There’s a brand new musical theater company in our area. It goes by the name of Southwest Florida Theatre. It’s actually an off-shoot of Gulf Coast Symphony. GCS founder Andrew Kurtz explains.
“Over the summer we made the decision to formally spin off the musical theater company that has been operating under our umbrella and producing here at the Music & Arts Community Center,” said Kurtz.
Kurtz still functions as the company’s Producing Artistic Director. But Julie Beardon Carver takes on the role of Music Director of the newly-ordained Southwest Florida Theatre – a move that’s intended to give Carver greater freedom to build her own identity and create a unique brand for the theater arm of the Gulf Coast Symphony collective.
“There’s a real opportunity to do musical theater programming, and with someone like Julie, with her background from New York and Broadway, having her work sort of work hand-in-hand with me to develop what we hope will become another cultural jewel,” Kurtz remarks.
Gulf Coast Symphony’s overarching mission is to create community through music. Kurtz and Carver felt the best way to achieve this sense of community coming out of the COVID pandemic and the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Ian is through positive, uplifting programming.
“This year I felt we needed things that make us smile. That was the most important thing with all of our programming. I wanted happy music. I wanted always to be brightness and light for our community as we continue to recover from the effects of Ian. So we chose shows that we always knew would feel fun and would bring a smile to your face.”
In this vein, Southwest Florida Theatre opened its 2023-2024 season with a fun-filled review of Christmas standards titled Snowbird Follies. It has followed that with the current evening of Rodgers & Hammerstein classic songs. And shortly after Grand Night for Singing closes, Southwest Florida Theatre will open a show guaranteed to deliver not just smiles, but chortles, guffaws and belly laughs.
“Nunsense, which we did last year, was so much fun, both for us to produce but also for the cast and the audience, I thought let’s do the sequel,” said Kurtz. So, we’re actually presenting Nunsense II: The Second Coming. It’s just as funny as the first one.”
Southwest Florida Theatre closes out the season with Route 66, a nostalgic ode to doo-wop, the Beach Boys and the music of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
“The conceit of that show is a group of guys traveling from St. Louis to California, and the different music that they hear along the way,” said Kurtz.
"It starts with all the oldies but goodies, and knowing how well our audience likes doo-wop and Beach Boys, I thought that would be a great kind of show because people, it’s sort of in the style of Forever Plaid, which we did last year. And it’s just great, great songs.”
But sandwiched in between Nunsense II and Route 66 is a collaboration between Southwest Florida Theatre and the Gulf Coast Symphony that’s part of GCS’s Great American Theatre Project.
“We’re producing a full production of The Music Man at the Barbara Mann, two performances only, and it should be a cast of 60, 70 people. It’s very exciting.”
Music Man also puts an exclamation point on a season dedicated to recovery since Gulf Coast Symphony was more than a week into rehearsals for Music Man when the COVID pandemic shuttered theaters across the globe in March of 2020.
“It all unified again by the artistic principle of we’re going to present great music to our community, and we’re going to have with the theater company great professionals and wonderful productions of musicals that you may not have seen or should be seen in this community,” said Kurtz.
"And this year, one’s that will be with familiar tunes or make you smile and come out of the theater and feel like you’ve had a really fun time.”
Learn more about Southwest Florida’s newest theater.
Read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall's website: SWFL Art in the News.
Audio is engineered and produced by WGCU's Tara Calligan.
Spotlight on the Arts for WGCU is funded in part by Naomi Bloom, Jay & Toshiko Tompkins, and Julie & Phil Wade.
MORE INFORMATION:
- ·“When you come to the Music & Arts Community Center, you may come to a symphony concert or you may come to a chamber concert, or you may come to hear the Jazz Collective, or you might come to the candlelight series, which we’re also the home for in Fort Myers,” expounds Gulf Coast Symphony founder and Producing Artistic Director Andrew Kurtz. “And now you know when you’re coming for musical theater you’re coming to see the Southwest Florida Theatre Company.”
- Rodgers & Hammerstein’s A Grand Night for Signing runs now through February 17 at the Music & Arts Community Center.
- “A Grand Night for Singing is a Tony winning musical revue that was written in 1994,” comments Producing Artistic Director Andrew Kurtz. “It’s basically a collection of some of the greatest Rodgers & Hammerstein songs. Amy McCleary is directing a cast of five. So if you like R&H, it’s an amazing evening of R&H classic songs.”
- You will find a preview for Grand Night for Singing here.
- Nunsense II: The Second Coming plays at the MACC February 21 through March 9th. Nunsense II: The Second Coming takes place six weeks after the hilarious events seen in Nunsense, when the sisters presented their first benefit to help bury their dearly departed sisters killed in a tragic cooking accident. Having been “bitten by the theater bug” the sisters are back to present a “thank-you” show for all the people who supported them in the past. Things get to off to a rousing start as the sisters sing Nunsense, the Magic Word, but before long chaos erupts. Two Franciscans come to claim Sister Mary Amnesia (who has won the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes) as one of their own. At the same time the nuns hear that a talent scout is in the audience to see them strut their stuff. From the riotous bingo game run by Sister Amnesia, to the hilarious duet What Would Elvis Do?, to the rousing finale, There’s Only One Way to End Your Prayers and That’s to Say Amen!, this show will have you rolling in the aisles!
- “You don’t have to be Catholic to appreciate the humor,” promises Kurtz. “But if you are Catholic, it just adds another layer of comedy.”
- The Music Man will be performed at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall for two shows only on March 23rd and 24th. In 1957, the show became a hit on Broadway, winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and running for 1,375 performances. The cast album won the first Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and spent 245 weeks on the Billboard charts. The show’s success led to Broadway and West End revivals, a popular 1962 film adaptation and a 2003 television adaptation. The Music Man is frequently produced by both professional and amateur theater companies and is a popular choice for high school and college productions.
- For Music Man, “it’s the full symphony on stage playing these great scores with amazing professionals,” notes Kurtz.
- Route 66 plays at the MACC April 10th through the 28th. This exciting musical features 34 of the greatest ‘Rock ‘n’ Road’ hits of the 20th century! Take a dollop of Grease and add a generous dose of Forever Plaid and you’ve got the high-octane fun of Route 66! Beginning with the sounds of 1950s Chicago and traveling along the ‘Main Street of America’ to the California coast with the music of the 1960s, songs include “Dead Man’s Curve,” “King of the Road,” “Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” “Beep Beep,” “Six Days on the Road,” “Little GTO,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” and many more. Get your kicks with this smash coast-to-coast hit musical revue!
To read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall's website: SWFL Art in the News.
