Mural restoration....dots before my eyes.
A friend of mine,
Joan Perry, posted on her blog her picture of the faded and marred mural seen on one wall of the Sotille Theater.
It is covered with adhesive "dots" left when tiles were taken down.
Not sure why it was covered over but, during a restoration, this hidden treasure was revealed.
My brothers and I grew up living on the peninsula and attended movies at all of the places downtown. The Riviera, Majestic, American and Palace.
We knew this as the Gloria Theater.
Frankly, I remember the blue sky overhead in a large circle - with little white lights for stars - but I don't recall large paintings on either wall.
I was a kid and more interested in the movie playing and making trips to the lobby for popcorn, sodas and candy.
Joan did
research on its history and said plans are to restore it to its former glory.
Heck, I am impatient and sat for a while applying effects from my
Topaz Plug-In. It's like Photoshop.
Here is my version of how I think it will look.
Thank you Joan for your delightful blog which inspired me to start mine 8 years ago. I did all this editing of your photo without permission from you to do so. Yikes.
Like my habit of belated fact-checking, I jumped the gun and hope you are pleased.
(Click on both to see the before and the after.)
One of the Topaz tools lets me adjust the perspective a bit, to make it appear more square.
Of course, the camera does not lie.
* wink * wink
Labels: American, College of Charleston Sotille Theatre, colorful "restoration", enhancing photos, Gloria Theater, Majestic, many dots in front of my eyes., Palace movie theaters, Topaz Plug-in tools, uncovered mural
We'll Always Have Parris....Island.
Yesterday I got as close to
Parris Island as I've been in about 50+ years.
One hot and steamy July afternoon all those years ago, I stepped off the bus from Charleston at P.I., stood on the famed yellow footprints and was officially greeted.
Welcomed was not the right word.
At that point, the Marines took over my young life. Well, them and the ever-present sand fleas.
I think my Reserve unit spent about a dollar bus fare to ship me to Boot Camp down in Beaufort County.
But, most of the 16,000 young men (and women) annually arrived at MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) by train and, for many, their first taste of The South was
Yemassee, S.C.
Apparently the train station is still an important part of the small town and a large fading mural depicts the glory days of steam locomotives.
My mother grew up in Yemassee and told me she and her 3 sisters often would wander down to the station - about when the train was due - and enjoy the sight of fit, virile young men trooping from the train and being assembled for the short bus ride to Parris Island.
Yeah, Mom mentioned that.
A Charleston native - even at 18 - knows summer here is hot, hazy and humid so I am surprised I agreed to enter Boot Camp in July.
Fellow recruits from far away places like Ohio and New York also were amazed at my profound stupidity.
After I had signed up and joined the local Reserve unit, I was sworn in one evening in a ceremony downtown at the Gloria Theater.
Today it's known as the College of Charleston's
Sottile Theater but my night there, standing on stage with a few other young recruits, is remembered as the premiere of the new Jack Webb movie called
"The DI."
As we sat in stunned silence, the other newest recruits and I watched a scary, pretty accurate depiction of what we were about to face. Yikes.
(Click on the photos for more detail.) I did NOT take the photo of the friendly Drill Instructors. That came from the internet. My palms still get sweaty when I see just one in uniform.
As a footnote, many years later I met Jack Webb while I was working at Universal Studios. He was shorter - and nicer - than he appeared in the Marine Corps movie.
At least I didn't salute him.
Labels: Beaufort County, Gloria Theater, Jack Webb, MCRD, Old Sheldon Church, Parris Island, Please click http://photo.meetup.com/687., The DI
Spoleto. A look back....
SPOLETO. A wonderful celebration-of-the-arts festival.
It's also very strict about photography and crowds.
This was a 2nd night performance by the New Orleans group "
Rebirth Brass Band."
Sitting in the first row at the Cistern Yard , I could see barricades on both sides of the stage. And the stairs in the center front were blocked with a velvet rope.
About an hour into the program, the barriers were dropped, the dancing crowds surged forward and cameras appeared everywhere.
Including mine as I snapped the nine performers and the happy party that had just erupted.
Sometimes cameras are ignored and sometimes they are not.
The audience at the Sottile Theater for
TRACES was amused when the announcer said "
Keep your cell phone on so you don't miss a call."
Then he added
"Take flash pictures although it might blind the acrobat and cripple him for life. "And
"Shoot videos to show your friends and family what you enjoyed here today."
Tongue was firmly in cheek so my camera remained dormant. Well, until the end as we filed out.
I wanted to have a reminder of the former Gloria Theater I remembered from my youth.
(Click on the photos to see more details.)
Piccolo Spoleto is a slightly different story.
Lots of acts and not too much concern about cameras.
I enjoyed quite a few this year and that'll be in another post.
Thanks for stopping by.
Labels: Cistern Yard, Gloria Theater, Please click http://photo.meetup.com/687., Rebirth Brass Band, Sottile Theater, Spoleto, TRACES
