Curtain Up on Amelia Island
Did you know that Amelia Island has approximately the same surface area and shape as Manhattan? It may be quite a bit quieter here, but the Island does have it's own version of Broadway: a robust community and amateur theatre scene, with three venues and a range of productions for your entertainment. Here's a sneak preview of three plays opening this weekend.
- This weekend only, November 15 and 16, Amelia Musical Playhouse is staging Luigi Januzzi's comedic play "All the King's Women," which tells the story of Elvis Presley through the eyes of 17 women throughout the decades. This fast-paced series of five comedic scenes and three monologues relates the Life of Elvis Presley, from Tupelo Mississippi where 11-year-old Elvis wanted a BB Gun instead of a guitar to The Steve Allen Show, from President Richard Nixon’s office to Andy Warhol’s studio, and from Cadillac Salesmen to Graceland guards. 1955 Island Walkway, tickets here.
- "Collected Stories" by Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright Donald Marguiles runs for two weekends (including a Sunday matinee on the 16th) at Amelia Community Theatre's Studio 209. The play offers an introspective and compelling look at the relationship between a writer, a student, and the poems of Delmore Schwartz. The balance of power between the two women shifts as the student transforms into an accomplished writer. A portion of ticket sales support the Friends of the Library. 209 Cedar Street, tickets here.
- Fernandina Little Theatre will host the regional premiere of Doug Wright's "I Am My Own Wife" which won a Pulitzer and a Tony Award. Focused on the complex life and times of Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf, who ran Berlin's Grunderzeit Museum, the home of the last surviving Weimar Cabaret, the show is performed by one actor taking on three dozen different roles from Charlotte (a man who survived both the Nazi and Communist regimes dressed in a skirt and wearing pearls) to the playwright to Nazi thugs and an aspiring supermodel. The show runs this weekend and next, and has a Sunday matinee on the 16th. 1014 Beech Street, ticketing information here.