It started with “Man of La Mancha” this year. Now, the theatrical relationship between Joan Knapton and Alex Santoriello has blossomed into a new theater company in The Villages.
It’s called the Encore Musical Theater Company. It’s a combination of Knapton’s KC Productions and Santoriello’s Pro-Am Performing Arts Corp.
“After working with Alex, we decided to get together and try this,” Knapton said. “The thrust of what Alex does is to teach and educate people in The Villages who want to act and perform on stage.”
About 50 Villagers have already joined the new group, Knapton said. She added the group hopes to eventually have 100 members. Knapton calls the venture a “Repertory” theater concept, meaning it will be kind of a resident stock company performing various shows.
The first Encore production will be “Guys and Dolls,” Dec. 19-23 this year. Next April, a major production of “Jesus Christ Super Star” will be on stage during the Easter season.
Encore members will participate in a series of workshops, designed to improve their performing skills. Each member will be asked to perform in at least one show a year. If roles cannot be filled within the company, “we will audition and cast actors from outside the company,” Knapton said.
Although the two groups will work together on shows for Encore, they also plan to keep their own identities.
“Currently, our plan is to maintain our companies – KC and Pro-Am – as separate entities, while trying out this new concept,” Knapton said.
She and Santoriello first met during the KC Productions’ musical “Man of La Mancha,” which had a sold out run at Savannah Center in March. Santoriello, a veteran Broadway actor who has also worked in television and the movies, earned critical raves as Don Quixote. He also directed the musical.
