Starlite Players adds Sunday matinee to “This Isn’t What I Expected,” a collection of four short comedies;
Shows run Thursday-Saturday, August 13-15 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, August 16, at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
SARASOTA, FL: Starlite Players has added a fifth show, a Sunday matinee, to its schedule of performances beginning in August. The new theatre company, which just completed a successful debut of short comedies in July, will present its second show, four short comedies collectively titled “This Isn’t What I Expected,” from Thursday, August 13, through Sunday, August 16. The shows, presented upstairs in The Starlite Room at 1001 Cocoanut Avenue, will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday. The matinee is set for Sunday, August 16, at 2 p.m., followed by an evening performance at 6:30 p.m. according to Jo Morello, producer. “We added the matinee partly because we played to sold-out audiences for three of our four July performances and also because of requests from people who don’t drive at night,” she said. In addition, the fledging performing arts troupe is now reviewing some 100 scripts to select comedies for September and October.
“Everyone involved is from the Tampa Bay area—playwrights, directors, technical crew and actors–and all are experienced professionals,” she says. The company is now in rehearsals for its August plays with a cast that includes Tyler Yurckonis, owner of The Starlite Room. Morello and Yurckonis had worked together previously, in 1992, when he was a student actor in “The Fabulous Mrs. Palmer,” her co-authored musical (with Diana Colson) that then-Manatee Community College Foundation produced.
The four August comedies, ranging from about 10 to 30 minutes, are:
WHAT REMAINS by Heather Jones, directed by Daniel Greene. An elderly woman is dying. All that will remain after she’s gone are her vintage treasures—not worth much to some but highly coveted by her nurse Muriel (Madison Jones) and Muriel’s friend Annabeth (Natalia Mock), who owns a vintage store. The young women fully expect to latch on to all the goodies when the woman passes but there are two small problems: the woman’s daughter and her granddaughter.
PETE’S PLACE by Betty Robinson, directed by Jack Gilhooley. Gabe (Michael Kinsey) is in a barroom suspended in the clouds when Verity (Mary Jo Johnson) enters, not sure whether she’s dead or alive. They discuss the sins of their pasts, await the mysterious Pete, and discover an unexpected connection that would have changed the now-vanished future for both of them.
THE SESSION by Jack Gilhooley, directed by Daniel Greene. Successful businessman Martin (Tyler Yurckonis) is the patient of Brenda, an attractive psychotherapist (Natalia Mock) who may be more psycho than therapist. As Martin reveals his secrets, he also uncovers hers, seriously upsetting the doctor-patient relationship. It’s not what the doctor ordered.
TALKBACK by Jo Morello, directed by Tim Guerrieri. In this verse comedy, acclaimed young playwright William Shakespeare (David Downer) thinks he has come to the Stratford-Upon-Avon Cultural Center and Little Theatre for a reading of his new play ROMEO AND JULIET—but Elizabeethe (Carolyn Zaput) and her intern Lady Jane (Madison Jones) subject him to a “time machine,” the electronic bearer of unwelcome criticism.
Morello is working in conjunction with The Starlite Room, which provides rehearsal and performance space for the venture. Tickets cost $16.50 and include a 15% discount on an optional pre- or post-show dinner or Sunday brunch at The Starlite Room. Tickets and other information are available from www.starliteplayers.com, [email protected], and 941.587.8290 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For further information also see the Starlite Players Facebook page. (Please note the spelling of “STARLITE.”)
-30-
PETE’S PLACE: Gabe (Michael Kinsey) and Verity (Mary Jo Johnson) agonize over Paradise-Maybe-Lost as they wait in “Pete’s Place” for Peter, the gatekeeper, to decide whether to admit them to heaven in this comedy by Betty Robinson. The play, directed by Jack Gilhooley, is part of “This Isn’t What I Expected,” a collection of four short comedies to be presented by Starlite Players in The Starlite Room, 1001 Cocoanut Avenue, on August 13-14-15-16. (Photo by Richard Jay Goldman.)
TALKBACK: Shakespeare (David Downer) is impressed by the assets of Lady Jane (Madison Jones) although her superior Elizabeethe (Carolyn Zaput) does not approve. “Talkback,” written by Jo Morello and directed by Tim Guerreri, is part of “This Isn’t What I Expected,” a collection of four short comedies to be presented by Starlite Players in The Starlite Room, 1001 Cocoanut Avenue, on August 13-14-15-16. (Photo by Richard Jay Goldman.)
THE SESSION: The tables are turned when Martin (Tyler Yurckonis) uncovers secrets long-hidden by his psychotherapist Brenda (Natalia Mock) in “The Session,” written by Jack Gilhooley and directed by Daniel Greene. The comedy is part of “This Isn’t What I Expected,” a collection of four short plays to be presented by Starlite Players in The Starlite Room, 1001 Cocoanut Avenue, on August 13-14-15-16. (Photo by Jo Morello.)
WHAT REMAINS: Annabeth (Natalia Mock), the queen of vintage, hopes to increase the stock in her shop with the goods owned by an elderly, dying woman—if the woman’s daughter and granddaughter don’t get them first in “What Remains,” a comedy by Heather Jones, directed by Daniel Greene. The play is part of “This Isn’t What I Expected,” a collection of four short comedies to be presented by Starlite Players in The Starlite Room, 1001 Cocoanut Avenue, on August 13-14-15-16. (Photo by Daniel Greene.)
