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The Reeves Theater & Café Elkin When Debbie Carson first walked by The Reeves Theater in the 1990s, the 1941 movie house had been sitting vacant for years, and water
The Reeves Theater & Café Elkin When Debbie Carson first walked by The Reeves Theater in the 1990s, the 1941 movie house had been sitting vacant for years, and water
When the velvet curtains rise at local playhouses and world-class venues across the state, communities come together, the magic of the arts enchants audiences, and the power of teamwork is on full display. Find your seat and settle in: The show is about to begin.
When Debbie Carson first walked by The Reeves Theater in the 1990s, the 1941 movie house had been sitting vacant for years, and water was leaking from a crack in the roof. “I was not convinced it was salvageable,” says Carson, a former member of Elkin’s Main Street Advisory Board. But she couldn’t shake the thought of the decades-old theater being demolished. In 2013, Carson; her husband, Chris Groner; and their friend Erik Dahlager bought the building. Since they completed a restoration project at the end of 2017, the 252-seat theater has reclaimed its long-held role as a social hub, with live music events, open mic nights, a bar, and a casual café that serves dishes with locally sourced ingredients. Every design detail was intentional, from preserving the original mosaic tiles in the lobby to reclaiming the blue-and-white marquee. “It’s reconnected our community,” Carson says, “and that’s been the best part of the journey.”
Theater goers make moves to secure one of the 104 seats inside the Neuse Little Theatre. photograph by Charles Harris
Neuse Little Theatre Smithfield
In the windows under the covered front porch of the Neuse Little Theatre in Smithfield, photos from 50 years of shows shine a light on the actors and actresses who’ve performed at the cabin-style playhouse. “This one’s from Carousel,” points out Joyce Kilpatrick-Jordan, the theater’s business manager and a member of the board of directors, who starred in the musical romance in 1976. “Even though it was so long ago, the friends I made in that show are still my best friends today.” Housed in the former American Legion Hut, where USO dances were held for soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg during World War II, the 104-seat venue has provided more than 45 seasons of live theater to Smithfield and Johnston County residents since its founding in 1974. Before finding a permanent home base at The Hut, local performers shared their talents in school auditoriums and libraries. Now, the cozy log cabin serves as an intimate backdrop for five mainstage shows a year and summer camps that celebrate the artistic prowess of the Smithfield community.
The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem will present its third annual production of A Christmas Carol in December. photograph by Michael Hastings
The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem Winston-Salem
When Joelle Irons moved to North Carolina in 2021, the New Jersey transplant was searching for a welcoming theater where she could make use of her creative talents in the South. In Forsyth County, she found it. “When I moved here, almost everyone I met had a connection to [The Little Theatre], whether they’d been to a show or performed in one,” says Irons, who now serves as executive director. “Their love for it was infectious.”
The organization that is now The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem came to be in 1935. At a community meeting at Salem Academy, Dorothy Knox, a language instructor and drama club adviser, expressed a need for organized dramatics for the city. Community members agreed, and locals began meeting monthly and performing one-act plays in venues around the area. After years of searching for a permanent home base, The Little Theatre now performs in several venues on the campus of the Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County. In its 90th season, the company continues to offer classic and contemporary plays and musicals, from timeless favorites like A Christmas Carol to works by local playwrights, like Charlie Lovett’s Escaping Dreamland. “It’s a place where people have made lifelong friendships,” Irons says, “and that’s what I long to see.”
In the lobby of the Raleigh Little Theatre, Executive Producer Michele Weathers beams with pride, watching as visitors beeline to the venue’s royal blue gallery wall before taking their seats. They point to a photo of a young Andy Griffith, who performed in the theater’s 1952 production of The Drunkard, and plaques honoring Cantey V. Sutton, who spearheaded the construction of the performance center in 1936. These touches, Weathers says, “serve as a reminder of the theater’s early years and the generations of community members who’ve contributed to its success.” Situated on a six-acre site that once housed the North Carolina State Fair, the Raleigh Little Theater started in the ’30s, when a group of local performers teamed up with the Federal Theatre Project to bring community theater to Wake County. Sutton led the plan to construct a new building — with an adjacent outdoor amphitheater and rose garden — to create a welcoming space for residents to enjoy live performances. Today, Sutton’s dedication is reflected by 12 full-time staff members, like Weathers, and hundreds of local volunteers, who pitch in to work the front of house, build sets, sew costumes, and run lines for nine plays and musical productions each year. “Everyone has a place here,” Weathers says. “The theater gives us all a sense of unity.”
Newton’s New Deal-era post office was transformed into the Old Post Office Playhouse for The Green Room Community Theatre in 2010.
