Scene & Heard 4.9.15

+ Young Playwrights
After reading more than 3,000 plays, the staff at Florida Studo Theatre has selected this year’s winning plays for its annual Young Playwrights Festival May 9-22. The playwrights will see their plays performed and read by professionals through May 22.

The winning local plays this are: “The Fairy Who Couldn’t Fly” by Helene Giraud (Gulf Gate Elementary); “My Little Cupcake” by Kate Campion (Southside Elementary); “The Second Grade Train” by Gabrielle Meese, Camiryn Opstal, Tristyn Opstal, Aiden Pressman, Mia Rosenthal and Ariel Shulman (Temple Beth Sholom Schools); “Soldiers of SHINE!” by Jojo Barnes, Angelo Butler, Emilio Carranza, Marvens Lacombe, Josias Sanchez, Josiah Saunders and Edenilson Villatoro (Visible Men Academy); “A Spotty Situation” by Natasha Antoniuk, Cocomi Bransome, Hayden Capaccione, Brody Carroll, Waylon Curran, Nathanael Haearon, Jasiu Hyde, Sophia Kepecz, Katherine Lee, Jackson Mitchell, Diya Nair, Devon Peterson, Mollie Raymond, Rylee Roads, Emmett Russo, Andre Sanchez, Spencer Schurawel and Adam Terrenhart (Phillippi Shores Elementary IB World School); “There’s a Monster in My Class” by Trinity Sweeny (Gulf Gate Elementary); “Earth Dog or Space Dog???” by Christian Ledesma (Booker Middle School); “Fairy Tale News” by Jaquavien Jones and Isazier Whitfield (Booker Middle School);  and “The Parting” by Spencer Emerson Opal-Levine (Pine View School).

+ Broadway Buzz
Broadway’s best touring offerings are returning to the Gulf Coast with the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall’s 2015-2016 season. Coming off of this season’s record-breaking Broadway series that included “Jersey Boys,” “Camelot,” “Flashdance” and “Memphis,” the Van Wezel has scheduled some of New York City’s most recent musical hits and stage classics.

The centerpiece of next season is nine-time Tony Award-winning musical “The Book of Mormon.” A Broadway sensation when it first opened in March 2011, the story of two Mormon missionaries pokes fun at religion, identity and pretty much all of Western culture.

With music, lyrics and book by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Robert Lopez (co-creator of “Avenue Q” and composer for Disney’s smash phenomena “Frozen”), the show’s weeklong residency from Feb. 9 through 14 will have all of Sarasota enthralled by the songs, characters and laughs of this Mormon musical brotherhood.

Joining “The Book of Mormon” at the Van Wezel are: “Beauty and the Beast” (Oct. 14), “The Producers” (Dec. 30), “Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story” (Jan. 6), “42nd Street” (Jan. 20 and 21), “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (March 3 and 4), “Saturday Night Fever” (March 16), “Bullets Over Broadway” (March 20), “Million Dollar Quartet” (March 26) and “Mamma Mia!” (April 19 and 20).

In addition to these heavyweight Broadway productions, smaller performances include “Neil Berg’s 107 Years of Broadway” (Feb. 17), “Stomp” (March 22), Linda Eder and Robert Cuccioli, the original stars of “Jekyll & Hyde” (March 24), and “Broadway: The Big Band Years” (April 4).