Miami's Coconut Grove Playhouse Reopens, with Arnaz' Help

Shelly Spivack, chair of Florida's historic Coconut Grove Playhouse, has stated that "the Playhouse will reopen tonight."

After the Miami playhouse suddenly closed due to a lapse in liability insurance, a board of directors meeting was held today to discuss the future of the Coconut Grove.

Also in attendance at the meeting was Lucie Arnaz, who is set to star in Sonia Flew with her daughter Katherine D. Luckinbill. The play had been scheduled to begin previews on April 18th, open on April 21st and run through May 7th. Arnaz, highly resistant to the idea of not presenting the play, launched on her own campaign to find financial help for the theatre. The fundraising has been successful in helping to reopen the Coconut Grove.

At the meeting, which was held at Beacon Council, board members and Arnaz spent hours discussing possible solutions for the financial woes of the theatre, which was revealed to be about $4 million in debt. Although the Coconut Grove Playhouse run of Sonia Flew is still on, its previously-announced follow-up run at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida has been cancelled.

Founded in 1956, the Coconut Grove Playhouse opened with a production of Waiting for Godot, starring Bert Lahr and Tom Ewell, according to the theatre's website. "In the four decades that have followed, the Playhouse has been home to many of theater's most eminent artists, including Tallulah Bankhead, Maureen Stapleton, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Carol Channing, George C. Scott, Colleen Dewhurst, Ethel Merman, Liza Minnelli, Linda Lavin and Beatrice Arthur, to name a few." Jose Ferrer served a stint as artistic director from 1982 to 1985, while Arnold Mittelman has been artistic director since.