[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”16″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_imagebrowser” ajax_pagination=”0″ order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]To the favorites familiar from past performances, the Vero Beach Theatre Guild is adding songs from a wish list of future shows as its summer benefit.
The annual fundraiser, which has included formats as varied as operettas like “The Mikado” to readers’ theater and avant-garde one-acts, this year is a classic concert, with some of the volunteer guild’s top singers not in costume but in formal wear, taking center stage at the microphone.
“A classy concert,” as longtime theater guild director and set designer Mark Wygonik puts it.
Wygonik is co-directing the benefit with Ben Earman who will also perform. Other singers include Vallery Valentine, a well-known Vero R&B and soul singer; Scott Freshley, who in sang the title role in “Beauty and the Beast,” among many others; Derrick Paul, who played Che in “Evita” and the King in “The King and I”; Sara Gordon, who was the Witch in “Into the Woods”; and Kelly Clemenzi, who played Cinderella in “Into the Woods.” Dana Rogers is also in the show; she played Tracy Turnblatt in “Hairspray.” Jillian Lopes, who played Juan Peron’s mistress in “Evita,” will sing a song from “Secret Garden” in the concert. Dan Hall will sing the ‘90s Australian singer/songwriter Peter Allen’s songs from “Boy from Oz,” and “Book of Mormon.”
Guild veteran Larry Strauss serves as narrator.
Accompanying those voices is a top Vero pianist, Jacob Craig, who directs the strong and multi-faceted music program of First Presbyterian Church.
The as-yet unsung tunes – at least, not at the Guild’s home, a recently expanded playhouse on San Juan Avenue – include songs from “Book of Mormon,” “The Color Purple,” “Boy from Oz,” and “Spring Awakening.” All are shows that the Guild is hoping to stage – as soon as rights become available to community theaters.
“Some of these shows could be staged within the next five or ten years,” Wygonik says.
One musical he particularly looks forward to is “Waitress.” Now in its second year on Broadway, it competed against “Hamilton” in the 2017 Tonys for Best Musical. The Broadway tour is coming to Orlando’s Dr. Phillips Center in March.
“‘Waitress’ is a wonderful show with really beautiful music,” says Wygonik. Music and lyrics were written by Sara Bareilles, herself a singer/songwriter and actress best known for her hit song “(I’m Not Going to Write You a) Love Song.”
“It’s a very simple show,” says Wygonik, explaining that the show’s low-tech qualities make it perfect for limited-budget community theaters.
“Sister Act” is another show he’s hoping to mount. That show was part of the all-professional Riverside Theatre’s 2016-17 season, after rights were released to regional theaters. “And high schools can get the watered-down kiddie version, which is not what we want to do,” he adds.
When rights do become available to big-name shows, Vero’s Guild tends to pounce. Rights to “Evita” were finally made available to the theater last season. “It wasn’t available for a long time,” says Wygonik. “You’re always at the mercy of whether a theater within 50 miles is going to be doing the show. We kept applying for it and applying for it.”
He says last year’s success getting “Evita” was a lucky break: “We really expected Riverside Theatre to be able to do it.”
In addition to pianist Craig accompanying the singers, there will be one other musician in the ersatz pit: Nick Keeler on drums.
Money raised from tickets sales for the concert will go toward staging plays – for a change. For the past four years, the theater has been aggressively fundraising for a new three-story expansion. Completed last summer, that building expanded storage, added dressing rooms and bathrooms, and provided a rehearsal space so that while one show was mounted on the main stage, another show could begin rehearsing.
Shows scheduled for the upcoming season are Neil Simon’s “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Lend me a Tenor,” “The Fantasticks” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Tickets for the concert are $25.
