Actors’ Playhouse Plans to Celebrate 10 Perfect Years
at the Miracle Theatre with ‘A Decade Doo-Wop Sock-hop’ at The Biltmore Hotel

 
Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre will celebrate ten perfect years in the Miracle Theatre, Coral Gables’ very own three-stage performing arts center, Sunday, November 13, 2005 at 5:30pm at The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. Celebrators will enjoy an all out ‘50s style party extravaganza, complete with a three course gourmet diner meal, open Bacardi bar, all night dance-a-thon, a ten-year theatre history slide show, a performance of the cast of Actors’ Playhouse’s 2005 production of Grease, and a special, surprise guest appearance. Event hosts will be NBC6’s anchor team Bob Mayer, Kelly Craig, and Lonnie Quinn.
 
“We cannot let this milestone pass without celebrating and taking the opportunity to share it with the community that made it all possible,” says Gala Committee Co-chairs Jeannett Slesnick and Neal Stebbing. Honorary Chairpersons, and long-standing supporters of the Actors’ Playhouse, Karl and Carmen Bishopric set the pace for the gala celebration in the spring of 2005 with an initial anniversary contribution to the theatre. Preparations are underway now for the one-of-a-kind event. Connie Crowther of Crowther Communications and an Actors’ Playhouse board member, is authoring a 100-page glossy commemorative book including a variety of interviews and photos of those closely involved in the theatre past and present, including Founding Chairman of the Board Dr. Lawrence E. Stein, Executive Producing Director Barbara S. Stein, Artistic Director David Arisco, and Children’s Theatre Director Earl Maulding, Architect John Fullerton, Mayor Donald Slesnick, among other notable donors of this extraordinary public/private project.
 
The Decade Doo-Wop Sock-Hop will celebrate the unique a partnership with the City of Coral Gables to renovate the historic Miracle Theatre, restoring the long-neglected landmark to its original Art Deco splendor and the facility the company now calls home. In exchange for free rent under a 40-year lease, Actors' Playhouse bears full responsibility for operating the city-owned facility, managing all programs, and raising all necessary funds for operations and capital improvements. With strong support from the State of Florida, Miami-Dade County, and many generous private donors, Actors' Playhouse has carried out comprehensive 7 million dollar renovation of the historic theatre. The re-birth of the classic 50-year-old movie house into a performing arts center was a critical aspect of the positive revitalization of the Coral Gables downtown district.
 
The Gala will also be an opportunity for corporations and individuals to become involved in supporting the theatre’s mission to sustain cultural vitality and quality of life in the community. A limited 300 seats are available for this special event.  Sponsor tables range from the $50,000 Greased Lightnin’ presenter level to the $3,500 T-Bird level. Drive-In single tickets are $250.
 
For further information about the Gala Celebration, sponsorship opportunities, or to purchase tables and seating in advance, call Actors’ Playhouse’s development office at 305-444-9293, extension 609.

A Woman of “Valor-ie”
Mesmerizes Parker Playhouse
 
 by Phyllis Green
Theatre Columnist

It was a calling—an essential, fundamental need for a young schoolgirl from the Pogroms of Russia to find her way to Palestine—to find a place for her people to begin anew; to have a land of their own; to live together in peace among all people; to escape persecution; to be free; to never have to be victimized; never; never again.
 
In a stunning performance at Ft. Lauderdale’s Parker Playhouse, a gem of a theatre, award-winning actress Valerie Harper riveted audiences clamoring to see her one-woman intense portrayal of Golda Meir, the woman who led her country: Golda’s Balcony. Exquisitely written by Tony Award-winning playwright William Gibson, whose talents have shined in The Miracle Worker and Two for the Seesaw, and directed by Broadway’s Scott Schwartz, the play focuses mainly on Meir’s agonizing days facing the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
 
From a darkened stage, the sudden sound of bombs light the way to an old, sick and dying Meir, recalling her life. This adaptation begins in the ears of this beholder, sounding much like the voice of Rhoda; but in an instant, and with the removal of a robe, a reincarnation of one of the greatest women in world history. And more so, Meir lives on through an actress of boundless scope. Theatre, film and television star, Harper, most known for her funny, homey side-kick to Mary Tyler Moore’s hit TV show, now, without sacrificing a bit of her profound sense of humor, casts aside any vestige of glamour to transform into this remarkable human being.
 
