Showtime Performing Arts Theatre

Showtime Performing Arts Theatre SHOWTIME Dance & Performing Arts Theatre
Youth and community musical theatre · Performing arts school
Location
Address	503 SE Mizner Blvd., Suite 73 Royal Palm Place
Location	Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.
History
Founded / opened	c. 2006 (website online by July 2006)
Closed	c. 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic)
Founder	Marilyn Perry
Venue
Director	Marilyn Perry (executive director and producer)
Capacity	100–125 seats
Stages / spaces	One theatre; 3 dance studios; recording studio; 5 instructional studios in total
Art forms	Musical theatre, dance, acting, voice, instrumental music
Programs	Children's Broadway season; adult and teen series; ShowStoppers Broadway troupe; Kidz on Stage; classes and private lessons; holiday and summer camps
Notable productions	Alice in Wonderland (2007) Les Misérables Nunsense Matilda (2019) Rent (2019) Billy Elliot (2019) Heathers (2019) Newsies (2020)
Links
Website	YouTube · Facebook
Archived website	showtimeboca.com (Wayback Machine)

Showtime Performing Arts Theatre (originally SHOWTIME Dance & Performing Arts Theatre, often called Showtime Boca) was a performing arts school and small musical theatre at Royal Palm Place in downtown Boca Raton, Florida. Its founder, Marilyn Perry, ran it as executive director and producer. From the mid-2000s until the COVID-19 pandemic it staged seasons of children's, teen and adult musicals and taught dance, acting, voice and instrumental music to students from age three to adult.

History

The theatre's website was online by July 2006 under the name SHOWTIME Dance and Performing Arts Theatre. At that time it described a 3,400-square-foot facility at Suite 73, 503 SE Mizner Boulevard, in the Royal Palm Place shopping district. Its stated mission was "to provide a professional, yet fun and supportive atmosphere where students of all levels can succeed", teaching "not only 'how you do' but 'why you do'". The facility had:

• three dance studios with sprung ("floating cushioned") floors
• a 24-track digital recording studio for voice and music classes
• a teaching and performance theatre with about 120 seats, stage lighting and a custom sound system

Later descriptions gave the size of the two-storey building's theatre as 100 seats (2010) and 125 seats (2014). In early 2007 Sara Perry Trabin was listed as artistic director, Sergio Crego as acting program director and Scott Sutter as music director. By the mid-2010s the name had changed to Showtime Performing Arts Theatre.

Closure

Showtime's 2019–2020 season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its Facebook page had scheduled The Sound of Music for Saturdays from March 28 to April 11, 2020, and the teen musical 13 for weekends from April 4 to 12. Neither production was staged. A "Stranger Things" spring-break camp (March 23–27, 2020) and the end-of-year Showcase awards on May 31, 2020 were also on the calendar. Showtime's YouTube channel posted its last video, a second trailer for 13, on March 13, 2020.

On the day of the cancelled showcase the theatre posted: "Today would have been the day… our 14th annual Red-Carpet event. Years of great memories but so sad to be missing our favorite families today." Later in 2020 it shared news of a COVID-19 outbreak at a Broward County summer camp, commenting: "Not the best of times to be putting our young ones and families at risk.

Showtime never publicly announced a permanent closure. After 2020 its Facebook page posted only occasional memories: in 2021 a clip from Annie Warbucks singing "Changes… oh so relevant!", and in 2024 a video of Rent. The home page of its website, still online in 2023, read: "Please stay tuned for updated performance dates." Business directories now list the theatre as closed.

Programs

Showtime presented a season of children's musical theatre each year from September to May, together with programs for teenagers and adults. Its classes and programs included:

• Theatre (age 3 to adult): acting, improvisation, audition preparation, musical theatre, "Broadway Babies" and "Kidz on Stage"
• Dance: ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, acro, hip hop, ballroom and musical theatre jazz
• Music: voice, piano, guitar and drums
• Private coaching for auditions to performing-arts magnet schools and college conservatory programs
• ShowStoppers: an auditioned "triple threat" Broadway performance troupe with junior and senior divisions
• Youngest Performers / Kidz on Stage: 12-week performance programs for small children, ending in a show. Titles included Moana, Trolls and Mary Poppins.
• Camps during the winter, spring and summer school holidays, each built around a show, such as Cats, Grease, Mamma Mia and "Stranger Things"
• Showcase: an annual "Red-Carpet" awards event at the end of each season. The 2020 event would have been the 14th.

