Diane Eikenberry

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Program Brings Together Many Facets of Arts Community

By Diane Eikenberry | January 16

Through the Arts Carolina link on UNC's home page, you can instantaneously check the dates of that Lab! Theatre show that intrigued you or the time for Tift Merritt's performance at the Student Union. Three years ago, no such comprehensive collator existed at UNC to bind together the various campus and community arts organizations. To search for theatrical or musical performances required minute scouring of newspaper ads. To learn about new exhibitions sometimes meant physical visits to the galleries. And now the entire Chapel Hill arts palette rests a few keystrokes away.

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Slavic Chorus Comes to UNC

By Diane Eikenberry | January 9

Its singers practice by pretending to call to one another from opposite mountain tops -- and no, it's not a Ricola ad. The Yale Women's Slavic Chorus will deliver the dissonant harmonies and distinctive vocals of Eastern European music to students and the community Thursday as part of the Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence's Thursdays on the Terrace series. This a cappella group will perform in the John Lindsay Morehead II Lounge from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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Dive Recommends

By Diane Eikenberry | December 7

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Animation and Fine Art Galleries Display Original Artwork

By Diane Eikenberry | December 2

An original Picasso priced at nearly $500 hangs unobtrusively in University Mall at Animation and Fine Art Galleries. Across from Radio Shack and catty corner from Chick-fil-A, not only Picasso but other great masters such as Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali and Claude Monet share wall space with original Looney Tunes cels and drawings. Associate Director Gregory Lacks pointed out that many collectors see animation as a work of fine art. "It can almost hold its own with fine art," Lacks said. Animation and Fine Art Galleries seeks to serve clientele interested in either ends of the

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Carbon Leaf Breeds Interesting Mix

By Diane Eikenberry | November 21

Carbon Leaf Go! Rehearsal Studios Thurs., Nov. 14 3 Stars You know you're attending an energized but unusual rock concert when a couple two-steps during the encore. Smiles rippled through the crowd as the rock harmonies of Carbon Leaf died down in Go! Rehearsal Studios on Nov. 14. The audience had just finished a cheerful trip with the American Music Award-winning band. Carbon Leaf grew out of Richmond, Va., and somehow sprouted Irish pub music buds amid bluegrass and rock 'n' roll branches.

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Overcooked Mystery Leaves Bad Taste

By Diane Eikenberry | October 31

"The Truth About Charlie" 2 Stars Thoroughly summarizing the plot of "The Truth About Charlie" would be similar to overcooking pasta -- you could still eat the pasta or see the film, but the experience would taste pretty soggy. "The Truth About Charlie" is a mystery thriller based on the screenplay of 1963's "Charade." Fans of the Cary Grant original will find this new adaptation as disappointing as mushy spaghetti. The disparity between the performances of stars Grant and Mark Wahlberg raises doubts that the two men stemmed from the same species.

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Meridian Arts Ensemble Plays in Hill Hall

By Diane Eikenberry | October 30

The Meridian Arts Ensemble performance visually unveiled a Renaissance tapestry Sunday afternoon at Hill Hall, playing a selection that was the definition of variety. A brass quintet plus the punch of a percussionist, the Meridian Arts Ensemble builds its repertoire on experimental foundations. Its Web site name-drops big-haired artists such as Bach, Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix, separated by hundreds of years but braided together in its concerts. On Sunday, its innovative performance made room for Stravinsky, Zappa and living composers David Sanford and Nick Didkovsky.

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Human Inadequacy Ties Two Plays Together

By Diane Eikenberry | October 8

The emotion of human inadequacy filled for an hour Sunday a small theater lined with cabinets. Ghost and Spice Productions presented two one-act plays by Ara Watson, "Final Placement" and "Bite the Hand," at Carrboro ArtsCenter. Director John Murphy said, "The plays were chosen because there's something underneath them." Pain and confusion seemed to be the something underneath tying the two performances together.

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Stale Formula Leaves Excursion Grounded

By Diane Eikenberry | September 26

Weekend Excursion Cat's Cradle Friday, Sept. 20 2 Stars Weekend Excursion can play its instruments skillfully, but the band fails to translate its energy into a unique sound. The band's benefit concert for the Carolina Cancer Focus at Cat's Cradle Friday engaged a small, smoky cavern filled with lip-synching fans, but the most memorable songs of its set remained covers of other musicians' more innovative work. A faithful take on "Johnny B. Goode" elicited the most enthusiastic response of the evening from the crowd.

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Freedom Monument Project Plans Public Art Exhibit

By Diane Eikenberry | September 25

The black experience ripples visibly throughout communities, from news to vernacular to public art. In Savannah, Ga., a stone family marks the disembarkation site of kidnapped Africans; in Barbados, a man confronts the sky with broken chains dangling; in Columbia, S.C., four granite blocks represent four African nations once commonly raided to feed the slave trade. But North Carolina boasts no public art depiction of the black experience.