RED BARN THEATRE ANNOUNCES THEIR NEW “OUTSIDE THE BOX” 2020-21 SEASON

PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For Immediate Release

RED BARN THEATRE ANNOUNCES THEIR NEW “OUTSIDE THE BOX” 2020-21 SEASON

Artist rendering of the new Red Barn Theatre’s “Outside the Box” outdoor performance space.

Key West’s venerable Red Barn Theatre – now entering its 41st remarkable professional season – has found some clever and intriguing ways to step “Outside the Box” by welcoming patrons back to the theater experience while making sure they are doing so in the safest and healthiest way possible.

In keeping with their “Outside the Box” theme, the Red Barn’s new season will make full use of the gorgeous, open-air Zabar courtyard that fronts their theater. The bricked space, comfortable and shielded by the overhang of a magnificent Royal Poinciana and surrounded by the foliage of Betsy’s Garden, is large enough to accommodate a decent-sized stage, and socially-distanced outdoor seating for upwards of 40 theater-lovers. The Woman’s Club, whose building fronts the property along Duval Street and who owns the courtyard space, has enthusiastically endorsed the Red Barn’s plans.

“In a survey of our patrons earlier this year, we found that most indicated they were not comfortable sitting inside a closed theater space just yet, but they’d most certainly come back to theater if we could present our productions outdoors,” said Bob Bowersox, actor, producer, and Publicity Director for the Barn. “So we took our time, looked at the options, and found we had exactly what our patrons were asking for sitting right in front of us.”

Artistic Director Joy Hawkins has planned a full season of live theater in the outdoor courtyard space, and thrown in a couple of unique online extras to boot.

One of those extras will kick off the Red Barn’s 41st “Outside the Box” season November 25-28 with an online production of Nora and Delia Ephron’s hilarious “Love, Loss and What I Wore”. The play, which was an enormous hit for the theater back in 2013, will be brought to life again in a new incarnation performed live and recorded. Patrons will be able to access the streaming show through the Red Barn’s website, redbarntheatre.com. Those purchasing any of the season Membership levels will be admitted free. Tickets are otherwise $10.

“This is a show that is tailormade for the Zoom platform,” said Bowersox, who is producing, with veteran Carole MacCartee directing. “Five women, talking to the audience and among themselves about the trials and tribulations of clothes. It’s hard not to be laughing every second – it’s one of those plays that’s enormously funny because it’s so true and everyone can relate.”

The play will star Key West’s Barbara Mundy, Melody G. Moore, Peggy Montgomery, Susannah Wells, and Amber McDonald Good. Tickets can be purchased at redbarntheatre.com and the link and password to the show will be offered at the end of the transaction.

The other extra will be a Christmas gift to Key West – a free offering of the smash hit “With Bells On”, which made its premiere last Christmas to enthusiastic packed houses at the Barn. It also will stream across the Red Barn’s website, December 16 – 20. Starring Trey Gerrald and Don Bearden, and directed and costumed by Christopher Peterson, the show revolves around a meek and mild accountant stuck in an elevator with a flamboyant drag queen on Christmas Eve. Access to the free streaming video of the play will again be through redbarntheatre.com. If patrons are so inclined, they can return the gift by making a donation in support of the Red Barn when they access the website.

The main stage shows planned for the “Outside the Box” outdoor theater space will run January through April. First up is “Quarantine for Two”, a brand new play from Key West’s Hy Conrad, who is well-known for his clever and funny writing on TV’s “Monk” series. The show will run January 12 through February 6.

Planned for February 23 through March 20 is “Cats Talk Back” by Bess Wohl, a funny “Waiting for Guffman” style parody that purportedly reveals the hilarious secrets behind the making of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary musical and the dark side of the Great White Way.

