As Rebecca Newton prepares to end her short tenure leading the Carolina Theatre of Durham, she is satisfied with what she accomplished for the downtown landmark.
“I had three objectives when I joined. Lift the profile, raise a substantial amount of money and get more of the community involved,” Newton said.
The theater’s board of trustees announced last month that Newton will retire as president and CEO of the nonprofit that runs the theater in June 2020. In her two plus years in the position, she led the theater through one of its most successful periods in the 93 years since its conception, according to a board of trustees statement.
“I’m not the right person to take it to the next level,” Newton said of her departure in an interview at her office. The theater needs a long term person, someone who can be out on stage giving every curtain speech. But at this stage of her career, she is not that person, she explained.
Ellen Reckhow, a member of the board of trustees at CTD as well as a Durham County Commissioner for over 30 years, is adamant that there is no animosity between Newton and the theater’s trustees. The theater has had a substantial amount of administrative turnover in the last decade and would benefit from stability with a president and CEO who can stay put the position for “at least five years,” Reckhow said.
Rebecca Newton is well known among many in Durham due to her long local music career. A talented instrumentalist and singer, she led the popular band Rebecca & the Hi-Tones for 30 years, all while maintaining a tech career in online safety. Newton released her first solo album Blue Shirt this summer.
Carolina Theatre saw consistent and significant growth in many dimensions of programming under her leadership. Newton helped increase the number of children who visit the downtown landmark for student programming from 10,000 kids a year to 15,000. The theater also landed the two largest development grants in history totaling $188,000. Overall attendance also increased.
The theater has not always been the thriving venue it is today. Towards the end of 2015, it stared bankruptcy in the face due to a $1.7 million dollar deficit in part because of poor accounting practices. The theater eventually reached an out of court settlement with an accounting firm, according to a 2017 Durham Herald Sun report.
Newton said she takes pride in her ability to “pull the trigger” on decisions that are necessary for the community. For instance, when Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina was left in ruins by a recent hurricane, CTD put on a benefit concert Music Folk for Ocracoke on October 14th. “It doesn’t matter if we don’t make the money sometimes. It was the right thing to do,” she said.
Newton’s focus on the community is tied to the fact that she is a Durham native. That, she said, was a huge factor in her success at CTD. Before almost every performer, Newton gives a short curtain speech. “I go out on that stage and people say, ‘Hey, there’s someone I know.’ It’s someone from your larger family taking care of something you love,” she said.
In a WUNC-FM interview earlier this year, Newton spoke about familial difficulties during her childhood. As CEO, she took the initiative to host a free viewing of the movie Resilience and a follow up forum all in order to create an accessible space to learn about adverse childhood experiences.
Reckhow said that Newton’s legacy will be defined by this increased versatility of the theater’s offerings. Newton turned CTD into a space “not only to be entertained, but to learn about new subjects,” Reckhow said.
Carolina Theatre, a cultural hub long before the downtown Durham’s recent renaissance, has undergone a series of renovations over the years. One project built a wall around the third balcony, making it hard to imagine there were ever seats at that level. That was where people of color were forced to sit before the theater was desegregated in the early 1960s.
Before she departs, Newton hopes to replace this yellow wall with glass, so people will have a window into the theater’s racialized past. There is already an exhibit on the segregation of the theater on the mezzanine level, but this would be more of an experiential display that forces patrons to confront exactly how people of color were once marginalized within the walls of the theater.
Upon retiring from CTD, Newton hopes to keep bringing the local community together. Lighting up, Newton describes work with a partner to create “a sort of Durham City Limits that promotes local curated musicians… the ones who are on the cusp of going big time.”
Always the organizer, Newton has already rented performance space at the Carolina Theatre of Durham for some of these artists.
