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16
WBM august 2013
A
s sunlight pierces a mossy
canopy of cypress
trees in scattered,
broken laser-like beams
that paint stage right, patrons are
ushered in by a breeze that sends
rippling currents to an otherwise
motionless body of water. It’s showtime
at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater.
Now an attractive venue to promoters
of big names in the music industry,
it took million-dollar-plus renovations
to match the infrastructure to the
aesthetic level of its surroundings.
“We Shakespeare on the Green are
the reason for the renovations,” says
Cherri McKay, managing producer for
Cape Fear Shakespeare. “Our dressing
rooms were these two Flintstone-type
buildings down by the lake. We had
no air conditioning or anything; we’d
build our set on the platform and have
lawn chairs behind it. We loved it then,
but of course we like it now, too.”
Revamped stage, concessions, seating
and dressing areas are dedicated to
Hugh Morton, Wilmington native and
longtime proprietor of Grandfather
Mountain. Morton was a renowned
photographer, led the campaign to
bring the battleship to Wilmington and
was the first president of the Azalea
Festival, which is said to have been
inspired in part by the spring azaleas at
Greenfield Lake.
On August 2, the amphitheater will
welcome an act of broad musical scope
and influence — Bruce Hornsby and
the Noisemakers. Hornsby’s music has
taken on numerous transformations,
most achieving success, most well-received
by critics and all progressive
and forward-thinking. It was only
relatively recently that he began making
noise with his current assemblage of
band mates. Together they combine
elements of a range of genres that
tend to draw a range of listeners, from
those who most appreciate Hornsby’s
time spent touring with the Grateful
Dead, to a younger generation who
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SEAN SMITH
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