And winding up the Barn’s season March 30 through April 24 will be “Sez She” by Jane Martin. The show is performed by five actresses, who reveal through monologues the funnier, stranger sides of these early days of the 21st century. Hilarity, surprise, and homespun philosophy top the contemporary perspective on everything from sexual harassment to sleeping in theaters to the erotic appeals of silence.

The Red Barn’s annual Membership Drive is now in full swing and can be accessed through redbarntheatre.com. Membership revenue is critical to the Red Barn’s operations, and each level comes with its own special percs. Check them out on the website.

Subscriptions to the season are also available, which allow patrons to assemble their tickets to the various shows. Doing so is highly recommended, as the “Outside the Box” courtyard space has limited seating for each production.

For more information, visit redbarntheatre.com or call 305-296-9911.

ALL PRODUCTIONS POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

March 16, 2020

In keeping with the recommendations from the CDC, the Coronavirus Task Force, and the City of Key West, the Red Barn Theatre Board feels it prudent and necessary to postpone all remaining productions of our 40th Anniversary Season, beginning immediately.

We have not made this decision lightly. The amazing amount of hard work on the part of our actors, directors, stage crew, and support staff is second to none in our theatrical community, and we know how important it is to each and every one of them that we bring you the best theatrical entertainment possible. To put in the time and effort and then not be able to offer to you, our audiences, is particularly painful.

But we also have an obligation to those cast and crew, and to all of you, our loyal customers old and new, to do whatever we can in this time of crisis to make sure we are not part of the problem, but are contributing to the solution. Because our beautiful little theater is so intimate and close — part of the charm that has made it a cornerstone of professional theater in Key West and up the Keys for forty continuous years— it would be impossble for us to guarantee that there would be no chance of spreading the virus that continues to ravage our country. While there have been no confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Key West as of this date, there is no way of assuring that will continue to be the case.

So we are erring on the side of safety, health, and prudence. We have suspended our productions for now, but we hope that within the next couple of weeks, the arc of the disease will weaken and we will be able to once again trod the boards of our stage. That is our hope, anyway.

So for now, we will be dark. But we hope not for long. Check back with this website frequently for updates on how we see things developing. And please…take care of yourselves. Follow the guidelines, watch out for each other, and we’ll see you soon.

The Red Barn Theatre Board of Directors

Journey to the Twilight Zone with SHORT ATTENTION SPAN THEATRE!

Susannah Wells, Don Bearden, Jeremy Zoma, Andrew Hodge, and Amber McDonald Good star in SHORT ATTENTION SPAN THEATRE in the TWILIGHT ZONE, now playing at the Red Barn Theatre.

“There is a sixth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call The Twilight Zone.”

With these words back in 1959, writer Rod Serling opened his ground-breaking anthology television series, “The Twilight Zone”. He and his cadre of exceptional co-writers fashioned stories of imagination, fantasy, science fiction, horror, the paranormal, intelligent Kafkaesque comedy, and in some cases – as we look back now – prophecy. The show was an immediate hit, and ran for five highly successful seasons, and produced some 190 episodes now looked on as classics of the genre.

As the third mainstage production of its remarkable 40th Anniversary season, Key West’s Red Barn Theatre will resurrect the spirit of “awe and imagination” that Serling’s series inspired with the new rendition of their always-popular show, “Short Attention Span Theatre”, which they are subtitling, “In the Twilight Zone”. The show will run February 18 through March 14.

“We’ve put together seven short, ten-minute plays that fit the mold of Serling’s ‘Twilight Zone’,” said the Red Barn’s Gary McDonald, who, with his wife Mimi, son Jack, and daughter Amber, will produce and direct the show. “And one of them is an adaptation of one of Serling’s actual ‘Twilight Zone’ scripts. Two of the other scripts were winners of the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Festival of Plays last year. One was written by Tennessee Williams, believe it or not, and another is by Nina Mansfield, as well-known mystery writer.They’re all pretty exceptional pieces of theater.”

The McDonald family – who have been behind the Short Attention Span Theatre shows for the last several years – have brought together a stellar group of local and New York actors to populate the evening’s fare: Amber McDonald Good, Susannah Wells, Don Bearden, Andrew Hodge, and Jeremy Zoma. Hodge and Zoma were recently seen in “Prime Time” at The Studios of Key West, Bearden in “The Classics of Comedy” – also at the Studios, and Wells just completed a run of “Life Sucks” at the Red Barn. Good was last seen in the 2019 edition of SAST.

“What we all liked best about ‘The Twilight Zone’ was the way it was the social consciousness of that time,” McDonald said. “There was a moral to the stories, even with their bizarre natures. And actually, when you think about theater, most shows are little ‘Twilight Zones’, aren’t they?”

Expect to see the full range of “Twilight Zone”-style stories…from the hilarious to the off-kilter bizarre. Some will have Serling-type narrative introductions. “But they’re all most-definitely little journeys into ‘The Twilight Zone’,” McDonald said. “You’ll be impressed with each of them.”

The McDonalds have recruited a few more local celebrities to brighten up the stage and show this year. One of note is Gary Marian – better known as Sushi – who will be creating some very special “bug” costumes for one of the sketches. “I can’t wait to see what he comes up with,” Gary said.

Tickets for “Short Attention Span Theatre in the Twilight Zone” are available at redbarntheatre.com or by calling the Red Barn box office at 305-296-9911. There will be a Reduced-Price Preview on Monday, February 17, and ticketholders for the Opening Night performance on February 18 will be invited to join the cast and crew for a catered Opening Night Reception in the Zabar Courtyard of the Red Barn.

The show is sponsored by Key TV, Design Group Key West, and by grants from the Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs and the Tourist Development Council.

COME TO THE ROARING 20'S GALA FOR THE RED BARN!

The special invitation to the Gala…make sure you’re in the “in Crowd” with Jay Gatsby and Daisy!

It’s time to join Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan and help celebrate 40 years of top professional theater at the Red Barn Theatre! A night of Roaring 20’s fun and shenanigans in a gorgeous home on the water in Key West, with nothing but the finest in food, drink, and entertainment.

It all happens Sunday, February 9th, from 5-8 pm at the spectacular home of Kay and John Behmke, 51 Front Street in Truman Annex. Long known for its elegance — and the stunning sunset view over the water — the Behmke’s have opened their home to the Red Barn for this special evening.

A full menu of mouth-watering foods will be provided by the Iron Chefs, an Open Bar will serve you drinks of the day, and entertainment will be provided by the one and only Bobby Nesbitt. AND…as a special “Thank You” to all who attend and support this fundraising effort…everyone will receive a special token bottle of bubbly with which to raise a glass in support of the very special lady the Red Barn Theatre is.

And that’s not all! One lucky bidder in the only auction of the night will be taking home a special bottle of Rye Whiskey, bootlegged in Templeton, Iowa from the same recipe and by the same family that used to make the whiskey for none other than Al Capone back in the 20’s. It took a special trip and a nefarious bit of “under the radar” bargaining to get the bottle, but one was procured and will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. For those wishing to give it a taste, the Red Barn crew managed to get a second bottle, which they will be offering at the bar that evening.

So it’s time for the ladies to don that flapper dress and the men to strap on the cummerbund…Jay and Daisy will be making a special appearance at the gala, and you’ll definitely want to get yourself in a photo with them!

And don’t worry about the Oscars that night…the party will be over just as Hollywood’s big night is getting started, so you won’t miss a glamorous moment.

All proceeds benefit the Red Barn Theatre as they move into their next great 40 years. Come and raise a glass to her, and have yourself a swinging good time!

Tickets are available at redbarntheatre.com or by calling 302-296-9911.

DOES YOUR LIFE SUCK?

George DiBraud, Jessica Miano Kruel, David Black, Susannah Wells, Aaron Duclos, Karl M. Stahl and Caroline Taylor star in Aaron Posner’s hilarious LIFE SUCKS.