The production is aided by an extraordinary Set Design by Anna Louizos, depicting steps and a stone wall from which Visual Projections by Batwin and Robin Productions bring to life airplanes flying, a stretch of desert, skylines, and biographical portraits of history’s greatest men. Properties Artisan Kathy Fabian lent intensity to a simple table used as such for coffee, and as a council desk for the dramatically lit telephone and cigarette, while history was in the making. The Lighting by Jeff Croiter transformed Harper’s actions, shadings, and two-sided conversations, complete with authentic dialects, whether speaking with her husband Morris Meyerson, her children, Menachem and Sarah, her French assistant and driver, or to the larger-than-life Dayan, Ben Gurian, Kissinger, King Abdulah, The Pope, and all the notables of the time.
 
Yes, we are watching the Prime Minister of the State of Israel—speaking of her quest as a young Zionist in Milwaukee, an involuntary eighth-grade drop-out, transplanting herself to Palestine to realize her dream, simply, to make a new world. Through the chronology, through the pleadings, and the politics, and the family from whom she needed to abandon at times of pressure, and the tragedies at Cyprus, and the wars, and the clandestine erecting of a nuclear reactor where a balcony stood from which she observed construction; through all of this she emerged as the first woman and only leader of Democracy in the Middle East. And with this actresses spellbinding interpretation; a woman of Valor-ie. 
 
The Theatre is not just a pretty face—a song and dance—an entertainment arena. It transcends all of that when an audience can experience, can feel, can hurt, and can expand upon it. Golda’s Balcony is theatre that one can actually live. It is a MUST SEE; not to be MISSED by anyone who breathes, for Valerie Harper as Golda Meir will leave you breathless.
 
Valerie Harper in “Golda’s Balcony” plays through Saturday, November 5 at Parker Playhouse 707 N.E. 8th St. Ft. Lauderdale. Tickets are available by calling AutoNation Box Office 954-462-0222 or 800-564-9539. Group rates are available by calling 305-919-3731 or 866-252-5278. Tickets are also available at the Broward Center Box Office, 201 S.W.5th Ave. Monday-Friday 10am – 5pm; Friday and Saturday, 12 noon-5pm.
 
 
PHOTO IDS
1. Valerie Harper as Golda Meir in Golda’s Balcony
Photo by Aaron Epstein

“The Show Must Go On,” Says South Beach Theatre Group

Following the best of theatrical traditions, Fourth Dimension of South Beach determined that nothing would delay the opening of their major new production, Don’t Hug Me. Despite well meaning suggestions and perceived wisdom that in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma they should reschedule, the community theatre group have bravely determined that everything should go ahead as planned. 
 
Fourth Dimension of South Beach or 4DSB had already suffered one major disappointment. Their exciting plans to perform at the newly refurbished Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road had to be postponed because the theatre’s scheduled opening has been delayed. But with a new venue booked, determination and perseverance, the show will go on!

 
British actress Ellen Jameson, who is also the President of Fourth Dimension, recalls that the spirit of the Windmill Theatre in her hometown of London, inspired her. During World War Two, through all the bombings and destruction, the Windmill proudly boasted, “We never close.”
 
“Having been brought up on that philosophy,” says Ellen, “I never seriously considered changing or delaying our opening. Don’t Hug Me is a wonderful, feel good show and, with all the troubles people have had to endure, a bit of light relief is just what is needed.” 
 
Picture the scene, it is the coldest day of the year in Minnesota and a move to the Sunshine State of Florida seems like a very good idea. Then the music man arrives in town in the shape of the karaoke salesman. 
 
“Who knew that we would be opening right in the aftermath of such a devastating Hurricane,” explains 4DSB Vice President Hector Valdes, “and of course it brought some very specific challenges for us to overcome.” 
 
“Our choreographer, John Schaeffer, an international ballet dancer who performed for Princess Diana, was stranded out of town in Chicago. Director Charles West, (who plays Gunner Johnson), is a Broadway star who toured with Miss Saigon and West Side Story and had lead roles in Scarlet Pimpernel and Cyrano Bergerac. Charles is still without power a week after Wilma. Two of the cast members, Laughing Gas improv actors, James Carrey (Aarvid Gisselsen) and Valerie Zach (Bernice Lundstrom) were without gas up in Broward and unable to make it to rehearsals.” 
 
