DRAMA
September 11 - 29, 2019
Native Son
Admission: $15+
On Chicago’s South Side in the 1930s, Bigger Thomas struggles to find a place for himself in a world where systemic oppression and poverty make fear and violence the everyday currency of life. Most famously adapted by Carolina’s own Paul Green, Richard Wright’s seminal novel is ready to capture the hearts and minds of another generation with Nambi E. Kelley’s heart-stopping and theatrical new adaptation.
PlayMakers Reperatory Company
120 Country Club Rd, Chapel Hill
919-962-7529
www.playmakersrep.org
September 13 - 14, 2019 & 19 - 20, 2019
Sweet Mam Stringbean: The Ethel Waters Story
Admission: $20.00
“Sweet Mama Stringbean” is a one-woman musical celebration of Blues woman, Ethel Waters.
Ethel Waters was the Beyonce or Halle Berry of her day. Waters was a 'Super Star' during the depression-era. As a Broadway star and an Academy Award nominee, she could 'shake her thang' and make audiences shake with pleasure. Share her musical story in this play that received a commendation from the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Familiar and passionate songs of the jazz age highlight this musical, dramatic story of Ethel Waters' rise to fame. Born in poverty, Ethel was one of the greatest artists of her generation. She was the first Black woman to sing on the radio, the first to headline a show at New York's Palace Theatre and the first to star in a dramatic play on Broadway. In her later years, Waters was nominated for two Academy Awards, before traveling as a soloist, with the Billy Graham Crusade.
Hayti Heritage Center
804 Old Fayetteville Street, Durham, NC
(919) 957-9692
www.agapetheatreproject.com
September 27 - October 13, 2019
Blood at the Root
Admission: $14+
Based on the true story of the Jena Six; six Black students who were initially charged with attempted murder for a school fight after being provoked with nooses hanging from a tree on campus. This bold ensemble drama examines the miscarriage of justice, racial double standards, the crisis in relations between men and women of all classes and, as a result, the shattering state of Black family life.
Raleigh Little Theatre
Gaddy-Goodwin Teaching Theatre
301 Pogue Street, Raleigh
919-821-4579
www.raleighlittletheatre.org
November 8 - December 17, 2019
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
Admission: TBA
Trailblazers, activists, sisters, and best friends Sadie and Bessie Delany – both over 100 years old – take audiences on an inspiring and entertaining journey as they recount the triumphant stories of their lives, from growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina as the daughters of a former slave, to integrating a New York suburb during the Harlem Renaissance. This Tony Award-nominated adaptation of the real-life sisters' memoirs is a funny and heartfelt family drama you won’t want to miss.
NC Theatre
A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater
2 E South St, Raleigh
919-831-6941
www.nctheatre.com
February 25, 2020 - March 1, 2020
SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical
Admission: $30+
Broadway’s Ultimate Disco Dance Party. She was a girl from Boston with a voice from heaven, who shot through the stars from gospel choir to dance floor diva. But what the world didn’t know was how Donna Summer risked it all to break through barriers, becoming the icon of an era and the inspiration for every music diva who followed. With a score featuring more than 20 of Summer’s classic hits including “Love to Love You Baby,” “Bad Girls” and “Hot Stuff,” this electric experience is a moving tribute to the voice of a generation.
Durham Performing Arts Center
123 Vivian St. Durham, NC
(919) 680-2787
www.dpacnc.com
November 20 - December 15, 2019
Ragtime
Admission: $15+
Nominated for thirteen Tony Awards® including Best Musical, his triumphant masterpiece bursts forth with show-stopping splendor and unbridled passion. Prepare to be swept away by the diverse rhythms of the turn of the 20th century as three intersecting narratives capture the rich complexity of the American experiment past, present, and future. Cultures clash, people change, and hope shines in the darkness.
PlayMakers Reperatory Company
120 Country Club Rd, Chapel Hill
919-962-7529
www.playmakersrep.org
January 24 - February 9, 2019
Bourbon at the Border
Admission: $20+
When May and Charlie joined hundreds of other Americans who went to Mississippi in the summer of 1964 for a massive voter registration drive, they had no idea their lives were about to change forever. As students of Howard University, their campus activism had been met with calls to their parents and threats of expulsion. The stakes in Mississippi were a lot higher. White supremacists, outraged at the challenge to their segregated way of life, responded with violence that left three civil rights workers dead and many wounded. Years later, May and Charlie are still searching for a way back from the damage that was done to them during that long ago “Freedom Summer”. Unable to confide even in her best friend, Rosa, about the demons that haunt her dreams and twist Charlie’s love for her into something she can no longer recognize, May is convinced that if she can just get Charlie to leave Detroit and cross the bridge to Canada, they can start a new life. But when Rosa’s friend Tyrone gets Charlie a job as a truck driver, the madness of that summer bubbles over until it threatens all of their very lives. BOURBON AT THE BORDER takes a look at the lives of two ordinary people who gave everything they had to the African-American freedom struggle but who have now been largely forgotten. In telling May and Charlie’s story, BOURBON AT THE BORDER outs the human face of the unknown soldiers of the civil rights movement by refusing to romanticize them even as it honors their specific sacrifices and the price they paid.
