Asides: News of Triangle arts, in brief
Lifting the curtain on the 2015-16 theater season
It’s that time of year again – when Triangle performing whet audience appetites for the season to come. Latest to lift the curtain on their 2015-16 seasons are N.C. Theatre/Broadway Series South, PlayMakers Repertory Company and Durham Performing Arts Center. Here’s a look at what each has to offer for the new season.
In Raleigh
Shows that have made it to the big screen and back again will be featured on N.C. Theatre/Broadway Series South’s lineup at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh.
Sept. 8-13: “Dirty Dancing – the Classic Story on Stage.”
Oct. 20-25: “Into the Woods.”
Jan. 12-17, 2016: “Ragtime.”
Feb. 9-14, 2016: “Grease.”
April 29-May 8, 2016: “Wit”
July 26-31, 2016: “Disney’s and Cameron Mackintosh’s ‘Mary Poppins.’”
Season tickets are on sale now.
Info: 919-831-6941, ext. 6944 or nctheatre.com
In Chapel Hill
A Pulitzer Prize-winner straight from Broadway highlights the main-stage season for PlayMakers Repertory Company, the professional theater company at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Sept. 16-Oct. 4: “Disgraced,” winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama and Obie Award for Best Playwriting.
Oct. 14-Nov. 1: “Dear Elizabeth.”
Nov 18-Dec. 12: To be announced.
Jan. 20-Feb. 7, 2016: “Three Sisters.”
Feb. 24-March 13, 2016: “We are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Südwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915.”
March 30-April 23, 2016: “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”
Plays in the PRC2 second-stage series, which combines theater with a post-show dialogue between the artists and the audience, are:
Aug. 26-30, 2015: “Uncle Ho to Uncle Sam,” written and performed by Trieu Tran.
Jan. 6-10, 2016: “Highway 47,” written and performed by KJ Sanchez.
April 27-May 1, 2016: To be announced.
PlayMakers’ venue is UNC’s Center for Dramatic Art in Chapel Hill. Season tickets are on sale now.
Info: 919-962-7529 or playmakersrep.org
In Durham
The 2015-16 season for Suntrust Broadway at DPAC features eight new shows and two old favorites.
Sept. 23-Oct. 4: “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical.”
Oct. 13-18: “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder.”
Nov. 10-15: “The Illusionists – Witness the Impossible.”
Dec. 1-6: “The Sound of Music.”
Dec. 29-Jan. 10, 2016: “The Book of Mormon.”
Jan. 19-24, 2016: “Matilda the Musical.”
Feb. 16-March 13, 2016: “Disney’s The Lion King.”
April 19-24, 2016: “Cabaret.”
May 3-8, 2016: “42nd Street.”
May 24-29, 2016: “If/Then.”
Durham Performing Arts Center has season tickets on sale now.
Info: 919-680-2787 or dpacnc.com
Works in development
The final installment of UNC’s 2014-15 Process Series, a project showcasing artistic works in development, is at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Studio 6 in Swain Hall on the Chapel Hill campus.
“Beat Making Lab: In Performance” features musician-educator-activist Pierce Freelon and producer-DJ-drummer Stephen Levitin, aka Apple Juice Kid. The two have led Beat Making Lab, an international music and cultural exchange that promotes collaboration and social-entrepreneurial impact, since 2012.
Freelon and Levitin will work with past Beat Making participants from around the world to develop a new performance with audience participation that demonstrates the impact of music, art and activism. The series offers an opportunity to examine the creative process as artists and performers explore new ideas; audience feedback helps develop the works.
Admission is free; $5 donation at the door is suggested.
Info: http://nando.com/10t
Art and flowers
A four-day festival of art and flowers is on tap at the N.C. Museum of Art from Thursday through March 22.
The event features 45 floral masterpieces inspired by the museum’s permanent collection and created by world-class floral designers. It also includes master classes and floral demonstrations, including lectures and master classes by Shane Connolly, who designed the flowers for the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
“We are always looking for different ways to present exceptional art and create memorable experiences for our visitors, and Art in Bloom is the perfect opportunity,” museum director Lawrence J. Wheeler said in an announcement. “This festival will not only highlight work by some of the best floral designers in North Carolina and beyond, but it will also allow guests to view the art in our permanent collection in a whole new way.
Timed-entry tickets are $15 for adults; $10 for museum members; and free for children 6 and under. The museum is at 2110 Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh.
The museum’s West Building permanent collection will be closed to the public on Wednesday to prepare for the event; the museum’s East Building exhibits, restaurant, store and park will remain open.
