Dingbat Theatre Project enters it’s fourth year of operation this upcoming December. The organization celebrated this milestone on Sunday, October 8 with a cabaret highlighting Dingbat artists and previous productions, a raffle drawing, and a season announcement for their upcoming 2024 Winter/Spring Season. The event at Dingbat’s current home, the Loveland Performing Arts Theatre, was well attended by Dingbat artists, sponsors, and patrons. Guests enjoyed drinks provided by Three Bridges Brewing Co.

Dingbat Theatre Project is a professional theatre company dedicated to providing the community with inclusive and accessible theatrical storytelling. They accomplish this goal by offering economically accessible ticket options, by committing to making inclusive casting choices, by offering informative dramaturgy and educational guides, by creating comfortable, immersive spaces for audiences to enjoy the show, by hiring local artists, and by partnering with The Loveland Center, an adult day training program for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Dingbat artists collaborate with individuals in Loveland Creates, a visual and performing arts program offered by The Loveland Center’s Venice campus, to produce Dingbat shows as well as Loveland Players productions.

Activities at the event included performances from cast members of Dingbat’s Peter Pan, performances from Dingbat’s previous productions of Chicago, The SpongeBob Musical, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shrek the Musical, and Brian & Luke’s Live Holiday Jamboree, and selections from Dingbat’s three upcoming productions.

The first of Dingbat’s shows is It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman®, a campy musical comedy based on the SUPERMAN comic strip. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1966 to positive reviews praising the fun, upbeat score by Charles Strouse (Annie, Bye Bye Birdie), including “You’ve Got Possibilities.” Despite its positive reviews, the production closed after only 127 performances. Dingbat re-imagines this forgotten classic in a fun, high-energy way. Setting the musical in a comic book store in the 1990s, where the characters and locations of Metropolis are magically created from the customers and merchandise. The show will run January 10-28, 2024.

Dingbat follows up Superman, with one of the most beloved musicals of all time. The Wizard of Oz hits the stage next year (tentatively March 6-24). Dingbat re-imagines this masterpiece with a cast of twelve playing multiple roles in classic story theatre style, using puppetry, projections, and other storytelling techniques to bring the story to life, while still adhering to the original script and score.

Dingbat’s final production of the season will be an original play based on the Greek myth of Hercules. Dingbat’s Hercules, or, the Laborious Labors of the Artist Formerly Known as Heracles, is a comedic, two-person play in the same vein as The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and the Greater Tuna plays, only with a lot more monsters, sword fights, and Greek gods and goddesses. The play is written and performed by Austin Howeth and Luke Manual, who alternate playing the demigod Hercules and the monsters he faces on his path to immortality. The play runs May 8-19, 2024.

Subscriptions to the season include tickets to all three shows and are available for purchase now at dingbattheatre.org or by calling the box office (941) 451-7706. VIP Subscriptions are $110 and include premium, reserved seating and surprise goodies that correspond to the content of each show. Adult General Admission Subscriptions are $70.00 and Student General Admission Subscriptions (Students 25 and younger) are $30.00. These packages include General Admission tickets to all three shows. General Admission seating is first-come-first-served.

Single tickets for each individual show goes on sale November 1, 2024 at midnight. VIP seating is $40.00, Adult General Admission is $25.00, Student General Admission for Students 25 and younger is $12.00, and there will be limited economic seating options for $10.00. These economic seats will either be floor seating in the front or obstructed view seating in the back. $10.00 seats will not go on sale until a week before the production opens.

The three shows will all be presented at Dingbat’s current home of Loveland Performing Arts Theatre (157 S Havana Rd, Building A, Venice, FL 34292).