North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre
7713-51 Lead Mine Road, Raleigh
(919) 866-0228
www.nract.org
March 24 - 29, 2020
Memphis
Admission: TBA
From the underground dance clubs of 1950s Memphis comes the Tony and Olivier Award-winning musical that bursts off the stage with explosive dancing, irresistible songs, and a thrilling tale of fame and forbidden love. Inspired by actual events, MEMPHIS follows the story of a white radio DJ who wants to change the world, and a black club singer waiting for her big break. Come along on their incredible journey to the ends of the airwaves – filled with laughter, soaring emotion, and roof-raising rock ‘n’ roll.
NC Theatre
Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
2 E South St, Raleigh
919-831-6941
www.nctheatre.com
April 10 - 26, 2020
A Raisin in the Sun
Admission: $14+
Walter Lee Younger hopes to use his father’s life-insurance money to open a liquor store with two partners. His mother, with the support of Walter’s pragmatic wife, Ruth, and independent sister Beneatha, instead uses part of the money as a down payment on a house in an all-white neighborhood. Family tensions and prejudice they face form this seminal American drama. The Younger family’s heroic struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a searing and timeless document of hope and inspiration.
Raleigh Little Theatre
301 Pogue Street, Raleigh
919-821-4579
www.raleighlittletheatre.org
April 29 - May 3, 2020
Edges of Time
Admission: $15+
The Life and Times of the Marvelous Marvel Cooke. World Premiere. A one-woman show about the early life and career of the journalist, activist, and all-around unconventional woman. Starring Kathryn Hunter-Williams.
PlayMakers Reperatory Company
120 Country Club Rd, Chapel Hill
919-962-7529
www.playmakersrep.org
September 11 - 29, 2019
Native Son
Admission: $15+
On Chicago’s South Side in the 1930s, Bigger Thomas struggles to find a place for himself in a world where systemic oppression and poverty make fear and violence the everyday currency of life. Most famously adapted by Carolina’s own Paul Green, Richard Wright’s seminal novel is ready to capture the hearts and minds of another generation with Nambi E. Kelley’s heart-stopping and theatrical new adaptation.
PlayMakers Reperatory Company
120 Country Club Rd, Chapel Hill
919-962-7529
www.playmakersrep.org
September 13 - 14, 2019 & 19 - 20, 2019
Sweet Mam Stringbean: The Ethel Waters Story
Admission: $20.00
“Sweet Mama Stringbean” is a one-woman musical celebration of Blues woman, Ethel Waters.
Ethel Waters was the Beyonce or Halle Berry of her day. Waters was a 'Super Star' during the depression-era. As a Broadway star and an Academy Award nominee, she could 'shake her thang' and make audiences shake with pleasure. Share her musical story in this play that received a commendation from the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Familiar and passionate songs of the jazz age highlight this musical, dramatic story of Ethel Waters' rise to fame. Born in poverty, Ethel was one of the greatest artists of her generation. She was the first Black woman to sing on the radio, the first to headline a show at New York's Palace Theatre and the first to star in a dramatic play on Broadway. In her later years, Waters was nominated for two Academy Awards, before traveling as a soloist, with the Billy Graham Crusade.
Hayti Heritage Center
804 Old Fayetteville Street, Durham, NC
(919) 957-9692
www.agapetheatreproject.com
September 27 - October 13, 2019
Blood at the Root
Admission: $14+
Based on the true story of the Jena Six; six Black students who were initially charged with attempted murder for a school fight after being provoked with nooses hanging from a tree on campus. This bold ensemble drama examines the miscarriage of justice, racial double standards, the crisis in relations between men and women of all classes and, as a result, the shattering state of Black family life.
