11 Wilmington things to do this weekend, including 'Funny Girl' tour de force at Thalian

Now that Labor Day's over with, we can practically count the hours until a cool crispness enters the Wilmington-area air.

Summer's not done with us yet, though. As if to remind us, this weekend's entertainment calendar looms large with enough big-name acts to fill a summer music festival, from heavy hitters like Tenacious D and Jason Isbell to such indie favorites as Dawes and Built to Spill.

Got plenty of theater on the docket as well, including the production of a classic musical at Thalian Hall that features a knockout performance in the leading role.

It's a big weekend for comedy, too, with a stand-up who's been on the Blue Collar Comedy tour coming to town, and the launch of new local series that pairs dinner with a show.

Plus, some of the area's outdoor concert series haven't run their course right yet, so check out our roundup of those shows for more ideas of stuff to do.

More: 28 fall festivals in the Wilmington area for 2022 as celebrations return in full force

More: 10 things to do in Wilmington for Labor Day weekend, from musicals to Harry Potter spoofs

ALL WEEKEND

'Funny Girl'

At Thalian Hall: It's rare we get a musical in Wilmington that's actively running on Broadway. But with Opera House Theatre Co.'s production of the classic "Funny Girl," which runs through Sunday at Thalian Hall, Port City theater fans can get a taste of what's going on in New York City, and at fraction of the price.

Under the direction of Ray Kennedy, "Funny Girl" has plenty of impressive and entertaining aspects, none more so than a tour de force in the leading role of Fanny Brice by Kendra Goehring, Wilmington's answer to Broadway royalty.

As Brice, the early 20th-century performer who rose from hardscrabble beginnings on New York's Lower East Side, going from vaudeville castoff to Ziegfeld Follies star to national celebrity, Goehring has the pipes to carry such tunes as the famous "People" and the showstopper "Don't Rain on My Parade." But she's also got the personality and the stage presence to inhabit a larger-than-life character like Brice, who won audiences over on the force of her charm, as well as the ability to make the audience empathize with Brice's romantic travails.

Those come in the form of Brice's hot-burning but ultimately doomed match with the gambler Nick Arnstein, beautifully sung and played by Jon Berry, who carries the character's gently descending arc from smooth sophistication to desperate sadness with aplomb. That Goehring shines in both comedic and dramatic scenes with Berry, and during songs that range from emotional to playful to absolutely unhinged, shows off her range as a performer.

One of director Kennedy's talents is assembling a cast, and in "Funny Girl" he's got some of the best actors in Wilmington, including Jason Aycock, tap dancing beautifully as Fanny's friend-zoned colleague Eddie Ryan; Fracaswell Hyman, chewing the scenery as the vaudeville producer Tom Keeney; and Holli Saperstein as Fanny's saloon-owning, salt-of-the-earth mother. Even the show's stellar ensemble is packed with multiple performers who've played leads in past shows for Opera House and other companies.

Another one of Kennedy's talents is in creating a sense of spectacle, and "Funny Girl," for all of its slower moments, has that as well. The Ziegfeld Follies number "His Love Makes Me Beautiful," wonderfully sung by Bradley Barefoot, features an eye-popping assortment of sumptuous costumes by Debbie Scheu, as does the jingoistic Act Two spectacle "Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat," which shows off the ensemble's dancing talents during a production number that's as off-the-charts nutty as anything you'll see.

"Funny Girl" is a decidedly old-fashioned and deliberately paced three-hour show, with some dated (some might say sexist) attitudes regarding a woman's role in society and in a relationship, even as the hard-charging career woman Fanny, who does everything on her own terms, is an exemplar of feminism.

Nevertheless, "Funny Girl" continues to resonate nearly 60 years after its Broadway debut. That was made clear on Saturday night, when the audience for a packed-house performance sang "People" right along with the cast during curtain call.

7:30 p.m. Sept. 8-10, 2 p.m. Sept. 10-11. 910-632-2285

Wilmington Rockfest

At The Lookout at Iron Front: Ten Wilmington rock bands will play over the course of two nights at this longtime downtown room, which is once again hosting rock shows (and other events) and reclaiming the mantle of past clubs that put on shows in the Front Street space, legendary names like The Skylight and The Starlight. Wilmington has a long history of churning out hard rock acts, and RockFest will feature such up-and-coming Port City headbangers as Hyperloops and Giant Robot Academy.

6 p.m. (doors) Sept. 9-10, details and tickets on EventBrite.com. 

'Puffs'

At CFCC Wilson Center's Studio Theatre: Wilmington comedy and theater troupe Pineapple-Shaped Lamps returns to their production of the Harry Potter spoof that was cut short by the pandemic, this time with assistance from Techmoja Dance & Theatre Co. Brett J. Young plays the show's Potter-esque protagonist, a mirror image assigned the house of Hufflepuff as opposed to Gryffindor, and StarNews reviewer Bob Workmon calls the comedy a send-up of, and a love letter to, the books and movies of the Harry Potter universe.

7:30 p.m. Sept. 8-10 and 3 p.m. Sept. 11. $25. PSLcomedy.com.

