Barbara B. Mann adds second show to Dave Chappelle stop

Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall announced Friday afternoon that the venue had added a second performance to comedian Dave Chappelle's Sunday, Dec. 15 stop. Chappelle will now perform sets at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Tickets to the 10 p.m. show will go on sale at 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6. Tickets cost $55. Fees are $7 and tax is $3.30 per each ticket. Call (239) 481-4849 or online at bbmannpah.com.

Buy tickets online here: http://www.bbmannpah.com/performance.php?id=624.

I want to see a show!

OPENING:
"Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol"
Cody Nickell stars in the Gulfshore Playhouse production of "Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol," an alternate take on the Dickens Classic. The show runs at 8 p.m. through Dec. 22 at the Norris Center in downtown Naples, with 3 p.m. matinées on Dec. 8, 15, 21 & 22. Tickets are at $33-$45. Call 866-811-4111 or gulfshoreplayhouse.org. (read the preview)


"My Three Angels"
Florida Rep opens "My Three Angels" on Dec. 6. Three convicts in the tropics, spying on a family with too many problems. It was an old
Humphrey Bogart film, 1955's "We're No Angels." "My Three Angels" opens in previews Dec. 3 and runs through Dec. 22. Tickets are $40 & $45. Call 239-332-4488 or floridarep.org.

"The Nutcracker Goes Pop!"
KidzAct, the youth theatre program of The Naples Players, presents "The Nutcracker Goes Pop!" December 4-21 in the Tobye Studio at Sugden Community Theatre. More than 100 students sing and dance their way through a modern song and dance version of the beloved classic. Performances are at 5 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2 p.m. on Saturdays and 6 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students 21 and under. Call 239-263-7990 or come by the Naples Players box office.


THIS WEEKEND ONLY
The Lab Theater presents its second 24-hour Playwriting Project Saturday. Playwrights get a theme and a few required lines Friday night. They've got 18 hours to write a ten-minute play - and they won't meet the actors until noon Saturday! The curtain goes up at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7. Get tickets ($12) at laboratorytheaterflorida.com or at the door. Seating is limited.

The Island Theater Company presents "Three Wise Men and a Baby" from Dec. 5-8. All four shows will be free; the production is sponsored by APM Custom Homes as their Christmas gift to the community. "Three Wise Men and a Baby," a humorous, musical twist on the Nativity aimed at children, features many local youths and asks "What do you give someone whose birthday is the very reason for the season?" "Three Wise Men and a Baby" plays in the Rose History Auditorium at the Marco Island Historical Society. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Doors open 1/2 hour before showtime.




NOW PLAYING:

"Becky Shaw" closes continues its run at Theatre Conspiracy. The play takes five people and asks this: Every person has their own truth. What happens when the truths diverge? Equity actress Kim Crow and Tera Nicole Miller deliver standout turns. Interesting, fascinating and worth a look. Tickets are $20. Anyone under 30 can get their ticket for just $10. Call 239-936-3239 or theatreconspiracy.org. | REVIEWS

"Our Town"  plays 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 21 at the Naples Players. Tickets are $35. Call (239) 263-7990 or naplesplayers.org. "Our Town" runs three acts with two ten-minute intermissions. | REVIEWS

Don't miss the Fosse-inspired version of "Nutcracker"
in Broadway Palm's "Swingin' Christmas."

"Swingin' Christmas" runs Tuesday through Sunday evenings with selected matinées through Dec. 25. Tickets run $22-$55, with show-only seats available for just $18. Call 239-278-4422 or broadwaypalm.com. | REVIEWS

"Away in the Basement: A Church Basement Ladies Christmas" plays through Dec. 25 in the Off-Broadway Palm. This time the Church Basement Ladies are in the midst of holiday preparations and planning the Sunday School’s Christmas Program. Performances are Tuesday - Sunday evenings with selected matinées. Ticket prices range from $28 to $49. Call (239) 278-4422 or BroadwayPalm.com. (read the review)

My schedule through Jan. 3: Eleven more shows in 2013!

"We Will Rock You" runs Dec. 17-22.

Ok kids, here's my schedule for the rest of the year. If you see something missing, give a yell. You just can't have a Friday. Every Friday until April 4 is booked. Like, for real.

Also, please don't freak out, but I've been accepted into the Google Glass Explorer program. I got mine on Tuesday. I'll be wearing my pair of Glass at shows this weekend. And yes, you can try them on.

