Visual and performing artists and events in the news in September, 2024

This is who and what’s creating news in Southwest Florida’s visual and performing arts community during the month of August, 2024:

1     ACTORS

Robert Armstrong is James Wicker in ‘It’s Only a Play’

Robert Armstrong plays former actor James Wicker in The Studio Players’ production of It’s Only a Play. Prior stage credits include absurdly neurotic waiter, Stephen, in Wendy MacLeod’s comedy Slow Food, George in the Tim Sniffen parody Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf, Mary Sunshine in Chicago, Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, Max in Lend Me a Tenor, Leo (and Maxine) in Leading Ladies and Freddy in Noises Off.

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Gerrie Benzing is Producer Julia Budder in ‘It’s Only a Play’

A local stage and film actor, director and musical theatre instructor, Gerrie Benzing plays producer Julia Budder in It’s Only a Play. Gerrie’s credits include Caprice in A Doublewide, Texas Christmas, Mother Superior in Drinking Habits (Belle Theatre), Gertrude in Save Hamlet (for Lab Theater), Raven in Trouble (at the Vista View Mobile Home Estates) for Florida Rep, Brooke in Other Desert Cities for The Studio Players, Florence Ungar The Odd Couple: Female Version (Belle Theatre, 2022), Madame de Volanges in Dangerous Liaisons (Lab Theater, 2022), and Lee in Charles Busch’s The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife for New Phoenix Theatre (2022). View the rest of Gerrie’s theatrical credits here.

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Paola Cifuentes lights up the stage for The Belle Theatre in ‘Encore: A Broadway Revue’

Paola Andrea Cifuentes lights up the stage for Belle Theatre in Encore: A Broadway Revue. She previously starred as Velma Kelly for Gypsy Playhouse in its production of Chicago, Janet in The Rocky Horror Show, and Morticia in The Addams Family Musical. Paola relocated to Florida from California in June of 2021 and quickly landed roles at Fort Myers Theatre as the Ghost of Christmas Future in A Christmas Carol and ChaCha DiGregorio in Grease. You will find the rest of Paola’s credits here.

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Shannon Connolly plays officious Mrs. Boyle for Broadway Palm in ‘Mousetrap’

Shannon Connolly plays the officious Mrs. Boyle in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. Broadway Palm patrons are still talking about her portrayal as Ursula, Ariel’s evil Auntie in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Connolly was last seen on stage in the ensemble and the roles of Lulu Warnicker and Betty in Broadway Palm Dinner Theater’s production of Footloose. Go here to see the rest of Shannon’s credits.

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Will Connors is Gus P. Head in ‘It’s Only a Play’

Will Connors plays Gus P. Head in It’s Only a Play. Will was last seen in The Studio Players’ production of Superior Donuts. He also played Dave in The Foreigner for The Marco Players.

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Nikita Danesh in ‘Encore: A Broadway Revue’ at The Belle Theatre

Nikita Danesh is a vocal major at Cypress Lake Center for the Arts and aspiring actor. She currently appears for Belle Theatre in Encore: A Broadway Revue. 

Her credits include work in the ensemble of Beauty & the Beast for Fort Myers Theatre, work in the ensemble and as a swing for the Merry Murderesses in Gypsy Playhouse’s production of Chicago, Miss Honey in Matilda, Sarabi in The Lion King and Louisa Von Trapp in The Sound Of Music, each at Fort Myers Theatre, as well as the Over-Excited Scout in Big Fish at Cypress Lake High School. Go here for the rest of Nikita’s credits.

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Parrish Danesh in ‘Encore: A Broadway Revue’ at The Belle Theatre

Parrish Danesh is part of Belle Theatre’s talented cast in Encore: A Broadway Revue.  His previous credits include Billy Flynn in Chicago for Gypsy Playhouse, Brad Majors for Fort Myers Theatre in The Rocky Horror Show, director and choreographer Zack in A Chorus Line, Gomez Addams in The Addams Family musical and Teen Angel & Johnny Casino in Grease (March 2022). Go here for the rest of Parrish’s credits.

