Hidden Voices: To Buy the Sun, The Challenge of Pauli Murray

Fifteen years before Rosa Parks refused to stand, Pauli Murray refused to sit in the back of the bus; 20 years before the Greensboro sit-ins, she organized restaurant sit-downs in the nation’s capital.  Decades ahead of her time, Durham native Pauli Murray not only lived on the edge of history, she seemingly “pulled it along with her.”

The ArtsCenter brought this fantastic two-woman show to its stage Friday and Saturday night. Photos are below!

–Lisa
P.S. Notice that weird 50s-glamour glow on some of the images? I left my telephoto lens in the trunk of my car in the cold weather, and it fogged up completely in the indoors heat! I saved you from the foggiest of the shots, but I thought these from right before it thawed had a pretty cool effect!

Brie Nash performs as Pauli Murray.

Deep Magic

Sharing with you some stuff from last year that never got a chance to be posted, here are some shots from a hilarious magic show the ArtsCenter hosted at the end of last year. Featuring two hilarious and talented magicians, Micah Cover and Joshua Lozoff , the show had the audience cracking up. I’ve tried to describe some of the magic tricks in the captions. And, as always, don’t forget to click more!

Lyndsay

Joshua Lozoff talks to the audience during his show.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Hope everyone had a great holiday season and enjoyed all of the snow! The blog is now back from its winter break, and by popular demand, here are some more photos from the ArtsCenter’s holiday show, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The show was fantastic.  Don’t forget to click more!

 

-Lyndsay

 

Charlie and Grandpa Joe

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The ArtsCenter’s holiday production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory continues tonight at 8pm. In case you aren’t familar with the story, five children, Veruca Salt, Mike TV, Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregarde, and of course Charlie Bucket spend a day at Mr. Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. I sat in on dress rehearsal Wednesday and it was fantastic. You aren’t going to want to miss it. It will remind you why you fell in love with the story as a child and have your kids falling in love with it too. Check back throughout the week for more preview photos. No captions though. You have to come to the show!

Lyndsay

Show dates and times: December 10-11, December 16-18 7:30pm

December 12 & 19 3pm

Tickets are $15 for the general public, $10 for students, and $13 for ArtsClub Members

PlaySlam! 8

The 8th annual PlaySlam! came to the ArtsCenter this weekend. The audience was treated to an evening of competition as playwrights competed for fame and the $100 prize.

Here’s how it works: Playwrights each submit two very short plays, 1-3 minutes long. Actors come in at 5 p.m. and spend a hectic three hours with their playwrights until showtime at 8 p.m. Each playwright presents a play in the first round, and then the audience votes for its five favorites. Votes are tallied, and the top five writers present their second plays in the second round. The audience votes again for its favorite, and the playwrights field questions from the audience while the final tally is counted. Then, the winner takes all!

Check out some photos from the event below, click “more…” to see photos from all of the short plays!

–Lisa

The winning playwright holds his $100 prize.

Transactors: Gratitude

The Transactors improv troupe was back at the ArtCenter on Friday night. Just in time to get everyone in the Thanksgiving spirit, this month’s show featured skits with the theme of gratitude. Check out some photos of the event below!

–Lisa

Rachel Klem strikes a pose on stage as the Transactors introduce the audience to their characters, who were based on three randomly chosen adjectives.

Backstage at The ArtsCenter: Transactors

Friday night, the Transactors came back to The ArtsCenter for “Gratitude,” an improv show involving characters they created out of three random adjectives. I went backstage to see what exactly goes on before one of their shows. Check it out below, and check back later for photos of the show!

–Lisa

Steven Warnock and Nancy Pekar sit in The ArtsCenter's green room just before going onstage Saturday night.

Acting Classes for Kids

Little kids turn The ArtsCenter into a classroom, the beach and their own stage as they learn acting. Check out photos of The ArtsCenter’s acting class for kids below (click “see more” for more photos!), and click here to learn more about ArtSchool!

Living Dead in Denmark

The Youth Performing Arts Conservatory kids have outdone themselves. This weekend they’re putting on a show that brings Shakespeare’s most famous characters back from the dead–with zombies!

Living Dead in Denmark, a comic book fantasia, throws Shakespeare’s most beloved characters including Ophelia, Juliet (both back from the dead), Lady M, Puck, Titania and Horatio into an us-versus-zombies apocalyptic scenario.  Mixing martial arts, horror movies and comic books, Living Dead in Denmark is the perfect storm of Halloween theatre.  Intended for audiences 14 and up.

Shows are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. I got to go to rehearsal yesterday–check out a sneak peak and some outtakes below (don’t forget to click see more for more photos)! There are no captions, you have to go to the show to find out what’s happening!

Lisa

 

Transactors!

Last week the improv group Transactors brought their spooky show Suspense! to the ArtsCenter. The one act show consisted of several scary short stories. Killer Filler provided some creepy background music throughout the show. The Transactors will be back at the ArtsCenter on November 5th with Gratitude .

-Lyndsay