face of adversity”. The opening reception is today from 2-4pm and the show will be up until July 29th.

Ginny Merett is a visual artist and art educator who is known for her eccentric collage works. Her collage pieces have been shown in solo and group exhibits at Stormwater Studio, ArtFields, Koger Center for the Arts, the Jasper Project, USC’s McMaster Gallery, SC State Library, and other local venues like Sound Bites Eatery, Trustus Theater, She Festival, Cottontown Art Crawl and Melrose Art in the Yard. Her work is published in the Jasper Project’s Jasper Magazine Spring 2019 and Fall 2022 editions, and in Sheltered: SC Artists Respond During the 2020 Pandemic; and in Bullets and Band-Aids, Vol. 3.

Ginny graduated from the University of Georgia with in Art Education and holds two master’s degrees from the University of South Carolina. She taught K-12 art for 30 years and spent many years as adjunct at the University of South Carolina working with pre-service teachers.

She has two children and 4 grandchildren, and lives in Lexington. Look for her on all social platforms.

Potential: Quilted Abstractions by Janet Swigler

By Eden Prime,
Jasper Graduate Intern

On June 8 a new show is coming to Stormwater Gallery on Pendleton Street. Janet Swigler is a quilter and music educator located in Columbia. She is a student of Smithsonian quilter Nancy Crow and an avid creator, learner, and abstract thinker.

Nothing Stays the Same V

Nothing Stays the Same V

Time and memory fold into eachother in Janet Swigler’s work. As a quilter and professional music educator Swigler’s art is full of detail and exacting imagery. Her quilts are crafted deftly and with intention, exploring the synthesis of childhood impressions with experiences leading to the present–each piece carries forward a definitive picture of a passionate life devoted to creation.

Swigler lived on an airforce base in Japan as an adolescente. Her parents were intentional about teaching Swigler about the culture that surrounded them in Japan.

“The sensibilities and aesthtics of Japanese culture trained my eye,” said Swigler, “Their use of lines and wabi-sabi–I don’t think I realized it all at the time but looking back I think it influenced me a lot.”

Renowned quiltmaker Nancy Crow, who is a major influence on Swigler, encourages quiltmakers to dig into childhood memories. Studying under Crow is how Swigler discovered that she could bring organic beauty into the world, it was like she had opened a box of crayons and every color was hers to create with.

Repetition, balance, and form are disciplines that Swigler learned from being a music educator for elementary school children. She channels these balancing forms in table-like motifs depicted on her quilts. Like the Torii Gates in Japan, an architectural structure that has become a theme in Swigler’s work, they demonstrate balnce and harmony.

Swigler hopes that people come to her show ready to reach out and take the opportunities given to them to think creaitvly, look for memory portals of their own, and see the light through the cracks.

You can find Swigler’s work at Stormwater Gallery at 413 Pendleton Street. The show opening is Thursday June 8 from 5:30-8:00. The quilts will be on display from June 8-June 18 and there will be other events during that time. On Sunday June 11th there will be a gallery talk at 1:30pm and on June 18 there will be a “Pop-In for Pop-Corn” from 1pm-3pm to close the show. Come view Janet Swigler’s work any time the gallery is open Wednesday-Sunday 11am-3pm.

Tiny Gallery with Mana Hewitt – Aesthetically Pleasing, Conceptually Interesting

The month of June brings Mana Hewitt’s beautiful hand sculpted jewelry to Jasper’s Tiny Gallery. Hewitt is a recently retired Senior Instructor from the University of South Carolina’s School of Visual Art and Design, where she helped develop the jewelry making program in 2007. Other teaching endeavors include Columbia College for eight years and a year at a middle school. Her experience in painting, ceramics and metalsmithing has led to her cementing a prolific legacy in all disciplines. Hewitt grew up in a household surrounded by the arts; both her mother and grandmother studied art in college, and her and her siblings all grew to appreciate the arts through music and visual arts, passions that Hewitt eventually shared with her husband and daughter. Starting with oil paints and large-scale metals, she shifted to working with more small-scale media in 2006. This shift turned into the sterling silver/enameled jewelry work that Hewitt is so well known for to this day. Having an interest in the transformation of a section of metal can have lends to the endless possibilities for the jewelry design that Hewitt undertakes. “I am intrigued by metal’s transformation from rigidity to vibrant and fluid designs through hammering, etching, casting and effort,” Hewitt said.

