BEAUTIFUL STAR CALENDAR
Come Home for the Holidays
A Seasonal Celebration by Preston Lane with Original Music by Laurelyn Dossett
November 23 – December 23, 2007
In a reprise of last season’s acclaimed holiday event, Beautiful Star: An Appalachian Nativity, Rev. Roy Ledbetter and his congregation are back to bring the Christmas story to life with down home laughter, toe-tapping music and a tug at the heart. See what critics called, "the best show I've seen in this or any holiday season" (The Charlotte Observer); "perfect family fare…[that] will lighten your heart and put a lump in your throat." (Greensboro’s News & Record) NOTE: Beautiful Star is not included in season pass packages.
TRIAD STAGE’S RECORD-BREAKING 2007 RUN OF BEAUTIFUL STAR: AN APPALACHIAN NATIVITY ENDS WITH SOLD OUT PERFORMANCES
All remaining performances sold out.
Highest-grossing and highest-attended production in Triad Stage history.
With the remainder of the performances of Beautiful Star: An Appalachian Nativity now sold out, Triad Stage announces that its 2007 reprise has become the highest-grossing and highest-attended production in the theatre company’s history, breaking both records previously held by 2002’s A Lesson Before Dying.
By the time the run ends on Sunday afternoon, December 23, Beautiful Star will have made 150% of its original ticket goal and 8,400 people will have attended the show. 20 performances of the 32-performance run sold out. In response to high advanced ticket sales for the weekend performances, Triad Stage earlier added two Saturday matinees on December 15 and 22. The company also provided area families a special discount with a “Buy 1, Get 1 Kids Ticket FREE!” offer to Tuesday and Wednesday evening performances.
Written by Artistic Director Preston Lane and with music Laurelyn Dossett, the production has proved to be a hit with its regional market for the second year in a row.
“When Laurelyn and I started our work on Beautiful Star, we wanted to create a holiday celebration for our Triad audience. As the play came to life through the generous work of the actors and the musicians, we hoped that it would provide an opportunity for audiences to escape the holiday rush and find a place of family and fellowship,” said Lane. “We have all been pleasantly overwhelmed by the positive response to the piece, and are delighted to be able to have created something especially for this theatre and this audience.” Lane and Dossett are set to recapture Beautiful Star’s magic with their world premiere production of Bloody Blackbeard, about the pirate Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, scheduled for June 2008.
Managing Director Richard Whittington shares Lane’s joy. “We’re thrilled to see such a positive reaction to theatrical work created by local artists. Beautiful Star is our holiday gift to the greater Triad community – to North Carolina really.” Patrons have come to see the show from as far away as Asheville, Raleigh, Charlotte and Mt. Airy. In addition to breaking attendance records, the show has done more than Whittington and Lane expected; it brought new audiences to Triad Stage in droves. “Looking at our overall attendance for the 2007 production, we’ve found that over 60% of the audience had never been in our theatre before. They heard good reviews about last season’s premiere production from friends or weren’t able to get tickets then and did not want to miss it again. We look forward to having them back for the productions in our regular mainstage season.”
When asked if Beautiful Star would be returning in 2008 for a third production, Lane replied, “Based on the reception it has received, that’s a possibility. We are working hard to put together the 2008-2009 season which could include Beautiful Star’s return, but at this moment, nothing’s definite.”
Triad Stage’s 2007-2008 season continues with George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession (January 27 – February 17), the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning Doubt (March 9 – 30), Endesha Ida Mae Holland’s memoir From the Mississippi Delta (April 27 – May 18) and Lane and Dossett’s world premiere play with music Bloody Blackbeard (June 8 – July 6). Tickets for all productions are now on sale and can be purchased by calling the Triad Stage Box Office at 336.272.0160 or online at www.triadstage.org. 4-Play Season Pass subscriptions are also available for as low as $50.
THE MUSIC OF BEAUTIFUL STAR
Composer Laurelyn Dossett weaves a number of delightfully memorable bluegrass and folk songs into the stories of Beautiful Star. Click here for a sample from the soundtrack.Play Your Part
Most people don't realize that, unlike touring shows, every costume, every sound & light cue and every moment on stage in all of Triad Stage's productions are created by Triad Stage for our community.
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