Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Bonita: Prime performs and musicals in 2022-23 – Information-Press

“Hamilton” returns to Mann Corridor after smashing box-office data in 2020. Johnny Money tunes ring by means of Florida Repertory Theatre. And Broadway Palm’s new video wall brings dazzling new spectacle to “Joseph and The Wonderful Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

That’s only a style of what’s in retailer for Southwest Florida audiences through the 2022-23 season. Listed here are all of the plays and musicals you will not need to miss in Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Bonita Springs.

BARBARA B. MANN PERFORMING ARTS HALL (FORT MYERS)

“Hamilton” (December 13-24): The Broadway sensation broke gross sales data at Mann Corridor and bought out its total run in 2020. Now it’s again for 2 extra weeks. Utilizing rap songs and colorblind casting, the musical tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington and the opposite founding fathers of the US.

“SIX” (Feb. 1-5, 2023): The Broadway hit is staged like a pop live performance — solely these divas occur to be the six wives of notorious British King Henry VIII. They take turns singing and telling their tales of divorce, struggling and survival.

“Fairly Girl” (Feb. 21-26, 2023): One other record-breaking Broadway present. The musical adapts the beloved 1990 romantic film a couple of “hooker with a coronary heart of gold” (Julia Roberts) and the rich businessman who hires her (Richard Gere).

Extra at Mann Corridor: “Fiddler on the Roof” (Feb. 14-19, 2023), “Million Greenback Quartet” (March 21-26, 2023),  ‘Tootsie’ (April 4-9, 2023)

— Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Corridor, 13350 FSW Parkway, south Fort Myers. 481-4849 or bbmannpah.com

A deeper take a look at Mann Corridor’s season:2022-23 Broadway season in Fort Myers

Gulf Coast Symphony: Mann Hall season includes rock, doo-wop, circus acrobats and more

BELLE THEATRE (CAPE CORAL)

“A Tuna Christmas” (Dec. 9-18): Sequel to the favored comedy “Better Tuna.” The zany residents of Tuna, Texas, attempt to supply the play “A Christmas Carol,” whereas a mysterious phantom vandalizes the annual Christmas Yard Show Contest. 

“Subsequent to Regular” (March 10-19, 2023): The Tony- and Pulitzer-winning rock musical follows a mom with bipolar dysfunction and the way that impacts her household. Belle government director Tyler Younger calls it a “deep, significant take a look at the totally different shapes, sizes and circumstances of ‘regular.’”

“Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella” (April 14-30, 2023): The revamped, Tony Award-winning Broadway musical updates its supply materials — a 1957 TV musical written by Rodgers & Hammerstein — with stronger feminine characters; an expanded size and a rewritten story. 

Extra at Belle Theatre: “The Butler Did It” (Nov. 4-13), “4 Previous Broads” (Jan. 13-22, 2023), “Little Store of Horrors” (Jan. 27-Feb. 13, 2023), “The Swear Jar” (Feb. 17-26, 2023)

— The Belle Theatre, 2708 Santa Barbara Blvd., Suite 135, in The Towers at Santa Barbara procuring middle, Cape Coral. 471-6056 or thebelletheatre.com

Cape Coral’s new theater:The Belle opens with summer camps and a full season of shows

BIG ARTS (SANIBEL ISLAND)

“Pleasure and Prejudice” (Jan. 24, 2023): New York’s Aquila Theatre is understood for its stage interpretations of literary classics. Now it takes on Jane Austen’s basic romantic novel.

“Late Nite Catechism: Sister’s Summer time Faculty Catechism” (March 3, 2023): Sister makes her annual return to BIG ARTS for an additional interactive one-woman present that’s half stand-up comedy, half Catholic catechism class — with the viewers doubling as her summer-school college students. 

Extra at BIG ARTS: “The World of Musicals” (Jan. 21, 2023)

— BIG ARTS, 900 Dunlop Highway, Sanibel Island. 395-0900 or bigarts.org

BROADWAY PALM (FORT MYERS)

“Not Now, Darling” (Sept. 22-Nov. 5): Broadway Palm opens its thirtieth season with this zany farce in its smaller Off Broadway Palm Theatre. The present options “mistresses, minks, mobsters, mistaken identities, misguided customers, suspicious wives, and scantily clad ladies hiding in cabinets.”

“A Refrain Line” (Oct. 7-Nov. 12): Broadway Palm brings this “singular sensation” again to its major stage. The basic musical captures the strain and ambitions of a Broadway refrain audition. 

