Event Calendar

2:30-3:30pm - Reconnect Outdoor Reception, Lichtin Plaza
3:30-5:00pm - Program, Raleigh Memorial Auditorium

Hear from individuals representing various industry sectors in downtown as they share their views on the impact of the last year and their future outlook. In addition, we’ll provide market analysis and trends of the past year, highlights of DRA’s work and upcoming initiatives, and special recognition of individuals, businesses and organizations. Through these stories and more, we’ll highlight what makes our community resilient: our ability to reimagine and reinvent, our diversity and our community pride.

https://downtownraleigh.org/dra-programs/state-of-downtown-raleigh

Four- time GRAMMY nominee and multi-platinum Saxophonist Boney James will release his new album Solid on April 17, 2020. Solid is Boney's seventeenth album and the follow-up to his smash 2017 release Honestly, his eleventh #1 Billboard Contemporary Jazz Album.

One of the most successful instrumental artists of our time, Boney James has accumulated four RIAA Gold records with career sales topping three million units. James continues to defy genres; A two time NAACP Award nominee, a Soul Train Award winner and named one of the Top 3 Billboard Contemporary Jazz Artists of the Decade.

Boney explains, “The word Solid means a number of different things. There’s a solid musical groove and relationships can be solid—someone that stays by your side and never folds no matter what. That really resonates. Similar to Honestly, this music is a reaction to how stressful the world feels these days. Music is a respite, and this new music really connects on that level for me.”

**This event was previously scheduled for September 20, 2020. If you have any questions about this new performance date, please contact your original point of purchase, or email us directly at PAC.Info@RaleighNC.gov**

Por qué los hombres aman a las cabronas - Basada en el libro de Sherry Argov.

Nadie había escrito un libro como este sobre relaciones. Lleva la sátira a otro nivel. No solo es cómico, sino muy real. Está lleno de “rebanadas de humor de la vida diaria que cubren todo lo que frustran a las mujeres sobre los hombres”. Sherry Argov demuestra en esta obra el camino para perder el miedo, ser independiente, segura de ti y de una forma divertida alcanzar lo que deseas: no más sufrimiento, ni cocinarle para conquistarlo, ni quejarte, ni sacrificar tu propia vida para que el hombre caiga rendido a tus pies y para que tu seas en lo único en que el piense. No te conviertas en el tapete de nadie.

Protagonizada por: Aracely Arámbula, Gabriel Soto y Anastasia Acosta

Producida por: Rubén Lara 

Dirección: Abril Mayett

**This event was previously scheduled for May 23, 2020. If you have any questions about this new performance date, please contact your original point of purchase, or email us directly at PAC.Info@RaleighNC.gov**

The Off-Broadway hit comedy Men Are From Mars – Women Are From Venus LIVE!, is a one-man fusion of theatre and stand-up, and is a light-hearted theatrical comedy based on the New York Times #1 best-selling book of the last decade by John Gray.

Moving swiftly through a series of vignettes, the show covers everything from dating and marriage to the bedroom.  This hysterical show will have couples elbowing each other all evening as they see themselves on stage. Sexy and fast paced, this show is definitely for adults, but will leave audiences laughing and giggling like little kids! 

When Mars and Venus collide, the adventures are earth-shatteringly hysterical. It's a great recipe for a date night out: a little storytelling blended with some comedy and a dash of sage wisdom from the book. A delicious evening of entertainment!

**This event was previously scheduled for May 1, 2021. If you have any questions about this new performance date, please contact your original point of purchase, or email us directly at PAC.Info@RaleighNC.gov**

CAMILA, the group that has set trends in the Spanish-speaking world for more than fifteen years of impressive career, is now preparing to kick off their “LUZ TOUR” in the US.

After the successful tour "4 LatiDos" (2018-2020) in which they shared the stage with Sin Bandera, and with which they performed more than 50 shows throughout the American Continent, half of them in the United States, Camila clustered at the beginning of their 2020 tour “HACIA INENTRO” where they visited several cities in the United States, and a few months later celebrated their 15-year career by releasing songs like “Luz” and “Bandera Blanca”.

Now CAMILA returns to the stage with their "LUZ TOUR", which will begin in August.

Based on the hilarious hit film, 9 TO 5 is an outrageous, 1980’s era revenge story of friendship and female empowerment. Three women, working at the mercy of their manipulative misogynist boss, live out their wildest workplace fantasy – giving the boss the boot. With a high-energy, huge-hearted score by the iconic Dolly Parton, 9 TO 5 is about finally getting credit…and getting even.

This October, the Carolina Ballet returns to live performance with their new Halloween tradition—The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Artistic Director Zalman Raffael brings Washington Irving’s bonechilling tale to the stage for fans both young and old. The ballet recounts Ichabod Crane, his doomed courtship with Katrina Van Tassel, and his “face-to-face” encounter with the terrifying specter that is the Headless Horseman.