At top: Rebecca Newton inside the Carolina Theatre of Durham. Photo by Victoria Eavis
[…] Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre […]
[…] Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre […]
[…] Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre […]
[…] Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre […]
pharmacy accutane
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
canada drugs
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
hydroxychloroquine for sale
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
accutane over the counter uk
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
order antivert 25mg pills
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
accutane costs
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
meclizine without a doctor prescription
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
Cheap accutane for sale online
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
generic viagra sales
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
college admission essay writing service
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
help writing a compare and contrast essay
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
instant essay writer
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
essay editor service
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
professional essay editing service
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
help with writing essays for college applications
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
can you write my essay
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
college essay proofreading service
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
help me essays
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
essay writting services
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
essay writer service review
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
custom college essay
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
application essay writing service
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
custom essay service toronto
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
viagra cost pharmacy
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
buy hydrocodone online pharmacy
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
cooperative pharmacy store locator
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
florida online pharmacy oxycodone
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
adipex online pharmacy reviews
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
tadalafil 20 mg how long does it last
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
can you buy sildenafil without a prescription
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
maxim peptide tadalafil
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
purchase cheap cialis
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
viagra online prescription uk
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
viagra china
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
vidalista tadalafil reviews
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
female viagra pills online
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
where can i buy sildenafil online
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
cialis prices in ontario
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
can you drink wine or liquor if you took in tadalafil
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
cialis for daily use reviews
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
zolpidem tartrate online pharmacy
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
target pharmacy alprazolam
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
cialis 40 mg reviews
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
viagra otc uk
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
sildenafil 60mg
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
tadalafil research liquid
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
Speman
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
zhengzhou debao tadalafil
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
sildenafil drug coupon
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
sildenafil online price
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
best female viagra brand
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
sildenafil price uk
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
where to get real viagra online
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
real viagra online no prescription
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
review of tadalafil
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
cialis online no prescription australia
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
canada cialis generic
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
cialis not working anymore
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
metronidazole menyusui
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
bactrim arthralgia
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
horizant gabapentin
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
valtrex milligrams
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
pregabalin and tramadol together
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
tamoxifen dimer
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
lisinopril webmd
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
ranitidine metformin
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
furosemide toedieningsvormen
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
rybelsus renal dosing
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
rybelsus 10 mg
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
semaglutide rybelsus 3 mg tablet
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
911
911
link
link
list
list
can you drink alcohol while taking lexapro
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
zoloft migraine
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
can keflex capsules opened sprinkle food
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
a
a
metronidazole свечи
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
getting pregnant on fluoxetine
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
gabapentin medicina
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
is azithromycin a penicillin
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
cephalexin dog dosage chart
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
cymbalta and sleep
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
generic female viagra online
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
escitalopram review
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
spiraldynamics
spiraldynamics
Spiral Dynamics
Spiral Dynamics
ciprofloxacin fish antibiotics
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
cephalexin ingredients
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
is bactrim safe
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
bactrim 800/160 para que sirve
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
gucci clothing men
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
retail outlet for pennyblack clothing by maxmara
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
what type of watch is panerai
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
jacquemus le bambino leather bag
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
vxi.su
vxi.su
Yupoo Down Jacket
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
christian dior shoes on sale
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
yves saint laurent crossbody bag / ysl cosmetic bag with removable chain
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
prada bag pleated
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
юрист по банковским делам
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
ferragamo ladies belts
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
Yupoo Glasses
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
https://reduslim.at/
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
omega watch strap danne
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
versace jewelry ring
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
are shrooms illegal in california
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
purple magic amanita mushroom gummy
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
amoxicillin for uti dosage how many days
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
does effexor make you tired
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
citalopram and welbutrin
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
diclofenac sodium 75
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
diltiazem cd
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
ugg women slip on shoes
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
depakote taper schedule
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
ddavp challenge test
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
augmentin generic name
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
academy mens nike shoes
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
ezetimibe launch
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
flexeril addictive
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
what doses does flomax come in
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
what is cozaar for
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
xenical vs contrave
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
amitriptyline tinnitus
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
what is aripiprazole used for
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
can dogs take aspirin
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
allopurinol 100mg side effects
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
site
site
celexa while pregnant
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
does baclofen make you sleepy
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
augmentin class
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
buspar side effects
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal
how to stop taking bupropion
Rebecca Newton to depart from a stronger Carolina Theatre – 9th Street Journal