Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
May 1, 2008 issue
An Amazing May at Blowing Rock’s Hayes Performing Arts Center
Entertainment-Packed Month Kicks Off This Weekend
Story by David Brewer
From top-notch bluegrass and boogie-down disco to Charlie Brown and crazed maestros, Blowing Rock’s Hayes Performing Arts Center is pulling out all the stops to keep High Country audiences of all ages entertained throughout the month of May.
Beginning this weekend with the Hayes Center’s inaugural DramaFest and performances by the Rocket Youth Players production of the Tony-winning You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, actors, singers, dancers and pickers will take their places under the bright stage lights throughout the month to dazzle High Country audiences.
To purchase tickets for any show at the Hayes Center, visit the venue’s box office, call 828-295-9627 or click to www.brcac.org. The Hayes Center is located at 152 Jamie Fort Road.
You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Step into the vibrant cartoon frames of the Peanuts gang when the Blowing Rock Stage Company’s Rocket Players Youth Theatre (ages 9 to 22) stages You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, the beloved musical comedy based on the characters from Charles Schultz’s iconic comic strip Peanuts. Charlie Brown will play from Thursday to Sunday, May 1 to 4.
Want To Go?
Date: Friday to Sunday, May 1 to 4
Time: 7:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Cost: $14 for adults/$7 for students
Hayes Center Hosts Inaugural DramaFest This Saturday
Salute the power of theatre with the Blowing Rock Stage Company when it hosts the inaugural DramaFest this Saturday, May 3. The event is an all-day celebration of the many aspects of theatre for children and young adults. DramaFest is a family-centric event and will begin at 10:00 a.m.
Want To Go?
Date: Saturday, May 3
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Cost: FREE!
HayesGrass Band Competition Semifinals and Finals
The inaugural HayesGrass Band Competition at the Hayes Center has narrowed its field of eight bands down to the final four: Diana & Sarvis Ridge, the Surefire Bluegrass Band, Ten Broek and the Lost Ridge Band. The acts are competing for the chance to open for legendary bluegrass act the Lonesome River Band at the Hayes Center on Saturday, May 17, as well as an $800 performance fee.
HayesGrass winners are largely determined by crowd response, so head to the Hayes Center and holler for your favorite bunch of pickers.
HayesGrass semifinals will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 6 and 7. The final two bands will compete for top honors on Friday, May 16.
Want To Go?
Date: Tuesday and Wednesday, May 6 and 7, and Friday, May 16
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $10 for semifinals/$15 for finals
Maestros Unleashed
Broadway’s smokin’, pop goes wild and Beethoven’s got the blues! Take a quality musical performance, turn it upside down, add three parts pure exhilaration, two parts breathtaking variety, one part comedy and a dash of musical mischief and you have the recipe for this exciting production. Starring pianist and vocalist extraordinaire Brian Gurl, violin and fiddle whiz Lenny Ski and their dazzling rhythm section, Maestros Unleashed is a powerful, yet engaging, production featuring an amazing mosaic of American music performed with pop, jazz, blues, ragtime, Latin and classical stylings. You’ll hear pieces such as “Phantom Of The Opera,” “Orange Blossom Special,” and “American Trilogy,” plus comedy routines including “Jack Benny Meets Liberace.” The show is Saturday, May 10.
Want To Go?
Date: Saturday, May 10
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $20 for adults/$14 for students
Bluegrass Legends the Lonesome River Band at the Hayes Center
Celebrating their 28th year making music together, the Lonesome River Band is a bluegrass institution led by award-winning banjo player Sammy Shelor, and they’re coming to the Hayes Center on Saturday, May 17. Like any band whose success has endured for 25 years, the Lonesome River Band has seen some very talented musicians come and go. One readily thinks of acts like The Country Gentlemen, the Seldom Scene, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, or JD Crowe & The New South as examples of successful bluegrass bands whose lineups have undergone a number of significant changes over the years, while still retaining the distinctive sound that brought them their success.
As the Lonesome River Band continues to record and perform bluegrass music with both critical and commercial success, their name deserves mention in that list as well.
Want To Go?
Date: Saturday, May 17
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $20 for adults/$14 for students
8-Track: The Sounds of the ‘70s
For its season premiere, the Blowing Rock Stage Company is blowing open a time capsule guaranteed to send musical shrapnel from the impassioned, titular decade straight into the hearts of audience members. The musical romp, 8-Track: The Sounds of the ‘70s, will play from Friday, May 23, to Sunday, June 8, at the Hayes Center. The show features a quartet of singers linking nearly 60 different tracks into harmonic scenes for a propulsive, blisteringly paced, nostalgia-laced reunion with a unique slice of pop-rock history.
Performance times for 8-Track: The Sounds of the ‘70s are May 23, 28 and 30, June 4 and 6 at 8:00 p.m., May 24, 29 and 31, and June 5 and 7 at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m., and May 25, and June 1 and 8 at 2:00 p.m.
Want To Go?
Date: Friday, May 23 to Sunday, June 8
Time: 2:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Cost: $32 for adults/$14 for students