Florida Rep's new season: Hank Williams, a Christmas mash-up and more

Florida Rep just announced its 26^th season in downtown Fort Myers, and artistic director Greg Longenhagen promises it’ll be joyful, riveting and sometimes even toe-tapping.

“Our 2023-2024 season will be full of joyful laughter, electrifying drama and beautiful, iconic music,” Longenhagen said in a news release announcing the season. “And we truly look forward to sharing it with you.”

The professional theater company’s nine shows include dramas, comedies and three musicals packed with well-known songs — including a musical celebrating the songs of country-music icon Hank Williams.

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Subscriptions are available now and start at $234 for six shows. Single tickets go on sale July 10 and start at $61-$63.

Here’s a closer look at the 2023-24 season. All shows are in the main Arcade Theatre, unless otherwise noted.

“Beguiled Again” (Sept. 22-Oct. 29 in the ArtStage Studio Theatre)

A nostalgic salute to the music of beloved songwriting team Rogers & Hart. The show features more than 50 songs from Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, including “Bewitched,” “My Funny Valentine” and “The Lady is a Tramp.”

“The Legend of Georgia McBride” (Oct. 27-Nov. 12)

A big-hearted, zinger-filled musical comedy about a down-on-his-luck Elvis impersonator who gets replaced by a second-rate drag show at a seedy Florida bar. So The King gets a makeover from some new friends and steals the show.

“A Sherlock Carol” (Dec. 1-17)

The regional premiere of Mark Shanahan’s holiday whodunnit mashes up Charles Dickens and Sherlock Holmes. On a Christmas Eve haunted by the ghosts of past, present and future, a grown-up Tiny Tim begs Sherlock Holmes to investigate the strange death of Ebenezer Scrooge.

“The Mountaintop” (Dec. 15-Jan. 14 in the ArtStage)

Katori Hall’s surrealistic drama imagines what happened in Martin Luther King Jr.'s motel room on the night before his assassination. It’s April 3, 1968, and an exhausted King has just delivered his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. Then he meets a mysterious maid in his room at Memphis’s Lorraine Motel.

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“Beehive: The 60s Musical” (Jan. 12-28, 2024)

A jukebox musical packed with songs from The Chiffons, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Connie Francis, Janis Joplin and more female music icons from the ‘60s. A cast of six women performs more than 24 hits with big hairdos and '60s fashions.

“The Gin Game” (Feb 2-March 3, 2024, in the ArtStage)

D.L. Coburn’s heart-wrenching, Pulitzer Prize-winning play about two nursing-home residents reflecting on their long lives while playing the game of gin.

“A Comedy of Tenors” (Feb. 16-March 3, 2024)

Ken Ludwig’s sequel to the popular comedy “Lend Me a Tenor” offers just what fans would expect: Lots of mistaken identities, bedroom hijinks and hilarious chaos. The comedy is set in a hotel in 1930s Paris, where a huge concert is about to start in a soccer stadium full of screaming fans — as long as the show’s producer can keep his stars in line.

“Hank Williams: Lost Highway” (March 22-April 14, 2023)

Florida Rep’s spring musicals have been big audience hits. Now the theater takes on country-music icon Hank Williams with a cast of actor/musicians singing and playing instruments onstage. The biographical show is packed with Williams hits, including “Hey, Good Lookin’,” “Move it on Over” and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry.”

“Oleanna” (April 19-May 19, 2024 in the ArtStage Studio)

David Mamet’s explosive, thought-provoking drama involves a college professor and a female student who accuses him of sexual harassment. What follows is an escalating war of words that transforms the college campus into a battlefield.

− Florida Repertory Theatre is at 2268 Bay St., downtown Fort Myers. For tickets and more information, call 332-4488 or visit floridarep.org.

Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Email him at crunnells@gannett.com or connect on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1). You can also call at 239-335-0368.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers' Florida Repertory Theatre announces 2023-24 season