by Alyssa Morlacci | August 26, 2019
Star-Studded Stays
Vero Beach redefines travel for performers with one of the only extended stay hotels in the U.S. catering to talent and visitors.
Across Merrill P. Barber Bridge, in the quaint coastal town of Vero Beach, situated along the Atlantic Ocean, where visitors from the north and south retreat in search of respite, an artistic revival is unfolding.
The renowned Riverside Theatre’s board of trustees and the local community invested in a 60-room extended stay hotel with an ambitious agenda: to offer affordable accommodations to the Broadway-trained actors, directors and costume and set designers involved in performances at its venues.
Behold the Star Suites by Riverside Theatre, an $8.5 million hotel complete with a clubhouse, pool, on-site laundry, fitness facilities, center courtyard and garden terrace, situated between the Jackie Robinson Training Complex and Vero Beach
Regional Airport. LLW Architects Inc. of Memphis designed the hotel to offer spacious, one-bedroom suites complete with private kitchenettes.
Since the hotel opened in spring, special guests have included My Fair Lady’s Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins, Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods and a cast of supporting characters. For those who want to check it out (or rather, check in), during select dates when artists don’t occupy the rooms, the Star Suites by Riverside Theatre opens bookings to the public.
Anticipated upcoming professional productions for the 2019/2020 season at the Stark Stage include Beehive, which runs from Oct. 29 to Nov. 17 and recalls more than 40 female musical mavens from the 1960s, including Leslie Gore and Janis Joplin; and Thoroughly Modern Millie, which takes the stage from Jan. 7 to 26 with music, costumes and tap numbers that transport audiences back to the Jazz Age. Meanwhile, the Waxlax Stage will welcome performances like The 39 Steps, which shows from Jan. 21 to Feb. 9 and meets a challenge of including 150 characters played by only four actors in a whodunit, laugh- worthy show; and Bakersfield Mist, which is a comedy-drama running from March 24 to April 12 about a middle-aged bartender who may have—without realizing it— purchased a piece of art worth millions from a thrift shop.
Vero Beach is stealing its spotlight as the cultural hub of Florida’s Treasure Coast. Now with the opportunity to offer accommodations to the nation’s most talented performers, the Riverside Theatre boasts an unsurpassable list of live theater shows, comedies, ballets, concerts, lectures and more. riversidetheatre.com
