Mondays are Dark

We're in the final week of the South Florida Theatre Festival.  This week's events include 360 Storytelling at Sixth Star Studios on Wednesday, tours of the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on Monday, and Conundrum Stage's reading of Poe Choices: Celebrating the Works of Edgar Allan Poe on Saturday, October 23rd.

And while  you're ruminating on these events, here's your Monday reading list:

Brochu is Back
The Palm Beach Post talks with Jim Brochu, who's back in South Florida to perform his hit show Zero Hour, a one-man biographical play about Zero Mostel.  It played to critical raves at The Stage Door Theatre a couple of years ago, before moving to New York City, where it has been playing ever since.  It's playing a limited engagement at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre through October 24.

"And then on my New York debut in 1970, in a show called Unfair to Goliath, Jelly Talmer in The New York Post  said, ‘If they ever do the Zero Mostel story, Jim Brochu is my choice for the lead.’ So 40 years ago, I was being compared to Mostel."

The article also includes a quick blurb about Slow Burn Theatre's current production of The Rocky Horror Show:

"Really the reason why we’re doing it is we just want to do a dirty rock ‘n’ roll show," concedes Patrick Fitzwater, co-artistic head and the production’s director. "Because right now, you’ve got Glee, Rent, Spring Awakening. So why not let today’s kids know this is where the rock musical’s roots come from."

Hap also interviewed Brochu for The Palm Beach Artspaper, where we learn how the show was booked into the Maltz:

“Two years ago, I did a cruise to Antarctica on the Crystal Symphony, where I did one performance of ‘Zero Hour,’ kind of a tab version of it,” explains Brochu. “The day after I got back, the phone rang, and it was (artistic director) Andrew Kato, asking me to bring the show to the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. And I asked, ‘Well, how did you hear about the show?’ He said, ‘Milton Maltz just came back from his cruise to Antarctica.’

It just goes to show, it's not what you know...

Dream(girls) Come True.
The Miami Herald tells us about the return of Dreamgirls; the show has been re-tooled for the 21st century, and features FIU alumnus Sayesha Mercado as Deena Jones.  It's coming this week to the Arsht Center.

"It took me six months of auditioning and callbacks,'' Mercado, 23, says over lunch at Joe Allen on Miami Beach. ``When I finally got the call that I had the part, I happened to be walking in front of Radio City Music Hall in New York. I was jumping up and down, screaming, and I didn't care. No one could steal my joy!''

Fringe Festival Winner comes to Broward
BroadwayWorld.com tells us a little bit about Killing Kevin Spacey, which took "Best of Fest" in  the Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton fringe festivals in 2008.  It plays at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on October 29 and 30.

Still Playing
BroadwayWorld reminds us that Steel Magnolias is still playing at The Stage Door Theatre.

The Lights Are Bright on the Bay
The Cultist tells us about the new Aventura Arts and Cultural Center.

Back on Broadway
Janet Dacal will be reprising the role of Alice in the new Wonderland musical, according to Playbill and the South Florida Theater Review.

Dacal graduated from Miami’s Coral Park High School and earned a communications degree from Florida International University. She appeared in local productions including playing several characters in Actors’ Playhouse’s Five Course Love which won her a Carbonell nomination.  - SFTR

Her dissertation included a film about bringing a children's theatre production from concept to complete staging, and included a certain South Florida theatre blogger.  She's a hard worker and an amazing talent, and we're sure this won't be her last star turn on Broadway.

After Cabaret...
Entre' Act Theatrix is presenting Cabaret at the Caldwell Theatre through October 24.  As the musical deals with Germany's descent into Nazism, the producers thought it would be fitting for survivors of the resultant Holocaust to share their experiences after the matinee performances.  Read all about it on BroadwayWorld.com.

Innovation, Outreach, and Collaboration
Jan Sjostrom of the Palm Beach Daily News examines the ways arts groups are dealing with the recession.  (Hey, Jan - get your ass across the bridge and review Candida, already!)

Meanwhile...
...in Coconut Grove, The Miami Herald reports that the ball might have finally started rolling to install GableStage as the new Coconut Grove Playhouse; the Miracle Theatre Examiner says Joe Adler promises to continue producing the quality plays, whatever the name of the company.