Theater Notes: Two to See, But They Close March 17
Hey, you tourists, you snow birds, you locals. Sanibel has live theater. And it’s darn good live theater. You’re so lucky to be here.
Right now, before March 17, when it closes, you can catch a lively, fun-filled musical you never heard of Das Barbecu. It is brimming with wit, heart throbs, enthusiastic song, one after another, and staged so professionally.
Don’t ask about the plot. Keep thinking Texas. And keep thinking that you don’t have to know Wagner’s operas or that you’ve never been on the Rhine River and seen the rocks where the Sirens lure in boats. Texas, that’s the pull.
The cast just seems to love being part of this delightful nonsense. Five gorgeous voices, and an ingenious set that is one big lazy susan, choreography by that local genius, Amy Marie Cleary, and a set by Clifton Chadick that might put the Met in New York to shame.
Go have an evening on the town, your foot will be stomping, you’ll almost want to sing along, and you, too, will fall in love again, Texas style. My hats off to the five troupers. Especially, to that Anne Chamberlain, who some of you will remember as Olive in Spelling Bee, or at the cutest pregnant Winter Wonderette, or the wild chorus girl in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Wait til you hear her belt one of the best songs in the show, her “Turn The Tide,”
a song for each of us to take to heart.
Call that box office at the Herb Straus, right away. Support live theater. Have one joyous adventure here on our Island. Call 472-6862 before they sell out and you find yourself left out. Feast at DAS BARBECUE.
Over in Ft. Myers, THE REP in their Black Box theater has a one man show depicting Truman Capote’s Christmas Eve in New York, in the play called TRU. What a fun spectacle this one is. It’s sharp-witted, biting, mean, gossipy as all get out, and on the broad continuum from hilarious to poignant.
The actor who plays Capote is worth the price of admission alone. You sit realizing Truman Capote is really on that stage. He never gives away that he is, incidentally, merely performing Capote.
It’s a five star portrayal by Mark Chambers, a man who is now a permanent member of the Florida Rep ensemble. You may have seen him in this seasons RUMORS or IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. You will not want to miss his brilliance in the play now on the boards in the small, intimate Black Box at the Arcade, downtown. But, you do have to rush, it closes Saturday night, March 17. (I’d cancel what you might now have on your Saturday night calendar. This actor will make it a much more memorable Saturday night.)
Race to that phone and call Florida Rep Box Office, (239) 332-4488.