WILMINGTON — A couple hundred people, including elected officials and arts supporters, were at Thalian Hall on Monday evening to help usher in its next metamorphosis.
READ MORE: New theater, music venue, coffee shop, bar: Director shares plans for Thalian Hall transformation
ALSO: In Memoriam: Community honors Tony Rivenbark, celebration of life to take place in August
As reported by Port City Daily in January, there are major plans to renovate the 167-year-old hall. It comes as the city’s government organizes its full exit by fall.
Wilmington’s city hall has operated in the historic theater, including staff offices and council chambers. However, with the city’s $68-million purchase of the Skyline Center, by the end of 2025, its homebase will no longer be in the Classical Revival and Late Victorian building, designed by John Montague Trimble.
The city owns Thalian Hall and pays the nonprofit $168,000 a year for its management and $40,000 annually to operate the building.
The government’s exit leaves roughly double the square footage for Thalian Hall to support even more of the arts. Plans to renovate it, from the basement to the upper floors, are underway, with construction slated to begin in 2026 and completion by 2028.
The Thalian Hall for Performing Arts nonprofit CEO, Shane Fernando, unveiled early designs by Sawyer Sherwood and Associates Architecture, at a fundraiser kickoff Monday in Thalian’s ballroom — complete with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra scoring the reveal.
Built in 1858, Thalian Hall is the oldest official theater of North Carolina — and once the largest theater in the U.S. south of Richmond during the 19th century. Renovations to it will require $25 million to see through Fernando’s vision, which he plans to conjure support for via grants, private donations and naming rights. While some donors had already pledged and even matched funds for the cause — such as a $30,000 gift to restore the hall’s decorative painting — new donors also came forward at the event.
By the end of the evening, almost $3 million had been generated, including donations from city council member Salette Andrews and arts council CEO Rhonda Bellamy. One generous lump sum, $1.5 million, came from Howard Stein. His parents, Ruth and Bucky, are the namesake of the 100-seat second-floor theater currently in operation at Thalian Hall.
“My father just loved being here,” Stein said. “It was really fulfilling to him. This is a special place.”
The small theater and its mainstage 650-seat counterpart will receive upgraded lighting and sound systems, accessible backstage areas for performers of varying abilities, as well as installed LED backdrops as part of the upgrade. The mainstage theater will also have renovated seating.
But the heaviest lifting will come in the modification of spaces once obligated by the city government. For instance, the ballroom currently acts as council chambers but once renovated it will become a hippodrome. The theater will seat roughly 300 people on two stories and it will be immersive. Outfitted with state-of-the-art technology and floor-to-ceiling accessible LED capabilities, it will support 360-degree interactive programming.
“So say a performer wants to be in the Gobi dessert,” Fernando explained. “By the press of a button, the floor is sand and a 360-desert horizon is around us.”
The first floor, where the current lobby, bar and restrooms are located, will open up to become the Wilde Cat Club, named after both famed writer Oscar Wilde and Wilmington-born opera star Caterina Yarborough, both of whom made appearances at Thalian Hall. The club will have a rotating stage, as designed after a New York venue operated by Dorothy Gillespie.
Gillespie has ties to Wilmington and Thalian Hall, as the former executive director Tony Rivenbark — who oversaw the hall for 42 years before passing away in 2022 — was Gillespie’s assistant. Rivenbark brought her work to Wilmington, which can be seen from Wilson Center to Skyline Center to UNCW to even Thalian’s lobby, with colorful coiled ribbons cascading down the lobby walls.
“This is in homage to her,” Fernando said.
Live performances will be hosted there by touring and area musicians, with the space being a coffee shop during the day and martini bar at night. Plans include expanding the lobby out to where the current columns are upon entering today from Chestnut Street; it will become a glass vestibule, with a new box office, concession area, and ticket kiosks for people to check into shows individually. Restrooms will expand too, in order to better accommodate audiences.
Former Wilmington artist Nathan Verway will do line drawings of 100 portraits featuring people who have spoken or performed at the theater — to include Wilde, Yarborough, Frederick Douglass, Dizzy Gillespie and others. They will be painted on sound-deafening panels to block the noise from outside.
The front steps of Thalian Hall, facing Third Street, will also be transformed to allow for outdoor seating for folks to enjoy coffee or martinis.
The music will continue across the other side of Thalian Hall at the South Outdoor Portico, located in Innes Park facing Princess Street. Thalian has hosted theater shows, acoustic concerts and rallies there throughout the years; however, the area will be upgraded to have a covered stage and seat upward of 400 people to bring in more performance and film screenings.
Aside from places to stage live performances, Thalian will also have an incubation space and educational center on its basement floor. It will include a creative studio lab for developing new theater, music and dance works, as well as a recording studio. Plus, the archive and library of the city government and Thalian Hall will be there.
A scenic lab will also be included to support the workforce that helps launch live productions. It will include job training for stage and film crews.
“By expanding our space and enhancing our ability to educate a future generation and support the performing arts, we are ensuring that Thalian Hall continues to serve as a beacon of creativity, innovation and cultural enrichment for generations to come,” Fernando said.
Mayor Bill Saffo gave remarks praising the plans.
“Shane is a visionary,” he said. “The ideas and the thoughts that you have here, I know this is gonna be one of the most outstanding halls when we get finished with it under your leadership.”
Fernando took over the lead at Thalian Hall in January 2024. He came from a 10-year tenure at Cape Fear Community College, where he oversaw the construction and opening of the Wilson Center. Fernando left following his mentor Tony Rivenbark’s death. The former CEO saw through two major renovations of Thalian Hall in the 1980s and mid-2000s. Fernando invited Rivenbark’s “spirit” to the fundraiser, as a projection illuminated a speech Rivenbark once gave, noting every generation carries the hall’s magic forward:
“Someone asked me once: ‘When is it going to be finished?’ I said: ‘Never — it will never be finished as long as it continues to be used.’”
Thalian Hall board president Terry Espy carried forth the same message earlier in the evening. She said the board has worked fervently since Rivenbark’s passing to fill his dedicated shoes.
“Tonight is kicking off the future for the next 100 years in this building,” Espy said.
Fernando added Thalian Hall is the crown jewel of Wilmington but also a “workhorse” and “economic powerhouse” for the local economy. It brings in around 700 events annually from more than 40 arts organizations, accounting for over 100,000 guests. Fernando told Port City Daily earlier this year the hall has essentially run out of space to grow and accommodate more events. This transformation will increase capacity and the impact it has region-wide, which according to Fernando, currently makes a $4.3-million imprint on Wilmington’s economy every year.
“Duty calls as to write her next chapter to ensure her reach and relevance into the decades ahead to keep her strong and vibrant,” he said. “The structure will become activated, touching every corner on all four floors; we will make her a temple for the arts.”
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