From the complex to the entertaining, a wide range

By Jena Merl

Theater audiences are in for a season that holds great promise. New Theatre will offer audiences an eclectic mix of thought-provoking productions, such as the story of a priceless collection of stamps, “Mauritius,” and the romantic comedy, “Kissing.” GableStage looks to deliver its usual assortment of complex premieres, like the political satire “November,” and the disturbing story of military men, “Defiance.” And Actors Playhouse will keep toes tapping and everyone laughing with old favorites, like “Les Miserables,” and the world premiere of the new comedy, “Bombshells: A musical explosion of life, love, and telling it all.”

NEW THEATRE: New Theatre begins its debuts with the world premiere of Andrew Case’s “The Rant” on Sept. 25. Four contradictory voices illustrate a crime when a New York cop slays a sixteen year old African-American boy. An investigator for a civilian review board investigating NYPD misconduct takes the case and leaks the mother’s story to a newspaper reporter. The theme for the season seems to be life-choices: ones that people make and those that are forced upon them. Artistic Director Ricky J. Martinez believes, ““The Rant” is for everyone. It will hit close with the Afro-American community and the American community. It is a play dealing with racism within racism, and how people act.”

This theme of choices carries through with New Theatre’s second production, the world premiere of “The Gates of Choice,” by Michelle Rosenfarb on Nov. 13. A young Hasidic woman in Israel’s extreme Orthodox neighborhood, Mea Shearim, must deal with the prospects of an arranged marriage. Mea’s search for herself, within her rigid community, only becomes more complicated by the fact that she is involved with an ex-Haredi soldier. The play follows her as she struggles to find “The Truth” in all elements of her life: from her unyielding religious customs to the foundations of her community that entrap her within a life she resents.

New Theatre’s third production will be a treat just in time for Valentine’s Day, opening on Jan. 15, 2009. “Kissing” is a romantic comedy about three couples, but four people: a husband and his wife, the husband and his mistress, and the mistress and her boyfriend. While at an office holiday party, two characters share a single kiss that serves as the catalyst for the rest of the story. This play will force audiences to think about the consequences of acting solely on their passions and pursuing guiltless love, as well as providing a complete night of lighthearted entertainment.

The fourth play of the season is the familiar story of Tennessee Williams’s life, “The Glass Menagerie,” which will debut at New Theatre on Feb. 26. This drama went on to be Williams’s first successful work and tells his real-life story, with each character paralleling relatives of his own. “The Glass Menagerie” is the story of a mother’s desperate search for her daughter’s happiness to be found in a husband, mixed with the protagonist’s, Tom’s, struggle between choosing to support his family and remain unhappy with his life, or to escape them and start anew.

New Theatre will cap its 2008-2009 season with Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright Theresa Rebeck’s “Mauritius,” which promises a surprise and betrayal per scene. The play is about two half-sisters that inherit a collection of stamps that may be valuable, and three male philatelists that want it. The story keeps the audience laughing, engaged and guessing between whom they can trust and those that cannot be trusted until the final curtain call. “Mauritius” will be showing April 26- May 17, 2009.

Due to budget cuts, New Theatre was forced to cancel their summer season. But, this has not broken their spirit and Martinez explained, “We’re excited about this season. Because we had to cancel our summer season, we have combined our classics with our new plays, which is unusual. We’re calling this our Nouveau-Classic Season, because we’re mixing. We will still be providing the two things our community doesn’t have which are our classical theater and our new works.”

Martinez is optimistic about this “Nouveau-Classic Season”. “What’s cool about this season is that usually when you have the classics you get an older generation and with new plays you get the younger generation. Hopefully we’ll get a crossover. And people will start to begin their education on the plays they are less familiar with, whether they are the classics or the news plays and world premiere.”

GABLESTAGE: As South Florida audiences have come to expect, GableStage’s Producing Artistic Director Joseph Adler promises to deliver a season that will cause audiences to think, be confused, and amused with the productions GableStage has in store. “I try not to put a season into any type of unifying theme. I pick the most exciting plays available, which are exciting and provocative,” Adler said. “We have a helluva season: two comedies, two musicals, two dramas, and one of which is a world premiere.”

This year the curtains will open on Oct. 18 with David Mamet’s “November,” a story that takes place the day before the presidential election and that will tickle anyone that enjoyed the 1997 film, “Wag the Dog,” also written by Mamet. This contemporary comedy is about President Charles Smith running for re-election and the issues he must deal with up until the fourth of November. With everything from gambling casinos, civil marriages, and campaign contributions to questionable pardons and presidential libraries, everyone will enjoy this political satire.

GableStage takes on heavier subject matter as its season rolls on with the opening of the sinisterly humorous “Adding Machine” on Dec. 27, with music by Joshua Schmidt and libretto by Jason Loewith and Mr. Schmidt.  The play is about Mr. Zero, an insignificant accountant turned murderer, who after working for a faceless company for 25 years, finds that he has been replaced by an adding machine. The “Adding Machine” is a comical and distorted view on capitalism and the ill effects it can have on a man.

