We slam the best

In our April issue, we featured many of the poets who make up SlamCharlotte and the burgeoning scene they’ve created in NoDa (“These Voices Carry,” by Steve Goldberg). The story talked about how they were one of the best poetry slam teams in the country. Now they—we—are the best.

SlamCharlotte recently won first place at The National Poetry Slam 2007 held in Austin, Texas, beating out seventy-five other teams. Made up of Bluz, Bethsheba, Mike Simms, Carlos Robson, Da Minista, Paul D, and team manager Inkera, they performed twelve different, original poems during the competition.

You can catch these guys during monthly poetry slams at the McGlohon Theatre (345 N. College St.) every second or third Friday, including tonight at 8 p.m. Many of the poets also perform weekly at Wine Up (3306 N. Davidson St.).

Last Chance for Hedwig

…at least until Actor’s Theatre brings it back again (hey, Dan Shoemaker and co. know a moneymaker when they see one). But back to the point. Tonight and tomorrow night are your last chances to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Actor’s Theatre. This is the third time in the past three or so years that AT has mounted the show. I saw the first one, which starred Billy Ensley, and it was highly entertaining. I recommend it. Ensley directs this show, which stars Scott Ripley, who was won pretty much every best actor award offered in town, including ours. Buy tickets here.
—R.T.

Let me know if you spot RZA

That’s what jumped out at me the most. What? You ask. I just looked up Gospel Hill on IMDB.com and saw that RZA (pronounced rii-zah), the legendary producer and member of Wu Tang Clan, is part of the cast. Scenes for Gospel Hill, the story of a small Southern town haunted by two ghosts, one white and one black, whose families are pitted against each other because of a civil rights struggle, are currently being filmed in Rock Hill, SC. And there’s more local relevance. A staged reading of the Gospel Hill script was held at a workshop by The Light Factory in November 2005. Positive feadback is said to have come out of the workshop that the screenplay’s writer was then able to use as he prepared it for film.

Filming kicked off this month and it’s an impressive cast, including Julia Stiles, Angela Bassett, and Danny Glover. And RZA!

What’s your favorite Wu-Tang song? Mine is “Triumph”. I think the song is like six or seven minutes long, but that’s what happens when a rap group has nine members, hence the “Clan” in the name.

All About Molly

When I talked to Molly Ringwald back in April for the June 2007 Conversation, I ended the interview with, “I can’t wait to see the show when it gets to Charlotte!” *Audible Sigh* Why did I do that? Well, I try to be an honest person, so for a Mother’s Day gift I got tickets for my mom and I to see Sweet Charity at the Belk Theatre as part of the Stanford Broadway Lights Series. We made an evening of it last night hitting Zink American Kitchen beforehand where we saw a few cast members eating their dinner before the evening performance. I’m always amazed at the amount of make-up required for theater.

So, after a nice dinner, assisted by two (maybe three) glasses of a fine Pinot Grigio, we got into our seats and awaited the first number. I have to admit, when I saw Molly — and yes, I’ll skip formality and call her Molly now — appear as Charity Hope Valentine on stage for the first time I got a bit giddy. I did in fact grow up watching her movies. I love them to this day and can’t wait until my daughters are angst-ridden teenagers so I can share these wonderful rites of passage with them. Okay, scratch that. I can wait on the angst-ridden teen part. But the point is, the films are timeless and in many respects, so is Molly.

Before my interview with her I was told by her handler that she doesn’t like answering questions about the “80’s movies” because she wants to keep focused on her current career. I can understand and respect that. But I also would have loved her to just embrace the roles that have made her an identifiable star. Embrace them, Molly. We all love those films! And we love you for making them. We have all grown up and many of us are wives, husbands, mothers and fathers now, but there is a part of us all that remembers our first Sixteen Candles experience. We all went to high school and longed to be Pretty in Pink. And some days, detention seemed like a fine idea, if it all played out like The Breakfast Club. So, while Molly sang her heart out — very well, I might add — and danced around as Charity Hope Valentine, visions of Samantha Baker, Andie Walsh and Claire Standish filled my head. And that’s a good thing. In fact, I’m looking forward to Sixteen Candles, The Musical one of these days. One can dream.