Opening Night Review | ANNIE @nctheatre #NCTAnnie

July 24, 2019SobeSavvy 6 Comments

Opening Night Review | ANNIE @nctheatre #NCTAnnie | SobeSavvy.com

On July 23, 2019, I joined NC Theatre for their season finale of ANNIE, running July 23-28 at Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, NC. My daughter shared the news and her excitement on Instagram:

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Needless to say, we are ANNIE fans! We have watched both the movies and sang all of the songs but had never seen this beloved musical on stage before. Fun Fact: Did you know the movie and musical ANNIE is based on Harold Gray’s popular comic Little Orphan Annie?

Harold Gray’s popular comic Little Orphan Annie | NCTheatre.com

For those of you who may not be familiar with ANNIE, here is the description of this musical:

Molly ( played by Emily Jewel Hoder) & Annie ( played by Alexa LaSanta) | production photo provided by NC Theatre

With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City Orphanage that is run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan.

Miss Hannigan ( played by Karen Ziemba) + “Little Girls” | production photo provided by NC Theatre

With the help of the other girls in the Orphanage, Annie escapes to the wondrous world of NYC. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s evil schemes, befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and finds a new home and family in billionaire, Oliver Warbucks.

Annie ( played by Alexa LaSanta) & Oliver Warbucks ( played by John Eric Parker) | production photo provided by NC Theatre

Opening night of NC Theatre’s season-ending production of ANNIE was a SMASH HIT! From the live orchestra, the star-studded cast (especially the young and talented orphans who sang and danced their way into our hearts), to the adorable Broadway pup who played Sandy, this is a musical the whole family would enjoy! In fact, my daughters favorite moments involved Sandy since she loves dogs so much.

Have you heard? NC Theatre’s production of ANNIE will feature an adorable Broadway pup as Sandy! | NCtheatre.com

We had great (and comfortable) seats inside of the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts and no worries for the younger theatre goers as they do provide booster seats. My daughter, who is almost 8, was happy to see so much “girl power” on stage from the wonderful mix of young girl actors. I appreciated the diverse cast and representation of talent showcased in this production. The set designs were spectacular and provided the perfect backdrops of everything from the streets of NYC to Daddy Warbucks’ mansion on Fifth Avenue. Elaborate choreography was on on display that had us all in awe. The entire cast was amazing and we all song along to all the familiar songs like “Tomorrow”, “It’s a Hard Knock Life”, “Easy Street” and many more! This play was paced very nicely and never slowed down much throughout both sets between intermission. It was a magical night watching a magical timeless story.

Me and my #HeighPartyof3 enjoyed opening night of ANNIE

**SobeSavvy Tip: College students get an exclusive discount! Enjoy $25 tickets with a valid college ID to our season ending production. Learn more and get your tickets>> here

ANNIE will be showing from July 23-28 in Raleigh for 8 performances only! WANT TICKETS? Go to nctheatre.com for details and follow on IG @nctheatre #NCTAnnie !

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SONG FROM ANNIE? ***[ “Tomorrow” is ours, let us know yours in the comment below!! ]***

Thanks for reading and supporting the arts!

5 Years of Holiday Cheer! Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer The Musical is here @DECRALEIGH #RudolphRaleigh #familyfun

December 3, 2018SobeSavvy 10 Comments

🎶You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all🎶 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer..

We all know and love the song that goes along with the animated television story of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”! Now is your chance to fall in love all over again with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer The Musical, in it’s 5th year is now playing at Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts inside the A.J.Fletcher Opera Theater to see this all time favorite holiday classic brought to life on stage!

Before seeing the show, SobeSavvy.com was invited to a special Blogger Party to celebrate it’s 5th year anniversary! If you saw my IG instastories @SobeSavvy, then you saw how much fun we had prior to the show! If not, be sure to check out my you tube video below.

There is actually a chance for all guests to enjoy lobby festivities before seeing the show. I recommend arriving early so you can:

• SHOP for adorable gifts and plush toys for your little one or find the perfect Christmas gift!

• SNAP photos with the larger than life characters from the special including Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster and of course, Rudolph!

• POSE for the camera at the step and repeat and capture a picture from your memorable night out!

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My husband and I grew up watching this all time favorite cartoon special every single year at Christmas time. So to experience it with our daughter and see it come live on stage is such a joy! We all had fun taking a trip to Christmas Town all the way to the North Pole to Santa’s workshop. We watched the story unfold and enjoyed seeing Rudolph grow from a young buck who went thru adversity to a deer who became a leader necause he never stopped believing in himself. So what his nose was different. You Glow Rudolph!

Kids of all ages were in the audience to experience the wonder that this story truly is. My girl enjoyed this at 7 years old as much as she did when we went to see Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer The Musical in 2016, when she was age 5! There was plenty of dancing and singing. The audience was invited to sing-a-long with the lyrics to ‘Silver and Gold’. This musical truly brought the warm feelings of the holidays to our hearts. The last scene actually had REAL snow falling on the audience. The kids and adults alike were delighted!

Now thru Dec 24, grab your family, young and old to see the greatest Christmas tale ever told! Come dressed in your holiday pjs or wear a Santa’s hat to this family fun show filled with singing, dancing and great acting! Santa and Mrs. Claus, Hermey the Elf, Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster, Clarice, Yukon Cornelius and Rudolph are all ready to entertain you! Buy your tickets now to Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer The Musical. It is the absolute must do for this holiday season !!

Watch highlights from the Blogger Party celebrating the 5th Year Anniversary of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer The Musical!