Fans of the supernatural will enjoy this program of frights and delights that include Robert Weiss’ Lady in the WhiteVeil and The Raven. Spine-tingling and eerie, do not be surprised if you stumble upon an ominous ghost, a creepy blackbird or the Headless Horseman himself!

Paula Poundstone is a comedian and author, known for her smart, observational humor and spontaneous wit. When she isn’t collecting hotel soaps on tour, Paula hosts the popular Starburns Audio podcast, Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone. Nobody is a comedy field guide to life, complete with taste tests, cats of the weeks and leading experts in everything from high-rise window washing to urban chicken farming, copyright law, food safety and surviving a bear attack (although, that guest never made it to the studio…). All put thru the screwball sensibility of Paula Poundstone, while co-host Adam Felber tries, in vain, to keep the show on track.

Paula is included in innumerable lists, documentaries and literary compendiums noting influential standup comedians of our time. Paula’s stand-up special, Cats, Cops and Stuff was named in TIME Magazine as one of The 5 Funniest Stand-Up Specials Ever.

**This event was previously scheduled for June 12, 2020. If you have any questions about this new performance date, please contact your original point of purchase, or email us directly at PAC.Info@RaleighNC.gov**

One of the greatest jazz singers of all time intimately shares her loves and her losses. Set in a small bar in Philadelphia, 1959, LADY DAY recounts the life of Billie Holiday, and the unraveling of an addicted artist, through the songs that made her famous. More than a dozen moving musical numbers are interlaced with personal stories, both hard and humorous, to recount a riveting portrait of the lady and her music.

Set to appear LIVE on US stages for the first time since the pandemic hit, Ben Folds has announced a series of concerts that include solo piano and orchestral performances he’s dubbed his “In Actual Person Live For Real Tour.” 

Folds has been in isolation in Australia since February 2020, where he was on tour when COVID-19 shut down international travel and touring.  While in Australia, he has continued working, launching a podcast series called Lightning Bugs: Conversations with Ben Folds, performing live stream concerts and online chats via his Patreon page, composing new music, and preparing for the launch of a new TV series.

NCO re-opens with a concert performance of Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, a shining story of freedom and love. Florestan is a political prisoner. His wife, Leonore, disguises herself as a man – named “Fidelio” – and takes a job in the prison, hoping to find a way to free him while facing great danger along the way.  This tale of heroism is an ode to love’s triumph over tyranny, and is uniquely suited to Beethoven’s spirited and soulful voice. 

Join the Carolina Ballet for innovative variations from their classical ballet repertoire through new ballets from Founding Artistic Director Robert Weiss, Principal Guest Choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett, and Carolina Ballet’s Jenny Palmer.

Guest Choreographer Mariana Oliveira will stage their company premiere of her critically acclaimed Pagliacci. Originally created for Milwaukee Ballet, Pagliacci follows a clown’s tragic descent, exposing the human frailty beneath the artist’s mask.

The Nutcracker is the perfect ballet for the young and young at heart. With illusions created by magician Rick Thomas, made possible by WRAL-TV, the Carolina Ballet's is one of the only Nutcracker productions with magic performed live onstage.

Whether you are seeing it live for the first time or the 20th, Carolina Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker is a must-see tradition that reminds all of us that the holidays are a time when families can gather, and dreams really can come true.

Now after a year off the road, Tomlinson is set to return to the stage with her new Deal With It Tour. One of the youngest comedians to headline theaters in decades, joining the likes of Eddie Murphy and Dave Chappelle, Tomlinson says of the new tour, “This hour is definitely darker and more personal – ‘Quarter Life Crisis’ was about being frustrated with where you’re at in life and this new material is about taking a hard look at who you are and how you got that way.” 

Theresa Caputo, star of the hit TLC show, Long Island Medium, will share personal stories about her life and explain how her gift works. She will deliver healing messages to audience members and give people comfort knowing that their loved ones who passed are still with them, just in a different way.  Theresa has been a practicing medium for over 20 years. She helps individuals find closure by delivering healing messages.

**This event was previously scheduled for July 7, 2021 7:30pm. If you have any questions about this new performance date, please contact your original point of purchase, or email us directly at PAC.Info@RaleighNC.gov**

Your trip to Paris begins when Puccini’s La bohème returns to the NCO stage! Follow the love of the poet Rodolfo and the seamstress Mimi from their first meeting on Christmas Eve through all the ups and downs of their relationship. No composer was better at creating atmosphere than Puccini, and none had a style better suited to convey the waves of emotion that go along with a new romance.  The combination makes for an indelible tale of young love in the City of Lights.

*Tickets bought for La bohème in the 20-21 season are still valid for the 21-22 season.

Carolina Ballet is proud to perform once again the beloved tale of Romeo & Juliet. Set to Prokofiev’s magnificent score, Weiss’ ballet is a faithful retelling that expresses all the drama and pathos, action and tenderness, humor and heartbreak found in this legendary story.

Filled with dramatic sword fights, stunning costumes, lush scenery and breathtaking dance, this ballet underscores the emotion of Shakespeare’s powerful play and brings to life the love, longing and loss of this epic tragedy.