110 IN THE SHADE Plays TheatreZone, Now thru 5/12

Foolishness, you say? Not exactly. The whole idea behind season finale 110 in the Shade, as we soon learn when Starbuck (Jim DePaiva) takes a liking to Lizzie (Kassie DePaiva), is that everyone has to have a dream. Miracles don't happen very often, but sometimes, you have to count on them to occur when necessary. Starbuck has always wanted to make it rain, but he's never done it. The family wants it to rain, but there's not much they can do about it. Lizzie wants a man to love her, and to settle down to a simple home life with a family of her own, but she's convinced it will never happen to her.

Everyone has dreams, and what's at issue here is whether those dreams are realistic. Noah, the sensible brother, played with power by actor Al Bundonis says everyone's dreams are bunk: Starbuck can't make it rain, Jimmy (Daniel Schwab) shouldn't go chasing the town floozy, and Lizzie's going to wind up an old maid. He calls it being realistic, and maybe it is. But, as Starbuck says, "You gotta take a chance. Relax, and let miracles happen." In other words, sometimes you have to forget about being realistic and just start dreaming.

The drought is a metaphor for Lizzie's desire for true love. During her first night back from a trip that was supposed to yield her a husband, she dreams of rain, not realizing that what she's really dreaming of is love. Starbuck is the catalyst, helping her to see herself for the beauty she is, and making a very astute comment about his attempt to make it rain that also applies to Lizzie's need for love: "Don't ask questions, and don't get sensible."

That is, sit back, be yourself, and let it happen. It applies to falling in love, to making it rain, to just about everything, really. The faithless Noah - and the word "faith" is used against him - doesn't realize this, and his dreams, whatever they may have been, are stifled out of existence.

Everybody else gets theirs.

110 in the Shade runs for 10 performances tonight, May 2 and May 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 @ 8 pm and Sundays, May 5 and 12 at 2 pm and 7:30 pm. The production is title sponsored by The Village on Venetian Bay Shopping Center.

Tickets are $43 and $48 plus a $2 ticket fee and can be purchased calling the TheatreZone box office, (888) 966-3352, online at www.theatrezone-florida.com or visit the on-site box office open Wednesdays 10 am until 12 pm.

In 2005, non-profit TheatreZone was born with the intent to bring live professional theatre to Southwest Florida in an intimate setting. Co-founders, Artistic Director Mark Danni, and his wife, actress/choreographer Karen Molnar, shared a vision and a passion to employ professional Equity actors and produce innovative productions of classic "lost treasures of Broadway."

Operating under the guidelines of the Actors' Equity Association (AEA), TheatreZone is in residence and performs in the charming 250-seat G&L Theatre, housed on the magnificent campus of The Community School of Naples, one block north of Pine Ridge Road, at 13275 Livingston Road.

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