CHRIS SILK

Prather Entertainment Group owner Will Prather announced Wednesday that he had finalized the sale of his family's Mesa, Ariz., dinner theatre to Salt Lake City businessman Mike Todd. The sale has no effect on the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in ...

Michael Zaccheo is where a lot of men would like to be. It's 1 a.m. on a gorgeous Miami night. He's liquored up. His pants are around his ankles. Georgian beauty Elena Satine lies naked in bed. And dozens of ...

Move over jukebox musicals.Take a hike rock opera. Rodgers and Hammerstein are back in town. "Cinderella," playing now at Broadway Palm, reminds audiences what true, lush, beautiful music and melody is - and could be. You know the story - ...

Corruption! Sing it to the tune of "Tradition" from "Fiddler on the Roof." Everybody now! Corruption! The mayors! Corruption! The doctors! Corruption! The judges! Corruption! The wives! Corruption! That's the hilarious theme of Nikolai Gogol's sharp, savvy satire "The Government ...

City Scenes Theater Company got "Naked" for their Fort Myers debut. Adriel Munoz strips to boxers and a tee at times to bring the poignant, moving story of "John Doe," a bullied teen to life. The powerful original work, written ...

Something is causing the rats in Oran to die in droves. They die in the streets, the houses and the hotels. The rats carry bubonic plague. Death rides the wind. Oran is a city under siege. The Lab Theater dives ...

Love and marriage. Love and marriage. Go together like … an axe to the head? If you're Paul and Polly Butler, murder - and laughs - hide at every turn in the BIG ARTS Community Players production of "Marriage is ...

When Bill Taylor calls, people pick up the phone. The Theatre Conspiracy artistic director rounded up nine Southwest Florida power couples to take the stage over nine nights, reading tender A.R. Gurney play "Love Letters" to delighted audiences. Half the ...

Carmen Crussard wants audiences to get "naked" on May 11. And May 12. And May 13. But not that kind of naked. Southwest Florida's newest theater company, City Scenes, debuts with "Naked," an intense, original, one-man show about one boy's ...

Bingo. Five letters. An entire world of social, cultural and prize-winning opportunities. The Island Players explore them all during their season-ending comedy "The Queen of Bingo," a simple, but heart-warming charmer about two sisters, a pile of bingo chips and ...

Oh Edgar. Oh Enid. Edgar. Enid. Edgaaar. Eeeniid. EDGAR! ENID! EDGAR! ENID! oh, edgar. oh, enid. Pant. Gasp. Cigarettes. Yes, ladies and gents. That was a sex scene. Without the sex. You get all that - and more in Florida ...

TheatreZone dove back into the Jazz Age and tapped to the sounds of the Roaring Twenties along the French Riviera as they closed their season Thursday. Frothy musical "The Boy Friend" offers delights aplenty, although the production itself can sometimes ...

B-I-N-G-O! And Bingo was his name-o! Scott Lilly & Kevin Moriarty don't want to talk about the farmer's dog. They want to discuss the Island Players comedy "The Queen of Bingo," a sassy, hilarious comedy about two squabbling sisters facing ...

Collier County has scores of arts organizations, but will there be room for them all in the future? From its small-town approach to culture in the 1970s — one annual painting show, one musical, a visit from an outside orchestra ...

While comedian, talk-show host and stand-up comic Bill Maher can boast of "three thousand screaming, fanatical liberals, mostly atheists, in Huntsville, Alabama," he might not find such a warm welcome in Southwest Florida. A protest may happen at his Fort ...

Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher promises audiences one thing if they attend his April 29 stand-up show at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers. "They can expect to laugh their ass off," Maher chortled. "This ...

If the road from North Fort Myers High School to Broadway doesn't seem obvious, just talk to Jeff Bowen. The 1989 alumnus wrote the music and lyrics for 2009 Tony nominee "[title of show]," playing tonight and Sunday at Florida ...

The Naples Players take a drive through the Deep South to close their season, visiting Chinquapin Parish and the ladies of Truvy's Beauty Shop in "Steel Magnolias." While the show retains the humorous punch that made the treasured film a ...

"Cirque Dreams Pop Goes the Rock," playing a one-night-only date at the Phil Tuesday, proves one thing: pop music will endure for all time. For. All. Time. It certainly survives this apocalyptic kaleidoscope of acrobatics, lights, sound and ... shudder ...

Omigod you guys! The color pink exploded all over Broadway Palm. Hurricane Elle Comma Woods blew into town last week - and doesn’t plan to stop until the whole of Southwest Florida succumbs to the charms of “Legally Blonde.”

What does a Polish bride get on her wedding night that's long and hard? A NEW LAST NAME! Ah, Polack jokes. Right up there with blonde jokes and "Yo Mama" jokes in the pantheon of comedy stereotypes. But where did ...

Hunter wants to write a musical. Hunter wants to win a Tony Award. The deadline for the New York Musical Theatre Festival sits three weeks away. Thus, "[title of show]," Florida Rep's delightful production of "a musical about two guys ...

Armadillo Acres is the place to be. Where the sun shines bright and the propane ain't free! Armadillo Acres is the place to be. Where the trailers lean and the mailboxes are rusty. Put on your overalls. Broadway Palm goes ...

Omigod you guys! The color pink exploded all over Broadway Palm. Hurricane Elle Comma Woods blew into town last week - and doesn't plan to stop until the whole of Southwest Florida succumbs to the charms of "Legally Blonde." Good ...

