Big Theatre in Little Washington

This article was written by our sponsor, Washington Tourism Development Authority.

The Historic Turnage Theatre in Washington has an incredible lineup of entertainment and the arts scheduled for 2023, including concerts, variety shows, ballet, opera, photography and art exhibitions, children’s theatre workshops and productions, holiday shows and activities, and much more.

The Turnage is a fully operational, restored Vaudeville theatre on Main Street in downtown Washington, and is owned by the arts council in Beaufort County, Arts of the Pamlico (AOP).

Executive Director Beth Strange likes to think of the Turnage as a 2-stone gem. “We have the visual arts component and the performing arts component. We are tasked with addressing them both fully, and there is the basic principle that the performing arts fund the visual arts.  We really strategically look at how many events we have per month that address visual arts, performing arts, local arts, and then, as we break those down, art shows, art classes, music, theatre. How are we making sure that we are really addressing all of the cross sections of all of the arts? It’s a big landscape to cover.”  Strange says that when they initially set out to plan for 2023, it was really the first time they (with current staff) had done that on the full scale before.  However, she feels that with all that they had to cover, they’ve done a really great job in filling up the calendar strategically and purposefully.    “We are working toward having one blockbuster event per month.  We are getting close to two, and our blockbuster visual arts events happen twice per year.  We have the juried photography exhibit in the spring and the fine arts show in the fall.”

Arts of the Pamlico recently received results from a survey that was sent out and circulated for about six months to more than 4,000 households in the area. They took that feedback and what they heard from people is that they love what Arts of the Pamlico is doing. “The one thing we heard was that people love the programming, but want even more of it. It’s very exciting, and I think we are on the right track in giving people what they want.”  Strange said that they are trying to do innovative things with the art shows and diversify the talent on the stage.  They are looking at bringing opera back, bringing in ballet, creative kinds of dance, mariachi bands, and are in talks with an African dance & drum group.  They definitely want to broaden people’s perspectives to different genres and avenues of the arts.

Sarah Quinn, AOP’s Performing Arts & Marketing Coordinator, says that they are really trying to ‘test the boundaries’ of traditional art and performances with more contemporary, leading-edge arts. “Just seeing how the area audiences respond to arts that are different, I think there is an opportunity there to introduce people to art that they’ve never seen before and expand their knowledge of what art is.”

Graphic & Visual Arts Coordinator, Bronté Labbé really wants to create a balance of local artists with artists from other areas, and young artists that may be avant-garde and/or just starting out. “Perhaps they can use the Turnage name to bolster careers, and I think that opening that opportunity beyond Washington and into the greater North Carolina regions could really help the Turnage and Washington be able to say that we are a community that is accepting, and is engaging in cultures that expand their knowledge and aren’t the culture that they celebrate at home. I think that’s what a historic institution is for, for providing those opportunities and to educate the community on what we’ve done and what we want to do.”

Event-wise, there will be numerous offerings of youth and children’s theatre programs and workshops, including the nationally renowned Missoula Children’s Theatre that will be in Washington in June. Later in March, the Goldsboro Ballet will be at the Turnage performing ‘The Little Mermaid,’ and will return in December to perform ‘The Nutcracker.’

Labbé says that ‘First Fridays’ will take place at the Turnage on the first Friday of each month with live music. “Starting in April, live music will be performed, but we’ll also be having a visual arts First Friday. So the music will be accompanied by live painting and other visual arts.”

The Motortown All-Stars will perform on the Turnage stage in April, which includes musicians from the Temptations, the Miracles, and the Contours. The concert is co-sponsored by the City of Washington.

The musical duo Lewis & Clark will be back in May.

Alex Williams (of Kool & the Gang) will be performing at Festival Park on the waterfront in August.

Rivermist, a high energy party band, will be back in September.

The annual fundraising gala will be held at the end of September, and Rocky Horror Picture Show will be shown in October.

An Elvis Presley tribute will return in November. An opera company will be on the stage in November to perform Aaron Copeland’s The Tender Land.

Empire Wild (a genre-bending crossover trio of cello, piano, & vocals) will perform at the Turnage in December.

December at the Turnage will also see the return of the Holiday Homes Tour (Two days: different homes each day),

To find out more about these elevated arts experiences and innovative performances, or to find out about even more events, (I didn’t have room here to list everything,) contact the Historic Turnage Theatre at 252-946-2504 or go to https://artsofthepamlico.org/.

This article was written by our sponsor, Washington Tourism Development Authority.