“Joseph and The Wonderful Technicolor Dreamcoat” (Jan. 6-Feb. 11, 2023): The dinner theater’s 1999 manufacturing of Rice & Webber’s Biblical spectacle broke gross sales data. Now “Joseph” is again — this time with much more spectacle, due to the theater’s new high-resolution video wall. The 29-foot-wide, 11-foot-tall wall can show video, graphics, scenic backdrops and no matter else the artistic workforce desires up.

“Simply Desserts: A Musical Bake-Off” (Jan. 12–Feb. 18, 2023): One of many latest reveals in Broadway Palm’s season. On this 2021 musical, 5 strangers compete in a county-fair baking competitors. Count on back-stabbing, romance, thriller and extra.

“Jersey Boys” (Feb. 17-April 9, 2023): Broadway Palm is likely one of the first regional U.S. theaters to get the rights to stage the hit present about Frankie Valli and The 4 Seasons, says Broadway Palm common supervisor Melissa Vogt. The jukebox musical is full of pop hits, together with “Sherry,” “Huge Women Don’t Cry,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “Beggin’” and “My Eyes Adored You.”

“Sister Act” (April 14-Might 20, 2023): Broadway Palm’s sixth best-selling present of all time bought out its total run in 2016. It’s based mostly on the hit Whoopi Goldberg film a couple of disco diva who witnesses a homicide and disguises herself as a nun in a convent.

“Disney’s The Little Mermaid” (July 7-Aug. 12, 2023): The fairytale musical involves Broadway Palm for the primary time. It was tailored from the hit 1989 animated film and options hummable tunes from songwriting duo Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.

Extra at Broadway Palm: “Ha! Ha! Ho! The Vacation Present” (Nov. 10-Dec. 25 within the Off Broadway Palm), “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” (Nov. 18-Dec. 30, 2022), “Doublewide Texas” (Feb. 23-April 9, 2023 in The Off Broadway Palm), “Footloose” (Might 26-July 1, 2023), “All the time A Bridesmaid” (April 18-Might 20, 2023 in The Off Broadway Palm)

— Broadway Palm dinner theater, 1380 Colonial Blvd., Fort Myers. 278-4422 or broadwaypalm.com

CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS BONITA SPRINGS (BONITA SPRINGS)

“A Pretty Day to Kill Your Partner” (Oct. 20-30): The darkish comedy from New Zealand playwright Lindsey Brown world premieres after showing final 12 months at CFABS’ annual Staged Studying Collection. A British couple secretly plans to kill one another whereas celebrating their anniversary in a rowboat. As an alternative, they find yourself stranded on an island. Then their black-sheep siblings discover them.

“The Divine Sister” (March 23-April 2, 2023): Charles Busch’s outrageous comedy in regards to the secret lives of nuns, with a plucky Mom Superior — historically performed by a person in drag — decided to construct a brand new college for her Pittsburgh convent.  “The Divine Sister” pays homage to nun-centric movies resembling “The Track of Bernadette,” “The Bells of St. Mary’s,” “The Singing Nun” and “Agnes of God.”

Stage It! 7: 10-Minute Play Competition (Might 11-21, 2023): The competition returns for its seventh 12 months with extra brief performs from all over the world. Judges choose performs to be collected and printed in an annual compilation. 

Extra at CFABS: “Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical” (Oct. 14-16), “The Odd Couple: Feminine Model” (July 27-Aug. 6, 2023)

— Heart for Performing Arts Bonita Springs, 10150 Bonita Seaside Highway, Bonita Springs. 495-8989 or artcenterbonita.org

CULTURAL PARK THEATER (CAPE CORAL)

“Faculty of Rock” (Sept. 22-Oct. 2): Cultural Park Theater opens its sixtieth anniversary season with the favored rock musical and likewise a brand-new foyer. The renovated foyer consists of Artwork Deco décor to match the theater’s marquee; TV screens exhibiting sponsors and upcoming reveals; high-top tables; and a brand new vestibule with red-velvet curtains main into the primary, 200-seat theater.

“The Girls” (Oct. 13-23): Clare Boothe Luce’s 1936 comedy of manners options an all-female forged and a narrative about gossip, marriage and the pampered lives of New York socialites.

“The Sound of Music” (Jan. 12-22, 2023): The beloved 1959 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical in regards to the singing von Trapp household. It’s set in 1938 Austria on the daybreak of Nazi Germany.

“Crimes of the Coronary heart” (April 20-30, 2023): The heartwarming, Tony Award-nominated comedy-drama includes three sisters reuniting in Mississippi after certainly one of them shoots an abusive husband. 

