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5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Best things to do this weekend in Fort Myers, Cape Coral: See which shows made our list
Looking for some fun in Southwest Florida? Here are our top things to do this weekend and next week, including a feisty nun, jazz singer/pianist Danny Sinoff and the start of Theatre Conspiracy's final season in Southwest Florida. Plus a look at what's ahead in June. To submit events, email the details to reporter Charles Runnells at crunnells@ Theatre Conspiracy kicks off its final season in Southwest Florida with this comedy set in Alabama. The owner of a bait-and-tackle shop and her new employee, a pageant coach, help Rita Mae Raspberry as she launches a new campaign to win the crown in the Miss Alabama Pageant. This will be Rita Mae's seventh attempt. Thursday through Sunday, June 5-8. $38. Off Broadway Palm at the Broadway Palm dinner theater, 1380 Colonial Blvd., Fort Myers. Popular Southwest Florida jazz singer and pianist Danny Sinoff takes the stage with Stardust Memories Big Band for a night of timeless hits. He'll join the band on 'Everything's Coming Up Roses,' 'This Could Be the Start of Something Big,' 'Luck Be a Lady' and more. Stardust will also perform 'Little Brown Jug,' 'Moonlight Serenade,' 'Stompin' at the Savoy' and other big-band favorites. 7 p.m. Thursday, June 12. $50. Tribby Arts Center at Shell Point Retirement Community, 17281 On Par Blvd., south Fort Myers. 415-5667 or Denise Fennell stars as the feisty, irreverent nun Sister in this third interactive show in the 'Late Nite Catechism' series. She'll school her catechism class — the audience at Florida Rep — on the Sacraments of Marriage, the Last Rites and her own wacky version of "The Newlywed Game." June 12-July 3. $67. Florida Repertory Theatre, 2268 Bay St., downtown Fort Myers. 332-4488 or Last chance to see this musical comedy about three bubbly Texas teens on their journey from cheerleaders to sorority sisters to housewives. Now through Sunday, June 8. $35-$55. Players Circle Theater, 13211 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers. 800-3292 or The former A&R chief for Atlantic Records went on to write songs for some of Nashville's biggest stars, including Dierks Bentley ('Modern Day Drifter'), Joe Diffie ('Life's So Funny') and Neal McCoy ('This Time I'm Taking My Time'). He released his fifth album, 'From Where I Stand,' in 2022. He performs at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 7. Robert Bidney opens. $15-$20. The Americana Community Music Association Listening Room inside All Faiths Unitarian Church, 2756 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers. Jimmy Buffett jukebox musical 'Escape to Margaritaville': Now through Sunday, June 8, at Fort Myers Theatre, Fort Myers. $27-$43. National Trails Day at Babcock Ranch: Celebrate the national event by taking a guided, two-mile walk through the town's trail network. Babcock's environmental conservation manager, Christina Kontos, will discuss the town's native wildlife, the importance of land management and more. 9-11 a.m. Saturday, June 7, at the Dr. Bill Hammond Trail Head at the William & Mary Ann Smith Sports Complex, 17100 Palmetto Pass Lane, Babcock Ranch. Free. Register online at The kid-friendly musical 'Fiddler on the Roof Jr.': June 12-21 at Arts Bonita Center for Performing Arts, Bonita Springs. $10-$25. The diversity-first music fest returns for its eighth year with thrashy, riot grrrl-style North Carolina punk band Babe Haven, plus opening acts Except You, Peace Cult and CAAM. The fest is organized by Love Your Rebellion, a local nonprofit created to empower marginalized groups through art, literature and music. 7 p.m. Friday, June 13. $22-$28. Nice Guys Pizza, 1334 Cape Coral Parkway E., downtown Cape Coral. The country-music star brings his Lettin' The Night Roll Tour to Fort Myers. Show starts at about 9 p.m. Friday, June 13. $33. The Ranch Concert Hall & Saloon, 2158 Colonial Blvd., Fort Myers. 985-9839 or The sci-fi and comic-book convention beams down for its third year in Cape Coral. Expect celebrity guests, panel discussions, vendors, gaming tournaments, cosplay and more. This year's celebrities include voice actor Alex Mai ('Borderlands 3,' 'My Hero Academia'), retired Hollywood stuntman Brett Heneise ('V.R. Troopers,' 'Dead Above Ground') and 'scream queen' movie actor Crystal Lowe ('Final Destination 3,' 'Children of the Corn: Revelation'). 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 14. $12 in advance, $15 at the door ($12 at the door for those in costume). Free for kids younger than 12 with each paid adult admission, $5 for additional kids. German American Social Club, 2101 S.W. Pine Island Road, Cape Coral. The country-music superstar will be the first major musical act to play a concert inside JetBlue Park's baseball field — the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox. He'll be joined by opening acts Conner Smith, Ashland Craft, Adrien Nunez and DJ Rock. Bryan's many country hits include 'Country Girl (Shake It For Me),' 'Play It Again,' 'That's My Kind of Night,' 'I Don't Want This Night To End,' 'Drunk On You' and 'Knocking Boots.' He's also well-known as an 'American Idol' judge. 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 14. $73-$137. JetBlue Park at Fenway South, 11500 Fenway South Drive, south Fort Myers. Drummer Tito Puente Jr. — son of late salsa giant Tito Puente — and Grammy-winning flautist Néstor Torres perform Latin jazz. Two shows at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, June 14. $65. Music & Arts Community Center, 13411 Shire Lane, south Fort Myers. 277-1700 or Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 or email crunnells@ Follow or message him on Facebook(@ Instagram (@crunnells1) and X (@CharlesRunnells). This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Things to do this weekend in Fort Myers, Cape Coral: Concerts and more
Boston Globe
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Let's keep this party polite: ‘Guys and Dolls' turns 70
