Cape Café Dessert Theatre opened over the weekend in the center of Cape Coral. As the name intimates, patrons get coffee and dessert with the price of admission to a show, which is just $25.
Founder and Producing Artistic Director Joe Simonelli dishes on the concept.
“I cut my teeth in Jersey. We had a dessert theater where you sat at tables. They served coffee and dessert as part of the ticket price. So I really came from that background. It kind of worked well. I think the demographics down here are perfect for that. Everybody likes dessert.”
A stage has been constructed along one side of the bakery. A cozy warren of café tables seats about three dozen people for each performance. Chris Durso says that the tough part for patrons will be deciding which dessert to sample prior to the show.
“So the only things I know how to do is act and bake, that’s it,” Durso said with a chuckle. “I grew up in an Italian bakery up north. My dad owned a bakery. So I do a lot of Italian type pastries … really good cannoli from scratch, lemon squares, mini fruit cheesecakes, tiramisu, trulia dals.”
The coffee Durso serves perfectly complements his desserts.
“We have beans that are roasted just for us by a local roaster,” Durso added. “We have a dark roast, a regular house blend which is kind of a breakfast blend, a decaf blend. If anybody wants anything extra, we have espresso-based drinks. We have a full bar … lattes, cappuccinos, macchiato.”
Beer and wine are also available, although like the espresso bar, not included in the price of admission.
“It’s just a nice evening of intimate theater,” Durso enthused. “Nobody’s doing that. It’s a great idea and doesn’t step on anybody’s toes. It’s a whole different experience.”
For now, the shows will come from Simonelli’s canon of single-set comedies, beginning this weekend with “Wacky One Acts,” to be followed in April by “Men Are Dogs.” However, long-term, Simonelli also hopes to include plays written by other local playwrights.
MORE INFORMATION:
The theater and café are located at 110 NE 2nd Place in the Cape, between Pine Island Road and Hancock Bridge Parkway.
Performances of “Wacky One Acts” are March 27th and 29th at 7 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, March 30th.
“Wacky One Acts” consists of seven one-act comedies that range from a spoof about how The Bard actually got his inspiration for “Hamlet” and what happens in the afterlife to a vignette about two women who meet in a small café to compare notes about the philandering man they’re both dating. No subject is left un-Simonelli-ized.
“I had some funny ideas,” Simonelli explained. “I didn’t want to develop them into full shows. They’re just really funny one acts."
“Wacky One Acts” features an ensemble cast of John Alday, Donna Richman, Curtis Deterding, Kristen Wilson, Sherri Hepler and Simonelli, who doubles as playwright and director.
To order tickets call 239-363-0848 or email capecafetheatre@gmail.com.
“Men Are Dogs” opens April 24 and will run to May 4. There will be six performances over two weekends.
“Men Are Dogs” follows Dr. Cecelia Monahan. She has a serious problem. As a therapist who runs a support group for single and divorced women, she must listen to a number of relationship problems from her unusual cadre of patients. There’s no peace at home either, as she has to deal with the unsolicited advice of her live-in mother on subjects ranging from dating to cooking recipes. The doctor, however, is not above using some unorthodox methods of her own – such as hiring out-of-work actors to role play with her patients. It is only when Cecelia meets the new substitute package delivery man that the doctor must learn to practice what she preaches.
Simonelli produced “Men Are Dogs” at Fort Myers Theatre last May.
“Men Are Dogs” was Joe Simonelli’s third play. It premiered in 2003, was published by Baker’s Plays in 2007 and converted to Samuel French, Inc. (now Concord Theatricals) in 2010. Since then, it has been performed by many theaters in the United States and Canada. “It just premiered in England two years ago,” Joe points out. “So we’re over the pond now in the U.K.”
It was also produced by Cultural Park Theatre eight years ago. In fact, Simonelli offered to do a talkback for Cultural Park, so he and his girlfriend made the trip. It went so well, they made Southwest Florida their home.
Simonelli expects to bring “Roommates” to Cape Café Dessert Theatre after “Men Are Dogs.”
“It was my first comedy,” Simonelli noted. “For which they called me the next Neil Simon. It’s sort of a riff on ‘The Odd Couple,’ and that’s going to be June 5th to the 15th.”
In fact, he is represented by the late Neil Simon and Larry Gelbart’s agent, Gary DaSilva. Da Silva says that Simonelli is “in good company with his more famous counterpart.”
Simonelli’s body of work ranges from comedies and dramedies to ghost stories and thrillers. He’s even written a full-length musical about internet dating called Romance.com, which he expects to bring to the stage locally in a season or two. But his flagship play remains “Men Are Dogs.”
While Simonelli and Durso will likely appear in most shows, auditions for upcoming productions will be open.
“We want to make this an actor’s theater,” Durso noted. “We appreciate the actors. They get a small stipend. It’s a good place for local actors.”
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.