Q&A with Singer/Songwriter and South Carolina Native Marshall Chapman

One of the advantages of having Lee Smith as our One Book, One Columbia author is she has a lot of cool friends—like South Carolina native Marshall Chapman, one of the state’s most significant musical figures of the last 40 years. Chapman has been a songwriter and performer in Nashville since the 1970s, and her […]

What’s New in Dance? Six Questions for CCB Artistic Director William Starrett

1. Columbia City Ballet has a show called Body and Movement Explored opening this Friday night at the Columbia Music Festival Association – how is this performance a departure from your regular season of dance? It follows a mixed repertoire format with many different ballets within one evening, with many different choreographers. It is not […]

Review – Father and Son: The Legacy of Randy and Lyon Hill

By Kara Gunter Lyon Forrest Hill, who’s been with the Columbia Marionette Theatre for the better part of two decades, is well-known in Columbia as a maker and animator of puppets; but Hill is also a trained painter and printmaker, and son of the late artist Randy Lee Hill. Now until the end of February, […]

Columbia’s First Poet Laureate at Jasper Magazine Party

Review – In the Red & Brown Water at Trustus Theatre

By: Kyle Petersen In the Red & Brown Water isn’t like most plays. Written as part of a trilogy of works by playwright Tarrell Alvin McCraney, the play, directed by Chad Henderson and opening this past Friday at Trustus Theatre, opens with a whispered song, a ghostly invocation of an ancient Yoruban orisha, or spirit. […]

Carolina Ballet and NextGen Ballerinas

By: David Ligon Columbia, SC has a long and rich history of talented young dancers who begin careers here and then go on to dance with major ballet companies around the world. The newest recruiting class looks to be one of the best to carry on that tradition. Ballet is one of those fickle businesses. […]

A World Full of Love Like Home: Remembering the Craft Auditorium

The Craft Auditorium was what started it all for many. Many young actors crossed that stage that would find a passion for theatre that would drive them to pursue it as a career. Some performers such as Kelsey Chow or Kristin Davis performed there in their youth and later moved on to work on television and movies. Other young actors in the community began at the theatre as young as age five and have continued to study and pursue the art.

For about 40 years, Workshop Theatre faced many challenges and many successes. Through each hardship and success, one thing always remained true—art was created.

The Craft Auditorium was demolished Tuesday, September 23, 2014.

While the art and love of theatre does not rely on a building, each brick that came crashing down that dreary Tuesday morning was full of heart and sentiment.

In memorium of about 40 years with the Craft Auditorium, here are some cherished memories that came from that little corner of Bull and Gervais.

A Review of Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays

Words for Things: A Review of Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays In the opening scene of Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays, currently on stage in the Trustus Side Door Theatre (through January 11), two men in a swanky hotel dither over their wedding vows. One man, Wallace, is drafting vows based […]

Review – Jack Frost

“Jack Frost” – Melissa Swick Ellington reviews the world premiere of the new show at Columbia Children’s Theatre Columbia Children’s Theatre presents Jack Frost, a world premiere musical with book and lyrics by Crystal Aldamuy and music by Paul Lindley II, through Sunday, December 14. Here in Columbia, SC, we have plenty of reasons to […]

Art and Censorship

When I was a freshman in college, a professor gave us a hypothetical (which, unfortunately, isn’t always a hypothetical in this part of the country): A local parade is about to be held. The KKK has decided to march. Should they be allowed to?

Being the idealistic 18 and 19 years olds we were, most of us emphatically agreed that, no, they should not be allowed to march. It would just be too offensive. They’re a hate group—why should they have a platform?