The elegantly renovated Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 1 E. South St. (tel. 919/831-6011; www.progressenergycenter.com), is the home of the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and the North Carolina Theatre. The orchestra gives around 50 performances annually in Raleigh; Gerhardt Zimmermann is its conductor laureate. Critics have hailed the North Carolina Theatre as "the best it gets this side of Broadway." It specializes in large-scale Broadway musicals such as Hello, Dolly. This is the state's only resident professional musical theater. The box office is open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm.
The hottest sports ticket in a sports-crazy town may be for seats to a Carolina Hurricanes game (www.caneshockey.com). The Raleigh hockey franchise catapulted to greatness when it won its first Stanley Cup in 2006, defeating the Edmonton Oilers. The Canes play in the RBC Center (1400 Edwards Mill Rd.; www.rbccenter.com).
