Tag: Theatre Raleigh
Rock of Ages at Koka Booth in Cary Is Caught in Between Musical Theater and Rock Concert
It was a comfortable 72 degrees last evening in North Carolina, and I’m sliding my way to my second-row seat — Mountain Dew in one hand, funnel cake in the other. The sun set as both lawn chairs and beer cans are popped open in anticipation of a raucous night of rock music. From the… Read More ›
Glam Metal Hits from the 1980s Propel Rock of Ages into the Jukebox-Musical Stratosphere
For four high-octane outdoor performances on Sept. 7-10, Glam metal hits from the 1980s will propel Theatre Raleigh and the Koka Booth Amphitheatre’s joint presentation of the blockbuster 2005 Los Angeles, 2006 Las Vegas, 2008 Off-Broadway, 2009 Broadway, and 2011 West End jukebox musical Rock of Ages into musical stratosphere. This local production of Rock… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh’s The Secret Garden Is a Truly Magical Experience!
The Secret Garden is a story of love and loss, of redemption and healing. More to the point: it’s a story of magical healing. And Theatre Raleigh’s current production of this musical captures every ounce of that magic, creating a moving, uplifting experience that is not to be missed. With music by Lucy Simon and… Read More ›
1991 Tony® Winner The Secret Garden Brings Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 Novel to Life
The penultimate production of Theatre Raleigh’s critically acclaimed 2017 Hot Summer Nights season is the Tony Award®-winning 1991 Broadway musical The Secret Garden, which will run Aug. 15-20 in the A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh, NC. It is based on the beloved 1911 children’s… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh’s Lombardi Is a Winning Production of a Play About a Winning Coach!
Even the most peripheral of football fans have heard of Vince Lombardi. In his eight seasons with the Green Bay Packers, he coached them to five NFL championships, including Super Bowls I & II. Indeed, the Super Bowl Trophy is now named after him. Among his most famous quotes are his thoughts on winning through… Read More ›
David Henderson Is Astonishing as the Legendary Packers Coach in Lombardi
Because football actually happens right onstage between two very realistic sets of bleachers, audience members will not be admitted (nor re-admitted) during the 90-minute duration of Theatre Raleigh’s July 19-23 and 26-30 presentation of Lombardi in the Kennedy Theatre in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh, NC. The 2010 Broadway… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh Strikes Gold with Sandy Rustin’s Struck
Theatre Raleigh has “struck gold” with Sandy Rustin’s Struck. Directed by Gina Rattan, this production entertains and engages for a very brisk 90 minutes. And it left us with some rather tasty food-for-thought. Vera (Emily Kron) and Nate (Sid Solomon) are a young Jewish couple who live in a New York City apartment. Vicky (Melissa… Read More ›
Struck Is Another Fast-Moving, Laugh-a-Minute Comedy from Theatre Raleigh
Theatre Raleigh’s Hot Summer Nights production of Struck, a new play from a relatively newly discovered playwright named Sandy Rustin, opened Wednesday night, the first day of summer. This is another delightfully funny show, with a powerful mood-shaking twist part way through its 90-minute duration. Rustin’s humor consists of great and often preposterous gags —… Read More ›
Fresh, Engaging, and Contemplative, Struck Tackles Tough Issues with a Light Touch
Does everything happen for a reason? Or do people just search for reasons to makes life seem less bleak? These are some of the big questions at the heart of Struck, an engaging new play, written by Sandy Rustin, onstage now through Theatre Raleigh’s Hot Summer Nights and under the direction of Gina Rattan. The… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh Creates a Magical, Musical Midsummer Night’s Dream Like None Other
“Up and down, up and down, I will lead them up and down, I am feared in field in town. Goblin, lead them up and down.” — Puck; Act III, Scene II These lines, spoken by the mischievous Puck are musical and magical — almost Seussian in nature — and beg to be delivered… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream Is Lots of Fun for Old and Young
