I recently did a search for flying from RDU airport to an airport in NYC. I'm also from NC.
Fly out on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. It LITERALLY brings the price down hundreds per ticket. Try to never fly on weekends.
I found a ticket from RDU to NYC for $215.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle