GableStage. Not in BP. In...the Gables. For at Least a Little While Longer.

My father died at the end of 2016.  Some years before that, my mother, who's now 92, had two strokes, and she's a complete invalid, living with round-the-clock care in Surfside.  One of my brothers died a couple of months ago.  My children, and my two grandchildren, live in other states.

Here's my point.  If Donald Trump somehow gets re-elected-- if this is really what Americans want-- and my mother dies in the next couple of years, I'm out of here.  I can't live among people who want "Donald Trump," and if I don't have to be here for my mother, then I don't have to be here at all.

What holds me here for now, apart from my mother and a few really good friends, is the life I have created for myself, and that life includes certain essential things.  They largely center on cultural activities.  And work.  But I can work anywhere, and at 69, I could theoretically be thinking about a different pace anyway.

There are several places I go to meet my need for culture.  If I like a place enough to go there, I almost invariably subscribe to their yearly offerings.  And if I like them enough to subscribe, then I almost always donate to support them.  (This is an old theme/rant for me, but no cultural organization I know of, anywhere, supports itself by selling tickets.  They all need extra support from grants and donors.  In normal countries, the public/government supports the cultural organizations.  In this country, support comes from local governments-- municipality, state, and county,-- well-endowed foundations, like the Knight Foundation in our area, and donations from people like me and you.)

A bedrock for me is GableStage.  This is a theater organization that has been here for 21 years.  For the moment, it is aptly named, since its playhouse is on the grounds of the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.  But GableStage has been saying for several years that it plans to move to the Coconut Grove Playhouse, if this old venue ever really does get renovated, and if that happens, then GableStage won't be in the Gables any more.  I suppose they'll deal with the misnomer, if and when it happens.  Maybe for nostalgia's sake...

The founder, artistic director, and main play director of GableStage is Joe Adler.  I don't know much about Joe Adler, except that he comes from New York (the accent isn't subtle), and he used to work on Broadway.  At some point, he came down here, as any sane northerner would, and he started GableStage.

GableStage is a year-round organization.  They put on six plays a year: one play every other month.  It's a month for rehearsals, etc, and a month for presentations.  Scheduling for the presentations is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, and two shows on Sundays.

I don't know what tickets cost.  As I said, I don't buy them that way.  I just subscribe.  I go to every play.  I don't even know what the play is until I get there.  Sight unseen, no questions asked.  Joe Adler chooses the plays, which are almost always very good or excellent.  He chooses the actors, who are more or less 100% local professionals, and who are always exceptional.  He's had one set designer for the whole 21 years, and sets are magnificent.  Always.  The directing could not possibly be better.  I've seen a few plays on Broadway (I don't want to get started on the crazy NJ woman I was dating for the first half of 2015), and I saw one play on Broadway, then at GableStage.  The directing on Broadway is either not better than or not as good as the directing at GableStage.  The best play I have ever seen in my life was "The Mountaintop," which was at GableStage.  As great as the play was, the acting was better.  I happened to see youtube clips from the same play done on Broadway, with Angela Bassett and Samuel L Jackson in the two roles.  It wasn't even close.  If Bassett and Jackson saw what I saw at GableStage, they would retire.  You can't beat that.  They couldn't.

So, I have somehow managed to get too busy to respond to e-mail and resubscribe yet for the coming year.  Someone is watching, because if they don't hear from you, and you're a regular, you get mail.  It came today.  Oh, right, I owe GableStage a call.  Will do it today.  It's $300 for the six plays-- $50 each ticket-- and you get an extra ticket for one extra admission any time during the year.  They say the $300 is 45% off the single ticket price, which must then be about $90 per ticket.  The theater at GableStage is very small.  I doubt there are more than about 200 seats.  Do you want to know what it would cost to see a play on Broadway, in an intimate setting, and with the likelihood that what you would see would not be as good as GableStage?  And did I mention the free parking at GableStage?

I very highly recommend GableStage.  If you're not sure, try one play.  If you're a little more adventurous, subscribe for one season.  If you don't fall in love, pat yourself on the back for being a good sport, and don't go back next year.  But I have a feeling...  You can call them at 305-445-1119, or you can go to their website at www.gablestage.org.