The Green Room Community Theatre Newton
In a post office turned theater in downtown Newton, Cathy Banner upholds a Catawba County tradition that began nearly 40 years ago. In 1987, founder Thom Hutchens wanted to bring more opportunities to experience live theater to the area. A group of locals hopped on the bandwagon and collaborated to mount The Green Room’s first production at the former Newton Elementary School auditorium. Banner, a UNC Greensboro graduate with a degree in music, took the stage during the theater’s first production of Grease a year later, and in 2008 was hired as administrative assistant. “Becoming involved with the theater was a life-transforming experience,” she says. As the theater grew in popularity, it became clear that it needed a location of its own, and the spacious old Newton Post Office was just the right fit. Today, evidence of the 30,000-square-foot building’s former life remains, including brass mailboxes in the gallery. With more than 10 productions each season and extensive educational programming, like after-school classes, summer camps, specialty workshops, and at least one all-youth production each season, the theater continues to be a beloved staple of the community.
The Flat Rock Playhouse, our official state theater, was built in 1952.
Flat Rock Playhouse Flat Rock
For Lisa K. Bryant, a phone call she received in 1994 changed everything. It was the end of her freshman year at Elon College, and the 18-year-old musical theater major had recently auditioned for a summer internship at The Flat Rock Playhouse. “There was a senior who’d just completed an apprenticeship at the Playhouse and told me it would change my life,” Bryant says. “When I got the acceptance call, I had a feeling he’d be right.” Bryant stayed involved with the Playhouse in a variety of ways — acting, directing, and teaching — before she was tapped as artistic director in 2014. The old barn-style theater owes its founding to a troupe of actors known as the Vagabond Players, who performed at various locations in the Blue Ridge area in the 1940s. In 1952, the group purchased an eight-acre tract of land in Flat Rock, forming the educational and cultural nonprofit that would become North Carolina’s official state theater in 1961. The 430-seat playhouse has evolved to put on a variety of annual productions, including comedies, musicals, and whodunits, starring professional actors from across the country. “When I came here as a teenager, I was surrounded by craftsmen who not only loved what they did but also loved sharing what they did with me,” Bryant says. “I want to pass that same love of the arts along to the next generation.”
Productions like Finding Nemo Junior at the Community Theatre of Greensboro showcase the talents of young North Carolinians. photograph by Jerry Wolford & Scott Muthersbaugh
Community Theatre of Greensboro Greensboro
Onstage at the Carolina Theatre of Greensboro, a girl in ruby red slippers belts out a song made famous by Judy Garland. In front of her, an audience of 1,000 sings along to the familiar melody: “Somewhere over the rainbow …” This Community Theatre of Greensboro production of The Wizard of Oz is one of five or so family-friendly shows hosted by the 75-year-old organization, and one that Executive Director Rozalynn Fulton has helped put on for more than two decades. “Everyone loves the movie,” she says. “It’s one of many productions that help teach our young performers how to be brave and speak in front of a crowd.” Fulton joined the Community Theatre of Greensboro after graduating from North Carolina A&T State University in 2000. Since then, she’s helped many kids build their self-confidence through the performing arts, from providing theatrical workshops to scheduling summer camps and classes. Each year, hundreds of Greensboro residents flock to the theater to participate in the magic that Fulton helps create, whether by taking the stage, volunteering to sew costumes, or simply kicking back and enjoying the show. “There’s something for everyone here,” Fulton says. “That’s the beauty of theater.”
For almost 100 years, the Sunset Theatre has entertained theatergoers in Randolph County. photograph by Stacey Van Berkel
Sunset Theatre Asheboro
Mayor David Smith remembers going to the Sunset Theatre to watch early-morning Westerns in the ’60s: Diffused light streaked through the big windows in the lobby. The scent of buttered popcorn filled the air. And a little boy sat mesmerized, in awe of his cowboy heroes. “It was one of my favorite places to go as a child,” he says. “I went almost every week.” Indeed, the historic theater in Randolph County was among the best of its day when it opened in 1930, with its Spanish-style stucco walls, beamed ceilings, and air-conditioned auditorium draped in thick red curtains. But when multiplex theaters gained widespread popularity in the late ’70s, the theater slowly lost its luster, eventually shutting down the following decade. Hope came when the City of Asheboro purchased the building 20 years later and committed to restoring the beloved Randolph County gathering place to its former glory. Today, nearly a century after it opened, the theater still mesmerizes patrons, who come to watch plays, classic movies, and Friday-night bluegrass. “If you went to the movies there growing up like me, you will immediately recognize the space,” Smith says. “It’s the showpiece of downtown, and we plan to keep it that way.”
Young thespians perform Bugsy Malone at the Hickory Community Theatre. photograph by Ken Burns Photography
Hickory Community Theatre Hickory
Standing in the Firemen’s Kitchen, the second of three stage rooms at the Hickory Community Theatre, Managing Director John Rambo is reminded of the courageous Hickory residents who’ve served. “Their dining table used to be here,” he says, pointing to the stage. “It’s a great reminder of where everything began.” The 1948 theater — located in the town’s former Municipal Building, which also housed its fire department — started with founding director Kay Johnson, who formed a small theater group in downtown Hickory. Initial productions were met with great fanfare and led to the theater’s first full-length production in the Municipal Building’s auditorium, the Jeffers Theatre. Throughout the years, the building has been retrofitted to accommodate additional performance spaces, including the Firemen’s Kitchen and the Old Council Chambers. With the help of a dedicated staff and more than 300 community volunteers, who produce nine or 10 musicals a year, the theater has sustained Hickory’s artistic legacy. In fact, in 2024, it became the sole Southeastern participant in the American Association of Community Theatre’s NewPlayFest, a prestigious national festival designed to invigorate community theaters. “It’s a testament to how far we’ve come,” Rambo says, “and our residents’ spectacular level of talent and creativity.”