“We re working our way through problems one at a time,” says Hector with an air of resignation, “but our biggest headache at the moment is trying to track down a moose’s head. We had one in our sights but the prop rental shop is still without power and unable to supply us. It’s true what they say about theatre: tomorrow’s problem is already in the post.”
 
Don’t Hug Me was a record-breaking smash when it opened in Los Angeles last year. A six-week run was extended to six months. A run in Minnesota was also a huge success, and it ran there for nine months. Before a scheduled Broadway opening next year, it is here in Miami for a limited engagement.   
 
The South Florida premiere of the award-winning comedy musical Don’t Hug Me, written by California based Norwegian playwright Phil Olson, is certain to be a crowd pleaser. It is a touching and hilarious story of love, betrayal and the need to follow your dreams.
 
Set in the ‘Bunyan Bar’ in Blue Ox Country, Minnesota, relationships are formed and broken, dreams created and destroyed. To allow each individual to be heard and understood, communication is conducted through the karaoke machine. 
 
Audiences out West and Up North have fallen in love with this fast paced, rollercoaster ride of a musical comedy. Now it’s coming South. Joel Zwick, director of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, called it “a quirky, charming musical” and the L.A. Times described it as “a hokey-jokey crowd pleaser.”
 
Even if we have to set up an open air stage on Lincoln Road, we will not disappoint the many people who have helped us get this production up on its feet. Now we need audiences, says Fourth Dimension.
 
Jazz singer Craig Strang (who plays businessman Kanute Gunderson) captures the mood of Don’t Hug Me perfectly when he tells us, “How ridiculous that, in the heat of Miami, we should be singing songs like ‘Ice House Blues’ and sweltering in our snow clothes. You’ve just got to laugh. And that’s what the theatre is all about,”
 
See “Don’t Hug Me” at the Hice Hall at Community Church on Lincoln Road, Miami Beach this Friday (November 4) and Saturday (November 5) at 8pm and next weekend at the same venue, same time, plus a Saturday 3pm matinee. For more information, call Ellen Jameson at 305-695-0706 or book tickets directly at TheatreMania.com, 866-811 4111 (toll free).  
 
 
PHOTO IDS
1. British actress and President of Fourth Dimension of South Beach, Ellen Jameson
2. 4DSB Vice President Hector Valdes
 

by Ron Levitt
Theatre Critic

The Apple Tree—a 1966 Broadway musical by composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon Hamick—was a follow-up to their smash Fiddler on the Roof. In addition, because so much of The Apple Tree was set to music, the songwriters chose, for the first time, to write the book themselves. It was a pleasant surprise, got rave reviews and lasted some three years on the Great White Way.
 
Since that time, theatres across America have revived this fun presentation, most successfully when they have used the same three actors in the telling of three separate stories. The Apple Tree currently is getting one of its better showings at the Hollywood Boulevard Theatre at the Hollywood Playhouse, 2640 Washington Street—thanks to a delightful cast—Avi Hoffman, Laura Turnbull and Tangi Colobel—and some adroit direction by Marjorie O’Neill Butler and musical direction by David Nagy.
 
The Apple Tree has an unusual form: three separate, self-contained, comic musicals based on short stories by humorists Mark Twain, Frank Stockton and Jules Pfeiffer.
 
Avi Hoffman and his real-time wife Laura Turnbull play the male/female parts who have to fight temptation, most capably played by Colobel, who makes a slithering snake come-to-life musically in the first play, Adam and Eve. All three are recast in the other two sections—The Lady or the Tiger (a tale about a semi-barbaric kingdom) and Passionella, (about a chimney sweep who becomes a movie star. Avi Hoffman and Tangi Colobel, both award winning musical stars, are delights in their separate roles. Laura Turnbull, another Carbonell prize-winning star, does what Barbara Harris did when The Apple Tree opened on Broadway. She is so good, with some memorable songs, to surely become the darling of the critics.
 
Damon Keith (in powerful voice), Erinn Dearth, Amy Anderson, Paul Homza,
Shane McDonough and Rachel Klein are supporting players in two of the three tales.
 
