Theatre North Carolina

The Best Shows of 2009!

2009-12-18T09:34:55-05:00

The TRIANGLE THEATER REVIEW wants to know what you think! Shoot Robert an email and let him know what show you loved!

What was the BEST SHOW that you saw in 2009 -- and why (in 250 words or less) was it the better than all the rest? E-mail your NOMINATION of one show in which you were NOT involved, onstage or backstage, and your NAME, TOWN/CITY of residence, and DAYTIME TELEPHONE NUMBER to me at RobertM748@aol.com. Deadline for receipt of all nominations will be 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 28th. The results of this informal readership survey with be printed in our Dec. 31st issue, and you may request anonymity then, but I need to confirm your identity during the editing process. --R.W.M.

North Carolina Theatre Conference Announces 2009 NCTC Awards!

2009-12-18T09:24:07-05:00

The NCTC awards are presented by the NCTC Board of Directors and Past Presidents to companies, schools, and individuals that have exhibited leadership roles in their community, as well as artistic, professional, or educational excellence.

The 2009 NCTC Award Recipients:

Bo Thorp (Cape Fear Regional Theatre)
NCTC Marian A. Smith Distinguished Career Award

Bo Thorp is the Founding Artistic Director of Cape Fear Regional Theatre in Fayetteville, NC. In 1962, Bo, her husband Herbert, and friends founded Fayetteville Little Theatre. Nearly 50 years later, the Little Theatre is now Cape Fear Regional Theatre, one of the state’s most respected companies with 3,500 subscribers. Bo is an exceptional artist, director and performer, but more than that, she is a force of nature in the Fayetteville community. She has found ways to reach every corner in every way – programming shows that speak to social issues, attracting underserved and diverse audiences, and encouraging meaningful conversations. Bo served on the NCTC Board of Directors of six years and has been an active member for many more. She has received numerous accolades over her esteemed career, mostly recently the North Carolina Award – the Governor’s highest civilian honor. NCTC is incredibly proud to celebrate and honor the career of Bo Thorp.

Steve Lloyd (Haywood Arts Regional Theatre)
NCTC Herman Middleton Distinguished Service Award

Steve Lloyd is the Executive Director of Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville, NC. Steve has served NCTC and the theatre community at large through many years of dedicated service. For several years, Steve chaired NC’s Community Theatre Festival, taking top production honors in NC three times and twice at the SETC Convention. Steve has served on the NCTC Board of Directors and is a Past-President of the organization. He has adjudicated numerous play festivals and auditions, hosted NCTC gatherings, and served as a leading advocate for Community Theatre funding and development. NCTC is incredibly grateful for Steve’s passion, dedication, and service. It is our great honor to present him with this award.

Greensboro College
NCTC College/University Award

Greensboro College is receiving the NCTC College/University award for a second time, making it the most honored college in NCTC history. Greensboro College offers an intensive undergraduate theatre training opportunity within the context of a strong liberal arts environment. In addition to their exceptional training, the GC theatre department works in partnership with NCTC to coordinate the SETC Screening Auditions and NCTC College/University Auditions and Fair. The students, faculty and staff of GC donate hundreds of volunteer hours to coordinate these events and also served as hosts for the 2007 and 2008 NCTC Fall Gatherings. NCTC is proud to honor David Schram, John Saari, Robin Monteith, and the entire Theatre Department of Greensboro College.

Hickory Community Theatre
NCTC Community Theatre Award

Hickory Community Theatre is a volunteer based, nonprofit organization that exists to offer quality live theatre, provide lifelong learning opportunities, and foster creative expression throughout the community in a fiscally responsible manner. The company is celebrating 60 years and is consistently recognized for the quality of their productions and depth of community service. Congratulations to Artistic Director Pamela Livingstone, Managing Director John Rambo, and the entire Hickory CT team!

