It’s crazy to, 250,000 people have walked through this building! That is 50,000 people over the population of Durham. We figured out the numbers and realized it was going to be on Friday night of the second week of The Phantom of the Opera. So, as DPAC minds started churning….”why not have that patron win a GIANT GOLDEN Ticket! Yes, exactly, like Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory. And what does the Golden Ticket mean… the patron won tickets to all of the DPAC Broadway shows, including WICKED and got upgraded seats to Phantom that night with all kind of Phantom goodies!
The DPAC staff waited around the downstairs podium anxiously awaiting the “lucky winner” who was going to get announced over the loud speaker. We could not have picked a better person to win, Jenny King, was overly excited and in shock! We got pictures and took her to the President’s Club for free drinks and snacks. Next up, 1 millionth patron, what should it be? A year of concerts, comedy, and Broadway? Parking included? With four weeks of WICKED on its way the 1 millionth DPAC attendee could be here before we know it.
DPAC's Golden Ticket Winner with Thorne Daubenspeck (Director of Sales)
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Yes, I am a child of the 80’s and not the 60’s, BUT I also rode around in the car listening to the Bangles, Beatles, and more as my Dad never switched the channel from the great classics. So was I impressed by the Roger Daltrey of The Who concert last night, you better believe it. Especially when he sang, “Behind Blue Eyes, which is one my father used to sing to me as a child. He was a personable man both onstage and off as he treated all of his fan club guests with so much sincerity. I was downstairs eating with the band, at 7:40 when they all looked up and said, well “I guess it is about that time.” It never seizes to amaze me what it much be like to play music for a living. They were most impressed with are one of a kind Hatch made poster that I had carried in there with me. I felt bad I only had one to give them! All in attendance seemed to be great fans, but the guy on the front row, SUPER FAN!
Check out David Menconi’s interview with Daltrey in the News & Observer.
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Broadway, concert, and comedy are back in full swing at DPAC. We opened the world premiere of Cirque Dreams Illumination last night and then celebrated our first DPAC Broadway premiere at Cuban Revolution afterwards and it was a night to remember. I feel extremely close to this show since being connected to the creation from the ground up. Or maybe because their marketing director is from North Carolina who can talk about Broadway one minute and the Hurricanes the next.
ABC 11 began by dedicating much of their time to creating a backstage special on what it is like to create a Cirque performance. The producer and crew flew down to the training center in Ft. Lauderdale Florida in May, when Andre, the chair balancer, was still only balancing on 2 chairs. Last night he was 30 feet in the air! In June, Neil Goldberg, the artistic director and creator, and 4 of his cast members, flew to Durham to announce they would be opening the tour at DPAC, followed by a trip to Foxwoods Connecticut where I watched the closest performance I could to the real thing, but after last night was pleasantly surprised that it was a brand new show. I spent yesterday morning on a usual press run, but realized through these past few months these people are now my friends; it was the most stress free press day since I started working in this business. The cast and crew have been here all week pulling 16-17 hour days making sure the DPAC audiences see a top notch opening week, and in my opinion last night proved no other.
I don’t know which act I find most amazing
- 1) A drumming juggler that plays his drums with almost 10 balls.
- 2) The So You Think You Can Dance popper, Robert Muraine, who twists his body in some “akward” yet amazing ways. I would like to challenge him on the dance floor!
Robert Muraine with Clique Chicks
- 3) Or Andrey Moraru, the chair climber, who began his act in Ukraine at age 11 and really has a passion for what he does!
I don’t want to write a review of the show, because I know there will be many of those and well I work here so of course I loved it. The best part is realizing that these are real people dedicated to giving us quality entertainment. All seemed to enjoy themselves at a fantastic cast party at our new ATC restaurant Cuban Revolution and DPAC staff are extremely proud to have opened their first Cirque Tour! Neil Goldberg may have been creating Cirque Dreams performances since 1993, but based on the creative genius work on stage last night I would say this is just his beginning.
And major applause to the audience members that got pulled on stage, fantastic job, BEWARE, that could be you!
Check out Ginny from the Blog’s perspective of the show or Raleigh Native Review; Cirque Dreams Illumination.
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DPAC Staff with John Legend
With the first “DPAC Season” behind us and nearing my “One Year” anniversary at DPAC (August 11th) I am looking back and trying to rank my top ten moments of why I love my job; yet, there are so many!
If anyone has followed DPAC on Twitter or read previous blogs than they know my #1.
1. Spending the day with Topol! The man is a legend, sang to me in the car, touched my heart as he performed on stage, and takes home the prize for my BEST day on the job this past year. It was amazing to spend time with such an accomplished artist!
2. Watching the installation of 2,800 seats. Yes, each arm rest was screwed in one at a time…over a three week process I watched DPAC come to life from concrete to crimson red.
- Adam & Anthony on Press Day
3. The lighting of the Plensa/aka Grand Opening evening. Performances on all three lobby levels, Jaume Plensa in person turning on his sculture, hundreds of people there to celebrate DPAC in Downtown Durham….finally coming all together.
4. Being part of 25 Sell out Shows! The first year has been such a success and a great beginning for what DPAC plans to bring for years to come.
5. Meeting John Legend, watching the crowd dance and in the meantime falling in love with Raphael Sadiq’s music in the opening performance.
6. Eight Broadway shows in six days! A dream come true when I attended the Broadway Theatre League conference in May. It was one of the most eye opening and learning experiences of my life thus far meeting theatre producers, owners, marketing teams from other cities.
