What i did this summer ...

What i did this summer ...
BY NANCY STETSON floridaweekly.com nstetson@floridaweekly.com

I went to a high school reunion -Bob

Maybe you spent your summer vacation visiting the relatives, or enjoying a staycation, taking advant age of the cheaper rates at local beach resorts. Maybe you went someplace exotic and have hours and hours of vacation videos to show whoever's willing to watch. Maybe you're a snowbird and went back north for the summer, for cooler, less-humid climes.

If you work in the arts, though, it's quite likely you did something, well…arty: plays, musicals, films, books. Florida Weekly talked to a number of people who head up the local arts venues, to see how they spent their summer. Some did arts-related things, while others kept their nose to the grindstone and worked. Here's what they had to say.

DALLAS DUNNAGAN Artistic director, Naples Players at Sugden Community Theatre, Naples How did I spend my summer vacation? I worked!

I took in some Broadway shows -Scott

I put on a show - "The Secret Garden," which closed in August. We also did a kids' program that ran a week - a big production of "Footloose."

So I worked. And prepared for the upcoming season. We had auditions for upcoming shows: "The Goodbye Girl" and "The Women of Lockerbie." Got them cast. We're already in rehearsal for "The Goodbye Girl."

I didn't have a summer vacation. If I do anything, it'll be at Thanksgiving. All I do is work!

SCOTT SAXON General manager, The Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall

General manager, The Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall

At the end of our season, I went to New York; I saw four shows: "Young Frankenstein," "The Little Mermaid," "In the Heights" and "Gypsy," with Patti LuPone, in the quest to learn what's out there and what might be going out on tour.

I loved "In the Heights," which was well-deserving of the Tony. It's a traditional book musical, but very different than what's previously been on Broadway, a particular Latin feel I haven't typically seen there.

I worked -Myra

I thought the music was great. The story, although used before, was well-done, updated. It had a sort of "Rent" feel to it, which is set in the East Village in the late 80s. This is almost like the cousin to that. It deserved the Tony. It's a good show; I was really blown away by it. It's such a different feel. I happen to like book musicals. I liked what they did with it.

I thought "Young Frankenstein" was fun, despite what the critics said; it got a little bit panned, though there might a political side to that. I think it's a show that will travel well. People know the movie.

I was really surprised that Megan Mullally (who plays Karen Walker on Will & Grace) has a good set of pipes, a powerful voice. I really thought that the cast was pretty good. It was fun, I had a really good time. I am looking forward to it getting out on the road, despite what conventional wisdom had to say about it, or at least the critics.

It's still magic. I think it will have a life on the road.

I put together my fall lineup f -Bill

"The Little Mermaid," I think, has a life on the road too. It has the Disney connection, and it's creative. It's not "Lion King," but everything is compared to "Lion King," which was so creative, so ahead of its time. So it doesn't measure up, but that doesn't mean it's not a good show.

I went on a Wednesday afternoon, and there were thousands of kids there. So that gave me a good perspective on how the kids responded to it. And when my brother, sister-in-law, and their daughter, a 7-year-old, were going to New York, and I recommended "The Little Mermaid," and my niece just loved it. She said that it was "awesome."

It was a good show, a little darker than you think it would be, in a couple scenes. Considering it's Disney, it surprises some people. It will have a life on the road.

I did not particularly enjoy "Gypsy." That's a show I have traditionally not loved. I'm not a big fan of chewing

the scenery. I like subtlety a little more. They did not have subtlety at all! It was critically acclaimed, people talk about it being a tour de force for Patti LuPone, but I thought it was over the top.

I put on a show -Dallas

It's a classic musical, but it seemed dated to me. I didn't particularly like it. I'll never get that two hours and 45 minutes back!

I've seen enough to know that I'm not going to like everything. That's just the way it works. This did nothing for me. Without Patti LuPone, there wasn't much to recommend it.

I've been working on next season, getting everything in place. Also working on Art Royale, assisting the chair, helping put some of the entertainment together. It's in November, and the theme is: "Lost in Translation."

The season has to be finalized, what we have going on this year. Finalizing the national tour of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." It will be here in the fall. In November, they'll do a weekend of performances.

My big criticism when I saw it on Broadway was that it was too long. They've shaved it down. People really enjoyed that show, It has something that is very different, something you haven't seen. We're putting that together, and working on filling in some of the dates we have, as "Wicked" is here for a month [in March] and we're packed to the gills.

I also saw "Hats," based on the Red Hat Society. I'm not the demographic, but people enjoy it. It's the Red Hat philosophy: age is a state of mind, go out, do what you want, don't let other people dictate how you feel about yourself. BILL TAYLOR Producing artistic director, Theatre Conspiracy

I figured out the line-up for the shows for next year. And figured out how to get into the film market and get the rights for the films I want to show this year. I just finished that last week.

I'm supposed to be doing some rewrites on the

script for "Maria" [a one-woman script about opera singer Maria Callas], which will be at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples [Feb. 11, 12].

It's amazing how time just slips by. September here already!

I got to see some shorts. Wendy Chase, an instructor at the Edison Community College who teaches film, gave me a collection of short films, mostly animated. They were great. I've never seen these things before. They were great.

I want to have a festival in June next year, and shorts will be part of it. It'll be A Best Fest - the best, winning films from the New York Film Festival, the Miami Film Festival, Sundance. Have the winners of those festivals.

The film series I have now is breaking into it, establishing a bit of a run. We're doing this now, we want to establish a relationship with some of them, with independent film festivals. We're not bringing filmmakers or actors to town, we want to start small. Hopefully down the line, we could eventually bring them into Southwest Florida. But at least now, we'll get the ball rolling.

ROBERT CACIOPPO Producing Artistic Director, Florida Repertory Theatre

My summer vacation started the end of June, with final auditions in New York for our season. Then [my wife] Carrie joined me.

On July 4, I had a high school reunion with my drama teacher and

35 other high school students. His name is Scott Martin, and he was thanked in the Oscars by Marisa Tomei.

It was really fun. People I hadn't seen in 30 years, a bunch of old girlfriends, and people I'd worked with professionally.

I saw "Boing Boing," a sex farce. This brilliant, highly acclaimed British director took on this 40-year-old French farce. Farce can be really amazing when done by highly skilled performers.

Jason Bogden, on the staff, had never been to New York. I was thrilled to take him to his first Broadway play. He also saw "August: Osage County." That was fun.

Carrie and I went to Dallas, Niagara Falls, and rented a house outside of Asheville, N.C.

I saw some theater on the east coast of Florida, and also in Sarasota.

MYRA DANIELS CEO, founder, Philharmonic

Center for the Arts, Naples

Work, work and work.

I'm going to New York on the 16th. We're going to open our show of our own artwork in New York on the 17th of September. It will run through October at Hollis Taggart.

I'll probably see if I can get in some shows while I'm there. We go later to see

the shows, in the fall.