They can FLY!

‘Peter Pan’ production puts an actor in the air

SEPTEMBER 11, 2010 12:43 p.m. (0)

WANT TO GO? What: Peter PanWho: South Carolina Children’s TheatreWhere: Peace Center Gunter TheatreWhen: Sept.  24 at 7 p.m.; Sept. 25 and 26 at 2 p.m. Tickets: $26 for adults, $17 for childrenInfo: 467-3000 or peacecenter.org It will take more than fairy dust to make Peter Pan fly in the upcoming South Carolina Children’s Theatre production of “Peter Pan.”

Toss in some physics, geometry, algebra, special flying harnesses, pulley systems and a Labor Day weekend full of instruction for five cast members by a flying director from the same company that helped former gymnast Cathy Rigby take to the air in the Broadway revival of the childhood favorite.

“People who sit in the audience have no idea what it takes mathematically and scientifically and a lot of times the people backstage don’t know what it takes artistically to make this work,” said Dan Kondas, the flying director with ZFX Flying Effects who was in Greenville last weekend.  Continue reading...

 

Mummy, where art thou?

Greenville’s arts organizations capitalize on popularity of Halloween

OCTOBER 19, 2010 11:00 a.m. (0)

Greenville’s community theaters and dance companies are using Halloween to try to scare up some new patrons and revenue.

“People celebrate Halloween because it’s fun,” said Allan McCalla, artistic director for the Greenville Little Theatre. “All of us trick or treated as kids. And arts organizations are always looking for an angle.”

Americans are expected to spend $447.1 billion on Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federation. And while Halloween used to be considered primarily a children’s event, it has become the second leading adult party reason behind New Year’s Eve.  Continue reading...

 

The Peace Family

Seven generations now. Quietly helping grow a community.

DECEMBER 3, 2010 2:21 p.m. (0)

Greenville’s downtown was dying.

And without a $10 million pledge from three branches of the Peace family the idea to build a performing arts center beside the Reedy River likely would have died before it got started.

That was more than 20 years ago.  Continue reading...

 

Electrifying: Frankenstein revisited

Kenneth Strickfaden's theatrics created movies' mad laboratory

FEBRUARY 10, 2011 1:54 p.m. (1)

The Golden Age of horror would have been so different without Kenneth Strickfaden.

It was Strickfaden’s weird electrical devices – machines that sparked and screeched with each pull of the lever, machines that groaned and buzzed as they transformed invisible electricity into crude kinetic sculptures – that brought Frankenstein to life.

“He was brilliant,” said Doug Norwine, a saxophonist who lives in Easley and works as the director of music and entertainment for Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas where he authenticates memorabilia.  Continue reading...

 

Lion King coming to Greenville

Multi-week Broadway shows have huge impact on area’s economy

MARCH 17, 2011 9:18 a.m. (0)

Disney’s blockbuster Broadway musical “The Lion King” is coming to Greenville in 2012.

And with it will come an infusion of millions of dollars into the local economy during the show’s four-week run beginning June 12, 2012, at the Peace Center for the Performing Arts.

Tickets will go on sale on Monday for Broadway series subscribers. Individual tickets will go on sale to the general public in February 2012.  Continue reading...

 

With grace and poise

Carolina Ballet Theatre’s prima ballerina says goodbye

MARCH 28, 2011 11:02 a.m. (0)

“Giselle” is a poignant tale of love and loss.

And never more so than for Carolina Ballet Theatre prima ballerina Anita Pacylowski-Justo.

The Carolina Ballet’s April 9 production of “Giselle,” a romantic masterwork of the ballet world, was to be Pacylowski-Justo’s swan song, her farewell to the stage, a fitting end to a dancing career that has spanned more than two decades.  Continue reading...

 

All season long

The Peace Center’s major renovation and ‘The Lion King’ won’t be the only highlights of The 2011-12 season

AUGUST 1, 2011 10:53 a.m. (0)

If that’s not enough, “West Side Story,” the classic musical set in New York City that tells of the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds, puts an end to the 2010-11 season next month.

“You can’t get a much stronger season,” Riegel said.

The 2011-12 season also features an expanded “The Place for Everyone” shows where tickets start at $5.  Continue reading...

 

Films, with extras

Revamped independent series, cultural cinema offers talks, contests

JANUARY 27, 2012 9:55 a.m. (0)

Going to the Peace Center’s Downtown Film Series won’t be like going to any other movie in Greenville.

And that’s the way Eric Kerchner, the Peace Center’s new programming associate in charge of the series, wants it.  Continue reading...

 

More tickets added for Lion King run

Reconfiguration of concert hall makes room for more seats

APRIL 5, 2012 2:22 p.m. (0)

To accommodate the animal parade in Disney’s blockbuster musical “The Lion King,” seats will have to be removed from the Peace Center’s Concert Hall.

After a record-breaking ticket on-sale event – and an overwhelming demand for tickets – the Peace Center reviewed the seating map with the show’s production team and were able to identify other areas where seats could be placed.

The result is that 1,600 additional tickets will be available for the show’s four-week run from June 12 through July 8.  Continue reading...

 

‘The Lion King’ roars into Upstate

Four-week run at the Peace Center begins Tuesday

JUNE 7, 2012 10:20 a.m. (1)

Despite the success of the 1994 animated Disney film “The Lion King,” its director Roger Allers never thought it would be turned into a Broadway production.

“‘Beauty and the Beast’ was made into a theater production while we were working on the movie. We used to kid each other while we were working on ‘The Lion King’ that this one would never make it to Broadway,’” Allers, who co-directed the movie, said. “We pictured people running around the stage in fuzzy animal costumes.”  Continue reading...