My friends were putting on their last show for a while, and I wanted to see how far they'd come since I left to go to grad school almost two years ago. The show was very good. The best I'd seen them do so far. The skits were amusing, the multimedia effects were timed perfectly, and the music was familiar, but were new, jazzed up versions. It was clear that a lot of people had worked very hard on this show, and the result was quite entertaining. Charleston's arts scene is truly going to miss this group of collaborators in the future. (The two main instigators of the Kiki project are moving to Chicago next month.)
A noteworthy artist: The Kiki sets were painted by artist Nathan Durfee. Some of his artwork was also hanging in the lobby of Theater 99, and I really liked what I saw on display there. Check out his website if you wish.
Otherwise, it was a quick, but laid-back visit. I stayed with a good friend out in Mt. Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston. My friend's house is very close to Sullivan's Island, which is incidentally where Edgar Allen Poe spent part of his life. Otherwise, Sullivan's has a charming main street and lush, curvacious beach with a good view of Charleston harbor. We went for a long walk on the beach and enjoyed meals at Sette IV and Mustard Seed, both excellent Mt. Pleasant restaurants. We had a divine coconut cake at Sette and a mouth-watering sweet potato ravioli at Mustard Seed.
When I had some free time, I walked around downtown, and I spent a lot of time looking at plants and produce at the Farmer's Market in Marion Square. The abundance of choices was overwhelming, and I ended up only buying some strawberries and no plants after much deliberation. (I'm now wishing I'd picked up some Black-Eyed Susans while I was there. They would've looked nice in my garden.)
And of course, the night of the show, I caught up with my good friends and former fabulous neighbors. It felt almost as if I'd never left.
