season with ‘Cliffhanger.’

from Anna Maria Island Sun September 14, 2022

The Island

Players kick off their 74th season with James Yaffe’s Cliffhanger, directed by Mike Lusk.

BY JASON SCHAFFER

SUN CORRESPONDENT | jschaffer@amisun.com

ANNA MARIA - The Island Players are getting in their last few rehearsals before they begin their 2022-23 season on Thursday, Sept. 15 with their production of James Yaffe’s Cliffhanger, which will run through Sunday, Sept. 25.

“This show is written and set in the mid-80s featuring a college professor and his wife who end up in a thriller murder mystery type of story, but it’s not your average thriller,” director Mike Lusk said. “This play is not technically a comedy, but I’m finding comedic moments; I know our audiences enjoy that. Without even changing the script, we’re just punching up those moments.”

The plot involves Professor Henry Lowenthal, who accidentally kills his boss when she ruins his retirement plans. Now Henry and his devoted wife, Polly, must find a foolproof method to dispose of the body despite frequent visits from a persistent student and a suspicious police lieutenant.

The players are Henry Lowenthal (Rick Kopp), Polly Lowenthal (Cathy HanselEdgerton), Edith Wilshire (Sue Belvo), Melvin McMullen (Colin Brady) and Dave DeVito (Sam DiGiammarino).

The Island Players often feature familiar faces, and Cliffhanger will be no different. Lusk directed The Savannah Sipping Society last season, and only one cast member, Sam DiGiammarino, hasn’t performed in a previous Island Players production.

This year’s lineup begins with Cliffhanger (Sept. 1525), I Ought to be in Pictures (Nov. 3-13), The Odd Couple (Jan. 12-29), The 39 Steps (March 9-26) and How the Other Half Loves (May 4-14).

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the box office at 10009 Gulf Drive or by calling 941-778-5755.

Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

JASON SCHAFFER | SUN The cast of Cliffhanger rehearses for their production, the first in the Island Players’ 74th season.

City reserves parking for Island Players

BY JOE HENDRICKS

SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com

ANNA MARIA – The city is reserving seven public parking spaces for periodic Sunday use by Island Players theater staff, cast members and volunteers.

The reserved parking began on Sept. 11 and will remain in effect during the Island Players’ 2022-23 season on Sept. 18 and 25, Oct. 30, Nov. 6 and 13, Jan. 8, 15, 22 and 29, March 5, 12, 19 and 26, April 30 and May 7 and 14.

The city commission unanimously approved the reserved parking on Sept. 8. During that meeting, Mayor Dan Murphy presented the commission with a map that illustrated the six regular parking spaces and the one handicapped space to be reserved for Island Players personnel.

Murphy said those spaces are already reserved for city staff Monday through Friday. The temporary Island Players parking signs will be placed at the designated parking spaces as needed on Saturday evenings and removed on Sunday evenings, he said. Dashboard cards containing the city logo will also be provided to Island Players personnel.

“Hopefully, this provides the Island Players with what they need, particularly on Sundays when we have a crowd looking for parking spaces to go to the beaches,” Murphy told the commission.

“They bring so much to the community. I think this is a worthwhile endeavor,” he said of the Island Players.

In response to a question posed by Commissioner Jon Crane, Murphy noted the reserved parking spaces are not for theater patrons. Murphy said others who park in the spaces reserved for Island Players personnel will first receive a warning notice, but parking citations will be issued to repeat offenders.

When addressing the commission, Island Players President Sylvia Marnie said, “Over the years the parking situation’s gotten worse for us and unfortunately, at the last play, three of our actors got tickets.”

Marnie noted the actors arrive 60-90 minutes early for a 2 p.m. Sunday performance and it’s become difficult for them to find parking spaces. She said the theater only needs the designated parking spaces for a limited number of Sunday performances.

“That would really help us,” she said.

Commissioner Deanie Sebring said she was surprised to learn the Island Players didn’t have designated parking spaces.

“You definitely need it,” Sebring said.

Fees increasing for unpaid parking tickets

The city of Anna Maria will soon begin levying an additional $85 fee on parking ticket fines that remain unpaid after 30 days. The initial fine for a parking ticket in Anna Maria will remain at $50 and the current $15 late fee will still be applied if the fine is not paid within five days. On Sept. 8, the city commission unanimously agreed to add an additional $85 fee to any parking fines that remain unpaid after 30 days. At that point, the unpaid fine will be turned over to a collection agency, which Mayor Dan Murphy said could impact the vehicle owner’s credit rating. The additional fee will take effect after the city secures the services of a collection agency that will take a percentage of the $150 in total fees and fines. Murphy told the commission the city’s uncollected parking fines have “skyrocketed” during the past three or four months, jumping from approximately 8% to approximately 20%. Regarding the additional $85 late fee, Murphy said, “It’s not meant to be punitive. It’s meant to cover our cost of enforcement.”