. . . for Beauty & The Beast set. This Saturday, November 5 from 9 until 5, we will be working on set building and painting, costumes and props, lights and sound for our huge upcoming production of Beauty & The Beast. Please come and lend a hand if you can and bring us a new friend to volunteer. As usual the theatre will provide a tasty lunch from our friends at Geraldi’s.

P.S. Forward this newsletter to other folks who have expressed an interest in getting involved as a volunteer here at the theatre.

. . . also set FOR SUNDAY, THIS SUNDAY (November 6) at 3:00 p.m. at the theatre. If you were one of the folks closed out of the October 23 auditions (thanks Wilma), your opportunity to audition is finally here. Director Murray Chase and Musical Director Michelle Kasanofsky will be here to see you do your thing. A lot of you have called over the last ten days to find out when we’d be rescheduling. It’s not possible to call you all back, so we hope you read your email this week and we hope to see you on Sunday!

. . . we are also holding auditions on November 6 and November 7 for:

(1) Steve Martin’s The Underpants, scheduled for MainStage January 10-29. Directing is Joe Simmons. We’ll be casting four men and two women, 20's (one of the women) to ‘elderly’ (one of the men); and

(2) The one and only, down and dirty, pre-WWII Berlin Cabaret, scheduled for Stage II January 19-February 12. This is a large musical cast, men and women of all ages. Directing and choreographing is Brad Wages. Musical director is Michelle Kasanofsky.

. . . cast and crew of Boom Town. They’ll be performing at the Florida Theatre Conference in Lakeland this weekend. The performance happens Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at the Lake Mirror Theatre (next to the Texas Cattle Company.) Why not take a short jaunt over to Lakeland to encourage the gang?

. . . when we open the largest musical ever presented on VLT’s stage. It happens on November 15 and the show is the Broadway hit musical, Disney’s Beauty & The Beast. We’re seeing a lot smiles on the faces of the artistic team, Murray Chase (director), Brad Wages (choreographer) and Jason Brenner (musical director), and we know what those smiles mean. Although we don’t recommend this for pre-school age children, this is a great show for the whole family. It will be chock full of the wonderful characters we’ve all grown to love and, of course, the wonderful songs in a ‘tale as old as time’. Beauty runs through December 7 and tickets are $20.00 (but only $10.00 for the kids).

. . . things will be going in a somewhat different direction. Cops, by Terry Curtis Fox, opens our 05-06 Stage II season with a bang - literally. When you enter the theatre, you’ll be walking into a working diner and once the show starts you’ll meet the usual denizens of a late Chicago night - including two cynical and tired cops who will find themselves in the midst of a violent and tense drama. This is adult fare. Runs through November 20 and tickets are $20.00.

NOVEMBER 3 - Opening of the tense police drama, Cops in Stage II. Runs through November 20.

NOVEMBER 6-7 - AUDITIONS for Steve Martin’s The Underpants AND for Cabaret. These auditions are at 7:30 p.m. both days at the theatre.

NOVEMBER 6-7 - Patti Highland in Concert in Stage II. 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $15.00

NOVEMBER 15 - Opening of VLT’s production of Disney’s Beauty & The Beast. This is a Southwest Florida premiere and not to be missed. Tickets $10 to $20. Runs through December 7.

NOVEMBER 20-21 - The Venice Symphony’s annual fundraiser concert featuring Eric Watters and friends in "Way Down Yonder", a ‘jambalaya of music and dance.’ Three shows - the 20th at 8:00 p.m. and the 21st at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

DECEMBER 2 - opening of the Stage II Cabaret: Golf, The Musical. Runs through Decmeber 30 and tickets are only $20.00.

You can now BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE at