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Diverse Performance Sites

Theatrical venues in downtown Wilmington are quite varied, and in some cases rather unique. For example, Level 5 at City Stage presents unusual performances such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fahrenheit 451 and The Full Monty in a century-old theatre on the fifth floor of a former Masonic temple. The 2011 season includes two award winning shows, Threepenny Opera and Godspell. There’s even an adjacent rooftop lounge with spectacular views of the Cape Fear River and downtown Wilmington. In the building’s basement is the Soapbox Laundrolounge, a combination laundromat, saloon and entertainment facility.

Brown Coat Pub and Theatre on Grace Street downtown is dedicated to presenting new or less frequently seen works by playwrights. Brown Coat also stages a live weekly sitcom, poetry nights and independent films. Karaoke is offered later in the evening several nights a week. The non-profit group was founded in 2004 and even the bar is non-profit since the money received there is plowed into the productions.

Wilmington’s Guerilla Theatre Company’s live productions – sans glitzy sets, special effects and amazing costumes – focus on the characters portrayed by talented actors. In 2007, the group got raves for an anti-Shakespearian performance called, “I Hate Hamlet.” Formerly located in the Soapbox Laundrolounge, Guerilla Theater moved to the Brown Coat Pub and Theater in 2008. In 2010, the group received rave reviews for two outstanding productions, Namaste, Indiana and Cobb.

In all, upwards of a dozen or more theatre groups offer performances in a variety of locations including the recently renovated Hannah Block Historic USO Building (previously known as the Community Arts Center). A former World War II USO facility that opened the same month the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the center provided entertainment and socialization, not to mention coffee and donuts, for hundreds of thousands of servicemen stationed nearby. Today, arts programs are offered to the community in stage plays, dance, painting, vocal music, pottery and more.

University Theater Productions

At the University of North Carolina Wilmington, outstanding University Theatre productions are presented in conjunction with the UNCW Theater Department. In September 2006, the university opened its new $32 million, 104,830 square foot academic and performance facility, the Cultural Arts Building, which includes two theatres.

Other locations used by various theatre groups include the Scottish Rite Temple on South 17th Street and the Minnie Evans Art Center on the campus of Ashley High School and Murray Middle School on Carolina Beach Road.