LOCAL HAPPENINGS: As spring arrives, here come plays and more

THIS WEEK

Caroline Owens returns to Sunset Theatre Friday

ASHEBORO — Nationally recognized bluegrass performer Caroline Owens, who hails from nearby Denton, NC, returns to the Asheboro stage for Friday Night Bluegrass presented by the City of Asheboro.

Owens has performed beside many bluegrass greats, including Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs and Rhonda Vincent, Suzanne Cox, The Isaacs, Larry Gatlin, Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, The Malpass Brothers and Darin & Brooke Aldridge.

This show starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10.

Sip & Shop in downtown Asheboro on Saturday

ASHEBORO— Sip & Shop, a wine-tasting adventure that takes you through more than a dozen Downtown Asheboro businesses, returns on Saturday, Feb. 21, from 2 to 6 p.m.

Ticket holders can taste unique wines and explore downtown shops, restaurants and businesses, with a free trolley running throughout the event times to offer easy travel to the various locations of participating businesses.

Tickets for the 2026 Sip & Shop are $25 if purchased in advance and $35 on the day of the event (if available).

This is a rain or shine event.

This year’s tickets include 15 tasting passes, wine and coffee samples and an opportunity to purchase specialty wine bottles. 

Check-in will be at Sunset Theatre at 2 p.m.

Learn more at https://www.downtownasheboro.com/sip-and-shop.

Wild West Party set for Millikan Farms Saturday 

SOPHIA — Spirit Horse Ranch’s latest Wild West Party is taking place on Saturday at Millikan Farms, 3983 Millikan Road, Sophia.

Food will be provided by Black Powder Smokehouse with beer, wine and softdrinks available at the bar. 

Expect live performances, line dancing, cowboy bingo, a best Western dress contest, dressed Western Cowboy outfit, a live auction and more.

Tickets are $60 for one or $100 per couple for the 5 to 8 p.m. party, and seating is limited. Visit spirithorseranchnc.org or call 336-736-0640 for more information.

Journey Tribute Band tour continues in Liberty 

LIBERTY — If you missed the Asheboro show “A Trial By Fire: A Tribute to Journey,” it’s making a stop in Liberty this weekend at the Liberty Showcase Theater.

The imagines how a Journey concert stop for its “Trial By Fire” album that never happened might have looked like. Throw in some Journey classics and it’s a trip back in time.

Tickets range in price from $24 to $49. You can pick seats and purchase them at https://www.thelibertyshowcase.com/

UPCOMING

RSVP ready to put forth a ‘Southern Fried Funeral’

ASHEBORO — Beginning on Friday, Feb. 27, and running for two weekends at the Sunset Theatre in downtown Asheboro is an RSVP production of the Osborne and Eppler comedy-drama “Southern Fried Funeral.”

As it sounds, it’s a big-hearted comedy about family -- Southern-style.

Here’s the story poop, in case you didn’t hear it while listening through the door:

Dewey Frye is dead and the rest of his” family is left to pick up the pieces -- that is, if they don’t kill each other first. Not only does matriarch Dorothy have to contend with sudden widowhood, but she’s also faced with church-committee harpy Ozella Meeks sticking her nose in the family business, Dewey’s snake-in-the-grass brother making a grab for her house, and two grown daughters reliving their childhood rivalry. Funerals bring out the worst, the best, and the funniest in people, and the Fryes are no exception.”

The plays have two Friday and Saturday start times of 7 p.m. and two matinee Sunday times of 2 p.m. Tickets are $17 for most but $12 for seniors, military and students. 

You can get some at Brightside Gallery, 170 Worth St., from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday with check or cash and no fees or online at sunsettheatre.org with a card.

RhinoLeap’s ‘Red’ starts in March at Starworks in Star

STAR — RhinoLeap’s first production of 2026 begins the first full weekend in March with the production of “Red,” a winner of six Tony Awards.

“Red” is a moving and compelling account of one of the greatest visual artists of the 20th century whose struggle to accept his growing fame became his ultimate undoing. 

Directed by RhinoLeap’s Patrick Osteen, it stars fellow RhinoLeap performer Kira Geiger as the young assistant and Hollywood actor Michael Tourek as the artist at the center of the story. Mark Rothko.

Shows are set for 10 days between March 7 and 22, with six 7 p.m. showtimes (March 7, 13, 14, 19 through 21), three 2:30 start times (March 8, 15, 22) and one 11 a.m. offering designed for students on March 12.

Tickets are $30 and the link to reserve them can be found on www.rhinoleap.com/live.