Our 2019-2020 Season

The Producers  – A New Mel Brooks Musical

Broadway Musical – Mainstage

Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks
Original Direction and Choreography by Susan Stroman
By special arrangement with StudioCanal

September 6th – 28th, 2019
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm

A scheming producer and his mousy accountant aim to produce the biggest flop on Broadway in Mel Brooks’ laugh-out-loud spectacle. Bialystock and Bloom! Those names should strike terror and hysteria in anyone familiar with Mel Brooks’ classic cult comedy film. Now as a big Broadway musical,The Producers, winner of a record twelve Tony awards, once again sets the standard for modern, outrageous, in-your-face humor.

The Producers is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows.com

The Crucible

Halloween Drama – Mainstage

by Arthur Miller

October 11th – November 2nd, 2019
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm

Winner of the 1953 Tony Award for Best Play, this gripping drama about the Puritan purge of witchcraft in old Salem is a timely parable of our contemporary society. The story focuses on a young farmer, his wife, and a young servant-girl who maliciously causes the wife’s arrest for witchcraft. The farmer brings the girl to court to admit the lie – and it is here that a monstrous course of bigotry and deceit is terrifyingly unleashed.

The Crucible is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Hungry Casanova and the Haunting of Netherstone Manor

Original Works – Black Box

by Shane Steele

November 8th – 10th, 2019
Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm

A world premiere staged reading of a funny and touching new play. When esteemed globetrotter and aspiring children’s book author Hungry Casanova returns to England to visit his old friend Vincent Netherstone, he becomes wrapped up in the latest problem to plague Netherstone Manor: a haunting! But this is no ordinary restless spirit. This ghost warns of a villain who plans to reshape all of reality. It’s up to Hungry Casanova to uncover the plot, save Netherstone Manor, and possibly rekindle a romance along the way.

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead

Contemporary Comedy – Mainstage

by Bert V. Royal

November 15th – 23rd, 2019
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm

When CB’s dog dies from rabies, CB begins to question the existence of an afterlife. His best friend is too burnt out to provide any coherent speculation; his sister has gone goth; his ex- girlfriend has recently been institutionalized; and his other friends are too inebriated to give him any sort of solace. But a chance meeting with an artistic kid, the target of this group’s bullying, offers CB a peace of mind and sets in motion a friendship that will push teen angst to the very limits. Drug use, suicide, eating disorders, teen violence, rebellion and sexual identity collide and careen toward an ending that’s both haunting and hopeful.

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

A Christmas Cabaret

Musical Cabaret – Black Box

Developed by Carrollwood Players Theatre

November 29th – December 1st, 2019
Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm

Join some of the most talented singers in our community for an evening of classic cabaret, holiday style! Festive music, soft lighting, and intimate performances of songs honoring many holiday traditions will surely get you in the mood for the most festive time of the year.

A Christmas Carol

Holiday Classic – Mainstage

By Charles Dickens

Adapted for the Stage by Jim Russell

December 6th – 22nd, 2019
Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 3 pm and 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm

Celebrate the season with your entire family as this beloved holiday tradition returns to our stage. Each year, a different director selects a favorite stage adaptation of Dickens’ original story, so there are always new surprises in store!

This year, Scrooge is back and SHE is as ill-tempered as ever! Expect all the traditional magic, moments and characters you know and love – plus this exciting twist will make this year’s Scrooge more fascinating than ever!

The holidays aren’t complete until you’ve spent a magical evening in Victorian London with Carrollwood Players Theatre.

Play it By Ear

Experimental Comedy – Black Box

By It’s a Secret!

January 3rd and 4th, 2020
Friday and Saturday at 8 pm

Back by popular demand for its 3rd year! What happens when a group of actors walks onto the stage in front of a live audience, but have no idea what play they will be performing? You’re about to find out! As the lights come up, our actors will be handed the script of a comedy play, given some costume pieces and props, and told to “go!” The hilarity of watching them perform an entire play, sight unseen, is why this show is a sell out every year!

