Pittsburgh ‘Pirates of Penzance,’ ‘Elf’ and a comedy about suicide come to Manatee Performing Arts Center
If you like to see the same old musicals and plays over and over, then the 2018-19 Manatee Players season clearly isn’t for you.
For the second year in a row, six of the seven musicals in Stone Hall, the larger of the two theater spaces at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, are new to Manatee Players.
The Bradenton Kiwanis Theater will also be home to a full slate of new productions, including a world premiere.
Producing artistic director Rick Kerby unveiled the new season Monday in the lobby of the Manatee Performing Arts Center.
The one Manatee Players repeat on the mainstage season is “Cabaret” (Oct. 25-Nov. 11). The previous version, Kerby said, wasn’t a hit with audiences. at least partly because of overt sexuality.
I don’t think anyone’s done (“Newsies”) before, other than touring. I think it’s a good title for our audience.
Rick Kerby
Manatee Players producing artistic director“It went way over the top,” Kerby said. “It was before I got here. I’m directing it this time to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
The season starts in August with “Newsies.”
“I don’t think anyone’s done it before, other than touring,” Kerby said. “I think it’s a good title for our audience.”
Other musicals on the main stage are “Anne of Green Gables,” “Elf,” “Pirates of Penzance,” “Mary Poppins,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” and “Barnum.”
The version of the Gilbert and Sullivan classic “Pirates of Penzance” will be re-worked so that it’s about the Pittsburgh Pirates, Kerby said. He picked “Barnum” to close the season as a nod to the recently closed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Among the highlights of the upcoming season in the Bradenton Kiwanis Theater are “Clybourne Park,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning story that has its roots in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun;” “Every Brilliant Thing,” an partially improvised comedy about depression and suicide; and “Into the Night,” which will be the fourth world premiere Manatee Players has produced since moving into the Manatee Performing Arts Center five years ago.
Instead of having an actor play the man with Down Syndrome, we’re going to have an actor who actually has Down syndrome in the role.
Rick Kerby
Manatee Players producing artistic director“It’s about a young man with Down syndrome, and his interactions with his family and his imaginary friend,” Kerby said. “And instead of having an actor play the man with Down Syndrome, we’re going to have an actor who actually has Down syndrome in the role.”
Here’s the entire season schedule:
Stone Hall
“Newsies,” Aug, 9-26.
“Anne of Green Gables,” Sept. 13-30.
“Cabaret,” Oct. 25-Nov. 11.
“Elf,” Nov. 29-Dec.16
“Pirates of Penzance,” Jan. 10-27
“Mary Poppins,” Feb. 14-March 3, 2019
“Ain’t Misbehavin’,” March 21-April 7, 2019
“Barnum,” April 25-May 12, 2019
Bradenton Kiwanis Theater
“Becoming Dr. Ruth,” Aug. 23-Sept. 9.
“Every Brilliant Thing,” Oct. 18-Nov. 4.
“A Christmas Carol,” Nov. 29-Dec. 16.
“Oh Freedom,” Jan. 24-Feb. 10, 2019
“Into the Night,” Feb. 28-March 17, 2019
“Clybourne Park,” April 4–21, 2019
Season tickets will be on sale in March, individual tickets in June. Call 941-748-5875, or go to manateeperformingartscenter.com.
Marty Clear: 941-708-7919, @martinclear
This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Pittsburgh ‘Pirates of Penzance,’ ‘Elf’ and a comedy about suicide come to Manatee Performing Arts Center."