Take the romance traditionally associated with dance and ballet, add the seasonal excitement surrounding Valentine’s Day, and combine it with …

This weekend at the Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College, about 400 people will see something unprecedented in this state’s history.…

Eighteen years ago, Patrick Michael Kelly appeared on the Trustus Theatre stage as a naive youth who ends up the object of advances from the i…

The Harry Potter & the Sacred Text podcast has spent the last four years expanding on a central question: What if we read the books we lov…

Before the opening of the Broadway mega-hit Wicked, now in the middle of a nearly three-week run at the Koger Center that will continue throug…

Walking into visual artist Eileen Blyth’s relatively small studio space is considerably more dangerous than you might expect.

If you’ve ever been sarcastically called “Sherlock” after making a blindingly obvious observation, take heart. Sure, you’re being insulted, bu…

Where does reality end and abstraction begin — or vice versa?

Dave Chappelle’s return to the spotlight continues, and the popular and controversial comic will return to the Township Auditorium in Columbia…

This Saturday, the Indie Grits Labs arts incubator wants you to come by and check out Other People’s Trash. 

This weekend, the South Carolina Philharmonic will deliver the four most iconic notes in the history of Western music, the central motif of Be…

Name-brand comedy acts are but a part of the plan for an ambitious events venue that promises to further enliven Columbia’s Main Street. 

Step aside, Charleston. Move over, Greenville. The year 2019 further solidified Columbia’s place as the epicenter of the visual arts in our st…

Jenn Snyder is nothing if not honest. The Columbia comedian says she started doing stand-up in middle school for a talent show and enjoyed it …

An essential presence on the local arts scene since 2007, the gallery and eyewear boutique Frame of Mind will close in mid-January.

You don’t have to be loud to wield influence.

Santa Claus the Musical celebrates magic and mischief at the North Pole. While the new Columbia Children’s Theatre production may never achiev…

If you’ve ever wondered what music sounded like 300 years ago, watching a live baroque music concert may be as close as you can get.

Trustus Theatre can always be counted on to take Columbians on a dizzying ride through differing cultures and time periods during the Christma…

Two and a half years after retiring as conductor of the University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra, Donald Portnoy returns this week as c…

Continuing its tradition of inclusive and participatory programming and outreach to diverse groups, the Nickelodeon Theatre is partnering with…

Jake “The Snake” Roberts lived a hard life during his 36-year career as a professional wrestler, both inside and outside the ring. Whether wor…

Regular viewers of the popular PBS program Antiques Roadshow will be familiar with the term “brown furniture” and the contention that younger …

Just months ago, thousands of red-clad teachers from across the state skipped class and marched past the campus of the University of South Car…

Never let it be said that Claire Chase doesn’t enjoy a challenge. Chase is an acclaimed flutist The New York Times called “the most important …

Tapp’s Art Center on Main Street — working home to some 45 local artists, venue of choice for edgy local bands, staging area for offbeat event…

Veteran actor, director and theater educator Elena Martinez-Vidal isn’t shy about telling Free Times how much she’s enjoying working on Trustu…

Most of the time when we say that someone is an “overnight success,” we’re speaking metaphorically. That’s not the case with Kalen Allen. The …

William Calloway, executive director of the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia since 2002, will step down from the position in 2020, the …

Carlisle Floyd’s 1955 American opera Susannah, which opens for a three-day run this week at the University of South Carolina’s Drayton Hall, c…

“Living Legend” isn’t the sort of term that’s tossed around lightly — even among actors and other stage folk, who can occasionally be, well, a…

Imagine that you’re listening to someone telling a story. They give you the opening lines, and you’re ready to move into the second act, the r…

Columbia’s love affair with Stephen Sondheim continues. Just as the revival of the acclaimed composer’s hit from 1971, Company, closes after f…

Of the many things that go into the development of a vibrant city, one of the most pivotal — and most elusive — is a sense of creative identity.

The Parker Quartet has spent 17 years becoming one of the most acclaimed chamber ensembles around. Since joining together in 2002, violinists …

Back in 1828, German composer Heinrich Marschner wrote an epic opera called Der Vampyr. In it, he told the story of Lord Ruthven, a vampire wh…

The work of Richard Samuel Roberts has long been thought to have given a voice to those who may not otherwise have been heard during their lif…

Columbia Classical Ballet’s new season arrives with a determined focus. This year’s programming will focus on female-driven productions, refle…

“Honesty is always my best policy,” South Carolina State Fair General Manager Nancy Smith tells Free Times brightly. The proclamation comes in…

The concept at the center of Visiones y Música, the upcoming season-opening Masterworks program by the South Carolina Philharmonic, is called …

There’s an enormous work of art under construction this week at Stormwater Studios on Pendleton Street, but no one — least of all the 10 artis…

There was a time when you could spot witches a mile away. The Weird Sisters from Shakespeare’s Macbeth were deliberate outsiders who wore chea…

John Gibson has booked and overseen the Cola Comedy CON for three years, spearheading the logistics of a three-day festival that puts more tha…

The word “genius” implies all-encompassing knowledge. When we use the word to describe an Albert Einstein or a Ludwig van Beethoven or a Vince…