Theater & Dance

Theater

Big Mamas: The Musical

Back by popular demand! Come enjoy an evening of sassy soul! Hear songs from Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and more.
In a deeply segregated era, Big Mamas: The Musical tells the story of black performers who were contracted with the T.O.B.A which stood for Theatre Owner’s Booking Association. A contract with T.O.B.A. meant steady work. Performers called it “doing Toby time” because the living conditions were so rough and the pay was so meager. However, they sung their songs in true vaudeville tradition and made light of their everyday struggles. As a result, the Big Mamas overcome and inspire us all!

Performances:

Venue: The Pearl at West Ashley Theatre Center, 1401 Sam Rittenberg Boulevard, Suite 11

Admission: $60

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A Workshop Production: Goodnight Embryos

The Void Theatre presents A Workshop Production: Goodnight Embryos – Em and Belle, a lesbian couple, are the happy new parents of a son named Rory. Belle harvested her eggs and carried the baby, with a friend providing the sperm. However, the procedure resulted in six embryos, and the couple must now decide what to do with the remaining five. Belle wants another child, but Em demurs. Do they donate the embryos to another couple or to science, or let them be destroyed? The play shows their lives over a decade, as they grapple with this decision and their changing lives. thevoidtheatre.org

A award winning play by Maureen McGranaghan.  A contemporary lesbian tragedy in workshop with the playwright and The Void Theatre Company.

Starring:  Teddi Lynette Thomas and Sadia Matthews

This show contains themes of fertility. Please take care.

Performances:

Venue: Hed Hi Studios, 654 King Street

Admission: $30

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ALONE… Tales from Edgar Allan Poe

ALONE… Tales from Edgar Allan Poe – A Multimedia Performance.

Experience the mysterious and thrilling tales of Edgar Allan Poe like never before in this stunning fusion of live theatre, immersive visuals, and haunting music.
A hit show at 2023 theatre festivals! “Kuhn brings an understanding to the work that stirs the audience’s deepest emotions… he makes the literature come alive.” praises Berkshire On Stage. 
ALONE… challenges audiences to explore the depths of their own emotions, fears, and desires while inviting them to enter a world where anything is possible, where the boundaries between reality and fantasy are blurred, and where the human mind is both a source of wonder and discovery.

Performances:

Venue: Gage Hall, 4 Archdale Street

Admission: $18-$25

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Crowns

Art Forms & Theatre Concepts, Inc. presents “CROWNS” by Regina Taylor and directed by Art Gilliard. This gospel musical is set to lift your spirits as it tells a moving and celebratory story in which hats become a springboard for an exploration of Black history and identity as seen through the eyes of a young black woman who has come down South to stay with her aunt after her brother is killed in Brooklyn. The production shows that hats tell tales concerning everything from the etiquette of hats to their historical and contemporary social functioning. There is a hat for every occasion, from flirting to churchgoing to funerals to baptisms, and the tradition of hats is traced back to African rituals and slavery to the New Testament and current fashion. First Ladies are known for their crowns “hats,” please show your support.

This Gospel inspired production will have you tapping and clapping as it offers a look into the story of the dramatic role hats play in people’s lives.

Performances:

Venue: Burke High School Auditorium, 244 President Street

Admission: $30

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Theater at Cannon Street Arts Center

134 Cannon Street

Master Class

Charleston Opera Theatre’s Master Class is a pyrotechnical theater—fireworks in a contained space where Maria Callas is brought back to life in Sturm und Drang. Inspired by a series of master classes the great diva conducted at Juilliard toward the end of her career, this drama puts Maria Callas at center stage again as she coaxes, prods, and inspires students—”victims” as she calls them—into giving the performances of their lives while revealing her own. As she slips off into memories, we experience her days at La Scala, her marriage to Meneghini, and her great doomed love for Aristotle Onassis. But the dazzling theatricality comes from Callas’s emotional explosions, her cutting wit, and the soaring music as each student sings an aria that exposes the Divina’s vulnerabilities … and her genius.

Recipient of the 1996 Tony Award® for Best Play.

