By Pat Moran • June 20, 2025
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Weather: Sunny and hot with a high of 89 degrees.
Did you know: On June 20, 1770, educator and minister Moses Waddel was born in Rowan County. In 1819, Waddel wrote Memoirs of the Life of Miss Caroline Elizabeth Smelt, drawn from the letters and journals of a young woman who died at the age of 17 in 1817. The book was a smash bestseller in America and Great Britain, but Wikipedia says the book is “difficult reading today for its overwrought and pious sentimentality.” The 1820 census shows that Waddel owned 16 enslaved people — eight females and nine males, including nine children under the age of 14.
Jump to: Required Reading, Talk of the Town, Elsewhere in the News, Upcoming Events, Last Word, Issue on the Streets |
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The Weird and Wild Story of Morris Costumes Founder Philip Morris |
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Dear Charlotte,
I’m fascinated with weird show business — those instances where indie movies, carnival sideshows and sleight of hand collide. Back in the 1980s, a partner and I produced a series of videos about people who made drive-in movies from the 1950s through the ’70s. When you go back that far, you find that many movie pioneers got their start as carnies or stage magicians.
Maybe that's why I’m fascinated with the late Philip Morris, founder of Morris Costumes on Monroe Road. For a filmmaker and theatre guy like me, the business is already cool, packed with costumes, makeup, magic tricks and creepy animatronics. It’s Philip’s history, however, that’s inspiring. He was a spooky stage magician, a circus ringmaster, a TV horror movie host and an unwitting contributor to one of the greatest scientific hoaxes in history — the notorious Patterson-Gimlin film that purports to show Bigfoot stalking through the Northern California woods.
A week ago today, on Friday the 13th, ghost hunters gathered at Morris Costumes and tried to contact Morris, who passed away in 2017, to see if the magician would reveal some of his secrets. I’ll let you read below to learn what they found, but let’s just say nobody is considering it a wasted trip.
Morris came up in a Wild West era of entertainment, where show bookers could be shysters and presenting stuff we take for granted today — like gore and taboo topics — could get you tossed into a local county jail. Morris didn't go through established corporate gatekeepers like Amazon or Netflix. He made his own way, and in the process became a Charlotte icon.
Read how ghost hunters attempted to contact the late master of macabre magic |
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Sincerely,
Pat Moran
Staff reporter, Queen City Nerve
pmoran@qcnerve.com |
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Babymetal, Black Veil Brides, Bloodywood
Tonight, June 20 • 7 p.m. • Skyla Amphitheatre • $40
Originally a collision between the fresh-faced melodicism of J-pop and the shred and grind of metal, Babymetal exemplified the catchy, confectionary kawaii metal movement. Fifteen years into its boundary-pushing career, the band has broadened and darkened its palette. California’s Black Veil Brides craft moody soaring goth-rock anthems like “Goodbye Agony.” Hailing from New Delhi, Babymetal collaborators Bloodywood smash together thrash, screamo and snatches of Indian folk music.
‘Head Over Heels’
June 20-29 • times vary • Duke Family Performance Hall • $18-$43
For its buoyant, life-and-love affirming summer musical, Davidson Community Players turn to two separate eras — the 1980s and the 1680s. Head Over Heels draws its plot from Sir Sir Philip Sidney’s Elizabethan comedy The Arcadia, while the soundtrack of this jukebox musical is composed of the bopping new wave hits of The Go-Go’s.
IAMDYNAMITE, Faye
Saturday, June 21 • 10 p.m. • Evening Muse • $17-$20
Hook-laden duo Chris Martin and Chris Phillips, who compose and perform as IAMDYNAMITE, entwine energy and musicality into a combustible combination. Eclectic alternative band Faye debuted on the Charlotte scene with fuzzy indie-rock tunes with a grunge edge. Nearly a decade on, a promising band has evolved into one of the city’s finest songwriting outfits, balancing guitarist Susan Plante’s abstract metaphors with bassist Sarah Blumenthal’s straight-to-the-point punch. |
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Issue on the Streets
Volume 7: Issue 14
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