Extra at Cultural Park Theater: “Pippin” (Nov. 10-20), “Rumors” (Feb. 16-26, 2023), “Grease,” (March 9-19, 2023), “Non-public Lives” (Might 11-21, 2023)

— Cultural Park Theater, 528 Cultural Park Blvd. Cape Coral. 772-5862 or culturalparktheater.com

Huge adjustments:Cheaper tickets, a new look and more at Cape Coral’s Cultural Park Theater

FLORIDA REPERTORY THEATRE (FORT MYERS)

“Girl Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” (Sept. 23-Oct. 30 within the ArtStage Studio Theatre): Florida Rep opens its twenty fifth season with this hard-hitting take a look at the life and music of jazz legend Billie Vacation. The ArtStage will probably be remodeled into the gritty Philadelphia bar the place Vacation gave certainly one of her final public performances.

“Incident at Our Girl of Perpetual Assist” (Oct. 28-Nov. 13): This sizzling new comedy debuted in 2019 at New York’s Chenango River Theatre. Now it’s coming to Florida Rep. In Katie Forgette’s twist-filled reminiscence play, younger Linda O’Shea remembers a loopy week in 1973 involving Catholic guilt, a parish priest, a misheard dialog in regards to the birds and the bees, and the O’Shea household’s makes an attempt to clear their identify.

“Ring of Fireplace: The Music of Johnny” (March 24-April 16, 2023): Florida Rep’s annual spring musicals have change into viewers favorites. This jukebox musical tells the story of nation icon Johnny Money with 30 classics from The Man in Black, together with “I Stroll the Line,” “I’ve Been In every single place,” “A Boy Named Sue” and the title track. The whole forged sings, dances and performs musical devices.

“The Significance of Being Earnest” (Feb. 3-March 5, 2023 within the ArtStage): Oscar Wilde’s timeless, hilarious basic full of intelligent wordplay and unlikely comedian conditions. Two bachelors create alter egos — each named Earnest — to allow them to escape their burdensome lives and obligations. Comedy ensues.

“Foyer Hero” (April 21-Might 16, 2023 within the ArtStage): A darkish, gritty dramedy about race, sexism and justice set within the foyer of a Manhattan condominium constructing, the place a homicide investigation unfolds.

Extra at Florida Rep: “And Then There Have been None” (Dec. 2-18), “Freud’s Final Session” (Dec. 16-Jan. 15 within the ArtStage), “Ripchord” (Jan. 13-29, 2023), “On Golden Pond” (Feb. 17-March 5, 2023)

—Florida Repertory Theatre, 2268 Bay St., downtown Fort Myers. 332-4488 or floridarep.org

FORT MYERS THEATRE (SOUTH FORT MYERS)

“Rocky Horror Present” (Oct. 20-30): The neighborhood theater opens its second season with the ever-popular horror/sci-fi musical, together with  two midnight performances. Viewers participation is inspired.

“The Sound of Music” (Dec. 9-24): The singing von Trapp household returns within the beloved, enduring Rodgers & Hammerstein musical full of nice songs. Features a particular Christmas Eve matinee.

“The Mousetrap” (January 12-22, 2023): Agatha Christie’s basic, edge-of-your-seat whodunit is the world’s longest-running play. Seven strangers discover themselves stranded in a distant nation guesthouse throughout a snow storm — and certainly one of them is a assassin.

Extra at Fort Myers Theatre: “Little Girls” (Feb. 3-12, 2023), “Godspell” (March 10-19), “Magnificence and the Beast” (Might 12-21).

— Fort Myers Theatre, 16120 San Carlos Blvd., No. 5, south Fort Myers. 323-6570 or ftmyerstheatre.com

GHOSTBIRD THEATRE COMPANY (VARIOUS VENUES IN LEE COUNTY)

“The Dangerous Seed” (Oct. 27-30): Simply in time for Halloween, the experimental Ghostbird Theatre Firm takes on a extra easy play than common: The basic 1954 thriller a couple of seemingly candy little lady whose mom suspects she’s concerned in a classmate’s loss of life. The present will probably be staged at downtown Fort Myers’ historic Langford-Kingston Residence.

“Liminal Tales” (June 2023, venue and dates to be introduced): Ghostbird common Katelyn Gravel wrote this experimental piece that will find yourself being utterly wordless (it’s nonetheless in improvement). The work is designed to “activate” viewers members’ reminiscences “by means of shadow play, motion, soundscape, music, silence and darkness.”

Extra from Ghostbird: The annual 24 Hour Competition (dates to be introduced).

