Carteret Strong: Local Theater Company Preparing for First Production Since Florence

MOREHAD CITY – The show must go on, the saying goes. That’s exactly the spirit embodied by the Carteret Community Theater on the Crystal Coast after Hurricane Florence decimated their building and disrupted the lives of nearly everyone involved in the community theater.

Despite the roof being ripped off during the storm, hurricane rains drenching everything inside, and salvage crews subsequently removing the 500 seats the theater held, on March 29 they will raise the curtain on their newest production, albeit in a different location.

From WRAL:

“Carolyn Evans is the president of the Carteret Community Theater. Standing in the darkened shell of the building, she points out the obvious. “There is no electricity in this part of the building.” […]

“But it did used to have over 500 seats here,” Evans said. That was before the salvage crews came though to clean up the mess.

The theater organization has been around since the 1940s. They just bought the building in 2014.

“This was just devastating, it was heart breaking.” Evans said.

She points out all is not lost. “The theater is not only a building, it’s a group of individuals who love what the theater produces,” she said.

Love of the theater is strong in this community. That’s why actors, stage hands and others are rehearsing for their first stage performance since the storm. The group has borrowed space to work and Carteret Community College will loan them a stage.[…]”

This is but one example of the strength of community in Eastern North Carolina; a bond and determination stronger than the devastating storms that occasionally target the coast of the Old North State.

It is proof positive that local cultures of service, charity, and perseverance outweigh government programs’ ability to make communities whole again. That is exactly the kind of culture these communities in Eastern North Carolina have had for generations, making it an ideal place to raise families and pursue happiness.

Not even Hurricane Florence can suppress that pursuit when communities exhibit the hardy determination that comes so naturally to areas like the Crystal Coast.

Read more about the upcoming production, and ways to support this local theater company, at WRAL here.