Civil War Play Thrives With Hip Hop Voice

Reid Creager/Qcitymetro.com — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:16:42 +0000

A 118-year-old literary masterpiece of Civil War fiction, told as a hip hop story? Really?

Yes. "The Red Badge of Courage" -- presented by Children's Theatre of Charlotte at ImaginOn's Wells Fargo Playhouse through March 16 -- takes an unlikely marriage of art forms and makes them resonate. Eric Schmiedl's adaption for the stage flourishes because he uses hip hop to accentuate the story's timeless themes rather than overshadow them.

Amanda Smith Dances Into History

Mary C. Curtis / QCitymetro — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:40:49 +0000

As Amanda Smith tells it, her father’s attitude was always, “Aww, my baby girl, she’s a little dancer.” Her mother, however, was skeptical. “This is just a hobby,” Smith remembers her telling everyone. “She’s not really going to do this. She’s going to be a lawyer; she’s going to be a doctor.” But once her mom saw young Amanda perform her first solo around eighth grade or so, “she was crying and said, ‘this is what you’re supposed to do.’”