Michael Raabe News

As part of a Halloween double feature, The Country Playhouse pre¬sents Frankenstein by Victor Gialanella, for three weekends only, October 12 - 27, on our Cerwinske main stage. Performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, with a Sunday matinee on October 21 at 2:00 pm, plus a weeknight show on Thursday, October 25, at 7:30 pm. On double feature nights, Frankenstein is followed by Evil Dead: The Musical in our Black Box venue.

As part of a Halloween double feature, The Country Playhouse pre¬sents Frankenstein by Victor Gialanella, for three weekends only, October 12 - 27, on our Cerwinske main stage. Performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, with a Sunday matinee on October 21 at 2:00 pm, plus a weeknight show on Thursday, October 25, at 7:30 pm. On double feature nights, Frankenstein is followed by Evil Dead: The Musical in our Black Box venue.

On the final Sunday in September, I visited The Country Playhouse and got a backstage glimpse into the undertakings on their main stage for FRANKENSTEIN. The set are incomplete, but coming along nicely. The cast has been rehearsing hard, and everything is being put through the paces to ensure that the show is nothing short of a success. I got the chance to speak with Phil Nichols, who is directing the show in addition to designing the FX make-up, Louis Crespo, starring as Victor Frankenstein, and Melissa Nichols who is designing the sets and choreographing the massive and complex set changes.

On a dark and stormy night, Philip L. Nichols, Jr.'s MURDER FOR DUMMIES had its world premiere at the Country Playhouse as part of their murder mystery desert theatre that is catered and sponsored by Brio Tuscan Grille. The play is a comedic murder mystery and revels in its genre cliches. The plot of the show follows the gathering of a wealthy family to hear the reading of a will. Each member of the family and assorted acquaintances has a lot to gain from the murders, giving rise to plenty of suspicion and possible motives. So where do a ventriloquist and his dummy fit into this assembled group? Patriarch of the family, William Vanderby, has invited him to provide entertainment over the course of the weekend. Once the group is assembled at the Vanderby mansion, a hurricane barrels through and messes with the unstable power grid, and a classic 1930s murder mystery set unfolds.

Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project presents its 'Annual Night Of Alternative Theatre' with A WIZARD OF OZ, tonight, August 6, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. The show stars Matt McGee, Joey Panek, Betty Jane Parks, Drew Decaro and more, with special guest musical accompanist Michael Rabbe. The script is adapted by T. Scott Wooten, and all proceeds benefit Metropolitan Charities and ASAP HIV/AIDS programs. American Stage Theatre is located at 163 3rd St. North, downtown St. Petersburg.

Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project presents its 'Annual Night Of Alternative Theatre' with A WIZARD OF OZ, August 6, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. The show stars Matt McGee, Joey Panek, Betty Jane Parks, Drew Decaro and more, with special guest musical accompanist Michael Rabbe. The script is adapted by T. Scott Wooten, and all proceeds benefit Metropolitan Charities and ASAP HIV/AIDS programs. American Stage Theatre is located at 163 3rd St. North, downtown St. Petersburg.

Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project is celebrating its 10-Year Anniversary. Its annual "Prelude to Pride" salute will be an original production of the time honored classic, "A WIZARD OF OZ". Adapted by T. Scott Wooten, this hilarious and madcap send-up of the fabled classic by Frank L. Baum is just in time for St. Petersburg Pride Celebration.

Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project is celebrating its 10-Year Anniversary. Its annual "Prelude to Pride" salute will be an original production of the time honored classic, "A WIZARD OF OZ". Adapted by T. Scott Wooten, this hilarious and madcap send-up of the fabled classic by Frank L. Baum is just in time for St. Petersburg Pride Celebration.

Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project is proud to present DIVAS DO GARLAND IN CONCERT, Monday, June 27, 2011 at freeFall Theatre, 6099 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, FL.

'THE PURSUIT OF SNAPPINESS' will take you on a sixty-minute journey that highlights Michael's one-of-a-kind take on show tunes, jazz standards, pop, and rock. It features an eclectic array of music from Stephen Sondheim and Rodgers and Hammerstein to ABBA and ZZ Top! Joined by the dynamic Tito Vallejo on upright bass, Michael will guide you toward your inner 'SNAPPINESS'!

Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project is proud to present DIVAS DO GARLAND IN CONCERT, Monday, June 27, 2011 at freeFall Theatre, 6099 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, FL.

Johnny Mercer is one of the foremost figures of The Great American Songbook. For nearly five decades, Mercer had a prolific career, writing 1,400 songs, nominated for 18 Academy Awards, and was one of the founders of Capitol Records. Johnny Mercer's poetic genius reflects the romantic yearnings, the wit, the energy, and the personality that is our America dream.

NAT has set up a complete series of cabaret shows and adjusted the remainder of their mainstage season. They postponed the show 'A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline', originally set to open this weekend, to February 2012. Their next mainstage production, Songs for a New World, has moved up in the line up. The final two shows of the mainstage season have not been announced, as NAT is in the process of securing the rights to these productions. The biggest change is that all shows, cabaret and mainstage, will be presented at their BayWalk location (previously the Ann Taylor store).