When Renate Pore looked into the state’s history ratifying the 19th amendment – which ultimately granted women the right to vote – she was surprised to learn what had gone on in 1920 in the West Virginia Legislature.
When Renate Pore looked into the state’s history ratifying the 19th amendment – which ultimately granted women the right to vote – she was surprised to learn what had gone on in 1920 in the West Virginia Legislature.
The story revolves around missing state Sen. Jesse Bloch of Wheeling, who had gone to California on vacation while the legislature was in a deadlocked vote on the amendment. Bloch returned to West Virginia to break the tie in favor of women’s voting rights.
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West Virginia Sen. Jesse Bloch played a major role in the state legislature ratifying the 19th amendment.
“After I did all that research, I thought, ‘This would make a really fun play,’” Pore, 79, said.
She began looking into the story as the country was getting ready to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of women’s suffrage, and after a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pore’s idea will come to the stage this weekend in Charleston. The show runs Oct. 14-15 and begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Culture Center.
Pore teamed up with West Virginia playwright Dan Kehde and director Susan Marsh-Minnerly.
“We hope we can make this story accessible, and we hope young people will come out and think about how important the right to vote is and how hard women (and some men, too) worked 100 years ago to make this happen in our country,” Pore said.
It’s a certifiable all-star line-up on this week’s show with performances by acclaimed soul troop Robert Cray Band, gospel legends The Blind Boys of Alabama, blues torchbearer John Hammond, and Dumpstaphunk, recorded in Charleston, W.Va. on March 23, 2014.
Led by keyboardist and vocalist Ivan Neville, New Orleans based funk outfit Dumpstaphunk showcased their instrumental prowess and unmatched liveliness when they appeared on Mountain Stage in 2014. Our Song of the Week is their performance of the title track of their 2010 album Everybody Want Sum.
Two Mountain Stage events scheduled for May have been canceled to comply with CDC guidelines regarding public gatherings. Refund details are below. We will work to reschedule each of the artists as soon as possible.
Tickets to May 10 purchased through Eventbrite will be automatically refunded. Please allow up to 7 business days for the refund to be credited to the account used to purchase tickets. Our local box office Taylor Books has closed as a COVID-19 prevention measure, therefore refunds for tickets purchased at that location cannot be offered at this time. If you purchased your tickets at Taylor Books, or directly from Mountain Stage staff at a live event, please send a photo of the tickets (including the full barcode), along with your mailing address, to live@mountainstage.org. We will send a gift certificate via U.S. Mail in the coming weeks, for an amount equivalent to the tickets purchased.
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We are working to reschedule an appearance for Saving Grace feat. Robert Plant & Suzi Dian. Refunds for the May 17 show are available through the Clay Center, or you may hold on to your ticket until the rescheduled date is confirmed.
Refunds for Mountain Stage scheduled for May 17 are available via the Clay Center. We are working to reschedule a date with Saving Grace feat. Robert Plant & Suzi Dian. In the interim you may choose to hold your tickets, which will be honored on the new date, or to request a refund. If you request a refund before the rescheduled date is announced, your ticket cannot be redeemed for the new date.
Please call the Clay Center box office at 304-561-3570 to request a refund, or with any questions.
*Note – In person inquiries are currently unavailable due to temporary closure at The Clay Center. Please call the box office Monday – Friday between 9:00a.m. -4:00p.m. with questions and/or ticket inquiries.
Please stay tuned to Mountain Stage on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates and fresh musical content, and be sure to listen for Mountain Stage each week on one of these NPR stations.
Due to public health concerns regarding COVID-19, our live Mountain Stage shows scheduled for March will be canceled. We will work to reschedule the artists as soon as we can.
If you purchased tickets for our March 15 or March 22shows at Taylor Books, they are prepared to issue refunds at your point of purchase. If you purchased tickets online through Eventbrite, Mountain Stage’s ticketing service, you can email live@mountainstage.org to request a refund. Refunds will be honored through March 30.
West Virginia University has canceled all on-campus events, including our Mountain Stage show at the Creative Arts Center in Morgantown, scheduled for March 29. Tickets for the WVU show will automatically be refunded by the point of purchase. Should you have any questions regarding this process, please call 304-293-SHOW (7469).
We encourage you to support your favorite artists by purchasing music or merchandise to help make up for lost revenue in this unprecedented time of uncertainty.
Stay tuned to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for fresh news, and some welcome distractions… like this Tyler Childers segment that just went up at NPR Music!
If you love West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s The Moth Radio Hour, you’ll love The Moth Mainstage, which is bringing a troupe of storytellers from across the country to the West Virginia Culture Center in Charleston this Thursday, March 5, at 7 p.m.
The theme of the night will be “We The People” and will feature a Mountain State storyteller. W.I. “Bill” Hairston has been a storyteller since 1985 and many of his stories are based on his experiences growing up on the Coal River in rural West Virginia. They embody the rich Appalachian culture and authentic African American culture he was exposed to as a child. Hairston has performed at concerts, festivals, libraries, corporate meetings and schools throughout the region and across the country.
