Sara Wise

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'Little Prince' offers life lessons

By Sara Wise | November 30

For the next two weeks, Paul Green Theatre will be home to stars, planets, snakes and sand dunes as "The Little Prince" takes the stage.

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Play depicts passion of death penalty

By Sara Wise | November 12

The Tony Award-winning "Parade" confronts controversy directly by exploring topics including the death penalty and lynching. "While these themes may be foreign to the musical form, there are so many uplifting moments, even some comic moments, so the whole thing is really a journey," said Joseph Megel, director of "Parade," which opens today in Memorial Hall. The musical, which runs until Tuesday, is produced as part of the Carolina Performing Arts series' "Criminal/Justice: The Death Penalty Examined," in conjunction with the departments of music and communication studies.

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'Aloes' depicts friendship emerging during apartheid

By Sara Wise | October 17

Although South African apartheid ended more than 10 years ago, Chapel Hill's Deep Dish Theater Company is aiming to build a bridge to current events by addressing South Africa's history in the play, "A Lesson from Aloes." The play centers around two friends living in the 1960s during apartheid. Piet, who is white, and Steve, who is black, meet for one last evening together before Steve leaves the country. The characters represent two differing sides on the racial and social divide in South Africa during apartheid.

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Shakespeare tragedy updated

By Sara Wise | September 28

The infamous tale of two star-crossed lovers returned to the Paul Green Theatre on Wednesday night for the first time in 20 years. "Romeo and Juliet," produced by the PlayMakers Repertory Company, presented a rendering of the classic story that is a "fresh approach to an old play," said Producing Artistic Director Joseph Haj. Haj played the role of Mercutio when PlayMakers performed the play 20 years ago on the same stage.

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Students await casting calls

By Sara Wise | August 31

This weekend the anxieties of more than 100 students will be relieved as cast lists go up across campus, announcing the new cast members of several student theatrical productions. Auditions were held this week for two Lab! Theatre productions, "Arcadia" and "Mere Mortals," as well as Pauper Players' musical, "The Secret Garden." For the initial auditions, Pauper Players required prospective cast members to sing 16 bars of music, while Lab! auditioners performed a short monologue.

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Three films chronicle King's life

By Sara Wise | January 17

For students interested in a perspective of Martin Luther King Jr. that celebrates more than just his role as a political activist, the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History is presenting a unique film festival in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Beginning today and continuing through Friday, one film will be presented at noon each day in the Hitchcock Multipurpose Room in the Stone Center. The three films are screened in chronological order to provide a comprehensive view of King's life.

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PlayMakers puts on poignant 'Tuesdays'

By Sara Wise | November 15

For as long as students have had professors, they've admired them not just as teachers, but as mentors. But while most students move on after graduation, author Mitch Albom reunited with his old professor Morrie Schwartz. Albom wrote a book about his weekly reunions with his professor, titled "Tuesdays with Morrie." The success of the 1997 novel prompted Albom to adapt it to the stage with the help of playwright Jeffrey Hatcher.

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Theater debuts true stories of exonerated convicts

By Sara Wise | October 26

In the past 30 years, 123 people have been freed from death row because of new evidence proving their innocence. Playwrights Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen interviewed many of these former death row inmates to create a play about their plights, entitled "The Exonerated." The play will be performed by Chapel Hill's Deep Dish Theater company tonight and will run through Nov. 18. Blank and Jensen got the idea for the play after attending a conference on the death penalty at Columbia University in 2000. The conference discussed many convicts who were tortured into confession.

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Island Rhythms coming to ArtsCenter

By Sara Wise | September 22

The aloha spirit is set to descend upon the Carrboro ArtsCenter today as it kicks off its 5th-annual World Arts Festival at 8:30 p.m. The festival features a series of concerts that will showcase island music and culture. Renowned Hawaiian musician Keola Beamer and his hula-dancing wife, Moana, have traveled more than 5,000 miles to be the event's main attraction. "This is an opportunity . to travel thousands of miles away without having to renew your passport," said Tess Mangum Oca