Annual New Play Festival – Upcoming Season

The Naples Players is excited

to move forward into their dynamic 69th Season, presented by Porsche Naples. This upcoming season is dedicated to building community, instilling laughs and looking to the future.

From June 22 to July 24, 2022, the outrageous, crowd-pleasing musical, Something Rotten! welcomes you to the Renaissance and Blackburn Hall. Sponsored by Stock Development, the story follows brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom who are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of a Renaissance rock star known as “The Nigel Bottom Bottom Brothers set out to write the world’s very first musical! Don’t forget – the KidzAct production of Something Rotten! Teen will be in Blackburn Hall August 5 – August 7, 2022.

By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, sponsored by Riptide Brewing Company, runs October 19 to November 6, 2022, in the Tobye Studio Theater and follows aspiring starlet Vera Stark during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She works as a maid to Gloria Mitchell, an aging star grasping at her fading career. Worlds collide when Vera lands a trailblazing role in an antebellum epic starring…her boss. While Vera’s portrayal of a slave turns out to be groundbreaking, decades later scholars and film buffs still grapple with the actress’ legacy in Hollywood and the impact that race had on her controversial career.

Sponsored by Bruce and Robin Bache Gray, Blithe Spirit will be in Blackburn Hall September 28 to October 23, 2022. This smash comedy hit offers up a fussy, cantankerous and spiritual skeptic in Charles Condomine. When the ghost of Charles’ late first wife, Elvira, accidentally materializes, his spiritual skepticism vanishes. Elvira is only visible to Charles and is not letting a little thing like death stand in the way of getting him back.

In Blackburn H

all from November 23 to December 18, 2022, A Christmas Carol: the Musical features the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghostly encounters. Sponsored by Lake Michigan Credit Union, this spectacular adaptation of Charles Dickens’ masterpiece enjoyed more than a decade-long run at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. Audience members will also be treated to complimentary admission to our highly anticipated Trees and Teas Festival.

Sponsored by Trulucks, Southern Comforts runs November 30 to December 18, 2022 in the Tobye Studio Theater. In a sprawling New Jersey Victorian, a taciturn Yankee widower and a vivacious grandmother from Tennessee find what they least expected- a second chance at love. Told with warmth and perceptive humor, this off-Broadway success is an affecting, late-in-life journey of compromise and rejuvenation, of personal risk and the rewards of change.

Mountain” and “My Favorite Things,” The Sound of Music won the hearts of audiences worldwide, earning five Tony Awards and five Oscars.

In Blackburn Hall from March 1 to April 2, 2023, the story follows an exuberant young governess who brings music and joy back to a broken family, only to face danger and intrigue as the Nazis gain power.

CEO/Artistic Director, Bryce Alexander, says, “I’m thrilled to be working with my team and our incredible volunteers to offer the community another fabulous season of live theatre. Our productions reflect incredible local talent, and our enthusiastic audiences are a demonstration of the vital and exciting role the arts play in Naples.”

The Naples Players is also pleased to announce their KidzAct season! From July 1 – July 3, 2022, Dear Edwina Jr., a heartwarming musical about the joys of growing up, will be performed in the Tobye Studio T

heater. Plucky adviser extraordinaire, Edwina Spoonapple, directs the neighborhood kids in a series of buoyant production numbers for the latest edition of her weekly “Advice-a-Palooza.” Seussical Jr. transports audiences from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus as the Cat in the Hat narrates the story of Horton the Elephant, who discovers a speck of dust containing tiny people known as Whos.

From July 29 – July 31, 2022 in the Tobye Studio Theater, audiences will watch Horton protect the Whos from a world of dangers while he must also guard an abandoned egg that’s been left in his care. A timeless story full of spirit and heart, Disney’s Newsies JR.is inspired by the rousing true story of newsboys in turn-of the-century New York City. In Blackburn Hall December 10 -December 12, 2022, the powerful newspaper publishers raise prices at the newsboys’ expense and charismatic Jack Kelly rallies newsies from across the city to strike against the unfair conditions.

From May 13 – May 16, 2023, The Drowsy Chaperone features a die-hard theatre fan who plays his favorite cast album of a fictitious1928 musical and watches the characters come to life in this hilarious musical farce. During the 2022-2023 Season, The Naples Players will also feature new plays by their Readers Theatre program. It Takes Two to Tango (October 9, 2022), That’s What Dreams are Made of (November 13, 2022), Annual New Play Festival (January 22, 2023),and Taking Chances (April 16, 2023).If interested in auditioning for any of The Naples Players ’productions, please keep an eye on their website NaplesPlayers.org for more information.

Each main stage production will feature a Red Carpet Opening Night outside the theater with local sponsors, vendors, and entertainment for patrons and passersby to enjoy. Sensory friendly performance swill be available for select productions and announced at a later date.

Both general public and season tickets are on sale at the TNP Box Office. Please note that KidzAct performances go on sale April 4, 2022.Those interested can visit NaplesPlayers.org anytime or call the TNP Box Office at 239-263-7990.