Pony Cam's Burnout Paradise on Oct. 28th and 29th Is Theater Like You've Never Seen Before
Carolina Performing Arts welcomed the Australian experimental theater collective Pony Cam to Chapel Hill Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 28th and 29th, for Burnout Paradise, an hour-long collision of physical endurance, absurd humor, and existential commentary.…
Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical at NRACT Is a Fun-Filled Trip Down Memory Lane
The North Raleigh Arts & Creative Theatre's current production of Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical, directed by Mike McGee and choreographed by Molly Hamelin, with music direction by Mary Kathryn Walston, is a deliciously nostalgic, cheeky, and musically charged romp through the morally twisted world of the 1999 cult classic film…
The Wolves at PlayMakers Rep Is Fierce, Funny, and Utterly Human
A bright green expanse of AstroTurf stretches across the stage, as if the audience has stumbled into a Saturday morning scrimmage. The bleachers rise from the edge of this miniature arena, wrapping the spectators directly into the space of the players. Before a word is spoken, director Aubrey Snowden's staging of Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves announces its athletics-driven intent…
The Sound of Music at DPAC Is a Lavish, Heartfelt Revival of a Timeless Classic
…On opening night, the audience ranged from preschoolers to octogenarians, proving the show's enduring cross-generational appeal. This Sound of Music is more than a revival -- it's a reminder that joy, courage, and family perseveres even in the darkest times. It's well worth staying up past bedtime.…
Jenny Giering and Sean Barry's Ambitious, Autobiographical One-Woman Musical, What We Leave Behind, Still Has a Way to Go
What We Leave Behind, Theatre Raleigh's current offering, presented in partnership with the Capital Arts Theatre Guild, is an ambitious new musical written by Jenny Giering and Sean Barry.…
A Good Boy Is Not a Perfect Production, but it is an Important One
…This particular project emerged from an invitation by the lead psychologist at Central Prison in Raleigh after they saw an earlier Hidden Voices production about women in prison. The collaboration that followed -- with death row inmates and their families -- shaped the script of A Good Boy…
Scrap Paper Shakespeare's Love's Labor's Lost Is a Highly Entertaining Night Out
There is much to say about Scrap Paper Shakespeare's production of Love's Labor's Lost at Durham's Shadowbox Studio. First is that Scrap Paper Shakespeare, a nonprofit (501c3) local theater, founded less than three years ago, is moving right along…
Theatre Raleigh's Sold-Out Aug. 6-24 Production of Waitress Is Officially My Favorite Musical Ever
I was so excited when I got tickets to see Waitress: The Musical, directed by Eric Woodall, at Theatre Raleigh, right here in the Triangle, that I thought I couldn't help but be disappointed. Well, let me assure you: Theatre Raleigh did not disappoint…
The National Tour of The Wiz at DPAC Is Dazzling and Soulful, with Room to Grow
Fifty years after The Wiz first hit Broadway and swept the 1975 Tony Awards®, with its all-Black cast winning seven Tonys, including Best Musical, the iconic retelling of The Wizard of Oz is back -- revitalized, resplendent, and currently rocking the Durham Performing Arts Center through Sunday, Aug. 10th…
Voices Soar in Operatic Les Misérables at DPAC
The Durham Performing Arts Center's July 15-20 presentation of Les Misérables, produced by Cameron Mackintosh and directed by James Powell and Laurence Connor, is nothing short of American Opera. I can imagine it being performed at the Sydney Opera House, with The Three Tenors in the leading male roles. Not only are the vocals the kind you hear at a church cathedral concert, but the set is akin to those of the Paris Opera at the turn of the 19th century, which isn't too far from when Les Mis is set…
Playmakers’ Little Shop of Horrors Justifies the Multigenerational Cult Classic
The current PlayMakers Repertory Company production of Little Shop of Horrors has all the makings of a Broadway production, especially the strong vocal talents required by characters Audrey, plant Audrey II, and the trio of female "street urchins" who narrate in harmonic doo-wop throughout the production…
Mengwe Wapimewah Gives a Broadway-Caliber Performance in Dominique Morisseau's Confederates at PlayMakers Rep
Set in two distinct periods -- during the American Civil War and in the modern day -- Confederates moves seamlessly between a one-room slave cabin on a Confederate plantation and a prestigious university professor's office in the current world. What could easily become preachy or overly sentimental instead feels strikingly personal and intimate…
Leanne Bernard's Masterful Lady Bracknell Is the Star of Stone Soup Theatre Company's Rendition of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest
… Stone Soup Theatre Company's Feb. 21-March 2 presentation of The Importance of Being Earnest is a production worth seeing. Oscar Wilde's sharp critique of Victorian society is as relevant and funny today as it was in 1895. If you've never experienced The Importance of Being Earnest, this is your opportunity to see it in a charming, unconventional setting. The production is sure to leave you with a smile on your face and a few of the play's iconic lines ringing in your ears.
A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical at DPAC Is FABULOUS, with Flawless Music and Acoustics
On Tuesday, Jan. 7th, I attended the opening-night performance of A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical at the Durham Performing Arts Center with my mother-in-law, who experienced Neil Diamond's music as it was released; but I had never been a Neil Diamond fan. Well, I am now…
Stone Soup Theatre Company's Guys on Ice Is a Fun and Quirky Musical About ... Ice-Fishing
Stone Soup Theatre Company's production of Guys on Ice: An Ice Fishing Musical is a fun and quirky performance that brings together humor, catchy tunes, and a sense of community. Directed by Melissa S. Craib Dombrowski, with music director Dr. Joanna Sisk-Purvis, the show presents a day in the life of a couple of guys from Wisconsin, combining ice fishing, friendship, and Green Bay Packers fandom in an intimate look at the upper Midwestern United States.
Howard L. Craft and Mike Wiley's The Christmas Case of Hezekiah Jones Is a Live, Local, Family-Friendly Holiday-Themed Entertainment
The story focuses on Hezekiah Jones, a Chapel Hill toymaker who is losing his joy in Christmas and just about everything else after the recent death of his wife. Hezekiah's daughter Harriet, who is studying at UNC to be an astrophysicist, is worried that her father is going to sell the store, due to rising costs, technology, and declining customers. Dizzle Jollyworth, a North Pole elf who has lost his sense of purpose, has been assigned to revive Hezekiah Jones' Christmas spirit.
Scrap Paper Shakespeare's Dec. 6-15 Production of Claire F. Martin's 2023 Feminist Comedy, Arabella, Is Up Close and Personal at Yours, Durham
Belle Esprit premiered Arabella at Atlanta's Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse in 2023, making Scrap Paper Shakespeare's production only the second time the play has been performed publicly.
The Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens' American Railroad Really Is A Musical Journey of Reclamation
…At two hours long with an additional 20-minute intermission, an evening performance of Silkroad's American Railroad is not for the faint hearted. But you will only benefit from this passionately auditory reflection on those nameless souls who have contributed (and continue to do so) to the freedom and convenience enjoyed in America.
What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck Champions Truly Equal, Inclusive, and Just Governance
…From the legal definition of "penumbra" to positive verses negative rights to the Town of Castle Rock versus Gonzalez and other frightening Supreme Court decisions, every American should experience the lessons contained in What the Constitution Means to Me.