FUNNY SHORTS LIVE! December Cast And Shows Announced

Time travel, invisibility, the first interracial gay snow globe couple, sexy role play and a helicopter Jewish mother-in-law will all be just some of the topics covered in the eclectic and hilarious short play collection Funny Shorts LIVE! at Center for Performing Arts Bonita Springs' Moe Auditorium and Film Center, December 13.

Funny Shorts LIVE! is an extension of the Center's wildly popular Stage IT! 10-Minute Play Festival, an annual competition and book publication that draws playwrights from around the world. With performances scheduled throughout the year, this Funny Shorts LIVE! event will feature playwrights from New York, California, Michigan. Maine and Florida. Keeping in tune with a new mission of featuring local playwrights, Leslie Sanderson of Bonita Springs, Florida, will see her play Invisible presented with the other comic gems. Her play explores the life of an aging woman who is figuratively and literally becoming invisible to everyone-including her husband and grown child.

Racial identity and relations are covered in biting satirical fashion in both The Snow Globe by Lynn Aylward, which examines the life of the first interracial gay snow globe couple, and the play Schnitzels and Noodles by singularly-named playwright Chalmers, in which a black couple must use their "white voice" to encourage the Boston police to show up for an emergency.

Love is explored in That's Amore by Arnold Kane in which a couple spice up their marriage with role play only to achieve "interruptus" from the babysitter, while James Pfrehm's Yes vs. No explore the absurd complexity of today's relationship issues. Greg Atkins' Tempus Fugit is a fun, fast-paced time travel comedy in which a couple is visited by a Future Self trying to stop their impending engagement.

Other plays include Kitty Dubin's Cutting It Close about a young interfaith couple facing the Jewish mother-in-law over how to raise their new baby, and Bruce Guelden's Thanks for Holding, directed by our own featured local playwright, Leslie Sanderson.

A team of directors is always assembled for this production, this time including Frank Blocker, Todd Irby, Gary Obeldobel, Luis Pages, Toni Palumbo and Marilee Warner. The cast will include Felicity Benson, Carolyn Bronson, Kevin Buja, Amanda Carrion, Leeanne Chiaramonte, Don Fox, Alberto Gayoso, Melissa Hennig, Nance Jones, Diana Lett, Rita Meehan, Skyler Moore, Lena Neal, Gary Obeldobel, Luis Pages, Sean Pritchard, Abby Reed, Anne Reed, Kevin Sandel, Leslies Sanderson, Annie Stout and Jennifer Valiente.

Funny Shorts LIVE! has become a popular hit with area residents, so it is suggested you get your tickets in advance for the performance. Showtime: Friday, December 13, 2019, at 7:30pm. Center for Performing Arts Bonita Springs, Moe Auditorium and Film Center, 10150 Bonita Beach Road, Bonita Springs, FL, 239-495-8989, www.artcenterbonita.org