Gulfshore Playhouse Announces 26 MILES, SHE LOVES ME, and More for 2023-2024 Season

Kristen Coury, CEO and Producing Artistic Director of Gulfshore Playhouse, has announced their complete 2023-2024 season. Due to construction delays caused by Hurricane Ian, the new The Baker Theatre and Education Center will open in 2024. As such, Gulfshore Playhouse will produce the 2023-2024 season in the Norris Center, 755 8th Avenue South, Naples, FL 34102.

The season is filled to the brim with heartfelt musicals, charming comedies, and a double-edged world premiere that will make you laugh and think. The fall will open with the return of the previously canceled 26 Miles by Quiara Alegría Hudes. Then to celebrate the holiday season is the Christmas musical revue Winter Wonderettes. Fresh from its workshop in the Gulfshore Playhouse 2022 New Works Festival, The Refugees by Brent Askari will make its world premiere in the new year. Following is George Brant's delightful comedy Into the Breeches! And to close the season, as a love letter to almost two decades at the Norris Center, is the classic Harnick and Bock musical She Loves Me.

"We had to cancel our original production of 26 Miles due to hurricane Ian," Said Coury. "I am so glad we are able to bring this sweet, charming, family drama back to our stage in our final season in the Norris Center. As we bid a fond farewell to the place that has been our home for nearly two decades, we look with bright eyes and eager hearts toward the opening of the new Gulfshore Playhouse at the Baker Theatre and Education Center in the fall of 2024."

Mainstage season Flex Passes go on sale Monday, February 13 at 10:00AM and begin at $390 for a 5-Play Pass. Single tickets go on sale April 17, 2023. Those who purchase their 2023-2024 Flex Pass by March 19 will receive a special thank you gift during the run of Barefoot in the Park. Additionally, those who purchase a 2023-2024 Flex Pass between now and February 2024 will be given exclusive access to purchase and redeem Flex Passes for the first season in the new Baker Theatre and Education Center before they go on sale to the public. Flex Passes can be ordered online at gulfshoreplayhouse.org or by phone at 239.261.PLAY.

The 2023-2024 Season

26 Miles

By Quiara Alegría Hudes

October 12-29, 2023

When Beatriz receives a late night call-for-help from her estranged teenage daughter, Olivia, she spirits her away on an impromptu cross-country roadtrip. As they trek from Philadelphia to Wyoming, the tension at the heart of their relationship reaches a boiling point, but can they fix what is broken? In this funny and heartfelt coming of age story from the Pulitzer prize and Tony-nominated playwright, 26 Miles is the story of a modern family rediscovering understanding, redemption, and love.

Winter Wonderettes

Written & Created by Roger Bean

Vocal Arrangements by Roger Bean & Brian Baker

Musical Arrangements by Brian Baker

Directed by Dann Dunn

November 16-December 17, 2023

It's Christmas, 1968, and Santa has gone missing at the Harper's Hardware holiday party. A local singing group known as the Marvelous Wonderettes decide to use their talent and creativity to save the day! Featuring a confection of 1960s holiday hits like "Jingle Bell Rock," "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town," and more sung in "marvelous" four-part harmony, this delightful musical will put you right in the holiday spirit.

WORLD PREMIERE

Part of the 2022 New Works Festival

The Refugees

By Brent Askari

Directed by Marshall Jones III

January 11-February 4, 2024

After a well-to-do Connecticut family unexpectedly ends up as refugees in the Middle East due to a civil war in the United States, their charmed life comes to an abrupt end. Lawyer Yates, socialite Poppy, and their 17-year-old son Wynn are suddenly fish out of water, at odds with their new home and with each other. When Yates gets involved in a hapless scheme to emigrate to Europe, hijinks ensue, and the family is forced to choose between embracing their new reality or returning to the way things used to be. Equal parts hilarious and thought-provoking, The Refugees is a bold new comedy exploring patriotism, identity, and belonging.

Into the Breeches!

By George Brant

February 15-March 10, 2024

The year is 1942 and World War II has called millions away to Europe, including the leading players of Oberon Play House. Enter a group of passionate, albeit inexperienced, band of actresses who seize the chance to move from the sidelines to centerstage. For the first time, they will receive pay for their talents as they mount an ambitious production of Shakespeare's Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 and Henry V. Will their performance be a victory on the home front or a disaster of epic proportions? This sweet, hilarious, and heartwarming play celebrates the power of art to rally a community and see us through the darkest of times. These thespians will steal the spotlight and your heart!

She Loves Me

Book by Joe Masteroff

Music by Jerry Bock

Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

March 21-April 21, 2024

In this beloved musical, the busiest sales season is quickly approaching for an ensemble of lovable clerks working in a charming 1930s European parfumerie. Among them are Georg and new employee Amalia who are constantly sparring on the job. Off the clock, their barbed words fall away into the sweet nothings they write in letters to their anonymous pen pals. But little do they know, their "dear friend" happens to be each other! Based on the play that inspired films The Shop Around the Corner and You've Got Mail and from the theatrical minds behind Fiddler on the Roof and Cabaret, this effervescent, witty, romantic musical is the perfect love letter to bid adieu to nearly two decades of performances at the Norris Center before moving into the Baker Theatre and Education Center in fall 2024.

ABOUT GULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE

Gulfshore Playhouse is passionately committed to enriching the cultural landscape of our region by producing professional theatre to the highest artistic standards and providing unique educational opportunities to diverse groups of people in a spirit of service, adventure, and excitement. The work of Gulfshore Playhouse is inspired by a belief in the magic of theatre to expand the imagination, challenge the senses, provoke discussion, and revitalize in its audiences an understanding of our common humanity. This belief drives the care with which Gulfshore Playhouse treats its artists, audiences, students, staff, and members of the greater community.

Gulfshore Playhouse is well underway on the construction on the state-of-the-art Baker Theatre and Education Center. Located at the corner of Goodlette-Frank Road and 1st Avenue South, the gateway to downtown Naples, the facility will house a 350-seat mainstage theatre and a 125-seat studio space, in addition to numerous events, rehearsal, and educational spaces. Naming opportunities are still available.

For more information about Gulfshore Playhouse or its new facility, or to make a contribution, visit www.gulfshoreplayhouse.org or call 239-261-PLAY.