Live After 5
Nothin’ says summer in the Carolinas like beach music, and on Friday, May 11, Live After 5 is ushering in the summer with The Catalinas, “America’s Premier Beach Band.” Since 1957, The Catalinas have been entertaining audiences with their top-quality sound and onstage energy.
This free event begins at 5:30 p.m. and the fun continues until 9 p.m., providing not only music for your dancing and listening pleasure, but also activities for the kids. Bring your lawn chairs, blankets and picnic baskets — but please, no outside alcoholic beverages. Beer, wine and nonalcoholic beverages will be available for purchase, in addition to great local food trucks. Live After 5 will be held at Tufts Memorial Park, 1 Village Green Road W., in the village of Pinehurst. For more information, call (910) 295-8656 or www.vopnc.org.
Free Plant Clinic
The Moore County Master Volunteer Association is hosting a free plant clinic at the Walmart Supercenter on Saturday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to noon. The master gardener volunteers have many hours of training and experience dealing with plants that thrive (or at least survive) in the Sandhills and the issues confronting local gardeners like sandy soil, a wide variety of diseases and insect pests, and hot summers.
So if you’re having problems with a plant, bring a sample or photo for diagnosis to the Plant Clinic, just outside Walmart’s Patio and Garden Center. Or, if you’d like advice about what to plant where and how to care for your plants, stop by and get some advice. Walmart is located at 250 Turner St., Aberdeen. For more information, call (910) 947-3188.
The Power of the Press
On Wednesday, May 2, the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities invites you to a riveting and timely conversation with Frank Daniels Jr. and David Woronoff. Daniels is the retired president and publisher of Raleigh’s The News & Observer and current chairman of The Pilot. Woronoff is The Pilot’s publisher. Both of these men have led their newspapers to excellence: Daniels’ N&O won the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 1996, and Woronoff transformed The Pilot into a 21st-century media company that produces not only the highly regarded newspaper, but the immensely popular magazines PineStraw, O.Henry and Salt.
The event begins at 2 p.m. and is free to the public, but reservations are required. Weymouth Center is located at 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For more information and reservations, call (910) 692-6261 or email Mgweymouth1@gmail.com.
Shakespeare in the Pines
On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 1—3 and 8—10, the Uprising Theatre Company is bringing Shakespeare back to Tufts Memorial Park. The Company will present his most popular comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which intertwines the stories of six hilariously farcical actors, four love-struck teenagers, one royal wedding, and the infinite magic and mayhem of some woodland fairies as they navigate the enchanted forest.
The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. and general admission is free. A VIP table for six can be purchased for $450 and includes a bottle of Champagne, an assortment of gourmet appetizers and a bottle of red wine. These tables are close to the stage and offer maximum viewing. Tufts Park is located at 1 Village Green Road in the village of Pinehurst. For more information, call (541) 631-8241 or visit www.uprisingtheatrecompany.com.
The Rooster’s Wife
Sunday, May 6: Richie and Rosie. Richie Stearns and Rosie Newton are steadfastly old-time and thoroughly modern, performing songs with universal and timeless messages. Cost: $15.
Sunday, May 13: No Fuss and Feathers. Catherine Miles and Jay Mafale, Karyn Oliver and Carolann Solebello serve up a dynamic, cohesive cocktail of delicious harmonies, infectious rhythm and spontaneous hilarity. Cost: $15.
Thursday, May 17: Open Mic night. Free to members. Annual memberships are $5 and are available online or at the door.
Friday, May 18: Edgar Loudermilk Band, featuring Jeff Autrey. Traditional bluegrass led by a unique voice, accompanied by stellar players. Cost: $10.
Sunday, May 20: Robby Hecht and Caroline Spence. Robby Hecht is a modern folk musician-of-all-trades, joined tonight with Caroline Spence, a young troubadour from Charlottesville, Virginia. Cost: $15.
Sunday, May 27: Hank, Pattie & The Current. Two of North Carolina’s veteran bluegrass musicians join forces with some of the Triangle area’s most versatile musicians to create modern, American, acoustic music. Cost: $15.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and music begins at 6:46 at the Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight St., Aberdeen. Prices stated above are member prices. Annual memberships are $5 and are available online or at the door. For more information, call (910) 944-7502 or visit www.theroosterswife.org for tickets.
Vincent
The Sunrise Theatre will present the film Vincent Van Gogh: A New Way of Seeing, part of the Exhibition on Screen series, on Thursday, May 17. This award-winning documentary showcases Van Gogh’s iconic works and delves into the life of an artist as troubled as he was brilliant and prolific.
Denise Baker, artist and retired professor of art at Sandhills Community College, will introduce the film with commentary on Van Gogh’s work and influence on the world of art. The presentation begins at 10 a.m. Tickets are $10, or $15 for both this film and Loving Vincent, which will be shown at the Sunrise on May 24. The Sunrise Theater is located at 250 N.W. Broad St. in Southern Pines. For more information, call (910) 692-8501 or 692-3611 or visit sunrisetheater.com.
Meet the Authors
At 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 5, Elaine Neil Orr will present her new book, Swimming Between Worlds, at The Country Bookshop. The story, set in Winston-Salem in the 1960s, revolves around Tacker, a young engineering student, and Kate, a recent college graduate, both grappling with disturbing aspects of their past. They meet a young African-American boy and find themselves at the center of the civil rights struggle. Orr, an English professor at N.C. State, grew up in Nigeria.
On Saturday, May 19, at 2 p.m., South Carolina native Margaret Bradham Thornton, author of Charleston, immerses us in an entirely different world. In her second novel, A Theory of Love, Thornton takes us to such glamorous places as London, St. Tropez, Milan and Tangier in a story about a French-American businessman and a British journalist who struggle to maintain their marriage as well as their individuality.
The Country Bookshop is located at 140 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. For more information, call (910) 692-3211.
The Carolina Philharmonic
Internationally renowned violinist Natasha Korsakova returns to the Carolina Philharmonic for its Season Finale Symphonic Salute on Saturday, May 19. Known for her perfect technique, bold style and charisma, Korsakova will capture your hearts in a virtuoso performance that includes selections from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and Camille Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso. The program also includes such Americana favorites as Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Maestro David Wolff will lead the orchestra in this rousing conclusion to a season that has brought Broadway stars, international opera singers and a piano prodigy to the Sandhills.
The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. at Owens Auditorium at Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road in Pinehurst. Tickets range from $30 to $60, with discounts for military ($25) and students ($11). For information, call (910) 687-0287 or visit www.carolinaphil.org.
