This Halloween, six Southwest Florida shows offer something eerily novel.
On the 31st, join Gomez, Morticia and the dancestors for a spirited performance of "The Addams Family Musical" at Fort Myers Dinner Theatre or attend, if you dare, “Stage Fright Nights: Summoning the Damned,” a theatrical Halloween experience at the Alliance for the Arts filled with haunted attractions, live entertainment and themed interactive events.
In Englewood, fall under the spell of Gillian Holroyd in “Bell, Book & Candle” at Lemon Bay Playhouse.
Venice Theatre’s Halloween treat is the most famous unsolved double murder in history, the Lizzie Borden story, “Blood Relations.”
In Sarasota, don your spookiest costume for a performance of “Dracula” by the Sarasota Cuban Ballet or be “Doomed” by the Florida Studio Theatre improv troupe as they create an impromptu horror movie adventure right before your eyes.
MORE INFORMATION:
'The Addams Family Musical' is at Fort Myers Dinner Theatre
Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family– a man her parents have never met. And if that wasn’t upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father that she’s accepted his marriage proposal, but begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.
During Fort Myers Theatre’s 2022 production of this musical, Parrish Danesh and Paola Cifuentes starred as Gomez and Morticia Addams. The couple choreographed a number of their own routines, including the tango number at the end of the show. They will reprise their roles and bring all new choreography to the stage for this year’s revival of the musical, which won several awards during its Broadway run including the 2010 Drama League Award for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award (presented to Nathan Lane) along with nominations for two Tony Awards, among other nominations.
The Halloween performance is at 1 p.m., leaving plenty of time to either meet and greet trick-or-treaters who come to your front door or catch a show taking place later in the day.
For tickets, visit https://ftmyerstheatre.com/ or telephone 239-323-6570.
Alliance for the Arts Stage Freight Nights
A theatrical Halloween experience filled with haunted attractions, live entertainment, themed events, and interactive activities awaits at the Alliance for the Arts. At the heart of Stage Fright Nights is "Summoning the Damned," an immersive haunted house where Madame Morta’s séance has unleashed the restless souls of the theatre’s past. Brought to life by local artists, actors and designers, the experience blends storytelling, performance, and scares into a one-of-a-kind horror adventure. But Stage Fright Nights is more than a haunted house. On the 31st, come for the frights, stay for the movies: “The Curse of Bridge Hallow” and “Halloween.”
For tickets, visit https://www.artinlee.org/event/stage-fright-nights-summoning-the-damned-boos-booze/ or telephone 239-939-2787.
Lemon Bay Playhouse & ‘Bell, Book & Candle’
Gillian Holroyd is one of the few modern people who can actually cast spells and perform feats of supernaturalism. She casts a spell over an unattached publisher, Shepherd Henderson, partly to keep him away from a rival and partly because she is attracted to him. He falls head over heels in love with her at once, but witches, unfortunately, cannot fall in love, and this minor imperfection leads to a number of difficulties. Can Gillian abandon her witchery to embrace the normal human love of the publisher?
While witchcraft, spells and sorcery is commonly associated with Halloween, “Bell, Book & Candle” actually takes place during the Christmas season, which allows guests to combine the best of Halloween and Christmas during one spellbinding evening.
For tickets, visit https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=327661 or telephone 941-475-6756.
Venice Theatre & ‘Blood Relations’
Everyone’s heard the nursery rhyme.
“Lizzie Borden took an ax,
And gave her mother forty whacks;
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.”
Did she, or didn’t she? Did Lizzie Borden take an ax and murder her father and stepmother? Venice Theatre’s production of this psychological thriller relives one of the most infamous unsolved double murders in history.
Even though the Lizzie Borden story was an actual 1892 murder mystery, it has become a staple of Halloween lore, ghost tours and true-crime pop culture. It is all the more enthralling because of the discrepancy between the actual record and the post-mortem account.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and while it may have been a hatchet, it was clearly not an ax. Neither victim suffered the number of blows given in the nursery rhyme and the murders did not occur simultaneously or even sequentially. They were separated by roughly an hour and a half. And Lizzie Borden was acquitted at trial. So the mystery endures.
For tickets, telephone 941- 488-1115 or visit https://venicetheatre.org/events/blood-relations/.
Sarasota Cuban Ballet & ‘Dracula’
Sarasota Cuban Ballet is presenting four performances of "Dracula" Oct. 30 through Nov. 1.
It first shared the full-length ballet with Sarasota audiences in October 2023. The production continues to evolve as choreographers Rolando Yanes and Monica Isla add elements to enhance the storytelling, which interprets, through dance, Bram Stoker’s Gothic tale describing Jonathan and Mina Harker’s fateful encounter with the Prince of Darkness.
With the addition of seven new dancers to its Studio Company and the promotion of two others for the 2026-2027 season, Sarasota Cuban Ballet’s production of “Dracula” this year promises to be more exciting than ever.
For tickets, telephone 941-365-8400 or visit https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E355876&id=78.
Florida Studio Theatre Improv & ‘We’re Doomed’
FST Improv dives headfirst into cinematic chaos, creating an original movie-style adventure with audience input. From pulse-pounding action to spine-tingling suspense, this Halloween performance brings a fresh twist, new laughs, and plenty of over-the-top drama.
The show is in Bowne’s Lab at Florida Studio Theatre beginning at 7:30 p.m.
For tickets, visit https://www.floridastudiotheatre.org/events-and-tickets/fst-improv/were-doomed or telephone 941-366-9000.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