Auntie Mame

Classic Comedy – Mainstage

by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Based on the novel by Patrick Dennis

January 10th – February 1st, 2020
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm

Besides being the source for one of Broadway’s most popular musicals, Auntie Mame, the play, set a standard for comedy that’s been sought after ever since. She was a handsome, sparkling, scatterbrained and warmhearted lady who brightened the American landscape with her whimsical gaiety, her slightly madcap adventures and her devotion to her young nephew. Anyone who has ever been loved – or has yearned to be loved – by a larger than life spirit, must see this funny, uplifting, soul-pampering play.

Auntie Mame is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Let’s Talk About Sex

Original Works – Black Box

by Local Playwrights

February 7th – 9th, 2020
Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm

We brought you The Vagina Monologues. We brought you The Penis Monologues. Now we’re opening Pandora’s box and inviting local writers to submit original monologues and pieces about sex in general! Expect an evening of laughter, reflection, and naughty storytelling as our cast performs a staged reading of the best submissions. Leave the little ones with a sitter!

Broadway Musical – Mainstage

Elton John & Tim Rice’s

Aida

Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Tim Rice
Book by Linda Woolverton and Robert Falls & Henry David Hwang

February 14th – March 7th, 2020
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm

Winner of four Tony Awards, Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida is an epic tale of love, loyalty and betrayal, chronicling the love triangle between Aida, a Nubian princess stolen from her country, Amneris, an Egyptian princess, and Radames, the soldier they both love.

With an unforgettable score, featuring soaring ballads and rousing choral numbers, Aida is a modern triumph that embraces multicultural understanding and love.

Elton John and Time Rice’s Aida is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows.com

Comedy Tonight!

Musical Cabaret – Black Box

Developed by Carrollwood Players Theatre

March 13th – 15th, 2020
Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm

Broadway musical comedies are good for the heart, and have been making people laugh for over 200 years. We’re rolling in the piano, setting up the spotlight, and bringing in some of the funniest singers around to take you on a madcap cabaret-style journey through some of the best Broadway comedy songs of all time. Get ready to laugh out loud, and don’t be surprised if you hear something familiar, because it’s time for Comedy Tonight!

A Streetcar Named Desire

Classic Drama – Mainstage

by Tennessee Williams

As of 4/26/20, this production has been postponed until further notice. We hope to be able to present A Streetcar Named Desire in late July, 2020. We will announce exact dates as soon as possible.

If you have tickets for previous dates of this production, please email [email protected] for options. 

In one of the most renowned plays of the American theater, Blanche DuBois, a schoolteacher, arrives in New Orleans and takes a streetcar named “Desire” to the French Quarter, where her sister, Stella, and Stella’s husband, Stanley Kowalski, live.

Blanche’s affectations of refinement set her immediately at odds with blue-collar Stanley. The apartment becomes a pressure cooker of sensuality and class tensions, ultimately erupting in some of the most iconic dramatic moments seen on the modern stage.

A Streetcar Named Desire is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York, on behalf of The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.

Kidspeak 5.0 LIVE ONLINE!

Original Works

by Local Young Playwrights

June 5th – 7th, 2020

Join us as we celebrate 5 years of inspiring young, local playwrights to reach for the stars! Explore the imaginations of our writers as an adult cast performs a staged reading of short plays submitted by kid playwrights. Audiences of all ages love the results, so come escape into a world of wonderment and endless possibility.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Contemporary Comedy – Mainstage

by Christopher Durang

As of 4/26/20, this production has been postponed until further notice. We hope to be able to present Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike in our 2021/2022 Season.

If you have tickets for previous dates of this production, please email [email protected] for options. 

Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play. Middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia share a home, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives. Suddenly, their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike. Old resentments flare up, eventually leading to threats and chaos. Contributing to the excitement are a sassy maid who can predict the future, and a lovely young aspiring actress who can’t. Come discover why Durang is lauded as the master of mining the absurdities of human folly!

