From the razzle-dazzle of “Jersey Boys” to the heart-wrenching drama “Miss Saigon,” theatergoers here in the Triangle have a string of exciting shows to look forward to this week.
With NC State’s production of “The Burial at Thebes” still running for a couple more weeks, there are a number of other plays going on in the Raleigh-Durham area that contribute to the Triangle theater scene’s diversity. Here is a look at some of those shows.
“Jersey Boys”: The Durham Performing Arts Center’s production of the hit Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” starts Tuesday. Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “The most exciting musical Broadway has seen in years,” this show premiered at DPAC in 2012, according to the company’s website. Many theatergoers are thrilled to see it return to where it first began.
“Jersey Boys,” which was adapted into a film last summer, tells the story of Rock-and-Roll Hall of Famers Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. This iconic 1960s rock group started out as a gang of blue-collar kids from New Jersey before they rose to the top. Chronicling their trials and tribulations, the show also features their hit songs “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “December 1963 (Oh What a Night),” “Walk Like a Man,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and many more.
This show runs Tuesday – Sunday. Tickets are available at (919)-680-2787, Ticketmaster or at the DPAC ticket center.
“Sleeping Beauty”: Raleigh Little Theatre is putting its own spin on the timeless fairytale. Its production of “Sleeping Beauty” opened on Friday and continues through the weekend.
Adapted by John Clark Donahue and Thomas Olson, with original music written by longtime RLT Artistic Director Haskell Fitz-Simons, the show has all the magic and princess lore found within the original tale.
“RLT’s ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ while following the basic plot of the traditional fairy tale, focuses more on a message of forgiveness and inclusion,” said the show’s director Judy M. Dove in an email. “In addition, we have a fabulous team of designers who are collaborating to bring magic to the show. We will also have actors interacting with puppets to bring a different visual texture to the production.”
The show runs through Sunday. Tickets are available from the box office at 919-821-3111 and through the RLT website.
“Miss Saigon”: Enloe High School is one of three high schools in the nation to present “Miss Saigon” as its spring musical, according to an article by The News & Observer that ran on Friday. With its adult themes and challenging technical components, this is not your typical high school play.
“Miss Saigon” originally premiered in 1989 at the Theatre Royal in London, before opening on Broadway shortly after. Based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Madame Butterfly,” this tragic story follows the troubled romance between a Vietnamese woman and her American lover during the Vietnam War.
KoKo Thornton, the show’s director, said this production has been a challenging but rewarding experience, and she was drawn to the story for multiple reasons.
“I chose ‘Miss Saigon’ because I love it and because I knew we had the students that would be able to handle it,” Thornton said. “They were mature enough to handle the subject matter, and they were skilled enough to handle the very rigorous demands that the show presents that other musicals don’t necessarily present.”
Due to the play’s adult content, Enloe and the other schools presenting it had to acquire the rights to an edited version of it, according to The N&O article. Additional material was removed from the script during production so as to make it appropriate for high school audiences.
Thornton also said “Miss Saigon” offers a unique historical perspective that she and her students were able to explore.
“I really like that it takes place during a time period, during the Vietnam War, that we don’t study enough in school,” Thornton said. “For the most part, as far as a musical can go, it does a pretty good job of representing a fairly realistic matter.”
The show will run Wednesday – Saturday at Enloe High School in Raleigh. Tickets are available on the Enloe Theatre website.
