Spotlight on February TGIM celebrity judge Terry Tincher Spotlight on February TGIM celebrity judge Sophia Watson

Actors, artists, filmmakers and events in the news February 1-7, 2020

Grouped under headings that include art openings, film, outdoor art fairs and festivals and theater are advances, announcements and articles about the actors, artists, filmmakers and events making news in Southwest Florida this week:

1 ART EXHIBITS

Mariapia Malerba bringing ‘Shadopia’ to the Capital Gallery in February

Fashion designer, visual artist and filmmaker Mariapia Malerba is bringing new work to the Capital Gallery in the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in February. Called Shodopia, the show is comprised of work she’s created with a technique inspired by Shodo.

Shodo is a form of calligraphy in which an ink-dipped brush is used to create Chinese kanji and Japanese kana characters. Practitioners are admired for the accuracy of the characters they create, the balance with which they arrange them on the paper, how they shade the ink and, especially, the way they handle the brush while performing the calligraphy.

The art of Shodo originated in China during the Han dynasty and came to Japan in the sixth century, along with methods for making brushes, ink and paper. In those days, calligraphy was an essential part of the education of members of noble families. But as time passed, the art spread among the common people. Today Shodo is not just a celebrated and revered art form, but a harmonious and philosophical process that fuses poetry, literature, and painting by possessing rhythm, emotion, aesthetic and spirituality in one unique art form. It’s such an important aspect of Japanese culture and ideals that it is even introduced to Japanese children as early as elementary school.

Mariapia has modified this ancient form (hence, Shodo-pia) by substituting a tool of common use for the bamboo brush traditionally employed in Shodo. To create her art, Mariapia employs a broom to craft beautifully balanced, sweeping works of art through a fluid, spontaneous motion that codifies sacred value in each stroke and line.

To see the results of this unique, Zenlike technique, you’ll just have to see the exhibit. But at January’s TGIM, Mariapia brought a 2-minute short film titled The Dancing Shadow on the Rose to demonstrate her newfound art form. You can see that film here.

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DAAS featuring unique watercolors of JoAnn LaPadula in February

DAAS CO-OP Art Gallery & Gifts will feature the work of award-winning artist JoAnn LaPadula in February. The exhibition is a collection of colorful pieces created within the year. The opening reception is scheduled for Friday, February 7, 2020 from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. in conjunction with Art Walk.

Four years ago, JoAnn LaPadula moved from the Finger Lakes Region of New York State to Fort Myers. She is currently a member of the Alliance for the Arts, Florida Watercolor Society and Fort Myers Beach Art Association, where she also serves as director. Her work has been featured on the cover of the Sand Life Magazine, Gulfshore Life, and the Florida Watercolor Society online. Her work is collected in places that range from Guantanamo to California.

LaPadula obtained a B.A. in Arts from Buffalo State University, after graduating from the Rockland Community College. She worked in the field of graphic design for 30 years. Now in retirement, she has embraced the opportunity to return to her interest in fine arts, particularly watercolor. However, she does not pursue the genre using traditional watercolor technique. Instead, after attending a workshop taught by nationally-known watercolor artist Lian Zhen, she developed her own signature style, which features a blowing/spraying technique combined with negative painting.

“I was not interested so much in the traditional watercolor style, so I attended a few workshops to find my own style,” JoAnn remarks. “I do not consider myself a traditional watercolor artist but would say I am more of a colorful abstract/realist. Here [in SWFL] I am thrilled to find people who have been a great inspiration to me and found the support needed to begin my second career.”

LaPadula’s work will be on display through February 29, 2020.

DAAS CO-OP is located at 1815 Fowler Street, Unit 3, in Fort Myers, FL 33901. Business hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m on Sundays.

More information about gallery and/or how to become a member can be found at daascoop.com or by calling 239-590-8645.

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Ripple-Gill’s ‘Reveries of a Tropical Heart’ closes February 2

On view in the main gallery at the Alliance for the Arts until tomorrow (February 2) is Reveries of A Tropical Heart, a two-artist exhibition that features the luminous beauty of Jeff Ripple’s dramatically lit landscape paintings and the enchantment of Muffy Clark Gill’s colorful batik dreamscapes. Together, they combine to capture the warmth of the tropics as they transport viewers into a world they won’t want to leave.

Work by local artist Robert Allen is on display in the Theatre Lobby Gallery. Displaying their latest works form the classroom, students and instructors at the Alliance for the Arts will be filling the Members Gallery with a variety of pieces from recent classes.

For more information about this exhibit, visit ArtInLee.org/Reveries or call 239-939-2787.

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More on ‘Tropical Heart’ artist Jeff Ripple

Jeff Ripple is an award winning landscape artist. His oil paintings en plein air and in studio are denoted by intriguing compositions, mood and atmosphere. The treatment of light and atmosphere in his paintings are reminiscent of 19th century artists in the Luminist and Hudson River School traditions.

His work is in the permanent collections of the College of Central Florida and the University of Central Florida College of Arts & Humanities and past art exhibitions include the Thomas Center Galleries in Gainesville and the Dennos Museum in Michigan.

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More on ‘Tropical Heart’ batik artist Muffy Clark Gill

Muffy Clark Gill uses the ancient wax and dye process known as batik and its sister Japanese process rozome along with mixed media, painting and photography to create her art. She creates images that convey feelings of dichotomy and combine her love of color with her life experiences.

Among the work she is exhibiting at the Alliance for the Arts in Reveries of a Tropical Heart from her Wash Day series, which has been inspired by several visits to Cuba, including the town of Gibara, where it is believed that Christopher Columbus landed the first time he arrived in Cuba.

Gill described her process in a recent e-newsletter for Wash Day! Gibara Day. “The Mayor … was leading us on a walking tour of this pretty little city when I saw … laundry drying on several clotheslines. The breezes off the bay made drying laundry a quick and easy task.” And it also inspired the batik.

She started the work by drawing the scene on stretched habitae silk with a fine pencil. “All of the white areas—including the clotheslines – were waxed by drawing with an Indonesian style tool known as a tjanting ( or canting). Individual garments were then outlined.”

Then came the building, followed by the sky (with two separate layers of blue dye), the land in the background, the grass in the foreground and finally the bay.

“By the time I added all of my colors the whole painting was coated with wax.”

Gill then removed the wax from the painting with an iron and repeated changes of absorbing newsprint. “It was then wrapped in more newsprint into a jellyroll shape for steaming. A final wash was done to remove excess dye from the silk before mounting the painting to a canvas support for hanging. Another labor of love!”

The entire Wash Day! series is on display at the United Arts Council Gallery, 953 4 Ave. N., Naples, FL 34102 now through December 18. Gill also has a mixed media wall piece titled Shibuya on exhibit in Naples Art Association’s 53^rd Founders Exhibit. Of the more than 900 works submitted to jurors John Loscuito, R.W. Lovejoy and Erin Palmer Szavuly, Gill’s was the only Naples artist to have work juried into the show.

Muffy Clark Gill’s award-winning work has been included in more than 80 regional, state and national juried and invitational exhibitions and festivals. Her art is in the permanent collection of numerous Florida museums and corporations including FGCU, the Florida Department of State, South Florida State College Museum of Art & Culture, Seminole Historical Society and Museum, Collier County Museum, Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples, Marco Island Historical Museum , the Naples Art Association, Northern Trust, Physicians Regional Medical Center, Artis-Naples.

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Hollis Jeffcoat commemorative show on view at Watson MacRae through February 8

Sanibel’s Watson MacRae Gallery is exhibiting a special commemorative show through February 8 that honors the late Hollis Jeffcoat, an extraordinary abstract expressionist who passed on April 28, 2018. In addition to a montage of Hollis’ work, the show features two to three works from 13 of Hollis’ artist friends. One recent work from each artist has been specifically inspired by and dedicated in remembrance of her.

Over the course of her lengthy career, Hollis made life-long friendships. The 13 artists featured in this exhibit are from the different segments of her life with one thing in common – they all shared a great love of art. Most of them acknowledge the significant influence that Hollis had on their art making. All felt she had an impact on their lives. These accomplished artists continue to exhibit their work adding to the beauty and wonder of the world – something that would have pleased Hollis to no end.

“It was an unanimous and enthusiastic, ‘I’m In!”’ when I posed the idea for an exhibit to remember and celebrate Hollis for all she was as an artist, inspiration, teacher and friend,” says Watson MacRae gallerist and Hollis’ dear friend Maureen Watson.

During her Early Fort Myers period (1966), Hollis was befriended by painters Krista Johnson, Leo Johnson and Spencer Eldridge.
A decade later, Hollis influenced and was influenced by the NY Studio School, which is represented in the show by painters David Fratkin, Michael Goodwin (who Hollis met in NYC in 1991), printmaker/painter Patti Lipman and sculptor Deborah Masters.
1980 saw Hollis in Montreal, and that venerable town and province is represented in the show by sculptor Michel Beaudry and printmaker Bonnie Baxter.
And from Hollis’ Late Fort Myers (post 1997) period, sculptor Jim Krieger, printmaker/painter Sherry Rohl, painter Darby Bannard and photographer Paul Rodino will also have work included in the commemorative exhibition.

