PRESS RELEASE
July 31, 2009
Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place
2 South Pack Square
Asheville, NC 28801
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
John Ellis, Managing Director
Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place
Office Ph#: (828) 257-4512
E-Mail: jellis@dwtheatre com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
What:
Diana Wortham Theatre Mainstage Series 2009/2010
Who:
Arlo Guthrie and The Guthrie Family Rides Again Tour, David Holt and
the Lightning Bolts, MOMIX, Jeff Daniels, Aquila Theatre Company,
Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy, Punch Brothers featuring Chris
Thile, Lúnasa, and more
When:
September 2009 – May 2010
Where:
Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place
Tickets on sale: August 19th for all events
Info/Tickets: Box Office (828) 257-4530
Web: www.dwtheatre.com
For a season brochure: Call the box office at: (828) 257-4530
THE DIANA WORTHAM THEATRE AT PACK PLACE ANNOUNCES ITS
2009/2010 MAINSTAGE SERIES SEASON
The Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place announces the schedule of performances for
its 2009/2010 Mainstage Series. The Mainstage Series presents a wide range of top
touring artists in music, theater, dance and other performing arts. Tickets for all events
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are on sale August 19th and are available online at www.dwtheatre.com as well as from
the box office at (828)257-4530.
The 2009/2010 Mainstage Series season opens on September 11, 2009 with Justin
David, a songwriter, guitarist, mandolinist, fiddler and singer who is one of the fastestrising performers on the pop/country circuit, a top-five finalist of TV’s “Nashville Star,”
and a featured artist for several years on tour with the legendary Roy Clark, who says,
“Do yourself a favor and listen to Justin David. As far as playing great fiddle, mandolin,
being a great singer – he is unequaled.” This season opener is part of the 2009/2010
Music Series, which also includes: the pop-opera crossover sensation Destino,
classically trained professional tenors delivering romantic, award-winning opera via pop,
gospel, and soul selections, just in time for Valentine’s Day (February 12, 2010); the
young and fiercely talented Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile, mandolin virtuoso
that has captured music lovers across genres (February 20, 2010); and national folk icon
and four-time Grammy winner David Holt, performing with the Lightning Bolts,
delivering, as always, an electrifying and highly entertaining show (March 27, 2010).
The 2009/2010 Special Attractions Series, presents performances new to Asheville and
returning favorites, including: Finland’s smart, imaginative, and inventive Circo Aereo,
widely regarded as the pioneer of the contemporary “New Circus” genre, bringing this
beautiful performing arts blend to Asheville on its first U.S. tour (October 27-28, 2009);
one of Hollywood’s most versatile leading men, Jeff Daniels, also an incredibly talented
musician and vocalist who has been writing songs for more than 30 years (January 23,
2010); and masters of the fiddle Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, a stunning
husband and wife duo appearing together for two whirlwind evenings of fiddle-driven
music, dance and song (February 1-2, 2010).
The 2009/2010 Mainstage Theatre Series features three varied performances:
America’s foremost radio theater company L.A. Theatre Works presenting a double bill
of chills, thrills, and great literature: H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, a recreation of the
1938 live radio broadcast that caused a nationwide panic, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s
The Lost World, the campy adventure of a professor on a scientific expedition to prove
his extraordinary claim that prehistoric animals (October 20-21, 2009); a powerful solo
performance by former Houston Oiler Bo Eason in Runt of the Litter, a
semiautobiographical account of the volatile family dynamics involving a father’s
expectations, a son’s dream to play football, and a brother’s rivalry - soon to be a major
motion picture (January 15-16, 2010); and the inventive and highly lauded Aquila
Theatre Company returns to Asheville for back-to-back performances of Henrik
Ibsen’s Enemy of the People (February 5, 2010), a thrilling new production that explores
the impact of severe eco-issues on a small town and the consequences to one man of
uncovering the truth, and of Shakespeare’s As You Like It (February 6, 2010), the comic
story of power hungry men exiling their brothers, girls playing boys, and finding love in
unexpected places.
