Spooky or singalong? TheatreZone, Marco go to the extremes for audiences

Psyched out or psyched: Take your choice. Two plays that opened this week promise quick escape with a psychological thriller or a stop-me-from-singing-along Broadway music revue:

'The Spirit of Bay Manor'

Casper the Friendly Ghost did not apply for the job listing behind the mysterious happenings at Bay Manor. People end up dead or maimed from causes that just don't ring true.

Barry, the estate's unwilling owner, desperately wants to sell it. But the real estate behemoth who would take on the secluded white elephant wants proof the place isn't haunted. It insists the owner, the listing agent, a paranormal expert and the sleuthing niece of its last victim endure a weekend there to exonerate the place. 

Joe Simonelli, the Staten Island playwright who has transplanted his skills to South Fort Myers, wrote, directs and performs in the thriller, which receives its world premiere in this Marco Players production. In fact, this is at least the second production his own plays the writer has tackled since he moved south: He directed "Wake Me at Midnight" for the Cape Coral Cultural Park Theatre in October and sprints from "Bay Manor" to a Charlotte Players' production of "With This Ring" opening Feb. 5.

Simonelli laughs at the question of whether he works the ticket office, too. For one thing, COVID-19 has fostered contact-free ticketing at the Marco Players, which is limiting seating as well. But Simonelli probably has taken a few tickets. Since he began easing out of his work as a stockbroker into that of a playwright, he's worked for theaters and even opened one himself in New York. 

"The Spirit of Bay Manor" is his third thriller, and as with all his others, there's a kernel of reality behind the story. Simonelli picks up a news article, a piece of conversation, the stories others tell him, his own dreams. "Men Are Dogs," his most popular play, came from personal experiences.

"I was divorced five years, so I was dating, and women would tell me these absolute horror stories," he recalled, wincing at the memory. "I told them I was going to use their stories."

When he was casting about for a title, he asked an actress he was working with in New Jersey. "She was having a bad day, because she said, 'Why don't you call it 'Men Are Dogs'?" he recalled, imitating her snappish reply. "I said 'Good title!'"

"'Heaven Help Me' was a dream I had," he recalled. It's a totally different, comic treatment of the undead, with brothers appealing to their deceased sibling while they eye his beachfront home sale as the answer to financial prayers. Marco Players has produced that one, as well as his "Old Ringers," a tale of strapped seniors who start a sex phone line to pay the rent.

Simonelli, an aspirant to the king of community theater, has written dramas, comedies, the hybrid known as dramadies, thrillers and even musicals ("Romance.com," the one-time musician offers) that play around the U.S. But he's aspiring to more; several of his shows have graduated to professional productions, and Simonelli has joined Ipex Artists Management LLC to steer his works toward film.

"I'd be there managing (at a playhouse), and one of the reasons I started writing was that in the first act I knew the resolution of the play. I knew the plot. I knew the ending," he said. "I do not give you conventional endings."

So the audiences can count on not being able to count on the denouement of "The Spirit of Bay Manor."

"I'm hoping people walk out and have a least a couple nightmares," he said with an impish grin.

Who: Marco Players present the world premiere of Joe Simonelli's "The Spirit of Bay Manor"

When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through Jan. 24

Where: Marco Town Center Mall, 1089 N. Collier Blvd., No. 432, Marco Island

Tickets: $38.50

To buy: themarcoplayers.com or 239-642-7270

'Bravo Broadway'

Broadway may not be what it used to be on Broadway, but it Naples, it's still dancing and singing. TheatreZone opened its tribute to Glitter Street this weekend, and Founding Artistic Director Mark Danni found himself under a tidal wave of riches. 

"When you're talking Broadway, that's a lot of music," declared Danni, who decided to pare it down to the spectrum of eras of his audience knows. (Performance information is at the bottom of this section.)

"We’ve really tried to mix it up to where it’s not just your traditional Broadway," he said. "We definitely have some classics like 'Where or When" from 'Babes in Arms,' and 'But not for Me,' from 'Girl Crazy.' But we also have songs from 'Footloose,' things from 'Smoke Joe's Cafe,' from 'Wicked' and even something from 'Rent.'"

It won't always be the song the musical has made its name on, however. While "Impossible Dream" from "Man of La Mancha" is on the list, "Ease on Down the Road,"  "The Wiz" hit, won't represent it. Instead the production will include "Home," a piece that Danni calls "just beautiful. It's one of my most favorite songs."

He's also dipped into the lost musicals archive to bring out "Times Like This," a sweet song with a twist from the 1983 musical "Lucky Stiff."

There's a pops medley and ballad medley. And don't forget the dance: "Karen has had plenty of work here," he said. Music Director Charles Fornara created five-piece orchestra arrangements to work with all of them. 

And Danni has reprised practices from the holiday musical, "Merry Manilow," such as enveloping the woodwind player in a Plexiglas cube, masking the backup singers and other musicians, insisting on temperature checks, with backstage and control room masking for all cast and crew. 

During a time when COVID-19 has made in-person entertainment scarce, Danni said he takes the mandate to send audiences home refreshed especially seriously.

"We want people to know they can take their minds off their troubles for at least one hour and 15 minutes of their week."

What: "Bravo Broadway," an original revue of Broadway musical produced by TheatreZone

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday, and Jan. 14-16 and 17;

2 p.m. Jan. 9, 10, 16, 17

Where: G&L Theatre, 13275 Livingston Road, Naples

Tickets: From $50

To buy:  theatre.zone or 1-888-966-3352, ext. 1.

Harriet Howard Heithaus covers arts and entertainment for the Naples Daily News/naplesnews.com. Reach her at 239-213-6091.