Players Circle Theater is mounting a staged reading-style production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s iconic musical “Oklahoma!” featuring the company’s largest ensemble ever assembled. “Oklahoma!” is widely credited with ushering in the Golden Age of American musical theater. Ahead of the opening night performance, we explore this production and the musical’s enduring impact on the musical theater genre.

Bridging the Gap Center for the Arts is Southwest Florida’s newest arts and culture nonprofit. The new organization is committed to providing support, education, community, and performance opportunities for BIPOC artists. We’ll learn about the new organization in a conversation with founder and executive director Sonya McCarter, board of directors member Cotrenia Hood, and dance instructor Eden Collier.

Multi-award-winning Blues musician, songwriter, painter, and craftsman James “Super Chikan” Johnson visited Florida Gulf Coast University this past spring to speak to students and make a couple of performances at Artis-Naples. During his visit he stopped by the WGCU studios for conversation about his life’s journey through music, his handcrafted instruments made from recycled parts, and how he got his stage name.

The Heights Center’s MOSAIC program provides opportunities for children from low-income households to learn to play a musical instrument and to perform with ensembles of their peers. We learn about the program in a conversation with musician, educator, and Director of Arts and Community Programs at the Heights Center, Melissa Barlow, who founded the program.

The Gulf Coast Symphony continues to grow and offer year-round programming even as other regional symphony orchestras have closed. Gulf Coast Symphony Founder and Music Director Andrew Kurtz explains how the organization works to diversify its performance offerings and attract new audiences.

Actor, musician, and playwright Randy Noojin brings his one-man biographical and musical production “Seeger: The Music of Pete Seeger,” to Players Circle Theater for a limited performance run July 18-20. Noojin joins us to talk about this heartfelt tribute to the legendary folk singer and activist and perform live in studio.

In this second encore edition of our April show featuring Emmy-nominated jazz trumpeter, vocalist and composer Benny Benack III performing with the Florida Gulf Coast University Jazz Combo, we hear even more music performed live in studio, including a bonus track featuring Benack and FGCU Director of Jazz Studies and bassist Brandon Robertson.

Players Circle Theater is mounting a production of the hilarious and irreverent play “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)” through July 13. The two-act play has three actors covering all of Shakespeare’s 37 plays in just 97 minutes. We take a deeper diver into the show in a conversation with director Ted Wioncek III, and actors AJ Mendini and Steven Kennedy.

Naples-based artist Muffy Clark Gill has a solo exhibition of works at the Alliance for the Arts titled, “Portraits of Perception.” Works in the exhibit highlight the artist’s work in the ancient Indonesian batik process and are inspired by her passion for travel.

The Alliance for the Arts is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Another milestone for the community-based arts nonprofit came in March with the selection of Neil Volz as its new executive director. Volz brings more than a quarter century of experience as an advocate, organizer, and nonprofit leader to the role. We talk with Volz about his background and the challenges and opportunities he will lead the organization through going forward.