About

Ira David Wood III is the Founder & Executive Director of Theatre In The Park. A graduate of The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, he was raised in Enfield, NC, and became his hometown’s first Eagle Scout. Summers during his college years were spent as a leading actor in The Lost Colony, the oldest outdoor drama in the country. In 2013, he began a seven-year tenure as the show’s Artistic Director.  Upon graduation, David became the first Theatre Arts Consultant for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. A year later, he founded Theatre In The Park and established its home in the old Pullen Park Armory. In just a few years, Theatre In The Park became North Carolina’s largest community theatre, boasting an international reputation. David wrote and directed the Opening Ceremonies for the Summer Olympic Festival - the largest single event ever held in North Carolina. Two of his original plays (Eros & Illinois and Requiem For a King) have had extended runs Off-Broadway. His script, Requiem For a King, has also been optioned by Motown Productions. His play, Finale, has been published by Original Works, Inc. 

 In honor of his many achievements, Raleigh’s City Council voted unanimously to rename the theatre’s facility “The Ira David Wood III Pullen Park Theatre.” In September of 2010, he was inducted into the Raleigh Hall of Fame, and in 2014, he received the prestigious North Carolina Award in Fine Arts. 

 A partial list of honors includes: The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, The Halifax Resolves Award, The Morrison Award, The Distinguished Alumni Award from UNCSA, The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, two Raleigh Medal of Arts awards, and the Builder of Bridges Award. He has been presented with three keys to the City of Raleigh and honorary citizenship from Columbia, SC, and Compiegne, France. 

Consistently voted the Best Local Actor in decades of public opinion polls, David has also amassed impressive film and television credits, having appeared on screen alongside such stars as Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood, Neil Patrick Harris, Cliff Robertson, Matthew Modine, James Earl Jones, Burt Reynolds, and Louise Fletcher. 

For North Carolina Theatre, David’s starring roles include Man Of La Mancha (Don Quixote - in three productions), Funny Girl (Flo Ziegfeld), Peter Pan (Captain Hook), La Cage aux Folles (Georges), Oliver (Fagin), The Wizard of Oz (Wicked Witch of the West), The Full Monty (Harold), Grease (Mrs. Lynch), and The Sound Of Music (Captain Von Trapp). For Theatre Raleigh, his roles include Uncle Roy Tuck in Bull Durham and Joe in Waitress. 

David is probably best known and loved for annually portraying the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge in his own musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol, which celebrates its 52nd consecutive year of production this year. A Christmas Carol was named the number one special event at DPAC for the 2014-15 season, and December 7-13, 2014, was declared “A Christmas Carol Week” by the City of Raleigh's Mayor. With three international tours to its credit, and having played to two million people, the production is now cited as “... one of the most successful shows in North Carolina theater history.  

2023 marked David’s final appearance in the role of Scrooge.  He has turned the role over to his eldest son, Ira IV.  His youngest son, Thomas, plays the role of Peter Cratchit.  David continues to direct the show and in 2025 happily returned to the production as the Lamplighter. A Christmas Carol remains a true family affair.  

David is the author of A Lover’s Guide to The Outer Banks, Confessions Of An Elf, The Russian Galatea, and The Bittersweet Voyage Of The Golden Ship Hatteras. He is also a contributing author to Murder in Dealey Plaza: What We Know Now That We Didn’t Know Then.  

The proud father of three - Ira David Wood IV, Evan Rachel Wood, and Thomas Miller Wood. David and his wife, Ashley, remain proud to call North Carolina “home”.