Flat Rock Playhouse Presents Music On The Rock: CAROLINA SHAG

Summer is here and the Flat Rock Playhouse is ready to celebrate by transporting the beach to the mountains with upcoming Music on the Rock Concert, Carolina Shag! Celebrating the musical phenomenon that developed in the early 50's on the Carolina Coasts, Carolina Shag will feature upbeat beach music from artists such as The Embers, The Tams, Chairmen of the Board, The Drifters. Carolina Shag, a genre sometimes known as the "swing of the South", promises all the lighthearted fun of a lively summer night at the beach, perfect for experts and rookies. Audiences can expect to join in the party and dance the night away with a "one-and-two" to hits including Carolina Girls, My Girl, My Guy, Under the Boardwalk, Be Young Be Foolish Be Happy...and of course I Love Beach Music! Running June 1st through June 10th at the Playhouse Downtown in Hendersonville.

Carolina Shag features Alfred Jackson (Vocals), Sha'Leah Stubblefield (Vocals), Anthony Jawan (Vocals) with George Wilkins (Music Director, Keys), Andrew Rogelberg (Keys II), Daniel Iannucci (Bass), Casey Cramer (Guitar), and Phillip Bronson (Drums). Alfred Jackson and Sha'Leah Stubblefield previously appeared in Motown Summer Nights at the Flat Rock Playhouse in 2017. Anthony Jawan will make his first debut at the Flat Rock Playhouse. George Wilkins, long time vagabond, serves as Music Director with a band of local and regular Music on the Rock musicians.

Carolina Shag is made possible by Downtown Series Sponsor Rug and Home and United Way of Henderson County.

TICKETS AND SCHEDULE

Carolina Shag will run Thursday through Sunday from June 1st to June 10th at the Playhouse Downtown in Hendersonville. Performances on Thursday at 7:30 PM, Friday at 8:00 PM, Saturday at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM, and Sunday at 2:00 PM with a performance on Wednesday, 6/6 at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $35 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 in Hendersonville at 125 S. Main Street, Hendersonville, NC 28792.

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, year-round classes and workshops in theatre and film for students from kindergarten through adults. Flat Rock Playhouse now hosts over 105,000 patrons annually and is a significant contributor to the local economy and the Arts in North Carolina.