New Production of 'Amistad' to Headline Spoleto Festival

A new production of a freshly revised version of composer Anthony Davis's epic work Amistad will headline the 2008 Spoleto Festival USA.  Directed by Sam Helfrich with costumes by Kaye Voyce and an imaginative set by Caleb Wertenbaker, this highly anticipated new production will inaugurate the reopening of Memminger Auditorium, an historic theater in downtown Charleston that has just undergone extensive rehabilitation. 

Composed by Anthony Davis with a libretto by Thulani Davis, Amistad first premiered at Chicago's Lyric Opera in 1997.  The piece had not been performed since the Chicago run until Spoleto Festival USA commissioned Davis to revise the opera to bring this important story alive in a theatrically and musically vital way that would work within Memminger Auditorium.

The city of Charleston itself offers a unique backdrop for Amistad with its long connection to the history of the slave trade.  2008 is a year of particular significance as it marks the bicentennial of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, providing a particular resonance to the Spoleto production.    

The festival also plans numerous related events including artist talks and roundtables at the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture; guided tours of the newly renovated Old Slave Mart Museum followed by a walking tour of sites related to African-American history in Charleston and screenings of related films.  In addition, the Freedom Schooner Amistad – a replica of the slave ship currently on an 18-month transatlantic voyage – will be docked at the Charleston Maritime Center from May 16 through the opening weekend of Spoleto Festival USA.

Imani Winds, the Grammy nominated wind quintet will make a special guest appearance with the Spoleto Festival USA orchestra while the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a young African-American trio dedicated to reviving black string band music, will offer four concerts of string and jug band music of the thirties and forties.    

The hip hop movement and its place in contemporary culture is examined with penetrating insight in dancer and spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph's newest piece, the break/s, which recently enjoyed a successful world premiere at the Humana Festival of New Plays.  the break/s draws on a rich trove of sources which includes interviews with notable figures of the movement and documentary footage filmed throughout the world.

The Wachovia Jazz series will also host two distinguished African-American artists: vocalist Paula West in an outdoor concert at the Cistern at the College of Charleston and the acclaimed Cyrus Chestnut Trio in a program entitled Sanctified Swing.  With special guests Carla Cook (vocals), James Carter (saxophone), and Curtis Taylor (trumpet), Chestnut will explore the relationship between the sacred and the secular in a jubilant evening.

The Carolina First dance program will include the African dance troupe Compangie Heddy Maalem in its widely anticipated U.S. debut at this year's festival with Maalem's explosive Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), danced by 14 extraordinary performers from across the African continent.

For a complete program listing of the 2008 Spoleto Festival USA, please visit www.spoletousa.org.  Tickets are on sale now for all festival events.