Flat Rock, North Carolina, the home of one of the nation’s top ten summer theaters, is a wonderful place to enjoy a play. Begun in a tent by actor/director/producer Robroy Farquhar in 1953, it presents about ten Broadway musicals, dramas, and comedies each year. Its seasonal actors have included stars like Lee Marvin, Pat Hingle, and Burt Reynolds. In 1958 poet Carl Sandburg, who had recently moved to the community, began a long creative relationship with the Playhouse. The associated Vagabond School of Drama offers an intensive intern-training program for aspiring actors. In 1961 the North Carolina General Assembly designated the Flat Rock Playhouse the State Theater of North Carolina in recognition of its artistic achievements.
Tonya Carroll (B.A., 2007 M.A., 2009) with Bruce Frazier (Carol Grotnes Belk Endowed Professor in Commercial & Electronic Music) in the recording studio.