The Virginian-Pilot
©
ROANOKE ISLAND
The Elizabethan Gardens announced today that Carl V. Curnutte III, the current executive director/producer of "The Lost Colony" outdoor drama, has been chosen to be the gardens' new executive director.
Curnutte, who confirmed last week that he had resigned from the play, will start after he completes his work with the show on Oct. 20, said June Bell, chairman of The Elizabethan Gardens Board of Governors.
The gardens' former executive director Horace Whitfield resigned at the end of February.
Curnutte was one of 90 applicants for the job, Bell said. She said she will continue as interim director until Curnutte takes over.
Opened in 1960, the English-style gardens memorialize the 1587 Roanoke colony that mysteriously disappeared and the Elizabethan heritage of the island. The Waterside Theatre, where "The Lost Colony" play has been staged since 1937, and the gardens are located within Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on the north end of Roanoke island.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
I'd be curious to find out
I'd be curious to find out why the acclaimed former director Horace Whitfield stepped down suddenly after seven years of dedicated service...he did an outstanding job of promoting the enjoyment, understanding, and conservation of plants and the natural world.
And I'm even more curious as to what sort of experience and skill set a 'former costumer' would have to oversee and establish Garden standards. Shouldn't horticulture knowledge be mandatory?
And as the last commentator wrote, The Lost Colony has become increasingly commercialized since Curnutte - to the extent that the essence of the show and what it represents, has been compromised. I hope he doesn't plan on changing the Gardens in the same sense.
New Director
I sure hope the new director they get doesn't try to rewriite history to the extreme as previous directors since the 80's. It has gotten so "P.C.", and out there, it is not wroth seeing anymore. What ever happened to the original script? Please, take it home again.