Venice Theatre Announces a Full 2021-22 Season
Venice Theatre just announced its coming season.
Image: Everett Dennison
What a difference a year makes. Last spring, Venice Theatre was among the many theaters locally and around the country that had to hurriedly shut their doors without finishing planned seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, just about 12 months later, VT held an outdoor, socially distanced public announcement Monday evening of its upcoming 2021-2022 season, moving forward with a full slate of productions under new safety and health guidelines.
Producing executive director Murray Chase and general manager/director of diversity Kristofer Geddie revealed the community theater’s 72nd season of shows, with a little accompaniment from Michelle Kasanofsky and Kim Kollar on numbers from upcoming musicals. The 72nd season will be available for purchase April 1.
The Boudreaux family at VT's parking lot announcement.
Image: Renee McVety
Coming up in the mainstage season in the Jervey Theatre:
John Cariani’s Almost, Maine, set in a small town where the residents find themselves falling in and out of love in some unexpected ways. Running Sept. 24 through Oct. 10.
The Great American Trailer Park Musical. This comedy, set in Starke, Florida, and filled with such events as a hysterical pregnancy and a broken electric chair, filled houses in earlier runs in 2009, 2011 and 2013. It’s back, Oct. 29 through Nov. 28.
Ain’t Misbehavin’. This popular musical shaped around the music of Fats Waller, a 1978 Tony winner, gets the joint jumpin’ Jan. 14 through Feb. 6.
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Another popular show in the past for VT, this Alan Menken-Howard Ashman-Tim Rice musical retells the classic story of Belle and her enchanted Beast. Onstage Feb. 25 through March 27.
To Kill a Mockingbird. This adaptation of Harper Lee’s story of a small Alabama town, lawyer Atticus Finch and his daughter Scout returns to the VT stage April 15 through May 1.
Meanwhile, over in the smaller sized Pinkerton Theatre:
An Act of God, by former Daily Show writer David Javerbaum, promises laughs in a satirical conversation with God, Aug. 27 through Sept. 5.
The Mystery of Irma Vep, dubbed “A Penny Dreadful,” is Charles Ludlam’s vaudeville-like spoof of Gothic melodramas and a quick-change marathon for two actors who play all the roles. Running Sept. 24 through Oct. 10.
Assisted Living the Musical: The Home for the Holidays. This sequel to the first musical comedy by Rick Compton and Betsy Bennett, set in a nursing home (yes, you read that right), entertains in a holiday manner, Nov. 19 through Dec. 19.
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. One talented singer-actress will bear the role of songstress Billie Holiday in Lanie Robertson’s look at one of her final performances, in a seedy bar in Philadelphia in 1959. Onstage Jan. 21 through Feb. 20.
The Last Five Years. Jason Robert Brown’s touching musical hit traces the five-year life of a modern New York marriage, March 4 through April 3.
Blackbird. A tense drama by David Harrower centered around Una and Ray, their relationship 15 years earlier and a dramatic confrontation in the present. Playing April 15 through May 1.
Hamlet. Yes, no less than Shakespeare’s masterpiece about a Danish prince closes out the Stage 2 season, May 13-29, 2022.
VT also presents its “Generations” Series offering theater for all ages, with productions of Young Frankenstein (July 8-11 and 14-17), Getting to Know...Once Upon a Mattress (July 30 through Aug. 1), She Kills Monsters: Young Adventurers Edition (Oct. 22 through Nov. 7), A Christmas Carol (Dec. 10-20) and Bugsy Malone (May 20-29).
To purchase subscription packages, visit venicetheatre.org or call (941) 488-1115, ext. 235.
