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d uring the opening number of "A Funny Thing Happened on the

"This new season will be a real celebration of the theater ... Our mission is to do a variety of work, new and old." - Robert Cacioppo, Florida Rep's producing artistic director

Way to the Forum," we're promised

"Something familiar / Something

peculiar / Something for everyone: / A

comedy tonight!"

And that's exactly what the Florida

Repertory Theatre's offering for its

upcoming 2007-2008 season: something

classical, something off-beat,

something dramatic, and something

comedic, including, of course, a production

of "A Funny Thing Happened

on the Way to the Forum."

The theater will celebrate its 10th

season with a smorgasbord of theatrical

offerings.

"This new season will be a real celebration

of the theater," says Robert

Cacioppo, Florida Rep's producing

artistic director. "This is fulfilling a dream I had. Our mission is to do a

variety of work, new and old."

The 10th season opens with Shakespeare's

"Romeo and Juliet" (Sept. 14

- Oct. 7), featuring an all-black cast.

It's a co-production with the Classical

Theatre of Harlem, who will perform the show throughout New York City's parks during the summer.

Last year, the troupe performed "King Lear" at the Folger Theatre in Washington, D.C., Cacioppo says, adding that their modern day version of "Romeo and Juliet" sets the young lovers in Harlem in 2007.

Cacioppo plans to present a classic play each year, whether Shakespeare, a Greek classic such as "Medea" or "Lysistrata," or even Shaw's "Pygmalion" or Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire."

As part of the Florida Rep's World Classic Initiative program, "Romeo and Juliet" will be performed for all 5,000 Lee County high school students for free, with a dozen special performances, one for each high school.

"For some, it'll be the first professional play they've ever seen, and for some, the only professional play they'll see in their lives," Cacioppo says. "We see ourselves as a service in the community and an asset."

After "Romeo and Juliet" comes "Stones in His Pockets" (Oct. 26 - Nov. 18), an Irish play that ran in London in 2001, where it received a Lawrence Olivier Award for Best Comedy. The two-man play with actors portraying a variety of characters opened on Broadway in 2003.

"A Hollywood movie company invades a little town in Ireland to make a big, big film," Cacioppo says, explaining the premise. "They're quirky characters. It's extraordinarily hard to do. It's not campy like 'Greater Tuna' even though the men play women too."

Next is "Noises Off," (Nov. 30 - Dec. 23), a farce that looks at theater from backstage, with overly nervous actors, actors who can't remember their lines, deceit and romance. The show contains a play-within-a-play, or, if you will, a farce-within-a-farce.

"Noises Off" was Florida Rep's very first show of their first season, so presenting it during their 10th season brings it around full circle. Expect lots of slamming doors and barely controlled pandemonium.

In the new year, from Jan. 11 through Feb. 3, the troupe presents a hit Broadway play. Due to contractual obligations, Florida Rep can't announce the name until the end of May. But it won numerous Tonys and Cacioppo says it's in the tradition of other plays they've previously presented, such as "Rabbit Hole," "Proof" and "Wit."

"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" runs from Feb. 15 through March 16. Cacioppo calls it "a real celebration of the roots of theater." It was the show with which he originally wanted to open their first season, but was unable to obtain the rights because it was touring nationally. (That production, starring Rip Taylor, played at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall.)

Cacioppo recently viewed a film of the Broadway show at the Lincoln Center library's archives in New York City.

"It was so funny," he says. "Larry Gelbart, who also wrote 'M*A*S*H,' says it's the closest he's come to perfection."

The madcap, zany musical is almost like vaudeville set in ancient Rome and the music features Stephen Sondheim's clever wordplay.

"It's made for actors who can sing," Cacioppo says. "It's really an actor's piece."

Next, Florida Rep offers its "one romance for the season": "Almost, Maine" (March 28 - April 27). The show played Off-Broadway in New York City in 2006 and was a critical success for Theatre Conspiracy in Fort Myers this season.

Cacioppo says the play was recommended to him. When he read the script, he knew he wanted to do it.

"I think it should get broader notice," he says.

The play is set in a town called Almost, in Maine.

"It's about how, on this one night, a Saturday night at 9 o'clock, under the northern lights, all these people in the town start falling in love. Not every story ends happily," he warns. "It's the one pure romance we have."

The season closes with "Visiting Mr. Green," a two-man play (May 9 - 25). Eli Wallach played Mr. Green in the Off-Broadway production.

The show's two characters are as unalike as you can get: an elderly Orthodox Jew who's a widower and estranged from his daughter, and a 28-year-old executive with his entire life ahead of him.

"It's a story about two very different people and how they get over their differences, the bond they form," Cacioppo says. David Howard, who portrayed Morrie in "Tuesdays With Morrie" last season, will play Mr. Green.

In addition to "Visiting Mr. Green," Cacioppo says, "we have two dramas - 'Romeo and Juliet' and the yet-unnamed Broadway play, two comedic dramas - 'Stones in His Pocket' and 'Almost, Maine,' and two of the greatest farces -- 'Noises Off' and 'Forum.' A nice balance."

As for celebrating 10 years, "we feel great, we feel lucky," he says. "We never expected the audience we have…Now we can start thinking about more than just survival in the next 10 years."

In a town that's known for its love of light, frothy musicals, the Florida Repertory Theatre has introduced award-winning dramatic fare and raised the bar in both the quality and type of theater it offers.

And over the past 10 years, Cacioppo has seen his audience grow more willing to stretch. For example, "Rabbit Hole," a drama about how a child's death affects a family, exceeded their expectations at the box office. Cacioppo believes they paved the way by previously offering plays such as "Side Man," "Art" and "Wit."

"As an organization we've become a more substantial theater, and the community has become more responsive to it," he says. "It's OK just to laugh, but we also do plays that are complex and will make you think. Our audiences want to come on a journey with us, and that's really exciting." shows:
>>   Romeo         and     Juliet
Sept.     14   - Oct.   7
>>   Stones         in   His
Pocket
Oct.   26   - Nov.   18
>>   Noises       Off
Nov.   30   - Dec.     23

>>   A hit   Broadway
show       to   be   announced
Jan.     11   - Feb.     3
>>   A Funny       Thing
Happened             on   the
Way   to   the     Forum
Feb.     15   - March     16

>>   Almost,         Maine
March     28   - April     20
>>   Visiting         Mr.   Green
May   9 - 25
The   Florida   Repertory     Theatre     performs     at the
Arcade     Theatre     in downtown       Fort   Myers,   on Bay
Street   between     Jackson     and   Hendry.     Individual
tickets     run   from   $15 to $36 and   go on sale   in
August.     For information       on becoming     a season
subscriber,       call 332-  4488.