FORT MYERS, FLA.: Florida Repertory Theatre has announced its 2016–17 season, featuring a mix of musicals and plays, and a world premiere.
“Florida Rep prides itself on producing a wide variety [of shows], and we are especially excited about that variety next season,” said producing artistic director Robert Cacioppo in a statement. “There are comedies for those who want to laugh, dramas for those who want to be challenged, and for the first time in a few years, a musical on the Arcade Theatre stage. This lineup will also showcase the variety in our ensemble of actors, directors, and designers, with so many stories to bring to life through the year. This is not a season to be missed.”
The season will open with Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End (Oct. 7–Nov. 6), by Allison Engel and Margaret Engel, a woman’s story about being and a mother, a housewife, and the writer of the “At Wit’s End” weekly column at a newspaper.
Next up will be Over the River and Through the Woods (Oct. 28–Nov. 16), by Joe DiPietro, about a single Italian-American man who tells his doting grandparents that he is moving across the country.
Following will be Mark St. Germain’s The Best of Enemies (Nov. 18–Dec. 18), about the poison of prejudice and the beauty of friendship.
The season will continue with Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap (Dec. 2–18), about a group of strangers who get trapped by a snowstorm with an unidentified killer among the group.
Next up will be John Guare’s The House of Blue Leaves (Jan. 6–25, 2017), about a zookeeper in Queens who dreams of making it big in Hollywood in 1965.
Following will be Paul Pörtner’s Shear Madness (Jan. 20–March 12, 2017), a murder mystery that takes place at a unisex hair salon, and the audience must decide who the killer is at the conclusion of each performance.
To Kill a Mockingbird (Feb. 17–March 8, 2017) will be next. Adapted by Christopher Sergel from Harper Lee, the story is about a lawyer representing an African-American man framed for a crime he did not commit in the 1930s.
Next up will be The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee (March 24–April 12, 2017), with book by Rachel Sheinkin and music and lyrics by William Finn, a musical about six quirky children participating in a spelling bee.
The season will conclude with a world premiere play (April 14–May 14, 2017), which will be announced this summer.
Florida Repertory Theatre, founded in 1988, has an ensemble of actors and produces both musicals and plays.