Watson MacRae Gallery is located at 2340 Periwinkle Way, B3, Sanibel, FL 33957.

N.B.: Photos:

Exhibition announcement
Rio, oil on canvas
She, bronze
Lupe and Hollis, photograph
Diner/06, mixed media
Three Wanderers 2016 by Hollis Jeffcoat

P.S. Save the Date: Next Opening Tuesday, February 11th for “In Love with This Earth” featuring 4 new artists from Santa Fe – painters, Rimi Yang, Diana Stetson and Kathleen McCloud and sculptors, Caroline Douglas and Kirsten Stingle.

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A look back at the work and career of Abstract Expressionist Hollis Jeffcoat

Hollis Jeffcoat was a highly accomplished, well-regarded and critically acclaimed Abstract Expressionist. She lived, worked and taught in France, Canada, New York City and Southwest Florida. Over the course of her illustrious 41-year career, her paintings were the subject of more than 20 solo and nearly four dozen group exhibitions in the U.S., Canada and France. She died in Fort Myers on April 28, 2018.

During the final years of her life, Jeffcoat explored the relationship between color and sound. A chromesthetic, Hollis saw color every time she heard a sound. “It’s always been that way for me, and I thought that’s the way it was for everyone else too,” she once confided. “It wasn’t until I was in my mid-20s [living in Paris] that I found out otherwise.”

Go here for more.

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‘Beatriz Monteavaro: Vacation’ at Bob Rauschenberg Gallery through March 28

Beatriz Monteavaro: Vacation is on view at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida SouthWestern State College through March 28. The show presents a survey of drawings, designs for concert flyers and comics/zines, and large-scale art objects that Beatriz Monteavaro has created over more than two decades.

This immersive installation takes its title from the 1982 Billboard Top 10-charting single and RIAA Gold-certified studio album of the same name by the seminal “all-female” Punk/New Wave group, The Go-Go’s. The heroines of several adventurous and densely-drawn narratives included in the exhibition, The Go-Go’s are recurring characters in the work of Beatriz Monteavaro and provided early inspiration for the artist and four of her teenage friends to pay tribute to the band by dressing-up as the band for a Halloween show in the 1980s. Fulfilling a childhood dream and literally coaxing one frequent subject of Monteavaro’s art to life, the Rauschenberg Gallery is pleased to welcome The Go-Go’s co-founder Jane Wiedlin during the reception for this one-night-only “in-person” appearance.

Cuban-born, Beatriz Monteavaro received a BFA from Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Her art has been influenced by monster movies, science fiction, Disneyworld (especially it’s themed Adventureland area, a midcentury representation of Africa, Asia, Polynesia, and The Caribbean), and music scenes including the 1970’s English punk and the Miami underground surrounding Churchill’s Pub, which she has been a part of since 1991. Her work has been exhibited in venues such as Annina Nosei Gallery, New York; Miami Art Museum, Miami; Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami; NFA Space, Chicago; The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C; Tent, Rotterdam; Galerie Edward Mitterrand, Geneva; Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris; The Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum at FIU, Miami, among others.

She has had solo exhibitions at Las Cienegas Projects, Los Angeles; Derek Eller Gallery, NYC; Galerie Sultana, Paris; Locust Projects, Miami; Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami; Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Miami; The University Galleries at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, The Gulf Coast Museum of Art in Largo, FL; and CUNSTHAUS, Tampa, FL.

Her work has been reviewed and featured in Flash Art, ArtUS, ArtNews and Art Papers.

Monteavaro plays drums for SAAVIK and is one half of the band Holly Hunt. She has a solo sound project called Ellen Ripley. Monteavaro works at a record store, which she considers part of her practice. The artist lives and works in Miami.

For additional information, please telephone 239-489-9313 or visit www.RauschenbergGallery.com. The Bob Rauschenberg Gallery is located on the Fort Myers campus of Florida SouthWestern State College at 8099 College Pkwy, Fort Myers, FL 33919.

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Assemblage artist Ran Adler exerts ‘Presence’ in FGCU’s Wasmer Gallery

Presence by Ran Adler is on view in the Wasmer Art Gallery at Florida Gulf Coast University through February 27.

Ran Adler is a self-taught assemblage artist who employs various elements of nature as his medium which he wires, weaves and strings together into unique organic structures that serve as needed reminders of the staggering unpredictability and humbling power of nature lurking just outside. His horsetail reed, thorn and seedpod constructs don’t just shape the space in which they are exhibited. They open the mind to the fragility, if not futility, of our pretentious efforts to control our physical environment. They underscore our overarching responsibility as stewards of the planet.

The harmonious transformation of chaos into ordered systems results from Adler’s meditative process. The often repetitive and rhythmic movements of threading, inscribing and assembling become a meditative or prayer-like state of mind from which remediation of external forces is understood and expressed in the work. That respectful, contemplative state transfers to those who have the good fortune to view his work.

Currently represented by Judith Liegeois Designs in Naples, Gardner Colby Gallery in Naples and Blackman Cruz in Los Angeles, Adler has exhibited widely in the United States in solo and group exhibitions. He is the artist in residence at Judith Liegeois in Naples and the guest artist at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Presence is sponsored by The Wasmer Family, Judith Liegeois Designs, Alice and Dean Fjelstul, Gene and Lee Seidler, the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and WGCU Public Media.

The Wasmer Gallery is located in the Arts Complex at Florida Gulf Coast University at 10501 FGCU Blvd. S. For more information, please telephone 239-590-1000 or visit https://www.fgcu.edu/artgalleries/currentseason/adler.

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Adler’s ‘Presence’ affords opportunity to cross-pollinate ideas across art forms

Each year the FGCU Art Galleries curates an exhibition with the goal of not only exhibiting the work of an outstanding artist, but of identifying an artist who is closely connected with Southwest Florida’s unique attributes. “This year’s artist, Ran Adler, comes to us with an established and deep connection to the natural environment of our area,” expounds FGCU Gallery Director John Loscuito. “Working in close proximity to campus from his studio in Naples, Florida provides the artist with an opportunity to engage inventive collaborations across multiple disciplines of FGCU.”

Go here for the rest of this post.

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Ran Adler exhibit underscores that art can exert influence in indoor environments

On display through February 27 in the Wasmer Gallery at Florida Gulf Coast University is Presence, a collection of large-scale organic works by assemblage artist Ran Adler.

For most people, public art conjures images of outdoor sculptures – like Albert Paley’s Cross Currents or Robert Roesch’s Transition 2012 here on campus – or murals like those you’d see in Hotel Indigo courtyard in downtown Fort Myers or in Miami’s Wynward Art District. But with this exhibition, Ran Adler reminds us that art can also exert its presence in indoor environments – not just magnificent galleries like the Wasmer, but in airport and cruise ship terminals, convention centers, hotel and hospital lobbies and even shopping malls. And because of the enclosed intimacy of such spaces, artworks such as these can have an even more profound impact on the people who encounter them.

Public art works subliminally to convey a variety of messages. They tell viewers: This is a place that values art and culture. This is a place that honors its historical underpinnings.

The rest of this post is here.

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Divining the meaning of Ran Adler’s ‘Presence’

There is a distinct and profound Zen-like quality to the works included in Ran Adler’s solo show Presence in FGCU’s Wasmer Gallery. In fact, the very title of the show implicates the doctrine of anicca or impermanence and its corollary, living presently, in the moment.

The notion of impermanence (anicca) forms the bedrock for the Buddha’s teaching. On a grand or macro scale, the doctrine postulates that the universe is expanding and disintegrating in repetitive cycles throughout beginning-less time. On a physical plane, all beings, from people to micro-organisms, are mortal, subject to “being worn and rubbed away, to dissolution and disintegration.” For that matter, even metal and rocks are subject to decay through oxidation and the action of wind, water and sunlight. And on a mental or existential plane, every thought, emotion, smell, taste, sight and sound are transient. They arise and then pass out of existence like waves lapping on a sandy shore.

Go here for the rest of this post.

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FGCU Jazz Combo creates original music for Adler exhibit ‘Presence’

The FGCU Jazz Combo played original music at the opening of the Ran Adler solo show Presence that was inspired by the assemblage pieces on display in the Wasmer Gallery.

The FGCU Jazz Combo consists of Isaiah Suriel on Tenor Saxophone, Joel Law on Piano, Brandon Robertson on Bass (and drums for one composition) and Josue Gallardo on Drums. In all, the foursome created five songs for the opening. Although a different Combo member assumed primary responsibility for one song each, all four members made contributions to each composition.

“Forrest of Rebirth” was the first composition the Combo penned. “Ran’s artwork signified the rebirth of nature’s cycle. This was something the Combo wanted to capture first,” explains Robertson, who is also the Combo’s director and FGCU Instructor of Music and Jazz Studies. “We took the elements of sunrise and fall to represent the transition of seasons between fall and winter.”

