Carolina Theatre Launches Series ’26: A New Performing Arts Series

A new performing arts series from Durham's Carolina Theatre will continue to bring an influx of powerhouse performing arts to Downtown Durham.

The Carolina Theatre is launching an annual series named Series ’26. Referencing the year the theatre opened (1926), Series ’26 brings a parade of extraordinary artists to Durham for a host of shows during the 2015-16 season.

The programming chosen for Series ’26 features a wide-ranging mix of artistic disciplines: music, dance, opera, theatre and more. From recognizable stars like Stewart Copeland, Chick Corea and Béla Fleck to the exceptional, but yet unknown, artists in the touring companies of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and Metropolitan Opera Rising Stars, Series ’26 offers remarkable performances sure to be embraced by the arts-loving audiences of the Triangle Region.

Season tickets are currently on sale at the Theatre Box Office and at carolinatheatre.org. Tickets to individual Series ’26 shows go on sale on Friday, May 1. The series will debut with a performance from master musicians Corea and Fleck on October 4.

Discover more about Durham's thriving performing arts scene.

CAROLINA THEATRE INVITED TO HOST NEW FILM SCREENING SERIES

Durham's Carolina Theatre is posting some great news lately.  Not only did it announce this week that it is profitable for the first time since 2008, but today it announced a new screening series that makes it a must see for locals and visitors alike.

From their announcement:

The Carolina Theatre has been invited to host an exclusive new film screening series presenting the biggest independent films for one advanced screening in Durham before they’re in theatres nationwide. 

Each month, The New York Film Critics Series will premier one of the hottest new independent films days or even weeks before they are available anywhere else in the Triangle. Following each screening, we’ll broadcast a high definition interview with the directors and actors, live from New York City.

The series begins Tuesday, December 10 at 7PM with American Hustle, directed by David O'Russell and staring Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence. New films will be announced each month. "

Yes, this means that in Durham people can stay ahead of the curve on new releases.  Given the destination's reputation for being a documentary film mecca with The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, and as a back drop for many major motion pictures in the past, this seems only a fitting addition to the roster of film-related attributes.

Stay on top of all the happenings here with the Durham Event Calendar.

Carolina Theatre First in Area to Implement Ticketmaster Mobile Ticketing

Durham residents and visitors alike now have a new way to gain entrance to events and shows.

The Carolina Theatre in Downtown Durham will be the first venue in the Triangle to use Ticketmaster’s new mobile ticketing delivery and venue entry solution, enabling customers to send tickets to their smartphones and use their phones for entry to Carolina Theatre events.

“We’ve been eager to give our fans this convenient and exciting new option,” said Bob Nocek, President/CEO of the theatre. “There’s no more need to print tickets at home or worry about remembering to bring them. We’ll just scan their phone at the door, and they’ll use their phones to find their seats. It doesn’t get any easier.”

The Carolina Theatre launched the service late last week, and it is now a purchase options for all events in historic Fletcher Hall.

“Over half the buyers for our Boz Scaggs on-sale last week selected mobile + TicketFast as their delivery option, and now they have the option to send the barcodes directly to their phones,” Nocek said.

Tickets purchased with the mobile delivery option may be redeemed in a variety of ways, including the Ticketmaster app, the Ticketmaster mobile site and Passbook on iOS 6 devices.  Mobile delivery users may also choose to print tickets at home with TicketFast.

Nocek adds that being an early adopter of new technologies is not new for the Carolina Theatre.

“This is a great area for implementing fresh ideas. Our fans are eager to use new tools and they adapt quickly to new technologies” Nocek adds. “Two years ago, we were the first venue in the area to have our own app, and it as very well received.”

For more information about performing arts venues in Durham, click here.

DPAC is Number One

Again, Durham, NC comes out tops on a list, this time in the form of its internationally recognized performing arts center.  DPAC - Durham Performing Arts Center was ranked by the industry publication Pollstar as being the second busiest theater in the world in their 2012 Midyear ranking of Worldwide Ticket Sales Top 100 Theatre Venues. 

