Florida Spotlight: November 2008

If you have a chance to hit the gulf coast this month, Asolo Repertory Theatre’s production of Barnum (November 12-December 20)
will star Tony nominated actor Brad Oscar in the title role, alongside Misty Cotton, Kevin Kraft, and Debra Walton. The musical, which tells the life story of circus founder Phineas Taylor Barnum, features a score by Cy Coleman, book by Mark Bramble, and lyrics by Michael Stewart.

Also on the West Coast, The Jobsite Theater will detail The History of the Devil (Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, October 30-November 16), Clive Barker’s play about the Devil’s parole hearing. Further south in Fort Myers, Florida Repertory Theatre will present A.R. Gurney’s Indian Blood (November 28-December 21), the story of a teenage boy who blames his bad behavior on his Native American ancestry.

In Jupiter, Noises Off (November 11-23), is set to open at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre with all the the backstage and onstage antics of a fifth-rate acting troupe doing a production of Nothing On. For a different style of comedy, the Jove will take on Thanksgiving with Thanks/Forgiving (November 7-8), a night of sketches about the holiday and the month of November at The Atlantic Theater.

Further south in West Palm Beach, the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts has a host of offerings including the Tony winning musical Avenue Q (November 25-30); the talents of Claire Bloom in Women in Shakespeare (November 6-7); some old-fashioned Tupperware Party fun with Dixie Longate in Dixie’s Tupperware Party (November 11-16); and the playful musical classics of The Pajama Game (November 21).

In Lake Worth, Duncan Sheik Featuring Original Cast Member of Spring Awakening (November 1) will bring a taste of Sheik’s latest project, as well as songs from Whisper House and Spring Awakening, performed with original cast member Lauren Pritchard at the Duncan Theatre. On a different musical note, Yarina, Remembrances of Ecuador (November 1) will bring Ecuadorean music, stories, and dance the whole family will enjoy to the Duncan.

Take a trip to Boca Raton to laugh along with a Joseph Stein-Mark Daniels musical comedy based on Carl Reiners semi-autobiographical novel, Enter Laughing (November 7-20) at New Vista Theatre Company. In the area, the comedic creation of Joe Masteroff, Sheldon Harnick, and Jerry Bock will make an appearance this month with She Loves Me (November 9-December 14), their romantic musical comedy about a pen-pal love affair that results in an unexpected match at the Caldwell Theatre Company. The Coral Springs Center for the Arts will take the wrap off one of their new projects, Coral Springs Comedy Club (opening November 14) with the comedic talents of Roslane Gholston, one of the funniest up and coming female comedians in the country.

In Fort Lauderdale, the Parker Playhouse will take a trip back to the classic musical theater of George Gershwin with The Soul of Gershwin (November 12-23). Take a ride with a magical car that sails the seas and flies through the air in the Broadway Across America presentation of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (November 18-November 30), set to run at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. In a different vein, if you have a taste for female impersonators, Christoper Peterson in Eyecons (November 6-23) will showcase Peterson’s talent for impersonating all the greatest Broadway Divas at Rising Action Theatre. In the area, take a trip to Ireland with Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer (November 20-December 14) and the dark tale of a high stakes card game at the Mosaic Theatre in Plantation.

In the Miami Area, the Naked Stage will mount several productions including their 24-Hour Theatre Project (November 10), a self-explanatory title for the pieces that will be presented only 24 hours after they were written at the Miracle Theatre; and Nerve (November 7-30), a play exploring the complications of online dating at the Pelican Theatre. The Adrienne Arsht Center has a wide variety of entertainment this month including the classical operatic tone of Verdi’s La Traviata (November 15-25); a taste of an anti-gay crusade turned on its head with comedy in 1,000 Homosexuals (November 20-23); and Reduced Shakespeare Company’s production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (November 26-January 4).

Touring the state this month, Sally Struthers will play Mother Superior in the 25th Anniversary Tour of Dan Goggin’s Nunsense!, set to play in Fort Pierce (November 23), Avon Park (November 24), Lakeland (November 25), Sarasota (November 28-29), Clearwater (November 30), Niceville (December 4), Bunnell (December 5), and Naples (November 7). Join Struthers and a motley crew of nuns as they raise money for the burial of the sisters who were accidentally poisoned by Sister Julia’s cooking.

The sunshine state is sprinkled with options for family entertainment, including Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland (November 6-December 18) at The PlayGround Theatre in Miami Shores; A Country Christmas Carol (November 18) at Lake Worth Playhouse in Lake Worth; and Leo Lionni’s Swimmy, Frederick, Inch by Inch in Ft. Lauderdale at the Parker Playhouse (November 24) and Lake Worth at the Duncan Theatre (November 22).