South Florida’s larger theater companies follow the northern tradition of taking a seasonal break during the summer. But smaller companies have known for years that full-time residents far outnumber the cultured snowbird class of days of yore. Happy to fill the gap – and encourage those who exclusively patronize national touring troupes at massive arenas to give the locals a try – are our many talented smaller theaters. Where you can catch a star of tomorrow before they become a household name. And see a world premiere or quirky older play you might never have heard of, and are unlikely to encounter anytime soon.
Sometimes, the Broward Center features a double-header of entertainment: one show coming from a national touring cast through Broadway; one coming from our very own local company right in South Florida. To close out its 2023-24 season, Slow Burn Theatre Company, based out of Ft. Lauderdale and winner of the Bill von Maurer Award for Theatrical Excellence at the Carbonell Awards, is currently premiering The SpongeBob Musical until this Sunday, June 23. What better way to beat the heat than to splash down in Bikini Bottom?
Unexpected scenarios when an adult daughter visits her father for his 70th birthday lead to both a humorous and dramatic story in playwright Joshua Harmon’s two act comedy “Skintight”, running now through June 29 at Island City Stage in Wilton Manors.
The 27th anniversary of City Theatre’s “Summer Shorts”, running now through June 23 at the intimate Carnival Studio Theater of the Adrienne Arsht Center in downtown Miami features the annual salute to the ten minute short play, but with a significant difference this year.
Even though South Florida has experienced a record amount of rainfall this week, enough to cause substantial flooding, the show must go on. To end the 2023-24 Broadway season, the Broward Center and Broadway Across America presents Clue, a new comedy play based on the beloved Hasbro game and Paramount Pictures movie. The classic whodunnit game comes to life in the best way possible, full of thrills and laughs and murder.
If you choose to venture to under the radar West Palm Beach theatre Actor’s Rep this weekend, you’ll find an unexpected gem in their moving production of A Song For Coretta by playwright Pearl Cleage. The title of the play refers to Coretta Scott King, who first came into the public eye as the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. and became a powerful activist in her own right and a leader of the civil rights movement after his passing. When Scott King herself passed away in 2006, thousands of mourners gathered outside the Ebenezer Baptist Church to pay their final respects.
When I first heard of Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” animated TV series, I didn’t get the appeal. “Really?” I thought? “A talking sea sponge in shirt-and-tie, shorts or underpants?” But haven’t we all embraced talking mice and daffy ducks et al for generations? Who am I to cast doubt?
Playwright Alexis Scheer, born and raised in Miami from a Columbian household, captured the humor and spirit of Latina culture in her one act play “Laughs in Spanish”, running now through June 23 at Gabletage in Coral Gables.
Gary Schweikhart, president of the Carbonell Awards, South Florida’s Theater & Arts Honors, today announced the recipient of this year’s prestigious George Abbott Award which will be presented at the 47thannual Carbonell Awards Ceremony on Monday, November 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center at 3800 NW 11th Place, Lauderhill, FL 33311.
Tickets for Cameron Mackintosh’s acclaimed production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, LES MISÉRABLES (@lesmizus), are currently on sale for its upcoming Miami engagement at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County (@arshtcenter), June 18-23, 2024. LES MISÉRABLES closes the 2023-2024 Broadway in Miami season presented by the Adrienne Arsht Center and Broadway Across America (@bwayamerica).