Go here for more.

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CFABS Members Only show runs January 31-February 27

The Annual Members Only Exhibition takes place at the Center for Visual Arts Bonita Springs January 31-February 27. This dynamic exhibition contains awe-inspiring artwork in a wide array of media by CFABS’ talented members.

Each year just gets better and better. Help CFABS celebrate 29 years of great member art.

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African/African American art exhibition at Naples Art through February 23

The Human Spirit: African and African American Art is on view at the Naples Art Association through February 23. This curated exhibition celebrates people in African and African American art with paintings, drawings, carved wood and additive sculpture. Gallery hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Sunday. The Naples Art Association is located at 585 Park Street, Naples.

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Naples Art has issued a call to artists for ‘Let Freedom Ring’

From ancient times to the present, women throughout the world have participated in the visual arts in diverse and stimulating ways as creators and innovators, patrons and collectors or significant contributors. Let FREEDOM Ring! will shine a bright light on the contributions of women in the visual arts. The exhibition will show April 3-23, 2020 in the Frederick O. Watson Gallery, and the deadline for applying is 5:00 p.m. on February 6.

You will find the full prospectus here.

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‘Little Things’ will be in Gallery 104 at Naples Art through February 16

Each year, Naples Art holds a small works show. Called Little Things: An Exhibition Celebrating Small Works, the show celebrates works of art 60 inches and below.

Miniature art has been made for thousands of years. In many of the world’s civilizations there was a fascination with creating in small scale. Ancient Greeks adorned their walls with small murals while coins and rings often bore engraved portraits. In Persia, the shahs maintained the best artists of the day to paint the court and illustrate copies of the Koran and other great books, both religious and secular.

Monks in the Middle Ages embellished manuscripts with delicate illuminations and bordered them with a red lead pigment called ‘minium’ from which the word ‘miniature’ later evolved.

The Elizabethan era was noted for its exquisite miniature portraits on vellum and later, ivory and evokes memories of masters such as Holbein, Hilliard, Oliver and others. Many Dutch and Flemish artists painted small-scale works in order to do focused studies on specific painting techniques and subjects. Frans Hals’ striking 6 ½” by 5” Portrait of Samuel Ampzing, for example, was used as a study for a noted reproductive print. Often, Dutch and Flemish painters created small self-portraits that they could use as “calling cards” with potential patrons.

Among some of the most famous and valuable small scale paintings from this period are two by Rembrandt (Self-Portrait at 26 and Portrait of Old Man with Beard), two by Vermeer (Girl in Red Hat and Young Woman Seated at a Virginal) and Anthony van Dyck (Portrait of Nicholas Rockox).

Miniature art fell out of vogue with the advent of photography more than a hundred years ago. But it has experienced a resurgence in the past twenty years among artists, collectors, curators and art museums around the globe.

The White House, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Astolat Dollhouse Castle and museums around the world have collections of miniature paintings, drawings, original prints and etchings, and sculpture. Perhaps the most intriguing miniature exhibition of renowned American artists sits today on the lunar surface. Fifty years ago this past November 19, astronauts Alan L. Bean and Richard F. Gordon left behind a ceramic wafer

Southwest Florida has seen numerous exhibitions of miniature artworks, including ELEVEN: The John Erickson Museum of Art Retrospective at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery in 2014 (featuring galleries only slightly larger than a shoebox conceived in the tradition of Marcel Duchamp’s Boite en Valise) and the upcoming small scale art show at DAAS CO-OP Gallery in Fort Myers’ Gardner Park.

The exhibition will be on display through February 16, 2020 in Gallery 104.

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Naples Art will be ‘Daydreaming’ in April and May

Daydreams: Fantastical Wanderings of the Brain will be exhibited by Naples Art in Gallery 104 between April 7 and May 26, 2020. The possibilities are endless when artists use daydreams as their inspiration. Mind wandering, fantasy and spontaneous thoughts all lend themselves to some very creative artwork. If you’d like to participate in this show, then please deliver one exhibit-ready artwork on March 30, 2020 between 12 noon and 4:00 p.m.

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2 ART FAIRS AND FESTIVALS

ArtFest Fort Myers is today and tomorrow

ArtFest Fort Myers takes place today and tomorrow (February 1 & 2) in the downtown Fort Myers River District. Once again, Fort Myers’ 1.8 acre river basin, the Fort Myers Marina, City Pier Building, Harborside Event Center, nearly-completed Luminary Hotel and Centennial Park serve as a picturesque backdrop for the tents and booths of the more than 200 artists who have been juried into this year’s festival. As in years past, a wide array of genres and media will be represented in this year’s festival, including works in sculpture, painting, ceramics, photography, printmaking, drawing, digital, mixed media, ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, wearable fiber and wood. And be sure to check out the chalk art competition featuring entries by area high schools. Upwards of 100,000 people visit this premiere outdoor art festival over its 2-day run.

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Naples Art in the Park is also today

Down the road today (Saturday, February 1) is Naples Art in the Park. This one-day fair showcases paintings in oil and acrylics, watercolors, mixed media, photography, sculpture, ceramics, glass art, jewelry and wood-working created by members in good standing of the Naples Art Association. For art lovers, it’s a casual, fun-filled venue for meeting local artists and becoming acquainted with their work. On the flip side, Art in the Park not only gives participating artists the opportunity to show and sell their work, it affords them a terrific platform in which to build rapport with collectors while fostering their knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the arts and their own extensive portfolios. One of the special features of this outdoor art fair is its art demonstration booths, where Naples Art members introduce the art community to process, technique and methodology.

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Naples Art District’s ‘Art Alive!’ studio & gallery tour is Wednesday, February 5

On Wednesday, February 5, the three dozen plus galleries and artist studios that comprise the Naples Art District open their doors to the public from 5:00-8:00 p.m. Called 1st Wednesday Studio & Gallery Tour, the event is a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and smells of the studios of more than 60 emerging and mid-career artists working in a broad cross-section of genres and media. Just look for the magenta flags.

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Next Fort Myers Art Walk is February 7 and 8

Art Walk returns to the downtown Fort Myers River District from 6:00-10:00 p.m. on Friday, February 7, and 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 8.

New exhibits include exceptional art in a variety of mediums done by a bevy of local artists and some national and international artists as well. You can meet the artists and talk art at the self-guided Friday night event, which brings together art enthusiasts, collectors and community friends who celebrate the arts each month. The Friday night Art Walk sees First Street closed to traffic. Local artists set up in the street selling their art, and face painting is offered at several locations along First Street.

Saturday Art Walk is a quieter affair with most of the galleries open for examining the art at more leisurely pace. This new and improved version of Art Walk includes 14 galleries and art stops, including:

American Legion Veterans Gallery showing Art done by Veterans
Art League of Fort Myers – new exhibits each month
Arts for ACT Gallery – features three or more art exhibits every month plus co-op members art
Bootlegger Alley Gallery – outdoor gallery open only during Art Walk in The Patio de Leon
Grand Illusion Gallery – art, tee shirts and more
Marc Harris Wildlife Photography – on Jackson Street
Miville Art Gallery – art and photography in the Franklin Shops
Ollie Mack Gentry Photography – photography at 2180 West First Street
Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center – Main Gallery Exhibit and Capitol Exhibit on the 3rd Floor
The Barrel Room – Jazz art – on Bay Street
Timeless Gallery – gallery and gift shop featuring steampunk art and more
Two Newts Gallery – co-op gallery located off West First Street at 2064 Bayside Parkway
Unit A – urban contemporary gallery of internationally-acclaimed artist Marcus Jansen located in Gardener’s Park

As this survey of participating galleries reveals, Fort Myers Art Walk spans the core of downtown Fort Myers and includes the Gardener’s Park area and West First Street. Most of the action is located on First Street, but you can obtain a Fort Myers Art Walk map at any of the galleries that will lead you to all the art venues and Art Walk partners. “Enjoy cultural venues, restaurants, bars and businesses, plus live music,” touts the River District Alliance. “Watch live art demos on First Street, eat amazing food, shop the unique local boutiques or just enjoy the atmosphere.”

So whether you prefer the energy of night or the calm of day, there’s something for everyone during this new-and-improved weekend of art that Fort Myers still calls Art Walk. There is free street parking and $5.00 at any of the parking garages. In season ride the free River District Trolley. Fort Myers Art Walk is a Pet and Family Friendly free event! Fort Myers Art Walk is hosted by The River District Alliance, a non-profit organization. For more information, please visit www.fortmyersriverdistrictalliance.com.