Summer Youth Conservatory at PlayMakers Repertory Company
(a collaboration with The Arts Center of Carrboro)
NCTC Constance Welsh Theatre for Youth Award

In just three years the Summer Youth Conservatory, in partnership with the Arts Center, has become an outstanding program for youth theatre in North Carolina. From standard musicals to Shakespeare, the Conservatory students have the unique opportunity to work with the staff and artists of NC’s only LORT theatre. The Conservatory has made PlayMakers more accessible to the youth of the Triangle and has been a catalyst for the perhaps the greatest period of community outreach in the company’s history. NCTC honors Joe Haj, Jeff Meanza, Hannah Grannemann and the entire PlayMakers staff for their achievement!

North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
NCTC George A. Parides Professional Theatre Award

The NCBPAC is committed to supporting professional theatre in Charlotte and beyond. The organization assists smaller theatre companies by providing affordable performance space. They also developed Carolina Tix, which has provided a central box office with online presence for most of the Charlotte-area performing arts groups. The participating organizations benefit from weekly e-blasts to over 50,000 recipients every week. The NCBPAC has also served on the producing team of Broadways shows including Thoroughly Modern Millie, Spamalot and The Color Purple. Tom Gabbard, Douglas Young, Brannon Wiles, and other Blumenthal Staff members are active NCTC members, with the organization serving as a sponsor of the 2009 Producing Theatre Gathering.

Michelle Long (Charlotte Christian School)
NCTC K-12 Theatre Educator Award

Michelle Long is the Director of Fine Arts at Charlotte Christian School. In 2008, she directed “As You Like It” which received the Distinguished Play Award at the NCTC State High School Play Festival. The production went on to receive directing and acting awards at the SETC convention in 2009. Michelle is also an accomplished playwright. Students from Charlotte Christian School performed her play, “By Grace” at the National Performing Arts Festival in 2008 and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2009. Under Michelle’s leadership, Charlotte Christian School participates in the NCTC High School and Middle School Play Festivals and will serve as a host site for the 2010 Middle School Play Festival. Michelle serves on the Board of Directors of the Christians in Theatre Arts organization and is an active member of NCTC.

WNC Theatre League Presents Annual Auditions Feb 19/20

2009-12-16T19:29:48-05:00

A-B Tech will host the 2010 Western North Carolina Theatre League Unified Auditions Friday, February 19 and Saturday, February 20 at Ferguson Auditorium, 340 Victoria Rd, Asheville NC 28801. Modeled after the Southeastern Theatre Conference auditions, the annual event allows local actors to showcase their talents in a professional audition setting for a variety of companies throughout the region. The auditions have drawn up to 192 artists and 23 theatre, media and talent companies.

The purpose of the Unified Auditions is to develop a database of local actors and technical artists for regional, community and professional companies.

The schedule for the Unified Auditions is as follows:
Friday, February 19, 2010
Auditions for Actors 17 and Younger: 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Saturday, February 20, 2010
Technical Interviews: designers, directors, stage managers, musicians and technicians, 10:00-11:30 am
Lunch Break and Mingle time: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Auditions for Adult Actors: 12:30 pm – 5:00 pm

Actors are asked to prepare 90 seconds of material: one monologue OR two contrasting monologues OR monologue and 16 bars of a song. An accompanist will be available. Please bring your own sheet music in your key, as the accompanist will not transpose. Children will audition separately on Friday evening, and should present a memorized selection, poem, rhyme, monologue, and, if they wish, sing a song. Singing to tapes is not allowed. Actors must also mail, TO BE RECEIVED by Feb. 12 to Unified Auditions, Attn: John Russell, P.O. Box 2663, Asheville, NC , 28802-2663, 30 copies of a photo/headshot and résumé for distribution to the different companies. Designers, directors, stage managers, musicians and technicians should email for an interview slot and mail 30 resumes and appropriate visual materials; there will ample opportunity to speak with companies and field questions.

Pre-register by emailing info@montfordparkplayers.org. Please indicate in your email : a) if you are 17 or younger OR 18 and over; b) whether you will be singing as part of your audition. Registration begins at 5:00 pm on Friday, February 19 for actors, 9:30 am on Saturday, February 20 for designers, directors and technicians, and 11:00 am Saturday for actors. An instructional meeting will take place approximately 15 minutes before each audition session.