Friday, Dec. 6 - "Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol" at Gulfshore Playhouse
Saturday, Dec. 7 - "My Three Angels" at Florida Rep

Wednesday, Dec. 11 - "Private Lives" in cinemas
Friday, Dec. 13 - "A Christmas Carol" at the Lab Theater
Sunday, Dec. 15 - "Dashing Thru the Snow" at the Firehouse Community Theatre

Tuesday, Dec. 17 - "We Will Rock You" at Barbara B. Mann
Thursday, Dec. 19 - "Holiday Spectaclar" at BIG ARTS Herb Strauss Theater
Friday, Dec. 20 - "The Santaland Daries" at Florida Rep

Thursday, Dec. 26 - "West Side Story" at Artis–Naples
Friday, Dec. 27 - "Into the Woods" at BIG ARTS Herb Strauss Theater
Saturday, Dec. 28 - "South Pacific" at Broadway Palm

Friday, Jan. 3 - "Relatively Speaking at Theatre Conspiracy

For the curious, "South Pacific" will be the 111th review of the calendar year. I usually don't count reviews that way, because our "seasons" follow more of a tourist season pattern. Here's to 2014!

Dave Chappelle to play Fort Myers on Sunday, Dec. 15

Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall announced today that Dave Chappelle will perform one night only at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15.

Tickets ($55) went on sale at 10 a.m. today. Fees are $7 and tax is $3.30 per each tickets. Call (239) 481-4849 or online at bbmannpah.com.

Buy tickets online here: http://www.bbmannpah.com/performance.php?id=624.

Chappelle will also play the Jackie Gleason Theatre at the Fillmore Miami Beach on Dec. 13 and Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater on Dec. 17.

Chappelle had difficulty during an August event at the Funny or Die Oddball Comedy Tour in Hartford, Conn.  A rowdy crowd and/or an upset Chappelle caused him to abandon his set early.

The music of Queen comes to Fort Myers as "We Will Rock You" hits on Dec. 17

Jacqueline Arnold in the national tour of We Will Rock You. © Paul Kolnik

"We Will Rock You" kicks off the Broadway season at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. Really, we don't count "Mamma Mia!" Seriously.

The show uses the songs of Queen - attached to a book from the writer of "Mr. Bean." Yeah. And it is billed as a "rock theatrical." I. Cannot. Wait. It has run for 12 years in the West End. Let's hope Fort Myers is ready for a "Bohemian Rhapsody!"

Here's my preview:

© Paul Kolnik

Music of Queen promises Fort Myers: 'We Will Rock You' next week!
Tracey Flye has loved the music of Queen since high school. "They have such a huge canon," she told me. No surprise then that she's been with Queen musical "We Will Rock You" since its North American debut in 2007. Wait. A Queen .. MUSICAL?

Heroes Galileo and Scaramouche find a statue of Freddie Mercury, which leads to an electric guitar. After a medley of "Tie Your Mother Down," "We Will Rock You," and "We Are the Champions," rock music is saved and the evil Killer Queen is defeated.

Flye admits that maybe a jukebox musical with the music of Queen isn't the first thing you might think of as a blockbuster hit. But remember, this one has played five continents. It just hasn't played Broadway. "Nothing surprises me anymore," she laughs. "I worked on 'Mamma Mia!" (read the full preview)

"We Will Rock You" runs Dec. 17-22. Tickets are $34-$69. Call (239) 481-4849 or online at www.bbmannpah.com.  For more information on the show, visit wewillrockyou.com and schoolswillrockyou.com.

Complete press release below.

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Auditions: "Little Shop of Horrors" at Center for the Arts Bonita Springs

The Center for the Arts Bonita Springs Teen Theater program will hold auditions for "Little Shop of Horrors" from 5-7 p.m. Dec. 16 & 18.

Auditions are open to students age 13-21. Be prepared to sing a song and read from a script. Call (239) 495-8989 to schedule an audition time.

Rehearsals are 5-7 p.m. MWF and selected Saturdays. Performances are February 21 & 22. "Little Shop" will be the inaugural teen performance in the organization's New Performing Arts Center.

Audition: THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES

Open auditions for a 2014 production of "The Vagina Monologues" will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Fort Myers.

The church is located at 13411 Shire Lane, off Daniels between Six Mile Cypress and I-75. For more information, contact director Patti Chamness at (239) 839-5775 or producer Marcie Kaveney at (239) 333-8292 or mkaveney@actabuse.com.

Complete press release below: