Standing Ovation
Thalian Association celebrates 225 years
WILMA contributor Susan Hance volunteers with Thalian Association in Wilmington.
This year marks THALIAN ASSOCIATION’s 225th anniversary.
It was founded in 1788 to bring performing arts and education to the young city of Wilmington. The association later championed the Chestnut Street building that houses Thalian Hall, which opened in 1858.
Today, Thalian Association produces five major performances a year, sponsors a children’s theater, organizes the Orange Street Arts Festival and a bluegrass festival annually, and manages the Hannah Block Historic USO building, home to Wilmington’s Community Arts Center.
To mark the anniversary, celebrations will take place throughout the year, woven around a schedule that offers interesting female characters in productions such as Xanadu and The Miracle Worker, as well as Romeo and Juliet and Les Misérables from the Thalian Association Children’s Theater (TACT).
From a TACT-sponsored birthday party in February to a float in the North Carolina Azalea Festival parade, there are several events being planned, says Vivian Burnett, chairwoman of the group’s anniversary committee.
“As you know, Wilmington is rich in history, and the Thalian Association’s 225 years of theater tradition makes Wilmington’s history even richer,” says Burnett.
Honorary chairman of the festivities Hugh MacRae II, Wilmington native and businessman, comes from a long line of Thalian supporters. He calls this another significant year in the history of Thalian Association.
Thalian Association’s 18th century origin is linked to education. According to association records, James Innes, a rich rice planter and colonel in the colonial militia, died in 1759 leaving a portion of his estate for “the use of a free school for the benefit of the youth of North Carolina.”
At a time when formal education required tutors or European schools and performing arts required private patronage, the gesture was visionary. When boards were established in 1788 to administer the free school request, Thalian Association was included.
The construction of Innes Academy with classrooms on the upper floors and a theater on the ground floor combined a free school with the performing arts: a first for both in Wilmington.
In the antebellum period, Thalian Association’s membership grew, laden with local political and cultural leaders. Those leaders also took to the stage, playing male and female roles in the early days, with local women admitted to the association and the stage in 1879.
By the 1850s, the size and regularity of theater activity had outgrown the building, and the Thalian Association campaigned for a large theater and public meeting place. Eventually, Thalian Hall/City Hall replaced The Innes Academy in the same location.
In 2007, the North Carolina legislature named Thalian Association “The Official Community Theater of North Carolina.”
“The association is the very foundation of live theater in Wilmington, the state of North Carolina and perhaps the United States,” says Burnett. “So, we hope that the community will be proud to join us in celebrating the Thalian Association’s 225 years of theater.”
ANNIVERSARY EVENTS
January 22: Town Crier to announce 2013 “The year of the Thalian Association”
February 9: Birthday party put on by TACT in the Hannah Block building
April 13: Azalea Festival parade float
September 28: Gala celebration at Thalian Hall
December Date TBA: Recognition of past presidents of Thalian Association and their descendants
Prints depicting the history of Thalian Association by local artist Ronald Williams will be on sale throughout the year.
To view more of photographer Mark Steelman’s work, go to www.marksteelmanphoto.com.
