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Playhouse 19 is trying something different, moving away from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals this year.
By JORGE SANCHEZ
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 25, 2001
CRYSTAL RIVER -- Playhouse 19's upcoming season marks a new direction for the theater, as it steps away from the diet of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals that were a mainstay of its previous seasons.
There will still be plenty of musicals, such as the season opener Cabaret, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Chicago. Along with these will be the drama Miss Margarida's Way, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and the comedy Charlie's Aunt.
"I'm trying to bring something new and different to the theater," said Ray Hill, executive director.
Hill acknowledged that the theater made a deliberate move away from the older Broadway musicals.
"Once you start down on the path of doing Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, there comes a point when there aren't any more plays to do," Hill said.
The upcoming season opens with Cabaret, the musical set in the prewar days of Berlin. Musical numbers include It Couldn't Please Me More, Cabaret and Don't Tell Mama. Show dates are Thursdays through Sundays, Sept. 6-30.
The second production is the one-woman show Miss Margarida's Way.
"It's a comedy allegory," Hill said.
The play is based on the classroom teaching style of the acid-tongued Miss Margarida, who often digresses from her biology lessons to speak about totalitarianism. Show dates are Nov. 1-25.
A musical mystery The Mystery of Edwin Drood is also planned. The production uses a "play-within-a-play" technique in which an acting troupe rehearsing a play is interrupted by a murder.
"Another great thing about this play is that the audience gets to participate and actually vote on which one of five endings we will use," Hill said.
Show dates are Jan. 3-27, 2002.
The comedy Charlie's Aunt is a humorous look at young love and old money. Show dates are April 18 through May 12.
Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a family drama, will be performed Feb. 21 through March 17.
Bob Fosse fans will want to see Chicago, set in the roaring '20s period of the city. The movie version was called All That Jazz.
"But the movie was not as good as the play," Hill said.
Show days for Chicago will be June 6-30.
Season tickets are $72 each. Call the box office at 563-1333.