You may not think that life sucks, or that the world is somehow messed up and you’re getting a sour bite of the apple. You may, in fact, think that life is everything you hoped it would or could be. Or maybe it just doesn’t matter to you…you’re cool, no matter what.

But you’ll certainly give that question some thought, and may even get the chance to voice your opinion on it when you take advantage of seeing the Red Barn Theatre’s delightful production of playwright Aaron Posner’s “Life Sucks”, now playing on their stage through February 8.

“Life Sucks”, loosely based on Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” (stress the “loosely based”), is, quite simply, a hilarious take on love, longing and loss, falling in love with the wrong people, and trying to change a life you very often perceive as being miserable, but in reality, is pretty much okay.

In two hours, we meet a group of characters, each of whom is on that ‘life sucks’ spectrum somewhere. In a grand old estate house, come together the Professor, whose sexy young wife, Elle, everyone else in the place is in love with. Either her, or the handsome, pretty-much-always-inebriated Dr. Astor. Or they’re longing for a love they’ve never had, as is the adorable Pickles.

Then there’s the middle-aged, dispirited Vanya, who with the Professor’s daughter, Sonia, manages the property. Sonia firmly believes life sucks because Dr. Astor won’t give her the time of day, and Vanya’s the guy who feels he bit the sour apple. The only balanced person in the place is a wise woman named Babs, who tries to impart love, affection, and wisdom to all the others, often without success.

And the spark that lights the fuse of this very funny play? The Professor announces that he intends to sell the estate because he needs money, throwing all of their lives into disarray. That’s when the fun really begins.

And that fun often will involve the audience, as the characters every now and then will break the fourth wall and address them, asking what they think, and actually hoping for a response. So if your life sucks too, you’ll get a chance to let them know.

Director Joy Hawkins couldn’t have asked for a better cast of actors to bring Posner’s hilarious play to life: David Black, George DiBraud, Aaron Duclos, Jessica Miano Kruel, Karl M. Stahl, Caroline Taylor, and Susannah Wells are wonderful. Each of them is perfect in their role, able to play any line for the laughs or poignancy the play requires. There’s not a moment they won’t engage you completely…including, quite literally, the end of the play…but you’ll need to see it to enjoy that final bit of fun…don’t want to spoil it for you.

Key West artist Rick Worth – along with the Red Barn’s Gary and Jack McDonald – has provided one of his very special painted sets, depicting the formal gardens of the family estate. It’s a colorful backdrop to this delightful play.

Tickets for all remaining performances of “Life Sucks” are available at redbarntheatre.com or by calling 305-296-9911. The production is sponsored by KONKLife, Design Group Key West, Wonderdog Studios, and by grants from the Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs and the Tourist Development Council.

‘TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS’ OPENS RED BARN’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

How do you open your 40th Anniversary Season of professional theater? What play could possibly encompass and express the full range of what’s been accomplished on the same stage you’ve trod for those forty years and at the same time give your patrons a kind of love letter for all their support?

This was the dilemma Artistic Director Joy Hawkins faced as she went about planning this landmark season at Key West’s iconic Red Barn Theatre. And to all our benefits, Ms. Hawkins found a beauty.

The cast and director of TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS:
(l. to r. front): David Black, Nicole Nurenberg, Arthur Crocker, Morgan Fraga Pierson. (back): Director Joy Hawkins

The Red Barn will open its landmark fortieth season with the powerful, endearing, lovely, illuminating, often funny, sometimes heart-rending, and always relatable “Tiny Beautiful Things” – and yes, all those descriptors aptly fit this play – which was adapted for the stage by Broadway and film star Nia Vardalos (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”) from Cheryl Strayed’s smash hit book of the same name.

