On Wednesday November 20, 2013 I attended an improvisational comedy show at Theatre 99. The act was “Big Dicktionary” and performed by comedies, John Brennan and Timmy Finch. The set up was that the two performers had audience members randomly pick a word from a dictionary and then that word was used as inspiration to construct a comic scene.

The event was well attended. The majority of the seats were filled, even the lobby and outside areas were grouped with people when I came and left.  The demographics of the audience members were largely young adults. Many were with groups of friends, some were coupled up, and it was interesting to see this demographic of Charleston rather than just college students, which is what I have been used to.

These two performers and their show have traveled to many theaters around the Charleston community for many years and with their reviews, reputation and attention it could contribute to more audience members, and even the potential of a loyal audience group coming to see the show. Abound further research, I also discovered that Finch was a founding member of Theatre 99, which gives the theatre, their supporters and these performers a strong relationship. The beauty of an improv type show is that the performance is never the same, and to maintain the success the performers must have experience, the ability to think on their feet, but also have a good chemistry and dynamic between them that they can deliver a successful show each time. Fortunately these two performers had all of those characteristics, and with that and their personal relationship with Theatre 99 and to Charleston it can help to explain such a successful audience turnout.

All four of the Ps contributed to the success of the show. The price of the tickets was $5, Theatre 99 is a well-respected and fun event place among Charleston, the product of these two well-known comedies and the promotional efforts all helped to explain the success of the show. However, I think the place and the price were probably the two factors that mattered most, especially to me. I noticed many of the audience members were there with friends, were drinking, and socializing before, during intermission and after the show. The ticket prices were cheap for such access to a great atmosphere and place that is Theatre 99 and the show itself helped amp up that atmosphere.

The event I attended was the College of Charleston’s theatre performance of As it is in Heaven. The performance I went to was Monday October 7, 2013 and was in the Simmons Center for the Arts. These religious woman lived as a “Shakers” community under strict rules. The play focused on the development of internal struggles and problems that have began to arise when some of the younger shakers talk about seeing angles in the fields.
The acting and musical talent of this performance was obvious as each role was strong and well done. One of the most successful artistic elements was the humor that was incorporated into the play. I appreciated this because the description of the play is not the most lively, but the use of humor made the play much better and more enjoyable than I was expecting. A negative aspect of the performance was that some scenes were a little too long. They were engaging and interesting, but too many times I caught myself wondering when this scene would end.
The event did generate income because students had to pay $10 for a ticket and the prices for general admissions is $15. I personally did not see any empty seats and prior nights of this performance had been sold out. Other income that could help fund this event are donations made by supporters. On the back of the program there is a list of donors that help make the theatre and dance productions possible.
The play was pretty simple in set, lights, sound, props and costumes when compared to other plays. However, the largest cost for the department would have been the large church design that was the backdrop for the show. The other larger cost would be the costumes, which were very specific to the time period. The use of benches that acted as many other props throughout the show. Other than that, the costs for the performance would not be anything too expensive or nothing the department could not assume to already have.
Overall, this show was a very well done and I enjoyed it much more than I was expecting. The time of the show was only an hour and a half, which is the perfect amount of time. The humor and great acting only benefitted the play and made the story come alive much more. I would recommend the play to others and look forward to seeing what the college does next!

Last Monday night I attended a concert series that the jazz department at the College of Charleston  put on. The performance took place at the Recital Hall of the Simmons Center for the Arts. There were five musicians involved in the performance and all these men are all members of the music department at the College of Charleston and each had a very impressive resume with much involvement in the jazz community, among Charleston and around the Southeast.

The performance was well done and the talent on the stage was staggering. The band played a variety of different composers’ songs and some of their own. I enjoyed the variety of the song choices and how the band members performed with each other. They flowed well, and that is important when watching a show because it translates to the type of atmosphere they are casting to the audience.

The most positive aspect of the show was how many people came out to see the performance, so much so, that the show ran out of programs. This may of been a negative, since many students were coming to see the show for classes, but the performers were aware of this and promised to make separate arrangements. The only negative part of the performance was it was a bit lengthy, this was obvious by how many people left before the performance was complete.

The jazz presentation was a well done performance that I would recommend to other students and to the Charleston community. I was able to learn something new and experienced a creative concert. I believed the concert was a success and look forward to attending more musical performances from the college.