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Nathan Eichhorn is playwright Peter Austin in ‘It’s Only a Play’

Nathan Eichhorn plays the part of playwright Peter Austin in It’s Only a Play. Nathan’s stage credits include Mark in Need to Know (which was his second production with The Studio Players) and Yvan in Art (his Studio Players premiere). Debuting in The Great Gatsby, Nathan has also worked with The Naples Players in Mary Poppins, By the Way and Meet Vera Stark.

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Todd Miller is Director Frank Finger in ‘It’s Only a Play’

Todd Miller plays Director Frank Finger for The Studio Players in It’s Only a Play. He was last seen at The Studio Players in the roles of Officer James in Tracy Letts’ dramedy Superior Donuts and before that as Mitchell in Murder at the Howard Johnson’s. See more of Todd’s credits here.

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Rachel Salerno appears for Belle Theatre in ‘Encore: A Broadway Revue’

Rachel Salerno appears for The Belle Theatre in Encore: A Broadway Revue. Rachel’s stage credits include Little Sally in Urinetown (for TheatreZone/FGCU TheatreLab), Clarice in Servant of Two Masters (FGCU TheatreLab), Bret in Calvin Berger (City Scenes Theatre/Alliance Youth Theatre), Rose in Dogfight (City Scenes Theatre/Alliance Youth Theatre), and Anita (Regina) in Rock of Ages (HSE at North Fort Myers High School). Read more about Rachel here.

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Cindy Sepich plays fading star Virginia Noyes in ‘It’s Only a Play’

Cindy Sepich is fading star Virginia Noyes in The Sudio Players production of It’s Only a Play. . Cindy previously appeared as Dixie in Hollywood Arms at the Arts Center Theatre on Marco Island, Rose in the reading of Paradise and Mr. Prince at Arts Center Theater and Lila in Silver Alert at the former Marco Players.  She also performed in 37 Postcards and Singin’ Broadway at the Island Theater Company. She also appeared in many community theater productions in suburban Chicago.

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Kieran Strosser appears in ‘Encore: A Broadway Revue’ at Belle Theatre

Kieran Lawless Strosser appears for The Belle Theatre in Encore: A Broadway Revue. Strosser’s credits include Granny and Cinderella’s mom for New Phoenix Theatre in Into the Woods, Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music at Cultural Park Theatre, one of the prostitutes in Jekyll & Hyde the Musical at New Phoenix Theatre, Whitney in A Piece of My Heart for Cultural Park Theatre and Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Ernest for Cultural Park Theatre. Go here to see Kieran’s other stage credits.

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Lucy Sundby reprises role in ‘5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche’

Lucy Sundby reprises her role in 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche this September. Lucy’s stage credits include White Rabbit Red Rabbit, Confusions (which consisted of three one-act plays, The Still Alarm by George S. Kauffman and Alan Ayckbourn’s Between Mouthfuls and A Talk in the Park), Claudia Louise (CL) in LabTV’s production of The Realish Housewives of Fort Myers, “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy” in The Vagina Monologues, Lenny in Crimes of the Heart, and Nicky in Michele Lowe’s murderously funny tragi-comedy, The Smell of the Kill.

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Jack Weld is theater critic Ira Drew in ‘It’s Only a Play’

Jack Weld is theater critic Ira Drew in It’s Only a Play. Jack made his Studio Players debut earlier this year in the role of Virgil in William Inge’s Bus Stop. Jack has performed in plays and musicals in Fort Myers and Naples since 2003. Weld was last seen playing multiple roles in The Naples Players’ production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Jack also appeared at TNP in Something Rotten, Les Miserables, The Producers, Guys and Dolls, She Loves Me, The Music Man, Footloose, Young Frankenstein and The Producers. Go here for the rest of Jack’s theatrical credits.

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Kate Whitworth is Mollie Ralston in ‘Mousetrap’ at Broadway Palm

Kate Stenzel-Whitworth plays Mollie Ralston in Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre’s production of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. She last appeared at Broadway Palm in the role of Glinda in The Wizard of Oz. Some of Kate’s favorite roles include Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls (Dutch Apple), Cinderella in Into the Woods, Mary Debenham in Murder on the Orient Express and Sally Talley in Lanford Wilson’s Pulitizer Prize-winning play Talley’s Folly. Kate holds a Masters in Classical Music and teaches an online voice studio.

