Perfect Pairings
Every marquee moment deserves its match—here’s where to sip and savor before or after the show.
Rock Steady: Get inspired in more ways than one. On October 25, catch the final performance of Florida Repertory Theatre’s Forever Everly, a film screening-meets-rock concert exploring how the duo kick-started rock ‘n’ roll and inspired generations of musicians. After the 2 p.m. show, head to the May-opened Bell Tower Shops restaurant, Vybe, where chef-owner Harold Balink keeps the spirit of creative experimentation going with audacious plates like pine-needle-crusted kangaroo.
All that Jazz: Gulfshore Playhouse’s Struthers Studio evokes a sultry jazz club on October 23 for the opening of The World Goes ’Round, a musical tribute to Tony Award-winning songwriting duo John Kander and Fred Ebb—known for Cabaret and Chicago. Before the show, shimmy around the block to The London Club’s Lounge for its supper-club ambience, where the prohibition era-inspired Lavender 75 cocktail nods back to the Roaring Twenties.
Manhattan Project: Debuting October 5, Life Beneath the Ruins at Marco Island Center for the Arts showcases the work of New York City photographer James Pryor, whose gritty black-and-white series, shot over eight years in the subway, conveys the hardened spirit forged beneath the city’s surface. A two-minute drive down the road, The Oyster Society’s Adios Manhattan cocktail swaps in tequila for the classic whiskey and adds a hint of coffee for complexity in a nod to the city that never sleeps.
Photography by Brian Tietz
october gulf passport things to do oyster society
Photographer James Pryor’s New York images, debuting at Marco Island Center for the Arts on October 5, set the tone for Manhattan-inspired cocktails at The Oyster Society.
Old Friends, New Works
Returning snowbirds find plenty to ogle at inside the Olde Naples Hotel, which opened in May with some of the region’s most striking interiors. Among its many conversation pieces is a sweeping mural by Janine Wesselmann, the longtime Naples artist who captures vignettes of Third Street South through an impressionistic lens.
Slices of Life: Janine Wesselmann is a people watcher at heart; she completed more than 60 sketches observing daily life in Naples to inform her mural, which flanks the walls of the lobby restaurant, Annie’s Bistro. In one of the 6-foot-5-inch panels, she captures Third Street South Farmer’s Market, a Saturday fixture in the neighborhood.
Janine Wesselmann’s Untitled(2026)/Courtesy Olde Naples Hotel
october gulf passport things to do janine wesselmann old naples hotel panel
Hidden Delights: Janine captured moments of delightful authenticity, which she calls micro-joys. Here, she portrays a folk band drawing in a visiting crowd and a lizard peeking out of a man’s shirt pocket. “I see all kinds of humorous things, but I just took it to another level because when people are looking at it, I want them to be enticed to step outside the hotel or for a child to say, ‘Oh, Mommy, look, there’s a little lemur from the zoo over there in the corner,’” Janine says.
Janine Wesselmann’s Untitled(2026)/Courtesy Olde Naples Hotel
october gulf passport things to do janine wesselmann old naples hotel panel
The Theater of Dinner: Janine’s favorite panel (above), captures the sophisticated yet playful energy of dining along Third Street, replicating real details with whimsy. In this scene, she was free to let her imagination run, exaggerating movement: A waiter sweeps in from the left, a dog scouts a table, hoping for scraps, and a parrot lands on a shoulder, echoing the way birds settle once tables are cleared.
Janine Wesselmann’s Untitled(2026)/Courtesy Olde Naples Hotel
october gulf passport things to do janine wesselmann old naples hotel panel
Ahead of the Scene Q&A
Leading up to the Naples International Film Festival (October 22-25), we sat down with Artis—Naples’ executive vice president of artistic operations David Filner and festival producer Shannon Franklin—the duo leading the charge to bring the 18th annual festival to new heights.
Alyssa Riley: What are you seeing in the film festival sphere right now?
Shannon Franklin: The independent film space is where other genres get to speak on more challenging topics—social justice, darker subjects—because it’s a place for authentic storytelling. This season, in addition to that, we’re getting a lot of comedies, dramedies—things that are quirkier.
David Filner: Some films take two, three, four years to get made. We’re now seeing the beginning of a trend toward lighter fare. That’s reflecting people’s desire for escapism more than tension and drama.
AR: What is the most challenging part of the process?
DF: Due to our success, we’re dealing with about 1,000-plus films, so that’s both a benefit and a burden. It’s not something you can take shortcuts on. Deciding on the right ones for us, for our audience, and what will make a cohesive festival experience is hard. There are amazing movies we have to leave on the cutting room floor because we only have so much room.
AR: What can you tell me about the Naples Philharmonic Pops cinematic experience at this year’s festival?
DF: For the last five or six years, we’ve picked a film that can be done with an orchestra. This year, it’s Superman—the 1978 version with Christopher Reeve. We make the decision with Jack Everly, our principal Pops conductor. There is a limited number of films with scores ready for orchestra. And it has to be a good, exciting film with wide appeal. The orchestra scrubs the music out of the soundtrack, and then that music is performed live.
SF: To be able to take a film, have a fantastic live orchestra like the Naples Philharmonic, and close the festival blows the filmmakers away every season. It’s one of the things that I love most.
1 of 2
Courtesy Artis—Naples
october gulf passport things to do naples international film festival
This year, the Naples International Film Festival will screen Superman(1978) for its annual closing film concert with music by the Naples Philharmonic, conducted by Jack Everly (pictured next).
2 of 2
Courtesy Artis—Naples
october gulf passport things to do naples international film festival jack everly
In The Know
Two local theaters—one professional, one university-led—join forces for Cabaret, bringing students and Equity actors together for a four-day production, running October 8-11.
At TheatreLab at Florida Gulf Coast University, senior Mia Laboy Reyes dons 1930s bohemian garments to play Sally Bowles in TheatreZone’s season-opening production of Cabaret. The show is part of a collaboration between the Naples troupe and FGCU’s theater program, in which student actors, technicians and assistants work behind the scenes and onstage, alongside the company’s Equity professionals. “These Equity actors want to see us succeed,” Mia says.
Photography by Bridget Lopez
october gulf passport things to do theatrelab mia reyes
Florida Gulf Coast University senior Mia Laboy Reyes is one of the student actors who participated in FGCU TheatreLab and TheatreZone’s last joint show, Heathers. This season, she returns as the leading woman, Sally Bowles, in Cabaret.
The program grew from an informal exchange that began in the early 2000s, when both theaters were still young. TheatreZone founder Mark Danni started hiring students to operate spotlights and assist backstage, offering pay alongside résumé-building experience. Some students were hired as permanent staffers; one even went on to become a Broadway stage manager.
In 2012, as FGCU sought to expand its musical theater program, the organizations formalized their relationship with a production of Godspell. Cabaret marks the sixth collaboration. Every three years, the program reserves 12 roles for students who audition with singing, acting and dancing numbers. Students receive their scripts before summer break and, upon returning to school, rehearse for 10 fast-paced days before the curtains rise. “It’s a win-win,” Mark says, expressing the importance of finding and nurturing talent for FCGU, which later feeds back into the region’s professional acting community.
For Mia, a mezzo-soprano who performed in the last joint show, Heathers, it marks her first leading role with the company. “This is a field that I want to break into,” she says. “These Equity actors guide us through the process, and it’s really helpful to get that insight from people who’ve been doing this for a while.”
1 of 2
Courtesy Mark Danni
october gulf passport things to do theatrelab the heathers
2 of 2
Courtesy Mark Danni
october gulf passport things to do theatrelab the heathers