Thanks again for inviting SobeSavvy.com to the event and performance. For more info on how you can get tickets to the show, go to dukeenergycenterraleigh.com.

Happy Holidays!🎄

Top 5 Reasons to see The Wolf in #Raleigh ! Thru 4/2 @TheatreRaleigh #FamilyFun

March 26, 2017SobeSavvy 5 Comments

Looking for some family fun or somewhere different than the playground to go with your little one? Then head to the Kennedy Theatre at Duke Center For Performing Arts to see “The Wolf” presented by Theatre Raleigh.

This kid friendly production, directed and choregraphed by Lauren Kennedy Brady, combines elements from well known stories as Little Red Riding Hood, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Three Little Pigs and Peter and the Wolf. Follow those characters and see what they have in store for The Wolf.
SobeSavvy.com shared a review of the play in 2016, so we were excited to be invited again to experience this fantastic play with #outandaboutAva, now 5 yrs old. To see her reaction to this play a year later, now that she is a year older was wonderful!

Savvy Tip: Make sure to stop by the fun “Capture the Wolf” photo booth and hang around after the show to meet the cast!

Top 5 Reasons you should see The Wolf

Whether you are age 3 or 93, this play is for everyone. Both young and adults audiences will find the production to be entertaining and delightful!
We loved how the characters perform in close physical proximity to the audience. The show is so engaging and approachable, we felt like we were part of the play!
Kennedy Theatre is uniquely intimate, which is one of the main reasons The Wolf is perfectly suited for this venue.Kids can even sit on floor pillows stage side to help capture The Wolf!
For 1 hour (no intermission), you can feast your eyes on dance, theatre and imagination all in one room.
You don’t want to miss your chance to finally see The Wolf get outsmarted! Take that, take that..we’re not afraid of the Big Bad Wolf!

The Wolf is an original show written by Joe Calarco and Andre Catrini and is part of The 2017 Family Series sponsored in part by Duke Health and plays until April 2,2017. For showtimes and ticket information, check here.

#RudolphTheMusical goes down in history thru 12/24 @DECRaleigh @BroadwaySouth

December 4, 2016SobeSavvy 1 Comment

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen

Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen

But do you recall

The most famous reindeer of all?
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer..

We all know and love the song that goes along with the animated television story of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” ! Now is your chance to fall in love all over again with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer The Musical, now playing at Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts as part of Broadway Series South. My lil one wore her antlers gleefully and we were on our way to A.J.Fletcher Opera Theater to see this all time favorite holiday classic brought to life on stage!

Before the show, we checked the adorable gifts and plush toys that were for sale and also took the opportunity to take photos with the larger than life characters from the special including Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster, and, of course, Rudolph!

We all grew up watching this all time favorite cartoon special every single year at Christmas time. Now you can experience it live on stage ! This broadway caliber performance transported the audience all the way to the North Pole to Santa’s workshop . This is where all the drama on stage takes place. Kids of all ages were in the audience this afternoon to experience the wonder that this story truly is.

There was plenty of dancing and singing. All of your favorite characters from the cartoon were there. From the abominable snowman to the Elf who wants to be dentist were well represented ! This musical truly brought the cartoon to life. My 5 yr old laughed with delight every single time Rudolph’s nose lit up crimson red ! The show was 75 min with a 10 min intermission. My favorite scene was on the island of misfit toys. It had a deeper message that there is no such things as misfits, there are just some people that are just different than others.

The play hit a crescendo when it appeared that due to dangerous weather conditions, Santa was gong to have to cancel Christmas..but you know the rest !!

The last scene actually had REAL snow falling on the audience and suffice to say,my little girl LOVED,LOVED, LOVED that special effect.

Grab mom, grab Grandma {Or Nana} and ALL the kids and adults and buy your tickets now to Rudolph The Musical. It is the absolute must do for this holiday season !!

Now thru Dec 24, grab your family, young and old to see the greatest Christmas tale ever told ! Come dressed in your holiday pjs or wear a Santa’s hat to this family fun show filled with singing, dancing and great acting! Santa and Mrs. Claus, Hermey the Elf, Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster, Clarice, Yukon Cornelius and Rudolph all came to life !

Hey #Raleigh, Enjoy the Magic of #TheNutcracker @CarolinaBallet @DECRaleigh ~Recap by SobeSavvy.com

December 21, 2015SobeSavvy Leave a comment

When you think of Christmas time traditions, seeing The Nutcracker is at the top of everyone’s list.

I had the pleasure to attend what has now become annual holiday season event at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. The Carolina Ballet, under the artistic direction of Robert Weiss puts on their production of The Nutcracker https://www.carolinaballet.com/program/the-nutcracker15.

It is America’s most popular ballet and for good reasons. Toy soldiers, pirouette of The Sugar Plum Fairy, the Tchaivosky score and beautiful choreography make it such an elegant experience. In it’s 15th years that the Carolina Ballet has presented this show they always make it seen fresh. Four years ago they added some new illusions to the party scene and one more was added last year. You simply felt the energy radiating from the dancers and the audience. It was indeed magical. My daughter is a bit too young now, but I really look forward to sharing this annual experience with her in the future.

Make it a family tradition and buy tickets today !

Please don’t forget to join the Carolina Ballet next year as they salute William Shakespeare throughout their spring season. It kicks off
February 4-21, 2016 with Love Speaks which is choreographed by Carolina Ballet Principal Guest Choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett Shakespeare’s love sonnets are interpreted through movement and dance, set to period music of Vivaldi, Corelli and Purcell.