Featuring Saundra DeAthos as Maria Callas

Performances:

Admission: $30

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Shakespeare’s Magic Show

A fun and lively interactive 55 minute family friendly show of the ideas and skills used in performing Shakespeare. Full of his plays and sonnets plus, magic tricks, you will leave entertained and mystified along with an appreciation on how this playwright can be lifelong companion in understanding the human condition.

Performances:

Admission: $8

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Shortwave Kitsch: Freedom of Screech

Show Includes Episodes of Call the Lady Physician and Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity!

Step into a bygone era with Shortwave Kitsch, presenting a captivating radio show that seamlessly merges the charm of 1940s radio programs with a modern artistic twist. Each performance is a journey through time featuring two enthralling episodes, making every show a double feature of suspense, humor, and historical richness. The talented local cast brings original stories to life with skilled voice acting, piano accompaniment, melodic tunes, and live sound effects. It’s more than just narrative; it’s a complete sensory experience. Don’t miss this unforgettable production that bridges the gap between the golden age of radio and the vibrant creativity of today.

Admission: $20

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Shortwave Kitsch: The Passive Aggressive Living Dead

Show Includes Episodes of Extra Intelligence and Hollywood Hunters!

Step into a bygone era with Shortwave Kitsch, presenting a captivating radio show that seamlessly merges the charm of 1940s radio programs with a modern artistic twist. Each performance is a journey through time featuring two enthralling episodes, making every show a double feature of suspense, humor, and historical richness. The talented local cast brings original stories to life with skilled voice acting, piano accompaniment, melodic tunes, and live sound effects. It’s more than just narrative; it’s a complete sensory experience. Don’t miss this unforgettable production that bridges the gap between the golden age of radio and the vibrant creativity of today.

Admission: $20

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Whore’s Eye View

Whore’s Eye View is a mad dash through 10,000 years of history from a sex worker’s perspective. Weaving history, comedic storytelling, and the wisdom of lived experience, Kaytlin Bailey artfully unpacks the complex, age-old stigma of the oldest profession, underpinning a status quo designed to keep women in their place. Kaytlin’s eye opening message is a compassionate, clarion call, a crash course in history, and a game changing roadmap for progress that can be sustained once and for all.  Written and performed by Kaytlin Bailey from The Oldest Profession Podcast.

Performance:

Admission: $25

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Stelle di Domani at the College of Charleston

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Deathtrap by Ira Levin

Comfortably ensconced in his charming Connecticut home, Sidney Bruhl, a successful writer of Broadway thrillers, is struggling to overcome a dry spell resulting in a string of failures and a shortage of funds. A possible break in his fortunes occurs when he receives a script from a student in the seminar he has been conducting at a nearby college—a thriller that Sidney recognizes immediately as a potential Broadway smash. Deathtrap provides twists and turns of devilish cleverness and offers hilariously sudden shocks in such abundance that audiences will be spellbound until the final moment. Presented by College of Charleston’s student theatre organization Center Stage.

Performances:

Venue: Chapel Theatre

Address: 172 Calhoun St

Admission: $16 (general admission); $12 (students and seniors) plus ticket surcharge

Runtime: 90 Minutes

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Staged Readings

Staged readings of the Todd McNerney 15th Annual National Playwriting contest finalists. Previous winning plays have come from notable playwrights including Caridad Svich (lifetime Obie award winner), Sheila Cowley, Arthur M. Jolly, James Still, William Missouri Downs, and Donnetta Lavinia Grays. Free admission.

Readings:

  • Tuesday, May 28th at 4:00pm
  • Wednesday, May 29th at 4:00pm (runner-up)
  • Thursday, May 30th at 4:00pm
  • Friday, May 31st at 4pm (winner)

Venue: Calhoun Street Annex (adjacent to the Chapel Theatre)

Address: 172 Calhoun Street

Admission: Free

Runtime: 90-120 minutes

FREE

Musical Theatre Revue

Join the College of Charleston Department of Theatre and Dance for a sensational evening of musical enchantment hosted by department alumnus Clyde Moser at Stelle Di Domani in Piccolo Spoleto! Save the date for Friday, May 31st at 7pm as the Chapel Theatre comes alive with the magic of musical theatre. Get ready to sing along to your favorite tunes in a dynamic musical revue featuring the incredible talents of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni. This event promises to be a celebration of community and the enduring allure of Broadway. See you there!

