WGCU | By Tom Hall, Tara Calligan
Published January 26, 2024 at 6:48 AM EST
There’s a brand new musical theater company in our area. It goes by the name of Southwest Florida Theatre. It’s actually an off-shoot of Gulf Coast Symphony. GCS founder Andrew Kurtz explains.
“Over the summer we made the decision to formally spin off the musical theater company that has been operating under our umbrella and producing here at the Music & Arts Community Center,” said Kurtz.
Kurtz still functions as the company’s Producing Artistic Director. But Julie Beardon Carver takes on the role of Music Director of the newly-ordained Southwest Florida Theatre – a move that’s intended to give Carver greater freedom to build her own identity and create a unique brand for the theater arm of the Gulf Coast Symphony collective.
“There’s a real opportunity to do musical theater programming, and with someone like Julie, with her background from New York and Broadway, having her work sort of work hand-in-hand with me to develop what we hope will become another cultural jewel,” Kurtz remarks.
Gulf Coast Symphony’s overarching mission is to create community through music. Kurtz and Carver felt the best way to achieve this sense of community coming out of the COVID pandemic and the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Ian is through positive, uplifting programming.
“This year I felt we needed things that make us smile. That was the most important thing with all of our programming. I wanted happy music. I wanted always to be brightness and light for our community as we continue to recover from the effects of Ian. So we chose shows that we always knew would feel fun and would bring a smile to your face.”
Read more about Southwest Florida Theatre Company Here