The PopCulteer
October 9, 2020

FestivFALL is an extension of Charleston’s June festivities, offering arts experiences in music, art, theatre, dance and more each October. This year, to ensure the safety of attendees and artists, FestivFALL will feature a cornucopia of at-home and virtual programs.

You can expect to find cool stuff at the FestivFall website like The Harvest Art Fair, The American Shakespeare Center’s Othello, Harvest Art Fair – Children’s Fair art projects, Three Things speaker series, and more!

Jump into fall with a bounty of at-home & virtual music, art, theatre and dance during FestivFALL! Enjoy both new and old events on a variety of virtual platforms…get your holiday shopping done early at the virtual Harvest Art Fair, crate at-home art projects through online tutorials, and much more.

It all starts Saturday, October 10, with loads of events that you can find at the FestivFALL calendar.

Highlghts include…

GLOW AT HOME: New to FestivFALL in 2019, Glow in the Park was so much fun that they wanted to make sure to take it online with in 2020. Sign up for one of the take-home kits that include everything you need to make a neon/glow work of art at home (including a glow accessory or two, of course!). For ages 2 (with assistance) and up. Then, follow along with local artist, Mallory Burka on YouTube as she shows us how to create a masterpiece of our own at home.

Great Composers Virtual Chamber Music Series – The Magic of Mozart: Allianz Music Ensembles and FestivALL Fall will mark the start of Charleston’s first virtual chamber music series with the program – The Magic of Mozart. Allianz is reimagining the concert experience by creating and presenting high-quality virtual chamber music performances that connect patrons to music in a safe and innovative way. Allianz is moderating the concert live, so ask a question, give them a high five, or send a comment…they really want to hear from you. This is the first of the Great Composers Chamber Music Series and will go live on Sunday, October 11, at 3:00 PM EDT. This Interactive Chamber Music Concert has been made possible in part by a grant from Charleston Creativity Connections and FestivALL, and is free for all to enjoy on the YouTube live stream.

“Catching Light” Artist Interview and Performance by WV Dance Company: “Catching Light” is an abstract work inspired by West Virginia glass artist, Ron Hinkle. The choreography by Toneta Akers-Toler is performed to the sounds of ringing glass and the glass studio, a contemporary music score by WV native composer Dr. Richard Grimes and vivid description of the glassmaking process by WV storyteller Adam Booth. See the WV Dance Company performance of Catching Light – and hear from those who were instrumental in its creation in the never-before-seen Artist Discussion. Watch the premiere of this video on Sunday the 11th on the FestivALL YouTube Channel

Imagine Circus Virtual Shows:

A Circus at Home (30 Minute Show)
Be amazed by incredible skills and dangerous talents! This 30 minute show will dazzle viewers with expert juggling, artistic object manipulation, and graceful balance. Join professional circus performer Adam from Imagine Circus, as he brings mind bending dexterity to your screen at home.
Vacuum and Liquid Nitrogen Science Show (30 Minute Show)

Hosted by cryogenic physicist Adam from Imagine Circus, viewers will learn how matter (solids and liquids) can be cooled to -269° C–almost as cold as outer space. This show offers demonstrations with a vacuum chamber, liquid nitrogen, and other fun items. Together, we will observe some things getting smaller and some larger by only changing the pressure and temperature, observe boiling as a technique for dissipating heat, and watch things change from being squishy or flexible to being hard and rigid. This series of demonstrations has been presented at many schools and libraries and is geared toward engaging grade school to high school students.

Happy Hour with the Laureates: Join Marc Harshman, poet laureate of WV & Jeff Worley, poet laureate of KY for a Happy Hour. This event will be livestreamed on YouTube on October 12 at 7PM but will be available to watch upon the event’s conclusion for the remainder of FestivFALL.

Join the livestream to hear readings from both poets and participate in a Q&A session at the end of the program.

Three Things: Season 5, Episode 5: Season 5, Episode 5 welcomes you to enjoy another virtual Three Things you don’t want to miss. This episode will feature Musician/Police Officer Jeff Ellis, Dr. Anne Cavalier, and Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. FestivALL’s live monthly speaker series, Three Things, showcases three West Virginians who will share insight into their personal story of where they started, what they love, and where they are going. This FestivFALL episode will go virtual to continue keeping patrons and guests safe.

Charleston Light Opera Guild presents: Shrek the Musical: Final dress rehearsal of Charleston Light Opera Guild’s August 2019 production of “Shrek The Musical” held at Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center Little Theater will be streamed 5 times during FestivFALL. The stream runs 2 ¼ hours including a 7 minute intermission. NOTE: Pre-registration is required. Viewers can create a profile and register for their preferred show date & time by visiting ShowTix4U at the link below starting October 1, 2020. Please make special note that on your show date & time, there is no opportunity to pause and rejoin the stream. However, there is a built-in intermission.

Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play: Using the magic of voice acting and live sound effects, The Alban Arts Center presents 3 classic Hitchcock radio plays; “The Lodger”, “Sabotage”, and “The 39 Steps” to thrill and spook you.

This should be a lot of fun, and it’s just thrill-laden enough to help get you into the Halloween spirit.

Follow the links in the descriptions to find more details, and links to where to watch and how to buy tickets.

Even in the mIdst of a pandemic, Charleston can still become a work of art.

MIRRORBALL Marks A Dozen Shows

It’s our latest chance to drop a new episode of MIRRORBALL, hosted by my lovely wife, Mel Larch, and we done it up real good with loads of dancefloor classics. This is our twelfth edition of MIRRORBALL and it debuts Friday afternoon at 2 PM on The AIR. and that’s followed by two great encore epsodes of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat.  You can hear all this good stuff on The AIR website, or just click on this embedded radio player…

As I mentioned, this week’s show is chock-full-o classic dance tracks of The Disco Era.  Check out the playlist:

MIRRORBALL 12

Indeep “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life”
Michael Jackson “Don’t Stop Til’ You Get Enough”
Sister Sledge “Lost In Music”
Giorgio Moroder “Chase”
The Village People “Ready For The 80s”
Boney M. “Daddy Cool”
Lou Rawls “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine”
Cheryl Lynn “Shake It Up Tonight”
The Emotions “Best of My Love”
Tina Charles “Dance Little Lady, Dance”
France Joli “Come To Me”
The Trammps “Hold Back The Night”

You can tune in at 2 PM (Eastern time) and hear the latest edition of MIRRORBALL. The plan is to drop a new episode roughly every other Friday afternoon, until Mel gets tired of doing it, or people stop listening. Later today, it will go up in the Podcast section of The AIR website, so you can listen on demand.  MIRRORBALL will also be replayed Friday night at 10 PM, Saturday at 7 PM (part of a mini-marathon), Sunday at 11 PM and Tuesday at 1 PM. We’ll probably sneak in a few more airings during the week.

And that wraps up this week’s PopCulteer. Check back for fresh content every day, and remember that, just because our blog is hosted on the Gazette-Mail servers, we do not agree with their inexplicable political endorsements. I mean, really, WTF?