The Vero Beach Theatre Guild continues to live up to its six-decade reputation as an outstanding community theater.
Their 2024-25 season kicked off recently with the musical “Something Rotten,” a high-energy, romp that elicited nightly ovations, and it will next embark on its first real foray into Shakespeare, taking on his classic “Romeo and Juliet,” which runs weekends from Sept. 6 to 22.
The show’s director, Megan Callahan, says they previously only dipped their toes into the Bard with a 60-minute version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” to positive acclaim.
“So this year we wanted to go all in and add ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to our main stage. We’re very excited about it and we’ve got a lot of great, great people in the show.”
Callahan became hooked on theater through Riverside Theatre programs and at Vero Beach High School under the direction of longtime drama teacher Dee Rose. Now retired, Rose serves as VBTG board president and impressively displayed her comedic chops as the psychic in “Something Rotten.”
Callahan returned to Vero full time in 2023 after graduating from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and spending about 10 years in the city.
“Honestly, coming back has been really nice, since I grew up here and I did so much theater when I lived here,” she says. She directed the VBTG summer camps the last two summers and now also handles its marketing.
“This is my first time getting to direct adults, and it’s awesome,” says Callahan.
She adds that the two-dozen cast members have a full breadth of experience and backgrounds and range in age from about 10 to 70.
The leads, Erin Moreno as Juliet and Zane Nilssen as Romeo, are both new to the Guild.
Moreno moved from Tucson to Fort Pierce about a year ago to work at Save the Chimps and has acted at Pineapple Playhouse, St. Lucie County’s community theater.
“She’s amazing; she’s wonderful,” says Callahan.
Of Nilssen, a Vero Beach resident, she shares a “fun fact” that he is distantly related to Shakespeare.
“At his audition, he brought in his lineage; it was hysterical. He said, ‘He’s like my great, great, great something.’ It’s been really fun.”
Callahan admits that Shakespeare can be a tough sell, but stresses that theirs is an energetic version that, despite being a tragedy, is not all sad and serious.
“Everybody knows what’s going to happen, but our goal is to make them forget about that.
The first act is full of hilarious moments with the characters interacting with each other. I think if people get out here and see it, they might have a different view of what Shakespeare can be.”
Rehearsals have emphasized the need for the cast to understand what the characters are saying.
“If we don’t know what we’re saying, the audience will definitely not know what we’re saying.
And if you lose them, you lose them,” she explains. “But they’re doing a great job.”
Michael Naffziger, Charter High School artistic director, and Jessie Stelly choreographed all of the combat scenes.
“There’s four huge fencing fights throughout the show. They’re amazing, so I think people will enjoy that as well.”
In addition to their mainstage productions, Ben Earman, a longtime Guild member, is introducing a new, adults-only Black Box After Dark.
“He’s directing the three shows that are happening in there,” says Callahan. “The whole vibe is nightlife experiences for people. So leave the kids at home, come out, and see some more mature theater, a little bit raunchier, a little edgier. It’s 8 o’clock curtains, so a little bit later.
“They’re trying to build a full experience where doors open at seven, there’s live music, the bars are open. You can come and have a full night out versus just coming just to see the show. So we’re very excited about it. Hopefully, it will bring some new people in who maybe haven’t explored this part of Vero.”
Callahan says she is always shocked when people tell her they were unaware the Theatre Guild exists.
“I can sort of understand that people might think that the quality is not as good, since it’s not equity, but the quality is there. I think in general, people underestimate the Theatre Guild,” says Callahan.
“I mean, the talent’s insane. And I think there’s just really something special about knowing it is an all-volunteer organization.”
She is equally impressed with the talents of the backstage crews, commenting that their budgets for costumes, sets, props, etc. are a tiny fraction of those of equity theaters.
“It’s incredible the type of work people can produce on such a limited budget,” says Callahan.
For many, she says, community theater provides a sense of belonging, such as one of the set designers who has volunteered for 30 years and considers it to be a second family. In other cases, entire families are involved together.
Still others may have done some theater in high school and are now revisiting it.
“It’s almost giving them permission to be a kid again. I feel like it’s therapy for a lot of people in the community. It’s much more than just putting on theater.”
Their Theatrical Learning Center for young people has become so popular that they added a winter camp that filled up quickly.
“We have like 15 kids on the wait list. So it’s a great problem to have, but now we need to give them more because the need’s there.”
They are now also imparting the backstage fundamentals of a production, in addition to dance and vocals.
“I think a lot of times people get really caught up on the performance aspect of it and wanting to get up on stage and sing loud, be big,” says Callahan.
The classes have already produced surprising talents, such as a 9-year-old who knows how to run the light board.
“He’s super into lighting. So he took one of our classes last semester and he very much does not want to perform. We had one of our lighting guys work with him and he designed a whole show.”
The remainder of the 2024-25 season includes:
“Romeo and Juliet,” which runs Sept. 6-22.
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is next, running Oct. 4-20. The 1979 production, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
The Christmas classic “Miracle on 34th Street” that ‘answers’ the age-old Santa Claus question, hits the stage Dec. 12-22.
The Theatrical Learning Center production of “Disney’s Frozen Kids” takes place Jan. 3-5.
The musical comedy “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” based on the 1988 MGM film but with a jazzy score by David Yazbek, takes place Feb. 7-23.
“Is he Dead?” a play written by Mark Twain in 1898 but not published in print until 2003, made its inaugural stage performance in 2007. The VBTG production takes place March 21 to April 6.
The final show of the season, “The 28th Street Boarding House,” takes place May 2-18. It is the world premiere of a musical about the Golden Age of Tin Pan Alley, written by Vero Beach native Tara Giovannone (who also directs) and her grandmother. Katherine Knaub Planker.
Black Box After Dark offerings include:
A four-person production of “[title of show] A Musical,” Nov. 7-16; the dark comedy “God of Carnage,” recipient of the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play, Jan. 16-25; and “Buyer & Cellar,” Feb. 27 to March 8, a one-man comedy show that also stars Earman.
For more information, visit VeroBeachTheatreGuild.com.
