The multi-award winning author of Stuff, Moscow, 37 Postcards, Suite Surrender and Open Season takes us on a wild ride – careening through seven short plays filled with very funny and wonderfully human characters.

Boca Raton, FL/December 18, 2012.
Parade Productions’ second show of their second season will once again feature Michael McKeever – this time as playwright as well as actor.  The multi-talented McKeever will star in The Whole Caboodle, a wickedly funny collection of some of his most celebrated short plays.

The production will preview on January 31^st, open on February 1^st, and run through February 24^th in the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center’s Studio Theatre, at 201 Plaza Real in Boca Raton.

Stephen Sondheim, Abe Lincoln, Munchkins, ambivalent lesbians, even Grant Wood’s ‘American Gothic’ – the award winning playwright skewers them all as he takes apart and reassembles a series of lovably flawed characters and pop culture icons with razor sharp humor and extra-keen insight –  with  hilarious results.

McKeever, who has just completed a successful run as Macy’s most irascible elf, Crumpet, in Parade’s recent production of David Sedris’ The SantaLand Diaries, is extremely pleased to be continuing his relationship with the young theatre company:

“I’m delighted Parade Productions is presenting this collection,” he says. “These seven pieces represent the best of my short plays.  Putting them together was like finding the perfect combination of funny.  Even more so, I love working with our director Kim St. Leon.  She has a wonderful gift for humor, and has put together a fabulous group of actors.  I couldn’t be more happy.”

Kim St. Leon agrees:  “It’s all magic,” she says of The Whole Caboodle.  “That’s the great thing about theatre.  When it all comes together, it’s an experience you’re not going to get on the street . . .”

Elena Maria Garcia, Jacqueline Laggy, Clay Cartland, Casey Dressler, and Candace Caplin will also star in the production.
Caplin, who doubles as the the company’s executive director, says, “We’re excited about Caboodle.  Who wouldn’t be?  You take Michael McKeever, add Kim St Leon, and you’ve got combustible comedy.  We’ve got a great cast, a great cast of characters,” she continues. “When it comes to comedy, you’re not going to do better than Michael Mc Keever and Elena Maria Garcia.  We’re lucky they, and the rest of the cast, were available, and that it all came together.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Parade Productions is also offering their audiences an opportunity to support the company, and experience theatre in a uniquely first hand manner.  For a tax deductible donation of $100 or more, patrons can ‘play a part’ in The Whole Caboodle, and make a ‘walk on’ appearance on stage during the play.

The versatile Michael McKeever, who recently won a Silver Palm award for his play, Moscow, and a Carbonell Award for Best New Work for his play, Stuff, explores every aspect of the human condition in his work, which incorporates a wide variety of styles and subject matter.  He has been honored with an NEA Residency Grant (New Theatre, Miami) and has been a 3-time finalist for Humana Fest’s nationally renowned Heideman Award. He is the proud recipient of three Carbonell Awards; four Curtain Up Awards; and two Florida Individual Artist Fellowships. Six of his plays have been produced at City Theatre’s prestigious Summer Shorts Festival in Miami. He has been a finalist several times at both the Key West Theatre Festival and the Sarasota Festival of New Plays. He is also an award-winning actor and designer. He resides in South Florida and is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Actors’ Equity.

Parade Productions is a not-for profit theatre company whose mission is “To produce high quality theatre experiences that entertain, enlighten, inform, uplift, and inspire audiences, sending them home with new thoughts, insights, questions, and ideas.”

The Whole Caboodle previews on January 31st, 2013, opens on February 1^st, and runs through February 24^th, with performances Thursday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $35 and $40 ($30 for groups of 15 or more).

Tickets are available at: www.paradeproductions.org, or by calling 866-811-4111.  For Group Sales please call:  561-291-9678. 

For more information, photos, head shots, or to arrange for interviews, please contact Carol Kassie at 561-445-9244/ckassie@gmail.com.  For information about ‘walk-ons’ contact info@paradeproductions.org .
(Photos by Justin Namon)

The Whole Caboodle
by Michael McKeever
January 31-February 4, 2013
Thu-Sat 7:30 pm; Sun 3 pm
The Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, Studio Theatre, 2^nd Floor
201 Plaza Real
Boca Raton, FL 33432
Tickets:  $35/$40
Phone:  866-811-4111
Group Sales:  561-291-9678
www.paradeproductions.org
Parade Productions on Facebook

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