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2     DIRECTORS

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3     ART NEWS AND EXHIBITIONS

Jim Griffith stepping down as Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center CEO

Jim Griffith is stepping down effective October, 2024 from his role as Chief Executive Officer of the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. He will be assuming the position of Executive Director of the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival, marking a new chapter in his distinguished career in the arts. “I am incredibly honored to have been a piece of such a dynamic and passionate team who built the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center from the ground up, with so much help and enthusiasm from the entire community,” Griffith stated in connection with the press release the Art Center issued announcing his departure. Read about Jim’s journey and his next chapter on WGCU.

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‘Journey of Hope’ now lighted

Journey of Hope is now lighted. The 16-foot-tall aluminum sculpture depicts an African American woman looking up with yearning and determination contrasted against a golden sunburst that symbolizes the arrival of a new day where justice, equality and freedom prevail. Journey of Hope gives voice to the Dunbar community’s desire for an artwork that expressed the themes of hope, dreams and civil rights. While the site for the Martin Luther King & Veronica S. Shoemaker Boulevard Gateway Artwork has no electrical service, Lueza installed a 200-watt self-sustained solar lighting system with LED fixtures to illuminate Journey of Hope after dark. Read more here.

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Online art library to document role arts played in Collier County’s development

Collier County has built a reputation as an arts mecca. International travelers flock to Naples not just for its companionable mix of museums, acclaimed Fifth Avenue and Third Street galleries and eye-popping outdoor art fairs and festivals. They also enjoy opera, symphony concerts, ballet and regional cuisine. Recently, United Arts Collier has launched a project to document the role the arts play in Collier’s development and global reputation. Listen to or read the full story on WGCU.

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Artwork inspired by water is keystone of Arts Bonita ‘Progenitor’ exhibition

August is National Water Quality Month and Arts Bonita is marking the occasion with a special art exhibition titled Progenitor of Life: Artwork Inspired by Water.

“The importance of this exhibition is not just a matter of showing art that shows the beauty and grace of water, waterways and oceans, but also to highlight the importance of water quality, especially here in Florida,” Arts Bonita Curator Danielle Branchaud said.

To underscore this theme, Arts Bonita has invited Calusa Waterkeeper to attend the exhibition’s opening reception. Read or listen to the full story on WGCU.

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Punta Gorda’s Visual Arts Center pays homage to SWFL’s heritage as once-major pineapple producer

Pineapples were such an important money crop in this part of the country in the 1880s, that Fort Myers put the pineapple on its official seal when it incorporated in 1885. Picking up on that theme, the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda is hosting an art show opening in September that pays homage to this region’s long-forgotten heritage as a major pineapple producer. Listen to/read the story on WGCU.

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Repairs made to on Domino Player, but now the arm of another is missing

The City of Fort Myers continues to make repairs to the sculptures damaged by Hurricane Ian in September of 2022 — most recently to four of its Cor-Ten steel sculptures. But when Cape Welding arrived at the First Street entrance to Patio De Leon to re-attach the arm that had fallen off one of the figures in a sculpture known as the “Domino Players,” they discovered that the left arm on one of the other players was also missing. Listen to or read the full story on WGCU.

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Punta Gorda’s murals available now on mobile app ‘Otocast’

Years ago, the Punta Gorda Historic Mural Society used QR Codes to enable folks to read about the murals the Society was installing around town. “It would take you to the local page on our website, but you’d have to read it in the sun, which is a little hard to do,” notes Mural Society President Kelly Gaylord. So she convinced the Charlotte County Tourist Development Council to subscribe for a mobile app called Otocast because it contains an audio feature that obviates the need to read text in the sun. But there’s another benefit that Gaylord likes just as much. Find out on WGCU what that benefit is.

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Sarasota Art one of five museums hosting ‘Skyway 2024: A Contemporary Collaboration’

The Sarasota Art Museum has just opened Skyway 2024: A Contemporary Collaboration in concert with the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, the Tampa Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Art St. Petersburg and The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. The works on display at SAM are as compelling as they are diverse. Read the story on WGCU.org.

