http://coastalbeat.com/news/nightlife/coastalbeat.com Stories: Nightlifeen-usnightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jul/24/stars-taking-highlights-season-philharmonic-center/Subscribers always get the first crack. That’s just the way it’s done. So if you’re up for buying a package of tickets for events in the Philharmonic Center for the Arts 2008-09 season — say, a selection of the Broadway series — and you’ve received your 59-page brochure in the mail, then the only thing holding you back is the limit on your Visa card. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:51:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jul/24/stars-taking-highlights-season-philharmonic-center/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jul/21/review-gurney-play-few-chairs-short-dinette-set/How odd that a play titled “The Dining Room” manages to leave the audience full but not satisfied, even as it runs to 18 scenes and stretches six actors through the paces of 57 characters. Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:45:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jul/21/review-gurney-play-few-chairs-short-dinette-set/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jul/18/its-called-salsa-because-its-hot/It’s a music so alive that it pulls at your feet and hips, driving you to the dance floor. But if you didn’t grow up with salsa, its complex rhythms can be intimidating. Partners spin around the dance floor, gyrating around each other. Hips and shoulders sway in time, and feet mark the beat of the music. It looks effortless. Spontaneous. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:43:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jul/18/its-called-salsa-because-its-hot/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jun/30/review-haunting-vision-literary-classic/The Naples Players delivered a grand and glorious blast of operatic entertainment Saturday night during the opening weekend of their splashy summer musical, an adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved 1909 children’s book “The Secret Garden.” Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:07:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jun/30/review-haunting-vision-literary-classic//http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jun/24/find-your-fun-fourth-july-celebration/Having trouble planning your perfect Fourth of July day? We've got all the best celebrations happening all around town for you to choose from! Whether you feel like relaxing and watching the usual firework show, or celebrating with a local bar, we've found some of the best festivities taking place! Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:17:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jun/24/find-your-fun-fourth-july-celebration/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jun/15/review-let-down-your-hair-and-just-be/Almost as if by accident, TheatreZone’s production of “Hair” transforms itself from a shambling, semi-coherent and modestly staged work into a grand bouffant symphony of love that explodes off the stage to perfectly capture the free-swinging, free love and unbridled passion of the 1960s. Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:23:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jun/15/review-let-down-your-hair-and-just-be//http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jun/12/summer-mix-08-weve-got-soundtrack-your-summer/When I got my first car the first thing I did was make a mix tape. I wore it out in a month. The following summer, I must have made a dozen different mixes. Some for the drive to my summer job at the golf course. Others for cruising town with my friends. Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:48:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/jun/12/summer-mix-08-weve-got-soundtrack-your-summer/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/31/facing-end-local-actress-takes-difficult-character/As she pads barefoot into the centerstage spotlight of an empty black box theater, the overhead lights cast heavy shadows on Janina Birtolo’s face. Sat, 31 May 2008 04:14:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/31/facing-end-local-actress-takes-difficult-character/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/28/review-demanding-production-works-best-reflection/Passions swirled, tears were shed and harsh words spoken as the Florida Repertory Theater closed its season Friday night with a special offering of Neil LaBute’s dark, twisted character study, “The Shape of Things.” Wed, 28 May 2008 22:45:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/28/review-demanding-production-works-best-reflection/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/27/five-o-clock-shoot-every-hour-happy-hour/It’s 4:30pm. You are finally rounding the last leg of the ubiquitous eight-hour work day and, quite frankly, it’s just “about that time”. By now any trace of a coherent thought has turned to complete mush and your computer screen is as clear as mud. It seems the only thing you can muster up to justify squeezing out those last pain-wrenching thirty minutes is Mr. Buffet’s tried and oh-so-true thought process; It’s five o’clock somewhere. Let the good times begin! Check out what local bars have made it to our Happy Hour top 5! Tue, 27 May 2008 19:11:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/27/five-o-clock-shoot-every-hour-happy-hour/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/27/summer-concerts-08/Any purveyor of live music knows there are two distinct differences in venues: the arena and the club. Both have their pros and cons, yet some swear