Mark Danni News

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.

'Year of the Composer' is an ambitious theatrical offering that brings musical greats Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cole Porter, and ABBA to the professional non-profit theater group that performs at the G&L Theatre in North Naples.

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.

110 in the Shade is a 1963 musical based on the award-winning 1954 play The Rainmaker with a book by N. Richard Nash, lyrics by Tom Jones, and music by Harvey Schmidt. It followed the team's success creating The Fantasticks- the world's longest running musical. A one-time professional boxer who later went on to teach at Princeton and Yale, playwright Nash has written for theatre, television and film as well as works of fiction and poetry, however, The Rainmaker is his most widely known work which also was made into a film starring Katharine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster.

Mark Danni continues to tackle ambitious projects at TheatreZone. With critical and commercial hits 'Forum' and 'Grand Hotel' behind him, success augured well for edgy small-cast, sung-through musical 'Next to Normal.' The pieces just don't fall into place.

Award-winning actor, singer, dancer and comedian Eddie Mekka, who is famously recognized for his role as "Carmine 'the big Ragu' Ragusa" from the ABC-TV sitcom Laverne and Shirley, returns to Naples, Sunday, March 24 to headline TheatreZone's fundraiser Eddie Mekka…with a little Ragoo on the Side.

TheatreZone's Season 8 concludes with 110 in the Shade -- described as a little gem of a musical written by those masters of little musical gems - Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt - whose names are forever etched in musical theatre history as the creators of The Fantasticks. Like that phenomenally popular show, 110 in the Shade focuses on family and love, only this time the woman and two men who form the central romantic triangle are middle-aged and world-weary.

Got the acting bug? Then, don't miss your chance to bid for a walk-on acting role with daytime drama stars Jim and Kassie DePaiva in TheatreZone's upcoming production of 110 in the Shade, one of the five live auction items at the Equity theatre group's upcoming March 24 gala fundraiser.

When Broadway and television star Eddie Mekka (Carmine "the big Ragu" Ragusa from Laverne & Shirley TV series) entertains at TheatreZone's gala fundraiser later this month, he'll be backed by a live six-piece band, led by legendary musical director and saxophone player Tim Fowlar. They will be joined by TheatreZone artistic director Mark Danni playing drums, Joe Choomack on bass, Tom Weaver on guitar, Mike Santiago on trumpet and Peter Van Wyk on trombone.

Do you like analyzing a play with fellow audience members? Would you like to hear about the director's vision and the actors' motivation for their characters? Are you interested in hearing from expert guest speakers? If you answered yes, then TheatreZone's Next to Normal talkback today, March 10th is for you.

Do you like analyzing a play with fellow audience members? Would you like to hear about the director's vision and the actors' motivation for their characters? Are you interested in hearing from expert guest speakers? If you answered yes, then TheatreZone's Next to Normal talkback on March 10th and opening reception on March 3rd is for you!

After several seasons of mediocre musicals, Mark Danni has finally found a formula that works at TheatreZone. 'Grand Hotel,' a celebration of life at Berlin's best boarding place, marks a second consecutive triumph for the group. Music, dance and creative elements combine for a brilliant night.

Eddie Mekka returns to Naples to headline TheatreZone's first-ever gala fundraiser Sunday, March 24, 2013, performing his nightclub act, singing with a live band songs by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Tom Jones, Louis Prima and many more, and storytelling in a charity show to benefit the Equity, non-profit theatre group at Cloyde's Steak & Lobster House on Venetian Bay in Naples.

Ballroom dance champion and Broadway actress Victoria Regan, who has been cast in the leading role of the famous aging Russian ballerina Grushinkskaya in Grand Hotel at TheatreZone next month, still dances on her tiptoes.

TheatreZone relies upon its volunteers. In fact, most non-profit organizations cannot exist without their volunteers.

In 1928 Berlin, the world is between wars and the stock market is booming. The center of the action is the illustrious Grand Hotel, through whose revolving doors pass a cavalcade of desperate, ambitious characters, all yearning for one last, glorious chance at a better future.

Set in 1928 in pre-Nazi Germany and inspired by a novel and the Oscar-winning film, Grand Hotel - The Musical, rings in the New Year at TheatreZone, serving as a metaphor for a society that is frayed at the edges and soon to unravel.

TheatreZone Artistic director Mark Danni previously announced his cast selection for the Tony award winning production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

TheatreZone artistic director Mark Danni announced today that Ohio native Leigh Straub has joined the not-for-profit Equity theatre organization's Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Equity regional theatre company TheatreZone and Opera Naples are teaming up again to present the inaugural "Bel Canto to Can Belto" fete at Clive Daniel Home in Naples tonight, Nov. 14, 2012 from 5:30 until 7:30 pm.