Thalian Hall is a hive abuzz!
As one of America’s busiest historic venues, audiences continue to pour through its doors, even as construction is well underway. The hall is breaking record after record, having one of the busiest few weeks of ticket sales in its history, raising the most private funds for a capital campaign in its 168-year history. It has now shattered its fundraising goal to meet The New Hanover County Endowment matching challenge, over a year and three months ahead of schedule.
(L-R) Mayor Bill Saffo, Jason Lee, President and CEO of REV, Shane Fernando and Thalian Hall
Board Chair, Shannon Sandlin display the credit union’s donation for the Wilde Cat Club. (Submitted photo)
We also recently discovered a new record: Thalian Hall’s cinema tradition is the oldest in the nation, tracing back to 1897. Keep an eye out for our new cinema tagline: “First in Film.” The Transformation of Thalian Hall marks the largest collective changes to the building since the cornerstone was laid in 1855. Construction has now officially begun on all four floors of the former City Hall side of the building.
The ground floor includes plans for recording and studio space, rehearsal space, a library and an archival vault, and will serve as the home for the Marketing and Creative Suite, as well as the Institute for Education and Entrepreneurship. The institute will exist as an incubation center for local artists to hone their craft, develop new works, and become experts in financial viability through a newly established entrepreneurship program.
Construction is underway at Thalian Hall. The historic building which opened in 1858 will remain open for performances as she’s transformed into a
state-of-the-art venue. (Submitted photo)
The first floor will become home to the Wilde Cat Club, named for Oscar Wilde and Caterina Jarboro. The Wilde Cat Club will be a dual-purpose venue, acting as a coffee shop by day and a martini bar at night. In addition to a noshery, it will also serve as a live music venue with a rotating stage where regional musicians will be showcasing their talents daily.
Directly above the Wilde Cat Club, in what was formerly the City Council Chambers, will be the anchor of our new programming: the Howard Stein Hippodrome. The Howard Stein Hippodrome will offer fully immersive productions. Imagine, a space that features real actors with completely immersive digital sets.
Construction is underway at Thalian Hall. The historic building which opened in 1858 will remain open for performances as she’s transformed into a
state-of-the-art venue. (Submitted photo)
With the touch of a button, the walls, ceiling and floor turn into the Gobi Desert, the ocean floor, or Times Square. These immersive capabilities will be unique to Wilmington and the American South. It is quite romantic that this space will become a theatre once again, the original purpose of this space when the building opened in 1858.
What is currently Innes Park will become an outdoor amphitheater for live music and performance. The south portico, which used to be the main entrance to Thalian Hall, will become the stage. Our goal is to create a vibrant space for our local actors, musicians and bands to share their work and for cinema to be screened.
Shane Fernando, CEO, Thalian Hall. (Submitted photo)
This project will completely transform Thalian Hall on every level. We will be doubling events from over 700 to over 1,400 events annually. With these rising tides, we expect patronage to double from over 100,000 to more than 200,000 annually, making Thalian Hall the busiest venue in eastern North Carolina.
The current capital campaign has yielded great results. In just 18 months into the campaign, we have raised $10.9 million toward our $25 million goal. With over 100 individual contributors, our community has shown great enthusiasm for our plans and reinforced that Thalian Hall is more relevant than ever.
Howard Stein is seen in the former City Council Chambers. His $2 million
gift will transform the space into the Howard Stein Hippodrome offering
fully immersive productions. (Submitted photo)
In particular, we want to thank Howard Stein, whose gift of $2 million is the largest private gift ever received by the Hall and The Endowment, which graciously awarded our project $3 million. Wilmington is defined by many things including a can-do spirit, active civic participation, a powerful creative economy, and deep roots in American history. All of these identifiers intersect in one place: our beloved Thalian Hall.
Since 1858, she has served Wilmington in many capacities. Our seat of government, our first public library, police station, countless municipal departments, and even a roller-skating rink have all called the hall home. Each generation has put its stamp on the building, constantly reinventing what is to be expected from the most iconic landmark in our region.
With construction underway, it is now our turn to write the next chapter in her story.
To learn more and get involved, please visit thalianhall.org/future or reach out to Susan Stein at sstein@thalianhall.org or phone at 910-632-2282.
Any content, resident submissions, guest columns, advertisements, and advertorials are not necessarily endorsed by or represent the views of Best Version Media LLC (BVM) or any municipality, homeowners associations, businesses, or organizations that this publication serves. BVM is not responsible for the reliability, suitability, or timeliness of any content submitted, inclusive of materials generated or composed through artificial intelligence (AI). All content submitted is done so at the sole discretion of the submitting party.
