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Articles by Ann Wicker
After Stomping Tokyo, Local Filmmaker Plans Follow-up
Godzilla was awoken from its underwater slumber by nuclear testing. The three-headed monster Gidorah was spawned in outer space. But The Green Giant of Zanzuki owes its existence to Hurricane Irma. If Irma hadn't slammed into Savannah, Georgia, and delayed the start of the fall 2017 semester at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Charlotte filmmaker Alex Greenberg's monster movie might never have gotten made, and Japan might never have been attacked by a massive lizard-plant hybrid.
Nouveau Sud Debuts New Sinful Acrobatic Show
Using physical theater similar to the internationally known Cirque du Soleil, CarlosAlexis Cruz and Nouveau Sud hope to link the seven deadly sins with seven forms of social oppression found in Charlotte with a new show, Septem. The Nouveau Sud — "New South" — troupe are debuting their latest show on July 20 for a two-night run at Booth Playhouse. The group, founded by UNC Charlotte physical theatre professor Cruz, will use acrobatics, aerial performance and more to tell its story.
Arts to Watch 2018: Manoj Kesavan Goes BOOM | Feature | Creative Loafing Charlotte
"Think of Wikipedia, which started 16 years ago," Manoj Kesavan says. "If someone told you then that hundreds of thousands of people were going to spend millions of hours sharing knowledge, and in the process create the largest ever free encyclopedia, it would have seemed crazy." Kesavan, the director of the experimental grassroots arts festival BOOM Charlotte, knows a thing or two about crazy ideas — and how to turn those ideas into innovative reality.
Arts to Watch 2018: Julio Gonzalez Confronts Death | Feature | Creative Loafing Charlotte
When multi-disciplinary artist Julio Gonzalez first launched his best-known project, Dia de Los Casi Muertos, or Day of the Almost Dead, he was overwhelmed with submissions. Coming up on its fourth year, Dia de Los Casi Muertos began after Gonzalez saw a red flag — the specter of cultural appropriation marring one of his favorite holidays, Halloween.
Sidney Horton Tackles Race in the Arts With 'The Submission' | Theater | Creative Loafing Charlotte
We're right to be suspicious of leaders who loudly spout their righteous certitudes. Thoughtful people know that moral rectitude, ethnic traditions, civil liberties, and political correctness can often crisscross into bewildering tangles and conundrums.
'Bloom: Revolution' Ignites Charlotte's Performing Arts Scene | Cover story | Creative Loafing Charlotte
FOR TWO SULTRY July nights and one afternoon, a small army of performing artists will converge on the McColl Center, where they will dance, swing from the rafters and spit fire in an event that resembles a mash-up of Carnival in Venice, the garden of earthly delights and a (sort of) family-friendly bacchanalia. But for Katie Rothweiler, Bloom: Revolution is a labor of love. "We tell applicants when they sign up for the event to bring their weird," Rothweiler says, laughing.
Urban Circus Project Examines Dangerous Living | Theater | Creative Loafing Charlotte
"Circus people are continuously searching for freedom," says CarlosAlexis Cruz. "It's a sense of weightlessness, a dream of flying — like Icarus." The Physical Theatre Professor at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is discussing the tension between safety and liberation embodied by his Cirque du Soleil-style acrobatic troupe Nouveau Sud ("New South").
Do You Still Got the Jive to Handle Three Days of HeroesCon Comic Book Bliss? | Feature | Creative Loafing Charlotte
She's been attending the annual Charlotte comic convention faithfully since 2006, most of them with her little girl Madeleine, who's attended every year of her life. "She's never missed a year and she's 7 now," Mason says. "I used to carry her in a sling." Mason's enthusiasm is infectious, but it's no secret that this is Mom's thing, and both Madeleine and her mom are fine with that.
Read It For Yourself
The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life By Steve Leveen (Levenger Press, 123 pages, $17.50) I initially found this little book's tone slightly condescending, but Steve Leveen's enthusiastic heart is in the right place. Any book that encourages the rediscovery of reading and explores how to get more reading into your life has got my vote.
Speedway Saint
You don't have to know much about NASCAR or Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to enjoy Sharyn McCrumb's latest novel. But if you do, you'll have more fun with the in-jokes on both subjects. If you don't, you'll learn a thing or two about ´em. St. Dale is a rollicking tale about a group of people on a bus embarking on a Dale Earnhardt Memorial Tour to leave a wreath at every track between Bristol and Daytona in memory of The Intimidator.
Let your Fingers do the Shopping
Shopping competes with NASCAR and college basketball as Charlotte's favorite sport. Just witness the media feeding frenzy every time a major new mall opens -- and Nordstrom's opening next year has people doing backflips. So what's the Charlotte couch potato to do? Catalogs and Internet shopping are one way to avoid, as a friend of mine puts it, "getting malled." And more people are doin' it, according to the Direct Marketing Association.
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