Royal Palm Players celebrate
20th Anniversary with
2009-2010 seasonThe 2009-2010 will be a special season for Boca Grande's Royal Palm Players as the island theater group celebrates its 20th anniversary with what may be its best lineup of shows and events yet. From the Halloween Horror Night on Oct. 30 to the Anna Awards on April 23, RPP has something special planned for every production.
Halloween Horror Night - October 30
Click HERE to Order Tickets
Oct. 30, 7 p.m., at Temptation Restaurant. Admission is $25 plus the cost of dinner. Join Royal Palm Players for a frightfully fun evening starting with a devilishly delicious dinner followed by two horrifyingly scary skits and a creepy costume contest. Putrid prizes will be awarded to the Scariest Costume, the Most Original and the Judges' Choice.
Sarasota Ballet - November 7
Royal Palm Players is proud to present an evening of grace, beauty and elegance with the Sarasota Ballet. Join us on November 7th at 8:00 pm in the Community Center to see some of the finest ballet dancers in the area perform. This is their RPP debut and we know it will be an exciting cultural event for the public. Tickets are $30.00 each. This show is suitable for children. Don’t miss it!
"Sex Please We're Sixty" - November 19-22
by local playwrights Michael and Susan Parker
Mrs. Stancliffe’s Rose Cottage Bed & Breakfast has been successful for many years. Her Guests (nearly all women) return year after year. Her next door neighbor, the elderly, silver-tongued, Bud “Bud the Stud” Davis believes they come to spend time with him in romantic liaisons. The prim and proper Mrs. Stancliffe steadfastly denies this, but really doesn’t do anything to prevent it. She reluctantly accepts the fact that “Bud the Stud” is, in fact, good for business. Her other neighbor and would-be suitor Henry Mitchell is a retired chemist who has developed a blue pill called “Venusia,” after Venus the goddess of love, to increase the libido of menopausal women. The pill has not been tested. Add to the guest list three older women: Victoria Ambrose, a romance novelist whose personal life seems to be lacking in romance; Hillary Hudson, a friend of Henry’s who has agreed to test the Venusia; and Charmaine Beauregard, a “Southern Belle” whose libido does not need to be increased! Bud gets his hands on some of the Venusia pills and the fun begins as he attempts to entertain all three women! The women mix up Bud’s Viagra pills with the Venusia and we soon discover that it has a strange effect on men: it gives them all the symptoms of menopausal women, complete with hot flashes, mood swings, weeping and irritability! When the mayhem settles down, all the women find their lives moving in new and surprising directions.
Christmas Show - December 10-13
Our Christmas Show features two one-act plays, "Gift of the Magi" and "Six Who Were There." We are also featuring a guest vocal artist who will present seasonal favorites for your holiday enjoyment.
"Gift of the Magi"
Adaptation of O.Henry’s classic,
By Brainerd DuffieldIt’s Jim and Della’s wedding anniversary. They’re young, love, and flat broke. Finding a gift that will express the warmth and closeness they feel for each other is almost impossible. O.Henry, in this bittersweet love story, describes the gifts Della and Jim give, and the price they have to pay. Their folly, however, makes them even richer. This is a beautiful, sympathetic and warmly human account of the well-known story.
"Six Who Were There"
June Lauzon
A meaningful, warm play for the season. Six different people are represented, each giving his or her own version of what happened on that starry and eventful night in Bethlehem: the Innkeeper’s Wife; Joseph; Shammuah, one of the shepherds; Melchior; a Roman Soldier; and Mary.
Shakespeare Workshop presents "Othello" - January 7-10
In this year’s low key yet fast paced workshop, we are presenting the Shakespearian Tragedy “Othello”. Our Instructor will be Charlie Tyler, Boca Grande’s resident expert on Shakespeare. Othello begins with fascination, elopement and the intense mutual devotion between the Moor Othello and his white wife Desdemona, and ends with jealous rage and violent death. Classes will be held in the Women’s Club Room on January 7th, 8th and 9th. Cost of the class is $75.00. There will be a reading by the students on January 10th, also in the Women’s Club Room, that is available to the pubic for only $5.00 a seat. Classes and the reading will start promptly at 7:00. Enrollment is limited, so sign up soon!
Wine Tasting Dinner - January 13
Do you consider yourself a food and wine connoisseur? Yes? Then you need to be with Royal Palm Players for their annual Wine Tasting Dinner. It will be held at 7:00 at the Temptation Restaurant on January 13th of 2010. Enjoy a gourmet dinner, with a glass of delicious, fine wine served after each scrumptious course. Socialize with your “Boca Buddies” about RPP’s fabulous season and make this evening a night to remember.
"Other People's Money" - January 14
Jerry Sterner
Presented at Literature Forum, Jan. 14, 1 p.m., Woman's Club Room. A dramatic reading starring RPP favorites including Patrick Carey, Dan Headington, Alice Gorman, Vivian Rice and Charlie Tyler fits the forum's theme, "The Root of All Evil? Greed, Power and Ambition." Two sides of the economic concept referred to as "creative destruction" are dramatically portrayed, in which innovative entry by entrepreneurs is the force that sustains long-term economic growth, even as it destroys the value of established companies.
