Charleston Gazette

Hail This Cab

During the '30s and '40s, Cab Calloway and his big-band bop ruled with precision playing and the band leader's signature cry of "Hi- De-Ho" and now-classic tunes like "Minnie the Moocher." The band, the style, even the Cotton Club zoot suits live on in the form of Cab's grandson C. Calloway Brooks, who leads the 14-piece Cab Calloway Orchestra into the Charleston Marriott for a FestivALL Charleston showcase event, with dance music filling the ballroom from 9 p.m. to midnight Saturday. "It's t...

Free for All at Festivall

In addition to FestivALL's ticketed events, organizers have crammed enough free music into the three-day event to satisfy even the most ardent fans of any musical genre. More than 50 performers are featured, playing everything from blues and country to jazz and rock at venues all over town. Venues include Haddad Riverfront Park, Davis Park, Slack Plaza, Capitol Market, Starbucks at Town Center mall and Taylor Books. Among the many free music highlights are Bob Thompson at Live on the Levee (6...

Hollywood Meets Charleston

Charleston native Ann Magnuson, an accomplished stage and screen performer, is featured in a kickoff event to FestivALL Charleston from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight downtown. The evening is also a launch party for the gazz online arts and entertainment site coming to the Web on June 30. "Where Charleston Meets Hollywood" includes a spoken-word and music performance piece by Magnuson along with Larry Groce, Bob Thompson and other members of the "Mountain Stage" band. The event, catered by The Summit, b...

Scat Cat

For the Gazette George Benson sounds relaxed on the phone, like he's sipping a mimosa on a lounge chair. And why not?

Festivall Charleston Schedule

Below are highlights of the FestivALL Charleston schedule. See the full schedule at www.festivallcharleston.com. Purchase advance tickets for ticketed events through the Clay Center (561-3570) or Taylor Books (342-1461) or as noted below. TODAY

Songwriter Finalists to Go for Regional Crown Sunday

FestivALL Charleston showcases a host of performing songwriters Friday through Sunday in free shows at Haddad Riverfront Park, Davis Park, Slack Plaza, Capitol Market and elsewhere as well as in Charleston clubs each night. Click on the "Schedule of Events" and then the "Master Schedule" at the festivallcharleston.com Web site for the scores of live-music options. On Sunday at Haddad Park, FestivALL also features the finals of a regional round of the national NewSong Contest, presented by Per...

'I Love the Bus'

For the Gazette Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek is hanging out with a few friends at a coffee shop somewhere in Palm Springs, Calif., when her cell phone rings.

Festivall Map

When it comes right down to it, if it's music, art or culture- related and happens Friday through Sunday, it's part of FestivALL Charleston. For the complete lineup (and it's a complex doozy), visit www.festivallcharleston.com, click on "Schedule of Events" and then "Master Schedule Available in html or Word." Or hunt down the (less complete but useful) FestivALL tabloid that was in the Sunday Gazette-Mail. Free entertainment occurs at venues across downtown with music and art clustered on an...

Film Clips

"THE ADVENTURES OF SHARK BOY AND LAVA GIRL IN 3D": "Grade: B. Marquee Cinemas, Park Place Stadium Cinemas. "Spy Kids" director Robert Rodriguez is back with a fairly entertaining film about young superheroes and the power of dreams. The plot is formulaic and the 3- D effect is not very good, but the under-10 set will enjoy it. Rated PG. - Andrea B. Bond * "MR. AND MRS. SMITH": Grade: A. MC, PPSC. With a big budget, big action and big stars, it's no cinematic masterpiece, but it's definitely a...