“Tiny Beautiful Things” opens Tuesday, December 10 and runs through Saturday, January 4, 2020. The Red Barn is at 319 Duval Street, in the courtyard behind the Woman’s Club.

The story centers around a woman – a non-descript homemaker in a non-descript town – who calls herself “Sugar”, and who finds herself inheriting an online advice column. Not having any experience in such a realm, Sugar just starts winging it, dispensing what she calls a kind of “radical sincerity” to those whose letters she receives.

(Spoiler Alert: “Sugar” was the nom de plume of author Strayed, who, between 2010 and 2012, actually wrote an advice column for an online literary magazine. Her book – and now this play – chronicles those years and her experiences.)

Key West’s Nicole Nurenberg takes on the role of Sugar, supported by David Black, Morgan Fraga Pierson, and Arthur Crocker as the various letter writers who interact with Sugar over the internet. Hawkins directs.

The beauty of the play is in how everyone in the audience will be able to relate to the letter writers in some way, as they will no doubt see themselves and something of their own lives expressed by the actors on the stage. It’s a beautifully-written expression of the similarity of the problems we all face as human beings…we all struggle when our loved ones die, we all tend to have a terrible time letting go of grudges, anger is easy, forgiveness is hard.

Some of the letters Sugar receives are wacky, a good many are ribald (this is certainly an adult play), and a few are profoundly sad. They are all looking for help of some kind. Sugar, being new and not knowing any better, embraces not having pat solutions to her callers’ harrowing problems, and shares some of her own experiences of addiction, abuse, chaos, and loss.

In doing so, Sugar teaches us all how to pick ourselves up after tragedy. She insists that it’s the “tiny, beautiful things” that make up the love that pulls us from the abyss. It’s the reaching out that helps us move past what we don’t need anyway, that helps us leave our worst selves behind.

There will be a Reduced-Price Preview on Monday, December 9. Ticketholders for the Opening Night on December 10 are invited to join cast and crew for an Opening Night party after the performance that evening. For those planning their holidays, there will be a special Christmas Night performance (no performance Christmas Eve) and another on New Year’s Eve (no performance New Year’s Day). All curtains are at 8 pm. The play runs about 80 minutes, no intermission.

For more information and tickets, visit redbarntheatre.com or call the Box Office at 305-296-9911.

“Tiny Beautiful Things” is sponsored by KONKLife Magazine, Wonderdog Studios, Design Group Key West, and is supported by the Tourist Development Council and the State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.

Red Barn Theatre Launches Into 40th Season with Sparkling New Website and Stellar Lineup

PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For the SEPTEMBER 12 issue of PARADISE

---

Red Barn Theatre Launches Into 40th Season with Sparkling New Website and Stellar Lineup

Forty years. It rolls off the tongue easily: Forty years.

That’s 1980, in case you don’t want to do the math. Gas was seventy-nine cents a gallon. CNN, Rubik’s Cube, and Post-it Notes debuted. A decent house cost $13,000. And Key West’s Red Barn Theatre lit its stage for the first time.

This fall, the venerable Red Barn will play those lights across that stage for its 40th professional season with a mix of new, classic, and original work, featuring top local, regional, and national talent. From the unequaled Terrence McNally to the currently white-hot Nia Vardalos and Aaron Posner, the Red Barn has pulled out all the stops to celebrate this landmark season with Broadway-quality shows.

And to top it off, they’ve launched a brand new interactive website that features not only everything Red Barn – from profiles to tickets to subscriptions and more – but provides a look back at the theater’s stellar 40 year run as well. The new redbarntheatre.com is now up and running and open for business.

“Our old web host changed their hardware and software, making our website pretty much obsolete,” said Bob Bowersox, head of Publicity for the Red Barn. “The new website is terrific – it looks new and clean, and it’s much easier to navigate and use. Our thanks to designer Susannah Wells and Wonderdog Studios for a great job.”