An Audition Information Workshop will be held Wednesday, February 3 at 6:00 PM at A-B Tech’s Simpson Lecture Hall. At this workshop, actors will hear from a panel of directors and casting agents on effective auditioning techniques and what to expect at the auditions. Pre-registration is not required.

OMG!! 1000 Posts!

2009-12-11T18:14:17-05:00

Wow! This is my 1000th post!

I love my little blog and I'm so happy that others do too.

Thanks so much for reading.

I hope that you've found Theatre North Carolina useful, fun and interesting.

Here's to the next 1000!

NCTC Play Festival Host Sites Needed

2009-12-10T10:05:40-05:00

NCTC is searching for a host site for the 2010 Middle School Play Festival, scheduled for Saturday, March 20 (one day only). One of our confirmed host sites had an unexpected scheduling conflict and we are in desperate need of a replacement host site, ideally within a 2 hours drive to Charlotte.

We are also searching for host sites for the 2010 High School Play Festival. The tentative dates for these festivals are October 29/30 and November 5/6.

Would you be interested in hosting?

Benefits of hosting include -

- The ability to show off your school and programs.

- The chance (if you are a College or Private High School) to recruit students for your programs.

- The opportunity to get great press exposure.

- A great learning opportunity for students - introduce your students to arts management and event planning.

- Service to your state theatre community and the future theatre artists and audiences of North Carolina!

The Middle School Festival will consist of 10 plays on one day and the High School Fest is 16 plays over two days. You and your space would need to be available from very early in the morning to very late at night. NCTC is not able to rent your space or pay any fees, but provides a small host stipend. NCTC provides adjudicators and on-site representation from the NCTC board to assist you. The NCTC Executive Director would provide you with a host training packet and extensive phone training. The NCTC office also handles all registration and payment information.

You would need to provide the following:

- A proscenium theatre space with 300+ seats and backstage space that can accommodate 4 shows loading into a 10x10 space each

- A coordinator (teacher, faculty or staff member) that will be the point of contact with NCTC, will handle scheduling, will send out materials to schools, organize light/sound cue sheet, design and print the programs, and run the festival

- A crew of volunteers (some can be students) to serve as stage managers, time keepers, ushers, light/sound technicians, and liaisons to each school

- A basic lighting plot and sound system, and adults or advanced students to run the boards

- Programs - schools will email program pages to you upon registering for you to create copies of the program for each participant

Please contact angelahays@nctc.org if you might be able to host the festival. Obviously, we're on a bit of a time crunch for the Middle School Festival, as registration is scheduled to open in January, so we look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Thank you so very much for your consideration!

2009 High School Play Festival Results

2009-12-10T10:02:32-05:00

The North Carolina Theatre Conference has posted the results from the regional and state High School Play Festivals!

Check them out here! http://www.nctc.org/events/hs_festival.php.

Awesome job by all the participants and congratulations to

Shelby High School's LONE STAR and Pinecrest High School's AT THE BOTTOM OF LAKE MISSOULA, the two State Distinguished Play award recipients, who will go on to represent our state at the SETC Convention in March.

Jane Eyre by Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern Dec 3-19

2009-12-02T18:52:32-05:00

Jane Eyre
By Melissa Lozoff
Adapted from the book by Charlotte Bronte
Directed by Tom Marriott

Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern
at Manbites Dog Theater
December 3 - 19, 2009

Just in time for the holidays, a show for the whole family. This new adaptation of the Gothic classic tells of a rebellious orphan who falls in love with a mysterious older man. But is there something he's not telling her...?

Epic NICHOLAS NICKLEBY on Stage at PlayMakers

2009-12-02T18:43:06-05:00

Even though I work at PlayMakers I sometimes forget to post what's going on at the theatre. I guess it's because I'm surrounded by it all day that I feel like I've already talked about the latest production. Well, Nicholas Nickleby has been running for weeks, the reviews are great and I haven't posted any photos or anything! Here goes!