On Feb. 21, 2009 GableStage will debut its production of John Patrick Shanley’s “Defiance,” which deals with the bleak message that the military—for the men in this play—becomes a refuge for those unwilling to think for themselves. Shanley is also the writer of the Tony Award-winning play “Doubt,” and his drama this time is about two officers investigating racial crimes on their military base. The play follows a lieutenant and the young captain he swindles into helping him to quell racial tensions. As the story unravels, it becomes evident that they have both enlisted to avoid dealing with personal responsibilities.

Nilaja Sun’s “No Child,” making its Southeastern premiere on April 28, 2009 is a one woman show that examines the deficiencies of American public schools. This play brings to life more than a dozen students, teachers, and staff in a U.S. public school, as presented by the lone actor. The story is meant to illuminate the flaws of the education system through each character’s compelling story, and despite the serious subject matter, well-timed, lighthearted humor adds to make this play highly enjoyable and extremely touching. 

The hysterical comedy “The New Century,” will begin its run on June 20, 2009 and tells the tale of the chance meeting of three strangers that forces them to consider where this ‘new century’ will lead them. The play is performed in a group of four, one-acts that follow the encounter of a Jewish, Long Island mother with at least three gay children, a talented craftswoman from the Midwest, and a flamboyant man from Palm Beach. The three characters meet under surprising, humorous circumstances and the audience is left laughing and thinking about where this century may lead them.

GableStage will likely stir up the most controversy with its final production, Award-Winning playwright Micheal McKeever’s “Lewd and Lascivious;” the true story about a licentious situation involving a respected Smith College professor in the 1960s. Newton Arvin was arrested in 1960 by Massachusetts State Police for charges on receiving homosexual pornographic images. The scandal ruined his career and reputation, and resulted in two of his colleagues losing their jobs as well. The play grips audiences with the difficult decision Arvin is forced to make between saving himself or forfeiting his freedom to spare his friends.

Adler believes, “ We don’t do ‘feel-good theater.’ We want people to think. However, we want to entertain, to provoke, and to stimulate our audience.”

ACTORS’ PLAYHOUSE: Actors Playhouse’s Artistic Director David Arisco, he revealed that this year’s plays at the Miracle Theatre all subtly strum the chords of democracy in one way or another. “We joke that the theme this year is red, white and blue,” said Arisco. “We have three plays about three revolutions: ‘1776’ deals with the continental congress and the imminent revolution; ‘Les Mis’ is about the student revolution before the French revolution, but nonetheless about people rising up to be heard; and lastly, ‘Havana Bourgeois’ is a brand new show that takes over two-and-half years and deals with Castro’s revolution.”

Actors Playhouse’s entertaining collection of plays will begin Oct. 1 with the musical adaptation of Peter Stone’s book, “1776.” The story dramatizes the events leading up to the creation and signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776. Since its Broadway debut in 1969, “1776” has gone onto win three Tony’s, including one for Best Musical, as well as being adapted into a film. “1776” is an enthralling musical about our forefathers that combines passion, wit, and shrewdness that promises to bring out the patriot in you.

“This is a great year to see ‘1776.’ Before the national election, it will make people think about the struggle our forefathers went through to make the greatest democracy in the world. I have wanted to do ‘1776’ for years, and now it just felt like the right time,” explained Arisco. “’1776’ would be my (top) pick for the season. It has a lot to say. It’s stirring, moving, and funny.”

Actors will continue to please audiences with the opening of “Gutenberg! The Musical” on Dec. 3. This hysterical musical, which actually debuted at Actors Playhouse in New York, will come to the Gables just in time for the holidays. This two-man show follows aspiring playwrights, Bud and Doug, as they try to pitch their musical about printing press inventor, Johannes Gutenberg. The only flaw in their plan is that they don’t have a cast or an orchestra, thus they are left to play over thirty different roles. Everyone is in for a full night of side-splitting entertainment with “Gutenberg! The Musical!” that will leave them wanting an encore.

The next play on the calendar at Actors is for the Miami power woman and for anyone that knows one. “Bombshells: A musical explosion of life, love, and telling it all” was written by six high-powered business women from Miami and will make its world premiere at the Miracle Theatre. The story is compiled of vignettes that focus on how these women learn to manage their busy professional lives, while maintaining a personal life. The musical is set to an original pop score by Jeanette Hopkins, a local composer and playwright, with orchestral accompaniment by the distinguished Artie Butler. “Bombshells” looks into all aspects of life’s most memorable moments and any audience member, regardless of gender, will enjoy “Bombshells” and be touched by each woman’s tale. Arisco knows, “The community will love it—it’s about six women from here, it’s a true story, and there are local references they can appreciate.”

