|
A theater director and
a Naples developer have announced plans to build a 500-seat
professional regional theater in Estero.
They hope to open it in the fall
of 2008.
Joe D'Jamoos, president of The
D'Jamoos Group, has offered to donate enough land to build
Gulfshore Playhouse, a 35,000-square-foot theater, in his
proposed Estero on the River development at the northeast
corner of U.S. 41 and Corkscrew Road.
The project would have a mix of
residential, retail, office and cultural components.
"We're trying to make that
into a cultural center," D'Jamoos said.
Heading up the artistic side of
the project will be Kristin Coury, 36, who has experience
working on the production side of theaters in New York and
London and with touring companies.
After directing the film "Friends
and Family" in 2003, she and her husband moved to Naples
and began searching for theater space.
"There's a need here I can
fill," she said. "There's no professional producing
theater
other than Florida Rep (in Fort
Myers). We can make a regional theater here."
Coury said she would like to create
a season that mixes new works with important classics.
She said she doesn't intend to
compete with the rest of the area's theater community.
"Competition is such a dirty
word. In my book, the more the better," she said.
The closest comparison, she said,
would be the slightly smaller Florida Repertory Theatre, which
seats more than 300.
"People who want the arts
are going to come to where there are plenty of arts. Mann
(Hall) and The Phil are totally different animals than anything
we would aspire to do. They are touring houses, not producing
theaters."
Those venues seat 1,871 and 1,473,
respectively.
Robert Cacioppo, producing artistic
director for Florida Rep, said he welcomes Gulfshore Playhouse
to Southwest Florida and wishes them luck in raising the money
to build the theater.
"I think it's a great area,"
he said. "I see it as no competition. Theater breeds
theater. Arts breeds arts. ... One of the reasons I'm excited
about living in Southwest Florida is how much more arts will
be happening here in the next decade."
Coury's goal was to have her own
space within five years, but thanks to D'Jamoos, that timeline
has been moved up.
They have just begun their campaign
to raise an estimated $15 million to build the theater and
cover expenses for the first season in the fall 2008.
If it weren't for the land donation,
she estimates she would have had to raise another $4.5 million
for an equivalent piece of property.
The Estero building, in addition
to the 500-seat theater, will have a 125-seat studio space,
rehearsal and office spaces.
"I'm delighted with the location,"
she said. "We'll still be able to serve Naples, Bonita
and even Fort Myers now. We are so indebted to Joe D'Jamoos
for being a visionary."
Andy D'Jamoos, J.E.D's vice president
of sales and marketing, said his company is helping Gulfshore
Playhouse coordinate a golf tournament fund-raiser.
"We're going to do everything
we can to help it be successful," he said.
A decision has not yet been made
as to what will occupy a second cultural component in Estero
on the River.
"It might be some kind of
museum. ... If somebody wants to step up with an idea, fine.
We're open to anything," Andy D'Jamoos said.
Coury has big plans for her theater,
including education-based programs for children, family-oriented
summer fare and an internship partnership with Florida Gulf
Coast University.
Diane Stewart, a theater professor
at FGCU, said the university would welcome such an opportunity.
"I'm sure we would be most
interested, as a university, in any opportunity for our students
to align themselves with the professional world," she
said.
With a professional theater, Coury
plans to bring in union actors for each show, but rules allow
for a small percentage of actors without an Equity card.
"I want to revitalize and
involve the next generation,'' she said.
"Theater is the oldest living
art form, and it could die in an age of reality TV."
|
