'The Last Romance' A Golden Love Story

By: Beau Higgins Apr. 16, 2009

Boy-Meets-Girl Comedy Opens at Florida Rep

Florida Repertory Theatre announced the April 24 opening of, The Last Romance, a witty boy-meets-girl comedy with a twist, the boy and girl are senior citizens.

Written by Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You're Perfect), The Last Romance is a touching new love story that uses music & opera to weave its magic as it shows audiences it is never too late to fall in love.

"This is a really wonderful new play, and we're very excited to be producing the Eastern United States premiere which is the second production of this play," said Producing Artistic Director & Last Romance director, Robert Cacioppo. "The Last Romance is so funny and quite touching, plus it's filled with music. It has a really hopeful message about falling in love at any age."

The Last Romance shows audiences that a healthy heart is vital to a long, happy life, and that few things in life can make the human heart beat young again like the feeling of falling in love. That is what happens to 80-year-old Ralph and the slightly-younger Carol, who happen upon each other in the local dog park, setting their hearts aflutter in only the best of ways. The Last Romance is a classic boy-meets-girl story - only older.

Florida Rep's production stars Broadway and screen veteran David S. Howard and regional theatre actress Sara Morsey as Ralph and Carol, the unlikely seniors who happen upon love on a dusty park bench. Howard is now a Florida Rep regular who was seen earlier this season in Indian Blood, and starred in two previous Florida Rep productions, Tuesdays with Morrie and Visiting Mr. Green. A stage veteran out of Gainesville, Morsey is making her second appearance with the Rep after portraying Amanda Wingfield in this season's The Glass Menagerie.

Also in the cast are Betty Madonna and Jason Parrish. A Fort Myers Resident, Madonna is a familiar face at the Rep, and has been seen onstage in DiPietro's Over the River and Through the Woods, Mornings at Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird and most recently in Moon Over Buffalo in the fall of 2006. In his fourth season with Florida Rep, Parrish appeared in Alone Together in February, and in past Rep productions of A Funny Thing...Forum, Moon Over Buffalo, Broadway Bound and Greetings! to name a few.

"The Last Romance is a little play with big emotions," Cacioppo said, "it draws its inspiration from opera where everything is heightened, so we have really embraced that style in the design of the piece."

"Since I was writing an intimate, three-character play, I wanted to give it an extra, larger-than-life dimension," said playwright, Joe DiPietro. "Opera seemed to expand the character's lives in a way that was theatrical and moving."

Robert Cacioppo directs The Last Romance and leads a team of designers including Richard Crowell (set; Indian Blood, A Funny...Forum), Jim Hunter (lighting; The Glass Menagerie) Roberta Malcolm (costumes; Art of Murder, Dancing at Lughnasa) and Marc Hurst (sound; Art of Murder). Making her Florida Rep debut is stage manager, Karen Oberthal (Virginia Opera, Sarasota Opera), a native of northern Virginia.

The Last Romance by Joe DiPietro plays at Florida Rep April 24th to May 17th, 2009. Performances are Tues. - Sat. at 8pm, with 2pm matinees on Wed., Sun. and selected Saturdays with a special Twilight Performance at 7pm on April 26th.

The Last Romance is sponsored by WGCU Public Media.

Florida Repertory Theatre is located on Bay Street between Jackson and Hendry in the Historic Arcade Theatre in the Fort Myers River District. Subscriptions and single tickets ($20, $35, $39) are available through the Box Office at 239-332-4488. Or visit Florida Rep online at www.floridarep.org.

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