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A Marilyn Monroe one-woman show, plus 15 more things to do in Wilmington this weekend

With the reopening this weekend of downtown Wilmington’s Thalian Hall, which has been closed for most of March for renovations, the historic venue will be a center of activity this weekend, with three high-profile events going on. Starting with …

All weekend: ‘With Love, Marilyn’

Actress/director Erin Sullivan and Sydney Smith Martin as Marilyn Monroe in Opera House Theatre Co.'s production of "With Love, Marilyn."

Erin Sullivan grew up doing musical theater in Wilmington as a kid in the ’90s, then moved to New York City to pursue her dreams of a Broadway career. 

After landing multiple national tours and making it to the very precipice of Broadway itself, Sullivan moved back to Wilmington last year after two decades in New York.

She’s still a theater kid at heart, though, and this weekend, Sullivan will be back on stage in a role that has been central for her: actress and icon Marilyn Monroe.

Sullivan is starring in and directing Opera House Theatre Co.’s production of “With Love, Marilyn,” which runs April 1-3 and 8-10 in Thalian Hall’s studio theater. It’s a show she co-created that puts a musical cabaret spin on the life and career of Monroe while celebrating the star’s glamorous yet tragic legacy. 

Actress Erin Sullivan as Marilyn Monroe in Opera House Theatre Co.'s production of "With Love, Marilyn."

“It’s definitely my baby,” Sullivan said recently from the lobby of CFCC’s Wilson Center, where she now works as the venue’s hospitality coordinator. 

She has toured the show over the years and even brought it to Thalian Hall’s main stage back in 2017. This time, though, she wanted to do something a little different, performing in it while passing “With Love, Marilyn” on to another generation. 

Sullivan is performing the show April 2 and 8, with standout Wilmington actress Sydney Smith Martin is playing Marilyn on April 1, 3, 9 and 10. 

Sydney Smith Martin as Marilyn Monroe in Opera House Theatre Co.'s production of "With Love, Marilyn."

“I wanted to be able to give another the opportunity,” Sullivan said, “to be able to give this gift to a new artist.”

The central conceit of the show is that it’s the final dress rehearsal of a cabaret show Monroe never got to do, as she passed away from a drug overdose Aug. 4, 1962. It includes a dozen songs, some Monroe sang, others she didn’t, as well as emotional monologues about her life and career. 

Sullivan first played Monroe in 2015, when she did a reading for a new play by Tony-winning, Oscar-nominated playwright Mark Medoff (“Children of a Lesser God”). “Marliee and Baby Lamb: The Assassination of an American Goddess” is an explicit look at Monroe’s fall from grace, with extended nudity and multiple sex scenes.

Sullivan got the part of Monroe based on her reading, and did a production of the play in Medoff’s home state of New Mexico. When it came time to bring the play to New York, however, the producers went with another actress, much to Sullivan’s disappointment.

“I got bumped,” she said. “It was such a bummer.”

Losing the part inspired a lot of soul-searching, Sullivan said, and led to her creating “With Love, Marilyn,” and, ultimately deciding to leave New York and return to Wilmington.

“I’m being honest about how the city kinda chewed me up and spit me out” after 20 years, Sullivan said, an admission that made her get emotional. “I put myself on this path to be on Broadway and make Wilmington proud.”

Still, Sullivan worked four Broadway tours over the years, including “Shrek” and “Hairspray,” so she actually had more success than most who go to New York to follow their theater dreams.

In Marilyn Monroe, she sees the embodiment of the dreams of so many, both the glittery and the dark side of fame.

“I wanted to be able to see myself in her … There’s a little bit of Marilyn in every woman,” Sullivan said, adding that Monroe existed long before the #MeToo movement called attention to sexual harassment and abuse. “I mean, she was having inappropriate relationships with half of Hollywood.”

Ultimately, however, even with all of the ups and downs, Sullivan said playing Monroe, and now directing an actress playing her, has been the opportunity of a lifetime. 

“Even though I got knocked down, I created my own show,” Sullivan said. “You’re not going to stop me from telling the story.”

Details: 7:30 p.m. April 1-2 and 8-9, 2 p.m. April 3 and 10 at Thalian Hall’s Ruth and Bucky Stein Studio Theatre, 310 Chestnut St., Wilmington. $32. 910-632-2285 or ThalianHall.org

More weekend events

Thursday: New Morse Code at UNCW’s Kenan Auditorium — Cellist Hannah Collins and percussionist Michael Compitello communicate in music beyond the constraints of the instruments they play to create complex, joyful and genre-transcending soundscapes. 7:30 p.m. March 31, tickets start at $30.  

ThursdayThe Wood Brothers find their way to Greenfield Lake Amphitheater with all that classic roots sound and more. It’s the good stuff, bending and twisting gospel, folk, jazz and soul in ways you never imagined. 6 p.m. March 31, $32.50. 

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