Broadway hits highlight upcoming stage offerings

By Roy C. Dicks Correspondent

Updated December 22, 2017 4:45 PM

There’s no after-holidays lull for Triangle theater productions in January. A musical fresh from Broadway, a beloved stage star, a Durham playwright’s latest and more make up this month’s best bets:

“On Your Feet”

The lively musical about the lives of Grammy winners Gloria and Emilio Estefan, which finished a two-year Broadway run in August, comes to the Triangle on its national tour. The score includes two dozen Estefan hit songs.

Details: Jan. 2-7. Durham Performing Arts Center, 123 Vivian St. Durham. $30-$163. 919-680-2787 or dpacnc.com.

“Love Letters”

A.J. Gurney’s popular play follows childhood friends who grow up, marry and have a family – just not with each other. Their long-lasting love is told through letters over the decades. N.C. Theatre’s star-powered production features Tony Award-winner Sandy Duncan and local legend Ira David Wood III.

Details: Jan. 12-21. Fletcher Opera Theatre, Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., Raleigh. $27-$90. 919-831-6941 or nctheatre.com.

“What We’re Up Against”

Theresa Rebeck’s dark comedy about male-dominated work places pits a talented architect against her colleagues as she tries to break through their closed ranks. (Note: this Raleigh Little Theatre production is staged at William Peace University because of delayed renovations at RLT’s Gaddy-Goodwin Theatre.)

Details: Jan. 12-28. Leggett Theatre, William Peace University, 15 E. Peace St., Raleigh. $15-$25. 919-821-3111 or raleighlittletheatre.org.

Chloe, right, played by Lakeisha Coffey, confronts her father, Percy, left, played by Trevor J. Johnson, in a scene from Manbites Dog Theater’s “The Miraculous and the Mundane,” running Jan. 18-Feb 3. Ed Hunt

“The Miraculous and the Mundane”

Lauded Durham playwright Howard L. Craft’s latest play charts the disintegration of an African-American family when signs of the patriarch’s oncoming dementia begin appearing. This full production follows last year’s impressive workshop presentation.

Details: Jan. 18-Feb. 3. Manbites Dog Theater, 703 Foster St., Durham. $12-$20. 919-682-3343 or manbitesdogtheater.org.

“The Normal Heart”

Although Larry Kramer’s 1985 Tony Award-winning play (later made into a film) is about the early days of the AIDS epidemic and efforts to get the disease funded research, it remains a powerful call three decades later to fight all intolerance and indifference.

Details: Jan. 18-Feb. 4. Burning Coal Theatre, 224 Polk St., Raleigh. $15-$25. 919-834-4001 or burningcoal.org.

“An Act of God”

This production was a hit on Broadway in 2015 when it debuted with “Big Bang Theory” star Jim Parsons, and later Sean Hayes of “Will & Grace.” David Javerbaum’s irreverent, laugh-a-minute play has God appearing as a chatty personality, here to expand the Ten Commandments for the modern age. The production is a co-presentation of Actors Comedy Lab and North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre.

Details: Jan. 26-Feb. 11. NRACT, 7713-51 Lead Mine Road, Raleigh. $17-$20. 919-866-0228 or nract.org.

Dicks: music_theater@lycos.com

This story was originally published December 22, 2017 at 10:14 AM with the headline "Broadway hits highlight upcoming stage offerings."