THEATRE | MUSIC | DANCE | MUSEUMS | ART OPENINGS

PLAYS & THEATRE

The Importance of Being Earnest by oscar wilde
Paul Green Theatre
March 3-21, 2010
Absolutely one of the funniest comedies in the English language. Wicked wit and dead-on social satire wrapped in a Victorian confection of dual identities, matters matrimonial and the provenance of a particularly pertinent handbag. Wilde's exquisitely delicious dialogue and hilarious turns of phrase are an irresistible delivery system for his subversive look at society.
www.playmakersrep.org

I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given To Me By A Young Lady From Rwanda
Paul Green Theatre
March 24-28, 2010
A heartbreaking, yet eloquently healing story of a Rwandan refugee in London as she attempts to write a book recollecting her country’s genocide. When she seeks guidance from a burnt-out poet/novelist, their relationship becomes a hopeful exploration of bridging cultural gaps. Inspired by actual experiences of young refugees living in the United Kingdom.
www.playmakersrep.org

Uncle Vanya – Maly Drama Theatre of St. Petersburg
UNC Memorial Hall
March 31, 2010
An acutely observed study of humanity and a perfectly structured drama, Chekhov's Uncle Vanya remains a classic of Russian theater — a play of tragic and tangled love combining comic scenes of the everyday with a scathing attack on the idle provincial life of the upper classes.
With costumes inspired by the first production of Uncle Vanya by the Moscow Arts Theatre in 1899, The Maly Drama Theatre of St. Petersburg — one of the great arts ensembles of Russia — captures the very essence of Chekhov's poignant and affecting vision, offering a rare and superb opportunity to see Russian drama presented by those who understand it best.
www.carolinaperformaingarts.org
 

MUSIC

Eileen Ivers – Beyond the Bog Road
UNC Memorial Hall
March 17, 2010
Today’s most renowned Celtic fiddler and one of the great innovators in Celtic music, Eileen Ivers joins us for St. Patrick’s Day with Beyond the Bog Road, a music, story, dance and film event that explores and celebrates Irish immigrants’ impact on America and America’s impact on Irish immigrants.
www.carolinaperformaingarts.org

Pat Metheny - The Orchestrion Tour
UNC Memorial Hall
April 7, 2010
World renowned guitarist/composer Pat Metheny has been at the forefront of musical expression for decades.  His staggering 17 Grammy Awards and 33 nominations in 12 different categories are the most of any performer in Grammy history, and his focus remains continually on breaking down barriers and the exploration of new musical ideas.
www.carolinaperformingarts.org

London Philharmonic Orchestra
UNC Memorial Hall
March 2, 2010
One of the world's great orchestras, the London Philharmonic has long been embraced by the recording, broadcasting and film industries, and appears regularly on international television and radio.  Founded in 1932 by Sir Thomas Beecham, principal conductorship has been passed from one celebrated musician to another, including Sir Georg Solti, Bernard Haitink and Kurt Masur. The young Moscow-born Vladimir Jurowski, principal conductor since 2007, has appeared with some of the world's leading musical institutions, including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra Bastille de Paris, the Metropolitan Opera, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Russian National Orchestra.
www.carolinaperformingarts.org

Julia Fischer, violin
UNC Memorial Hall
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
One of the great young musicians of the 21st century, German violinist Julia Fischer is widely praised for her imaginative and illuminating interpretations of the classical repertoire and for her uncommon virtuosity. In this concert, she performs unaccompanied Bach Partitas — some of the most challenging and illuminating solo works ever written.  Her recent recording of these has won worldwide acclaim. Named Artist of the Year at the 2007 Gramophone Awards — among the most important awards in the world for classical musicians — her intelligence, soulfulness and poise contribute to her inspired and exhilarating performances.
www.carolinaperformingarts.org

Gilberto Gil – The String Concert
UNC Memorial Hall
March 14, 2010
The legendary Gilberto Gil introduced the late 1960s tropicália movement alongside Caetano Veloso and went on to become minister of culture for Brazil, playing a key role in the constant modernization of Brazilian popular music and culture throughout the world.  A singersongwriter and multi-instrumentalist, he fused bossa nova, samba and salsa with rock and folk music, becoming a world music pioneer.
www.carolinaperformingarts.org
 

DANCE

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
UNC Memorial Hall
April 10-11, 2010
Alvin Ailey's story is one of the most inspirational in the history of American performing arts, and his genius forever changed the perception of American dance.  For half a century, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has served as this country's dance ambassador, bringing African American cultural expression and the American modern dance tradition to the world's stages.  The legacy continues with Judith Jamison’s remarkable vision and the extraordinary artistry of the company’s beautiful dancers. The superb technique, passion and inimitable style that are the hallmarks of the Ailey tradition continue to dazzle audiences around the globe.
www.carolinaperformingarts.org