A visit to the new website will give a full rundown of the new 40th season:

Opening December 10 and running through January 4 of 2020 will be Broadway darling Nia Vardalos’ adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s provocative book, “Tiny Beautiful Things,” wherein a struggling writer takes over an advice column and humorously addresses questions that sometimes have no answers. The show will feature national actress Jessica Patton Pellegrino, along with local favorites David Black, Morgan Fraga Pierson, and Arthur Crocker. It will be directed by Joy Hawkins.

Playwright Aaron Posner’s playful new hit play, “Life Sucks”, will take the stage January 14 through February 8, starring David Black, George DiBraud, Aaron Duclos, Jessica Miano Kruel, Karl Stahl, Caroline Taylor, and Susannah Wells, again directed by Hawkins. A group of old friends, ex-lovers, and occasional enemies gather to grabble with life’s thorniest questions and each other. What could possibly go wrong?

The Red Barn’s always original and very popular “Short Attention Span Theater” returns February 18 through March 14, with this year’s theme, “The Twilight Zone”. The evening of very funny, very oddball short plays will be produced and directed by the Red Barn’s founding family, Mimi and Gary McDonald and their now-adult kids, Jack and Amber. Expect anything and everything to happen.

And this stellar season will end with Broadway legend Terrence McNally’s classic “Frankie and Johnny at the Clair de Lune”, running March 24 through April 18. Directed by Murphy Davis, the play is a timeless love story about a waitress and a short order cook, their one-night stand, and their longing for more. It will star Erin McKenna and an as-yet unnamed actor.

There will also be two Special Events (not part of the Subscription Series): “The Mood I’m In”, a special two-night musical evening with singer, pianist, arranger Jim Rice (whose talent has graced many a stage show in Key West) will run February 2-3; and “John Wells is Still Alive and Well and Living In Key West” will run March 8 and 9, featuring raconteur and troubadour John Wells, one of the founders of the Red Barn, who will offer his audiences over 40 years of his stories and songs.

All in all, a great season at one of Key West’s true gems. For more information and tickets for this big 40th season, visit the new website at redbarntheatre.com or call the box office at 305-296-9911.

# # #

FUNNY, ABSURDIST “METEOR SHOWER” IS CLASSIC STEVE MARTIN

PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For the March 14 issue of PARADISE

---

FUNNY, ABSURDIST “METEOR SHOWER” IS CLASSIC STEVE MARTIN

In the world of comedy, there are few true originals. This is particularly true with Broadway comedy. The Great White Way has always embraced roustabout farces and repurposed stand-up routines – there are a half a dozen of them running right now, one mostly like the next.

But every once in a while, a writer will come along like a shot out of left field – a playwright with a singular ability to take the mundane and using a sharp wit and hilarious perspective, elevate it in unexpected ways that make you laugh out loud simply because you really didn’t see it coming. In fact, you couldn’t even imagine it.

So it is with comedian Steve Martin, who in recent years has turned his absurdist, off-the-wall comedy mind to crafting exquisite, intellectual comedic gems for the stage. His latest Broadway hit, “Meteor Shower” will make its south Florida debut at the Red Barn Theatre in Key West next week.

Starring Dave Bootle, Michael Castellano, Elena Devers, and Susannah Wells, and directed by Joy Hawkins, “Meteor Shower” will run Tuesday, March 26 through Saturday, April 20. It is important to note that only the Reduced-Price Preview on Monday, March 25 and the Opening night performance on Tuesday, March 26 will be at 8 pm. All others will be at 7:30 pm.

The play – true to Martin’s oeuvre – is conceptual comedy. The funny action and dialogue are attached more to the theme he’s exploring than the characters he uses to explore it. And as the New York Times said, “Mr. Martin is peerless at crafting tiny wit bombs,” which he uses perfectly and liberally throughout the play.