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Spring Awakening, The Play

Classic Drama – Black Box

by Frank Wedekind

As of 4/26/20, this production has been canceled.

Spring Awakening, the play that inspired the modern Broadway musical, is one of the most groundbreaking – and most banned – plays in the history of modern theatre. This production, uncensored and unapologetic, follows the stories of a group of school children who are just reaching sexual maturity.

Aptly subtitled “a children’s tragedy,” this pioneering story unmasks the often shocking harm a sexually repressive society can have on its own children. Examining topics ranging from puberty to rape to abortion – and everything in between – the play remains as powerful and relevant today as when it premiered in 1906. A rare full staging of an important, often controversial work that should be experienced by every serious theatre goer.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Broadway Musical – Mainstage

Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Based on the plays of Plautus

As of 4/26/20, this production has been postponed until further notice. We hope to be able to present A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in our 2021/2022 Season.

If you have tickets for previous dates of this production, please email [email protected] for options. 

Broadway’s greatest farce is light, fast-paced, witty, irreverent and one of the funniest musicals ever written. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum takes comedy back to its roots, combining situations from the time-tested, 2000-year-old comedies of Roman playwright, Plautus, with the infectious energy of classic vaudeville.

This nonstop laughfest is full of plot twists and turns, cases of mistaken identity, slamming doors and a showgirl or two. “Something for everyone, a comedy tonight!”

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows.com

A Patriotic Cabaret

Musical Cabaret – Black Box

Developed by Carrollwood Players Theatre

As of 4/26/20, this production has been canceled.

Join us as we rekindle a great American pastime – gathering around the piano to sing! Just in time to spark your patriotic spirit for the 4th, our cabaret singers have prepared your favorite traditional anthems honoring our great nation, as well as some modern patriotic showstoppers and surprises, too! Bring the whole family for an uplifting, fun evening of song that will remind you how proud you are to be an American.

The 2020 One Act Weekend

Original Works – Mainstage

by Various Playwrights

As of 4/26/20, this production has been postponed until further notice. We hope to be able to present The 2020 One Act Weekend in late August, 2020. We will announce exact dates as soon as possible.

Each year, hundreds of playwrights from across the nation submit their short original plays in the hopes they will be one of the eight selected to appear in our popular annual One Act Weekend. A proud Carrollwood Players tradition, this exciting event provides opportunity for emerging playwrights, directors, and actors to gain experience, while entertaining packed houses of enthusiastic audiences. Don’t miss your chance to see 8 plays in one evening of theatre!

The Curious Savage

Classic Comedy – Black Box

by John Patrick

As of 4/26/20, this production has been canceled.

This highly entertaining play deftly harnesses the subjects of greed and insanity, resulting in a devilishly delightful, laugh out loud evening of theatre. Mrs. Savage has been left ten million dollars by her husband. Her grown stepchildren will do anything to get it, including committing her to an institution.

Locked away, she meets various social misfits, and surprisingly finds happiness among them. She decides to spend the rest of her life as one of them. When the doctor insists on releasing her, she has no choice but to use what she has learned to lead her greedy stepchildren on a merry chase. Presented as a staged reading, this classic comedy promises giddy fun!

The Curious Savage is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

August: Osage County

Contemporary Drama – Mainstage

by Tracy Letts

As of 4/26/20, this production has been canceled.

Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play. A vanished father. A pill- popping mother. Three sisters harboring shady little secrets. When the large Weston family unexpectedly reunites after Dad disappears, their Oklahoman family homestead explodes in a maelstrom of repressed truths and unsettling secrets. Mix in Violet, the drugged-up, scathingly acidic matriarch, and you’ve got a major play that unflinchingly – and uproariously – exposes the dark side of the Midwestern American family.

August: Osage County is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.