VERO BEACH — It’s July, and time for the Vero Beach Theatre Guild to roll out its big summer musical with four performances, Thursday through Sunday, July 16 through 19.
Those who have been to a Mark Wygonik Broadway Showstopper revue, already know the shows are hugely entertaining and special for their creativity and some of the area’s best musical talent.
So many incredible stage shows have been made into hit movies and vice-versa. Act I features stage shows that found their way to film: Anything Goes, Chicago, Rent, Hair, and Mama Mia. Movies that ended up Broadway bound are the basis for Act II: The Producers, Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Mary Poppins, Spamalot, Tommy and Young Frankenstein.
Picture Leo Bloom surrounded by sexy showgirls in The Producers, Frederick Frankenstein soft-shoeing with the monster in Young Frankenstein, King Arthur and Lancelot searching for the Holy Grail in Spamalot.
Who but Mark Wygonik could skillfully combine the outrageous and irreverent comedy of Mel Brooks and Monty Python with songs from The Little Mermaid and Mary Poppins- in the same act? There is method to his hilarious madness!
The 18 members ensemble cast will take you on a journey through decades of stage and screen triumphs. Familiar faces and new voices will wow the audience with songs ranging from loving to comical to powerful. Eleven shows, each a significant part of the history of musicals, will be highlighted in this fun-filled musical revue.
“I’m always fascinated by how a stage musical translates onto the silver screen, and how larger than life-size movies can be transformed onto a Broadway stage,” says Wygonik. “The tunes that tie the two mediums together transport us to different places and times and can stand alone as pure forms of entertainment. It’s always a fun challenge to present these songs without the props, sets and costumes that Hollywood movies or Broadway productions bombard us with- just the song and the singers.”
“Broadway to Hollywood to Broadway!” delivers songs that have gone from Broadway musicals to the Silver Screen, such as “I Get a Kick Out of You” from Anything Goes, “Let the Sunshine In” from Hair, and “Money, Money, Money” from Mama Mia; And such unforgettable numbers from movies that found their way to the stages of Broadway: “If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It” from The Producers, “Chim Chim Cheree” from Mary Poppins, and “Puttin’ On the Ritz” from Young Frankenstein.
Reserved seat tickets for “Broadway to Hollywood to Broadway!” are $25. To purchase, call the box office at (772) 562-8300, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, or go online at verobeachtheatreguild.com. The Vero Beach Theatre Guild is located at 2020 San Juan Avenue.