by one or the other. The club setting provides an intimate locale perfect for getting close to your favorite band, while at the same time the smaller crowd keeps the parking lot hassle to a minimum. The more devoted follower of a band will most likely benefit more from this set-up. An arena on the other hand, gives you a chance to see your favorite bands from a hundred yards away for twice the ticket price. However, there is what I like to call “the arena experience.” At a small club the band’s set is relatively naked, and those attending the show are there to see the band. Arenas provide the band with a chance to show what they can do with the stage; depending on the band you’re watching you might see large fireballs, an assortment of props, lasers, etc., anything goes really. Also, another plus in arenas is the fact that you have somewhere to sit down. Granted once the show starts you’ll probably be up, but it’s always nice to take a rest in between sets. So depending on where your tastes lie, there are a plethora of bands coming to Florida this summer. Tue, 27 May 2008 16:28:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/27/summer-concerts-08/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/22/review-wit-takes-one-woman-final-journey/“Wit” headliner Janina Birtolo launches into a poetry-filled monologue mere seconds after making a shambling, barefoot entrance onto the empty concrete floor of the Tobye Studio space. For her grand entrance, she wears just a red baseball cap and two hospital gowns. An IV machine trails her, making a persistent beep-beep-beep as she pulls it along by palsied hands. Fri, 23 May 2008 02:45:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/22/review-wit-takes-one-woman-final-journey/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/08/dancing-about-immokalee/In a white T-shirt and black athletic pants, long-limbed Benissa Chery, 14, is center stage in Immokalee Middle School cafeteria. Thu, 08 May 2008 23:59:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/08/dancing-about-immokalee/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/06/review-mr-green-quiet-tale-seeing-life-anew/Hollywood and Broadway love tales of two broken souls coming together to find new life, new hope and a new beginning. Finding a fresh take on this old tale is hard, yet playwright Jeff Baron manages in “Visiting Mr. Green,” an amusing and well-crafted work chosen by the Florida Rep to close its 2007-08 season. Tue, 06 May 2008 15:30:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/06/review-mr-green-quiet-tale-seeing-life-anew//http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/05/review-gentle-dramatic-fodder-players-production-n/The Pelican Players lift the act of prevarication to an art form in “Tender Lies,” the final play of its 2007-08 season now playing at the Norris Center in downtown Naples. “Tender Lies,” a gentle drama from the pen of California playwright Nancy Pahl Gilsenan, is a garden-variety character study about the residents of a run-down Victorian in San Jose during the summer of 1961. Mon, 05 May 2008 22:50:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/05/review-gentle-dramatic-fodder-players-production-n//http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/02/transformation-sway-lounge/Nir Sharon has a vision and he’s on a mission to make it become reality. He wants to wow Southwest Florida club goers like no one else has done before. He wants to do it the hard way, by convincing the loyal Sway crowd that the new Sway, his version of the beloved nightclub, is going to be better than ever before. Fri, 02 May 2008 15:35:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/may/02/transformation-sway-lounge/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/apr/16/your-news-florida-rep-announces-shows-eleventh-sea/Florida Repertory Theatre is proud to announce a New Decade of professional theatre in the Fort Myers River District with its Eleventh Season as the Historic Arcade Theatre begins a New Century in 2008. Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:08:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/apr/16/your-news-florida-rep-announces-shows-eleventh-sea/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/apr/14/art-series-spotlights-local-talent/Marco art aficionados are in for a treat this off season. The Marco Island Orion Bank is hosting its first ever Artist Appreciation Series. The series will run once a month with each event spotlighting one local artist at the Orion Bank rotunda. Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:43:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/apr/14/art-series-spotlights-local-talent/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/apr/13/kitchen-chef-jeff-detwiller/I usually begin by asking the chef du jour what inspired them to become a chef and then explore what brought him/her to the area. Chef Jeff Detwiller’s story begins when he was a kid growing up on Rockaway Beach, N.Y. Family is the thread that ties together his coast-to-coast career moves and brought him full-circle to Florida. Sun, 13 Apr 2008 04:03:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/apr/13/kitchen-chef-jeff-detwiller/nightlifehttp://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/apr/03/bobcat-goldthwait-coming-comedy-club/Best known for his roles in three “Police Academy” movies, Bob ‘Bobcat’ Goldthwait will appear at Capt. Brien’s Off the Hook Comedy Club from Thursday, April 10 through Sunday, April 13. Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:48:00 -0000http://coastalbeat.com/news/2008/apr/03/bobcat-goldthwait-coming-comedy-club/nightlife