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Naples Artcrafters returns February 8 to Cambier Park for fine art & craft show

Saturday, February 8 is the date for the Naples Artcrafters Fine Art & Craft Show. Naples Artcrafters is committed to promoting excellence in arts and crafts and to supporting established artists, craftspersons and students by providing a venue for the display and sale of their work in a beautiful setting. At this show more than 90 artists will display a wide array of artistic genres, styles and media, including paintings in oils, acrylics, watercolors, drawings in pen and ink and pencil, pastels, scissors art, multi-media and collage, photography, ceramics and pottery, jewelry, metalsmithing, metal clays, lapidary, beading, sculptures, stained glass and fused glass, wood turning and carving, and basket weaving. The show takes place in Cambier Park along 8th Street South, within view of the Band Shell and Cambier’s Quilt, the first public art project at a municipal building under the City of Naples’ public art ordinance.

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Bonita Springs National 2.0 is February 8 & 9 in Riverside Park

The Bonita Springs National Art Festival returns on Saturday and Sunday, February 8 & 9 to picturesque Riverside Park and side streets in historic old Bonita Springs on Old 41 for the second of its three fine art festivals. Ranked #2 in the nation by Sunshine Artist Magazine, this festival stresses quality and originality, with the 211 artists juried into the show from across the United States, Canada, and even Europe exhibiting and selling original paintings (in oil, acrylics and watercolors), drawings, pastels, photography, handcrafted jewelry, clay works and ceramics, glass art, metal sculpture and more. Riverside Park is located at 10450 Reynolds Street or 27000 Old 41 Road in central Bonita Springs, Florida 34135.

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Pine Island Art Ass’n’s 48th Annual Art Show & Sale is February 8 & 9

This year the Pine Island Art Association’s 48th Annual Art Show and Sale will be held on Saturday and Sunday, February 8 and 9, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. New this year, the event will be held at the North Fort Myers Recreation Center. It will feature the works of more than 100 artists, and will include more than 500 paintings in acrylic, oil, pastel, pen and ink, and watercolor, with an emphasis on Florida landscapes, seascapes, birds, fish and flowers – “all ready to hang in your home.”

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Rest of February art fair and festival schedule is on ARTSWFL

January is a busy month for outdoor art fairs and festivals in Southwest Florida, with a total of 14 events scheduled over the four weekends, including Bonita Springs National, the 35th Annual Cape Coral Festival of the Arts, the Sanibel Community Association Fine Art and Craft Festival, Art Fest Naples and the Art Festival at Mercato. To see the entire schedule for January, visit Art Southwest Florida’s art fair and festival calendar here.

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3. FILM

TGIM returns to Davis Art Center on February 3

The Fort Myers Film Festival returns on February 3 to the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center’s grand atrium. Please join host Eric Raddatz, co-host Melissa Tschari DeHaven and judges Terry Tincher, comedian Lindsay Glazer and actors Charles McMullen and Sophia Watson for a fresh new set of short indie films, music, comedy and fun.The house opens for cocktails at 6:30. Screenings begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for seniors and students.

Go here for more.

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Spotlight on February TGIM celebrity judge Terry Tincher

The celebrity judging panel for T.G.I.M.’s February screenings consists of comedian Lindsay Glazer, actors Charles McMullen and Sophia Watson, and Fort Myers luminary and modern-day Renaissance Man Terry Tincher.

Tincher is best known for his involvement in the visual arts, which dates back to 1974, when he began representing private buyers and sellers in the secondary art market. Within a short time, he expanded his operations to include coordinating corporate and private collection management and appraisals while simultaneously acquiring prints and paintings for his own collection. He made perhaps his most prized acquisition in 1985 when, incident to his general contracting business, he built Bob Rauschenberg’s house on Captiva. Bob was so appreciative of the work Tincher did that he gave Terry a giant painting, which he later loaned to Myra Daniels for two years to display in the entrance to the Naples Philharmonic (now Artis Naples).

Go here for more on Terry.

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Spotlight on February TGIM celebrity judge Sophia Watson

The celebrity judging panel for T.G.I.M.’s February screenings consists of comedian Lindsay Glazer, actors Charles McMullen and Terry Tincher and filmmaker/actor Sophia Watson.

Watson wrote and starred in last year’s Fort Myers Film Festival Audience Choice Award winner #SLUT, which explores the central themes of cyberbullying, slut shaming and sexual predation. The short film did phenomenally well on the film festival circuit, winning Best Ensemble Cast and the Audience Choice Award for Best Short at the 22nd Annual FirstGlance Philadelphia Film Festival (where it was also nominated for Best Drama, Best Actress (Short) and Best Director) … [Go here for the rest of this profile.]

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Spotlight on February TGIM celebrity judge Lindsay Glazer

The celebrity judging panel for T.G.I.M.’s February screenings consists of comedian Lindsay Glazer and actors Charles McMullen, Sophia Watson and Terry Tincher.

The self-described Alpha Bitch is currently touring the nation and has performed her brand of bad-ass, “equal opportunity” stand-up in more than 40 cities including top-venues like the world-famous Laugh Factory on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, the Comedy Central Stage in Los Angeles for Sit ‘n Spin and the Comic Strip Live in New York City. If you have the ‘nads to catch her show, don’t be blindsided because no one is safe. She’ll target your people, whomever they might be, and take you down, comically speaking. If you pee when you laugh, wear Depends!

Prior to launching her comedy career, Glazer spent years working in the Miami public defender’s office and later practiced law on her own, which she credits as a huge influence on her unflinchingly honest stage persona.

Go here for the rest of this advance.

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5th Annual Bonita Springs Int’l Film Festival set for February 27-March 1

The Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs introduced the inaugural Bonita Springs International Film Festival in February of 2015. It will return February 27-March 1, 2020 with over 70 carefully curated narrative, documentary, animation and short films from around the world, complemented by a wide variety of workshops, demonstrations, and Q & A sessions with filmmakers, writers, directors, producers and actors.

The unique and entertaining special events begin with Thursday’s over-the-top ‘Opening Night’ and culminates with a spectacular Awards Night and Filmmakers Party on Sunday evening. Each event is unique, featuring delicious catered food, refreshing beverages, quality entertainment and, of course, ample opportunities for film lovers to mix and mingle with a coterie of filmmakers, directors, writers and actors, who similarly enjoy the chance to share ideas and explore future opportunities. Films are shown in both the 400-seat CFABS Hinman Auditorium and the renovated 200-seat Moe Auditorium & Film Center.

Last year, BIFF accepted films in 12 categories including youth- and teen-produced films, animated films, shorts and Florida films, as well as standard fiction/narrative and documentary works, and awarded cash prizes ranging from $250 to $1,000.

The film festival is an expression of CFABS’ longstanding appreciation of film as an art form. The Centers launched their Film for Film Lovers series in 2008, offering one film per month for three months. Over time, Film for Film Lovers was expanded and now features films every Monday. The Centers launched their Foreign Film Series in 2012, and added the impressive Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers in early 2015, with showings on the first Tuesday of each month. Today, thousands of Southwest Florida residents and visitors attend these screenings, so it was only logical to add a multi-day film festival to the equation.

The mission of the Bonita Springs International Film Festival is to create experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world, recognizing that it is through the art of cinema that a community becomes more informed, aware and alive.

“The big point that ultimately surfaced in our discussions about having a film festival was that we, as an organization, are all about the arts, all the arts,” says Susan Bridges, President of the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs, who is also Co-Chair for the festival. “So, we began looking at the idea that our Bonita Springs International Film Festival might see the majority of our films showcasing an artistic connection of some kind, beyond the fact that film is an art form in itself.”

BIFF is so much more than just watching films. Festival-goers enjoy fascinating and rewarding experiences, right alongside the discovery of each film’s unique details, inspiration, meaning and challenges.

CFABS has yet to release a schedule, so check back for details as they emerge.

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4 THEATER

Five actors will play 45 characters in Theatre Conspiracy’s ‘Baskerville’

Get your deerstalker cap on — the play’s afoot when Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts presents Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Ken (Lend Me a Tenor) Ludwig February 13-23.

Sherlock Holmes is on the case. The male heirs of the Baskerville line are being dispatched one by one. To find their ingenious killer, Holmes and Watson must brave the desolate moors before a family curse dooms its newest heir. Watch as our intrepid investigators try to escape a dizzying web of clues, silly accents, disguises, and deceit as five actors deftly portray more than forty characters without ever confusing one accent for another as they present this Arthur Conan Doyle work that almost everyone knows by heart in a new and funny way.

Go here for the rest of this advance.

Go here for play dates, times and ticket information.

