North Carolina Theatre is a
professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
located in
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southe ...
. They perform four
mainstage
MainStage is a music application developed by Apple Inc. designed for use in live performance.
Features
MainStage might be thought of as a companion app to Logic Pro. It works in much the same way and bears a similar user interface. The focu ...
shows each year at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in the
Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. It was founded by De Ann S. Jones and is currently managed by Elizabeth Doran, the executive director of the company. Doran succeeded former CEO, Lisa Grele Barrie, in 2017.
Several Broadway veterans are said to have started their careers at North Carolina Theatre, including
Clay Aiken
Clayton Holmes Aiken (''né'' Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, television personality, actor, politician, and activist. Aiken finished second place on the second season of ''American Idol'' in 2003, and his debut album, ' ...
,
Sharon Lawrence
Sharon Elizabeth Lawrence (born June 29, 1961) is an American actress who played Sylvia Costas Sipowicz in the ABC drama series '' NYPD Blue''. The role garnered her three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in ...
,
Lauren Kennedy
Lauren Kennedy (born September 3, 1973) is an American actress and singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She is now the producing artistic director of Theatre Raleigh in her home state of North Carolina.
Education
Kennedy was bor ...
, and
Beth Leavel.
Alumni
Several notable actors and actresses have taken part in NCT productions:
*
Clay Aiken
Clayton Holmes Aiken (''né'' Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, television personality, actor, politician, and activist. Aiken finished second place on the second season of ''American Idol'' in 2003, and his debut album, ' ...
as "Clayton Grissom"
*
Debby Boone
Deborah Anne Boone (born September 22, 1956) is an American singer, author, and actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, " You Light Up My Life", which spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and led to her winning the ...
*
Lisa Brescia
Lisa Brescia (born May 12, 1970, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota) is an American musical theatre actress who has performed as lead and understudy in several Broadway shows. Raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she went on to pursue acting and graduated fr ...
*
Alan Campbell
*
Jennifer Cody
*
Ariana DeBose
*
Sandy Duncan
Sandra Kay Duncan (born February 20, 1946) is an American actress, comedian, dancer and singer. She is known for her performances in the Broadway revival of ''Peter Pan'' and in the sitcom ''The Hogan Family''. Duncan has been nominated for thr ...
*
Daisy Eagan
Daisy Eagan is an American actress.
Early life
Eagan was born in Brooklyn to a Jewish family. Her mother, Andrea Boroff Eagan, was a medical writer; she died when Eagan was 13. Her father, Richard Eagan, is a visual and performing artist. Dai ...
*
Sheena Easton
Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...
*
Larry Gatlin
Larry Wayne Gatlin (born May 2, 1948) is an American country and Southern gospel singer and songwriter. As part of a trio with his younger brothers Steve and Rudy, he achieved considerable success within the country music genre, performing on ...
*
Deborah Gibson
Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress.
Gibson released her debut album '' Out of the Blue'' in 1987, which spawned several international hits, later being certified triple plati ...
*
Montego Glover
*
Kathy Fitzgerald
*
Lauren Kennedy
Lauren Kennedy (born September 3, 1973) is an American actress and singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She is now the producing artistic director of Theatre Raleigh in her home state of North Carolina.
Education
Kennedy was bor ...
*
Sharon Lawrence
Sharon Elizabeth Lawrence (born June 29, 1961) is an American actress who played Sylvia Costas Sipowicz in the ABC drama series '' NYPD Blue''. The role garnered her three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in ...
*
Beth Leavel
*
Norm Lewis
Norm Lewis (born June 2, 1963) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in Europe, on Broadway, in film, television, recordings and regional theatre. Productions that he has been involved in include ''Dessa Rose'', ''Miss Saigon'', '' T ...
*
Kara Lindsay
*
Terrence Mann
Terrence Vaughan Mann (born July 1, 1951) is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is best known for his appearances on the Broadway stage, which include Chester Lyman in '' Barnum'', Rum Tum Tugger in ''Cats'', Javert in '' Les ...
*
Andrea McArdle
Andrea McArdle is an American singer and actress best known for originating the role of Annie in the Broadway musical '' Annie''.
Career
McArdle was born in Philadelphia. While studying dance as a child, she was spotted by a talent agent who got ...
*
Julia Murney
*
Michael Rupert
Michael John Rupert (born October 23, 1951, Denver, Colorado) is an American actor, singer, director and composer. In 1968 he made his Broadway debut in '' The Happy Time'' as Bibi Bonnard for which he received a Tony Award nomination and the ...
*
Elena Shaddow
*
Sally Struthers
Sally Anne Struthers (born July 28, 1947) is an American actress and activist. She played Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker (played by Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton) on ''All in the Family'', for which she won two Emm ...
*
Chuck Wagner
Chuck Wagner is an American actor, director, musical theater historian and teacher. He has had an extensive career in theater, but is perhaps best known for co-starring in the short-lived science fiction TV series ''Automan'' (1983–84).
Notabl ...
*
Ira David Wood III
*
Tom Wopat
Thomas Steven Wopat (born September 9, 1951) is an American actor and singer. He first achieved fame as Lucas K. "Luke" Duke on the long-running television action/comedy series ''The Dukes of Hazzard''. Since then, Wopat has worked regularly, ...
*
Josh Young
Josh Young is an American actor best known for appearing on Broadway in the revival of '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' as Judas and ''Amazing Grace'', originating the role of John Newton.
Early life and education
Young was raised in Wallingford, Pen ...
References
External links
North Carolina Theatre
Theatre companies in Raleigh, North Carolina
Theatres in Raleigh, North Carolina
{{RaleighNC-stub