The production will be hosted by Jon Goode, an author, poet, and playwright who hails from Richmond, Va., and currently resides in Atlanta, Ga. He has been a featured performer on HBO’s Def Poetry, TVOne’s Verses & Flow, and BET’s Lyric Café. His stage play Khalas was showcased in the 2013 International Festival of Arts and Ideas. In 2006, Goode’s work with Nick @ Nite earned him an Emmy nomination alongside the Promax Gold for best copyright North America. Goode’s debut collection of poems and short stories, Conduit, was published in 2015; has received to date 47 five-star reviews; spent 12 weeks as the No. 1 title in its category on Amazon.com and is the best-reviewed book of poetry on Amazon.com for 2015-2016. He is the host of The Moth StorySLAM in Atlanta.
Other storytellers include:
Jackie Andrews. She was raised in Western Nebraska in the 1970s. After college, she served as an Army officer and now lives in Columbus, Ohio. She is a glass artist and tutor and spends her days building her home next door to her daughter and grandchildren.
Andrea Collier. She is an award-winning author, journalist and photographer based in Lansing, Mich. She has been married to Darnay Collier for 38 years and is the mother of two adult children. Her favorite title is “GoGo” to her two grandsons.
Muneesh Jain — Originally from Kalamazoo, Mich., Jain has lived in New York City for 12 years. His biggest passions in life are baseball and Broadway. Between the months of April and October, you will most likely find him in one of the 30 MLB ballparks across the country, catching a ballgame, talking to strangers and eating ice cream out of a mini-helmet. During the offseason, he’s probably at a musical or a play. He is the co-host of The Clubhouse Podcast where he and his friend, Anthony Rapp, interview celebrities about why they love baseball. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @RoundingThirdMJ. Jain was recently nominated for a 2020 Emmy Award.
Trevor Nourse — He grew up on the Kentucky side of the Tennessee border in a little place called Tuckessee. By day he is busy climbing trees as a forestry technician in Louisville, Ky. By night, he is a ramen noodle connoisseur. During travels to new cities, he loves to hunt down the perfect bowl of pork tonkatsu. And just for kicks, he is also an expert at misplacing his slippery iPhone and frantically dashing around new cities tracking strangers down to retrieve it with the handy dandy Find My Phone app. Nourse says he’s the luckiest man alive.
Tickets are available at themoth.org. For those unfamiliar with The Moth Radio Hour, you can catch it every Saturday on WVPB radio or streaming here at wvpublic.org.
Pokey LaFarge will make his fourth appearance on Mountain Stage Sunday May 10 in Charleston, W.Va.
On Sunday May 10 Mountain Stage host and co-founder Larry Groce will welcome back the incomparable Pokey LaFarge, who will make his fourth appearance on the show.
Tickets are on sale now to Mountain Stage Members for only $15. Members make a recurring gift of $10/month or $120 annually and receive presale access and frequent discounts to our Culture Center shows. General Admission tickets will be $20 in Advance, available online and at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston on Friday, January 24 at 10a.m. EST.
LaFarge will join us shortly after wrapping up some tour dates through Mainland Europe. His latest release, Rock Bottom Rhapsody, is scheduled for release on April 10th, 2020 via New West Records.
Mountain Stage Members should check their e-mail inbox for instructions to redeem their discount.
Click here to browse membership levels and sign up to become a Mountain Stage Member.
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As previously announced, Mountain Stage returns to the campus of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio on Sunday April 26 at the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium as guests of OU Events and our affiliate WOUB Public Media.
This will be our first show in Athens with guest host Kathy Mattea, and we’re proud to announce our special guests will include British country-soul sensation Yola, songwriter extraordinaire Kim Richey, and the outspoken troubadour Carsie Blanton. Tickets are already on sale via OU Events. Find more venue and ticket info here.
2020 has already been quite a year for Yola, who appeared last night on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Her Dan Auerbach–produced album, Walk Through Fire, earned her four Grammy nominations, including Best Americana Album and Best New Artist.
A longtime favorite of Mountain Stage, singer and songwriter Kim Richey returns to the show on April 26, celebrating the 20th anniversary of her landmark album “Glimmer,” with a new release, A Long Way Back: The Songs of Glimmer, due March 27 on YepRoc Records. Richey recorded all 14 songs from the original release with two-time Grammy-nominated producer Doug Lancio in Nashville. The first single, “Come Around,” is available now. Richey just appeared at the Ryman Auditorium on the first night of Brandi Carlile’s recent resedency there, and she’ll embark on a nationwide tour celebrating the Glimmer anniversary, performing the whole album and some old favorites.
Socially conscious songwriter Carsie Blanton will appear for the third time on April 26. According to her website, Blanton is “inspired by artists including Nina Simone and Randy Newman, her songs encompass a wide range of genres, from sultry pop to punk-tinged Americana. Whether alone with her electric guitar or fronting her four-piece “handsome band,” Carsie delivers every song with an equal dose of moxie and mischief.” Her latest, Buck Up, was released in February of last year.
“American Kid”- Carsie Blanton
Tickets for the April 26 Athens show are on sale now, and May 10 is on sale now to Mountain Stage Members. Tickets will be available for May 10 at Taylor Books and online starting Friday, January 24 at 10a.m. EST.
