Since the 1880s, nomads from the North have been flocking to Fort Myers to avoid the winter brrrr. The theater department at Gulf Coast Symphony is paying tribute to our beloved winter visitors with a musical revue they affectionately call “Snowbird Follies.”
Director/Choreographer Amy Marie McCleary couldn’t be more grateful for the annual influx of sunseekers. She finds that they provide a welcome jolt of energy and enthusiasm into the Southwest Florida arts scene. In appreciation, she and her cast of four actors and vocalists have created a celebration of the Christmas holiday - Southwest Florida style.
“My goal with the actors is to create this sense of a Christmas party, where, when you leave the show, you have four new best friends,” said McCleary.
“So you get to know them. You get to know their personalities and you just attended the best Christmas party of your life.
Who doesn’t love a good Christmas party - especially when it’s at the beach?
Rockin’ around the Christmas tree
As the sun sets on the Bay (Sunset on the Bay)
Loving our life of sand and sea
On as sunshine holiday
As with “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree,” the lyrics of many old standards have been tweaked. Even people who know all the words will be in for a few Yuletide surprises. But the show’s songbook also contains a number of lesser-known gems.
“There’s a lot of sort of newer Christmas songs that I didn’t know before I did this show,” said McCleary. “So we have a lot of trop-rock feel, country Christmas songs that really reflect the Florida lifestyle and Christmas on the beach, which are really fun.”
There’s even a rap offering compliments of Gulf Coast Symphony Artistic Operations Manager Julie Beardon Carver. It clarifies just who qualifies as an esteemed snowbird.
Snowbird is the word -they use to describe
People who come down to Flor-'da just to stay alive
They come from October- and stay until May
They take advantage of the heat - a little work, but mostly play.
They come from Minnesota -to follow the Twins,
Boston, Philly, New York City - making new friends
Spring Training baseball in a new Southern home
Then down to Florida all the fans and family will roam.
Playing golf, tennis, shuffleboard and pickleball, too
Nature walks, shelling, and even a zoo!
Sunset cruises, museums, or dinner on a train,
Catch a movie, or a concert, or a play if it rains.
Carver concedes that not all locals are as appreciative of snowbirds as McCleary may be, and it’s not just because of the increased traffic that chokes our roads.
“The locals have a perception of how things change in season when the snowbirds arrive, and we have a song called “Can’t Get a Reservation” which is about that.”
So all the swanky restaurants are open for sure
With the finest wine selection and valet at the door.
but when you're trying for last minute seating pre-show
The Snowbirds made their reservations seven weeks ago.
Can't get a reservation
No matter what your name is
You plan a celebration
but even if your famous
the Snowbirds have all called and left the hostess in dismay
Can't get a reservation -today!
There’s more to “Snowbird Follies” than just popular melodies and clever lyrics. Vocalists Justin Dresner, AJ Mendini, Laura McKenna and Haley Adkins harmonize with the aplomb of a seasoned a cappella group.
McCleary brings her trademark brand of choreography with a twist. “What I’ve tried to do is create fun little scenarios within the songs so it’s not just people sitting around singing Christmas songs,” McCleary said.
While the storylines are provided through the lyrics and the script, McCleary has developed nuanced vignettes that reflect the true-life personalities of her actors. Through these vignettes, audiences will feel they’ve made four new best friends at the greatest Christmas party they’ve ever attended.
"Snowbird Follies" runs Nov. 29 through Dec. 23 in the Gulf Coast Symphony’s spacious Music & Arts Community Center in Fort Myers.
MORE INFORMATION
- Last year’s production of “Snowbird Follies” was previewed by WGCU, which you can listen to here.
- Just like last year, “Snowbird Follies” includes a host of references to local history and historical figures, such as Captain Francis Asbury Hendry, Tootie McGregor and, of course, Fort Myers’ most storied winter residents and seminal snowbirds, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.
- “We wanted to make a musical that was authentically Fort Myers, with specific historical references. So you’re getting an entertaining revue of holiday music, a little taste of Fort Myers history and a very good knowledge of what a snowbird really is,” promises Artistic Operations Manager Julie Beardon Carver.
- “It’s a show you’re not going to be able to see anywhere else,” observes Director/Choreographer Amy Marie McCleary.
- To set the scene, the revue opens with two women visiting the Franklin Shops on First Street after lunching at Ford’s Garage. On the second floor mezzanine, they come across a book containing old historical photos of Fort Myers. The photos serve as jumping off points for the various songs the women and their male compatriots sing throughout the show.
- “What we try to do is create chronologically a little timeline of the history of Fort Myers and make the music kind of fit the era that it was composed; The music, as well as what they were trying to say in the music,” Carver said.
- Most of the songs included in “Snowbird Follies” were modified last year by renowned director/writer DJ Salisbury, but Carver added two of her own for this year’s edition of the revue. The first was “Can’t Get a Reservation,” which “is written to the tune of “Closed for Renovations” from “Little Shop of Horrors,” so theater fans will recognize the melody.
- The other Carver addition is “Wooden Soldiers on Parade,” which classical music lovers will recognize from “The Nutcracker.”
“It’s just a clever rewrite of one of the first true holiday classics that would have been on the radio,” said Carver. “In fact, I think I found somewhere that it was the first holiday song on the radio, (from) a station out of Tampa.”
- In a musical theater production, the script provides a storyline and character arcs. In a musical revue, the songbook is generally organized around a storyline provided by the writer/arranger. In “Snowbird Follies,” each song or group of songs has its own storyline, which provides Director/Choreographer McCleary with the opportunity to add her personal touch to the revue’s overall theme and construction.
- “I love musical revues. For me, they’re a playground because there are no confines of story or place. They allow me, as the director, to come up with vignettes that reflect the actors’ personalities,” said McCleary. In this context, the songs serve as jumping off points that permit McCleary and company to create their own scenarios. As McCleary takes a collaborative approach to directing, these vignettes reflect her actors’ personalities. “I just get inspiration from them and we create our own individual moments.”
To read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall's website: SWFL Art in the News.
Spotlight on the Arts for WGCU is funded in part by Naomi Bloom, Jay & Toshiko Tompkins, and Julie & Phil Wade.
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