Charlotte Ideas Festival presents Flourish! In The Pianodrome

Come to Flourish! In The Pianodrome, a one-night-only performing arts experience with theater, dance, poetry and song inside the nation’s first Pianodrome, right here in Charlotte.

Explore myriad ideas and find inspiration in the reading of a new short play by Fola Onifade. The play weaves a fantastical tale, further enlivened by dance, spoken word, singing, strings and pianos. An artful alchemy to send your imagination soaring!

Constructed inside the former sanctuary of historic Grace AME Zion Church, the Pianodrome is built entirely of recycled parts from 40 pianos. Charlotte’s Pianodrome provides a one-of-a-kind, theater-in-the-round stage, perfectly set to immerse an intimate audience in a one-time mélange of performance and storytelling.

Flourish! In The Pianodrome, organized by Valaida Fullwood (The Charlotte Center) and Jay Ward (Poet Laureate of Charlotte), is part of the 2023 Charlotte Ideas Festival. Collaborators on this assemblage of ideas are:

• Queen City New Play Initiative
• Opera Carolina
• Movement Migration
• Taproot
• Charlotte Symphony
• and more!

You don’t want to miss it! Registration is required. Seating is limited.

Time: Saturday, April 1 | 5:00-6:30 pm (Doors open at 4:45 pm)

Location: The Grace, 219 S Brevard St., Charlotte, NC 28202

Tickets: Admission fee is $20

About the Performers:

Playwright Fola Onifade is a lover of words. She is the staff writer and associate producer for Democracy in Color, a nonprofit media organization at the intersection of race and politics. In her creative work, she crafts stories that explore and celebrate the realities of Black and African diaspora women. As an inaugural member of the Queen City New Play Initiative, Fola wrote and directed a micro-play titled, "Before Sunset". She also serves as the poetry editor for Sistories, a Charlotte-based Black feminist literary magazine. You can find her reading, walking nature trails, or strolling through local art galleries when she's not dreaming of the world as she'd like to see it. She's taking her late 20s one existential crisis at a time.

Queen City New Play Initiative is a theatre artist service organization based in Charlotte, North Carolina. QCNPI exists primarily to serve theatre artists in Charlotte and across The South via programming that engages theatre artists in discussion, collaboration, and the development of new theatrical work that interrogates, explores, celebrates, and re-defines what it means to be Southern.

About the Organizers:

Junious 'Jay' Ward is a poet and teaching artist, a National Slam champion, an Individual World Poetry Slam champion, author of Sing Me A Lesser Wound and Composition, and currently serves as Charlotte's inaugural Poet Laureate.

“Idea Whisperer” Valaida Fullwood brings unbridled imagination and a gift for harnessing wild ideas to her work as a writer, public speaker and consultant on projects and events. Valaida is part of The Charlotte Center team and also co-creator and manager of the multimedia touring exhibit, Giving Back: The Soul of Philanthropy Reframed and Exhibited.

About the Charlotte Ideas Festival:

The Charlotte Ideas Festival is a multi-day exploration of today’s pressing ideas and issues through the lens of the humanities. This year’s conversation-packed events feature a range of thinkers, innovators and community members engaged in connection and conversation. A program of The Charlotte Center for the Humanities & Civic Imagination (The Charlotte Center), the Charlotte Ideas Festival is part of the three-week Charlotte SHOUT! festival celebrating Food, Art, Music, and Ideas.

About The Charlotte Center:

The Charlotte Center for the Humanities & Civic Imagination (The Charlotte Center) is a community forum and civic action catalyst that invites people into meaningful connection and problem-solving informed by deep consideration of the human experience. Our mission is to help people and communities flourish.

The Charlotte Center is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. We are interested in what is good for Charlotte and what Charlotte can offer the world. We invite you to join us! thecharlottecenter.org

About Charlotte SHOUT!

Charlotte SHOUT!, presented by Atrium Health and Bank of America, is an aspirational multi-week festival designed to showcase our community by celebrating Charlotte's creativity and innovation through art, music, food, and ideas. Located primarily in Uptown Charlotte, SHOUT! will feature exceptionally curated programming from around the corner and around the world. The 2023 edition of SHOUT! will take place from March 31-April 16.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Grace, 219 S Brevard Street, Charlotte, United States