Review: THE OUTSIDERS National Tour at Durham Performing Arts CenterDecember 3, 2025Based on S. E. Hinton’s 1967 novel of the same name as well as Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film adaptation. The Outsiders is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960s. The story follows Ponyboy Curtis, his best friend Johnny Cade, and their Greaser family of ‘outsiders’ as they battle with their affluent rivals, the Socs. Together, the Greasers fight for survival and a quest for purpose in a world that doesn't accept them.
Review: Theatre Raleigh's ONCE ON THIS ISLANDNovember 13, 2025Based on Rosa Guy’s 1985 novel, My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl, a Caribbean-set retelling of the original fairy tale of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen.
Review: Ali Stroker in Concert at Theatre RaleighOctober 19, 2025In June 2016, my mom and I went to New York during Tony Awards weekend. On the day of the telecast, we both walked all the way to the Beacon Theatre (where the ceremony was taking place) while rehearsal was going on
Review: THE SOUND OF MUSIC National Tour at Durham Performing Arts CenterOctober 8, 2025Based on Maria von Trapp’s 1949 memoir titled The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. The Sound of Music tells the true story of Maria Rainer, a young, free-spirited, but troublemaking postulant at a convent in Salzburg, Austria. Knowing how irresponsible she is, the Mother Abbess sends her to Salzburg to serve as the governess to the seven children of the widowed Captain Georg von Trapp.
Review: Theatre Raleigh's WHAT WE LEAVE BEHINDSeptember 25, 2025What We Leave Behind is a completely original musical that explores the impact of chronic illness on a family. When Jenny, a musical theatre composer is diagnosed with breast cancer, it seems as though her world has come crashing down around her.
Interview: Kathy Voytko of BEAUTY & THE BEAST National TourAugust 27, 2025From September 2nd-14th, the national tour of Disney’s BEAUTY & THE BEAST will be gracing the stage of the Durham Performing Arts Center. Taking on the role of MRS. POTTS is actress Kathy Voytko. Read our interview with Kathy!
Review: THE WIZ National Tour at Durham Performing Arts CenterAugust 6, 2025The Wiz is an all-Black musical reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 classic children’s novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The story follows Dorothy, a young girl who lives on a farm in Kansas, until a cyclone arrives, picks up her house, and blows her away to the fantastical land of Oz.
Interview: Jackie Dempsey on Squonk's BROUHAHAAugust 4, 2025Jackie Dempsey is the co-founder and co-artistic director of Squonk. The Pittsburgh-based theatrical performance group has played everywhere from Broadway to the Kennedy Center, and now they're bringing their playful, collaborative energy to North Carolina on August 23rd and 24th.
Review: LES MISÉRABLES National Tour at Durham Performing Arts CenterJuly 16, 2025Based on Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name. Les Misérables follows Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who after serving nineteen years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, goes on a quest for redemption. When a kind bishop inspires him by a tremendous act of mercy, Valjean breaks his parole as he decides to begin his life anew. As time goes on, he has relentlessly been pursued by a ruthless police inspector who’s hoping to bring him to justice. Though along the way, a group of young idealists make their last stand at a street barricade during a revolutionary period in France.
Review: SOME LIKE IT HOT National Tour at Durham Performing Arts CenterJune 18, 2025Based on Billy Wilder’s 1959 Academy Award-winning film of the same name, Some Like It Hot follows two musicians, Joe & Jerry, who are forced to flee Chicago after witnessing a mob hit. With gangsters hot on their heels, they’re on the run as the newest members of the swingingest big band ever to cross the country…disguised as Josephine & Daphne. This is the second musicalization of the classic comedy following the 1972 Tony-nominated Sugar.
Review: Theatre Raleigh's PETER AND THE STARCATCHERJune 13, 2025Loosely based on Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson’s 2004 novel, Peter and the Starcatcher upends the classic story of how a miserable young orphan became The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up, otherwise known as Peter Pan. It begins when he and his mates are shipped off from Victorian England to a distant island ruled by the evil King Zarboff.
Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO National Tour at Durham Performing Arts CenterApril 30, 2025Based on David Lindsay-Abaire’s 2001 stage play of the same name, Kimberly Akimbo follows a bright and funny teenage girl from New Jersey who happens to look like a 72-year-old lady. However, her aging disease may be the least of her problems. Forced to maneuver family secrets, borderline personalities, and possible felony charges, Kim is determined to find happiness in a world where not even time is on her side.
Review: Theatre Raleigh's THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFULMarch 27, 2025The Trip to Bountiful is set in Houston, Texas in the 1940s after World War II. The story follows Carrie Watts, an elderly Southern woman who dreams of escaping the bustling city to return to her rural home of Bountiful. She sets out on a risky journey to her beloved hometown with her family in hot pursuit.
Review: SHUCKED National Tour at Durham Performing Arts CenterMarch 5, 2025Shucked is a completely original musical set in the fictional Cob County. It tells an audacious farm-to-fable tale about the one thing Americans everywhere can't get enough of: corn. This project was partially derived from one of book writer Robert Horn's earlier projects, 2015's Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical. Originally, the show was scheduled for a run in late 2020 at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. Yet it was subsequently cancelled due to the COVID-19.