Cuban artist Mabel Poblet’s ceiling sculpture Genesis welcomes theatergoers into the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts in Greensboro. photograph by Jerry Wolford & Scott Muthersbaugh
Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts Greensboro
Inside the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts, Mabel Poblet’s ceiling sculpture Genesis serves as a canopy for patrons gathered in the two-story lobby. The 200 strands of dangling reflective metallic and acrylic discs pay homage to the textile industry that helped shape Greensboro — and set the tone for the captivating performances to come in the adjacent show space. The 110,000-square-foot Tanger Center came to life in 2021, following the demolition of the city’s War Memorial Auditorium at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. In its inaugural year, the 3,000-seat theater experienced notable success, hosting Grammy Award winner and Greensboro native Rhiannon Giddens, among others, and garnering more than 17,414 season ticketholders — an industry record for a new venue. “It’s been amazing to see how much the community has supported and rallied around the theater,” says Scott Johnson, who, as deputy director of the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, manages the Tanger Center. For the past three years, the multipurpose venue has showcased both Broadway and regional performances, including the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, as well as Guilford College-hosted speaker events. “From the moment guests walk through the door, we want to create experiences that are nothing short of spectacular,” Johnson says. Mission accomplished.
The Durham Performing Arts Center hosts performers and productions from around the world, including bands like Georgia rock group Widespread Panic. photograph by Ian Rawn Photography, Huth Photo
Durham Performing Arts Center Durham
When the 103,000-square-foot Durham Performing Arts Center opened in 2008, North Carolinians packed the building to see blues artist B.B. King. Some looked from a distance, in no great hurry to be the first to enter as they admired the enormous glass venue. Others waited near the front, eager to take their seats.
The idea for DPAC originated in the late 1990s and early 2000s in response to the need for a modern performing arts venue in the Bull City. Recognizing the potential, the City of Durham embarked on a $46 million project to bring the venue to life. Its location — formerly the sites of the Austin-Heaton and Durham Light and Power companies, as well as the Durham Area Transit Authority maintenance garage — was chosen thoughtfully, with the goal of revitalizing the abandoned space downtown and creating a place the community could enjoy. Over the years, DPAC has hosted hundreds of performers and productions, from Albemarle-born singer Kellie Pickler to Broadway hits like Hamilton. Today, the facility also serves as the primary stage for Duke University’s American Dance Festival and for the DPAC Rising Star Awards, a program designed to celebrate achievements in high school musical theater throughout central North Carolina.
Charlotte theatergoers head to Blumenthal Arts Center for a show. Photography courtesy of Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority
Blumenthal Arts Center & Levine Center for the Arts Charlotte
Gold prosceniums, shimmering marquees, and decor as grand as the elegant glass venues in which they sit: At Blumenthal Arts Center & Levine Center for the Arts, “you’re going to see something that you’re going to remember for a long time,” says President and CEO Tom Gabbard. And that something can take place at any of the four theaters run by the arts complex in Uptown Charlotte: a Broadway series at Belk Theater, a Charlotte Symphony performance at Knight Theater, a comedy at the intimate Stage Door Theater, or a jazz concert at Booth Playhouse. The largest performing arts center between Atlanta and Washington, D.C., Blumenthal Arts Center opened in 1992 as part of a larger effort to revitalize Uptown. Over the past 21 years, Gabbard has helped ensure that the arts remain accessible and relevant in the Queen City, via both big-name productions like Wicked and relaxed performances like poetry slams and open mic nights. “There’s an appetite among locals for more arts in our city, and that’s something I admired when I moved here,” Gabbard says, “and something that I want us to feed.”
Before showtime, guests at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville mingle at the upper- and lower-level concession stands. They run through the performance list and order Southern-style crowd-pleasers like barbecue sandwiches before taking their seats. Home to the ExploreAsheville.com Arena and Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Harrah’s Cherokee Center opened in 1974 as a multipurpose event facility to bring live performances to downtown Asheville. In its 50-year history, the 3,000-seat venue — formerly known as the U.S. Cellular Center Asheville and, before that, the Asheville Civic Center Complex — has brought a roster of performers from around the world to western North Carolina. Today, acts ranging from solo artists to large ensembles continue to bring award-worthy entertainment to the venue: Singers serenade crowds with time-honored classics; violinists from the Asheville Symphony weave melodies; and locals and out-of-towners cultivate a shared sense of wonder.
A High Country restaurant has made a name for itself by tapping into the wild side of fine dining. Inside the stone walls of The Gamekeeper, an avowed outdoorsman finds a connection to flavors past.