All You Need is Love: Beatles review starts theater’s summer season
The iconic songs of The Beatles will kick off the summer season at Cultural Park Theatre.
“All You Need is Love,” a review show based on the English rock band’s music, will open tonight and play through June 8. The season will consist of seven shows – a mixture of concerts and comedies.
“It’s a male-female cast of six people that sing just about everything out of The Beatles’ songbook,” Michael Moran, the executive director of Cultural Park Theatre, said Thursday.
Tickets for the show are available through June 8, which is also the last day to purchase a summer season ticket package. The ticket package costs $91 and includes admission to all of the shows.
“It saves them like $35 in ticket prices,” he said of those who want to attend all seven.
Individual tickets cost $18 for adults, $16 for seniors and $12 for students.
Following The Beatles review show, “Faith County” will take the stage from June 13 to 22. With a cast of 12, the show is set in a state fair atmosphere where beehive hairdos and truck pulls are all the rave.
“It’s a comedy placed in the middle of nowhere in the South,” Moran said. “It’s just a lot of slapstick humor, and it does tell the story of the people who live in Faith County.”
It is the first time the theater has performed the show.
Next on stage is Neil Zirconia with “The Ultimate Faux Diamond” from June 27 to 29.
“It is a Neil Diamond tribute show,” he said, noting that the theater has not hosted Zirconia before.
“He is from the East Coast. He has been over here and played at the stage in Bonita, which is where I discovered him,” Moran said. “He is billed as the No. 1 tribute artist for Neil Diamond.”
“The Fourposter,” a comedy based on the musical “I Do! I Do!,” will take place from July 11 to 20.
“It is a married couple from the time they get married on their wedding night, through 25 years of marriage when they finally move out of the house into smaller quarters,” he said.
The entire show is set within the bedroom of the couple’s home, which includes a fourposter bed. With a cast of just two people, the show was performed at the theater approximately 18 years ago.
Another review show, “Jersey Girls,” will take the stage from June 25 to Aug. 3.
“It’s a musical review that takes place on a setting that’s the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, New Jersey,” Moran said, adding that the story follows five girl groups auditioning in the 1960s.
“The audience gets involved in that one because they select the winner,” he said.
With a cast of more than 15, the show was featured at the theater about three years ago.
“It is the second time we’ve done it, but it’s been revised with new music and groups,” Moran said.
For concert lovers, next on the summer schedule is Ray Livosi with “A Tribute to Frank Sinatra.” Marking his debut at the Cultural Park Theatre, Livosi will perform from Aug. 15 to 17.
“He’s incredible. You would think you’re listening to Frank Sinatra,” he said.
Closing out the 2014 season will be “Perfect Parenting,” playing from Aug. 22 to 31.
“It’s a comedy, and it’s an original comedy,” Moran said.
Written by Cape resident Mason Breitzig, who is just 19, the show is set in the 1960s in a British household in England. The story revolves around “a dysfunctional family in all of its glory.”
“It’s celebrating the holidays, which have never been more disastrous,” he said. “It’s almost like everything you thought you knew about parenting gone wrong.”
Breitzig’s first show, “Just Another Day,” took the stage at the theater about three years ago.
“We like to give new playwrights a chance to showcase their work,” Moran said, noting that Breitzig’s first show was hilarious and well received. “He is 19 years old and quite a brilliant writer.”
The summer lineup is selected based on the theater’s patrons.
“We know how much our customers have grown to like the tribute concerts,” he said, adding that the comedies are also well attended. “We wanted to make sure we had something for everyone.”
The selections also have to be in line with the theater’s summer camps, which start on Monday.
“Everything gets uniformed, so the camp kids can work in the sets,” Moran said.
Cultural Park Theatre is at 528 Cultural Park Blvd.
For tickets and show times, call (239) 772-5862 or stop by the box office.
For more information, visit: www.culturalparktheater.com.