Rest easy, Mike Weddle: 1954-2021 … A local legend as a friend, as a musician
BY MARCY SHORTUSE – Back in the day when Gasparilla Island was more about community and less about being an exclusive second-home or vacation destination, there was a guy named Mike Weddle and his bu…
Staging an outdoor production vs. COVID and Mother Nature
BY ELAINE SKYPALA – Once upon a time in February 2020 the world was fairly normal. Ann Fletcher, President of Royal Palm Players, looked at the well planned, excellent assortment of plays and shows f…
RPP creates pandemonium: A COVID cabaret
BY ERICA RESS MARTIN – What a strange year it has been. RPP’s big musical “Nunsense” was shut down in the middle of the run last March. Then every RPP production was completely postponed until the 20…
Boots Tolsdorf looks back at 20 years of RPP performances
BY BOOTS TOLSDORF – With no lines to memorize this year for RPP, (yea!) I have turned to other endeavors, not unlike most of you. One of them was to organize 22 years of Royal Palm Players and me int…
‘All That Jazz’ concert was a smashing success
BY T MICHELE WALKER – The Friends of Boca Grande Community Center hit it out of the ballpark again with their March installment of “All That Jazz,” featuring Brandon Robertson. Robertson, a bassist…
‘All That Jazz’ to feature bassist Brandon Robertson March 8
BY T MICHELE WALKER – The Friends of Boca Grande Community Center is presenting their monthly All That Jazz concert series, featuring bassist Brandon L. Robertson. The show is Monday, March 8 and off…
Grande Glee learns some new skills during pandemic time out
BY SHARON PONTE – Some of the casualties of the pandemic have been spending time together, socializing, dinner parties, and in the case of Grande Glee – singing. Every Friday morning the Gleesters wo…