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Spotlight on ‘Baskerville’ director Rachael Endrizzi

Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance has entrusted Rachael Endrizzi with the direction of its upcoming production of Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Ken Ludwig. So the show’s in good hands. Rachael has directed numerous shows, including Pinkalicious, the Musical (The Legacy Theatre), Always … Patsy Cline (The Legacy Theatre), Lend Me a Tenor (The Legacy Theatre), Marian: The True Story of Robin Hood (Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance), Gideon’s Knot (Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance), 33 Variations (Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance), The Nerd (Off Broadway Palm), Moonlight & Magnolias, Camping with Henry & Tom (BIG ARTS Strauss Theater), Mr. Burns: a Post-Electric Play (Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance), Freud’s Last Session (BIG ARTS Strauss Theater), The Bible: Complete Word of God (abridged)(Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance), Social Security (Florida Rep, Asst. Director), The Odyssey Experience (Spark Theatre Company; Florida Rep Touring Show), The Fisherman & His Wife (Spark Theatre Company); Harriet Tubman: An American Moses (Spark Theatre Company); The New Kid (Spark Theatre Company); Baskerville (Ashland University), Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Lorain Co. Comm. College), Thomas Edison: Fire of Genius (Florida Rep Touring Show), And Then They Came for Me (Florida Rep Touring Show, 2010-11), And Then They Came for Me (Florida Rep Touring Show, 2009-10), Cinderella Confidential (Florida Rep Touring Show), Red Herring (Theatre Conspiracy), Shipwrecked! (Theatre Conspiracy), All the Great Books (abridged)(Theatre Conspiracy) and The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged)(The Legacy Theatre; Theatre Conspiracy).

But that’s not all. Go here to see Rachael’s extensive acting and film credits, as well as her accomplishments as an acting instructor.

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Spotlight on ‘Baskerville’ actor Rob Green

Following Katori Hall’s Mountaintop, Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance will be producing Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Ken Ludwig, and included in Director Rachael Endrizzi’s cast is Rob Green. Since returning to the boards following a three-year hiatus, Rob Green has appeared in numerous roles, including Dr. Sanderson in Harvey, Nick Dahner in Rancho Mirage, The Teacher, Cam, in Max Frisch’s Andorra, Gerald Halverson in Jeffrey Hatcher’s Murderers, the Archangel Gabriel in David Javerbaum’s An Act of God, the wheelchair-confined Queen of the Hollywood Melodrama Blanche Hudson in the outrageous Lab Theater summer spoof Whatever Happened to Baby Jane: A Parody of the Horror and Burton in in Burn This, as well as a supporting role in The Elephant Man.

Want more? Go here for the rest of Rob’s profile.

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Spotlight on ‘Baskerville’ actor Thomas Marsh

Following Katori Hall’s Mountaintop, Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance will be producing Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Ken Ludwig, and included in Director Rachael Endrizzi’s cast is Thomas Marsh. Tom is a local thespian who is building an impressive resume of work as a character actor. He has played Joseph Carey Merrick in Bernard Pomerance’s The Elephant Man, a priest battling Satan in 2017 New Play Contest winner Noli Timeri, Squeamish in The Country Wife, Toys in the Attic, the evil Mr. Burns in Mr. Burns: The Post-Electric Play, a Victorian dandy by the name of Woodnut in The Nether, and 2014’s A Position of Relative Importance.

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Spotlight on ‘Baskerville’ actor Shelley Sanders

Following Katori Hall’s Mountaintop, Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance will be producing Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Ken Ludwig, and included in Director Rachael Endrizzi’s cast is Shelley Sanders. Shelley is a Fort Myers actor, singer and dancer. Her acting credits include both dramatic, comedic and musical theater roles, including Columbia in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show (New Phoenix Theatre), the lead in Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood (Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance), Minka Lupino in Murderers, Marjorie in Hand to God (Lab Theater), Marjorie Pinchwife in The Country Wife (Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance) and Bitsy Mae Harling in Sordid Lives (Lab Theater), among others.

Go here for Shelley’s full resume.

And go here

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Spotlight on ‘Baskerville’ actor Madelaine Weymouth

Following Katori Hall’s Mountaintop, Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance will be producing Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Ken Ludwig, and included in Director Rachael Endrizzi’s cast is Madelaine Weymouth. Maddy’s previous acting credits include Robyn in Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man, Vandy Jordan in Venus in Fur (for The Studio Players), Forgive Me; I Put You in a Play, Boberg’s Timer and Dash in the Middle in Lab Theater’s inaugural Festival of Tens, Serenity in And the Winner Is, Jessica in Hand to God, The Musical Comedy Murders of the 1940s and two staged readings at the Laboratory Theater of Florida, the titular role in Julia and Callie in Stop Kiss.

Go here for Madelaine’s full resume.

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Spotlight on ‘Baskerville’ actor Jordan Wilson

Following Katori Hall’s Mountaintop, Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance will be producing Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Ken Ludwig, and included in Director Rachael Endrizzi’s cast is Jordan Wilson. Born and raised in Southwest Florida, Wilson has performed in a number of other Theatre Conspiracy productions, including The Cave, The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged), Deadman’s Cell Phone, The Nerd, Becky’s New Car, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) and Swell Party.

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‘Grumpy Old Men: The Musical’ at Broadway Palm through February 8

On stage through February 8 at Broadway Palm is Grumpy Old Men: The Musical. In addition to a bouncy musical score, Grumpy Old Men features lovable characters, crisp production numbers, relentless zingers, biting insults, rapid-fire one-liners and delectable double entendres.

Like the movie on which it is based, Grump Old Men: The Musical is set in Wabasha, Minnesota, where retired neighbors Max Goldman and John Gustafson continue a feud that dates back to their high school days. Rather than let bygones be bygones, these two grumpy old men continue their verbal, sometimes physical altercations with the gusto of a couple of mixed martial arts competitors. Their uncensored epithets and one-upmanship reach their pinnacle when a charmingly eccentric beauty by the name of Ariel moves in across the street. As Max and John compete for Ariel’s attention and affection, their rivalry descends to new levels. But through a combination of love and compassion, she ultimately finds a way to re-unite the duo in friendship.

Starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret, the 1993 film by Mark Steven Johnson (Grumpier Old Men, Daredevil, Simon Birch, Ghostrider) proved popular enough to warrant a sequel, Grumpier Old Men (1995), which added Sophia Loren to the celebrated cast.

Dan Remmes adapted the movie for the stage, with Neil Berg and Nick Meglin combining to provide the music and lyrics. They tested the show initially in Winnipeg in 2011 before debuting the work in the summer of 2018 at The Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine. The musical enjoyed its West Coast premiere in September of 2019 at La Mirada Theater in Los Angeles, and a national tour is in the works for 2020.

Luther Chakurian plays the role of John, Rob Summers is Max and Miranda Jane is Ariel, with Bob Marcus playing the part of Grandpa Guftafson.

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‘Weekend Comedy’ at Off Broadway Palm through February 22

Weekend Comedy is at the Off Broadway Palm through February 22. The frothy comedy follows two couples who are accidentally booked into the same vacation cabin for a 3-day weekend.

Peggy and Frank are a middle-aged couple who have fallen into a marital rut. Peggy is hoping that a change of pace will rekindle their stale romance. For his part, Frank seems content to just placate his wife of 33 years.

In their 20s, Jill and Tony live together. Madly in love, they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other. But like Peggy, Jill has a hidden agenda. She secretly hopes that the retreat will inspire Tony to make their arrangement legal and permanent.

Although the two men take an instant and palpable dislike for one another, they inexplicably decide to share the cabin rather than finding alternative accommodations, thereby setting in motion a comedic clash of the generations denoted by edgy wordplay and rapier exchanges.

Performances are Tuesday through Sunday evenings with selected matinees.

Ticket prices range from $42 to $62 with discounts available for children and groups of 20 or more. Tickets are now on sale and can be reserved by calling (239) 278-4422, visiting BroadwayPalm.com or in person at 1380 Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers.

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CFABS Youth Theatre producing ‘Tuck Everlasting’ in February

Tuck Everlasting comes to the Center for Performing Arts for four performances – Friday & Saturday, February 21 & 22 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday & Sunday, February 22 & 23 at 2:00 p.m. The show is a production of the CFABS Youth Theatre.

The show centers on eleven-year-old Winnie Foster, who yearns for a life of adventure beyond her white picket fence. But when she unexpectedly becomes entwined with the Tuck Family, Winnie gets more than she could have imagined. After she learns of the magic behind the Tuck’s unending youth, she must fight to protect their secret from those who would do anything for a chance at eternal life. As her adventure unfolds, Winnie faces an extraordinary choice: return to her life or continue with the Tucks on their infinite journey.

Based on best-selling children’s classic by Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting will be performed in the Hinman Auditorium.

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‘Same Time, Next Year coming to Cultural Park in February

Next up at Cultural Park Theatre in the Cape is Bernard Slade’s Same Time, Next Year. One of the most popular romantic comedies of the century, Same Time, Next Year ran four years on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for lead actress Ellen Burstyn, who later recreated her role in the successful motion picture. It remains one of the world’s most widely produced plays. Cultural Park’s production stars Dave Rode as George and Aricka Shuck as Doris.

For more, including play dates, times and ticket information, go here.

