“It’s a Wonderful Life” gets a pandemic twist, the Arboretum’s holiday lights show becomes a drive-thru event and more area arts news.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” gets a pandemic twist, the Arboretum’s holiday lights show becomes a drive-thru event and more area arts news.
Indoor library services return, the Asheville Art Museum launches a fund drive and more area arts news.
In spite of the northern setting, the themes of family tradition, hunting and the fragile yet dominating sense of manly pride all ring familiar to anyone who lived in WNC in the 1970s and ’80s.
Jaylan Brinson, as Alice Beineke, brings down the house with a magic potion-induced number that ends with her atop the dinner table.
A pop icon upends small-town sensibilities and stirs up some latent sexual tension in 1958.
David Mamet wrote this play in 1992, and the topics appear even more vivid and relevant now.
As this year comes to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on some truly extraordinary theater ranging from splashy musicals, moving dramas and locally written plays.
Both shows are decidedly darker and edgier than one would expect from HCT, and the theater company deserve credit for going out on a limb.
Those yearning for a thorough version of this classic will find it here. The cast rises to the emotional challenge and reminds us how wild and untamed Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof can be.
Some folks might be reluctant to take in a “junior” performance of a Tony-award-winning musical that was bawdy and raucous in its original adult version. However, the chance to see young people tackle this show underscores the importance of bringing these essential messages and opportunities to young performers.
At its heart, Guys and Dolls is a story about the redemptive power of love. The clash of religious morality and the amoral streets of New York never overshadows the lightheartedness of the story.
D.L. Coburn’s 1976 Pulitzer Prize-winning play opens on an old man playing solitaire. Weller Martin seems content enough in this low-end retirement community. But when he meets the new resident Fonsia Dorsey he is more than eager to cheer her up and teach her the game of gin.
The story is simple, yet becomes complicated when the titular rumors begin to fly. Deputy Mayor Charlie and his wife Moira are celebrating their 10th anniversary. They’ve invited four couples to their house for the party, but something is amiss.
If you like traditional rom-coms, this is the play for you. Significant Other, written by local playwright and Xpress contributor Jeff Messer is showing on HCT’s second stage through Sunday, July 9.
Another year of great local theater has come to an end, and 2016 proved to be exceptional for audiences who love an evening’s entertainment at one of the many great playhouses and experimental spaces throughout Western North Carolina.
The show contains adult language and delves into issues of racial relations. HCT is to be commended for its courage, and applauded for the deft execution of such delicate material.
The latest production, Matters of Choice, consists of three original one-act offerings by local playwright Sue Bargeloh.
Hendersonville Little Theatre has a new name. It is now, officially, Hendersonville Community Theatre. The rebranding launched with a production of The 39 Steps, a classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller with an old-school vaudeville twist.