The Life and Adventures of

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY

by David Edgar from the novel by Charles Dickens

November 11th - December 20th

PlayMakers Repertory Company presents the stage version of Charles Dickens’ masterpiece in two parts, running in rotating repertory. PlayMakers’ producing artistic director Joseph Haj co-directs the play with Tom Quaintance.

The Tony Award-winning play by David Edgar features 25 actors playing over 150 characters. Dickens’ novel is brought to life with all the colorful characters, fantastic twists of fate, sly humor and rich, interwoven tapestry of his immortal tale.

American Theatre Magazine called the production “the theatrical experience of a lifetime.” The News & Observer of Raleigh dubbed PlayMakers’ presentation the Triangle’s “most ambitious stage event of the season.”

Show times are 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. For a performance schedule and to purchase tickets call (919) 962-PLAY (7529) or visit www.playmakersrep.org.

All performances will be in the Paul Green Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art on Country Club Road. Tickets are $10 to $40. With the purchase of a ticket to Part 1, a ticket to Part 2 may also be purchased at 25 percent off. This offer cannot be combined with other discounts or offers.

Check out these great reviews!

A Child's Christmas in Wales at The ArtsCenter

2009-12-01T16:17:03-05:00

The Youth Performing Arts Conservatory (YPAC) and ArtsCenter Stage team up to bring to you a play based on Dylan Thomas's classic poem,

A Child's Christmas in Wales

December 11-13, 18-20
Fridays-Saturdays @ 7:00 p.m., Sundays @ 3:00 p.m.

THE ARTSCENTER 300G East Main Street, Carrboro, NC

Santa Photo Ops Saturday, December 12 from 3:30-6:00 p.m.

ELFAIR (Crafts Fair) Saturday, December 12 from 1:00-5:00p.m.

Under the direction of John Feltch, the eccentricities of family holidays and the magic of childhood come to life in this winter wonderland. The ArtsCenter’s 2008 production of A Child’s Christmas in Wales marked the inauguration of a holiday tradition. This year’s production promises to carry on in the playful spirit while making its own mark with such added features as traditional Welsh music, ghost stories, and lessons in boyhood swaggering.

Photos by Cecilia Durbin from The ArtsCenter’s 2008 production of A Child’s Christmas in Wales.

An inter-generational collaboration, the cast features seven students alongside four professional actors: Reid Dalton, Jillian Holmquist, Gabriel Leal, and Susan Siplon. With original music by Shannon O'Neill and Music Direction by Wes Schultz, musicians Alexander Brynildsen, Nathan Logan, and Bryon Settle will play guitar, mandolin, upright bass, percussion instruments, and
much much more!

Photos by Cecilia Durbin from The ArtsCenter’s 2008 production of A Child’s Christmas in Wales.

It's 2 jam-packed weekends of holiday cheer at The ArtsCenter. Santa and his knee will be available for family photo ops December 12 from 3:30-6:00 p.m. BYOC (Bring Your Own Camera). And The ArtsCenter's 3rd Annual Crafts Fair, ElFair, will be Saturday, December 12 from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Photos by Cecilia Durbin from The ArtsCenter’s 2008 production of A Child’s Christmas in Wales.

Join us in the ice-cream hills for all the tall tales, balloons, dessertspoons, tinsled windows, fire brigades and tons and tons of useless presents. We’ll leave a footprint so big, “people will think there’s been hippos”!

$10, $8 Members and Students 919-929-2787 www.artscenterlive.org

Touring Theatre Productions Wanted!

2009-12-01T11:34:35-05:00

The Stokes County Arts Council located just north of Winston-Salem is currently organizing our 2010 Winter Dessert Theatre Series

They are searching for small, NC based, 1-4 person productions for this series. The series runs from Jan - Mar, and they are in need of a Valentine themed program for our Sat. Feb. 13 date. Venues are not state of the art, usually held at schools/churches, with audiences ranging in size from 75-150. Compensation range is between $600 - $900 per program. Past performers have included Mike Wiley, Michael Huie, Touring Theatre of NC, and NC Shakespeare Festival.

For anyone interested in participating, please contact Eddy McGee, Executive Director at the Stokes County Arts Council at
336 593-8159, or by email at stokesarts@embarqmail.com