Woodshed Origins

In 2010, Creighton was making musicals in NYC and dreaming of ways to get back home to North Carolina. When Ellen Bland called and asked him to music direct "Kudzu" at the old mill in Pittsboro, he hopped a plane for NC. Eric, the show's drummer and a jack of all trades, had an idea for a musical. It took them seven years of writing over holidays when Creighton was visiting home, but they put on a hell of a show and started a lifelong collaboration. They dreamed of creating a theater space in Chatham County, and Creighton started leading "Musical Madness" camps in the summers (writing and performing a musical in a week) as he kept looking for ways to get back to NC...

 

In 2020 Creighton finally moved back to teach music at Woods Charter. When Covid wrecked summer camps, a group of "Musical Madness" alumni rallied to hold the camp outside with a quarantine group. Eric, who was creating improv and theater with Bodacious Theater group and Seven Year Productions, served as the tech director. On rainy days, the group rehearsed in an old shed on Sam and Lizy Field's property. The place had high ceilings, a booth overlooking the floor, and, between the old drill presses and yard tools, tons of creative charm. It seemed like the perfect place to create.

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Sam put in the heavy lifting to cleared the space, adding insulation, interior walls, and A/C. A neighbor donated their old piano. We painted and moved in, and in August 2023 Woodshed Arts kicked off our first creative endeavor in the shed that gave us our name. The rest is happening now...