Stage West offers new season for less

Everybody seems to be having January sales, and Stage West Community Playhouse is right there with them.

Until Jan. 31, the Spring Hill theater is taking 26 percent off its season ticket prices for the 2003-04 season. Instead of paying $74 for two musicals and three plays, you can get all five for $55. This means you get a musical and part of a play for free. On top of that, you get discounts on Stage West special events.

The season is an intriguing mix of new and familiar stories, but the shows are completely new to west Pasco and Hernando theater.

Over the River and Through the Woods (Sept. 11-28) has been in St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Carrollwood (people love this comedy), but not this far north. In it, 30-year-old New York bachelor Nick's parents have moved to Florida, leaving him to coddle and humor both sets of his Hoboken, N.J., grandparents. When Nick gets a great job offer in Seattle, the grandparents scheme to keep him close, including a little matchmaking. Much more than a comedy, it's a study of the tenuous ties in the American family.

Funny Girl (Nov. 6-23), the story of 1920s Ziegfeld girl and radio star Fanny Brice (remember Baby Snooks?) and her ill-fated romance with con man Nicky Arnstein. Funny Girl was the Broadway show that catapulted Barbra Streisand to stardom; she went on to do the 1968 film version. It has the wonderful Jule Styne/Bob Merrill hit, People, among other great tunes. The key to this show's success will be finding the right Fanny.

The Night of the Iguana (Jan. 15-Feb. 1, 2004), the Tennessee Williams drama set in a seedy seaside Mexican hotel. Shannon, a former priest, shows up with a busload of Baptist women, who seem ready to toss him over a cliff for his drinking and womanizing. The hotel owner, Maxine, wants him to stay and help with the hotel, but things go awry when the delicate painter Hannah and her grandfather Nonno, a famous poet, show up. What path Shannon will take forms the crux of the story.

Stage West has a record of doing serious dramas well -- Tea and Sympathy, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, to name a couple. This one has several meaty roles, which should attract the area's best actors.

Jekyll & Hyde, the Musical (March 11-28, 2004), based on the Robert Louis Stevenson short story.

I've seen two versions of this show, both at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center (in 1995 and in 2000), and must admit I thought both were rather silly. Maybe it's because the show reminds me of the antidope movie we were forced to watch in junior high, Reefer Madness, where kids went totally bonkers after a short puff of marijuana.

Critics and patrons have savaged the big productions, but perhaps the smaller venue of community theater will work better. Who knows? If Jekyll & Hyde is done with the right attitude, it could be fun. There are some wonderful songs.

I Hate Hamlet (May 6-23, 2004), a comedy about a young New York-based television actor who gets a chance to play Hamlet. The only problem is, he hates Hamlet. A hastily planned seance conjures up the quintessential Hamlet, John Barrymore, in full Shakespearean garb and fortified with alcohol. The young actor must re-examine his life, ambitions and goals -- with Barrymore peering over his shoulder.

To get the cheapo $55 season ticket, order or renew by Jan. 31. Call (352) 683-5113 or go by the box office at 8390 Forest Oaks Blvd., Spring Hill, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays or an hour before each show. You can also mail your order, postmarked by Jan. 31, to P.O. Box 5201, Spring Hill, FL 34611.

From Feb. 1-March 31, season tickets go for $60. After that, they're $65.

Good news for fans of Martin Preston as Liberace. At one time, Preston did the show at several venues in this area, but he gave up the act when he went to work full time at Jimmy Ferraro's Angel Cabaret Theatre more than a year ago.

Once a year, Preston digs out his feather boas and sequins to do three or four Liberace shows, but only at the Angel. Not surprisingly, they sell quickly. Even so, Ferraro says there are few seats left for the matinee and evening performances Jan. 11.

I've seen the show, and it's a winner for Liberace fans. Preston does the flamboyant entertainer with respect and finesse, complete with opulent costumes and nimble piano playing.

Dinner and show, $32.50; show only, $19.95. Call (727) 847-0019.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright