Mondays are Dark

Well, the Theatre Festival makes a lie of this column's title one more time. This particular Monday you have a choice between the anniversary party for MiamiArtzine or a play reading by MadCat Theatre - they'll be reading Sheperd's Pie at The Light Box at 7pm.

It's Their Party
..and they can give away tickets if they want to. The Miami Theatre Examiner reports that Actors' Playhouse is offering two-for-one tickets to see The Marvelous Wondrettes on Wednesday and Thursday performances during the month of October.

Drama Queen on DramaWorks
Christine Dolen of the Herald's Drama Queen blog fills us in on the Palm Beach DramaWorks new season, discusses Ibsen's A Doll's House, as well as outlining some of their upcoming projects.

Sexual Perversity in Miami Lakes
Broadway World reports that The Alliance Theatre Lab will be opening David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago in just a few weeks.
Laughing Matterz and their New Home
J.W. Arnold of MiamiArtzine.com talks with Mark and Rita Wells about the return of Laffing Matterz, which opened on Thursday night at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

“(Audiences) are really going to enjoy the experience at the Broward Center. Also, in this incarnation, we’ve found two writers from New York who’ve contributed five songs between them. Of the 23 songs in the show, 18 are new,” Mark promises. “We needed to rework the show because we’ve been dark for several months and we want to come back with a bang.”

And it seems to be paying off.

Speaking of Laughing
The Palm Beach Daily News talks to Louis Tyrell about Florida Stage's upcoming production of Two Jews Walk Into A War... It's a very dark comedy; the last two Jews in Kabul move into what's left of the synagogue, and they hate each others' guts. Director Tyrell describes it as "The Sunshine Boys meets Waiting for Godot."

MiamiArtZine.com Turns Four
Speaking of which, Mary Damiano of MiamiArztine.com talks about the growth of the online arts magazine, and also recaps recent goings on in the theatre community, including The 24 Hour Theatre Project, Caldwell Theatre's Sunday in the Park with George, as well as some of the shows that opened over the weekend.

Welcome Back, Ron
Hannah Sampson of The Miami Herald talks with school teacher Ron Palillo.

"They haven't done this yet,'' Palillo said, ``but I'm waiting for the `Ooh ooh ooooooh!'''

Trivia point: Mr. Palillo appeared in the final production at the old Jupiter Theatre, Breaking Legs.

Cuillo Center to Re-open.
Jan Sjostrom of the Palm Beach Daily News talks with Bob Cuillo, who plans to resume operations in the near future.

He shuttered the theater because the economy was in the doldrums, he said. “I had five-six people working there,” he said. “I couldn’t afford that. I told everyone to take a vacation and shut the place up for the summer.”

Is it a vacation if you don't come back from it? Apparently he's bringing in a new manager to replace "former" executive director Zacariah Phillips.