Compañía Nacional de Danza – Bach: Multiplicity / Forms of Silence and Emptiness
UNC Memorial Hall
April 17-18, 2010
The superb dancers of Spain’s Compañía Nacional de Danza perform a deeply felt homage to Johann Sebastian Bach with Multiplicity — a fluid, shifting collage of music, costumes and settings exploring his life — and Forms of Silence and Emptiness., a mystical reflection on death, so present in Bach’s masterpiece The Art of Fugue.  Synthesizing classical and modern dance with a distinctly Spanish flair and passion, choreographer Nacho Duato creates dramatically charged works of remarkable beauty and is hailed internationally as a major innovator in contemporary ballet.
www.carolinaperformingarts.org


MUSEUMS & EXHIBITIONS

Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon
North Carolina Museum of History
Opens September 10, 2010
This traveling exhibit from Mount Vernon featuring nearly 100 artifacts and new insights about our first president's life and legacy.
http://ncmuseumofhistory.org/

Meet Me on Franklin Street: Celebrating the Character of Chapel Hill
Ongoing
Chapel Hill Museum
The tale of the town's most beloved thoroughfare has opened as a permanent exhibit.
Franklin Street is the heart of Chapel Hill, home to long-time traditions, and the place to go for restaurants, shopping, parades, protests, and celebrations. From the auction of the village lots in 1793, to the 2005 celebration of UNC's basketball championship, milestones in the town's history have taken place on our main thoroughfare.
The images, the stories, and the voices of Chapel Hill come together to tell the story of the street and its colorful history: from the general stores to the protests to the flower ladies that have given Franklin Street its character.
www.chapelhillmuseum.org

Heroes of Yesterday, Heroes of Today: The History of the Chapel Hill Fire Department
Ongoing
Chapel Hill Museum
The Chapel Hill Fire Department (CHFD) originated as a proposal to the town's leaders in 1896. While the idea was well received, the department was not officially formed until 1901 when a hook and ladder outfit and two reels of hose were purchased.
The first loosely-assembled band of Chapel Hill firefighters were a handful of volunteers who were determined to protect the community's life and property, and fearless in the face of danger. Today, the Chapel Hill Fire Department has nearly 100 professional firefighters, spread across five stations strategically placed to best respond to our growing community's needs.
www.chapelhillmuseum.org

Elected to Serve: North Carolina's Governors
North Carolina Museum of History
Ongoing
Explore how governors have helped shape North Carolina through contributions to areas such as agriculture, industry, and education, while defining their roles as leaders.
http://ncmuseumofhistory.org

ART

Color Balance
Paintings by Felrath Hines
Ackland Art Museum
January 15 - May 9, 2010
The large scale abstract paintings of Felrath Hines (1913-1993) were much admired during his lifetime but exhibited relatively infrequently. In early 2009, his widow Dorothy Fisher donated a selection of his major works to the Ackland Art Museum at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, and the North Carolina Central University Art Museum, three institutions that had expressed interest in Hines' work in the past. In January 2010, the special exhibition Color Balance: Paintings by Felrath Hines will bring these works together in one of only a handful of major Hines retrospectives ever. The exhibition premieres at the Ackland before traveling to the other participating museums.
www.ackland.org

Situating the Self in Nineteenth Century Europe and America
Ackland Art Museum
June 2009-June 2010
Situating the Self in Nineteenth Century Europe and America is a special collection installation investigating the changing notions of selfhood that emerged over the course of the long nineteenth century (1789 - 1914). This time period was marked by tremendous political and social upheaval, including such milestones as the French Revolution, growing industrialization, and the onset of the First World War. As these events profoundly transformed Europe and America, interest in individualism and subjectivity grew. Situating the Self in Nineteenth Century Europe and America includes portraits, landscapes, and representations of the human figure that explore the various ways selfhood was presented and framed during this period. Artists whose work appears include Camille Pissarro, Henri Rousseau, Eugene Delacroix, Auguste Rodin, Gustave Courbet, and a newly acquired painting by Jean-Louis Le Barbier Le Jeune (at left), among many others.
www.ackland.org

Jacob Lawrence and The Legend of John Brown
Ackland Art Museum
Through May 9th, 2010
Jacob Lawrence (1917 - 2000) - one of the twentieth century's most renowned African American painters - originally created The Legend of John Brown in 1941 as a series of twenty-two gouache paintings illustrating the life of the famous and controversial nineteenth-century abolitionist. By 1977, the original paintings were in such fragile condition they could not be displayed, and the Detroit Institute of Arts commissioned Lawrence to recreate the series as a portfolio of silkscreen prints. The result was a limited edition portfolio of twenty-two hand-screened prints, one of which was acquired by the Ackland in 2005. The works were printed and published with a poem, John Brown, by Robert Hayden, which was commissioned specifically for the project. This exhibition is the Ackland's first presentation of the series, and coincides with the 150th anniversary of Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry.
www.ackland.org

Lines of Attack: Conflicts in Caricature
Nasher Museum of Art
February 4 - May 16, 2010
The exhibition will explore the significance and impact of political caricature by comparing images from the past-canonical works by Daumier and his contemporaries featuring French king Louis-Philippe (1830-1848)-with work produced much more recently, during the tenure of U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush (1993-2008).
www.nasher.duke.edu