The Future Looks Bright at Marco Arts Center Theatre

For the group’s leadership, the Arts Center Theatre (ACT) debut season was one of challenges encountered and met, pleasant surprises, experimentation and validation, gratitude and ultimately, excitement about what the future holds. 

“It went fine,” said Hyla Crane, executive director of the Marco Island Center for the Arts, which expanded its mission to include the community theater group last July. “You know, there were some hiccups and unique challenges along the way. Some things you couldn't expect, but probably things that theaters have faced all along, especially during these times.”

The ACT’s home is the Marco Town Center space formerly occupied by The Marco Players. That organization unexpectedly ceased operations in February of 2022 after more than 20 years of entertaining audiences on the island. 

Marco Island Center for the Arts has been bringing a wide variety of arts to the community through visual arts exhibitions, live performances, adult and youth educational programs, and more since 1970. The center decided to pick up the Marco Players’ theatrical mantle to ensure the island would continue to have a community theater with its own venue. 

Leading the effort were Crane and Center for the Arts board member Charlie Blum, an entertainment industry veteran and chairman of the nonprofit organization’s theater committee. They learned of the Marco Players’ intentions in mid-May yet set an ambitious deadline of that month’s end to announce the ACT’s 2022-2023 season. 

Despite the abridged timeline, that mission was accomplished. 

The season consisted of six productions. Things kicked off in late October with “Apartment 3A” by well-known actor Jeff Daniels, followed by the female version of Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple.” Next came “I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers,” Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite,” “Hollywood Arms” by Carol Burnett and her daughter Carrie Hamilton, and lastly, “The Foreigner,” which closed the season on May 7. 

“The public response has been tremendous,” observed Crane. “The shows have been really well-received. I would say that shows four, five and six, which were “Plaza Suite,” “Hollywood Arms,” and “The Foreigner,” were exceedingly well-received. So, yes, it was very exciting, and we look forward to moving on to the future.”

As can happen with community theater, the unexpected can be a factor. The theater’s debut season saw such things as half the cast of “The Odd Couple” being felled by COVID, forcing the cancellation of the first week of the two-week run. This occurred after Hurricane Ian had severely reduced rehearsal time. A cast member from another production shocked everyone by announcing they were moving to Germany shortly before the first rehearsal, causing a mad scramble for a replacement. They were also scheduled to direct a play during the 2023-2024 season, but that plan has changed. 

Audiences were also able to partake of entertainment that had not been offered or wasn’t offered with regularity previously at the theater, such as a very popular stand-up comedy series, readers’ theater and live music. The action will continue throughout the summer with the comedy series and such productions as Peter Fogel performing his self-penned “Till Death Do Us Part…You First!” in July.

ACT will also hold a two-week-long theater workshop for children ages nine-to-18 this summer. The workshop will culminate in a musical production, “A Year in the Life with Frog and Toad,” at 6:00 PM on July 22.

The 2023-20224 theatrical season begins October 25, with a production of “The 39 Steps.” It will be followed by “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] [Again],” Noël Coward’s “Private Lives,” and lastly, the season-closer, “Vanities” by Jack Heifner, which runs from next March 13 through March 30. 

Those performances will be joined by an array of live music, comedy series and more, including the possible addition of theater classes. 

A big change is also in the plans for Season Two with the theater moving beyond just producing plays to presenting them as well. The Fort Myers Theatre, a community theater group, will be traveling southward to Marco, bringing its productions of the musicals “The Music Man” and Irving Berlin's “White Christmas” for limited runs later this year.  

“The Music Man” will be presented for five performances from October 18 through October 21, while “White Christmas” will have six performances from December 13 through December 17.

Tickets for these shows, which are not part of ACT’s season ticket series, are available now. 

Blum echoed Crane’s enthusiasm about how the first season unfolded. But he said the thing he’s most proud of is “the fact that we're able to preserve community theater on the island.”  He also praised her “vision and expertise,” the board of directors and the contributions of Crane’s Center for the Arts team. 

“From (finance director) Debbie (Kuindersma) to (communications manager) Patricia (Mills) to (creative manager) Miriam Kriel and (executive assistant) Heidi (Guimond), it took an exceptional support team to make this effort work,” he said. “It would not have, truly, without their support, their experience, their accomplishment and their passion because it was not easy going into this new venture.”

The Arts Center Theatre is located in Marco Town Center, 1089 N. Collier Boulevard, Unit #432. For more information about the theatre and Marco Island Center for the Arts, visit marcoislandart.org or call 239-394-4221.