ANNA MARIA – Manatee County’s oldest community theater, The Island Players, will be reopening after a hiatus of more than a year due to COVID-19.
The return will mark the 73rd season for The Players, the longest-running community theater in Manatee County.
“While nobody wants to be closed for any reason, we did put the time to good use, making many improvements,” Players Public Relations Chair Diane Phinney said. “We put in new wiring, a new sound system, air conditioning, lighting, paint, replaced siding, cleaned, and even remodeled the bathrooms.”
“The city owns the building, but we are responsible for the upkeep,” Phinney added.
The Island Players was founded in 1949, but the historic building goes back even further. Originally the home of the William H. Gillette family of Parrish, it was brought by barge down the Manatee River around 1912 and placed in its current location on the corner of Gulf Drive and Pine Avenue. Throughout the years it has been used as a city office, church, school and even a social hall for soldiers during World War II.
The season will kick off in September with a production of “The Savannah Sipping Society,” in which four unique Southern women, all needing to escape the sameness of their day-to-day routines, are drawn together by fate and an impromptu happy hour. The play, directed by Mike Lusk, a longtime director and well-known actor at Island Players, will run Sept. 16-26. Auditions will be held on Aug. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the theater.
The 73rd season will also feature four additional productions, including “Same Time Next Year,” Nov. 4-14; “Blithe Spirit,” Jan. 6-13, 2022; “A Comedy of Tenors,” March 3-20, 2022; and “The Psychic,” May 5-15, 2022. In addition, July 23 will feature two performances by the Children’s Drama Camp, which runs from July 12-23. For information on signing up for the camp, contact Kathryn Palmer, Center camp director, at 941-778-1908. Pam Hopkins, a longtime Island Players actor, will be directing the Drama Camp.
