S H O R T S H O R T S • •
UP GOES THE CURTAIN
Broadway Comes to Town
THE 2019-2020 Wilson
Center at Cape Fear
Community College’s
Broadway series opens in
October with “Fiddler on the Roof,”
the beloved theatrical classic from
Tony Award winners Joseph Stein,
Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.
Tickets have been selling very
well, says Christy Grantham, the
Wilson Center Director of Ticketing.
“Our top seller so far is the last
show of the season, “Beautiful: The
Carole King Musical.” The next best
seller has been “Fiddler on the Roof,’”
she says. “That surprised me a bit,
because it is so well known.”
In December, “The Illusionists
– Magic of the Holidays” will show-case
the talents of top illusionists.
The uplifting and hilarious musical
“Waitress” will be brought to life in
February by a groundbreaking, all-female
creative team.
In March, theatergoers will have
three options: “The Color Purple,”
“An American in Paris,” and “Cats,” the
record-breaking musical spectacular
by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Then in April patrons may take in
the Tony Award-winning Broadway
smash hit “Bandstand.” Rounding out
the season in June will be “Beautiful:
The Carole King Musical,” which fea-tures
over two dozen pop classics.
Regardless of age, everyone
attending must have a ticket. Group
tickets and opera boxes are avail-able.
Grantham says her office and
a team of volunteers work to assure
everybody has the best possible
experience. The center also offers
assisted-listening devices, and addi-tional
wheelchairs to meet patrons
at their vehicle who need a little
extra help getting into the theater.
With advance notice, Grantham’s
team can arrange a sign-language
interpreter and is working towards
captioning the shows.
— Pat Bradford
PEYING IT FORWARD Fundraising Against Cancer
LOVE IS BALD, the nonprofit that channels money raised to other nonprofits serving
cancer patients, is built on a quote about friends doing unto others: “Pey it
Forward.”
When 26-year old Peyton Dergay lost her battle against cancer in 2004,
close friends Kelli Russell
and Allen Williford felt
the best way to keep her
memory and love alive
was to do something
that helped others.
Dergay’s battle, Russell
remembers, was punctu-ated
by happy birthday
celebrations, “We always
did birthdays really big.”
Founded in 2010
with a desire to honor
their friend, celebrate
life, and never take any-thing
for granted, the
group has raised funds
for cancer patients
and their families in
the Wilmington and
Raleigh areas.
“We are kind of
a middleman, you
could say,” Williford
says. “We put on
events and we raise
money for other
grassroot organiza-tions
that are in the
cancer realm. We
stick to the cancer
side of it.”
Through a vari-ety
Love is Bald holds an annual fashion show to raise money
for nonprofits serving cancer patients.
of grassroots fundraisers over the last
COURTNEY WINTER/EVENTS BY P3
decade, Love is Bald has given to approximately a dozen causes, including Make-A-Wish
Foundation, Be the Match, Pretty in Pink Foundation, Pink Heals Cape Fear, Steve Haydu
St. Patrick’s Lo Tide Run, Lump to Laughter, Hope Abounds, Me Fine Foundation, Caring
Community, and The Pink Ribbon Project of New Hanover Regional Medical Center.
Included in the fundraisers are a popular volleyball tournament held at Capt’n Bill’s
Backyard Grill in Wilmington each September for the past 10 years, a Wilmington fash-ion
show for six years, chili cook-offs for four years, and three golf tournaments in the
Raleigh area.
“The coolest part to me is the family that’s been created through all of this,” Williford
says. “The same people will travel for whatever event, they will come. People hear about
it and slip into the family and then they are just always there. People who come to the
volleyball tournament have been there 10 years; it’s one of the biggest volleyball tour-naments
that Capt’n Bill’s has.” — Pat Bradford
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