Part One: Elevation Church. Elevation Church is one of the fastest-growing churches in the country. 33-year-old Elevation Pastor and Founder Steven Furtick draws about 14,000 members to weekly services at nine church campuses across the Charlotte region, the latest, a Lake Norman campus just launched over the weekend. With a $25 million operating budget in 2013, and a New York Times best-selling author at the helm, the church draws lots of attention. Pastor Furtick found himself in the headlines several months ago for his pricey million-dollar home and the church has been criticized for their lack of transparency about their finances. We'll talk with freelance reporter Emily Harris, who wrote this month's cover story for Charlotte Magazine about Elevation and Steven Furtick.
Guest
Emily Harris - Freelance reporter, she wrote this month's cover story for Charlotte Magazine, On God's Stage: Elevation Church. She's a former reporter for The Chicago Tribune and The Charlotte Observer and a frequent contributor to Charlotte Magazine.
Part Two: 'The Other Place.' For Matt Olin, appearing on Charlotte Talks brings full circle his experience in creating "The Other Place," a play about Alzheimer’s now playing at CAST. Mr. Olin helped to develop "The Other Place" after a segment of Charlotte Talks back in 2007 when he appeared on the program with a woman who had early onset Alzheimer’s. That experience led him to meet with playwright Sharr White to develop the play- "The Other Place"- which eventually achieved a spot on Broadway. Now, the play has opened for a month-long run in Charlotte, so we’ll talk about "The Other Place" and the development of a theatre experience that gives audiences a front row seat to the onset of Alzheimer’s.
Guests
Matt Olin - Charlotte native, principal partner of Olin Stage and Screen, recently moved back to Charlotte. Helped develop 'The Other Place' with playwright Sharr White.
Michael Simmons - Artistic Director of CAST (Carolina Actors Studio Theatre)
- Video: The Actors in "The Other Place" discuss their personal ties to dementia, the play's central topic. Watch here.