PARADING THE POOCHES

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Costumed dogs highlight 66th Key Colony Beach Day

Blue skies and sunshine greeted festival-goers at Key Colony Beach Day on March

5. Presented by the Key Colony Beach Community Association, the event commemorating the 66th anniversary of KCB’s incorporation included longtime favorite events like “barracuda (pilchard) races” and the Zonta Club of Marathon’s Rubber Ducky Race across the city’s 7th Street canal. With several returning features, a new event stole the day as 15 dogs and their handlers filled KCB Day’s first-ever Pooch Parade to benefit the Florida Keys SPCA. KCBCA president Gail Cortelyou extended her thanks to sponsors AM Companies, Brutus Seafood, Bike Marathon Bike Rentals, Ocean Sotheby’s, the Weekly Newspapers, Royal Furniture, Keys Ocean Vacation Rentals, D’Asign Source, the Island Fish Co., Promotions Guy and Marathon Garbage Service, along with dozens of volunteers who stepped forward to make the event a reality.

— Alex Rickert

1. ‘Noel’ does her best Ray Mysterio impression with her handler Kris Porter, winning the Best Costume award. CONTRIBUTED

2. Pirate Hat Apiary’s Jeff Wingate shows off local Florida Keys honey. ALEX RICKERT/Keys Weekly

3. Safe boater ‘Trooper’ won the Most Keezee award with his handler Sue Redding. CONTRIBUTED

4. Bruce Vieth, left, and KCB Commissioner Freddie Foster sway passers-by to try their luck in a raffle for a wheelbarrow full of booze. ALEX RICKERT/ Keys Weekly

5. That’s one hot dog! Tom Martorano, left, Wendy Misa and Rick Quick.

6. Marathon Rotarians Mike Puto, left, Lorna Sanchez, Brian Tewes, Lisdania Santana and Vivian Dodge have the most vital supply: cold beer.

7. Jenn Showalter, left, KCB Commissioner Beth Ramsay-Vickrey and Tara McFarland work the SPCA’s tent.

April 2nd Palm Sunday Services 9:00am & 11:00am

April 5th Taize 6:00pm

April 6th Maundy Thursday 6:00pm

April 7th Good Friday Noon

April 8th Easter Vigil 5:00pm Easter Sunday Services 9:00am & 11:00am

May the peace of the Lord be always with you

Please note that more than one Marathon City Council/Board/Committee member may participate in the meetings listed.

To view the City of Marathon’s full calendar, please visit www.ci.marathon.fl.us/calendar

Code Compliance Hearing

9805

City Council Workshop (Solar Co-Op Launch for Florida Keys Residents)

Council Chambers, 9805 Overseas Hwy.,

Pursuant to Section 286.0105, Florida Statutes, if a person decides to appeal any decision made by the City Council with respect to any matter considered at any meeting or workshop noted herein, he or she will need a record of the proceedings and for such purposes he or she may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made; which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. The City of Marathon complies with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

If you are a disabled person requiring special accommodations or assistance, please notify the City ADA Coordinator at (305) 289-5022 of such need at least 72 hours (3 days) in advance.

Marathon Community Theatre’s newest mainstage show may be based on a Shakespearian plot – “Measure for Measure,” for those familiar. But instead of stilted early1600s dialogue set in Austria, Peter Kellogg’s “Desperate Measures” winds the clocks forward nearly three centuries, shifts out to the Wild Wild West, and opens with a promise:

“We fixed up the words a lot, plus we threw out half the plot. The storyline was too complex, but we kept all the parts with sex.”

Indeed, it delivers.

When Johnny Blood (Jacob Terpos) finds himself next in line for the hangman’s noose after shooting a man in self-defense, he must beg his devout nun-in-training sister Susanna (Kara Pascucci) to implore the town’s austere Governor Von Richterhenkenpflichtgetruber (Jerry Nussenblatt) – yes, we spelled that right, we checked three times – to spare his life. Surprisingly, the governor agrees, but only if Susanna will break her vow of chastity with him for one night. Enlisting the help of town Sheriff Martin Green (Steve Emmerling), Johnny and Susanna hatch a plan: Susanna isn’t ready to abandon her habit just yet, but saloon girl Bella Rose (Alene Nelson) has no qualms with taking off her clothes, especially if it’s to save her lover Johnny. All they need is a dark room to make the swap before the governor finds out…

Throw in a jailed priest obsessed with Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche who’s sloshed more often than not (John Schaefer), and the show has all the ingredients for comedic ridiculousness.

Although the cast pairs three longtime MCT veterans in Pascucci, Nussenblatt and Schaefer with three relative newcomers – two of whom will make their main-stage debut at the theater in “Desperate Measures” – the group boasts some of the MCT’s greatest collective vocal talent in recent memory.

It’s not wasted, as David Friedman’s music has a number of earworms that will surely leave audience members humming for weeks. (Be on the lookout for “Just For You,” the Weekly’s editorial pick.)

And in taking on a musical with a script written in rhyming iambic pentameter, all six were in for a challenge as they began learning their lines. It’s an effort that’s paying dividends with opening night approaching.

“At first I thought, ‘Oh, this makes it so much harder,’” said Schaefer. “But now we’re to the point where once you know it, it helps.”

“You have to go word for word. You can’t paraphrase at all, because you could screw up the line or screw up the meter,” said Nussenblatt.

The production battled more than its fair share of changes since its first rehearsal, including a cast member switch and even a director swap. But to the last, the final cast and crew had nothing but glowing reviews for those who stepped in to fill roles and the others who accommodated them on accelerated production timelines.

“Steve came in late, having only done ‘Rocky Horror,’ and he’s just amazing,” Pascucci said. “It’s a huge role, and we’ve seen his confidence blossom.”

“We’ve given them direction, but they just come alive on stage,” said codirector Suzanne Terpos.

“This cast is always in their places before I call places,” added stage manager Diane Dashevsky. “They’re always willing to help out, and they’re a well-meshed cast.”

“I’m so glad I took the leap and agreed to co-direct this show,” said co-director Trish Hintze. “I was gifted a very talented cast who have made what I thought was a terrifying responsibility a source of pure joy.”

“Desperate Measures” runs at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from March 9-25 with a special 3 p.m. matinee on March 19. Tickets are $33 and are available at marathontheater.org or by calling 305-743-0994.