Mondays are Dark

Here's your Monday reading list-

Get Your Irish Up
Mosaic Theatre is still looking for contributions to its A Taste of Ireland Gala & Auction fund-raising event, according to BroadwayWorld.com.  Suggested support ranges from merely buying tickets to the event, up to donating items to be included in the auction.  The Theatre Scene will be purchasing a tribute ad; we hope others will join in supporting one of the most vibrant theatres in the local theatre scene.

The Young Ones
The Miami Herald gives us the skinny on The State Theatre Project, which opened its first full-fledged production last week.  Many of The Project's company members have started making names for themselves as journeyman actors of the first stripe, but they still wanted to do more than break in on other people's stages. 

Speaking of Fund Raisers
BroadwayWorld reports that Florida Stage is holding an event at West Palm Beach's new Lake Pavilion.  Titled Divas Under Glass: A Cabaret Feast for the Senses, the event will also honor Leona Chanin, Sydelle Meyer and Lee Wolf, three women who have been strong supporters of the company.

Not Your Father's Sound of Music
The Sound Of Music has played Jupiter before, but this is the first time the Maltz Jupiter Theatre takes a stab at it, and the Palm Beach Post talks with the director about it.

"One of the things that’s sort of driven me crazy about The Sound of Music is people concentrate so much on trying to bring the film onstage," he sighs. "And the film was a very safe, homogenized telling that was palatable without it being too threatening or pushing too many buttons. But it’s a really magnificent play if you do it as a play."

M Ensemble in the Wilderness
The Drama Queen reports that the venerable M Ensemble, which gave up its home due to high costs and low revenues, has partnered with the Arsht Center to present the gospel musical Crowns.  It will star Tony Award winner Melba Moore, and the cast will include South Florida favorite Lela Elam, as well as Yaya Browne, Christina Alexander, Paulette Dozier, Chiquila Brown and Don Seward.

The Mother Of All Actors Comes To Town.
1st Draft reports that two-time Tony Award winning actress Frances Sternhagen is coming to Florida Stage to read one of the entrants in their 5th Annual 1st Stage New Works Festival.  She'll also be interviewed by producing director Louis Tyrell in place the of the festival's keynote address.

Speaking of Star Power
BroadwayWorld reports that Donna McKechnie is bringing her biopic show My Musical Comedy Life to The Playground Theatre.  It's part of the a new initiative at The Playground called Between Engagements.

Lansky and Music on the Water
The Aventura Arts & Cultural Center is packed with theatrical offerings according to The Drama Queen.

First up, from tonight through Sunday, is Say it With Music: The Songs of Irving Berlin featuring Judy Scott.  Also on the series are Time After Time: The Songs of Jule Styne (Feb. 9-13), A Grand Tour: The Songs of Jerry Herman (March 9-13) and The Night Is Filled with Music: The Music of the RKO Pictures Era (April 13-17).

Also on the horizon is the center's Double Chai Theatrical Series.  Whatever the odd origin of the name, the series includes the return of critically acclaimed production such as Mike Burstyn in Lansky and Jim Brochu in Zero Hour, as well as crowd-pleasers Circumcise Me and Meshuggah-Nuns.

Stretching the Great White Way
The Producer's Perspective examines the annual report from The Broadway League; specifically the way national tours affect the economy.

The Long Way to Wall Street
Gordon McConnell is doing Sylvia at Fort Myer's Florida Repertory Theatre, which was just reviewed by Terry Teachout in the Wall Street Journal.  Teachout liked the production, but he really likes Florida Rep:

I wonder how many of the citizens of Fort Myers know exactly how lucky they are to have access to a theater company like Florida Rep. It's easy for regional theatergoers to assume that to see the really good stuff  onstage, you have to go to New York. But after three visits, I feel secure in saying that Florida Rep is one of America's top repertory companies, a troupe that consistently chooses strong plays and produces them with polish and imagination. They've yet to steer me wrong.

Playing in the Park (Lumber) Yard
The Coconut Grove Grapevine reports that after the City of Miami's head banana Mayor decided it can't afford culture, the owners of Shell Lumber offered up their store as a fee venue for Shakespeare Miami's upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet.  They understand what the Mayor is too stupid to grasp; the arts draw people, and usually people who are looking for a dinner before the show and drinks after, stimulating the economy in these harsh times. 

But since he was also too stupid to keep the Film Office, which not only brought in film and television production dollars but also put Miami in the world's living room at no cost to taxpayers, we can't be too surprised. 

So if you're in the Grove, stop in at Shell Lumber and buy something - anything.  And drop a banana off at City Hall for Mayor Regalado.