Reno Collier

At Dead Crow Comedy Room: A former member of the famed Blue Collar Comedy Tour and a longtime opener for Larry the Cable Guy, Collier has built a sturdy fan base with many TV appearances (including a Comedy Central special) and viral internet videos about how "science is stupid," among other regular-guy topics.

7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Sept. 9-10, $18-$28. 910-399-1750

THURSDAY

Built to Spill

At Greenfield Lake Amphitheater: Longtime Idaho indie rock act led by the singer/guitarist Doug Martsch makes its first-ever Wilmington appearance this week. The band has released a dozen or so albums over the past 30 years, but is probably best known for the career-making 1999 masterpiece "Keep It Like a Secret," with its trenchant arena rockers about everything from interpersonal relationships to the wisdom of various classic rock tunes. The band's latest album, "When the Wind Forgets Your Name," comes out Sept. 9 on Sub Pop Records, and judging from tunes such as "Gonna Lose," Built to Spill remains in finely dynamic, rockin' form.

6 p.m. Sept. 8, tickets start at $28. 

FRIDAY

Tenacious D

At Live Oak Bank Pavilion: Seriously rockin' comedy act? Or seriously funny rock band? You make the call. Either way, it seems that this long-rescheduled, pandemic-delayed concert by the duo of movie star Jack Black ("School of Rock") and actor/musician/comic Kyle Gass will finally come to pass this weekend when Tenacious D plays the Port City for the first time. A mix of epic rock riffage and world-class comedy chops, Tenacious D has honed its act over the decades after emerging in the late '90s as the self-affirmed Greatest Band of All Time.

8 p.m. Sept. 9, tickets start at $28. 

SATURDAY

'Mississippi Masala'

At Jengo's Playhouse: The North Carolina Black Film Festival and Wilmington's Speller Street Productions present the restored re-release of the 1991 Mira Nair-directed movie that made Denzel Washington a star.

The screening of the film is a passion project of sorts for Christopher Everett of Speller Street, who has said that the multicultural romance has long been a favorite of his. Prior to the screening, Everett will debut a sneak peek at "Wilmington on Fire: Chapter II," the follow-up to his searing documentary about the racially driven Wilmington coup and massacre of 1898 and the decades-long effort to cover it up.

"Mississippi Masala" stars Sarita Choudhury as a woman who moves to the American South after her Indian family flees the dictatorship of Idi Amin in Uganda, where they were living. When Choudhury's character strikes up a romance with a Black man played by Washington, they have to overcome the prejudiced objections of both their families.

6 p.m. Sept. 10, tickets are $10. 

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

At CFCC Wilson Center: Beloved Southern rock stalwart Isbell is no stranger to Wilmington, having played shows here since at least the 2000s, both when he was a member of The Drive-By Truckers and shortly after going solo. (I remember seeing Isbell absolutely shred it during a set at the old Harvest Festival in 2007, held on the since-torn-down parking deck behind the Soapbox, which staged the festival.) Fifteen years later Isbell is on a whole other level as one of the best-known and most-respected songwriters of his generation, not to mention being the husband of Amanda Shires, who's one of the best-known and most-respected songwriters of her generation.

Isbell has a lot of material to pull from, including his work with the Truckers, songs from seven solo albums and, most recently, tunes from "Georgia Blue," a collection of covers by Georgia songwriters the Alabama-born Isbell released in honor of the Peach State going for Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

8 p.m. Sept. 10, tickets start at $60. 

Supper Club Comedy Series

At The Room at JohnnyLukes: Wilmington comic MT Bottles is teaming up with restaurant JohnnyLukes for this dinner-and-a-show series that will serve up some good grub along with a mix of local and touring comics. Performers for Saturday's kickoff show include Bottles, whose laid-back style covers everything from dating to being a dad; hard-edged Wilmington comic Joe LeFevre; and Raleigh comedian Matt White, who's the headliner as well as a former winner of the Port City's Top Comic competition. The humor will be on the mature side, so leave the kids at home for this one.

6:30 p.m. dinner, 7:30 p.m. show Sept. 10. Tickets are $65. 910-769-1798. 

SUNDAY

Dawes

At Greenfield Lake Amphitheater: The folk rock act Dawes returns to Wilmington to play its collection of spine-tingling songs, this time joined by the dancey indie pop Canadian songwriter who performs under the name Bahamas. Dawes is touring in support of its latest album, released in July with a title we can all (sadly) relate to: "Misadventures of Doomscroller."

6 p.m. Sept. 11, tickets start at $35. 

Sheme of Gold

At The Opera Room: Wilmington rapper Sheme of Gold plays a release show for his new album, "Sad Boy," which features the Goldsboro native's laid-back flow and mash-up of styles that range from old-school "conscious" hip-hop to more contemporary trap and pop flavors. With Wilmington producer RizzyBeats and an opening set from indie rocker Billy Heathen.

9 p.m. Sept. 11, cover charge.

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com. 

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: 11 things to do in Wilmington NC Sept. 8-11, including Tenacious D