Hewitt’s earrings are perfect statement pieces for those looking to spice up their jewelry collection. There are a variety of monochromatic pieces like the “Freeform” pairs, iridescent and colorful sets like “Drops” or “Fans” and even some statement piece sets like the “Rockets.” She always aims to meet her goal of creating jewelry that is both aesthetically pleasing and conceptually interesting. Working with metal for so long, Hewitt describes herself as someone who may just think with metal as well.

Aside from talent and drive, Hewitt has an abundance of ideas and inspiration when it comes to creating new works. “I have never had difficulty in finding inspiration or ideas,” Hewitt said. In fact, I probably have too many and feel there isn’t enough time to do everything I want to do.” Hewitt’s creations have been featured in both group and solo exhibitions across the Eastern U.S. She has collaborated with the Jasper Project before by being one of the featured artists in the Supper Table project, where she created a piece based on Eartha Kitt.

The marketability of jewelry and the small scale is appealing to Hewitt, who mentions that some of her favorite pieces are ones enameled in the champleve and cloisonne techniques. While very demanding, Hewitt says that "jewelrymaking provides endless challenges but provides such satisfaction when it all comes together.”

Hewitt’s earrings are available for sale on the Jasper Project’s Tiny Gallery site through the month of June. You can find more of her portfolio on her website.

Just An Exhibition: Marie Boyd’s Quilled Art and Illustrations from Her Debut Picture Book Just A Worm on Display at Richland Library Main Branch

Marie Boyd’s exhibition at the Richland Library Main Branch, called A Quilled Garden, opened May 12th, 2023, and is on display until June 2nd, 2023. This exhibit includes original images and illustrations from her first picture book, Just a Worm, which was published March 14th by Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Quilling is a style of collage art that uses strips of paper which are cut, folded, and or rolled, looped, crimped, curled, and coiled to create intricate patterns and designs. Kirkus Reviews called the quilled designs in Boyd’s book “stunning.” 

Kirkus Reviews is not the only one to recognize Boyd’s prowess as an illustrator and children’s author, however; she has also been interviewed on The Sunday Show on MSNBC, and last month, she read Just a Worm to children at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Just a Worm tells the story of Worm, who has been referred to as “just a worm” by two young children. Worm then embarks on a journey through the garden to prove that they are a whole lot more than that. They meet several other creatures along their journey, all of which bring about Worm’s own discovery of self-worth.

Cover of Just a Worm showing a worm crawling across a rock surrounded by flowers.

Cover Art from Just a Worm


Needless to say, we are very proud to boast that Marie Boyd is from our very own city of Columbia, SC. In addition to writing and quilling, Boyd is a professor of law at the University of South Carolina. She lives in Columbia with her husband, Jaime Harrison, and their two children.

This exhibition was made possible by the South Carolina Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as a generous award from the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund. The exhibition is located at 1431 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29201.

If you wish to learn more about Marie Boyd, or wish to view more samples of her work, you can visit her website. To listen to a “meet-the-author” recording with Boyd, visit the Teaching Books site.

Announcing the Sun for Everyone Lineup & Release of Jasper Magazine’s Spring Issue

Among the performing artists Richardson has invited are Columbia’s new City Poet Laureate, Jennifer Bartell Boykin, writer Johnny Guillen, singer-songwriters Beaux Jamison and Jae Rodriguez, independent filmmaker Gil Grifaldo who will be screening film footage inside the Co-op, and performing artist Maya Harris aka Dragonfly Beatz. Visual artists Alyssa Eskew and Bohumila Augustinova will be showing and selling their art as well.

