Theatre In Style

Written By: Deena Bouknight | Issue: October - 2022

The Plateau has a new theater as of mid-September. The almost five-year, $14.8 million building Highlands Performing Arts Center project resulted in a 298-seat, 16,000-square-foot facility. A performance by the musical group Bravo Amici, which combines the essential elements of classical crossover – pop, Broadway, the West End, and opera – celebrated the building’s opening on September 17. The construction management team was composed of project manager JLL, architect Lord Aeck Sargent, and contractor Choate Construction. The new Highlands Performing Arts Center sports high technology throughout. This includes a video wall in the lobby comprised of four two-foot by three-foot video displays that can present one show covering all screens – or four different presentations on the four individual screens Plus, the new facility lobby has conference meeting capabilities with network services, video conferencing, live streaming, and much more. And in the dressing rooms are video displays of stage activity for performers. The entire building is also Wi-Fi accessible. According to Executive Director Mary Adair Trumbly, “The original theater, now called the Martin Lipscomb Theater, seats 200, and it will still be utilized for various events and concerts. With the opening of the new, larger theatre, we hope to offer even more events that visitors and residents alike can enjoy.” The “one arts community” of the Highlands Performing Arts Center supplies something for every interest and age, including live concerts, streamed Metropolitan Opera (New York) and National Theatre Live (London’s West End) productions, the annual Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival, Highlands Cashiers Players, movies, youth theater performances and workshops. In October, the new Center hosts an Allman Brothers’ tribute concert (October 2) as well as the bluegrass group Sideline (October 29). Both concerts are scheduled for 7:30 P.M. During the two-and-a-half-hour A Brother’s Revival, beloved Allman Brothers songs performed include Jessica, One Way Out, Statesboro Blues, Midnight Rider, Melissa, Ramblin’ Man, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Soulshine, and Whipping Post, as well as a few jam surprises to pay homage to the improvisational spirit of the original band. And Sideline delivers high-energy, innovative, music that is award-winning; in fact, Sideline’s Thunder Dan won the 2019 Song of the Year Award with the International Bluegrass Music Association.

by Deena Bouknight / photos by Susan Renfro