How Seeing “The Lion King” Changed One Local Couple’s World

For Michelle and Tavis Sutherland, seeing “The Lion King” back in summer 2018 at Belk Theater was life-changing. It was the couple’s first time watching a big Broadway show together, since relocating to Charlotte about eight years prior.

 

And for Michelle, in particular, who had performed in a few local shows as a child growing up in Arizona, it was a moment of awe and rediscovery.

 

“It was like, what have I been doing, missing out on this for all these years?” she says.

 

“There's nothing like live theater, in my opinion, that will transport me or make me really focus in the moment… everything else just kind of falls away.”

 

The couple became subscribers in 2019. Since then, their involvement at Blumenthal Arts has expanded exponentially. It also has inspired them to give back to the community in a variety of ways.

 

(Michelle and Tavis Sutherland)

 

A Surprise Christmas Gift

 

After a few years of subscribing, Tavis (pronounced “Tay-vis”) wanted to surprise Michelle with a special Christmas gift. He found a perfect fit with a Producer’s Circle membership to Blumenthal Arts.

 

Donating at that level to the not-for-profit, came with a bunch of advantages — including priority consideration for upgraded season ticket seat locations, access to the Founders Room before shows and during intermission, and a special dedicated Membership Concierge phone line for ticket purchases and exchanges.

 

 

They have enjoyed all of those perks, plus some unexpected ones.

 

“The people that you get to interact with are just so fantastic,” says Michelle, who has spent much of her own career in customer service roles. 

 

“They make you feel like you're part of the group as opposed to just being there to service you … or to provide things for you,” she says.

 

She's enjoyed getting to know Blumenthal staff as well as other patrons and building relationships with them.

 

“It's nice to have something … in common with people that you otherwise would never really interact with or meet.”

 

Balancing Work and a Growing Theater Habit

 

Going to the theater and being a part of the Producer’s Circle was a change from daily routines for Michelle, age 34, and Tavis, age 36.

 

“It kind of opened a whole new world for me when it comes to theater, and it's become… a huge passion of mine,” says Michelle, who is in the process of transitioning to a new job as an Account Manager at Great Lakes Petroleum. That position will take her around the Carolinas to work with various clients.

 

Tavis’ job also keeps him on the move. He’s a “Bread Man,” and wakes up each day at 3am to pick up loaves of bread at a warehouse then deliver them to local grocery stores. It means a nap is definitely in order the day after catching a Broadway tour at Blumenthal.

 

But Tavis doesn’t mind, he says, since he also really enjoys the shows.

 

“I think Michelle's much more passionate about it than I am. But I'm happy to be along for the ride and help support her passions.”

 

Volunteering at Blumenthal Arts

 

This year, that support included getting involved hands-on with some volunteer opportunities at Blumenthal Arts. First, Michelle helped out at LEAP Day, a big celebration and culminating event at Knight Theater for 4th and 5th graders from area schools who participated in Blumenthal L.E.A.P. (Literacy Engagement through Arts Program).

 

 

That program sends a visiting Blumenthal teaching artist to partner with the students’ regular classroom teacher for a 20-week residency. During that time, students build new skills in areas like text analysis, creative writing and story dramatization through theater exercises

 

Helping with LEAP Day was an amazing experience, Michelle says. She observed kids’ confidence grow when she and other adult volunteers participated in various theater warm up exercises right alongside them.

 

 

“You could see them then start to engage and realize… ‘It's okay if I have fun, it's okay if I just, like, relax and be a kid and enjoy this.’”

 

The program provides valuable life tools, she says, even for kids who don't pursue theater later on.

 

“Empowering them to feel comfortable standing on a stage and talking to people is, I think, a huge benefit of that program,” she says, noting the program’s emphasis on skill building for kids in underserved communities.

 

“Kids that typically would not have …  access to those types of programs are now getting that, which I think is fantastic,” she adds.

 

The Sutherlands also volunteered together this spring at the annual Junior Theater Celebration Charlotte, a program which brought thousands of area elementary and middle school students to Belk Theater, where they performed a musical number from their respective school shows for their peers and a panel of theater professionals. The kids received constructive feedback from the judges and both students and teachers participated in musical theater workshops to learn new skills and techniques.

 

 

Michelle describes it as LEAP Day put “on steroids for six months.” The Sutherlands enjoyed seeing the passion and engagement of teachers and the enthusiasm and talent of local kids on stage. Michelle recalled one group, in particular, of about 60 middle school kids she helped escort from the rehearsal room to the stage.

 

“They went up and performed a long set from ‘Newsies’ and I was stunned… I was like, ‘Wow kids can do this?!’ so that was a really fun experience.”

 

The “Amazing Opportunities” to See and Support Local Talent

 

Michelle was so inspired that she also wanted to do something special this year for the Blumey Awards ceremony, honoring outstanding area high school musical theater students.

 

She has a background in the floral industry and has previously donated flowers to the Founders Room as a way to express gratitude for a theatrical production she loved.

 

She reached out to Rachel Blake, Blumenthal’s director of donor relations, and proposed doing something similar for the Blumey Awards. Once she had a green light, Michelle enlisted support from Trader Joe’s to provide a portion of the flowers. Then, she and Tavis donated the rest and Michelle arranged them. The flowers helped beautify the Booth Playhouse for a special Blumey Awards pre-show VIP event.

 

 

She says getting to see the depth of talent that exists in Charlotte, then watching young artists go on to pursue other opportunities is incredible. She loves when some of them return, as part of national tours. She’s also looking forward to seeing two-time Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada, a 2013 Blumey Awards Best Actress winner, star in the new Broadway production of “The Great Gatsby,” on an upcoming trip to New York.

 

“To know she was a participant in the programs that we're supporting is really, I think, impactful for me,” she says.

 

That trip to NYC, by the way, will be the Sutherlands’ third time there in the last year and a half — a place Michelle had never visited prior to January 2023.

 

It’s exciting going there now, she says, knowing how Blumenthal’s CEO Tom Gabbard and the rest of the organization are “so awesome at attracting those shows to come to Charlotte… then to get to turn around and see them performed, you know, locally is such just a gift and an amazing opportunity.”

 

Coming Full Circle : Giving Back to Local Kids

 

And it’s an opportunity the couple loves sharing with others too. In a way, it’s all coming full circle this summer with “The Lion King,” she says.

 

Michelle came home the other day to learn that Tavis had splurged on something big: “I did it,’ he told her. “I got 10 tickets for ‘The Lion King’ for kids.”

 

Michelle was ecstatic, seeing how their own experience led him to pay it forward through an Arts For All ticket donation.

 

 

“It's the show that really got Michelle, you know, to rediscover her passion,” Tavis says.

 

“It's a great show, too, and I think kids love it a lot so if there's an opportunity to get a child a ticket that they normally wouldn't be able to get, I'd love to just support that and have them see something that … maybe will inspire them to pursue their dreams.”