NEXT ACT FOR PLAYHOUSE: MORE ENTERTAINMENT AND EDUCATION

Beauty — and there is a lot of it — is more than skin deep at Naples’ new $72 million Gulfshore Playhouse.

Look beyond the wavy architecture, gracious facilities and top-notch entertainment, and you start to appreciate what drives the second dimension of GP’s Baker Theater and Education Center.

“Gulfshore Playhouse is one of the few theaters in the country which have included education in the name of the building, reinforcing this as a core focus for us,” said Steven Akin, Playhouse chairman of the board.

There are offerings for toddlers through senior citizens in music appreciation and performance, theater history and much more. Some classes cover a single session; others take weeks. Aptly for a professional theater, all programs are taught by pros such as Education Director Steven Calakos, a veteran teacher and actor/singer who belongs to the esteemed Actors Equity — as do all playhouse performers, who work alongside professional musicians and crews.