That makes DPAC the busiest theater in the US, since the number one spot on the list is a theater in Mexico.  Durham's Carolina Theatre came in at 88th.

DPAC also recently won a top ranking from the consumer travel website, TripAdvisor - the theater now bears the site's Certificate of Excellence.  

This is a nice additional feather in Durham's cap.  Last week, Durham was ranked as the top market in the US for the creative class.

Well known as an open and accepting haven for those in, and those interested in, the arts, Durham is home to more than a dozen theaters which are well supported by the community and those who visit.  Learn more about Durham as a great place to visit by visiting on the web.

SoJam Sounds So Good

November is starting to sound better.  It's always in tune, but now it's got real harmony.

Confused?  Don't be - November 11 though 13 is when the SoJam A Cappella Festival takes place.  Hosted by Duke University Rhythm and Blue, the weekend's shows will be held at the newly renovated Carolina Theatre and the workshops will be held on campus at Duke. For those who love the sound of harmonizing voices presented with style, class and energy, this show is a must see.

Now making its home in Durham every year, the festival is a combination of development opportunities for performers as well as exceptional access to top level performances of this skill-intensive art form.

Workshops cover the spectrum from creativity to management with some masterclasses providing one-on-one instruction.

Tickets are available online.  Friday's performances are by collegiate talent and that show also serves as a competition.  Saturday's performance is by all professional talent.

Film Festivals in Focus

Film is important to Durham, and has been for decades.  Since the 1950 movie Bright Leaf, Durham has taken on a roll in film both as a subject and a backdrop, as well as a venue for them to be showcased.  Bull Durham, arguably the most popular sports movie of all time, served as all three.

As of this past weekend, Durham's newly renovated Carolina Theatre played host the to the world premier of the most recent film to make it to the big screen that was shot in Durham, Main Street.  Critical acclaim or not, success or not, it's production brought revenue to the community and exposure to the destination.

The Carolina's renovations, however, are a hit and include both cosmetic as well as functional enhancements resulting in a more user-friendly and luxurious experience.  A return visit is in order for those who've not been recently.

Below is a list of film festivals and series held in Durham annually, and each are linked to their respective websites to make seeing them easy to plan.  Coming up this weekend is the Escapism Film Festival, and it looks to be exactly that - a great escape.

Durham Film Festivals

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival - Durham, April 

NC Latin American Film Festival – Duke University, November

BrickFlix LEGO Shorts Film Festival – Carolina Theatre, May

Strange Beauty Film Festival – Durham, February

Nevermore Film Festival – Carolina Theatre, February

NC Gay & Lesbian Film Festival – Carolina Theatre, August

Hayti Heritage Film Festival – Hayti Heritage Center, February

Escapism Film Festival – Carolina Theatre, October

Durham Riverkeeper Film Festival – Neuse River Foundation, January

Dancing for the Camera: International Festival of Film and Video Dance – American Dance Festival, June

Durham Film Series

Retrofantasma Film Festival – Carolina Theatre, October

The Tournées Festival – Duke University, Fall

Muslim Film Series - Duke University, Fall

Rights! Camera! Action! Film Series – Duke University, Winter

Screen/Society – Duke University, Fall

Movies in the Park – Durham Central Park, Spring

Durham, Where Great Developments Happen

More than a dozen facilities, restaurants and exhibits are slated to open in Durham before the year's end. This makes for an exciting follow up to a year that saw Durham grow by two breweries, two music venues, a multitude of restaurants, and improvements to the transportation sector including the addition of the Bull City Connector and the renovation of RDU’s Terminal 2.

2011 Visitor Related Projects

Durham Convention Center - The 44,000-square-foot facility is currently undergoing $6.1 in major renovations to offer planners and attendees with a state-of-the-art center beginning in Fall, 2011.

Carolina Theatre- $1.8 million renovations to the 85-year old theatre include new carpeting, plaster repairs and painting, new doors and windows, and the opening of six private boxes in Fletcher Hall. The theatre closed on June 13 and will reopen in October, 2011.

