PopCult Rudy Panucci on Pop Culture

Ladybeard, Aquabats, Roman Love and More…

The PopCulteer
June 28, 2013

This is the second weekend of FestivAll, and even though your PopCulteer is laying low this year, that’s no reason that you shouldn’t run out and indulge in all the artsy wonderments.

I will be attending the Charleston premiere of “Ladybeard” tonight at Uncork and Create (more on that below), but my weekend will be eaten up taking care of my elderly uncle while his other caregivers are out of the country, with a couple of breaks so that I can watch The Aquabats Super Show and put together the seventh anniversary episode of Radio Free Charleston.

But let’s get into the PopCulteering, shall we?

Ladybeard

Tonight at 10 PM your PopCulteer will head out to Uncork and Create, 1033 Quarrier Street, for the Charleston premiere of “Ladybeard.” I appear in a small role in this film, but you shouldn’t let that discourage you from coming. The rest of it is very good. It’s a romantic comedy about lesbians, fake heterosexuals, real heterosexuals, gay marriage and the desperate actions of a confused man in love with a gay woman.

“Ladybeard” was written and directed by David Smith for Apartment 2B Productions and was shot entirely in West Virginia. It stars Toby Poole, Penny Maple, Rachel Henderson and Molly Tilly. Among the people you will see on screen are several members of The Wayward Girls School of Burlesque as well as some faces you may recognize from Monday Morning Art when we bring you images from Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School.

The event starts at 10 PM at Uncork and Create. It’s BYOB and admission is five dollars. I’m really looking forward to this since I haven’t seen the finished film yet.

The Aquabats

I am on record calling The Aquabats Super Show “the greatest program in the history of television.” That claim still stands up as the show wraps up it’s mini-season of five new episodes Saturday with a special marathon.

Following the premiere of the season finale, written and directed by Gerald Way of My Chemical Romance, and pitting The Aquabats against The Anti-Bats, The HUB will show all four of the previous episodes from this season. It’ll be two-and-a-half hours of epic New Wave Ska Super Hero Action!

This season The Aquabats returned to Earth after being flung into space by an exploding Space Monster M in the season one finale. They return as dazed and confused conquering heroes. Along the way they encounter mutated monsters, needy mobs, a camp full of hyper-active kids, mutant worms, aliens and more. Guest stars included Tony Hawk, Leslie Hall and, as the father of Jimmy The Robot, Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO.

In animated sequences in this mini-season, each Aquabat recalls their own version of how they joined the band. Also, the pop culture references fly like mad as we see hints of cult movies like “Laserblast,” “Heavy Metal,” “A Hard Days Night,” “The Thing,” and tons of other bits of coolness ephemera.

The Aquabats Super Show marathon begins Saturday at 1 PM on The HUB, which can be seen locally on Suddenlink cable on channels 302 and 402 (in HD).

Princess of Rome, Ohio

Opening tonight and running through next weekend at The Alban Arts Center in St. Albans is “The Princess of Rome, Ohio,” a play written by West Virginia native Jonathan Joy.

“The Princess of Rome, Ohio” is the story of love, lost and found, on a front porch in Rome, Ohio. The Alban Arts Center presents “The Princess of Rome, Ohio” on June 28 and 29 and July 4 and 6 at 8 PM, and June 30 and July 7 at 2 PM.This romantic comedy, with some rough language, is directed by Tara Phares-Pauley and stars Megan Murphy Mace, Lisa Anderson Gandee, John Halstead, Johnny Halsted, Adam Bryan and Zoe Scarborough. Tickets are $15 and you can find out more info at The Alban Arts Center website.

Stuff To Do

Friday

Free music tonight includes Austin Miller at Taylor Books starting at 7:30 PM; Dugan Carter & Friends at Bruno’s at 9 PM; and the Chucktown Treo at 10 PM at Timothy’s Bar below the Quarrier Diner.

Music with a cover charge sees InFormation and Surgeon General’s Warning at The Blue Parrot at 10 PM with a $5 cover; Larry Keel and Natural Bridge at 10 PM at The Boulevard Tavern with a $5 cover; No Pretty Pictures, Farnsworth, Sly Roosevelt, and Ryan Wright at Sam’s Uptown Cafe at 10 PM with a $5 cover; Hybrid Soul Project at 10 PM at The Empty Glass, with an $8 cover. The big show for the final weekend of The Sound Factory is headlined by Byzantine and also features Single Bullet Theory, Skin Cage and Last Level and kicks off at 10 PM with a $15 admission fee.

Saturday

Free music kicks off in the afternoon at Bluegrass Kitchen with Chuck Biel and his student classical guitar solos, duets and trios at 3 PM. InFormation will be at Taylor Books from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM; The Bollard Brothers perform cover free at Timothy’s Bar at 10 PM.

Music with a cover includes The AK Forty Sexuals, Clean Dirty Clean and Dinosaur Burps at The Blue Parrot at 10 PM with a $5 cover; Motion Theater with Mother Nang will be at Sam’s Uptown Cafe at 10 PM with a $5 cover; 600 Lbs of Sin will be at The Boulevard Tavern at 10 PM with a $5 cover and Chamomile and Whiskey will take the stage at The Empty Glass at 10 PM with an $8 cover.

That’s it for this week. The popCult fun begins again next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel.