Here’s what’s behind the curtain this week in Tampa Bay theater…
WHAT, NO PICKLE? In Jobsite Theater’s Annapurna, opening Friday, veteran actress Angela Bond (Motherhood the Musical at the Straz, ABC TV’s Nashville) tackles one of the great challenges any actor can assay: cooking on stage, or more specifically, assembling a Dagwood-worthy toasted avocado, cheddar cheese, onion and anchovy paste sandwich (with mustard). Constructed for her dying, cowboy-poet ex played by Paul Potenza (Jobsite’s Race, freeFall Theatre’s Sleeping Beauty), the überwich required an entire evening’s rehearsal to plan out, and its achievement occupies a full 20 pages of setup, execution and cleanup during which Bond and Potenza also continue to sift through the detritus of their characters’ double-decade estrangement. “Detritus” is a core component of Sharr White’s funny drama, as the story plays out in the decrepit ex-husband’s Rocky Mountain hermit trailer, recreated by designer Brian Smallheer down to the smallest detail, including an antique elephant-in-a-sailor-suit cookie jar, a Kimchi crock and a filthy Pokémon doll donated by the assistant stage manager.
“I'M FLY-ING HIGH... BUT I’VE GOT A FEELING SHE’S LEAV-ING”: Stageworks Theatre’s new production of the perennially crowd-pleasing Fats Waller musical Ain't Misbehavin', opening tomorrow night, is perhaps mistitled this go-round. Someone IS misbehavin’! Because someone is leavin’ her friends and fans behind for the most selfish reason EVAR: studyin’ to become a more skillful performer. Popular local actress and nightclub chanteuse Tia Jemison (last year’s BotB Bestest Actress for Stageworks’ A Raisin in the Sun) is making her final (for now) Tampa Bay appearance in Ain’t Miz, after which she sets off for Chicago, and the Theatre School at DePaul University graduate conservatory therein. “I'm excited to further my learning and craft,” Jemison says, though the TheatreUSF grad admits she is less excited about Chicago winters. We’ll leave the light on for her. Sniff.
ALSO: ASL @ ASOLO: At tomorrow night’s opening of Theatre Odyssey’s tenth annual Ten-Minute Play Festival, an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter will enhance the evening’s nine little playlets for hearing-impaired patrons. Playing in the Jane B. Cook Theatre at FSU/Asolo Center for the Performing Arts in Sarasota, the festival features a microplay about Alzheimer's, another about centenarians meeting at the world’s smallest high school reunion, and even a tiny tale about a search for a mysterious locket, penned by CL theatre critic Mark Leib. (If you dig itty-bitty plays but can’t make the festival, note that Stageworks will present 10-minuters set in Tampa Bay as part of its TampaWorks festival in June.)
THE YANKS ARE COMING: In the latest sign that Season Announcement Season is finally upon us, the Tampa Repertory Theatre has spilled the beans about its upcoming 5th Anniversary Season. (That’s either "Wood" or "Silverware" to you wedding planners.) Collected as “American Visions,” all four plays in TampaRep’s 2015/2016 season are by American playwrights, including Lillian Hellman, Sam Shepard, new playwright Lauren Gunderson, and the First Avenger, Eugene O’Neill. TampaRep is also shaking things up by splitting its season across two performance spaces: the Smith Black Box at Tampa Preparatory School and the studio space at USF Tampa, where this season's Imagining Madoff broke TampaRep's previous attendance record.
Got a tip for SCENE BREAKER? Email Scene Breaker in care of A&E Editor Julie Garisto, [email protected].
