Florida Spotlight: July 2008
July looks to be an exciting mouth full of music and laughter. In the Miami area, take a trip to the Actor’s Playhouse at Miracle Theatre for Mid Life! The Crisis Musical (July 9-August 10). If you’re having a crisis yourself, this musical comedy might be just what you need to lighten up to realities of getting older.
For another good dose of fun — and snow — one of the original Cirque du Soleil clowns, Slava, has created Slava’s Snowshow for the whole family to bask in that wonderful natural phenomenon. Don’t miss this spectacular when it makes its way to The Adrienne Arsht Center (July 24-August 17).
Further north, in the Fort Lauderdale area, everything is coming up roses with a few exciting choices, starting with Leslie Jordan, who will grace the Parker Playhouse stage with My Trip Down the Pink Carpet (July 9), a one man comedy that promises to traverse the entire North American continent with autobiographical material from this star of stage, screen, and television. For a little gal pal fun, follow five friends as they relive the past, and celebrate the present and the future to the tune of a few get up and dance tunes like “I Will Survive,” “We Are Family,” and “Lady Marmalade,” in Girls Night: The Musical (July 30-August 3), also at the Parker Playhouse. Finally, Idina Menzel will fill the Parker Playhouse (July 25) with some of her own songs and all the charisma she’s known for from her work as Maureen in Rent and Elphaba in Wicked.
In the West Palm Beach area, Girls Night: The Musical will open at the Raymond F. Kravis Center (July 8-26). Or take a trip back to the 60s with free love and revolution in Hair (Lake Worth Playhouse, July 17-August 9) the American Rock Musical hit full of songs like “The Age of Aquarius,” “Let the Sun Shine,” and “Good Morning, Starshine.” In the 30’s and 40’s, a star rose in the New York music scene despite her inability to keep a pitch, or hold a tune for that matter. Take a step back in time to experience the magic from the vantage point of her long time accompanist, Stephen Temperley, in Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins (July 2-August 24) at Palm Beach Dramaworks.
Idina Menzel will make another appearance at the House of Blues in Orlando (July 26) with more selections from her own songbook, and a final engagement in the sunshine state at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center (July 27). Also at the TBPAC, Stageworks will present Private Lives (July 10-27), Noel Coward’s farcical exploration of marriage through the glass of a divorced couple, both recently remarried, who accidentally book adjacent suites for their honeymoons. Forever Plaid (July 11-August 17) will get the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center jumping with a parade of favorite tunes, including “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “Rags to Riches,” and “Cry.”
For a little entertainment with dinner, take a ride further down the west coast to the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre in Sarasota for The Musical of Musicals! The Musical! (July 8-31), a satire of everything that is musical theatre with a story set in five variations, each corresponding to the style of a writer or team.
For children who know The Backyardigans well, there will be plenty of chances to catch their live antics in The Backyardigans Live! The Tale of the Mighty Knights!, which will make its way to the Peabody Auditorium (July 17) in Daytona Beach, The Maxwell C. King Center (July 23) in Melbourne, The Broward Center for the Performing Arts (July 17-18) in Fort Lauderdale, the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (July 24) in Gainsville, and the TBPAC (July 26-27).