Out of The: ; Philippines

Ballet Manila stops at the Municipal Auditorium at 6 p.m. Sunday to perform ballet interpretations of ethnic Philippine dances. This is a fundraiser for the Tri-State Fil-Am Association, which will use the proceeds to fund medical missionaries in the Philippines. For tickets, $10, call Helen Molano at 757-9311 or pick them up at the door. ONLINE:

Cranking Up Adamfest Ii

As Battle of the Bands winner, Stone Ka-Tet (above) has the privilege of opening for Clutch Monday night at 8:30 p.m. at the Sound Factory (tickets $19 in advance, $22 at the door), but they've got another important show to play in the meantime. On Saturday, the band will headline Adamfest II, a fundraiser for 21-year-old Adam Weaver of Charleston. Weaver suffers from stage four Hodgkin's Lymphoma and has limited medical coverage. The benefit will raise money to assist with his medical bills.

Spotlight

IN CONCERT * JAZZ-MU-TAZZ: A jazz jam session, 7:30 p.m. today and concert with the Backyard Dixie Jazz Stompers, 7:30 p.m. Friday. Jomie Jazz Center, Marshall University. Free. Call 696-2452.

Free Festivall Events

A couple of free events worth noting from the voluminous FestivALL lineup: I NEED PANTS: The No Pants Players bring street theater to FestivALL Charleston (ask the city fathers and mothers how's come we can't have that all the time?) from 1 to 1:45 p.m. and 4 to 4:45 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on Capitol Street.

The Music of Coal

The West Virginia Music Hall of Fame will unveil its first exhibit, "Music of the Coalfield," in the Clay Center lobby during FestivALL Charleston on Saturday. The exhibit features archival photos documenting the rich variety of music that thrived in the coalfields, ranging from company-sponsored orchestras, a train conductor's choir, a drum and bugle corps that marched in coal miner uniforms, to some of the musicians who performed in theaters and camps across southern West Virginia. A listen...

'I Love You,' 1-Act Plays On Tap

Theater-lovers can see one musical plus as many as half a dozen one-act plays during FestivALL Charleston. The schedules don't conflict, making it possible for theater fans to see all six offerings. Stage veterans Mark Hornbaker, Cary Lantz, Laurie Pennington, Philip Robertson, Paul Shannon and Evie Victorson will perform when the Charleston Light Opera Guild opens a three-weekend run of the long-running musical revue "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" at 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturd...

It's Not Perfect, but 'Man' Good Girlfriend Material

For the Gazette "The Perfect Man" may not have a perfectly believable plot, but somehow the likable characters of Jean and Holly Hamilton and Uncle Ben (Heather Locklear, Hilary Duff and Chris Noth) manage to pull it off. Director Mark Rosman ("A Cinderella Story") causes the audience to willingly suspend its disbelief of this far-fetched film and laugh and smile the whole way through.

Walk Into the Art in Elkins

It's no simple artwork, either in scope or size. Elkins-based artist Ruth Blackwell Rogers' work "Re-membering," on view through June 30 at the Randolph County Community Arts Center in Elkins, is not only to be seen but walked through. Her 175-foot, three-dimensional story painting, along with related paintings, is shaped in the form of a spiral, with her paintings on the inside and out of a paper scroll. Viewers enter it, viewing and "reading" the artworks back and forth, inside and out.

A Franchise On the Wa(Y)Ne

mkelly@wvgazette.com You have to admire a "prequel" that disregards the movies that preceded it. Fortunately, in the case of "Batman Begins," you don't have to like it.

Festivall Briefs

Unveiled At 11 a.m. Saturday, the Appalachian Children's Chorus will perform when the Harry Marinsky sculpture "Festival Delle Arti" - Italian for "Festival of the Performing Arts" - is unveiled on Leon Sullivan Way at the Clay Center. Angus Peyton has spent well in excess of $300,000 to make this gift to the city.

T-Shirt Art Benefits Area Camp

Charleston artist Charly Jupiter Hamilton has a new piece of art priced to sell, if not to wear, and it goes on sale for a good cause at this weekend's FestivALL Charleston. A Hamilton-designed T-shirt with an intricate block-printed kangaroo design will raise funds for this year's Creative Capers Kids' Camp in Charleston.