We think that Young Willy Shakespeare would have loved what Lauren Kennedy Brady and Morgan Parpan have done to his great comedy, or rather to A Thirty-Minute Dream, which Bill Tordoff adapted from The Bard’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The show, which lasts for not quite an hour, and is aimed directly at the young… Read More ›
There’s a "Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On" in Theatre Raleigh’s Million Dollar Quartet
There’s a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on in the Kennedy Theatre, in Raleigh’s Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, as Theatre Raleigh concludes its 2016 Hot Summer Nights Series with a rousing rendition of Million Dollar Quartet. “Million dollar quartet” is a gross (pun intended) understatement of the monies made by Elvis Presley, Johnny… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh’s Steel Magnolias Features Phenomenal Acting by a Dynamite Cast
Dothan, AL-born playwright Robert Harling seems to have an affinity for writing about women and their relationships – with themselves, with other women and with men. He also penned Soapdish, First Wives Club, Laws of Attraction, and The Evening Star (the sequel to Terms of Endearment). Steel Magnolias, now playing in Raleigh’s Kennedy Theatre as… Read More ›
Cool Summer Evenings: Georgia Stitt and Friends Was Thoroughly Enjoyable
Cool Summer Evenings is the yin to Theatre Raleigh’s yang, Hot Summer Nights. These concerts, held over the course of several Saturdays during the summer, give local artists the opportunity to take the stage and showcase their talents. On Saturday, July 16th, Theatre Raleigh presented Cool Summer Evenings Georgia Stitt and Friends, featuring singer/composer Georgia… Read More ›
Yolanda Rabun’s July 9th Cool Summer Evening Was a Hot Concert for Theatre Raleigh Patrons
Theatre Raleigh has been bringing quality theater to downtown Raleigh for several years with its Hot Summer Nights series. On Saturday, July 9th, they launched their new Cool Summer Evenings music series with Cool Summer Evenings: Yolanda Rabun. Theatre Raleigh’s website states: “Cool Summer Evenings is the side dish to Theatre Raleigh‘s main course, Hot… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh’s The Light in the Piazza Is a Unique Experience That Should Not Be Missed
As part of its sizzling 2016 Hot Summer Nights series, Theatre Raleigh is bringing us an utterly exquisite evening, performing Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel’s 2005 Broadway musical, The Light in the Piazza, in a portion of a statuary gallery of the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh. The museum setting is ideal for the… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh’s All My Sons Heats Up Summer Nights at the Kennedy Theatre on June 8-19
The lights came up on the stage of the Kennedy Theatre on Thursday night, with a beautiful, middle-aged woman in a nightdress sitting on a tree swing in the darkness of a thunderstorm. The violence of the storm and its destruction drives her back into the house, and all goes black once more. This moment,… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood Is a Riotous, Boisterous Entertainment
Theatre Raleigh’s Hot Summer Nights Series kicks off the summer live-theater season with a rip-snorting rendition of Rupert Holmes’ The Mystery of Edwin Drood (also known as Drood), based on Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel of the same name. The musical, for which Holmes wrote the book, music, and lyrics debuted at the August 1985 New… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood Is the Most Fun You’ll Have All Year
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a fun, interactive show, based largely on the unfinished Charles Dickens mystery of the same name. To make it even more fun and to get audiences out in time for a late dinner, Theatre Raleigh, as the opener to its annual Hot Summer Nights series, has developed a self-proclaimed… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh’s The Wolf is a Delightful Treat for Families
