PRESS RELEASE
Naples, Fla. (April 26, 2021) – TheatreZone, a professional Equity theatre now in its 17th season specializing in Broadway musicals, announces its 2021-2022 season shows and concerts. The shows are: Home for the Holidays (Dec. 10-12); I Love My Wife (Jan. 13-23, 2022); Bright Star (Feb. 10-20); Camelot (March 10-20); and The Bridges of Madison County (April 21-May 1).
“We are thrilled to return to presenting large-scale productions for our audience’s enjoyment,” says Mark Danni, TheatreZone’s Founding Artistic Director. “We’re planning a blockbuster Season 17 with a world premiere, a variety of traditional shows, audience favorites, and shows that may be new to some audience members.”
TheatreZone’s Season 17 concert series includes the return of the extremely popular Mersey Beatles, who have sold out shows on its stage for the past four seasons, as well as a world premiere and three great new concerts: Simon & Garfunkel: Live in Central Park, revisited (Jan. 17, 2022); The Feud: Sinatra & Rosselli, Two Guys from Hoboken (Jan. 29, 2022); The Mersey Beatles: Favorites of Naples (Feb. 22, 2022); Mack is Back: The Music of Bobby Darin (Feb. 24, 2022), and Larry Alexander: Broadway and Back (March 14, 2022).
“Not only are we following all state and local reopening guidelines, but we will be opening the box office one-half hour prior to showtime, and concessions will be available during intermission,” adds Danni. We encourage potential patrons to purchase tickets sooner rather than later if you’re interested in reserving the best seats.”
The season kicks off December 10-12 with four productions of Home for the Holidays, a TheatreZone original. Now in its fifth year, Home for the Holidays celebrates the joy of the season, with a professional orchestra and TheatreZone fan favorites performing holiday favorites among an array of sparking costumes and energetic dance.
Well received when TheatreZone staged the production in its fifth season, I Love My Wife (Jan. 13-23, 2022) is an innovative satire of the sexual revolution. Set in the 1970’s, this comedic production features musicians on the stage and melded into the play, where they sing, dress up in fancy clothes and comment on the action, all as a kind of Greek chorus.
“We are happy to bring this production back due to its previous success,” says Danni. “The topic sounds racy, but the show is not. It’s more about how the couples get to bed than what happens when they get there. I also love that the band are characters in the show and have nine costume changes.”
TheatreZone’s first concert event of the season, Simon & Garfunkel: Live in Central Park, revisited, will be presented at 4:00p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 17, 2022. In September 1981, this iconic folk rock duo’s free benefit concert drew 500,000 people and became the seventh-largest concert attended to date in U.S. history. Performed with proceeds benefiting the redevelopment and maintenance of Central Park, the set list for this tribute concert includes such hits as “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “The Boxer,” and “Late in the Evening.”
On January 29, 2022 at 2:00p.m. and 7:30p.m., TheatreZone will host the world premiere of The Feud: Sinatra & Roselli: Two Guys from Hoboken, The Story and The Music. The Feud is based on the 40 plus-year professional and personal relationship between Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Roselli, both great singers who lived on the same block in Hoboken, N.J. Once Sinatra was hired by Harry James, his career skyrocketed, and he became a legend in motion pictures as well as music. Roselli, on the other hand, was a true saloon singer, working in small nightclubs and beer halls for years until he started to achieve success in his early thirties.
“The world premiere of The Feud is a fascinating story with a unique premise, and it features songs everyone will know and enjoy,” says Danni. “It’s a memory play by Dennis DelleFave, the former road manager for Jimmy Roselli, and it illustrates so many of the different stories and events that he lived through.”
Bright Star, inspired by a true story and featuring a Tony®-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, will be presented February 10-20. Bright Star tells a beautiful story of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and ’40s. An uplifting theatrical journey that holds audiences tightly in its grasp. Bright Star is as refreshingly genuine as it is daringly hopeful.
The Mersey Beatles will return to TheaterZone’s stage on February 22, 2022 (4:00 and 7:30 p.m.) to perform its all-new “Favorites of Naples” show. These fan-favorite concerts include beautifully designed costumes, as well as replica guitars, amplifiers and drums, creating an authentic look and sound of the Beatles. Like the original Fab Four, The Mersey Beatles are a band from the great city of Liverpool. These childhood friends share a love of Beatles music, and will perform hits spanning 40+ years, with special emphasis on the songs TheatreZone’s Naples audience espouses.
Mack is Back: The Music of Bobby Darin will be presented on February 24, 2022 at 4:00p.m. and 7:30p.m. Grammy Award-winning American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, film and television actor. This special show honors the legacy of Darin’s career, which spans genres and generations, with popular songs like “Splish Splash,” “Mack The Knife,” “Dream Lover,” “Beyond the Sea,” “Artificial Flowers,” “Clementine,” “That’s All,” and more.
From March 10-20, TheatreZone will present Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot, starring TheatreZone fan favorite Whitney Winfield (Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera) as Guenevere. Audiences can expect to experience a youthful, edgier version of this legendary love triangle of King Arthur, Guenevere and Sir Lancelot. Borrowing from the Arthurian legends, Camelot is the duo’s fantastical masterpiece which triumphed on Broadway in a legendary original production that lead to a film version, and numerous revivals in New York, London and across the globe.
“This new version of Camelot has been enhanced to create stronger connections within the delightful classic,” said Danni. “The definitive score and memorable characters are all there but with a libretto and orchestration adapted for a production which I believe our audiences will appreciate and enjoy.”
On March 14 at 7:30p.m., fan favorite Larry Alexander (The Bridges of Madison County) returns to TheatreZone for one performance of Larry Alexander: Broadway and Back…, the story of how a boy from Tampa gets to New York and ends up in one the greatest musicals in Broadway history. The show will include some of the audience’s favorite Broadway songs as well as stories about the people, some famous, some not, that he met along the way. Audiences will also enjoy songs from a few of the 25 shows that Larry has performed at TheatreZone.
The Bridges of Madison County (April 21-May 1) is based on the best-selling novel and developed by the Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning creative team of Jason Robert Brown (The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World) and Marsha Norman, captures the lyrical expanse of America’s heartland along with the yearning entangled in the eternal question, “What if…?” Winner of the 2014 Tony Award for Best Score and Orchestrations, this sweeping romance about the roads we travel, the doors we open and the bridges we dare to cross will leave audiences breathless. Larry Alexander (Sinatra…My Way, Bravo Broadway!) will star in the lead role as National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid.
“With its soaring score and touching story, The Bridges of Madison County is a strong addition to any theatre's season,” says Danni. “The powerful roles of Francesca and Robert are a dream come true for any actor, while the ensemble is rich with characters who tell their own individual stories and receive plenty of focus on stage.”