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Spotlight on ‘Same Time Next Year’ actor Aricka Shuck

Aricka Shuck has been tapped for the part of Doris in Cultural Park Theatre’s production of Same Time, Next Year. A veteran of the stage, Shuck has performed in more than 40 theatrical productions since the age of 6. Some of Aricka’s favorite roles include The Woman in Veronica’s Room, Virginia Noyes in It’s Only a Play, Kay in Father of the Bride, Maggie in The Man Who Came to Dinner, the good witch Glinda in The Wizard of Oz, Maddy Monroe in Tony and Tina’s Wedding, Madge in Picnic, Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer and Hermione in The Winter’s Tale. Go here for the rest of Aricka’s impressive profile.

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Spotlight on ‘Same Time Next Year’ actor Dave Rode

Dave Rode has been acting and singing for over 25 years in New Hampshire, Maine and Florida. His favorite local credits include The Man in Veronica’s Room (Lab Theater), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Pseudolus), Harvey (Elwood), Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Dave), and Boeing, Boeing (Bernard). When he’s not on stage you can find Dave in the classroom teaching math and science or at a piano bar belting out classic rock tunes.

He next appears as George in Cultural Park Theatre’s production of Same Time, Next Year.

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‘Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody’ on stage at Lab

The first licensed production of Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody in the United States is on stage at The Laboratory Theater of Florida through February 8.

A mysterious invitation finds Blanche Dubois on a train to New Orleans. She shares the train with hard-drinking couple George and Martha who seem intent on depleting the entire bar car while delivering scathing advice on life and marriage before the train arrives at its destination. Upon arriving in New Orleans, Blanche runs into the smoldering Stanley Kowalski and the hapless Willie Loman.

Go here for the rest of this advance.

Go here for play dates, times and ticket info.

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Spotlight on ‘Death of a Streetcar’ director Scott Carpenter

Scott Carpenter is directing Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody. His other directing credits include Rumors, Same Time, Next Year, Jekyll & Hyde, the Musical, South Pacific, Mame, and Steel Magnolias. In 2018, Carpenter was honored with the Cape Coral Community Foundation ENPY award for Nonprofit Volunteer of the Year Award for his work with Lab Theater.

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Spotlight on ‘Death of a Streetcar’ actor Sue Schaffel

Included in the cast of Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody is Sue Schaffel.

Schaffel is an accomplished EMC actor who is based in Southwest Florida each year. Her stage credits include Hush Up Sweet Charlotte (Velma) for Lab Theater. She has also worked in film and television. Her movie credits include I Like Me (for which she was awarded Best Actress/Feature by the 2018 Sunnyside Up Film Festival), The Waiting Room, The Summer Before, Ricardo and Hopping Through Hoops.

Go here for the rest of Sue’s profile.

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Spotlight on ‘Death of a Streetcar’ actor Steve Stefanik

Included in the cast of Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody is Steve Stefanik, who is making his Lab Theater debut. Most recently, he appeared for Cultural Park Theatre in Seven by Simonelli (seven comedic short plays by Joe Simonelli) as Father Matt O’Brien. When Steve isn’t on stage, he enjoys golfing, reading, and running.

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Spotlight on ‘Death of a Streetcar’ actor Michael Hennessey

Included in the cast of Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody is Michael Hennessey. The Naples resident is a stage, film and television actor whose career spans more than 50 years. Born in West Virginia, Hennessey grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula before going on to study theater at Wayne State University in Detroit. He thereafter performed on and off Broadway, becoming friends with many great actors, including Academy Award winner George C. Scott (Patton) and Roy Walston (best known for My Favorite Martian). Since relocating to Naples, he has been seen locally in numerous theatrical productions. To see which ones and where they were performed, go here.

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Spotlight on ‘Death of a Streetcar’ actor Joann Haley

Included in the cast of Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody is Joann Haley. Haley is an actor known for interesting character roles over the course of her 20-plus year career in local community theater. Her credits include the role of Beverly in The Shadow Box for New Phoenix Theatre, seductive Lady Shirley in Marian, or The True Tale of Robin Hood, Mrs. Kendal in The Elephant Man, Dr. Gertrude Ladenberger in 33 Variations, cheesy Sister Elizabeth Donderstock in The Book of Liz, Arcadia, Time and Ina Meyerhoff, Sylvia, and more.

Go here for the rest of her stage credits.

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Spotlight on ‘Death of a Streetcar’ actor Robert Armstrong

Included in the cast of Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody is Robert Armstrong, who is is making his Fort Myers and Laboratory Theater stage debut as George. Robert is a seasoned veteran of The Naples Players. His favorite roles include his most recent as Mary Sunshine in Chicago, as well as Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, Max in Lend Me a Tenor, Leo (and Maxine) in Leading Ladies and Freddy in Noises Off.

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Improv returns to The Lab November 30 with Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab

With a history of over-the-top sold out performances, Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab returns to The Laboratory Theater of Florida on February 15 for a night of hilarious antics, musical comedy, and on-the-spot jokes. Every facet of the uproarious improvised show is based on audience suggestions. With years of performance experience, Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab delivers a side-splitting, one-of-a-kind show every time.

Scared Scriptless is composed of Leigh Shein, Nick Hernandez, Kea McElfresh, Bill Owens, Andrew Florance and Steve Cobb.

Scared Scriptless offers a unique mixture of both short- and long-form improv, creating an entertaining evening of family-friendly laughter that is fast-paced, musical, and completely improvised. While no two shows are the same, they are always packed with hysterically funny songs, sketches, and jokes created instantaneously based on your suggestions. For the more adventurous, there are occasional opportunities to join the cast on stage.

Individual tickets for the 7:00 p.m. performance on Saturday, February 15 are $15 per person and are available at www.LaboratoryTheaterFlorida.com or by calling (239)218-0481. The theater is located in the River District of Fort Myers at 1634 Woodford Ave., Fort Myers, FL 33901.

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Spotlight on Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab tech Leigh Shein

Chicagoan, Leigh Shein took his first improv class with Second City in 1979 and has since studied and worked all over the world. He was a founding member of Bay Area Improv Theater and currently directs and hosts Harry’s Senior Moment. In addition to Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab, Leigh is also a member of Gene Pool Party, an improv group of dads and their daughters. He teaches improv to all ages including kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

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Spotlight on Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab tech Nick Hernandez

Nick Hernandez has been doing improv for 4 years. He has been in many productions in various theaters. He is currently in college studying to be a sound engineer for theater and artist performances. He is glad to now be a part of this improv group.

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Spotlight on Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab tech Kea ‘Mac’ McElfresh

Kea “Mac” McElfresh has been with Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab for nearly two years. As a Miami Improv Member of “Impromedy”, she was glad to finally find an improv family in Fort Myers. Mac is currently teaching theatre at Estero High School and serves the community as District VI Jr. Thespian Chair. She brings a wealth of knowledge and crazy characters to the stage.

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Spotlight on Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab tech Bill Owens

Bill Owens has the privilege of performing with fellow cast members, Steve Cobb, Leigh Shein and Kea McElfresh in the local improv troupes Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab and Gene Pool Party. He was also a member of Harry’s Senior Moment and Dueling Swords. Bill’s passion for improvisation began only three years ago when his determined kids persuaded him to get out of his comfort zone and take an improv class. When not making a fool of himself on the improv stage, Bill practices law as a business and real estate attorney.

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Spotlight on Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab tech Andrew Florance

Andrew Florance was born in Tucson, AZ in the back of the O.K. Corral. After escaping from his crib for the 6th time he started traveling with a comedy troupe of babies. They traveled through Georgia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, before ending up in Florida. When he grew too old for the Crying Laughing baby troupe he traveled the U.S. and Europe to perfect his comedic skills in the corporate world, making jokes at the office level until he found Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab. He’s been performing with Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab happily ever after.

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Spotlight on Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab tech Steve Cobb

Steve Cobb has been professionally doing improv for over 6 years. Steve currently is the creative director, show runner and cast member for the following improv groups: Scared Scriptless Comedy Lab, Gene Pool Party Improv (dads and their daughters), and Musical Swords Improv. Gene Pool Party Improv has performed locally in Southwest Florida, at the 2017 Palm Beach Improv Festival, the 2018 Palm Beach Improv Festival, and at the 2018 Miami Improv Festival, among several recognized national and international troupes. Musical Swords Improv debuted in the 2018 Palm Beach Improv Festival.

Steve coaches and trains the youth improv troupe Foot Milk Experience Improv. He is the former coach and director of Mission Improvable Youth Improv, and New and Improv’d Youth Improv.

Steve has hosted improv shows throughout the state of Florida, including at the Naples Players Sugden Theatre and the Bonita Springs Center for the Arts. Steve has taught workshops throughout the state, including at the 2018 Palm Beach Improv Festival and for the FGCU Improv Club. He has worked extensively with the FGCU Improv Club. Steve was a judge in Sarasota for the Regional College Improv Tournament in 2017. Steve has performed with many local and national improvisors all around the state, including with “Stacked- All Female Musical Revue” in Sarasota, Florida, as part of an instructor show at the Palm Beach Improv Festival, and with other troupes throughout the state as a guest featured player.

Steve is also a stage actor. His credits include Moon Over Buffalo for the CFABS Players.