‘ There is definitely a need for more truly family-friendly theatre in the Triangle, and that doesn’t just mean shows geared towards kids. No, it means shows that are short and manageable enough for the littlest of little ones to sit through, shows with big, colorful acting that kids can enjoy. Fortunately, Theatre Raleigh has… Read More ›
The Wolf’s Amazing and Energetic Young Cast Triumphs Over a Problematic Script
Theatre Raleigh’s 2015 world-premiere dance/theater piece, The Wolf, is back, as part of the theater company’s new Family Festivities series; and it’s easy to see why this Family Festivities show has made a triumphant return. Joe Calarco’s script cleverly combines three wolf-centric fairy tales — The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Three Little Pigs, and… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh Announces Its 2016 Hot Summer Nights Season
including New Cool Summer Evenings Concert Series RALEIGH, NC- Theatre Raleigh announces the 2016 Hot Summer Nights Season including a return of the family favorite The Wolf (March 3-20). Next, Theatre Raleigh will premier an adapted story, The Mystery of Edwin Drood A Musical by Rupert Holmes– (May 11 – 22), followed by Arthur Miller’s… Read More ›
“Sleuth” Is a Perfect Mix of Mystery, Mayhem, and Comedy
For anyone who loves lots of plot twists and a healthy dose of comedy, Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth is an excellent choice. Theatre Raleigh’s production, as part of its Hot Summer Nights Series, features two of the Triangle’s most gifted actors- Michael Brocki and Jesse Gephart– and also benefits from precise direction by John McIlwee and… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh Lets the Audience Become the “Sleuth”
SO: Milo Tindle wants to marry Andrew Wyke’s wife, and he drops by to ask for permission. What could possibly happen? As members of the Aug. 5th opening-night audience of Theatre Raleigh’s Hot Summer Nights production of Sleuth, we become the detectives, trying to gauge not just “Who done it?” but also “who done what”… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh’s “Dreamgirls” Is a Sheer Delight!
Want an evening of top-notch entertainment? Lauren Kennedy directs the answer to your Dreams! Theatre Raleigh’s Hot Summer Nights production of Dreamgirls has excellent singing, acting, and dancing (with choreography by Abbey O’Brien), a superb set (designed by Chris Bernier), costumes to-die-for (designed by Denise Schumaker), and first-rate musical accompaniment (directed by Brian Phoebus). Plus,… Read More ›
Rustic and Charming, “Dreamgirls” Is a Hit
Made popular again by a 2006 film of the same name, the musical Dreamgirls, which deals with the rise-to-fame of a female African-American musical act in the racially-charged climate of the 1960s, is the kind of large-scale musical that is typically put on in an equally large-scale theatre. Despite that fact, Theatre Raleigh, as part… Read More ›
“A Few Good Men” Is a Must-See Courtroom Drama!
Playwright Aaron Sorkin’s writing, Theatre Raleigh guest director Michael Berry’s direction, and the talent and effort of the cast, designers, and crew of A Few Good Men make this 1989 Broadway courtroom drama an incredible evening of live theater. What is a “Code Red”? Who should be held accountable when the best intentions of “a… Read More ›
Light, Frothy, and Fun, Theatre Raleigh’s “Pump Boys and Dinettes” Is a Perfect Pick for Summer
Pump Boys and Dinettes, onstage now through Theatre Raleigh as part of its annual Hot Summer Nights series, is a fun little musical that’s just perfect for summertime. Light, frothy, and endearingly cute, it focuses on the four pump boys, L.M (Ethan Anderson), Jim (Travis Artz), Jackson (Michael Kennedy), and Eddie (John Skinner), a group… Read More ›
Theatre Raleigh Is Holding Auditions for “Dreamgirls”
Dreamgirls it is the musical based on the show business aspirations and successes of acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, and James Brown.
Theatre Raleigh Holds Auditions for 2015 Hot Summer Nights Season
Raleigh, NC- Theatre Raleigh will hold auditions for the 2015 Hot Summer Nights Season on February 15, 2015. Hot Summer Nights 2015 Season Lineup Pump Boys and Dinettes (Kennedy Theatre): May 27th-June 7th A Few Good Men (Kennedy Theatre): June 17th-28th Dreamgirls (Kennedy Theatre): July 8th-26th Sleuth (Kennedy Theatre): August 5th-16th Carousel – In Concert… Read More ›