The story revolves around two couples – Norm and Corky, and Gerald and Laura. The first two have been married for 19 years, and most of that time has been spent working on their relationship with the help of magazines, books, and a lot of psychobabble (the play takes place in the 90’s, after all). Any conflict between them is immediately addressed with trite rituals: “I understand you probably did not know you hurt me”, or “I honor your feelings.”

Repressed though they may be, Norm and Corky invite Gerald and Laura over for drinks and to watch the coming Perseid Meteor Shower about to light up the sky over the boutique town of Ojai, California. But unbeknownst to them, the latter couple have a nefarious agenda – they have come to conquer and destroy: ”Let’s go for total collapse” Gerald tells his wife as they make their plans to crack open the perfect balance Norm and Corky have seemingly achieved in their relationship.

While the meteor shower definitely plays an important role in the play (wait ‘til you see how), it is the emotionally alluring moves by the interloping couple that leave Norm and Corky reeling. Like us, they didn’t see it coming.

Martin’s theme here is the vulnerability of marriage and a commentary on the obstacles faced in keeping a modern marriage together. But true to his absurdist roots, he’s not going to just hand it to us. He uses temporal shifts to go back in time and re-run a scene, offering funny, completely unexpected, alternative outcomes to the evening’s confrontations.

It’s all an hilarious exercise completely true to Steve Martin’s absurdist, intellectual, very humorous view of the world, and one that will leave you laughing at the ideas he’s presented while at the same time, thinking how much you related to what he was saying.

Tickets for “Meteor Shower” can be purchased at redbarntheatre.com/tickets or by calling the box office at 305-296-9911. Ticketholders for the Opening Night performance are invited to join the cast and crew for the Opening Night party immediately following the show that night. The engagement is sponsored by Jane Gardner Interiors, Wonderdog Studios, and Design Group Key West.

# # #

TROUBADOUR JOHN WELLS IN SPECIAL SHOW AT THE RED BARN

PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For the March 7 issue of PARADISE

---

TROUBADOUR JOHN WELLS IN SPECIAL SHOW AT THE RED BARN

It’s been said that all you need to do to wind up a “Living Legend of Key West” is hang around long enough, know everybody in town, and be a really good guy everyone likes to be around, and you’ll just kind of end up in the Legend category.

If that description doesn’t fit musician/thespian/storyteller John Wells, it probably won’t fit anyone. Because Wells is all those things and more.

If you’re lucky enough to grab one of very few tickets available for his upcoming one-man show at the Red Barn Theatre, you’ll also see that the man is a consummate entertainer. His unique combination of storytelling and song makes for an intimate, very personal and engaging evening.

Wells will be appearing at the Red Barn Theatre for two nights only, March 10 and 11, with his very original new show, “John Wells is (Still) Alive and Well and Living in Key West.”  Showtime is 8 pm each night.

“It was back in 1978 that Joy and I moved down here to Key West,” Wells said. Joy is his wife, Joy Hawkins, actress and artistic director of the Red Barn. “I had been very successful with my band up in the Washington, D.C. area, and Joy had just left the Dean Martin show as ‘Tiger Girl’, and we were both looking for something new.”

John and Joy spent a couple of nights camping on Simonton Beach – “You could do that back then,” Wells said – but eventually found a nice place to rent – “For $160 a month, if you can believe that!” – and settled in.

It wasn’t long after that Hawkins, Wells, their good friends the McDonalds, and several others founded the Red Barn Theatre, where Wells put his musical and acting chops to work in nearly a hundred shows over the last 40 years. There are a lot of stories that have piled up over that time.

“I do about 14 songs, some original, some not,” Wells said. “But they all fit in with the stories. I tell about things that have changed me here – like founding the Red Barn, and the people I’ve met, and amazing dolphin encounters, insider Mel Fisher stories, and about my trip to Africa, where I was asked to sing with the indigenous tribal members who were our crew. That was incredible. So many stories. So much good music.”

