Venice Theatre

Ben Vereen shares the love in Venice concerts

Ben Vereen may not be able to move the way he once did — two knee surgeries took care of that – but there’s no denying the high-wattage charisma he put into his sold-out weekend performances of performance of “Steppin’ Out Live with Ben Vereen” at Venice Theatre.

From the start, he noted that he no longer does cartwheels — “been there, done that,” he joked. But there is plenty of movement in his every song. He walks with a slight, almost undetectable limp, but you can sense the inner spirit running through his body and emerging in his slightly raspy but pleasing voice and the sparkle in his eyes.

The 66-year-old Vereen presented three sold-out shows on Friday and Saturday in Venice, thanking the crowd for joining him on his wide-ranging career, from Tony-winning Broadway star (for “Pippin”) to television icon thanks to Chicken George in “Roots” and all the performances since …

Venice Theatre gets intimate with Nottage's 'Apparel'

With every new production of a Lynn Nottage play, area theater audiences get a better chance to experience the world through the words of this gifted and poetic writer.

In the last few years, the Asolo Repertory Theatre presented her “Las Meninas,” and Florida Studio Theatre staged a grand production of her Pulitzer Prize-winning “Ruined.” Now Venice Theatre’s Stage II is offering her off-Broadway hit “Intimate Apparel,” a graceful play set in 1905 about a lonely 35-year-old African-American woman who has given up hopes on finding a husband and focuses on sewing undergarments for socialites and prostitutes and dreaming of one day opening a beauty salon with her savings. It deals with prejudice, conventions of the day, and a longing to belong and be loved.

'39 Steps,' four actors, a million laughs

I have seen “39 Steps” at least three times at other theaters. 

It is a funny piece, but nowhere have I seen a more outlandishly laugh-out-loud version than Venice Theatre’s offering as directed by Murray Chase, full-time executive and artistic director of Venice Theatre and part-time inhabitant of Greater Tuna, Texas. Chase meshed it all in “39 Steps.” 

Adapted by Patrick Barlow from the novel by John Buchan, from the films of Alfred Hitchcock, “39 Steps” is a mystery involving a quiet Brit named Richard Hannay (Douglas Landin). To add some spice to his dull and dreary existence, he decides to go to a West End show one evening. The emcee is played by Nicholas Pokorny (Clown 2). The star of the show is Mr. Memory played by Daniel Greene (Clown 1).

A woman named Annabella (Allison Prouty) arrives to sit behind Hannay in the same box. When she pulls out a gun and shoots it, Mr. Memory loses his memory and Hannay’s life changes from bland to blazing. When she goes home with him to hide from some unknown villain, the story and the nonsense escalate.

Vagina Monologues' keeps its hold on audiences

Playwright Eve Ensler puts audiences at ease right from the start of her thought-provoking, moving and funny play “The Vagina Monologues.”

 “I bet you’re worried,” the actresses say directly to the audience and to one another. “I bet you’re worried what we think about vaginas. It’s like the Bermuda Triangle. No one ever reports back from there.”

By confronting concerns head on, Ensler makes it easier for the mostly female audience (with a few brave men) to relate, laugh and be touched by comical interjections mixed with some horrifying accounts of women who have been abused or tortured by the men in their lives.

The monologues were created from more than 200 interviews Ensler conducted with women around the world. They were all asked similar questions, leading to some surprising revelations. Ensler originally performed the monologues as a solo show, and then sent it off onto countless stages, where it has been performed, most often by trios, but sometimes by large groups of women taking turns.

Venice Theatre does the 'Time Warp' again with new look

There is something of a welcome time warp evident in the Venice Theatre’s new production of the cult favorite “The Rocky Horror Show.”

All the expected characters and features (including audience responses to some of the lines) are there in Allan Kollar’s production. But costume designer Anthony Yamashiro has given those familiar characters a new look, a mix of trashy, industrial, Victoria’s Secret and what’s known as steam punk.

Those eye-popping, body-revealing costumes don’t change what happens, but they help those who have seen countless versions of the show to watch it with fresh if not perfectly innocent eyes.

There aren’t many of those “Rocky” virgins by this point, and perhaps the biggest compliment I can offer is that I didn’t think of the movie more than once during the performance.

Random Acts returns in racy style

You can’t quite recreate the aura of Sarasota’s original Broadway Bar, where the theater troupe Random Acts was born more than 20 years ago. But after an 18-year gap, the group recaptures the nature of its racy and off-beat origins with its revival at Venice Theatre’s Pinkerton Stage.

The small space has been transformed into a bar/theater set-up, with small tables at the seats and a bar in the back of the room with a raised platform for the stage.

The scent of fresh pizza may be missing, but director Kelly Wynn Woodland has brought back the casual, anything-can-happen feeling.