Mondays are Dark

We've had a nice little cool front blow through over the weekend; a good excuse to stay indoors and catch one of the numerous productions playing on area stages.

Here's your Monday reading list!

The Next Generation
The Miami Herald fills us in on the high school troupe that will represent Florida at the International Thespian Theatre Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska, this coming June.  There's just one little hitch:

Somehow, the troupe will have to raise almost $20,000 to fund that trip. The school and the district can’t afford to front them the money.

Speaking of Fundraising
Mosaic Theatre has found someone who's matching any donation made up until April 17.

Feel it
The Examiner reports that The Playground Theatre will be offering a "sensory-friendly" performance of A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, but doesn't tell us what that means.

From Postponed to Canceled
Caldwell Theatre Company, a South Florida institution for 37 years, canceled its final production of its 2011-12 season, the world premiere of Christopher Demos-Browns' Our Lady of Allapattah.  The news was broken by Florida Theater On Stage,

The Caldwell Theatre Company, the region’s second oldest professional theater still in operation, has cancelled its last show of the season and is considering every possible scenario for its future, its artistic director announced early Wednesday afternoon.

“Every option is on the table,” said Artistic Director Clive Cholerton, who has been fighting for years to restore solvency to the Boca Raton theater.

Aggravating the attempt to recover from the financial problems was transparency.  Cholerton had publically acknowledged the financial challenges for years and discussed the possibility of seeking Chapter 11 protection in February. In contrast, Florida Stage had been in fiscal trouble for some time but managed to keep it quiet while insiders tried to fix the financial situation, even selling season subscriptions during the weekend that the board of directors voted to shut down the theater.

The Miami Herald followed up with a report that the company had worked out a ticket exchange with Palm Beach Dramaworks for Our Lady ticket holders.

“As much as we wanted to personally honor our ticket holders, it simply wasn’t feasible,” Cholerton said in a statement. “We continue to explore all of our options and will make a formal announcement when all of the facts have been addressed. We are incredibly appreciative of the generosity of Bill Hayes and Sue Ellen Beryl of Palm Beach Dramaworks.”

Florida Theater On Stage followed up with a report that another Palm Beach County theatre would honor Caldwell tickets:

The Plaza Theatre, a new company that opened in the former home of Florida Stage in Manalapan, will redeem tickets from the Caldwell’s Our Lady of Allapattah show with admission to its current production of Music! Music! Music!

Talkin' Broadway summarized the entire story.

The Caldwell Theatre has been called South Florida's "Cinderella Theatre" and Boca Raton's "Jewel in the Crown." Despite the financial issues at hand, Cholerton remains open about the possible future of the Caldwell Theatre as they continue to make plan for the 2012-2013 season. "Every option is on the table" he said.

Meanwhile...
In Miami, the Coconut Grove Playhouse is still closed.  The Miami Herald reports that it may be awhile long before we'll see any forward momentum, and The Miami New Times concurs:

Neither side seems willing to budge -- and that likely means an even longer wait for the Coconut Grove residents who staged a "Give It Back" protest in support of reviving the playhouse earlier this month.

It's no surprise to anyone that the Aries Group, which has wanted to develop the Grove site all along, is the sticking point.  Grovites have been opposed to any development beyond simply having a theater on the spot for decades, but the Grove board and Aries blithely moved ahead with their (failed) plans.