One of the most beloved television personalities of her generation, VICKI LAWRENCE,will bring her new show VICKI LAWRENCE & MAMA: A TWO-WOMAN SHOW for one performance at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, at the Carolina Theatre in Durham. Tickets are $42 and $38. Tickets are $37 for Star Members. Also on Saturday, January 31, the Carolina Theatre will host the Down Home, Downtown Shindig, a celebration marking fifteen years since the rebirth of Durham's last remaining historic theatre, The Carolina Theatre. The Shindig will take place in the Carolina's Connie Moses Ballroom beginning at 6:00 p.m. Combination show and party tickets are available for $75. Proceeds from all Shindig tickets benefit the Carolina Theatre of Durham, Inc. All tickets are on sale now at the Carolina Theatre box office located at 309 W. Morgan Street in downtown Durham. Box office hours are weekdays from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., weekends from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and one hour prior to shows.

Plucked out of total obscurity as a high school senior, Lawrence went on to become part of the now-legendary cast of the Carol Burnett Show. "I went to the Harvard School of Comedy in front of America," says Ms. Lawrence of her Burnett Show training. In the seventh season, and hundreds of hilarious sketches later, at the ripe, old age of 24, she created her most endearing character to date, Thelma Harper, or "Mama" as she is better known to her fans. After the Burnett Show, Lawrence went on to star in Mama's Family, which consistently topped the ratings for its entire six-year run of original shows.

Lawrence will take the stage first, at the Carolina Theatre. "My new show will not be a retrospective," she explains. "We are designing a show that is a mixture of stand-up comedy, music and my observations about real life." The multi-talented entertainer is mostly known for her acting and comedic talents, but she also earned a gold record for the 1973 hit, "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia."

Lawrence has appeared in numerous stage productions, including Send Me No Flowers, No, No Nanette, Hello Dolly, Special Occasions, I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On The Road, Annie Get Your Gun, and Live From the Grand Ole Opry. Most recently she appeared in The Vagina Monologues. Her autobiography, Vicki! The True Life Adventures of Miss Fireball, was published in 1995 by Simon and Schuster. Her new book, Mama for President: Good Lord Why Not? was released earlier this year. Lawrence also plays the role of Grandma Stewart in the pre-teen sensation, Hanna Montana.

"I think people will get a kick out of the things Mama has an opinion about. We're creating new material with a more modern and cutting edge. Where Mama is concerned, expect the unexpected. There's really nothing she can't do," she says. "I hope people will be pleasantly surprised by a side of Vicki they may never have seen...I know they will be looking forward to Mama, and for her part, that crazy old gal will be up to the challenge."

Vicki Lawrence & Mama: A Two-Woman Show will take place at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, 2009, at the Carolina Theatre of Durham located at 309 West Morgan Street in downtown Durham. Tickets are $42 and $38. Tickets are $37 for members. Tickets are on sale now at the Carolina Theatre box office located at 309 W. Morgan Street in downtown Durham. Box office hours are weekdays from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., weekends from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and one hour prior to shows.

Support for this show is provided by The Herald-Sun and Michael Jordan Nissan.

About The Carolina Theatre of Durham

The Carolina Theatre of Durham is a non-profit arts center dedicated to bringing quality film and live performances to the Triangle Community. Live performances at the Carolina Theatre are supported in part by the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of North Carolina, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the A.J. Fletcher Performing Arts Fund of the Triangle Community Foundation.