Review: THE GAME'S AFOOT at Gulfshore Playhouse

Just a note: There's (at least) one red herring in every mystery. "The Game's Afoot" does not disappoint.

Robert F. Wolin transforms 221B Baker Street into a deep crimson art deco palace [think the Empire State Building] with secret rooms, revolving doors and voices hidden in the walls. Shot during curtain call of a Sherlock play, egotistical actor William Gillette boldly declares he'll inhabit the role of Holmes for real and find his own assassin.

Ludwig at once gives theatre a lovely valentine and a self-deflating prick. His central plot device knifes (quite literally) the stage's most loved friend and most hated enemy (no spoilers!). Nickell's Gillete also delivers a stirring monologue ("this mad life of ours … the most glorious game ever invented") that rings as a clarion call to every creative spirit who's ever slapped on greasepaint and stepped onto a stage. Subscribers can read the full review...

"The Game's Afoot" runs Feb. 21 - March 16 at Gulfshore Playhouse. Call 866-811-4111 or gulfshoreplayhouse.org.






■ "The Game's Afoot" playwright Ken Ludwig will visit Naples to participate in a talkback with the Gulfshore Playhouse cast after the Sunday, March 2 matinee. 

■ Gulfshore Playhouse will offer an exclusive reading of two new Ken Ludwig works, with the author in attendance, at 3 p.m. Monday, March 3. $20. 866-811-4111 or gulfshoreplayhouse.org.

Read the review: LES MISERABLES at Broadway Palm

Saturday night's alright for fighting.   That's right! Come to Broadway Palm, to Paris, to the barricade, to "Les Miserables."  Even if you've seen it eleventy-billion times before. This one, like all live theatre, is different. Same story. Same convict. Same dream. No turntable. None of the flying projections from the recent national tour that played both Naples (Jan. '12) and Fort Myers (March '13) inside 14 months. But life. Throbbing, pulsing, furious life - the kind schoolboys man barricades to defend.

John P. White's costumes alone threaten to steal the show. Picture plaid-pantsed hipster revolutionaries and a couture-clad Cosette in candy-stripe confections; it's "My Fair Lady" marching on Montmartre, but it totally works.  Subscribers can read the complete review...

St. Patrick's Day events in Naples

St. Patrick's Day is fast approaching. Here's your guide to getting ready for the green in Naples.


■ Paddy Murphy's Irish Pub, 457 5th Ave S hosts an afternoon of Irish entertainment with Moose & Mary Jo at 3 p.m. Sunday. The Parade Kickoff Celebration features a fundraiser and silent auction.

■ Ciaran Sheehan and Sarah Pfisterer, stars of Broadway's "The Phantom of the Opera" visit on March 1. They sing popular tunes of the homeland in  on Broadway "An Evening in Ireland" at St. Elizabeth Seton Hall, 5225 Golden Gate Parkway. $30 & $40; (239) 227-5350 or naplesparade.com/events.

■ The 11th Annual Naples St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl begins 6 p.m.  (Friday) March 7 at Mulligan's Sports Grille, 2041 U.S. 41 N. The free round-trip trolley continues to Bokampers, Paddy Murphy's and Jack's River Bar. Ticket includes trolley, appetizers and bagpipers. $38; (239) 227-5350 or naplesparade.com/events.

■ The Naples St. Patrick's Day Parade will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 15 in downtown Naples.

Naples Players announce "Gypsy" in summer 2014, "Oklahoma!" in spring 2015

The Naples Players released their 2014-15 series to subscribers Tuesday.

Season ticket holders received an early renewal form along with a letter from new Naples Players executive director John F. Sorey, III.

Musical "Gypsy" will headline summer 2014, with perennial Rodgers & Hammerstein favorite "Oklahoma!" taking the spring 2015 musical spot. Stage 2 Improv will again perform in June in the Tobye Studio.

Here's the 2014-15 Naples Players season.

