Laboratory Theater of Florida

On November 21, the Fort Myers Historic Preservation Commission denied The Laboratory Theater of Florida’s retroactive application for permission to place a mural on the Second Street side of their building at 1634 Woodford Ave. In compliance with their decision, Lab Theater has begun the process of removing the mural.

Theatergoers can celebrate New Year’s week with five theater entertainment choices, including the opening of "Spaceman" at Urbanite Theatre in Sarasota and "The Buddy Holly Story" at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre.

Bob Hilliard was stationed in Europe at the end of World War II. After celebrating New Year’s Eve in Paris, he and a buddy spent the first ten days of 1946 on leave in London. Three years later, Hilliard wrote a musical based on that period in his life … and in the life of our nation. The script has resided in desk drawer for the past 75 years, but it comes to the stage of The Laboratory Theater of Florida on Saturday for limited run of five performances.

During Christmas week, theatergoers have six choices for their theater entertainment, including four shows on Christmas Day at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre.

Live theater lovers have two dozen productions to choose from this week, including ten new shows, a holiday tradition and two different performances of the Nutcracker ballet.

The Laboratory Theater in Fort Myers is known for being the first to bring the hottest shows on Broadway to Southwest Florida. Lab’s done it again with “Gutenberg!: The Musical, ” a spoof in which a pair of aspiring playwrights perform a backer’s audition for their new, hilariously ill-advised project – a big splashy musical about printing press inventor Johannes Gutenberg.

Laboratory Theater of Florida is mounting a production of playwright Lynn Nottage’s comedic play “Clyde’s.” Nottage is the first and only woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. We explore the play in a conversation with the production’s director Tijuana Clemons, actor Sonya McCarter, and Lab Theater founding artistic director Annette Trossbach.

Laboratory Theater of Florida in Fort Myers is mounting the world premiere production of “Alien: The Musical Parody.” The show is a hilarious new take on the 1979 sci-fi horror classic film “Alien.” We hear from Lab Theater founder and Artistic Director Annette Trossbach, who conceived of and wrote the show, along with Earl Sparrow who composed the music.

On stage at the Laboratory Theater of Florida is the regional premiere of Yippee Ki-Yay Merry Christmas! A Die Hard Musical Parody. The musical resurrects the decades-long controversy about whether Die Hard is or is not a Christmas movie.

The use of intimacy choreographers and intimacy coordinators in the performing arts has been growing across the industry in recent years. These experts provide direction in the process of actors performing sensitive scenes that may involve content of a sexual nature, nudity, violence and more. We talk with Laboratory Theater of Florida Artistic Director Annette Trossbach about a new report titled, “A Case for Intimacy Choreographers in SW Florida.”