Spoleto Festival USA returns May 24 to June 9 with a star-studded lineup of more than 100 events to fill Charleston’s theaters, churches and outdoor spaces. From world-renowned classical music acts like cellist Yo-Yo Ma to a drag spectacular by season 9 winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Sasha Velour, there is something for everyone this year.
Notably, it’s also the first time the festival offers family-friendly performances, said Lauren Van Liew, Spoleto’s media relations manager. A highlight of those family-oriented performances includes a spellbinding production of The Ugly Duckling from America’s Got Talent semi finalists Lightwire Theater, a dance troupe known for its electroluminescent costumes.
Connection through creation
In this year’s recently released ticket brochure, director Mena Mark Hanna underscores that during the 17-day festival this spring, Charleston will celebrate shared humanity through “the incalculable emotional power of the performing arts.”
“Art is the connective tissue of our society; it is the antidote to the cacophonous digital echo chamber,” Hanna said. “It is through art that we can examine our origins and our founding myths.”
Audiences will find wider themes of shared humanity and recontextualizing age-old stories through contemporary lenses exemplified in perhaps the most anticipated world premiere of the season, Ruinous Gods.
Announced at the end of last season, this operatic work explores the trauma of forced displacement through the eyes of a 12-year-old girl and her mother. The opera weaves together elements from myths and fairy tales with real testimonies from survivors — resulting in an operatic dreamscape depicting resignation syndrome, a child’s psychological response to displacement.
Musically, the work is rooted in the traditions of Arabic Maqam and Western classical music (though the work does not name a specific setting).
In a joint statement, composer Layale Chaker and librettist Lisa Schlesinger said: “Ruinous Gods challenges political otherness through music that amplifies marginalized voices and incites and fosters curiosity, connection, empathy and openness.”
Make sure not to miss:
- The legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma will present a never-before-seen program in which he asks the audience to reflect on the artist’s role in society. Ma reflects on his five-year, six-continent tour of Bach’s Cello Suites and asks, ‘If art is a connective tissue, how can it bring us together in divisive times?’
- The acclaimed choreographer Benjamin Millepied and the L.A. Dance Project brings a riveting production of Romeo and Juliet where the titular duo are recast as diverse young adults, rotating between male/female, male/male and female/female pairings. The fast-paced drama will unfold on and beyond the Gaillard stage through live video, a state-of-the-art projection system and accompaniment by the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra.
- During a consequential election year in the United States, Spoleto explores the fall of a once-powerful republic in The Song of Rome, a world premiere play by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson.
- And while efforts to whitewash history and ban books are rampant, audiences can view a startling perspective of the history of the American West in Dark Noon, a play that challenges the mythologies of our country’s early expansion.
For the classical music lovers, expect exciting productions of chamber, symphonic, choral and jazz music. If you’re more into the “Front Row” series — a collection of intimate and laid-back music shows under the stars at the College of Charleston’s Cistern Yard — kicking it off opening weekend is Old Crow Medicine Show, the Grammy Award-winning six-piece American roots revival band. Also in the series are artists including multi-instrumentalist Trombone Shorty, singer-songwriter Amos Lee and the Billboard chart-topping duo Watchhouse and more.
To view the entire lineup and purchase tickets, visit spoletousa.org.
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