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Previewing the Parker Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle

“The length and impact the Parker Quartet has had on the School of Music is unique. The level of commitment they have to us is unparalled.” - Dean Tayloe Harding

“Although I know these works well, this will be the first time in my life that I’ve heard the complete cycle live. For our community and our students, this is really a once in a lifetime experience.” - Dan Sweaney

Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

It is an impressive feat to complete and perform a Beethoven string quartet. It is even more impressive when you perform all 16 of them in the span of one week. Despite the daunting task, the Parker Quartet are up to the challenge.

Founded and based in Boston, the Parker Quartet are the current quartet in residence at the University of South Carolina’s School of Music. Founded in 2002, the group currently consists of Daniel Chong (violin), Ken Hamao (violin), Jessica Bodner (viola) and Kee-Hyun Kim (cello). This year marks their tenth year of working with the music department, providing masterclasses for the dedicated students of USC and concerts for all audiences across the Midlands. They have grown so close with the music community and capital altogether; according to School of Music Dean Tayloe Harding, it is evident among the faculty and staff at the School of Music that the Quartet thinks of the city “as a second home.” Everyone at the School of Music has enjoyed getting to see the growth and development of this quartet alongside their own Gamecock musicians. “The beautiful thing about this quartet is that they’re young, but each member plays like they’ve been playing for decades, like the Emerson Quartet,” Harding said. “They play like they have been together as a group their whole lives. There is a unique symbiosis within the group and with the school that makes the residency so easy to sustain.” Associate Professor of Viola Dan Sweaney and his students have gotten to work extensively with the members of the quartet, and to him, all the members “have really become like family.” Alumni of the University continue to attend the concerts and often invite their own students to attend with them. Other projects that the Parker Quartet have accomplished through their residency include visiting schools in the area, working with the USC String Project and performing for the inmates at the DJJ Juvenile Detention Center.

To the untrained ear, this concert series may not sound so intimidating. In the past, the School of Music has conducted series of musical cycles for individual composers; one such cycle presented 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas as a concert series with Dr. Scott Price, the School of Music’s Coordinator of Piano pedagogy. Harding said, “That kind of series is way more common than the complete quartet cycle. It is rare for something on this scale to be done since the quartets make up a half, quarter, or full concert length on their own.” There have been other cycles of concerts for other famous composers at the School of Music, like a community Mozart festival back when Harding first arrived at the School of Music. There is a poignancy that this Beethoven cycle has that is incomparable to anything the department has ever done in the past, which automatically sets this series above any expectations audiences may have. The rarity of this Beethoven series is unmatched and a major incentive for audiences to attend. Beethoven’s string quartets are considered the pinnacle examples of the genre, and Carnegie Hall’s short guide to the group separates the pieces into three groups: Early Period, Middle Period and Late Period. The tones vary from the “introspective and tempestuous” Quartet in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131 to the “humorous” Quartet in F Major, Op. 59.

The School of Music and the Parker Quartet are partnering with Historic Columbia to host four of the six concerts at historical locations around the city. Each of these concert venues-Rutledge Chapel, the Robert Mills House, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, and the Seibels House-all existed during Beethoven’s lifetime. “Chamber music was originally meant to be played in the home and later in small venues,” Sweaney said. “The historic homes are precisely where chamber music would have been played during the classical era.” This cycle bolsters relationships between local Columbia organizations and departments within the University umbrella and develops the foot traffic among the involved facilities further.

The venues and lack of price tag for tickets all contribute to the mission of making classical music accessible to audiences across Columbia. The growth in accessibility provides a pathway to a newfound appreciation for the genre, which is exactly what Sweaney and Harding want audiences to experience. “We hope to reach people who love chamber music and some people who’ve never heard a string quartet before,” Sweaney said. “They might just become chamber music lovers after this.” According to Harding, even though several of the venues have already sold out, the larger venue performances are located on campus-specifically in Johnson Hall of Darla Moore School of Business and the School of Music Recital Hall-and there will be livestreams available for each performance.

You can reserve seats for any or all concerts online through Eventbrite. For more information or if you have any questions, contact Audra Vaz, the Assistant Dean for Advancement for the School of Music, at audra.vaz@sc.edu. If you want to read more about the quartets, check out the Carnegie Hall’s guide.