CBS Miami included Showtime in a list of the best theatre groups for children in South Florida. It highlighted the acting and dance programs, music lessons, the "Musical Test Drive" (a one-on-one session trying up to four instruments), holiday musical theatre camps and birthday parties.

Productions

Showtime staged a children's and young performers' "Broadway season" every year from at least 2007–08 to 2019–20, with adult and teen productions alongside it. Each season ended with Showtime's own "Tony Awards" ceremony for its students.

Early years

Saturday matinées in 2007 included Alice in Wonderland – The Musical and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. That year an adult cabaret series presented An Evening with Richard Rodgers, Rock 'Em Broadway and Broadway Rhythm. Around 2014 the adult series included Nunsense and Les Misérables, and the theatre hosted monthly shows by the improv troupe Sick Puppies Comedy. Other productions announced on Showtime's Facebook page include The Little Mermaid (2012, reopening after Hurricane Sandy), Legally Blonde, Willy Wonka, American Idiot and The Story of the Nutcracker, which was performed at the Willow Theatre. There was also a cabaret series, The Golden Age of Broadway, with wine and snacks.

2016–2020

The table below lists productions documented by videos on Showtime's YouTube channel. Dates are the production dates given in the video titles where available; otherwise they are approximate, based on when the video was posted.

Date	Production	Notes
2016	Les Misérables
2016–17 season	The Addams Family; A Charlie Brown Christmas; The Lion King; Mulan; School of Rock; Hercules	Previews posted July 2017
2017–18 season	Aladdin Jr.; Into the Woods; Shrek the Musical; School of Rock; Les Misérables; Hairspray; Frozen	Performance videos posted June–August 2018
2018	Elf
February 2019	Matilda the Musical
March 2019	Annie Warbucks
March 30 – April 14, 2019	Rent (school edition)	Teen and adult cast; directed by Emily Mittleman, musical direction by Rebeca Diaz
May 2019	The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Summer 2019	Grease, Mamma Mia and Disney Karaoke camps	Summer camp productions
September 2019	Billy Elliot the Musical
November 2019	Shrek the Musical Jr.
December 7–22, 2019	Heathers (high school edition)	Produced by Marilyn Perry, directed by Emily Freeman, musical direction by Rebeca Diaz, choreography by Nicole Perry, costumes by Stephanie LoVerde
2020	Newsies	Trailer posted January 2020
Spring 2020	13	Teen production; postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic and never staged
Spring 2020	The Sound of Music	Postponed by the pandemic and never staged

A local reviewer called the December 2019 Heathers a "must see", and said its final performance was so full that extra chairs had to be brought out. Luanda de Hilster appeared in Rent and Heathers, playing Heather McNamara in the latter. She was cast as Patrice in the cancelled 13, and also trained and worked as a camp counsellor at the theatre.

Showtime students also competed outside the theatre. In 2019 Sarah Lash, one of the three Heathers, won the Future Stars competition singing "In My Dreams" from Anastasia.

Recognition

Showtime listed the following awards on its website:

• Kids Crown Award from South Florida Parenting (2015 and 2016) for best arts/academic program in Palm Beach County
• "Best of Boca" Readers' Choice awards from the Sun-Sentinel / Forum Publishing Group for #1 entertainment/activity for kids and #1 summer camp
• Featured in Boca magazine via the "Modern Boca Mom" column
• Finalist for best theater group for kids in Nickelodeon's ParentsConnect "Parents Pick" awards

People

• Marilyn Perry: founder, executive director and producer
• Rebeca Diaz: voice teacher and musical director
• Stephanie LoVerde: instructor and costume designer
• Emily Freeman (Mittleman): director
• Sara Perry Trabin: artistic director (2007)
• Sara Sack Gass
• Rome Saladino, performer
• Notable students include Luanda de Hilster and Sarah Lash.

Online presence

Showtime opened a Facebook page ("Showtime Performing Arts Theatre in Boca Raton") on January 25, 2010. It described the theatre as "Boca's Premier Performing Arts Theatre for Children" and had about 2,700 followers. Its YouTube channel, started on June 25, 2015, holds 55 videos of trailers, performances, showcases and season highlights, posted up to March 2020.

External links

• showtimeboca.com (archived website, 2006–2023)
• Showtime Performing Arts Theatre on YouTube: 55 trailers and performance videos (2015–2020)
• Showtime Performing Arts Theatre in Boca Raton on Facebook
• @showtimeperformingarts on Instagram
• Showtime Performing Arts Theatre on StageAgent