Amtrak - Durham county is slated for expanded service. A new commuter rail service is projected to operate 18 round trips daily to Wake County. The heaviest service would be in the morning and evening rush hour; round trip tickets will be $12.

The Leaf – Public structure, whose shape resembles a leaf, will have seven steel columns and a series of wooden fins that will hang from several steel ribs that connect the columns. The $30,000 structure will be located near the Liberty Arts Pavilion in Durham Central Park and will provide an artistic shaded seating area as well as a stage for performances.
 
History Beneath Our Feet - A new searchable resource created by the Museum of Durham History that helps users discover the origins of Durham's street and school names with a focus on the Downtown Durham Historic District and the Hayti/Fayetteville Street corridor. Through lively stories and images, the site engages visitors in the very human side of Durham's compelling history.

The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau tracks new developments and maintains a database online as a public resource, click here to see more of them.

Documentary About Local Artist to Show at Full Frame

Beverly McIver is not an average person. Despite her quiet demeanor, unassuming presence and contagious humility, she is a force of nature.

McIver is a Durham-based artist whose work has gained national attention, but her most recent moment in the spotlight is for another reason entirely - she is the subject of a documentary called Raising Renee that will be shown at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. It is about a promise that Beverly made to her mother - one kept unfailingly. The promise was to care for her disabled sister when her mother passed away, and since 2004, Beverly has done so.

At one hour and 25 minutes and the result of six years of filming by two Massachusetts film makers, the work chronicles the changes and choices Beverly has made to accommodate her sister; her need to leave NY as her career was taking off, her move to Arizona to teach, and ultimately back to Durham to take a position as the Suntrust Endowed Professor of Art at North Carolina Central University. It's been quite a journey. 

"It helped me grow as an individual and made me care for someone - that's what the film is about,"  McIver said by phone in her characteristically happy tone.

Her art moved from hobby to profession over the last 25 years - she sold her first piece to a co-worker she met while on a temporary job with whom she is still friends.  At the same time she grew as a person and artist whose works sell for tens of thousands of dollars.

As some would say in proper Southern parlance, Beverly is "good people," though she'd probably not be so self-congratulatory herself.

Look for the film during Full Frame at The Carolina Theatre from April 14th to the 17th. 

Downtown’s Eyes Turned 85 This Week!

Downtown’s Eyes Turned 85 This Week!
Bull City Mutterings
Reyn Bowman

This week the soulful eyes of Downtown Durham turned 85 years old.
It was February 2, 1926 when The Carolina Theatre opened as the $250,000 Durham Auditorium and hosted famed Will Rogers that first year and the symbolically-even-more-famed African-American contralto opera singer Marian Anderson the next.

When it opened, the facility was the first theater in Durham to admit African-Americans, though through separate doors and with separate seating, but Ms Anderson performed to a diverse audience that is characteristic of Durham and in 1963 it became fully integrated.

Continue reading this blog post...

New Theater Seasons Abound

It’s official: Durham theaters have announced their lineups for the 2010-2011 season and it is evident Durham is Where Great Theater Happens.

Manbites Dog Theater is kicking their new season of nine shows off October 7-23 with Breadcrumbs by Jennifer Haley. Tickets will go on sale September 6. Click here for more information about the entire season and to purchase tickets.

Duke Performances has also released a lineup for their upcoming season. Check out performances by the legendary Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Brooklyn Rider, Loudon Wainwright III & Friends, Carolina Chocolate Drops, and others. For ticket and schedule information, click here.

The Carolina Theatre has announced its 2010-2011 Star Series and highlights include an opening weekend celebration featuring Mavis Staples and The David Sanborn Trio, Betty Buckley – Broadway by Request, The Harlem Gospel Choir, Cirque Mechanics Boom Town, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

And last but not least, individual tickets for the DPAC – Durham Performing Arts Center’s 2010-2011 SunTrust Broadway Series are now on sale. Don’t miss a chance to see one of these fabulous shows. Visit www.dpacnc.com for more information.