Arts & Entertainment

Never at a loss for cultural and entertainment venues, Wilmington offers a bountiful and eclectic selection for visitors and residents alike to enjoy. Although most of the action is centered in the downtown area, some is scattered throughout the city, and locations are noted in those instances. Venues in the suburban and beach communities are listed in those sections of the book.

Our Venerable Jewel    back to top

Probably the focal point, and certainly the earliest venue in our cultural scene is that venerable jewel, Thalian Hall. One of the oldest and most beautiful theatres in the nation, Thalian Hall was built between 1855 and 1858 to satisfy both the cultural and governmental needs of the city.

When Thalian Hall was constructed, Wilmington was a bustling and growing city with an active theatrical group, the Thalian Association, dating back to 1788. In response to the need for a location for the performing arts, the city built Thalian Hall as a combination opera house seating 1,000 (a significant portion of the population) and a seat for local government - with a library thrown in for good measure.
As a major stop on the national touring circuit, Thalian Hall hosted well-known entertainers and attractions of the period including Lillian Russell, Buffalo Bill Cody, John Phillip Sousa, Maurice Barrymore and Sir Henry Lauder. After the turn of the century, the facility was renovated and updated for electricity, but by the thirties, with the decline in traveling road shows, activity at Thalian Hall dwindled.

During the thirties and forties, Thalian Hall had a few close calls with demolition, but the citizens always rallied to its support. The theatre was restored to its turn-of-the-century splendor in 1973, and activity increased. During the eighties, with funds from the city and state plus contributions from the citizens, $5 million was raised for an 18-month renovation and expansion project, culminating in the expanded complex reopening in 1990.

Today, with its Main Stage, Studio Theatre and lovely Grand Ballroom (which doubles as city council chambers) Thalian Hall hosts more that 250 performance events per year, including concerts, stage plays, popular musical attractions, a children’s theatre and Cinematique, which presents artistic films.

Many Other Venues    back to top

Other theatrical venues downtown are quite varied, and in some cases rather unique. For example, Level 5 at City Stage presents unusual performances such as “The Full Monty” on the fifth floor of an old Masonic temple, complete with rooftop lounge, or a Guerilla Theatre presentation in the basement of the Soapbox Laundrolounge, a combination laundromat, saloon and entertainment facility.

In all, upwards of a dozen or more theatre groups offer performances in a variety of locations including the Hannah Block Historic USO/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.

New Cultural Arts Building    back to top

There are additional theatrical venues away from downtown too. At the University of North Carolina Wilmington, outstanding University Theatre productions are presented in conjunction with the UNCW Theater Department. The university recently completed its new $32 million Cultural Arts Building which includes two new 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.

Music Of The Night    back to top

No self-respecting city situated between a river and sandy beaches would be complete without music and nightlife, and Wilmington has more than its share of both to offer. For the most part, music and nightlife in the downtown area are intertwined. Restaurants, bars, lounges, clubs and theaters offer a wide variety of musical genres including cool and smooth jazz, rompin’ stompin’ blues, rock, Hawaiian, country and western, indie rock, Caribbean and pretty much everything else.

At Thalian Hall, nationally known traveling musical groups and performers of all kinds perform a broad musical spectrum ranging from ballet to bluegrass with the occasional Broadway musical thrown in.

Classical Music Too    back to top

For those with more serious musical interests, Kenan Auditorium and other locations at UNCW along with Thalian Hall are hosts to the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, operatic productions, the Wilmington Symphony Youth Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony plus a variety of nationally touring groups brought in by the Wilmington Concert Association.

Downtown, the 12,000 students at UNCW, many of whom descend on the central city music scene with regularity and frequency, fuel the tremendous popularity of live music. Coupled with the tourists and regular residents, it makes for a lively situation - parking places can be harder to find in the evening than in the daytime, although the new parking decks have eased that problem considerably.

Because of North Carolina’s unique and somewhat outdated liquor laws, the popular music scene is a bit more complex than in many other cities. If a music venue - for example, a restaurant and lounge - derives most of its revenue from food, there are no restrictions on accessibility. However, if a music venue gets most of its revenue from liquor sales or offers no food, it must function as a private club. Not to worry though, you can buy a membership, effective in three days, for a very nominal sum, and you can be admitted immediately as a “guest” of a member.

Dance, Dance, Dance    back to top

Some of the jumping downtown venues, sometimes known as dance clubs and usually offering rock or some variation thereof, include ROX, Ibiza, Front Street Music Hall, The Whiskey, Olive or Twist and a number of others. The names sometimes change, but the locations pretty much remain the same.

Several of the restaurants downtown feature music somewhat more suited for the dinner hour, from softer jazz at Caprice in the sofa bar to live music at brunch at Deluxe.

Throughout the city and in the suburban areas, the nature of the music scene is similar to downtown except for the large clubs. Many of the entertainers and groups appearing downtown also appear at other locations in the city, suburbs and beach venues on other nights.

Also worthy of mention are the Airlie Gardens Summer Concert Series (outdoor, near Wrightsville Beach, mostly jazz) and the Mayfaire Music on the Town Series on Friday evenings (near Wrightsville Beach, outdoor, many kinds of music).