Raleigh Little Theatre
Gaddy-Goodwin Teaching Theatre
301 Pogue Street, Raleigh
919-821-4579
www.raleighlittletheatre.org
November 8 - December 17, 2019
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
Admission: TBA
Trailblazers, activists, sisters, and best friends Sadie and Bessie Delany – both over 100 years old – take audiences on an inspiring and entertaining journey as they recount the triumphant stories of their lives, from growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina as the daughters of a former slave, to integrating a New York suburb during the Harlem Renaissance. This Tony Award-nominated adaptation of the real-life sisters' memoirs is a funny and heartfelt family drama you won’t want to miss.
NC Theatre
A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater
2 E South St, Raleigh
919-831-6941
www.nctheatre.com
February 25, 2020 - March 1, 2020
SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical
Admission: $30+
Broadway’s Ultimate Disco Dance Party. She was a girl from Boston with a voice from heaven, who shot through the stars from gospel choir to dance floor diva. But what the world didn’t know was how Donna Summer risked it all to break through barriers, becoming the icon of an era and the inspiration for every music diva who followed. With a score featuring more than 20 of Summer’s classic hits including “Love to Love You Baby,” “Bad Girls” and “Hot Stuff,” this electric experience is a moving tribute to the voice of a generation.
Durham Performing Arts Center
123 Vivian St. Durham, NC
(919) 680-2787
www.dpacnc.com
November 20 - December 15, 2019
Ragtime
Admission: $15+
Nominated for thirteen Tony Awards® including Best Musical, his triumphant masterpiece bursts forth with show-stopping splendor and unbridled passion. Prepare to be swept away by the diverse rhythms of the turn of the 20th century as three intersecting narratives capture the rich complexity of the American experiment past, present, and future. Cultures clash, people change, and hope shines in the darkness.
PlayMakers Reperatory Company
120 Country Club Rd, Chapel Hill
919-962-7529
www.playmakersrep.org
January 24 - February 9, 2019
Bourbon at the Border
Admission: $20+
When May and Charlie joined hundreds of other Americans who went to Mississippi in the summer of 1964 for a massive voter registration drive, they had no idea their lives were about to change forever. As students of Howard University, their campus activism had been met with calls to their parents and threats of expulsion. The stakes in Mississippi were a lot higher. White supremacists, outraged at the challenge to their segregated way of life, responded with violence that left three civil rights workers dead and many wounded. Years later, May and Charlie are still searching for a way back from the damage that was done to them during that long ago “Freedom Summer”. Unable to confide even in her best friend, Rosa, about the demons that haunt her dreams and twist Charlie’s love for her into something she can no longer recognize, May is convinced that if she can just get Charlie to leave Detroit and cross the bridge to Canada, they can start a new life. But when Rosa’s friend Tyrone gets Charlie a job as a truck driver, the madness of that summer bubbles over until it threatens all of their very lives. BOURBON AT THE BORDER takes a look at the lives of two ordinary people who gave everything they had to the African-American freedom struggle but who have now been largely forgotten. In telling May and Charlie’s story, BOURBON AT THE BORDER outs the human face of the unknown soldiers of the civil rights movement by refusing to romanticize them even as it honors their specific sacrifices and the price they paid.
North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre
7713-51 Lead Mine Road, Raleigh
(919) 866-0228
www.nract.org
March 24 - 29, 2020
Memphis
Admission: TBA
From the underground dance clubs of 1950s Memphis comes the Tony and Olivier Award-winning musical that bursts off the stage with explosive dancing, irresistible songs, and a thrilling tale of fame and forbidden love. Inspired by actual events, MEMPHIS follows the story of a white radio DJ who wants to change the world, and a black club singer waiting for her big break. Come along on their incredible journey to the ends of the airwaves – filled with laughter, soaring emotion, and roof-raising rock ‘n’ roll.
NC Theatre
Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
2 E South St, Raleigh
919-831-6941
www.nctheatre.com
April 10 - 26, 2020
A Raisin in the Sun
Admission: $14+
Walter Lee Younger hopes to use his father’s life-insurance money to open a liquor store with two partners. His mother, with the support of Walter’s pragmatic wife, Ruth, and independent sister Beneatha, instead uses part of the money as a down payment on a house in an all-white neighborhood. Family tensions and prejudice they face form this seminal American drama. The Younger family’s heroic struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a searing and timeless document of hope and inspiration.
Raleigh Little Theatre
301 Pogue Street, Raleigh
919-821-4579
www.raleighlittletheatre.org
April 29 - May 3, 2020
Edges of Time
Admission: $15+
The Life and Times of the Marvelous Marvel Cooke. World Premiere. A one-woman show about the early life and career of the journalist, activist, and all-around unconventional woman. Starring Kathryn Hunter-Williams.
PlayMakers Reperatory Company
120 Country Club Rd, Chapel Hill
919-962-7529
www.playmakersrep.org