Weddings. The blushing bride. A nervous groom. Flowers. Giggling bridesmaids. Not in this play. In A.R. Gurney's "Black Tie," Teddy plans to wear a dinner jacket over his Obama tee. The bride wants to get married in an old boathouse ...

Gulfshore Playhouse rode a streetcar named Desire into the sultry heart of New Orleans Friday. Passion, magic, dreams, sadness and the frailty of life rise like shapes out of spun glass on the stage. The seething force of the play ...

Broadway Palm unveiled a populist, mass-appeal 20th anniversary season during a champagne brunch and preview party Friday morning, along with a host of changes designed to make the theatre more inviting for patrons.

"Wicked" greets audiences with a glittering map of Oz and a huge mechanical dragon tilted menacingly out over the stage. The curtain rises to a swell of music and a thundering ensemble before a sparkling Glinda descends in her bubble. ...

The Marco Players went back to the Swinging Sixties Wednesday, closing their season with Neil Simon comedy "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers." If poor Barney Cashman left his love nest unsatisfied, the audience didn't. They laughed all the ...

Florida Repertory Theatre's production of "Red" opened its six-show Naples Philharmonic run Tuesday. The show opened to a raucous standing ovation - deservedly so. Three weeks of performances have produced a sharper, more focused character study that shines a brilliant ...

"Fiddler on the Roof" rolled into Naples for a sold-out one-night-only show Monday. At three hours, "Fiddler" might need tuning, but it serves up solid entertainment. John Preece plays his Teyve for every bit of humor and wry emotion in ...

Soap opera star Walt Willey left the manicured streets of Pine Valley for the rough-and-tumble frontier along America's Old West this weekend. Willey brought his one-man show "Wild Bill: An Evening with James Butler Hickok" to Marco Island for a ...

What makes the perfect wife? Wisdom? Beauty? Riches? No, no, monsieur! Listen to the wise Arnolphe! "There are four things only she must know: To say her prayers, love me, spin and sew!" Thus begins Theatre Conspiracy's hilarious production of ...

Prayers were answered Friday night out on Sanibel. Catholic comedy "Over the Tavern" opened to a sold-out house, laughs aplenty and brilliant performances by a trio of young actors forming the core of Tom Dudzick's heartwarming story. Watch out for ...

John McKerrow gets a lot of things right as Shakespeare in Paradise ventures into the woods for "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Fairies in fantastic costumes whirl and tumble. Lovers spit and quarrel. A donkey brays. Shakespeare's prose, as it often ...

It's big. It's beautiful. It's very ... green. "Wicked," the smash hit musical that took Broadway (and Fort Myers) by storm hops on its broomstick and flies back into the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall on March 28. But, ...

The Naples Players pulled the wrapping off intense art world thriller "A Picasso" Wednesday. While the script feels more like a hasty drawing doodled on a napkin during lunch than a vivid Picasso canvas, the show does illustrate the passion, ...

Lucie Arnaz had one thought when she was asked to do a show in Naples. "Four shows in two days? I don't know that many people in Naples," Arnaz joked. "Are you sure we can fill four shows there?" She ...

Some of the funniest moments in the Laboratory Theater of Florida's production of "In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play" come when patients (male and female) experience the doctor's marvelous machine. Yes, it's really a vibrator. The dawn of ...

One lump or two? Milk? How about a surging round of applause? That's the conclusion of Joy Davidson's one-woman show "Tea at Five," which examines the life of screen legend Katharine Hepburn. Captivated by Davidson's powerful voice, audiences sat enthralled ...

There's a big, noisy machine on the Lab Theater stage. It hums and whirs and thrusts. The machine is a vibrator. Doctors use it to treat "hysteria." Women love it. Men do to. So do audiences. They find it quite ...

Florida Repertory Theatre goes behind the scenes of the creative process in their latest production. "Red," a seductive, sometimes sexy, sometimes disturbing look at painter Mark Rothko, tries to dissect the essence of capital "A" ART. It's fascinating, if not ...

“There may be other days as rich and rare,” but there will be few productions as grand as Broadway Palm’s “Brigadoon.”

TheatreZone dug through the library shelves and found a musical version of Louisa May Alcott's beloved "Little Women" Thursday. A failure on Broadway, it soars in resplendent glory on the Naples stage, aided by beautiful voices, gorgeous costumes and a ...

A touring production of "My Fair Lady" swung into Fort Myers Wednesday. While Frederick Loewe's music sounds as "loverly" as ever, the show often underwhelms. One of Broadway's most magical musicals feels awfully pedestrian here, weighed down by performances that ...

Gulfshore Playhouse knocked one straight off the tee and hit a hole in one Friday. Farce "The Fox on the Fairway," which mixes golf, romance and fashion keeps the audience in stitches. Pitching wedges, drivers, putters and nine irons - ...

The Naples Players belted out "Hello, Dolly!" in grand style Wednesday night, opening their sold-out musical in a billowing fashion parade of fine costumes, elegant hats and energetic dancing. While the show isn't perfect, it at least entertains you "Before ...

"There may be other days as rich and rare," but there will be few productions as grand as Broadway Palm's "Brigadoon." The dance. The voices. The acting. The artistry. It combines into a grand, majestic vision of timeless, everlasting love ...

It's nice to see George Hamilton perform live. You can't underestimate the impact of six strapping young boys in heels and corsets vamping across the stage. But a ten-minute intro with sassy drag queen Betty Wite-Out was nearly the best ...

There's a funny little show playing in Florida Repertory Theatre's studio space right now. Mark Chambers spends two hours wrapping himself in the trench coat and fedora of author Truman Capote. Laughter tinkles out like ice cubes rattling in a ...