Legally Blonde And Mother Nang on RFC 164

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Up there is Radio Free Chaleston's 164h episode, "Fighting English Shirt," which features music from The Charleston Light Opera Guild production of "Legally Blonde" and a song from Mother Nang, along with a brief bit of strange uncredited animation.

[caption id="attachment_8688" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Cameron Vance and Micah Atkinson[/caption]

The CLOG production of "Legally Blonde" stars Micah Atkinson as Elle Woods, along with a large talented cast that includes Matthew Bryant, Allison Plants, Michael D. Gore, Cameron Vance, Toni Pilato, and Rudi Raynes-Kidder along with many others. The RFC cameras were allowed in for the first dress rehearsal, and we witnessed a show that is coming together quickly and looks like a lot of fun. We bring you two numbers from "Legally Blonde" this week, "Serious" and "What You Want."

[caption id="attachment_8689" align="aligncenter" width="500"] A scene from "What You Want"[/caption]

You may have noticed lately that when we take our cameras in to cover a local musical production, we pretty much have to cover a rehearsal. The reason is simple: We want to bring you a sample of the show before it opens so that you can take full advantage of the show dates to see it.

I want to stress once again how much I appreciate when groups like the Charleston Light Opera Guild and the Contemporary Youth Arts Company are brave enough to allow us to come in and shoot video before they've had time to polish their show for opening night.  It's a gutsy move that allows us to bring you a wider variety of music on Radio Free Charleston and enables us to bring you previews of these very special productions before their opening night.

"Legally Blonde," a musical based on the hit comedy movie, opens this Friday at the Charleston Civic Center Little Theater at 7:30 p.m.  Additional show times are July 28, August 3 & 4 at 7:30 p.m. and matinees on July 29 & August 5 at 3:00 p.m.

[caption id="attachment_8690" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Mother Nang[/caption]

This episode of the show also features the song "Buying The Farm" by Mother Nang, recorded last summer at Haddad Riverfront Park.  Mother Nang will have their long awaited CD release show this Friday at The Empty Glass, starting at 10 PM. InFormation and Karen and Andy from Crazy Jane will be in support.  In some ways, this CD has been twenty years in the making.  Mother Nang is the legendary alternative band who, in the early nineties, sprung forth from the Charleston music scene and stormed the East Coast, even playing the legendary CGBG's in New York City's Bowery.

In late August Mother Nang, along with a fully reunited Crazy Jane, will play a very special Live At The Levee, which will sort of celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the New Music Feast concert where Mother Nang and Crazy Jane shared the stage at the legendary Levee (now the Boulevard Tavern) with Strawfyssh and Todd Burge.  This show is guaranteed to make all their old fans feel young again until they realize that it's been twenty years and then they'll feel really, really old.

[caption id="attachment_8691" align="alignright" width="220"] Wearing O' the shirt[/caption]

For our host segments we sort of "borrowed" the podium (the Native Americans call it a "lectern") for The Optimists Club, which we noticed was set up in the lobby of the Civic Center Little Theater after we recorded our songs from "Legally Blonde." Even though we didn't ask permission, I'm sure that if they put their minds to it, the club could come up with all kinds of reasons why this is a good thing for our future.

This week's namesake shirt, "Fighting English," is a TeeFury.com mashup of the Notre Dame leprachuan mascot with The Black Knight from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."  Our animation is "Splat," about which the less said, the better.

One late correction: It has come to our attention that we mis-spelled Nina Denton Pasinetti's name in our end credits. We plead lazy fingers during out all-night editing spree.

Radio Free Charleston will return in two weeks with a show that is completely unplanned as we write this.  Chances are, it will have music, animation, and weird stuff in it.