— Ghostbird Theatre Firm relies in Lee County, however doesn’t have a house stage. It phases site-specific productions at varied places. GhostbirdTheatreCompany.org

THE LABORATORY THEATER OF FLORIDA (FORT MYERS)

“The Thanksgiving Play” (Nov. 4-20): This play is scheduled to open on Broadway subsequent 12 months, however Lab Theater brings it to Southwest Florida first. In playwright Larissa FastHorse’s comedy, elementary-school lecturers try to placed on a culturally delicate salute to Thanksgiving. However then issues go hilariously unsuitable. 

“Ain’t Misbehavin’” (Dec. 9-Jan. 14): Lab phases the primary of two musicals for its 2022-23 season (the opposite is the ever-popular “Sweeney Todd”). The 1978 Tony Award-winning revue relies on the music of Fat Waller and set within the nightclubs of Twenties Manhattan.

“Cross Over” (March 31-April 15, 2023): In Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s politically charged riff on “Ready for Godot” and the Ebook of Exodus, two males speak trash on a metropolis road nook as they move the time and hope at present will probably be totally different. Then a stranger comes alongside and derails their plans. Director Spike Lee tailored the play right into a 2018 film. A Southwest Florida premiere.

Extra at Lab Theater: “The Play That Goes Fallacious” (Now by means of Oct. 8), The 24-Hour Playwriting Venture (Oct. 22), “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Road” (Feb. 10-March 11, 2023)

—The Laboratory Theater of Florida, 1634 Woodford Ave., downtown Fort Myers. 218-0481 or laboratorytheaterflorida.com

MUSIC & ARTS COMMUNITY CENTER (FORT MYERS)

“Snowbird Follies: A Vacation Musical” (Dec. 3-18): The MACC opens its second season {of professional}, regionally produced musicals with this world-premiere vacation revue. Written by stage director D.J. Salisbury and MACC founder/conductor Andrew Kurtz, the present combines Fort Myers historical past with vacation tunes “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus,” White Christmas” and extra.

“The Factor About Males” (Jan. 19-Feb. 4, 2023): The Southwest Florida premiere of Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts’ sequel to the favored “I Love You, You’re Excellent, Now Change.” Primarily based on the 1986 German film “Males,” the musical makes use of a love triangle to take a humorous take a look at males, marriage, and friendship.

“Gypsy” (March 17-18, 2023 at Mann Corridor): The total Gulf Coast Symphony orchestra takes the stage for the basic 1959 musical based mostly on the memoirs of striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee. The present will probably be carried out at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Corridor with Tony Award-winning singer/actor Jodi Benson, finest often known as the voice of Ariel within the Disney film “The Little Mermaid.”

Extra from The MACC: “Eternally Plaid” (Feb. 15-March 11, 2023), “Nunsense” (April 13-29, 2023)

— Music & Arts Group Heart (The MACC), 13411 Shire Lane, Fort Myers. 277-1700 or gulfcoastsymphony.org

NEW PHOENIX THEATRE (FORT MYERS)

“Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical” (Oct. 13-30): The neighborhood theater takes on the long-lasting horror story about Dr. Jekyll and his evil alter ego, Mr. Hyde — however with a steampunk twist. They’ll additionally carry out a quantity from the present on Saturday, Sept. 24, at Cape Coral steampunk conference SWFL SteamCon.

“Into the Woods” (April 13-30, 2023): Sondheim & Lapine’s irreverent fairytale musical stays one of the common reveals on the market, says New Phoenix president and co-founder Brenda Kensler. And that goes for the actors who will probably be performing this season. “It introduced a variety of new faces to auditions,” Kensler says, “and thru that we now have expanded our neighborhood … with a variety of wonderful new younger expertise.”

Extra at New Phoenix: “Facet By Facet Sondheim” (Jan. 12-22, 2023), “The Final Schwartz” (Feb. 16-26, 2023)

— New Phoenix Theatre, 13211 McGregor Blvd., Items 1 and a pair of, south Fort Myers. 284-5214 or newphoenixtheatrefortmyers.org

PINE ISLAND PLAYHOUSE (PINE ISLAND)

“A Very Pine Island Madrigal Dinner” (December 2022, date to be introduced): The Pine Island neighborhood theater holds a theatrical dinner set in medieval occasions with singing and a play loosely based mostly on the island’s historical past.

“The Miracle Employee” (late February, early March 2023, dates to be introduced): This American basic tells the true story of instructor Anne Sullivan and her well-known blind and mute scholar, Helen Keller.

Extra at Pine Island Playhouse: “The BFG (Huge Pleasant Big)” (Might 2023, dates to be introduced).

