Chris Silk

The fur flew. Oh, come on. That pun wrote itself. The play is called 'Venus in Fur.' Caucasian sable from Kazakhstan. And subtext. Acres of subtext - even if we never get acres of skin. This isn't porn, after all. Unless you use your imagination. '…opening the fur to reveal her glories?'

Kristen Coury cannot wait to find out what Neapolitans think about the Gulfshore Playhouse season opener 'Venus in Fur.' She won't have long to wait for feedback. Walk into the Norris Center in downtown Naples on Wednesday night. Pay any amount you chose ($1 minimum) with cash, check or credit card. No chickens, please. Watch the show. Tell your friends.

Full credit to director Paul Bernier. He saw something in 'You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up' that I didn't - and then took his cast there, to hilarious effect. Rachael Endrizzi and Adam Clough deliver a charming, laugh-out-loud performance that bids to become the season's first must-see comedy.

Only the most oblivious could miss the symbolism of a play about birth being delivered on Labor Day weekend. 'Birth,' Karen Rachel Brody's dissection of popping out a baby, labors under the belief that audiences want to hear eight sometimes gut-wrenching stories about childbirth. Maybe we do.

Scott Saxon has a rather unique description for quirky musical 'Once.' He calls it 'the anti-blockbuster,' elaborating that the charming Tony-winner is the 'exact opposite' of shows like 'Wicked,' 'Jersey Boys,' 'Spamalot' or even rousing 'Rock of Ages.'

'Burt & Me' emerges really fun, if flighty, but John Ramsey leads a vocally talented, enthusiastic cast that puts an appealing spin on the thin material.

As Patsy would say, God bless Heather J. Beck. 'That girl can sing!' The songstress renders an uncanny vocal portrait of the country music legend up on the Broadway Palm stage in the early summer revue 'A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline.' She's 'Crazy' good.

Maybe improv does have a future in Naples. Stage 2 Improv - 'the next stage of comedy' (insert eye roll here) - served up a loud, lively, way-better-than-I expected debut in the Naples Players' black box space Friday night.

Shimmy shimmy. Shake shake. Dip. Croon. Sparkle. Wail. Ooooooh. 'We're you're 'Dreamgirls.' Delightful, delicious, feathery, fluffy musical 'Dreamgirls' floated into the Phil (sigh, Artis-Naples) Wednesday. There's a reason the show appears for 'One Night Only,' but the music of Motown makes it a speedy one.

Summer is just around the corner, and with its arrival comes a host of exciting entertainment options for the entire family. Here are our picks for the hottest performances that will hit the stages of northern New Jersey!

'Master Class,' Terrence McNally's play about the life of opera diva Maria Callas, seems tailor-made to continue the partnership between Gulfshore Playhouse and the Naples Philharmonic. Produced by Gulfshore, performed in the Daniels Pavilion, the show combines a larger-than-life character, smart writing, lush music and operatic arias.

There's one man (and a bunch of junk) on the stage. There's 40 characters on the stage. There's a laptop. A desk. A chair. A phone. An intercom. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. That. Incessant. ########## ####### ####### ######## ######## #######-ing RING! 'Good evening, 'Fully Committed;' could you hold please?'

There's a reason - a simple one - that Second City can fill an auditorium on a cold, windy evening in late March in Naples, when the sun is shining and the million distractions of a coastal resort town beckon. These guys are good. Very, very good.

Two rival golf clubs. A prodigy with a broken arm. A priceless vahze. A $200,000 wager. Granny's engagement ring. The Golf Channel. Oprah. Raw oysters. Champagne. There's even a couple putters, a driver and few golf balls knocking about the stage. Sounds like a recipe for a disaster on stage and laughter in the seats!

Thank you, Seth Rudetsky. The last thing you expect to hear on a wet Wednesday in March is a cover of 'I Dreamed A Dream,' that song from 'Les Miserables,' yes THAT song, as performed by Aretha oh please no Franklin. The tune. It … it … travels?

Florida Repertory Theatre scored a coup, grabbing the rights to red-hot Jon Robin Baitz play 'Other Desert Cities' for their 2012-13 season. In some ways a thinly veiled take on Ron and Nancy Reagan, the show features a daughter confronting conservative parents over long-buried family secrets.

Call. Now. Get tickets to the Florida Rep production of 'The Fantasticks.' You, dear readers, will love the show. The opening night audience cooed in delight and sheer merriment at streamers and confetti and the banging of a drum. The smooth glissando of a harp evokes a garden, washed in lunar rays, the rapid tapping of piano keys the gallop of brigands.

Gulfshore Playhouse explores the Civil War in frightening, fascinating, thrilling, daresay even extraordinary fashion in this Matthew Lopez show. 'The Whipping Man' covers a few days after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. A Jewish soldier returns home to find his house in ruins, just two former slaves left and his family gone. As the starving, uneasy trio celebrates Passover with a makeshift Seder, bitter truths come out.

Let's get to the point. 'Les Miserables' is back in Southwest Florida for the second time in fifteen months, playing through March 17 at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers. Will you like it? That depends. I didn't. You will. Because Tuesday's opening night crowd went absolutely nuts. Two curtain calls and almost no one ran screaming for the exits as if Inspector Javert was hot on their heels waiting to toss them into the Bastile. If the seats don't empty during bows, you know the folks in the 239 have got some major love for what's on stage.