Forty years of them, to be precise. Hand-delivered by a Key West Living Legend in Key West’s most intimate theater. A new story to add to the list. Tickets can be had at redbarntheatre.com/tickets or by calling 305-296-9911.

# # #

BECOMING ROSEMARY CLOONEY

PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For the February 28 issue of PARADISE

---

BECOMING ROSEMARY CLOONEY

When you meet Kim Schroeder Long, the first thing that strikes you is her smile. It’s big, bright, and sincere, underlining a sparkle in the eyes above it. Her long hair frames a pretty, petite face that unaffectedly expresses joy and contentment.

But within seconds, the first thought you have is: how in the world does this woman transform herself into the sassy, brassy girl next door with a troubled soul she is in the hit play, “Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical”, now playing to sold out houses at the Red Barn Theatre in Key West?

Because the transformation is nothing short of remarkable, both externally and internally. Kim Long doesn’t just “play” Rosemary Clooney. She “becomes” Rosemary Clooney. Literally everything about her is different offstage to onstage.

“I’m really trying not to ‘perform’ Rosemary,” Long said recently. “There’s a fine line between an impersonation of someone who existed in real life, and an honest ‘embodying’ or ‘inhabiting’ that person. What I want is to let her essence come through me. And I’ve done the work, and performed this play enough that I feel I can trust that what is coming through me is her…true and honest.”

She makes it sound easy. But Long has spent years finding that essence of Rosemary Clooney, arguably one of the biggest stars in American entertainment history…a star who crossed records, radio, TV, films, and concerts, and who was best friends and onstage colleagues with the likes of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and many more.

Long started finding Rosemary years ago.

“I watched every video of her I could,” Long said. “Her TV shows, her interviews, her guest appearances, and even the show Password – she did a lot of those. You get a real sense of who she really was by watching her reactions. I could see how she coped with things. I got a sense of the nuances.”

And then, of course, there was the music. Clooney was one of the most successful recording artists of all time, and Long listened to every song she ever sang a thousand times. Long knew her voice was very similar to Clooney’s in tone and color, but it was the phrasing, the touch, the perfect control Clooney had that she went after. And when you see the show, and you hear Long sing those many Clooney hits, you realize how perfectly she nails it.

But the show is so much more than just the music. It delves deeply into the troubled woman Clooney was, and is a compelling story about the true cost of fame.

“I did a lot of research into her intimate, internal idiosyncrasies, nuances, and struggles,” Long said. “I went to California and talked with people from her life – her showbiz acquaintances – and they gave me a lot of insights into who she really was behind the veneer of being a ‘star’.”

Clooney was an incredibly conflicted person, Long said. She had a rough time melding who she really was and who she felt the rest of the world wanted her to be. Her involvement with drugs and alcohol, and the many disappointments and tragedies in her life led her to a nervous breakdown from which she very nearly didn’t recover.

“What really made the difference for me,” Long said, “was going to her hometown in Kentucky. I met people who knew her just as ‘one of the Clooneys from town’. And her family gave me an enormous insight into who she really was. They took me to her little house on the river in Augusta, KY, and I sat there a long time just absorbing it all. That’s where I really found her…the real her.”

And when you watch the show, it’s apparent that Clooney found Long as well. Her interactions with co-star David Black – who is also remarkable in no less than ten different roles of people in Clooney’s life – are so startlingly three-dimensional that without even realizing it, you’re sure you are really seeing Rosemary Clooney on that stage…you really feel her in front of you. Kim Schroeder Long has disappeared.

“The last thing I do before going onstage every night,” Long said, “is sit and find her ‘headspace’. I just get quiet and open myself up to feeling everything I’ve learned about her, everything I’ve seen or heard. It’s like water closing up over me and she emerges. It brings me such joy to feel her come alive.”

“Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical” runs through Saturday, March 16th. Tickets are already in high demand. You can get them at redbarntheatre.com/tickets or by calling the Box Office at 305-296-9911.

# # #