Producer Jerry Waxman made a wise choice to open his producing season at
Hollywood Playhouse with this charming musical. It is the kind of light-hearted magnetism that puts an audience in good humor. The Apple Tree will be around Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm and 2pm on Sunday through November 13.  
 
For more information, call the box office at 954-462-0222.

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Legendary Musical Evita Comes to the Broward Center, November 15 - 27

Winner of seven Tony® Awards, Tim Rice and Andrew LloydWebber’s legendary musical Evita comes to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts for a limited 2-week engagement launching the 2005-2006 Broadway In Fort Lauderdale season presented by Florida Theatrical Association.
 
Evita brings to life the dynamic, larger-than-life persona of Eva Peron, wife of former Argentine dictator, Juan Peron. Eva Peron, blessed with charisma, captivated a nation by championing the working class. The epic story of the rise and fall of Eva Peron is told in a sweeping pop opera, featuring one of the Broadway stage’s most dynamic and lush melodies, Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina.
 
From her illegitimate birth into poverty, to her status as a world player and South America’s most important woman, Evita is a story of glamour, power and greed. Beginning its life as a concept album in 1976, Evita instantly became a global phenomenon. It was the first mega musical when it opened at the Broadway Theatre on Sept. 25, 1979, setting records for the largest box office advance. It went on to sweep all theater awards in 1979, winning seven Tonys® including Best Musical, Score, Book and Director. It played 1,568 performances, closing June 25, 1983.
 
Evita became the first Broadway show to be reproduced successfully in every major city in the world, including the Philippines, where it had been banned under the Marcos regime because of the uncomfortable parallels to Imelda Marcos. Evita also became the first musical since the Rodgers & Hammerstein era to burst on to the world’s pop charts. Four of the show’s songs including the break out hit Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, were recorded globally. The Broadway cast album won a Grammy® in 1981.
 
A new generation was introduced to Evita in December 1996 when Alan Parker’s critically acclaimed film version opened starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas. The film received five Oscar® nominations, winning for Best Song, and won three Golden Globes® including Best Picture. Tim Rice (Lyricist) won Tony® Awards for Best Book and Best Score for Evita. He wrote the stage musicals Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Chess, King David, and The Lion King. He received Oscars® for Evita’s “You Must Love Me” and “A Whole New World” from Aladdin.
 
The Broward Center engagement of Evita will run November 15 - 27 with performances Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2pm and additional performances Sunday, November 20 at 7:30pm and Wednesday, November 23 at 2pm.
 
Tickets ranging from $22 - $73 and can be purchased in person at the Broward Center AutoNation Box Office and by phone and Internet at 954-462-0222 or www.browardcenter.org, and TicketMaster phones at 954-523-3309 in Broward, 305-358-5885 in Dade, and 561-966-3309 in Palm Beach or at www.ticketmaster.com Tickets are also available through TicketMaster outlets. Orders for groups of 20 or more may be placed by calling the Broward Center at 954-468-3326 or Broadway Across America at 1-800-6GROUPS (647-6877).
 
PHOTO IDS
1.  Eva at the Casa Rosada in the National Tour of Evita
Photo by Joan Marcus

Passin’ It On, Starring Len Cariou,
Resumes Performances through Sunday, November 6

Passin’ It On, a new musical starring Tony Award-winning actor Len Cariou, resumes performances through Sunday, November 6 at Coconut Grove Playhouse, 3500 Main Highway. Performances will run Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm; Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2.
 
The one-week run of Passin’ It On, scheduled to launch the inaugural Parker Playhouse/Coconut Grove Playhouse subscription season on Tuesday, November 8, has been cancelled. Subscribers and individual ticket holders are invited to see the show at the Coconut Grove Playhouse. Patrons will be offered a VIP card for discounts with local Grove merchants. A gift certificate will be provided to Parker Playhouse subscribers to use for any of the six remaining productions at the Parker Playhouse.
 
Subscribers and ticket holders who were unable to attend performances last week are invited to call the box office to arrange tickets for this week’s remaining performances. Children over 8 admitted free when accompanied by an adult; $10 to all in the Coconut Grove 33133 zip code. For tickets and more information, call the box office at 305-442-4000.