7. Taking some of The Color Purple cast members to Durham School of the Arts and teaching the dance students a “master class” was a exciting educational outing I of course watched from the sidelines and took photos, but these kids were incredible.
Installation of Seats
8. I instructed our house photographer, Noah, at the Morrissey concert to get as close as he could in the first two numbers and boy did he…I remember looking up and seeing him being swallowed by the crowd in the pit. I laughed for a good ten minutes; anything for quality photo!
9. Hanging out with the Cirque Dreams Illumination performers at the announcement of the world tour at DPAC and meeting the incredibly talented producer Neil Goldberg who is so well spoken and believes 100% in his work.
10. Having a snow storm (1/2 inch) on opening night of RENT and Broadway at DPAC in general was an interesting dilemma, but finally seeing the voices of Adam Paschal and Anthony Rapp on stage versus in my CD player! And both are super down to earth people which always makes for an enjoyable press day.
11. One more, the blogger bash with @30Threads on stage! It was fun to put names with faces and have all the local bloggers tour the theatre. Should make it an annual event.
Hanging Out With Stormey at Grand Opening
At the risk of sounding dorky, having the chance to work with so many people that enjoy entertainment, music, theatre, and have a passion to bring quality shows that the Triangle public wants to see makes the first year a blissful one. May the second one be as memorable as the first.
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Geat a peak into the world of DPAC’s Backstage “Wall of Fame”…
One of the hip spots at DPAC backstage is what we like to call our “Wall of Fame.” Technical Director, Josh Anderson, began this fascinating idea when the theatre opened its doors. Artists that perform are asked to sign the cement walls backstage before they leave. Although B.B. King was our first show on November 30th…Raphael Sadiq was the first person to sign the wall at the Inaugural Celebration on December 13th. Since then the trend has continued….
The Color Purple Wall Signature
Theatre in the Park’s A Christmas Carol was actually the first group to sign starting the idea of a show stencil…since then all the other Broadway shows have been trying to outdo one another with their paintings… The Broadway artwork for each show was painted over the course of a week usually by a props person on the tour. Fiddler on the Roof actually had an actor paint theirs! Josh explains that there is really no rhythm or reason in how each musician, comedian or show signs, they just fill in as we go and well, hopefully it will take a few years to fill! Although at the rate DPAC is going, who knows…Right now all signatures are at eye level; eventually we might need a ladder! Josh has gone back and labeled all the signatures as some artists have much more hard to read autographs than others.
Interesting fact: Bill Cosby signed his name twice because he didn’t like the way it looked the first time; so looks double!
- Bill Cosby Signature
All staff is obsessed with their own autograph ofcourse…
*ME…Topl, Topol, Topol (Fiddler)…..LOVE HIM!
*Thorn, Director of Sales, Steely Dan
*Emily, Group Services Manager, Harry Connick Jr.
*Cassie, Management Assistant, David Sedaris*Bob, General Manager, The Color Purple
*Sheyenne, Office Manager, David Sedaris
*Josh, Technical Director, Willie Nelson & Cheech & Chong
*Who would be your favorite?
Check out many of the signatures posted on our Flickr page.
Or Guests are able to see the wall as part of our monthly public tour of the facility that occurs the first Monday of every month. To gain more information about a tour call 919-688-3722.
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Cirque Dreams Illumination is opening the world tour at DPAC in September.
What does that mean? The show will actually be “teching” the whole performance for the first time on our stage. At the beginning of September I will be able to walk up the DPAC stairs and see artists flying the air. And when they are not looking I will harness myself in and try.
Neil Goldber/Director of Cirque Dreams Productions
To kick off the tour we had the pleasure of having director Neil Goldberg in from Florida with three of the performers to announce the opening of the world premiere of Cirque Dreams Illumination. Thursday at about 4pm my co-worker and I went to pick up the team of six in two cars from the private airplane section of the airport. Let’s just say, I love my car, but the Hyundai Tuscon didn’t really “fit” in the private plane division. “You want me to do what? Drive my car on the runway?” A little scary…. That evening DPAC had about 200 guests including group leaders and press to enjoy food and drink in the grand lobby and watch a show in the making, literally. We had Neil announce the uniqueness of the show to come in September, a hand balancer twist his body in ways unimaginable while standing on a trash can, and two Cirque Dreams performers to bring some comedic relief to the crowd. When it was all said and done, people were energized! DPAC gets another tour opener; keep them coming! After the reception we took Neil and others to Durham’s one of a kind POP’s. Loving some Brightleaf as I had already got his welcome basket at Parker & Otis earlier…which included local paraphernalia.
Cirque Dreams Illumination Event/ Photo Credit: Noah Rosenblatt
The man is magnificent at what he does and you can really tell he cares and takes so much pride into all creative aspects of his work. We woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning to head to about 8 radio and tv stations so that he and the performers could share their passion about the show with everyone listening in the Triangle as well…we had to kick off the opening of a national tour at DPAC with a BANG! They talked about Cirque Dreams, their training from childhood, and the fact that tickets went on sale at 10am. WTVD ABC 11 will be broadcasting a 30 minute backstage special on the show closer to opening…anchor and crew flew down to Florida to get special footage to show how it is all made!
Check out additional photos from the presentation and NBC 17 performance on our Flickr account.
Also, Cirque Dreams Illumination tickets are on sale now and begin at $25. Show is the first show of the Broadway series, September 15-20. Check the show out on the DPAC website.
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