Performances:

Venue: Chapel Theatre

Address: 172 Calhoun Street

Admission: Admission: $16 (general admission); $12 (students and seniors) plus ticket surcharge
Runtime: 60 minutes without intermission

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Under The Lights

This perennial Piccolo favorite highlights original College of Charleston student works. A series of ten-minute plays written by and performed by CofC students, Under the Lights features winners of the Franklin B. Ashley Playwriting Award, the Todd McNerney Student Playwriting Award, the David Lee Nelson Hope Award and The Pages Festival.

Performances:

Venue: Chapel Theatre 

Address: 172 Calhoun Street

Admission: $10 (general admission) plus ticket surcharge

Runtime: 60 minutes without intermission

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In Love and Death

William Shakespeare is still regarded by many as one of the world’s greatest playwrights, if not the greatest. His plays continue to mesmerize audiences well over 400 years after his death. Shakespeare was an artist of the people, depicting conflict, love, birth, and death in equal measure and with incomparable beauty. College of Charleston current and past Theatre students will collaborate in a dynamic and fast-paced series of scenes from Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies and histories. College of Charleston Professors Paul Rolfes and Evan Parry co-direct this exciting production with a company of outstanding talent from the Department of Theatre and Dance’s past and present. Presented in collaboration with the Charleston Library Society.

Performances:

Venue: Chapel Theatre (June 5th and 6th); Charleston Library Society (June 9th)

Address: 172 Calhoun Street (June 5th and 6th); 164 King Street (June 9th)

Admission: $16 (general), $12 (students and seniors) plus ticket surcharge; free admission for Sunday, June 9th performance

Runtime: 75 minutes with no intermission

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It’s Itself

Annex Dance Company presents It’s Itself, an evening-length work straddling themes of the spiritual world and the human world and questioning the desire to place lingual descriptions on dance and art. Created in collaboration with visual artist and College of Charleston Studio Art Department faculty member Susan Klein, the choreography and art share the performance space, allowing for connection, interaction, and manipulation of human and inanimate objects. It’s Itself is performed by students and company members as a culmination of the annual residency with the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Performances:

Venue: Chapel Theatre

Address: 172 Calhoun St. 

Admission: $16 (general admission); $12 (students and seniors) plus ticket surcharge

Runtime: 45 minutes without intermission

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Shakespeare on the Steps – “In Love and Death”

CLS is honored to partner with CofC’s Department of Theatre and Dance to present its 17th season of Stelle di Domani, their annual Piccolo Spoleto offering.

Don’t miss this special Shakespearian experience on Sunday, June 9th, as the Library Society transforms their front steps into a stage for a plein air, abbreviated performance of “In Love and Death”. This noteworthy production represents a continuing collaboration between Charleston Library Society’s Special Collections and Igoe Shakespeare Library and the Theatre and Dance Department.

Bring your own chair and all of your friends to experience live theatre during your Second Sunday stroll. We expect a large and lively standing crowd to turn out for this one-of-a-kind event— and hope you’ll join us, too!  MORE INFO

Performance: Sunday, June 9 at 2:00pm

Venue: Charleston Library Society

Address: 164 King Street

Admission: Free, donations accepted

FREE, Donations Accepted

Piccolo Fringe at Theatre 99

280 Meeting Street

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Take the Funny and Run 

Take the Funny and Run  (improv comedy)  1 hr 40 minutes

Live improv comedy at Theatre 99 is Charleston’s funniest tradition! Shows at Theatre 99 are improv parties where audience members laugh until it hurts. Come loaded with suggestions for the quick witted Theatre 99 ensemble members who will take your suggestions…and rock out hilarious unscripted scenes. Guaranteed to make you laugh! 

Performances:

Venue: Theatre 99

Address: 280 Meeting Street B

Admission: $20

Salty Tales

SALTY TALES (improv comedy) From the watery depths of Georgia and Atlanta’s Dad’s Garage Theatre, comes Salty Tales! Starring Amber Nash (Archer) and Matt Horgan (Dad’s Garage), Salty Tales is a completely improvised maritime tale of lust, love and the supernatural in a seaside fishing town! It’s just like Jaws, but with less jokes!