The 2009/2010 Mainstage Dance Series, recognized for its presentation of some of the
nation’s foremost dance companies, presents: the highly unusual, incredibly talented, and
gleefully entertaining dance company MOMIX, a favorite of Asheville audiences,
performing popular works of exceptional inventiveness in their show ReMIX (November
17-18, 2009); nicholas leichter dance, a passionate company of seven dancers who fuse
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style and substance into cultural narratives, exploring race and gender, the relationship
between dancers, and between street and traditional dance styles (February 26-27, 2010);
and the New York City company of dance thoroughbreds Complexions Contemporary
Ballet, awakening audiences to a new exciting genre that combines the best of
athleticism, lyricism, technical training and experience (March 5-6, 2010).
The 2009/2010 Mainstage Encore Series presents Diana Wortham Theatre audience
favorites, including: a return appearance by virtuosic solo pianist George Winston
(November 21, 2009) displaying his talented melodic folk, New Orleans R&B, and stride
piano styles through songs from his CD Gulf Coast Blues and Impressions – A Hurricane
Relief Benefit and popular tunes by Peanuts composer Vince Guaraldi; the 7th annual
edition of A Swannanoa Solstice (two performances on December 20, 2009), a holiday
concert that has become a warm winter tradition in Asheville featuring renowned
recording artists Al Petteway, Amy White, and Robin Bullock, with special guest Alex
Reidinger, host Doug Orr, and other performers; and legendary folk icon Arlo Guthrie
on the Guthrie Family Rides Again Tour, featuring four generations on stage as the
entire clan performs the songs that they’ve written and learned together, all performed in
the family tradition generations have come to love (March 3-4, 2010).
Presented in partnership with The Swannanoa Gathering, the 2009/2010 Mainstage
Celtic Series presents four of the top touring musicians and groups in the Scots-Irish
traditional music genre: Battlefield Band, pioneers of the integration of bagpipes with
fiddle, keyboards, guitar and voice, and performers on the international scene for more
than three decades (March 19, 2010); Lúnasa, Ireland’s all-star quintet and one of the
most sought-after bands in Celtic music, forever steering Irish acoustic music into
surprising new territory (April 15, 2010); one of the most influential voices in
contemporary Irish music, Karan Casey, a natural innovator formerly of Irish
“supergroup” Solas (May 14, 2010); and Bua, a premier traditional Irish quintet
comprised of some of America’s most talented young musicians (May 29, 2010).
The Mainstage 2009/2010 Young Audience Series, presented in partnership with The
Center for Diversity Education and Theater UNCA, is a special series of school shows
designed to compliment classroom curriculum. Serving more than 5,000 students and
educators every year, the series features first-rate performances, detailed study guides
designed by educators, and post-show question-and-answer sessions. This year’s Young
Audience Series will include: James and the Giant Peach (September 30, October 1 & 2,
2009); War of the Worlds (October 20, 2009); MOMIX: ReMIX (November 18, 2009);
A Christmas Carol (December 15, 2009); Runt of the Litter (January 15, 2010); Tales of
a Fourth Grade Nothing (February 3, 2010); As You Like It (February 8, 2010); Four
Score and Seven Years Ago (February 19, 2010); nicholas leichter dance (February 26,
2010); and Click Clack Moo (March 31, 2010).
Tickets for all shows go on sale August 19th with two cost-saving options for multiple
ticket purchases. The most popular is the theatre’s Pick 5 Series pass – discounted tickets
to any five shows in the season. A Super Saver Series pass, for admission to 16 or more
events at only $24 per event, may be shared among business clients, employees, family
members and friends. The Pick 5 and the Super Saver Series ticket options offer
substantial savings over the cost of individual performances.
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The Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place is located in the Pack Square Cultural District
within walking distance of many shops and restaurants. The intimate theatre seats just
over 500 and boasts exceptional acoustics and sightlines, making it the premier
performance space in all of Western North Carolina. The Mainstage Series is supported
by a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency. The Mainstage Series
2009/2010 season sponsors are the Asheville Citizen-Times, Creative Energy, Laurey’s
Catering and Gourmet-to-go, the North Carolina Arts Council, and Renaissance Asheville
Hotel. To obtain more information on the Mainstage Series or to purchase tickets, call the
theatre’s box office at (828)257-4530 or visit www.dwtheatre.com.
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