Reynolda Noir Matinée

Newly added! Due to such a high demand for the Reynolda Noir event, we are adding a matinée performance. Secure your seat today as this event is expected to sell out.

Register Now

Join us for an afternoon of music and storytelling as we explore the life and music of Libby Holman. Holman was sultry, smart, and bluesy. It is said she changed the way America sang and then promptly was forgotten. Or, perhaps, she was remembered for the wrong reason. For forty years, she was known as the woman indicted for the murder of her husband, Smith Reynolds, in a case that was never solved.

In this encore performance, Reynolda Noir Matinée shines a spotlight on Ms. Libby Holman—the wife, mother, Civil Rights activist, and “smokiest torch on Broadway.”

Your Reynolda Noir Matinée ticket includes:

Drama and Delight
Hear the remarkable story of Ms. Libby Holman as told by Dr. Michele Gillespie, historian and provost of Wake Forest University, and Phil Archer, curator and Betsy Main Babcock Deputy Director. Experts uncover some of the lesser-known truths of Libby’s life, including details of her activism during the Civil Rights Movement and the undeniable impact she made as a Broadway performer.

A Selection of Libby Holman’s Hit Songs
As the story unfolds, enjoy several of Libby’s hit songs performed by Soprano Jodi Burns with arrangements and accompaniment by Kenneth Frazelle.

What Shall I Wear?

This afternoon performance is casual attire though should you feel compelled to pull out your best 30s-inspired apparel, we certainly won’t stop you.

Questions? Call Sarah Blackwell at 336.758.5889 or email sarah@reynolda.org.

Smith & Libby: Two Rings, Seven Months, One Bullet
Opening September 9

This exhibition, curated by Betsy Main Babcock Deputy Director of Reynolda House Museum of American Art Phil Archer, presents archival objects, news articles, and other primary sources to lay bare the mystery in all its fascinating complexity. There is more than one way for a house to be haunted, and this story has hung over Reynolda for ninety years, at once the most tragic and infamous day in its history. Smith & Libby draws back the curtain on an event that shocked the nation and echoed down the generations, still inspiring speculation and curiosity in visitors of all ages today.

Register Now