Info: 919-839-6262 or http://nando.com/10u
Portrait of Kannapolis
“Kannapolis: A Moving Portrait,” a new film and music project incorporating footage of the Depression-era Piedmont, will be featured at Reynolds Industries Theater on Duke University’s West Campus on Friday.
Duke Performances commissioned the work – an original soundtrack by violinist Jenny Scheinman, performed by Scheinman, Robbie Fulks and Robbie Gjersoe – set to 70-year-old archival footage by the late North Carolina filmmaker H. Lee Waters. Director Finn Taylor and editor Rick LeCompte stitched together Waters’ films, which depict everyday life in the Piedmont from 1936 to 1941.
Reynolds Industries Theatre is at 125 Science Dr., Durham. Tickets are $28 and $34 for adults; $15 for age 30 and under; and $10 for Duke students.
Info: 919-660-3356 or http://nando.com/10v
Triangle talent needed
Wake Forest is looking for local talent to perform at its signature Six Sundays in Spring concerts.
Wake Forest ARTS will select the performers – musicians, jugglers, comics and others – during its first-ever talent competition.
To enter, upload an audition video to YouTube and send the link to info@wakeforestarts.org by midnight March 31. The contest is open to any performer or group able to perform live during one of the first five concerts in the spring series, April 26 through May 24.
Finalists will be notified by April 15. Each finalist will have a page on Crowdrise, an online fundraising site where audience members will be able to pick their favorites for $1 per vote. Voting begins April 24 and closes at midnight May 24. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three finalists.
Info: wakeforestarts.org
Jordan Lake photo exhibit
Photographs of Jordan Lake are featured in an exhibit that will be on view through April 30 at Cary’s Bond Park Community Center.
J.J. Raia’s photos, part of a three-year project, aim to capture the lake as a “quiet, peaceful sanctuary that can soothe the soul and calm the spirit.” Meet Raia at an artist’s reception from 6-8 p.m. March 27 at the center.
Bond Park Community Center, 150 Metro Park Drive, Cary, is open 9 a.m.-10 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; and 1-6 p.m. Sunday.
Info: 919-462-3970 or http://nando.com/10s
Jazz violinist to perform
Renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter will perform with her Southern Comfort Band at N.C. State University in Raleigh on Friday and Saturday.
Touted as the foremost jazz violinist of her generation, Carter won a 2006 MacArthur Foundation “genius” fellowship in 2006.
She will perform tunes from her album, “Southern Comfort,” which features arrangements of folk songs and spirituals from the South. Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and at 5 p.m. Saturday at Titmus Theatre. Tickets are $5 for current NCSU students; $27 for faculty and staff; and $32 for others.
Info: 919-515-1100 or go.ncsu.edu/regina
Geneaology course
Find out more about your ancestors in RootsMOOC, a free online genealogy course from the State Library of North Carolina, in partnership with Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University.
The not-for-credit course will be open March 23 through June 1. MOOC is an acronym for Massive Online Open Courses. RootsMOOC consists of five two-week modules, including lessons on getting started and staying organized, tapping into the U.S. Census Bureau and state and local resources, and using digital collections. Participants can spend as much or as little time as needed on each module; there are no graded activities or deadlines.
Participants will complete an ancestor chart, conduct interviews with relatives and share progress with other participants.
Info: 919-807-7450 or http://nando.com/10p
Tidbits
▪ Scott Ellsworth will discuss the illegal men’s basketball game played between N.C. College for Negroes (now N.C. Central University) and Duke University in 1944, the subject of his new book “The Secret Game.” His presentation is at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in the second-floor leisure area of NCCU’s Shepard Library, 1801 Fayetteville Road, Durham.
Info: 919-530-6254 or avann@nccu.edu
▪ Fire Pink Trio performs at 3 p.m. Sunday at the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh in honor of International Women’s Day. The performance pairs compositions by women with works in the permanent collection to explore expressions of female power and divinity. Tickets are $12 for museum members and seniors; $10 for 7- to 18-year-olds and college students with ID; and $14 for nonmembers.
Info: 919-715-5923 or ncartmuseum.org/tickets
▪ Dylan Commeret has been named the new vice president of philanthropy for the N.C. Symphony, its president and CEO Sandi Macdonaldannounced. Commeret brings to the position a decade of experience at the Ravinia Festival Association, summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he most recently served as associate director of development for major gifts.
▪ Michael Morrison of Clayton recently won a first-place award for his painting, “Herbs Galore,” in the annual Arts and Agriculture contest in Washington, D.C. This is the second straight year one of his paintings has won best in category. “Herbs Galore” is one of 13 paintings by Morrison, a U.S. Department of Agriculture employee, that will be on display through year’s end at the USDA Gallery in Washington, D.C.
This story was originally published March 14, 2015 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Asides: News of Triangle arts, in brief."