— Pine Island Playhouse, 5701 Pine Island Highway N.W., Pine Island. 677-9492 or pineislandplayhouse.wordpress.com

PLAYERS CIRCLE THEATER (NORTH FORT MYERS)

“Homicide on the Howard Johnson’s” (Oct. 25-Nov. 13): This would be the fourth time Gamers Circle creative director Robert Cacioppo has directed the laugh-filled suspense comedy, he says. And there’s a cause for that. “Nicely, I take pleasure in watching audiences scream with laughter,” he says. The story includes a love triangle and three botched homicide plots at a Howard Johnson’s Motor Inn. The forged consists of common Southwest Florida comic RC Smith.

“Admissions” (Jan. 3-22, 2023): Joshua Harmon’s witty, bitingly satiric 2019 dramedy about liberal dad and mom determined to get their kids into an Ivy League prep college.

“The Foreigner” (April 18-Might 7, 2023): This play might have debuted in 1984, however Cacioppo says it’s significantly related with the trendy rise of political extremism in the US. In Larry Shue’s comedy, the shy Charlie and his buddy go on a much-needed trip in rural Georgia. Charlie dreads speaking to folks he does not know, so he tells all people he is from an unique international nation and does not converse English. Quickly he finds himself overhearing greater than he ought to, together with deep secrets and techniques and diabolical plans.

Extra at Gamers Circle: “The Girl with All of the Solutions (Nov. 29-Dec. 18), “I Love You, You’re Excellent, Now Change” (Feb. 7-26, 2023),  “The Cocktail Hour” (March 14-April 2, 2023).

— Gamers Circle Theater at The Shell Manufacturing facility, 16554 N. Cleveland Ave., North Fort Myers. 800-3292 or playerscircletheater.com

THEATRE CONSPIRACY (FORT MYERS)

August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” (Oct.20-29): Theatre Conspiracy has pledged to sort out all 10 performs in Wilson’s well-known “Century Cycle,” and that is the fifth play in that ongoing mission — an endeavor that fewer than 20 theaters have undertaken worldwide, says producing creative director Invoice Taylor. The “Century Cycle” chronicles the Black expertise within the twentieth century.

Set in Pittsburgh after The Nice Despair, “The Piano Lesson” follows a brother and sister arguing over what to do with a household heirloom, a piano adorned with carvings by an enslaved ancestor.

“The Parking Lot” (Dec. 8-18): One other play from Adam Symkowicz, the playwright behind Theatre Conspiracy’s common latest manufacturing of the comedy “Clown Bar.” Written to be carried out outside through the pandemic, the two-person play sees a married couple deciding their future in a public parking zone. The play will probably be carried out within the Alliance parking zone with folks bringing their very own chairs.

“The Final Present” (Feb. 16-26, 2023): Skilled native actor Derek Full of life writes and performs this world-premiere play set in an unlawful underground nightclub in a metropolis the place all artwork and public social gatherings have been banned. A efficiency artist dangers arrest to carry out for his dying mom.

Extra at Theatre Conspiracy: “Faceless” (Jan. 19-29, 2023), “The Hatmaker’s Spouse” (March 16-26, 2023)

— All reveals carried out by Theatre Conspiracy. Alliance for the Arts, 10091 McGregor Blvd. Fort Myers. 939-2787 or ArtInLee.org/Theatre

TRIBBY ARTS CENTER

“Driving Miss Daisy” (Sept. 30-Oct. 1.): Theater involves the brand new Tribby Arts Heart for the primary time with Florida Rep’s manufacturing of Alfred Uhry’s 1987 play. The story follows the rising friendship between an aged, sharp-tongued white girl and the considerate Black man she hires to drive her round. The Pulitzer Prize winner was later tailored right into a 1989 film starring Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman.

“Love Letters” (Feb. 13, 2023): Simply in time for Valentine’s Day: A.R. Gurney’s common romance about first loves and second probabilities. The story is advised by means of 5 a long time of notes, letters and playing cards between a person and a girl whose relationship goes by means of many adjustments. The present stars a real-life Southwest Florida couple: Florida Rep creative director Greg Longenhagen and his spouse, actor Liz Abbott.

Extra from Tribby Arts Heart: “Botanic Backyard” (Nov. 18-19)

— Tribby Arts Heart at Shell Level Retirement Group, 17281 On Par Blvd., south Fort Myers. 415-5667 or TribbyArtsCenter.com

Join with this reporter: E-mail [email protected] or join on social media at Charles Runnells (Fb), @charlesrunnells (Twitter) and @crunnells1 (Instagram).