The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) presents the 2016 summer schedule of outdoor concerts and movies. The summer performing arts series includes four concerts, four special music-movie events, 14 movies, and several family-friendly performances. More events may be added.
Concerts and Family-Friendly Performances
The concert series kicked off on May 1 with a performance by eclectic, unclassifiable, genre-defying jazz/funk/global collective known as Snarky Puppy.
Indie folk heroes Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros take the Museum Park stage on May 27 to celebrate their fourth album, PersonA, which Rolling Stone calls “the band’s most risk-taking, freewheeling album yet.” The band is often described as “Beatlesy,” featuring gospel and psychedelic influences.
On June 10 the NCMA welcomes back Lake Street Dive, whose new album Side Pony exemplifies their irresistible cross-generational blend of R&B, pop, ‘60s-era rock, and soul music. The band is fronted by powerhouse vocalist Rachael Price with Mike Olson on trumpet and guitar, Bridget Kearney on upright bass, and Mike Calabrese on drums.
Iron & Wine (South Carolina native Sam Beam) returns to the NCMA for a solo performance on August 13. With five albums, numerous EPs and singles, and the initial volumes of an Archive Series, Iron & Wine has captured listeners’ emotions and imagination.
Family favorite Paperhand Puppet Intervention puts on three kid-friendly shows September 9–11. Fabricating fantastical worlds with the most ordinary of materials, Paperhand wows audiences with giant puppets, stilt dancers, shadow puppets, and great live music. This year’s show is titled The Beautiful Beast.
Music-Movie Combo Events
The Museum honors the late David Bowie and celebrates the 30th anniversary of cult classic Labyrinth with a night of music and film on June 18. Cirque de Vol and the Labyrinth Bowie Cover Band perform, followed by screening of Labyrinth. The event includes food trucks, face painting, and a Bowie tribute wall. Cosplay is encouraged.
Visitors are encouraged to party like it’s the post-apocalypse on June 25 at a special Mad Max: Fury Road-themed fire show, cosplay, and movie event. Cirque de Vol and local heavy metal band The Hell No partner for a performance—including a fire show—before a screening of Mad Max: Fury Road. Participants can build their own Mad Max mini art car or war vehicle with the Scrap Exchange’s Dystopian Make and Take; donate their locks at a Furiosa Shearing Booth and Battle Salon; and purchase food from a selection of food trucks. Face painting will be provided, and prizes will be awarded for best cosplay.
The NCMA presents its fourth annual Big Lebowski The Dude Abides Party on July 23. Visitors can purchase food at a food truck roundup, sip White Russians, listen to Creedence, play Bowling Wii in the Lebowski roll-up game truck, and engage in other Dudeist traditions—all before a screening of The Big Lebowski.
On July 30 a night of brilliant and affecting entertainment opens with a performance by the virtuosic Irish-American fiddler Eileen Ivers, followed by an outdoor screening of Brooklyn. Based on a novel by Colm Toibin, the Oscar-nominated film tells the story of a young Irish woman’s emigration to America in the early 1950s. Saoirse Ronan’s inspired performance received Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA nominations for best actress. Who better to complement this lovely movie than Eileen Ivers, the daughter of Irish immigrants who hails from the Bronx? Ivers may be the most accomplished Irish musician and bandleader on the scene today.
Movies
Big-screen movie magic under the stars has been a cherished NCMA experience for over 20 years. The season kicks off with Creed on June 3. Other summer movies include classics such as The Princess Bride, North by Northwest, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; 2016 award nominees and winners such as The Martian, The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Spotlight, and Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens; and family favorites including Inside Out and Zootopia.
Visitor Information
The concert and movie schedule is available at ncartmuseum.org. Concerts and movies take place at the Joseph M. Bryan, Jr., Theater in the Museum Park. Doors open 90 minutes before concert and movie start time. Parking is free.
Iris restaurant offers eclectic summer fare during concerts. Concessions, including beer and wine, are available at movies (alcohol is not served at Disney movie screenings). Visitors are also welcome to bring picnics (excluding alcohol). Nonalcoholic beverages, including water, must arrive in factory-sealed containers.
Children 6 and under are admitted free on the lawn. For Museum members, concert tickets are discounted and movies are free. Purchase tickets at ncartmuseum.org or by phone through the Museum Box Office at (919) 715-5923.