Florida Spotlight  

A Glass Act

Brad Roller and Katherine Michelle Tanner in The Glass Menagerie (© Rob Jones)

Feed your taste for the artful dialogue of Tennessee Williams with Orlando Shakespeare Theater's production of The Glass Menagerie, October 15-November 16, the story of a young man, his shy sister, and their over-bearing mother. For lighter fare, Orlando Repertory Theatre is ready to turn a classic fairytale on its head in The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood, October 10-November 9, an irreverent jaunt through Sherwood Forest with Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

Along the west coast, the drama starts when James Tyrone and Josie Hogan find companionship and solace in the grief and unfulfilled love they've each hidden from the world in A Moon for the Misbegotten, October 17-November 30, at Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach. Take a ride down the Mississippi River with William Hauptman and Roger Miller's musical version of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in Big River, October 24-November 9, set to open at the Lake Worth Playhouse in Lake Worth. William Mastrosimone's Dirty Business will premiere at Florida Stage in Manalapan, October 22-November 30, with the political shenanigans that ensue when a party girl gets caught between a mafia capo and the President.

Further south still, Delray Beach Playhouse has a slice of Hollywood history with a behind the scenes look at the writing of Gone with the Wind in Moonlight and Magnolias, October 10-26. The theater will also present Heart and Soul, October 10-26, a piece that showcases the memorable work of Frank Leosser.

An extra large aerosol can of Broadway magic will land in Fort Lauderdale this month when the tour of Hairspray comes to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. For more musical excitement, the Tamarac Theatre of Performing Arts will present a value pack musical mash-up with Musical of Musicals, an Eric Rockwell-Joanne Bogart tuner with five musicals rolled into one in the style of composers such as Rodgers & Hammerstein and Stephen Sondheim. Enjoy a musical revue in Margate this month with the Broward Stage Door Theater production of Smokey Joe's Café, October 22-November 30.

Continuing down the coast, Hollywood Playhouse will team up with Hamilton Productions to set sail with Dames At Sea, October 3-12, the George Haimsohn-Robin Miller-Jim Wise spoof on the Busby Berkley musicals of the 1930s. The venue will also present Somebody Dun' Told You Wrong, October 17-18, a Sharon D's Image Program production.

Actors' Playhouse is set to take a patriotic journey in Miami with 1776, October 1-November 2, a revival of the Sherman Edwards-Peter Stone musical that explores the birth of our country. Just in time for election season, GableStage will mount November, October 18-November 16, David Mamet's political romp set on the day before a presidential election. Promethian Theatre will present Still the River Runs, October 17-November 2, at the Black Box Theatre at Nova Southeastern University.

Along the West Coast, Chaim Potok and Aaron Posner's adaptation of Potok's 1967 novel, The Chosen, October 2-19, will be presented by Stageworks at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Just across the bay, the Manatee Players are preparing a trip through the Hank Williams' musical biography in Hank Williams-Lost Highway, October 30-November 16, in Bradenton. Sarasota will get a piece of musical comedy based on a Mark Twain short story, A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage, October 1-November 28, Aaron Posner and James Sugg's rendition of the little town of Deer Lick, Missouri and the mysterious visitor who shakes up the community.

In Fort Myers, Florida Repertory Theatre will take a journey with Harry Brock, a corrupt tycoon ready to take on Washington, in Born Yesterday, October 24-November 16. As part of the 2008 World Class Initiative, the company will also stage The Glass Menagerie, considered Tennessee Williams' most autobiographical work.

This month features a collection of fairytale fun for the family, including Sleeping Beauty at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, October 25, in Jupiter; Sleeping Beauty at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale, October 27; Eric Coble's adaptation of Lois Lowry's Newberry Award-winning book The Giver, October 21-November 8, at the Asolo Repertory in Sarasota; and an adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's The Princess and the Pea, October 2-October 19, at The Venice Theatre in Venice.

 

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