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‘Dining Room’ comic, touching homage to slice of vanishing Americana

Players Circle Theatre at the Shell Factory will present A.R. Gurney’s The Dining Room January 7 through February 2.

The play is set in the dining room of a well-to-do household – the place where the family assembles for breakfast, for dinner and for sundry special occasions. But this dining room is anything but typical. That’s because Gurney’s living room “exists in a void” compliments of a minimalist set; a cast called upon to portray multiple characters in the tradition of Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery and Let Nothing You Dismay; and a non-linear timeline where nothing matters that occurred before each of the play’s 18 distinct vignettes, or which follows. In other words, The Dining Room is vintage Gurney.

Go here for the rest of this advance.

Go here for play dates, times and ticket information.

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Florida premiere of ‘How to Transcend a Happy Marriage’ opens at Lab on February 21

The Florida premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage opens February 21 at The Laboratory Theater of Florida.

Set during an upscale dinner party, two couples decide to invite an unusual young polyamorous woman and her two companions to join them. What happens next pushes the boundaries of friendship, marriage, and parenthood.

The show will be directed by New York director, international acting coach and Meisner alum Steven Ditmyer.

Go here for the rest of this advance.

Go here for play dates, times and ticket information.

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Spotlight on ‘Happy Marriage’ actor TJ Albertson

Included in the cast of the Florida premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage is TJ Albertson. TJ is one of Southwest Florida’s rising community theater stars. In just the past season, he’s turned in outstanding performances as the priest in The Crucible, Anorexia Nervosa in The Legend of Georgia McBride, The Soldier in Andorra, Tyler Johnes in And the Winner Is … and Timmy in Hand to God. Go here to access his full profile and accompanying interview.

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Spotlight on ‘Happy Marriage’ actor Tamicka Armstrong

Included in the cast of the Florida premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage is Tamicka Armstrong. She’s a former “choir kid” and karaoke aficionado with a decade’s worth of experience in ensemble and solo work. Her stage credits include The Crucible (which marked her Lab Theater debut) and Cindy in Repossessed for Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance.

Go here for Tamicka’s full profile.

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Spotlight on ‘Happy Marriage’ actor Steven Coe

Included in the cast of the Florida premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage is Steven Coe. He’s one of Southwest Florida’s most intelligent and engaging actors. His evolving body of work includes starring roles as John Proctor in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Thomas Novachek in David Ives’ Venus in Fur for The Studio Players, Andri in Andorra, The Boy in Veronica’s Room, and Doug in Neil LaBute’s The Way We Get By, as well as memorable supporting and ensemble appearances in Hush Up Sweet Charlotte, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane: A Parody of the Horror, Arthur Kopit’s Wings, Rick Abbot’s Play On!, The Last Night of Ballyhoo and The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940. Inveterate theater-goers may also remember Steven as the twenty-something Russian spy in Theatre Conspiracy’s 2013 production of Red Herring, a light-hearted espionage spoof. Other favorite shows include Blithe Spirit and The Government Inspector, both comedies.

Go here for the rest of Steven’s resume.

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Spotlight on ‘Happy Marriage’ actor Paul Graffy

Included in the cast of the Florida premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage is Paul Graffy. Over the past 15 years, Paul has appeared in more than 25 productions and directed over a dozen others at such theaters as The Naples Players, Artis Naples, TheatreZone, The Studio Players, The Naples Dinner Theater and the Laboratory Theater of Florida. Among his acting credits are the deputy governor of Massachusetts, Judge Thomas Danforth, in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, General Thomas F. Waverly in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (The Naples Players), Pale in Burn This! (for The Lab), Senator Joe Cantwell in The Best Man (also for Lab), Frank Sr. in Catch Me if You Can, Johnny Lowell in Stage Kiss, Alan in God of Carnage and George in Moon Over Buffalo, both at The Naples Players in 2014. In 2011, Florida Weekly recognized his stage talent with its Best Actor award.

Go here for Paul’s full profile.

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Spotlight on ‘Happy Marriage’ actor Heather McLemore Johnson

Included in the cast of the Florida premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage is Heather McLemore Johnson. Heather is a recent theatrical transplant from Starkville, Mississippi. Heather’s stage credits include the role of Rebecca Nurse in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, an aggrieved soccer mom (and the only adult cast member) in The Wolves, Andre’s mother in Max Frisch’s Andorra and the dip-spittin’ sheriff in Hush Up Sweet Charlotte. She also recently participated in Lab Theater’s 24-Hour Playwriting Project, directing Candice Sanzari’s Critics’ Choice winner Thanksgiving is for Nutters. Go here for more.

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‘Dining Room’ comic, touching homage to slice of vanishing Americana

Players Circle Theatre at the Shell Factory will present A.R. Gurney’s The Dining Room through February 2.

Go here for the rest of this advance.

Go here for play dates, times and ticket information.

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‘Dining Room’ actors make Players Circle production unqualified success

A.R. Gurney’s The Dining Room comes to a close on Sunday, so it is with apologies to cast, crew and the theater-going public that this commentary comes so late in the run. Nevertheless, there is still time to catch the show if anything that follows piques your interest or inspires you to drive out to The Shell Factory in the next three days.

Gurney wrote The Dining Room in 1982, and it was criticized for being dated even back then since most people during the era of MTV and cable television ate their meals in their family rooms and dens on stack tables in front of their television sets. Dining rooms are even less in use today than they were 40 years ago, and fewer and fewer people consume their meals as a family unit. But that’s okay. The Dining Room plays into a trend that Gurney could hardly have anticipated four decades ago.

Go here for the rest of this review.

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Spotlight on ‘Dining Room’ actor Paul Graffy

Since 2001, Paul has appeared in more than 25 productions and directed over a dozen others at such theaters as The Naples Players, Artis Naples, TheatreZone, The Studio Players, The Naples Dinner Theater, the Laboratory Theater of Florida and The Players Circle. He plays multiple roles in The Players Circle’s production of A.R. Gurney’s The Dining Room.

Go here for Paul’s full profile.

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Spotlight on ‘Dining Room’ actor Angela Watson

Angela Watson plays multiple roles in The Players Circle’s production of The Dining Room. She is best known for her recurring role on ABC’s Davis Rules with Jonathan Winters and Randy Quaid and for playing Suzanne Somers and Patrick Duffy’s very vain and seemingly shallow, though good-hearted, teenage daughter Karen Foster on the TGIF sitcom Step by Step (currently streaming on Hulu). Angela played the latter role for seven seasons, achieving the distinction of being the only cast member to earn an offer for a studio hold deal to develop her own television series.

Go here for Angela’s full profile.

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‘Laughter on the 23rd Floor’ opens at The Players Circle on February 11

Coming next to The Players Circle is Neil Simon’s Laughter on the 23^rd Floor. Simon got his first big break in the early ’50s as a staff writer on Sid Caesar’s fabled television series Your Show of Shows, and this comedy takes a fictionalized look at the backstage chaos that went into producing one of the landmarks of television’s golden age.

Max Prince is the star of The Max Prince Show, a popular comedy-variety series that is a major hit on the East Coast. But a network executive insists that it’s too sophisticated for the Midwest and urges Prince to dumb down his act. Between the tensions of producing an hour of top-quality comedy each week and being pestered about his ratings, Prince is beginning to unravel. His last line of defense against both the network and the ratings is his writing staff, which spends its days coming up with business for the show while hurling humorous invective at each other and anyone else within earshot. The writers try to top each other with gags while competing for Prince’s attention, but they’re as consumed by anxiety as Prince is – anxiety about McCarthyism, blacklisting, the bomb and the NBC executives who’ve cut the length of the show, its budget and finally the show itself.

Included in the cast for this show are Maximilian Koger as Lucas, and Natalie Brouwer, Shane Dinan, Katie Pankow and Matt Michael.

Laughter on the 23^rd Floor runs February 11 through March 8.

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New Phoenix’s ‘Time Stands Still’ features complex characters, crackling wit

Next up, New Phoenix Theatre will tackle Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still, an insightful play that focuses on two Brooklyn couples who must come to terms with the shifting dynamics of their relationships in the wake of crisis.

Sarah Goodwin is a war photographer who has returned to her Williamsburg loft from Iraq after being injured by an IED that killed her translator and left her face scarred and her body and spirit broken. Her partner, James Dodd, is a journalist, suffered a nervous breakdown and left Iraq before Sarah was injured in the explosion. Now he feels responsible for what happened to Sarah in his absence.

The other couple consists of Richard and Mandy.

Go here for the rest of this advance.

And go here for play dates, times and ticket info.

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‘Time Stands Still’ beautifully acted, well staged and immensely thought-provoking

On stage for four more performances at New Phoenix Theatre is Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still. Directed by Lois Kuehne, it stars Stacy Stauffer as war photographer Sarah Goodwin, Blake Dunkle as her love interest, James Dodd, Ken Johnson as their editor, Richard Ehrlich, and Eren Sisk as Ehrlich’s young lover and the voice of social conscience in the play.

