Gulf Coast Life Arts Edition

As April marks Autism Awareness month, we explore how The Naples Players works to make theater accessible to neurodivergent audiences and performers. Such efforts include relaxed performances, educational programs geared toward people on the autism spectrum, and a new first-of-its-kind sensory viewing booth.

Players Circle Theater is mounting a production of the psychological thriller, “The Business of Murder” April 15 – May 11. We explore the play in a conversation with playwright Richard Harris, the show’s director Bill Taylor, and Players Circle Theater cofounder and Artistic Director Bob Cacioppo.

Blues musician/instrument maker James “Super Chikan” Johnson

Composer, performer, author and inventor of the Mutantrumpet, Ben Neill, has written a new book titled “Diffusing Music: Trajectories of Sonic Democratization,” which explores how AI and other technology is transforming how we create and experience sound. He joins us ahead of his concert event, March 27 at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern State College.

The Gulf Coast Symphony’s upcoming 30th anniversary concert celebration will include the premiere performance of a symphonic piece titled, “Seas of Glass,” from local composer Frazar Henry. The 19-year-old composer and multi-instrumentalist was commissioned by the symphony’s maestro to write the piece. Frazar has been composing music since he was just five years old. Ahead of the March 30th concert, Henry joins the show to talk about the composition and his extraordinary musical journey so far.

The Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers is hosting a four-day family-friendly storytelling festival March 13 – 16. The event includes storytelling performances covering a wide variety of subjects and genres along with storytelling workshops. Ahead of the March 13th opening reception, we’ll get a preview from the event’s featured storytellers Paul Strickland and Erika MacDonald.

Next week, Players Circle Theater is set to open its production of playwright Bruce Graham’s comedic play “Flatlanders.” It’s about a couple on the way to their wedding when they get stranded in a blizzard and resort to breaking into a cabin to survive the night. We take a closer look in a conversation with director Bob Cacioppo and actors Ted Wioncek and Kimberly Suskind.

Ahead of the final weekend of Florida Repertory Theatre’s production of playwright Steven Dietz’s time travel love story “Bloomsday,” we listen back to our conversation with the playwright recorded on the set of the Florida Rep’s production.

Laboratory Theater of Florida in Fort Myers announced this month that founding producing artistic director Annette Trossbach is retiring from the theater company. Trossbach reflects back on the triumphs and challenges that have come during her tenure, the theater’s impact on the Southwest Florida community, and highlights some of Lab Theater’s stand-out productions over the years.

A production of playwright August Wilson’s “Jitney” opens this week at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers. The play marks the eighth chronological installment in Wilson’s series known as the American Century Cycle. Set in the late 70s, “Jitney” centers on the lives of some unofficial, unlicensed taxi drivers operating in Pittsburgh’s Hill District community, where traditional taxi services wouldn’t go. We take a deeper dive in a conversation with director Sonya McCarter and actor Shontae White.