Note: Authored by David Menconi, this piece has been produced in partnership with Raleigh Arts. Menconi's latest book, "Oh, Didn't They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music," was published in the fall of 2023 by University of North Carolina Press. His podcast, Carolina Calling, explores the history of the Tar Heel State through music.

Theatre Raleigh’s recently announced 2025 season finds the professional nonprofit theater company fully settled into its new home in North Raleigh. The five-show schedule will be the first under new artistic director Eric Woodall, who succeeds Lauren Kennedy Brady in that role.

Next year’s schedule includes Horton Foote’s Tony-winning The Trip to Bountiful and the popular musical Waitress, both of which will be directed by Woodall himself. There are two different fairy tale adaptations, Peter and the Starcatcher, which is spun off from the Peter Pan legend; and Once on This Island, a Caribbean take on The Little Mermaid. There is also a still-unnamed musical premiere, which will be announced later.

“Lauren was talking about a couple of titles before I came onboard, but I was able to shape the season,” says Woodall. “Waitress is one I’ve very excited about, it will run longer than the others because of the popularity of the show and Sara Bareilles’ music. And I have loved The Trip to Bountiful for years.’ I’ve got some surprises up my sleeve with it. Because it revolves around an older Southern lady who wants to go back to her rural homeland, I think so many of our patrons will connect with it.”

The 2024 season still has one more show to come, Curse of the Starving Class, which will be Nov. 6-17.

Season subscriptions for 2025 are on sale now, priced from $180 to $260. Single-show tickets are scheduled to go on sale Feb. 24, 2025. All shows take place at 6638 Old Wake Forest Rd. in North Raleigh, the company’s home since 2022.

^{Theatre Raleigh's City of Angels production from 2022}

“Our space is a black box that allows us to do anything with it,” says Woodall. “It’s an asset we have--when you walk in, you don’t know which set you’ll be guided to because it can look completely different. We have five different configurations, so you can be entering a different world every time. All these titles really support a transportive experience.”

This season represents a reunion of sorts for Woodall and Brady, who both grew up acting in local theater in Raleigh. Woodall remembers that each of them appeared as children in a long-ago production of The Sound of Music at the old Village Dinner Theatre near RDU Airport.

Both went on to substantial careers in New York. Brady’s Broadway credits include Sunset Boulevard, Spamalot and Les Miserables before she returned to head up Theatre Raleigh in 2008. Woodall worked for 16 years as a Broadway casting director before returning to Raleigh in 2018 as North Carolina Theatre’s executive artistic director, staying in that role until NCT’s bankruptcy declaration earlier this year.

“Our careers and lives had criss-crossed in New York and North Carolina,” says Woodall. “She’s hired me through the years to direct for her, I’ve cast her in New York and at North Carolina Theatre. It’s been a dream of ours to work together because we have this wonderful simpatico. With the unfortunate demise of North Carolina Theatre, Lauren promoted herself to executive director/founder and was able to bring me on as artistic director.”

Also of note about the 2025 season is the musical premiere, which has yet to be identified “because not all the t’s are crossed and i’s dotted,” says Woodall. It will follow the 2024’s premiere of Bull Durham, a New Musical, a very successful stage adaptation of Ron Shelton’s classic 1988 baseball movie.

“Bull Durham really did great for us, and it’s an example of where we want to take things,” says Woodall. “It’s a dream of ours to foster and create new musicals, then have them move forward to New York. That is the goal, and there’s a lot of positivity and support for it. We’re excited to see that happening. Things are good and the next step for Bull Durham is planned.”

Theatre Raleigh 2025 Main Stage season

• The Trip to Bountiful, March 26-April 6
• Peter and the Starcatcher, June 11-22
• Waitress, Aug. 6-24
• Musical premiere TBA, Sept. 24-Oct. 5
• Once on This Island, Nov. 12-23

More Upcoming Events at Theatre Raleigh Arts Center

• In Concert: Blaire Thompson, Oct. 19
• Curse of The Starving Class, Nov. 6-16
• In Concert: Jean Ford, Nov. 22
• In Concert, Stephanie J.Block, Dec. 7
• In Concert: Holiday Cabaret, Dec. 12-15
• ASBX Live: Detective Stories, Feb. 22, 2025

 

 

 

 

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