By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN, Times Staff Writer
Published April 2, 2005
Every time I ask friends if they're going to see Jerry's Girls at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre in May, they wrinkle their noses and say probably not.
"I never have been much of a Jerry Lewis fan," one said.
"Sounds kind of like a downer," another told me. "A musical about disabled kids?"
Ahhh. People think it's about Jerry Lewis and/or Jerry's Kids.
To be honest, until the Show Palace announced the show and I did some research on it, I had no idea what it was about either. I've never seen it, I had never heard about it, and it's not in any of my theater books.
I quickly found out that Jerry's Girls isn't about the comic or his muscular dystrophy crusade. It's the wonderful music of Jerry Herman, composer of Mame, Hello, Dolly!, La Cage aux Folles, Milk and Honey, Mack and Mabel and other scores.
His "girls" are Mame Dennis, Dolly Levi and "guess who" from La Cage. Patti Eyler, who played Dolly when the musical set an attendance record for the Show Palace in 2001, is coming back to reprise her role.
The show, like the musicals it's based on, will have big production numbers and mellow tunes, as only Herman can do them.
And no Jerry Lewis.
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Whenever tragedy strikes, artist Mary Petricone tries to think of ways she can use her art gallery to help.
After the 9/11 tragedy, she asked for donations of art, held a two-day sale, and paid her own airfare to New York to present Squad 288 in Queens with a check for $22,000 to give to the families of the 19 firefighters from that station house who died in the Twin Towers.
This time, she is opening her Your Arts Desire Studio & Gallery from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday to sell donated art and take donations for the family of Jessica Lunsford, the girl who was kidnapped from her Homosassa home and later found dead nearby.
"This event is not about the art," Ms. Petricone said. "I have some art to offer, but it would be fine with me if the community just has a place to go and show their support of this family."
Every penny from the sale and donations will go to the Lunsford fund.
The gallery is at 5327 Commercial Way (U.S. 19), Spring Hill, on the west side of the highway about a quarter-mile south of Northcliff Boulevard.
Call Mary at (352) 666-2734 if you have art to donate.
* * *
Got word this week that Mitchell High School grad Justin Sargent has just landed the lead in the University of Central Florida' Repertory Theatre production of the musical Pippin. Play dates are early June.
Justin got his theater start at Richey Suncoast Theatre as the Artful Dodger in Oliver! in 1999 and went on to perform a variety of dramatic and musical roles in several other productions there. He was Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Mitchell's production of Guys and Dolls his senior year, the lead in the Stage West Community Playhouse's Run for Your Wife and got rave reviews for his role as the narrator in Stephen Sondheim's dark musical, Assassins, at Rusty Dog Productions in Orlando in late 2003.
* * *
Longtime fans of Laura Turner's funky little Potting Shed gift shop in downtown New Port Richey were disappointed to learn that the building she's in has been sold for development and the Shed will be closing at the end of this month.
Laura has donated her purple refrigerator to Greater New Port Richey's Main Street's office and is selling the main room's black and floral vintage rug, front porch furniture and all the other things that made this place unique. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays until everything is gone. The Shed is at 6040 Main Street and, with its green and purple decor, is impossible to miss.
Meanwhile, Laura is commuting to Tampa to her new job as manager of special events for the PBS television station WEDU. She'll be doing fashion shows, wine tastings and other events in the WEDU market, including Pasco County.
In fact, being a Pasco resident helped her get the job, as the station was eager to spread its coverage and was looking for a way to work in this area.
At present, Laura is working on the upcoming visit by the popular Antiques Roadshow crew, who will do an appraisal at the Tampa Bay Convention Center on June 25, starting at (yawwwwwn) 8 a.m.
To get a ticket for a free appraisal of your treasure, log onto pbs.org/antiques or send a postcard to Tampa Roadshow, Box 249, Canton, MA 02021. Include your name, street address, city, state and ZIP code. Call 888-762-3749 for more info.
