Flat Rock Playhouse presents MUSIC ON THE ROCK: The Music of The Rat Pack

The Playhouse has kicked off its 2017 season with a month of music celebrating genres ranging from rock to country, and everything in between. Continuing with this music marathon, The Music of the Rat Pack, a Music on the Rock special featuring timeless music from the golden age of American standards, will run from March 9th through the 19th at The Flat Rock Playhouse Downtown on Main Street in Hendersonville.

Audiences will be transported somewhere beyond the sea with the opening of this special tribute concert. Featuring songs that have endured decades after their original release as a part of a unique component of American culture and American popular song, The Music of the Rat Pack will pay tribute to this incredible genre of music AND the artists who first cemented these melodies in the ears of the American people. Who knows where or when... audiences will have another opportunity such as this to sit back, relax and enjoy an evening featuring the music of the legendary Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

Singing classics such as "Under My Skin", "You Make Me Feel So Young", "Luck be a Lady", "A Foggy Day in London Town", "New York New York", "My Way", "Come Fly with Me", "Lady is a Tramp" and many more timeless hits, The Garden State Guys (Matt Faucher, Adair Watkins & Greg Frens) will present the work of this famous trio. Sharing the stage as the house band are Nathan Hefner, David Gaines, Bill Altman, Ryan Guerra and Paul Babelay on piano, synth, guitar, bass and drums respectively. Additionally Altman serves as Music Director.

The Playhouse urges golden age lovers to start spreading the news, because The Music of the Rat Pack will have audiences swingin' and swayin' the nights away as if downtown Hendersonville was New York City itself. The Playhouse music celebration continues with this fabulous tribute, as well as Classic Nashville Roadshow running March 8th - 18th on the Flat Rock Playhouse Main Stage.

The Music of the Rat Pack will run March 9th through the 19th at The Flat Rock Playhouse Downtown. Performances Thursday evenings at 7:30PM, Friday and Saturday evenings 8:00PM, matinees Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM. Tickets are $28 and can be purchased by calling The Playhouse box office at 828-693-0731, toll-free at 866-732-8008 or online at www.flatrockplayhouse.org.

The Flat Rock Playhouse Downtown is located at 125 South Main Street in Hendersonville, NC.

FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE

In 1937, a group of struggling performers, led by Robroy Farquhar, organized themselves as the Vagabond Players. The Vagabonds worked in a variety of places over the course of three years, and in 1940 found themselves in the Blue Ridge region of Western North Carolina. The local and tourist community welcomed them with open arms when they presented their first summer season of plays in a 150-year-old grist mill they converted into The Old Mill Playhouse at Highland Lake. So successful was that summer, they returned in 1941. After WWII, the Vagabond Players reorganized, came back to the region and opened a playhouse in nearby Lake Summit. The Lake Summit Playhouse thrived during the post war years and soon the Vagabond Players were looking for a larger and permanent home. In 1952, the troupe of performers, and a newly formed board of directors, made an offer to buy an 8-acre lot in the Village of Flat Rock. This new home made the Vagabonds "locals" and a rented big top gave birth to Flat Rock Playhouse. As the beautiful Western Carolina region continued to grow, so did The Playhouse and in 1961, by Act of the North Carolina General Assembly, Flat Rock Playhouse was officially designated The State Theatre of North Carolina.

What began as a few weeks of summer performances in 1940 is now a nine-month season of plays including Broadway musicals, comedy, drama, and theatre for young audiences. The Playhouse's dual mission of producing the performing arts and providing education in the performing arts includes a professional series; a summer and fall college apprentice and intern program; and Studio 52, family focused programming that provides immersive, hands-on theatrical experiences for children in kindergarten through adults. Flat Rock Playhouse now hosts over 98,000 patrons annually and is a significant contributor to the local economy and the Arts in North Carolina.