Nicole Ackman - Page 2

If you’re looking for something festive to do with the family, the national tour of A CHRISTMAS STORY is a fun option. The musical brings the beloved 1983 film to life onstage with music by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. While the musical exposes the weakness of the plot of the film, the talented cast make it entertaining nonetheless. 

ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE surely features the most Hawaiian print clothing that has ever graced the stage of DPAC. Especially as the weather has turned colder recently, it is just what it promises: an escape to a warm climate full of singing, dancing, and tequila. 

“Singing has always been the best part of living for me,” Billie Holiday tells the audience in North Carolina Theatre’s new production of LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL. Angela Robinson plays singer Billie Holiday and Nygel Robsinon plays her pianist Jimmy Powers at NCT, under the direction of Jarvis Green.

Jarvis Green is the director and music director of North Carolina Theatre’s Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. This play with music explores events in the life of American singer Billie Holiday. Jarvis is the Founding Artistic Director of JAG Productions.

THE BAND’S VISIT is an incredibly gentle, but very human musical about a band of Egyptian musicians who end up stranded in a small Israeli town. It’s a show about unlikely connections as we see the Arab musicians bond with those in the small town.

“Am I just like you?” Alison Bechdel questions, looking back on her father after his death in Theatre Raleigh’s latest show, FUN HOME. The musical has music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron. It’s based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel and Bechdel herself is the main character of the piece.

“A new world calls across the ocean,” is the first line of Jason Robert Brown’s SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD. It’s a familiar feeling in 2021, as we all try to navigate what our world looks like now as we move out of quarantine and into a new stage of the pandemic.

Krystina Alabado is playing Woman 1 in North Carolina Theatre’s SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD. This sung-through show by Jason Robert Brown explores themes of new beginnings and evolutions. Alabado was last seen onstage in Broadway’s MEAN GIRLS, playing Gretchen Wieners.

“Blood Done Sign My Name” is an unfortunately timely show that recounts a racially-motivated act of violence committed in Oxford, North Carolina in 1970. The adaptation of Tim Tyson’s book of the same name is written and performed by Mike Wiley. It delves not only into the incident, but also looks at the civil rights actions that unfolded after.

“I love ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ I love it so much, I’m gonna do it for you all by myself,” the narrator tells the audience at the top of THIS WONDERFUL LIFE. This one-woman play is an adaptation of the classic Christmas film “It’s A Wonderful Life” and Amy White Pridgen brings plenty of enthusiasm and pluck.

What’s the holiday season without a performance of A CHRISTMAS CAROL? Ever since it was first published, theaters have shared productions of Charles Dickens’s classic story every year. PlayMakers Repertory Company’s radio play production is a great example of how a theater can adapt to create something that fits the strange year this has been.

Brandon A. Wright plays Harpo in THE COLOR PURPLE, originally scheduled to come to DPAC from March 20 to 22. Wright is a graduate of Wayne State University and is originally from Newark, NJ.

Sometimes, I worry when seeing LES MISERABLES yet another time that it won't ignite the same spark within me. And yet, without fail, this musical reminds me not just why I love theatre, but also of so many truths about humanity. It's a multi-layered story, difficult to simmer down to a concise summary.

DPAC has 'Unconditional Lovea' for Donna Summer this week as the National Tour of DONNA: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL is in town. The show uses classic hits of the disco queen like 'Love to Love You Baby' and 'Hot Stuff' to craft a 'concert of a lifetime.' Three women portray Donna at different periods of her life -- Duckling, Disco, and Diva -- to tell how she went from a young girl singing in church in Boston to a top creator of dance floor hits. The show is largely about the adversity that she faced throughout her career, a story that even those familiar with her music may not know.

Steven Grant Douglas plays Bruce Sudano in the SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL, coming to DPAC February 25 through 29. SUMMER sheds light on the life of musical sensation Donna Summer using her classic hits that audiences know and love. Douglas has previously performed at DPAC with the national tour of GHOST THE MUSICAL and is an alum of the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Raleigh Little Theatre's latest production is the Theatre for Young Audiences version of SEUSSICAL. It's a seventy-five minute version of the show, created specifically for younger audiences to enjoy. The show is based on the works of Dr. Seuss with Cat the Hat serving as the narrator as it follows the story of Horton. It's directed by Kathleen Rudolph, RLT's Associate Education Director who has been part of the RLT education program for 23 years.

The MEAN GIRLS National Tour is trying to make fetch happen at DPAC this week. If you like high school drama, big flashy vocals, and lots of pink costumes, then it's the perfect show for you. Everyone probably knows of the 2004 comedy film a?oeMean Girls,a?? written by Tina Fey, that starred Lindsey Lohan, Rachel McAdams, and Amanda Seyfried. It absolutely took over pop culture and is still considered one of the most quotable movies today.

There are some musicals that become cultural milestones, that permeate beyond the theatre community into mainstream popular culture. OKLAHOMA did so in its day and HAMILTON is an obvious modern example. But if there's one show that achieved it in the 1990s, it's RENT. And this week, you can see the 20th Anniversary touring production at DPAC. The show's music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson haven't changed over the past two decades but the world in which they exist certainly has. 

Joshua Tavares plays Angel in the 20th Anniversary RENT National Tour, coming to DPAC January 28 to February 2. RENT is a story of love, tolerance, and hope that follows seven artists in New York City at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis. The musical, with book and music by Jonathan Larson, has been beloved since it first opened on Broadway in 1996. Tavares is originally from Hawaii and attended school at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and AMDA NY. This is his first national tour.

a?oeThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,a?? Raleigh Little Theatre's latest show, is the first local production of the much-acclaimed play. Directed by RLT Artistic Director Patrick Torres, the production explores the mind of a brilliant young man and the effects that the crumbling of his parents' relationship has had upon his life.