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4     THEATRE PRODUCTIONS

‘5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche’ plays at Alliance for the Arts September 5-15

In 2019, Stephanie Davis directed the Evan Linder-Andrew Hobgood satire 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche for Theatre Conspiracy. She returns to the Alliance for the Arts to direct the show again this year because it’s such a good time for the audiences who see it. Listen to the story on WGCU.

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Kristyn Estes’ ‘Swingset’ exposes Marco Island’s ‘dirty little secret’

Kristyn Estes’ Swingset is an entertaining story of mixed signals, mishaps and miscommunication that sends its two characters, Jake and Abby, into a romantic tailspin. Playwright Kristyn Estes got the idea for the comedy over coffee one morning a couple of years ago when she first got wind of Marco’s “dirty little secret.” Hear the story on WGCU.

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Belle Theatre’s ‘Encore’: a high-octane trip down Broadway

The Belle Theatre in Cape Coral is celebrating Broadway with a cabaret-style revue called Encore. One factor that makes Encore different from other Broadway revues is the effort Belle Theatre has made to cast some of this area’s favorite performers in unexpected roles … along with sprinkling in a handful of former stars who haven’t been on stage in a while. Listen to the story – and some musical clips – on WGCU.

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Agatha Christie’s ‘Mousetrap’ at Broadway Palm on through September 21

Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap opens at Broadway Palm on August 16. Mousetrap tells the story of seven strangers who are stranded during a blizzard at Monkswell Manor, a secluded countryside guesthouse. Their predicament takes a chilling turn when a police sergeant arrives on skis, worried that a murderer-at-large is among the guests. As news spreads of a murder in London, the guests discover that the killer is in their midst. As suspicion mounts, each guest unveils their murky past, adding layers of intrigue to unfolding drama until the identity and the motive are finally revealed.

The play opened in London’s West End in 1952 and ran continuously until March 16, 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic. It then re-opened on May 17, 2021. The longest-running West End show, it also has by far the longest run of any play in the world, with its 29,500th performance having taken place as of February 2024.

The show runs through September 21. Performances are Wednesday through Sunday evenings with selected matinees. Tickets are $60 to $85 with group and children’s prices available. Tickets are now on sale and can be reserved by calling (239) 278-4422, visiting BroadwayPalm.com or in person at 1380 Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers.

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Broadway Palm’s ‘Mousetrap’ on WGCU

Agatha Christie’s “Mousetrap” has been captivating audiences around the world for more than 70 years. In fact, it has enjoyed the longest run of any play in the world, with its 29,500th performance having taken place in February 2024. The whodunit tells the story of seven strangers who are stranded during a blizzard at Monkswell Manor, a secluded countryside guesthouse. Their predicament takes a chilling turn when a police sergeant arrives on skis, worried that among the guests is a murderer-at-large with a rather distinctive calling card. Find out what it is on WGCU.

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Local producer Trace Talley brings ‘A Few Good Men’ to SWFL stages

When 7Mary34 Director Trace Talley was in ninth grade, he saw “A Few Good Men” at the Kennedy Center. Now he’s producing the Aaron Sorkin play, which opens at Fort Myers Theatre on September 12. Listen to Trace talk up the show on WGCU.

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The Studio Players producing Terrence McNally’s ‘It’s Only a Play’  through September 8

The Studio Players brings Terrence McNally’s It’s Only a Play to the Joan Jenks Auditorium stage August 23-September 8. Set in the New York townhouse of a Broadway producer, the creative team behind The Golden Egg anxiously awaits the opening night reviews. There’s the producer herself, the terrified playwright, his best friend, the has-been female lead, the British director, and a theater critic (wait, why is he there?). Filled with one-liners about the entertainment world that will make you laugh and cringe, this show will remind you that there truly is no business like show business. The Joan Jenks Auditiorium is located in the Golden Gate Community Center.

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Urbanite Theatre’s ‘Modern Works Festival’ celebrates female playwrights and theatre-makers

Urbanite Theatre’s Modern Works Festival takes place in Sarasota September 4 to 8 and according to Producing Artistic Director Summer Wallace, the event is a celebration of female playwrights and theater-makers, who are still vastly under-represented in the theater industry.

“We use the festival to kind of showcase female work, as a whole,” Wallace said. Hear the full story on WGCU.