Flat Rock Playhouse announced its 2023 season this week and the intriguing lineup of shows promises something for everyone. The Playhouse playbills will be full of familiar titles, classic favorites, a regional premiere, an original production by a member of the Playhouse staff, music that runs the gamut from country to Christmas, the first-ever production of Shakespeare on the Playhouse main stage, and a family show sure to enthrall audiences of all ages.

In short, Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2023 season offers a delightful variety and promises to be one of the most entertaining years in the long and storied history of the Vagabonds Players.

Decades before an influx of Lowcountry landowners began looking for a reprieve from oppressive South Carolina summers in the mountains of western North Carolina, Abraham Kuykendall was arguably the most prominent European settler to live in the area we now know as Flat Rock. 

In the early 1960s, Gordon McCabe, Jr. decided to sell the cottage property and 25 acres to Laurie and Alex Schenck of Greensboro, North Carolina. In no time the Schencks renamed the house Rutledge Cottage in honor of the Rutledge family. They quickly became one of the best stewards of this historical gem where three years later, Alex Schenck founded Historic Flat Rock, Inc.

The scene was busy, bustling, and bittersweet. A combination of commerce mixed with a celebration of the friendships created inside the gallery’s walls during the past seven years. There were smiles, hugs - and a few tears - as the community gathered one last time to say farewell to the Firefly.

Selecting five favorite stories from 2022 is akin to the proverbial dilemma of picking a favorite child. Each story has its merits and is deserving in its own way. Meaning of course, that any list has a distinctly arbitrary quality about it.

Still, there are stories that stick in our memory and elicit special feelings when we look back at 52 weeks of Flat Rock Together. Here are five of our most popular stories from a year full of great personalities, amazing accomplishments, fascinating history, and heart-warming stories which make Flat Rock the fascinating place it is to live.