Performances:

Venue: Theatre 99

Address: 280 Meeting Street B

Admission: $20

Clean Improv Comedy Show

Clean Improv Comedy Show (family friendly) 60 minutes

Have you ever been to an improv show and thought, “I’d love to bring my 10 year old, but it’s just not clean enough for them”? Well, now we’ve got you covered! Theatre 99 is presenting a one hour hilarious short form show that is clean as a whistle. No need to take cover from “F” bombs. This show is chock-full of fun and is just as side-splittingly funny as what you’ve come to expect at Theatre 99. All improv – all based on your suggestions. Bring the kids!

Performances:

Venue: Theatre 99

Address: 280 Meeting Street B

Admission: $12

The Have Nots! Comedy Improv Company

The Have Nots! Comedy Improv Company (improv comedy) 1 hr 45 min

No scripts!  All improv!  This high-energy comedy improv show is entirely based on your audience suggestion so every show is different. It’s the longest running show in Charleston. The Have Nots! (Timmy Finch, Brandy Sullivan and Greg Tavares) will perform their unique brand of improv comedy AND you never know who will join them on the stage!  Come find out why critics say “The Have Nots! have it!”

Performances:

Venue: Theatre 99

Address: 280 Meeting Street B

Admission: $20

Laughway to the Weekend

Laughway to the Weekend (comedy) 1 hr 45 min

Come laugh it up with us halfway to the weekend! This improv comedy show will feature 3 acts of hilarious improv comedy. Wednesday nights are a Charleston tradition that feature long form improv comedy. Every show is different and completely based on audience suggestions.   

Performances:

Venue: Theatre 99

Address: 280 Meeting Street B

Admission: $10

Mary Kay Has a Posse

Mary Kay Has a Posse (improv comedy) 50 minutes

Charleston’s original all-female improv comedy group! Part talk show format (similar to The View), part long form improv, ALL funny!  Bitingly witty, unpredictable, and politically incorrect, the ladies of “Posse Talk” break all the rules.  “An unforgettable night of laughing ’til your face hurts.”  Charleston City Paper  If you are easily offended or feel that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, stay home. (Adult Audiences Only)

Performances:

Venue: Theatre 99

Address: 280 Meeting Street B

Admission: $20

Impro Theatre’s “Tennessee Williams Unscritpted”

A completely improvised play in the style of Tennessee Williams

Passionate smoldering secrets lurch beneath the surface of genteel society – and explode in a climax of accusation, confession and consequence. Inspired by Tennessee Williams’ masterful storytelling and delicious language, Impro Theatre starts with a single audience suggestion and builds improvised full-length plays that are hilarious, yet tragic as a Southern belle’s broken heart.

Cast:

Kelly Holden-Bashar

Dan O’Connor

Edi Patterson

Cory Rouse

“Impro Theatre has evolved into a powerhouse improvisational company in full-length shows that are off-the-cuff and consistently hilarious. An indigenous Los Angeles treasure, the company should be seen — and reseen!” – LOS ANGELES TIMES

Performances:

Venue: Theatre 99

Address: 280 Meeting Street B

Admission: $25

F.B.I*

*Finch Boys Improv (family friendly)

Good improv groups often feel like family. This one actually is family! Timmy Finch, veteran of The Have Nots! Comedy Improv and nine-time winner of Charleston’s Best Local Comic teams up with his best friend and son Cahal to deliver quick witted, feel good, made up family fun. Come see an old man and the next generation.

Performances:

Venue: Theatre 99

Address: 280 Meeting Street B

Admission: $12

RaaaatScraps

RAAAATSCRAPS (improv comedy from NYC)

RaaaatScraps is a fully improvised show from NYC. One lucky audience member will be interviewed by the cast and have their life be the inspiration for a show that opens and closes in the same night.

The rotating cast of improvisers have been seen on Severance, Somebody Somewhere, Broad City, Marvelous Ms. Maisel, High Maintenance, Search Party, Crashing, 30 Rock, The Other Two, The Blacklist, Succession, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, WeCrashed, Black Mirror, Fallon, Succession, John Oliver, Colbert, in multiple Marvel movies, and many more.

