You may have noticed by now that our issue today is devoted, almost entirely, to this year’s Spoleto Festival USA. We’re all very excited about the line-up, especially the cover story on Monkey: Journey to the West, a collaboration between opera and film director Chen Shi-Zheng, Gorillaz singer Damon Albarn, and Gorillaz illustration Jamie Hewlett. In fact, I bumped into Chen outside the Sottile Theatre yesterday afternoon. He was smoking a cigar, and then he was smoking a cigarette, along with seemingly every cast members of Monkey (smoking in globalized China might be another conversation altogether; I’m told it’s a mark of social status). Anyway, I also saw some of the rehearsal and it looks great so far. I’m eagerly awaiting opening night Friday. To devote all of my attention to Monkey and the festival, I’ll be putting Unscripted on hiatus during the Spoleto through June 8 or so. Meanwhile, you can read everyday about the festival at Spoleto Buzz, City Paper’s blog with daily updates, reviews, musings, and observations all about Spoleto.
