North Charleston Dinner Theatre Series Closes with Love Letters on March 21

The final North Charleston Dinner Theatre performance of the season is set to take place on Friday, March 21, 2014, with Love Letters presented by Threshold Repertory Theatre and starring real-life married couple, Ginger and Al Curl. Dinner for the evening is catered by Embassy Suites and features an entrée of pecan roasted salmon. Tickets are on sale until Tuesday, March 18.

A smash hit on and off-Broadway, The Wall Street Journal calls Love Letters "exhilarating, funny, and moving." Written in 1989 by critically acclaimed playwright A.R. Gurney, the drama traces the correspondence between staid, dutiful lawyer, Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, and his lifelong 'friend,' the lively and unstable artist, Melissa Gardner. Their beautiful, poignant story of love and friendship unfolds through the pages of nearly 50 years of letters.

Happily married for 58 years, the two featured actors, Ginger and Al Curl, are thrilled to be performing opposite one another in this evocative, touching, often times funny theatre piece. These native New Yorkers have always shared a love of the arts, starting their acting careers in local and regional theatre companies in the Catskills. After an IBM relocation to the sunny south, the Curls were cast in many community theatre productions and it wasn’t long before they were “discovered” for films, commercials, and voice-overs. Al most recently portrayed Mr. Kowalski, the jeweler, in Hallmark Channel’s The Confessions and audiences will recognize Ginger as the “Woo Lady,” who appeared alongside Ric Flair in the South Carolina Lottery commercial.

Love Letters will be presented at the Charleston Area Convention Center Ballroom (adjacent to the North Charleston Performing Arts Center) at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. The ballroom doors open at 7:00pm for dinner. Tickets are $40 per person. Group discounts are offered. Ticket price includes dinner, play, and gratuity. Tickets for just the play are available for $15. Parking is free. A cash-only bar will be available. To purchase tickets, contact Pam Smith at 843-740-5847 by Tuesday, March 18. For information on additional programs and events, contact the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at 843-740-5854 or visit http://bit.ly/culturalarts.

North Charleston Dinner Theatre Series Sings the Blues on January 31

Songstress Laura Ball offers a soulful salute to America's gifted women of the blues in the third performance of North Charleston's 2013/14 Dinner Theatre Series

Another fabulous dinner theatre performance is set to take place in North Charleston on Friday, January 31, 2014, with Black & Blues presented by songstress Laura Ball of UNED!TED. The exquisite cabaret evening of musical history is a soulful salute to America's gifted women of the blues. Dinner for the evening is catered by Embassy Suites and features an entrée of smoked chicken and sausage penne. Tickets are on sale until Tuesday, January 28.

Giving voice to the female singers who put blues on the American map, Miss Ball and her blues trio, The Gentle Time Band, will take audiences on a musical journey from the Mississippi Delta to the back alleys of New Orleans to the to the Charleston Lowcountry. The original program features the songs and stories of such celebrated blues women as Big Mama Thornton, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, and many more.

A native Charlestonian, Laura Ball is an active teacher, music director, composer, and performer known for her innovative collaborations across musical genres and her explorations of contemporary chamber music practices. She grew up with deep roots in the Gullah and Irish song-storytelling traditions and her musical background includes a broad survey as an instrumentalist, choral conductor and vocalist – spanning repertoire from the Baroque to Broadway. She currently works as the music director at Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Johns Island, SC, and is the founder and creative director of the UNED!TED Interdisciplinary Arts Concert Series, now in its fourth season. She has been a featured performing artist and composer at SECCA (Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, NC), Panoramic Dance Troupe (Raleigh, NC), and Goddard College (Port Townsend, WA), and maintains ongoing compositional collaborations with Charleston Dance Institute, Chamber Music Charleston, and Annex Dance Company. She has also appeared locally with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Seabrook Island Club, Kiawah Arts Council, Gibbes Museum of Art, and Parliament. For more information, visit LauraBall.com or UneditedArtists.com.