The cast is STACKED, as they say. Check out more about the show at RaaaatScraps.com

Performances:

Venue: Theatre 99

Address: 280 Meeting Street B

Admission: $20

Doozy

DOOZY – Improvised Scenes with Dan O’Connor, Edi Patterson, Brandy Sullivan & Greg Tavares. This improv show features Dan O’Connor (Impro Theatre), Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones), Brandy Sullivan (Theatre 99) and Greg Tavares (Theatre 99) doing improvised scene after scene based entirely on audience suggestions. Buckle up because this show a doozy!

Performances:

Venue: Theatre 99

Address: 280 Meeting Street B

Admission: $25

Theater at Threshold Repertory Theatre

84 1/2 Society Street

Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me, But Banjos Saved My Life

One of 18 worldwide ‘Best of’ shows selected to participate in the Fringe Encore series, Off-Broadway, at the historic Soho Playhouse in New York City in 2019. Sell-out run. An inspirational true story about overcoming obstacles, pursuing passions and the healing power of music. A heartfelt passion project that began as an idea after a devastating life event caused Keith Alessi to think differently about his future. Internationally toured and highly awarded.

This is a storytelling solo show. A true story that chronicles Keith Alessi’s cancer journey and how he went from being a public company CEO, famous in that world of business, to Playing the banjo. It is a story about the healing power of music and how music ( banjos) healed him physically, mentally and spiritually. The audience will be inspired to get back to the creative things they have been putting off, and how telling and sharing your story can walk you through anything. Audiences have a lot of fun with this and are often very touched.

Performances:

  • May 24 at 5:00pm
  • May 25 at 5:00pm
  • May 26 at 5:00pm

Venue: Threshold Repertory Theatre

Address: 84 1/2 Society Street

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The Wolves

The Wolves by Sarah Delappe is and award winning play that follows a team of fierce young women soccer players going through their pre-game rituals as they navigate the struggles of adolescence amid real-world issues and interpersonal drama. Directed by Sarah Daniel and featuring some of the areas most talented young actresses. Presented by The Flowertown Players

Performances:

  • May 25 at 8:00pm
  • May 31 at 8:00pm
  • June 2 at 3:00pm

Venue: Threshold Repertory Theatre

Address: 84 1/2 Society Street

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Musings from the Bar

Saddle on up to the theater and listen to a few tales from the Bar. Donnie Exelbierd, long time bartender at one of Charleston’s favorite restaurants, Muse, will take you for a story-telling adventure with some humor, some seriousness, and some comforting musings. Find out what your local bar can mean to you! This is sure to be an entertaining and aMUSEing good time!

Performances:

  • May 27 at 3:00pm
  • June 2 at 7:00m
  • June 3 at 7:00pm
  • June 4 at 3:00pm

Venue: Threshold Repertory Theatre

Address: 84 1/2 Society Street

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Cognac and Roses, A Toast to Edgar Allan Poe

This program contains some of Poe’s best and most loved works told by six master storytellers.  Join Threshold Rep as they perform these haunting tales for you, and immerse yourself in the intoxicating imagination of one of America’s greatest writers.  The show runs ninety minutes and consists of eleven of Poe’s poems and short stories.  This cast of six will open your mind in a whole new way to the phantasmagoric world of Edgar Allan Poe.

Performances:

  • May 28 at 7:30pm
  • May 29 at 7:30pm
  • May 30 at 7:30pm
  • May 31 at 5:00pm

Venue: Threshold Repertory Theatre

Address: 84 1/2 Society Street

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A Yank in Scotland

A Yank in Scotland, or The Time I Lost My Wallet in the Highlands

The Highlands of Scotland, filled with misty moors and glens, rolling fields of heather, and ghosts from Scottish history, invite mystical ruminations, kindle existential questions, and spark the imagination to soar into higher and uncharted territory.  Join Paul O’Brien, and Bonnie Prince Charlie, in the telling of one man’s story of loss and discovery as he searches for mystery, meaning, and a lost wallet in the Highlands of Scotland.

Performances:

  • June 1 at 4:00pm
  • June 4 at 7:30pm
  • June 7 at 5:00pm
  • June 8 at 5:00pm

Venue: Threshold Repertory Theatre

Address: 84 1/2 Society Street

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