WILMINGTON — A film eight years in the making is getting its local debut Thursday. “Remember Yesterday” is “Wilmington’s love story,” according to writer and…
Annie Marsh will reprise her role as Patsy Cline in Opera House’s musical revue, “Always … Patsy Cline.” (Port City Daily/Courtesy photo)
WILMINGTON For months Big Dawg Productions’ artistic director, Steve Vernon, has been preparing the local theater company’s return to the stage since Covid-19 shuttered its Cape Fear Playhouse home in March 2020. Though Big Dawg did three radio dramas throughout the pandemic, “The Lifespan of a Fact” will be the company’s first in-person show in more than a year.
“I began looking at plays that were possible ‘openers’ for a return to the stage,” Vernon wrote to Port City Daily, “something that could be done with a small cast that reflected the uncertainty and anxiety of the past year, and yet still be entertaining and even comedic, and that framed larger issues into more digestible stories.”
Chase Harrison, Kevin Wilson, Steve Vernon and Robin Dale Robertson voice the audio version of award-winning ‘Wendigo.’ (Port City Daily/Courtesy of Chase Harrison)
WILMINGTON In 2016 when Chase Harrison won StarNews’ Theater Award for Best Original Play for “Wendigo” a horror play that debuted at the now-defunct Browncoat Pub and Theater little did he know he would reprise it in 2021 in a different format because of a pandemic. Big Dawg Productions is opening “Wendigo: An Audio Drama” on Thursday, which will be available for streaming through Mar. 21.
It’s been one year now since Big Dawg launched an in-person production. It began doing audio dramas with Orson Welles “War of the Worlds” last spring, followed by Christmastime’s “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol.” The productions have been funded by grants from The Landfall Foundation and the Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County.
We already know we re one of the best, but it s always nice to get some extra acknowledgement.
Southern Living magazine Tuesday named Wilmington on its annual list of 10 best Southern cities on the rise, citing the Port City s perfect marriage of quiet coastal hamlet and bustling city, with easy beach access as well as downtown charm.
The 10 cities, which were listed in alphabetical orders, include Baton Rouge; Greenville, S.C.; Huntsville, Alabama; Norfolk; Tulsa; Waco, Texas; and Winston-Salem.
What does it mean to be city on the rise ? Well, the magazine defines it as lacking the headaches that often come with big cities but with perhaps more activities than most small towns in order to fill a weekend or a day trip.