Feature: National Tours Leave Their Mark (Literally) at Durham Performing Arts Center
By: Lauren Van Hemert Jun. 01, 2018
Backstage the walls at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) boast a who's who of A-list stars. That's because every act from Robin Williams to Rob Lowe who has performed at DPAC from the time the theater opened its doors in 2008, has signed the hallowed halls. And the celebrities aren't the only ones who have left their mark. Every national touring production since Rent opened at DPAC in January 2009 has "tagged" the walls with a painted logo. In 2011, the national touring production of Shrek painted the first "mimic" logo, which has become a DPAC wall tag tradition ever since. The mimic wall tags appropriate logos from other shows. For example, the School of Rock wall tag is reminiscent of the poster from The Sound of Music and The Sound of Music company painted a mimic logo reminiscent of The Book of Mormon.
DPAC isn't the only theater with wall tags. Other theaters like the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California, the Ohio Theatre in Columbus and The Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis all have large amounts of wall tags and autographs. In fact, according to Paige McNamara, who toured internationally with the company of Sister Act, wall tags have started to become a tradition at theaters overseas as well. McNamara says the Sister Act Asia Tour was one of the first productions to tag the walls at the Marina Bay Sands Theatre in Singapore.
At DPAC, several floors backstage are covered with wall tags and signatures, but according to Jacob Holland, DPAC's Membership Manager, there are still empty walls to be painted. Holland says the public can see the wall tags during one of DPAC's monthly behind-the-scenes tours. For more information visit:
https://www.dpacnc.com/community/public-tours
Rent was the first national tour to tag the walls at DPAC in January 2009.
The national touring company of Shrek was the first to paint a mimic logo on the walls of DPAC in 2011.
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