If you’re a fan of local theater, Western North Carolina offers plenty of options. Below are some highlights of productions hitting stages across the region.
Sing city
As NBC’s popular 1950s-’60s police procedural series “Naked City” proclaimed at the end of each week’s episode, “There are 8 million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.”
Over at Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville, theatergoers can see not one but four of those stories in Adam Gwon‘s sung-through musical Ordinary Days, which runs Friday, Aug. 9-Sunday, Aug. 18.
The work debuted in 2008 and centers on Deb (played by Kelli Hall), Warren (Joby Lavery), Jason (Eric Martinez) and Claire (Lily Bartleson), chronicling the comedic and poignant ways that their lives intersect in New York City.
“The talented performers singing some beautiful melodies is reason enough to see the show,” says director and costumer Jeff Catanese. “But I think everyone will find a character or situation here that they can greatly relate to.”
To learn more, visit avl.mx/9ol.
Ready for takeoff
Following the consecutive gut punches of The Shawshank Redemption and Cabaret, Flat Rock Playhouse goes decidedly lighter with the beloved comedy Boeing-Boeing.
Set in 1960s Paris, Marc Camoletti’s play (translated from French to English by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans) revolves around playboy architect Bernard (played by Keith Rubin) and his three fiancées: Gloria the American (Jessica Mosher), Gretchen the German (Maddie Franke) and Gabriella the Italian (Carissa Fiorillo). The international air hostesses are blissfully unaware of each other — that is, until surprise schedule changes bring all three to his apartment in the French capital.
Directed by Reggie Law, the audience favorite returns to the Rock for the first time since 2014 and also stars Cabaret scene-stealer Marcy McGuigan and Grayson Powell, the memorable lead in FRP’s 2022 production of the mystery Catch Me If You Can.
“I am very stoked about working with Flat Rock Playhouse on Boeing-Boeing after the wonderful experience of directing Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner in 2022,” Law says. “I am excited about this project not only because the playhouse is a wonderful community of creative professionals, but also I am particularly drawn to shows with farcical premises and absurd situations — and Boeing perfectly fits the bill.”
To learn more, visit avl.mx/dzl.
See you in court!
Arthur Miller’s 1953 play The Crucible is often credited as the definitive artistic response to McCarthyism, the “Red Scare” and the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings. But also in the conversation is Inherit the Wind, written by playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee in 1955.
Similar to Miller returning to the 1690s Salem witch trials, Inherit the Wind critiques a contemporary issue by reviving a story from the past: the Scopes “Monkey” trial of 1925, which found Tennessee educator John T. Scopes in court for teaching Charles Darwin‘s theory of evolution, thereby violating state law.
Haywood Arts Regional Theater (HART) in Waynesville brings this timeless drama to the stage Friday, Aug. 9-Sunday, Aug. 25. HART Artistic Director Candice Dickinson calls it “a nail-biting courtroom drama” and reveals that she “literally could not put the script down” the first time she read it. Director Terry Martin was likewise moved by the material.
“What I find so interesting about this play is that the playwrights directed the playbill to read: ‘PLACE: A small town. TIME: Summer. Not too long ago,’” Martin says.
“They realized that this man-made battle between fundamentalism and freedom of thought would always be lurking around the corner, and their story needed to be a timeless allegory, not a history piece. And how correct they were: It is now 99 years after the original Scopes ‘Monkey; trial’ and the same battle, under different names, continues to divide the nation.”
To learn more, visit avl.mx/dzm.
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