Black & Blues will be presented at the Charleston Area Convention Center Ballroom (adjacent to the North Charleston Performing Arts Center) at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. The ballroom doors open at 7:00pm for dinner. Tickets are $40 per person. Group discounts are offered. Ticket price includes dinner, play, and gratuity. Tickets for just the play are available for $15. Parking is free. A cash-only bar will be available. To purchase tickets, contact Pam Smith at 843-740-5847 by Tuesday, January 28. For details on the 2013/14 North Charleston Dinner Theatre Series or information on additional programs and events, contact the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at 843-740-5854 or visit http://bit.ly/culturalarts.

North Charleston Presents Holiday Children’s Theatre Performance on Decemeber 6

Don Gruel and Noel Holland of Atlantic Coast Theatre for Youth return to North Charleston on Friday, December 6, 2013, to spread Christmas cheer with a performance of Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus. The production, presented as part of the City of North Charleston’s 2013-14 Children’s Theatre Series, is a fun, fast-paced family drama in the style of the classic holiday films of the 1940's.

Offering an imaginative twist to the story inspired by Francis P. Church's famous 1897 newspaper editorial response to an inquisitive little girl, A.C.T. sets their version in 1947. The production takes on the look and feel of the memorable films of post-World War II Hollywood, such as It’s A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. The audience tags along with a reporter who must follow leads to find proof about the existence of Santa Claus, realizing in the end that believing is proof enough. The performance is appropriate for grades K-8.

Atlantic Coast Theatre for Youth is an acclaimed professional touring theatre company based in Orlando, FL. Founded in 1995, the company consists of husband and wife team, Don Gruel and Noel Holland. Don and Noel tour throughout the U.S. bringing their creativity and commitment to the art of Theatre for young audiences to performing arts centers, schools, libraries, museums, and festivals. Each season Atlantic Coast Theatre for Youth produces five to seven original shows and gives over 250 performances annually for more than 75,000 audience members.

Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus will be presented from 10:00am to 11:00am at the Sterett Hall Auditorium on the former Charleston Naval Base, 1530 7th Street, North Charleston, SC, 29405. Tickets are $2 per child; accompanying adults are admitted at no charge. Groups of 10+ are required to reserve space. Seats fill up fast, so reserve early by calling the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department office at 843.740.5854. For reservation forms, directions, or information on additional programs and events, visit http://bit.ly/culturalarts.

North Charleston Dinner Theatre Series Goes Gullah on November 15

Sharon Cooper-Murray as The Gullah Lady

Another fabulous dinner theatre performance is set to take place in North Charleston on Friday, November 15, with Gullah Roots presented by The Gullah Lady, Sharon Cooper-Murray. The interactive program features a captivating collection of stories and songs that offer a glimpse into Gullah life and culture on the coastal plains and Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. Dinner for the evening is catered by Embassy Suites and features an entrée of sage buttered and roasted pork tenderloin. Tickets are on sale until Tuesday, November 12.

In Gullah Roots, Cooper-Murray uses her rich singing voice and conversational storytelling approach to take the audience on a journey through her memories, revealing the people, songs, stories and experiences that have shaped her passion and understanding of the Gullah culture.   Although she is known as The Gullah Lady, many are surprised to learn that Sharon Cooper-Murray is not Gullah at all. Born and raised in Lake City, SC, she attended college in Tennessee and moved to the Lowcountry at the age of 22. It was in 1984, when she married Wadmalaw Island native Frank Murray, that she was first introduced to the Gullah culture. She was immediately fascinated with the Gullah way of life and its unique language, oral traditions, music, crafts and food ways. More than two decades later that fascination has turned into a life-long passion to not only learn all she can about the Gullah people and their traditions, but also to preserve and promote the language and culture. She does so by traveling throughout the east coast of the United States to participate in workshops, lectures, storytelling events, special occasions and artist in residency programs. She also performs regularly at Boone Hall Plantation.

Gullah Roots will be presented at the Charleston Area Convention Center Ballroom (adjacent to the North Charleston Performing Arts Center) at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. The ballroom doors open at 7:00pm for dinner. Tickets are $40 per person. Group discounts are offered. Ticket price includes dinner, play, and gratuity. Tickets for just the play are available for $15. Parking is free. A cash-only bar will be available. To purchase tickets, contact Pam Smith at 843-740-5847 by Tuesday, November 12. For details on the 2013/14 North Charleston Dinner Theatre Series or information on additional programs and events, contact the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at 843-740-5854 or visit http://bit.ly/culturalarts.