Cape Fear Regional Theatre is live in living color at expansion groundbreaking

With brightly colored confetti and glitter flying on Highland Avenue, theater supporters, board members, donors and staff on Monday officially celebrated the next phase of Cape Fear Regional Theatre, breaking ground on a historic expansion and renovation of the Hay Street facility. 

With “Act 2,” as the next phase of the renovation is called, the capital project will increase capacity from 20,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet. The regional performing arts theater will also be able to expand youth educational offerings with two studios for programming. Other features of the renovated theater include a new lobby with a mezzanine for private events and a rooftop event space with a bar and second stage for live music. The expansion will also allow more space for scenery and costumes, according to theater officials. The new building is being designed by local firm SfL+A Architects with general contracting by Samet Corporation. 

Demolition on the 1209 Hay St. building began earlier this year, with the new facility expected to reopen in winter 2026. 

Artistic Director Mary Kate Burke said the project was where vision met determination at the groundbreaking held at noon on Monday.

“Every show, every season, we are overwhelmed with the love that you have for CFRT,” Burke said. “This community has done more than sustain this theater for 63 years. You have tended it, loved it and grown it into the incredible institution it is today.”

Burke said that 116 children were turned away last year from summer camp due to space constraints, which was why this project was necessary.

“We believe that every child can find their place here,” she said. 

Sutton Hammond, an 8-year-old student at Village Christian Academy, was the theater’s youngest donor and spoke at the ceremony.

“I saw my first play at 2 years old and I’ve seen 20 since,” Hammond said. “When my pastor asked me to do something good with the money he gave me, I knew this was where it needed to go.”

Hammond, who has attended summer camp at Cape Fear Regional Theatre and performed in the annual Best Christmas Pageant Ever show, encouraged those attending the groundbreaking to donate as well, and was met with a standing ovation.

Ralph and Linda Huff, longtime Fayetteville residents and local business owners, were among the earliest donors of the expansion project. The Huffs, who spoke at the ceremony, said the expansion was for Hammond and all of the other children who will grace the doors of the educational classrooms and participate in the artistic opportunities available at the Fayetteville theater.

“It’s going to be a landmark in our city,” Ralph Huff said. “When you build, you are building for the next generation.”

Cape Fear Regional Theatre Board President Bill Hedgepeth agreed, calling the theatre “a cultural powerhouse in the state of North Carolina.”

Also part of the event were high-energy performances from Alannah McMillan, Greg King, Cara Chumbley, the theater’s education director Marc de la Concha and Emir Garcia. Garcia led a rendition of “Live in Living Color” from musical Catch Me If You Can to close the ceremony.

Several local elected officials were present, including N.C. Rep. Diane Wheatley, Mayor Mitch Colvin and Commissioner Chair Kirk deViere, who all gave remarks. N.C. Sen. Tom McInnis and Sen. Val Applewhite, Fayetteville Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Jensen and Council Members Malik Davis, Mario Benavente, Lynne Greene and Derrick Thompson were also in attendance, as well as Cumberland County Commissioners’ Vice Chair Veronica Jones, and Commissioners Henry Tyson and Pavan Patel.

Rep. Wheatley said that the groundbreaking symbolized the “continued vision coming to life where extraordinary talent and leadership exist.”

“Good things endure when you have good leadership,” Wheatley said, referring to Hedgepeth, Burke and all of the board and committee members who had worked to raise over 70% of the roughly $20 million needed for the project in less than two years.

All speakers, including Clay Thorp, son of founding theater director Bo Thorp, revelled in what the Cape Fear Regional Theatre meant to them, their children and what it will mean for future generations in Fayetteville. 

“This is taking what my mom started to the next level,” Clay Thorp said.

Burke also paid homage to Bo Thorp and those who came before with the Fayetteville Little Theatre in the 1960s to now, saying, “this was a place that time and heart had created.”

“We are not just building a theater; we are building a home,” Burke said. “We are not just breaking ground. We are breaking through. And we are saving you a seat. Thank you for believing in us.”

Currently, Cape Fear Regional Theatre is performing on an alternate stage at 1707 Owen Drive in Fayetteville. Performances for Steel Magnolias run through April 19, with 7:30 p.m. performances Wednesday to Saturday and 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays.

For more information on the Cape Fear Regional Theatre, visit cfrt.org.