"Love Letters" - January 21-24
Love Letters is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominated play by A. R. Gurney. The play centers on just two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. Using the epistolary form sometimes found in novels, they sit side by side at tables and read the notes, letters and cards - in which over nearly 50 years, they discuss their hopes and ambitions, dreams and disappointments, victories and defeats - that have passed between them throughout their separated lives.
Melissa is portrayed as rich, spoiled, with a private nurse and private schools, artistic, certainly lascivious, divorced, eventually alcoholic, bi-polar and suicidal. She hates writing “these goddamned letters” while Andy Ladd is square, destined for Yale, a naval officer, a lawyer, and a U.S. Senator, and says that “writing letters is what he loves most”. In his preface to Love Letters, A. R. Gurney suggests that his emphasis in this play on the importance of writing is more than coincidental. Many in the audience leave a powerful Love Letters performance with a tear on their cheeks.
Poetry Night - January 28
Do you think you have what it takes to become the next William Blake, Robert Frost or Elizabeth Barrett Browning? If so, Poetry Night is the event for you! We will be dine at The Temptation Restaurant first, then enjoy listening to the written words of some of our fellow friends. Readings will consist of poetry, odes, haiku, limericks, short stories or anything you think might be entertaining and/or educational to your audience. It’s a fun night for all, whether you are there to listen or to read. Ticket price is only $12.00. Don’t miss it!
20th Anniversary Celebration - February 6
Royal Palm Players spectacular 20th Anniversary Celebration will be no less that. SPECTACULAR! Join us on February 6th 2010 for an evening of fabulous food, decadent drinks, marvelous music and a fantastic live auction to raise money for Royal Palm‘s 20th year. This event is still in the planning stages but it is sure to be the best fundraiser of the season. After all, you can only be 20 once!
"Razzle Dazzle" - February 18-21
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Royal Palm Players presents another fabulous evening of cabaret. Join the fun on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, February 18, 19 and 20 at 8:00 PM and Sunday, February 21 at 2:00 PM at the Community Center Theatre. This time we will be presenting all the showstoppers and bringing the house down once and for all. Please join your favorite local singers to help celebrate Royal Palm Players 20th Anniversary Season. This will be a night you won’t soon forget and THE show not to miss. Tickets are $25.00.
Murder Mystery Train - March 6
Ride on the Seminole Gulf Railway, March 6. Join the fun to unravel a comical mystery and decide who the killer is and why they did such a dastardly deed. A delicious dinner is included in the price, consisting of an appetizer, soup, fruit cup or salad, your choice of either a chicken, beef or fish dish, and of course, dessert. Minimum group of 24 needed.
"Annoyance" - March 18-21
A Comedy by Sam Bobrick
A very annoying man goes to see two therapists with the hopes of becoming less annoying. In his pursuit of mental stability he drives them both over the edge.
Scene 1 - Ethan Steckler, a man in his early thirties, has spent his entire life suffering from an awful affliction - he is annoying. Ethan seeks help from therapist Dr. Anita Wells. Unfortunately, Ethan’s “annoying-ness” is nothing like she has ever seen and causes her to suffer a nervous breakdown during his first session.
Scene 2 - Dr. Sidney Gates, the husband of Dr. Wells, has taken over her patients while she recovers. After only a short time with Ethan, he is able to offer a diagnosis - that Ethan suffers from extreme self-loathing, which in his case, is completely justified. Underestimating the power of Ethan to annoy, Dr.Gates finally loses control and makes an earnest attempt to kill him.
Scene 3 - In the final scene, Dr. Wells and Dr. Gates are now so obsessed with ridding the world of Ethan’s destructive personality that they lost sight of their professional responsibilities. They opt for an ethically questionable treatment that will turn Ethan into a vegetable - hopefully a pleasant one.
"The Last of the Red Hot Lovers" - April 8-11
Neil Simon
At the comedy’s core is Barney Cashman, a middle-aged, married nebbish who wants to join the sexual revolution before it’s too late. A gentle soul with no experience in adultery, he fails in each of three seductions - a sexpot who likes cigarettes, whiskey, and other women’s husbands, an actress friend who he discovers is madder than a hatter, and his wife’s best friend, a staunch moralist.
20th Anniversary Anna Awards - April 23
Roll out the red carpet as your local celebrities walk through the doors to the Community Center for the annual Anna Awards. This show is presented “Oscar Style“, complete with presenters, video clips, winning envelopes, and glamorous awards. It is Royal Palm Players’ chance to show their actors how much they are appreciated. Winners are determined by secret ballot. Only the Managing/Artistic Director knows for sure because she counts them. The doors to the office will be locked the afternoon of the show and the voted will be tallied. That evening the winners will be announced during an presentation filled with glitz and glamour. On April 23rd, 2010 at 8:00 it will be the place to be seen. Don‘t miss it!