The story behind “Bombshells” began when, as Arisco explained, “These women started having meetings to ‘dish and tell,’ which is the name of the book the play is based upon. They would talk about their lives, their dreams, sexual problems, marital problems, etc. Every woman can relate to these women: there’s the corporate you-know-what, the sarcastic one, the nurturing one, the spiritual woman, a motherly one. There’s the message that people are not connected to their own lives until they learn to express themselves. These women do that and become the closest of friends.”

“Les Miserables,” the famous, 3-time Tony winning story of the struggles of the French poor in the early 19th century France will finally make its first area regional premiere at Actors Playhouse this spring. This musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel follows the lives of several French characters trying to deal with the social injustice and evil abound. “Les Miserables” is a musical for the entire family with its defining message that the human spirit, love and goodness can prevail. Everyone can sing along to old favorites, such as “On My Own,” or have their first “Les Mis” experience beginning March 4 in the 600-seat Adams Mainstage Auditorium at the Miracle Theatre.

“Havana Bourgeois,” the fourth production of this season, will be a play that hits close to home in South Florida, as it tells the tale of the impact Fidel Castro’s revolution had on the Middle Class in Havana in 1958. The story follows up-and-coming associates at the Luis Calvo Advertising Agency and how their lives are affected when Castro transformed himself into a dictator, rather than into the Poor’s savior. This play combines the intense, dramatic history of the era with lighthearted humor that will surely resonate with Actors’ audience.

Arisco explained, “Before I selected the script (for Havana Bourgeois.), I had to find out how a Cuban Actor would respond and then, how he thought his relatives would react. I had a historian check the facts too and in the end, all the feedback I got was positive because the play tells the truth. The story is completely character driven and shows how the people are affected. The message comes out more clearly because you’re watching the people. It’s not a story about Castro’s takeover, but about the people who had to realize that their hopes, dreams, and expectations for the Revolution had been duped. It has the message that we lost our country: What do we do? There will be a lot of nostalgia for those of Cuban descent. But, the theme is most definitely not disturbing, but extremely hopeful and uplifting.”

Actors Playhouse will end its season with the comedy “Married Alive,” which follows two couples, naïve newlyweds and two “oldyweds,” from martial bliss to the defeats of marriage. “Married Alive” is a compilation of sketches that focuses on all stages of marriage, with the wedding, babies, old-age and everything in between. This is a light-hearted, funny look at marriage in today’s world that makes the audience think about communication and the beauty of experiencing both the difficult and the good times of a marriage.

Overall, Arisco believes the Actors has a great season ahead that “will make you think more. But still, there are plenty of laughs, plenty of the sparkle and fun that makes you want to come to the Miracle Theatre.”

“BROADWAY ACROSS AMERICA” Moving outside   the Gables, the “Broadway Across America” tour returns to the Arsht Center Oct. 28 with the musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s novel, “The Wizard of Oz.” This fantastically constructed musical tells the tale of a young Kansas farm girl and her dreams of being somewhere far off, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

Everyone’s favorite orphan will return to South Florida in the musical production of “Annie,” Dec. 2-7. She’s back singing about “Tomorrow” and her “Hard-Knock Life,” which will surely make her a new favorite for the kids and revive her as everyone’s dear childhood friend. Since its 1977 Broadway debut, this heart-warming musical has told Annie’s story and taught audiences how important it is to find the good in people and to stay optimistic when the going gets tough.

The Arsht Center will put on a special season production of “Cats,” which will run Dec. 31 through Jan. 4, 2009. “Cats” is the famous Andrew Lloyd Webber musical adaptation of T.S. Elliot’s book that has gone on to win numerous awards, including seven Tony’s, as well as being translated into over 20 languages. The story follows the tribe of Jellicle CATS uniting on a celebration where they emerge from an incredible scene of an enormous junkyard to sing and rejoice each of their own unique qualities and talents.

Kicking the season back up on May 12, 2009 is the production of “Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy.” Cirque Productions was the first American company to combine European cirque performance artistry with American circus art and the drama of Broadway theatrics “Jungle Fantasy” is a remarkable production inspired by nature’s extraordinary creations that is realized through a cast of over 150 aerialists, contortionists, acrobats, jugglers, and the jaw-dropping set design, costumes, and amazing visual affects that will leave everyone in awe.

The last play of the Broadway Across America 2008-2009 season will be the sultry, scandalous, jazzy drama, “Chicago.” Debuting May 25, 2009, it tells a satirical story in the prohibition era in the “Windy City” about corruption, social injustice, and the ironic concept of a beloved celebrity criminal. This play will keep you enthralled with catchy numbers, like “All That Jazz” and the “Cellblock Tango,” and its comedy that pokes fun at the foolishness and gullibility of man.

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