After a successful night of battling the MGM lion at one of the hundreds of craps tables his company owns, I must tell you about another important craps game. It's the one that anchors the miscast movie musical adaptation that is 1955's 'Guys and Dolls.' My choice is appropriate, as I'm surrounded by hordes of sinners slinging dice while demanding that 'luck be a lady tonight.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up That catchy quote is a lyric from 'Luck Be a Lady,' the most famous song in composer Frank Loesser's memorable 1950 Broadway musical score. It's a showstopper that occurs during the climactic craps game where Sky Masterson, a guy who'll gamble on anything, is shooting for his biggest win yet: If he's victorious, his fellow gamblers must repent at a religious meeting run by the anti-gambling Save a Soul Mission. Advertisement Sky took on this impossible task in order to win a $1,000 bet that he could convince the mission's most pious sergeant, Sarah Brown, to go on a romantic date to Havana. He made that bet with Nathan Detroit, another gambler whose sole skill is putting on illegal craps games for bigshot out-of-towners who roll into New York City with loaded dice and overloaded wallets. Advertisement Nathan's desired gaming venue, the Biltmore Garage, comes with a $1,000 price tag he can't afford, which leads him to wagering with Sky. It's a bet Nathan doesn't believe he can lose; Sarah hates gamblers and would never go out with one. Unfortunately for Nathan, Sky's quite the charmer. Unfortunately for Sky, he made a side bet with Sarah that he'll fill her mission meeting with a dozen repentant gamblers if she'll go on that date with him. Sarah's job depends on whether she can convince sinners to go with God, so this score is too enticing to resist. Sky is also irresistible; she agrees to visit Havana because she's secretly falling for the old rascal. As a result, Sky must hold up his end of the bargain. Cue 'Luck Be a Lady' and that fateful roll of the dice. Before Joe Mankiewicz got his hands on this adaptation (which he wrote and directed), 'Guys and Dolls' ran for three years and 1,200 performances. It won the Tony for best musical, and several cast members, including Stubby Kaye and Vivian Blaine, reprised their roles in the film version. My introduction to 'Guys and Dolls' came not from the movie but from two related sources. The first is Damon Runyon, whose stories I loved reading back in my younger days. Two of Runyon's tales, 'The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown' and 'Blood Pressure' provided the basis for the Tony-winning book by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling. Advertisement Frank Sinatra at a recording studio in the 1950s. Photo byThe second source was my fellow Hudson County native, Frank Sinatra. He has a street named after him here in Vegas, and for my money, he sang I tell you this because I was once in a production of 'Guys and Dolls.' And like me, Ol' Blue Eyes didn't get to sing 'Luck Be a Lady.' As a result, his recording of the song plays like an upstaging act of deserved revenge. My little show cast a better Sky than I could ever have been. Mankiewicz's version cast some wannabe crooner named Marlon Brando. Promotional portrait of Marlon Brando, circa 1951. Photo byLooking back, it seems odd that Brando would be cast over Sinatra, who wanted the role and was instead cast as Nathan Detroit. For starters, Sinatra was a singer whose persona fit perfectly with Runyon's gamblers. And it wasn't as if he had no acting chops — he won the supporting actor Oscar the same year Brando was up for best actor in another Mankiewicz movie, 1953's 'Julius Caesar.' (Brando would lose that Oscar but win for 'On the Waterfront' the next year.) The reason Brando was chosen was that he was the biggest star in Hollywood, a man whose star had risen to the upper echelon of greatness. But dammit, Brando couldn't sing! He's not godawful, mind you, he's simply bad . Do your best Brando imitation singing 'they call you lady luck, but there is room for doubt' and you'll have an idea what he sounds like. Advertisement Everything else in Brando's performance kind of works. Sky oozes chemistry with Sarah, played by the always underrated Jean Simmons who, to the shock of producer Sam Goldwyn, had a wonderful singing voice. Brando even nails the comedic moments between him and Sinatra's Detroit. Frank Sinatra takes a break during a recording session in March 1967. Photo byBut the genuine article is standing right there on the screen with Brando, and I can't help but be distracted. Even worse, Broadway holdovers Blaine and Kaye, as Miss Adelaide and Nicely-Nicely Johnson (the role I played) slay the musical numbers they immortalized onstage. The impressive cast of singers leaves Brando looking like an amateur, but believe it or not, he's not the biggest problem with 'Guys and Dolls.' That distinction falls to Mankiewicz's direction. Mankiewicz is a helmer who works great with character-driven stories like 'A Letter to Three Wives,' 'Sleuth,' and 'The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.' But, as 'Cleopatra' would later prove, gigantic spectacle was not his forte. The pacing of 'Guys and Dolls' drags it down, and somehow you feel like this should be more fun than it is. You start to wonder how it would have gone down had Stanley Donen ('Singin' in the Rain') directed it. With that said, 'Guys and Dolls' looks absolutely glorious in eye-popping Technicolor and CinemaScope. Harry Stradling's cinematography received an Oscar nod, as did the production design and Irene Sharaff's costumes. I watched it for the first time on the big screen last year and realized the old pan-and-scan television version did the movie no justice. Hearing Brando warble through those powerful theater speakers took a few years off my life, but I probably deserved it. Advertisement In addition to those Oscar nods, 'Guys and Dolls' was a hit with critics Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