This is Stauffer’s most ambitious role to date, and she gives a master class in expressing inner turmoil. There are scenes when that conflict manifests itself verbally, but for most of the show, Stauffer is called upon to reveal the depths of her psychological damage through an interrelated medley of facial expressions, body language and passive-aggressive cues.

Go here for the rest of this review.

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Lois Kuehne returns to Fort Myers to direct ‘Time Stands Still’ for New Phoenix

New Phoenix Theatre is tackling Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still, an insightful play that focuses on two Brooklyn couples who must come to terms with the shifting dynamics of their relationships in the wake of crisis. Directing a cast that consists of Stacy Stauffer, Blake Dunkle, Kenneth Bradley Johnson and Eren Sisk is Lois Kuehne .

A graduate of the School of Communication at Ohio University, Lois has worked on both sides of the stage lights. She has directed musicals, comedies, mysteries and dramas for many years. Before relocating several years ago, she directed Stage Kiss (2015), The Graduate (2014), In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) and Picasso at the Lapin Agile (2012) for the Laboratory Theater of Florida. Other productions that she has especially enjoyed over the course of her career include Singin’ in the Rain, Harvey, Clue, the Musical, Street Magnolias, My Fair Lady and The Lower Room.

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Spotlight on ‘Time Stands Still’ actor Stacy Stauffer

New Phoenix Theatre is tackling Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still, an insightful play that focuses on two Brooklyn couples who must come to terms with the shifting dynamics of their relationships in the wake of crisis. And playing the part of Sarah Goodwin is Stacy Stauffer, a talented character actor who lives and performs in Fort Myers. Her credits include Sheila in Joe Simonelli’s The Ghost in the Meadow (Cultural Park Theatre), Lab Theater’s world premiere production of Zalman Velvel’s DMV (various roles, including the mayor) ….

Want to see Stacy’s full profile? Go here.

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Spotlight on ‘Time Stands Still’ actor Blake Dunkle

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Spotlight on ‘Time Stands Still’ actor Kenneth Bradley Johnson

New Phoenix Theatre is tackling Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still, an insightful play that focuses on two Brooklyn couples who must come to terms with the shifting dynamics of their relationships in the wake of crisis. And playing the part of Richard is Kenneth Bradley Johnson. Ken’s local acting credits include the roles of Milford, Ivan and Oscar Saperstein in Topher Payne’s Let Nothing You Dismay, Phaedra (the enigma) in La Cage aux Folles for New Phoenix Theatre, Paster Greg in Hand to God and Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram in Sordid Lives for Lab Theater. To access Ken’s full profile, go here.

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Spotlight on ‘Time Stands Still’ actor Eren Sisk

New Phoenix Theatre is tackling Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still, an insightful play that focuses on two Brooklyn couples who must come to terms with the shifting dynamics of their relationships in the wake of crisis. And playing the part of Mandy Bloom is Eren Sisk. Eren is a rising star in the local theater scene. New Phoenix audiences are still talking about her memorable performances as one of the Phantoms and the Popcorn Girl in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show. Go here to see the rest of her stage credits.

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Ten time Tony nominee ‘The Full Monty’ coming to New Phoenix Theatre

Coming to New Phoenix Theatre on February 27 for four full weekends is Terrence McNally and David Yazbek’s The Full Monty. Based on the cult hit film of the same name, this ten-time Tony Award nominee is filled with honest affection, engaging melodies and the most highly anticipated closing number of any show.

Go here for the rest of this advance.

Go here for play dates, times and ticket info.

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TNP holding auditions for ‘Becky’s New Car’ & ‘Calendar Girls’ on January 25

The Naples Players is holding open auditions for Becky’s New Car and Calendar Girls from noon to 4:00 p.m. on January 25. You may audition for one or both shows. Final casting calls will be made starting Wednesday, January 29. For questions please contact Cole Butcher, Production Stage Manager, by calling 239.434.7340 Ext. 125 or email at cbutcher@naplesplayers.org.

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The Naples Players will be ‘Making God Laugh’ through February 9

Making God Laugh is on stage in the Blackburn Hall at The Naples Players through February 9.

Making God Laugh follows one typical American family over the course of thirty years’ worth of holidays. Starting in 1980, Ruthie and Bill’s grown children — a priest, an aspiring actress, and a former football star — all return home, where we learn of their plans and dreams as they embark on their adult lives. The empty-nester parents contend with their own changes, too, as old family rituals are trotted out and ancient tensions flare-up. As time passes, the family discovers that, despite what we may have in mind, we often arrive at unexpected destinations.

Written by Sean Grennan, this nostalgic family play is meaningful, poignant, funny and heartwarming and underscores one simple fact: if you want to make God laugh, just tell her your plans. Showtimes are Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00. Tickets are $30 for subscribers, $40 for individual tickets. To reserve your seats, telephone 239.263.7990 or visit NaplesPlayers.org.

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TNP’s ‘Silent Sky’ tells the true story of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt

Coming to the Tobye Studio on February 5 is The Naples Players’ production of Silent Sky, a true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. The drama explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries – when women’s ideas were dismissed until men claimed credit for them.

Inspiring and touching, the story follows Henrietta as she begins work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s but isn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joins a group of women “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who calculates projects in “girl hours” and has no time for the women’s probing theories. As Henrietta attempts to measure the light and distance of stars in her free time, she must also take measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love.

Showtimes are Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. February 5 through March 1. Tickets are $35 to subscribers and $40 for other individuals. Please call 239.263.7990 or visit NaplesPlayers.org to reserve your seats.

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Shakespeare-on-the-Plaza returns to Baker Stage February 15-March 8

Shakespeare-on-the-Plaza returns to The Naples Players’ outdoor Baker Stage February 15 through March 8. This year, the free annual outdoor Shakespeare event features the pastoral comedy, As You Like It. Shakespeare-on-the-Plaza runs every Saturday and Sunday, February 15 through March 8, with the Saturday performances taking place at 2:00 p.m. and the Sunday performances starting at 7:00 p.m.

Bring a folding chair to reserve your spot.

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Studio Players producing Pulitzer-winning ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’

The Studio Players will present Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof February 7 through March 1.

The iconic play takes place is a plantation house, where a family is celebrating the sixty-fifth birthday of Big Daddy, as they sentimentally dub him. The mood is somber, despite the festivities, because a number of evils poison the gaiety. Greed, sins of the past and desperate, clawing hopes for the future spar with one another as the knowledge that Big Daddy is dying slowly makes the rounds.

You’ll find the rest of this advance here.

And go here for play dates, times and ticket info.

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Spotlight on ‘Hot Tin Roof’ actor Rachel Borwein

Rachel Borwein is a Naples actor. She will be appearing in the lead as Maggie in The Studio Players’ production of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Her other credits include the roles of Suzette in Don’t Dress for Dinner for The Naples Players, Martha Livingstone in Agnes of God for The Studio Players and Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew.

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Spotlight on ‘Hot Tin Roof’ actor Kevin Hendricks

Kevin Hendricks will be playing the part of Brick in The Studio Players’ production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Kevin is a local actor who was born, raised and educated right here in Naples (at Golden Gate Middle School and Naples High). Kevin’s first love was golf, and in addition to giving lessons and working in area pro shops, he even played on one of the mini-tours for a few years. One day, he decided to join a plant club at Golden Gate Community Center. Arriving early and looking for a way to kill some time, he stumbled into the auditorium where The Studio Players were rehearsing Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? As luck would have it, the actor playing Nick had just dropped out and Kevin jumped at the opportunity to take his place. And, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Go here for Kevin’s full profile.

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Spotlight on ‘Hot Tin Roof’ actor Danielle Channell

Danielle Channell is a talented comedic actor living and working in Naples, Florida. She will be appearing next as Mae in The Studio Players’ production of the Pulitzer-winning Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by legendary Tennessee Williams. Past credits include trophy wife Kaitlyn Gordon, brainiac neurosurgeon Angela Saperstein-Koplan and caustic Bohemian author Brianna in Let Nothing You Dismay and Beatrice Pomeroy in Don’t Talk to the Actors for The Studio Players in Naples. Go here for the rest of Danielle’s stage credits.

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About the Author

Tom Hall is both an amateur artist and aspiring novelist who writes art quest thrillers. He is in the final stages of completing his debut novel titled "Art Detective," a story that fictionalizes the discovery of the fabled billion-dollar Impressionist collection of Parisian art dealer Josse Bernheim-Jeune, thought by many to have perished during World War II when the collection's hiding place, Castle de Rastignac in southern France, was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in reprisal for attacks made by members of the Resistance operating in the area. A former tax attorney, Tom holds a bachelor's degree as well as both a juris doctorate and masters of laws in taxation from the University of Florida. Tom lives in Estero, Florida with his fiancee, Connie, and their four cats.

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Actors, artists, filmmakers and events in the news February 1-7, 2020

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