Summer 2014:
"Gypsy" - June 27 - July 27, 2014
Stage 2 Improv - June 5-21, 2014

2014-15 (Blackburn Hall)
"Noises Off" - Sept. 21 - Oct. 18, 2014
"The Spitfire Grill" - Nov. 12 - Dec. 6, 2014
"God of Carnage" - Jan. 14 - Feb. 7, 2015
"Oklahoma!" - March 4 - April 4, 2014 2015

"The Last Romance" - April 22 - May 16, 2015

2014-15 (Tobye Studio)
"Time Stands Still" - Oct. 22 - Nov. 15, 2014
"Red" - Feb. 4-28, 2015
"Love, Loss & What I Wore" - April 1-15, 2015

Subscriptions are available by mail, fax and at the box office. A five-show subscription to the main stage is $160, with a three-show subscription to the Tobye Studio costing $90 $75. Subscriber prices for "Gypsy" are $35. Call (239) 263-7990 or online at naplesplayers.org.

Opening: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE at Florida Rep

Vicki Boyle, Carrie Lund, Michael Satow
and Harli Cooper in "Arsenic and Old Lace."

"Arsenic and Old Lace" opens Friday at Florida Rep. Bob Cacioppo has been talking about this one ever since the season opened. What does he say? "A killer comedy?" Or something like that.

The photos alone...

"Arsenic and Old Lace" runs Jan. 10-29. Performances are 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with 2 p.m. matinees on Wednesday, Sunday and selected Saturdays. For tickets ($40 & $45), call 239-332-4488 or floridarep.org.

Review: RELATIVELY SPEAKING at Theatre Conspiracy

People talk a lot.

Well, let's correct that. We speak a lot. Talking implies a conversation.

READ THE COMPLETE REVIEW...

We rarely talk, unless we talk at each other. We never listen. But what happens when communication fails? Theatre Conspiracy explores that in a charming troika of one-acts titled "Relatively Speaking." 

A trio of kosher tchotkes examining the human condition from Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen, the plays drill mankind's inability to both communicate and appreciate. What are we saying? What aren't we hearing? And why can't we all just get along?

Assembling a large cast in the heart of season, be it amateur or professional, poses certain difficulties. "Relatively Speaking" needs near-perfect casting and chemistry to make its mix-and-match message about the frailties of human interaction work. I'm not sure Koch ever found what she was hoping for, although the show certainly delivers on its comedy and gets its message across. Still, for a play from Jewish writers, "Relatively Speaking" feels … relatively gentile?

READ THE COMPLETE REVIEW...

"Relatively Speaking" plays at 8 p.m. Jan. 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 & 25 with one 2 p.m. matinée on Sunday, Jan. 29. Tickets are $20 with various specials. For more information, call 239-936-3239 or theatreconspiracy.org.

Stella Ruiz and Scott Thomson in Woody Allen's
"Honeymoon Hotel," the third part of
"Relatively Speaking."

"What did the waiter say to the table full of Jewish mothers?"

(beat)

"Is anything okay?"

Review: SOUTH PACIFIC at Broadway Palm

"South Pacific" at Broadway Palm.

"South Pacific" at Broadway Palm.

Give the guys, girls, Seabees, ensigns and officers of "South Pacific" credit. Broadway Palm tackles the show just three years after the spectacular Lincoln Center production toured Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. Smaller in scale, but tight, taut - and maybe even more fun. Lord, some of those chorus boys need a tan though!

READ THE COMPLETE REVIEW...

Director Brian J. Enzman flits through Polynesia with skill and verve, navigating the islands like a native. "South Pacific" will never move like a modern musical.  They don't write them like that anymore for a reason, but listening to Paige Mattox sing "A Cockeyed Optimist," you almost wish they did.

Chief quibble? The music. Loren Strickland does wonders with a five-piece band. It just can't sound anything but thin in places, especially for a show written for a full Broadway orchestra. It can't be helped - but I'd love to give Strickland a larger band at least one night a week.

READ THE COMPLETE REVIEW...

"South Pacific" play Tuesday through Sunday with selected matinées through Feb. 15. Tickets are $35-$58. Call 239-278-4422 or broadwaypalm.com.

"South Pacific" at Broadway Palm.