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BonitaNews.com
By Jessie L. Bonner
Thursday, October 12, 2006
While plans to bring a regional theater to Estero still face
a $27 million roadblock, that is proving to be a minor setback
for those laying the groundwork for the Gulfshore Playhouse.
Founders of the regional theater will plow forward with plans
for an ambitious educational initiative early next year as
they launch theatrical outreach programs in several schools
in Lee and Collier counties.
“The fact that the concrete structure is not there to
bring the children to, that will just be a bonus up the road,”
said Irene Horowitz, director of educational outreach for
the Gulfshore Playhouse.
The 33,000-square-foot regional theater is set to become the
centerpiece of the Estero on the River development, a project
still in the rezoning stage in Lee County.
Horowitz taught theatrical programs in New York and North
Carolina for more than 30 years before she was tapped in October
to steer educational programs for the Gulfshore Playhouse.
Horowitz began an extensive three-month assessment of the
current state of theatrical program offerings in local schools
last year. She met with administrators. She talked with teachers.
She was less than surprised by what she found.
“I kind of expected there would be a gap in that area,”
Horowitz said. “Several schools both in Lee and Collier
were lacking in theater arts programs.”
Horowitz plans to introduce a pilot version of the program
during the spring in 10 schools, which are still being selected.
Some of the courses she has designed are geared around creative
movement, circus techniques and bringing Shakespeare into
the classroom.
Theatrical performances will be integrated when the program
enters its second year, and professional actors eventually
will be brought into schools to perform scenes and monologues,
Horowitz said.
“I just really believe that it helps children who are
accelerating to accelerate even further,” she said.
Horowitz said the educational programs will only be further
enriched when the playhouse is actually built, a move that
Gulfshore Playhouse founder Kristen Coury is still working
to make a reality.
Coury began fundraising last year to build a 499-seat regional
theater in Southwest Florida after Naples-based developer,
the D’Jamoos Group, announced it would pledge the land
for the Gulfshore Playhouse.
Corporate and private sponsors have already kicked in more
than $300,000 in donations and pledges to build the theater,
but Coury said she backed off from actively fundraising this
year so consultants could carry an indepth analysis of the
area and determine if local donors would be willing to provide
the rest.
The regional playhouse will cost around $27 million to build
and operate through its first year. The Gulfshore Playhouse
will move forward with its first production later this month
with a performance of “Oleana” by Tony award nominee
Alan Campbell.
A $10,000 grant from the Wachovia Corporation has already
been secured to fund the educational initiative in local schools,
Coury said.
“We absolutely were not going to green-light the proj
ect until we had the funding in place,” she said.
The theatrical programs will be unique to local schools and
encompass several areas of learning, Coury said.
“What we are doing is collaborating with the teachers.
Our programs would be tailored to whatever they’re looking
for,” she said. “We’ve got teachers and
administrators who are really waiting for us to get started.”
For more information about the Gulfshore Playhouse presentation
of “Olleana” beginning on Oct. 16, visit: www.gulfshoreplayhouse.org
© 2005 Bonita Daily News and The Banner. Published in
Bonita Springs, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.
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