Asolo Rep's 'Unplugged' festival opens in Sarasota

   Asolo Repertory Theatre's sixth annual Unplugged festival gets going this weekend. The festival features brand-new plays -- so new the playwrights are still tweaking them -- performed by Asolo Rep actors.
   This year's festival will include three plays, but only two have been announced so far. And the third one isn't going to happen until April 19 so there's no rush.
   First up is Bill Bowers' "Stories From the Road." Bowers is a New York writer and actor -- he was in "The Lion King" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel" on Broadway-- and he performed in

Bowers

the recent SaraSolo Festival. (He won an award at SaraSolo that from now on is going to called the Bill Bowers Award.) He's performed all over the world, in fact, in such diverse venues as the White House, an Amish colony and a nudist resort, and his new one-man show offers some stories from his travels.
   Next is "The Cannibals of McGower County," by Drew Larimore, a playwright with some solid credentials. The intriguing plot synopsis has three women celebrating a birthday when the ex of one of them shows up. He ends up getting shot and killed, and the title tells you how they dispose of his body.
   "Stories From the Road" is set for this Sunday, March 15, and "Cannibals" for Sunday, March 22. Curtain is at 7 p.m for both, and they'll both be in the Asolo Rep rehearsal hall at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets are just $7. Call 941-351-8000 or go to.asolorep.org.

Sarasota's Asolo Rep announces Broadway-bound world premiere

   Bradenton-area audiences will get to see a new musical based on the life of Josephine Baker before it goes to Broadway.

Cox as Baker 
(photo by Frank Ruiz)

   "Josephine" will get its world premiere at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota beginning with previews in April and a three-week run that starts May 6.
   There's some serious talent behind the show and the production.
   The star is Deborah Cox, who starred on Broadway in the title role of "Aida" and as the female lead in the recent revival of "Jekyll & Hyde." She also recently provided the vocals for the Whitney Houston in the Lifetime movie "Whitney."
   Composer Steve Dorff and lyricist John Bettis wrote Houston’s "One Moment in Time" and Madonna’s "Crazy For You." Bettis has won an Oscar and an Emmy. Dorff has been nominated for five Emmys and three Grammys.
   The musical revolves around Baker’s time with the Folies Bergere in Paris, her affair with Swedish Crown Prince Gustav VI and her service in the French Resistance during World War II. 

   For information, call 941-351-8000 or go to asolorep.org.

Opening night delayed for Asolo Conservatory show in Sarasota

   There's been a bit of a change to the schedule of the upcoming show from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training in Sarasota.   The musical "(title of show)" was supposed to open Wednesday. But one of the actors is "very ill," a conservatory spokeswoman said, so opening night has been pushed back to this Friday, Feb. 20.
 

The cast of "(title of show)"

 The actor is apparently quite the trouper, though, because he's going on with the show Wednesday and Thursday. But the people at Asolo Conservatory are now calling those performances "previews," because the actors won't be in top form. He expects to be fine by Friday's opening night.
   Here's what that means for the ticket-buyer: Wednesday is a "pay what you can" show, and tickets for Thursday's performance are $27. Starting Friday, tickets go to the regular price of $29.
   It runs through March 8 at the Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Call 941-351-8000 or go asolorep.org.
   "(title of show)" is a quirky hit musical by Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen. They wrote it in three weeks, and the plot is all about their writing a musical in three weeks. When the show moved to Off-Broadway and Broadway, the writers added segments about the show moving to Off-Broadway and Broadway.

Asolo offers free 'Midsummer Night's Dream' in Sarasota

   Every year, Asolo Rep take a very abridged version of a Shakespeare play on the road, performing in high schools and middle schools all over Florida.
   This year, it's a fast-paced and bombastic 45-minute version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Local audiences will have a chance to see it Saturday, Oct. 11, in a free performance at the Out-of-Door Academy Lower School outdoor amphitheater.
   The show debuted Thursday to a capacity crowd in the Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts.
   Director Jen Wineman has done an amazing job of paring the play down to to its bones, and still telling its three separate but connected stories coherently, and maintaining the flavor and -- most importantly -- the linguistic integrity.
   The actors, all third-year students from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, each taking multiple roles, are wondrous and energetic. Andrea Adnoff and Brian Owen are standouts, but the whole cast is magnetic.
   The grown-ups that made up almost all of the audience loved Wednesday's performance, but it's definitely aimed at youngsters. 
   The only liberties Wineman has taken with the script are to change the setting from Athens to a private school called Athens Academy, and to change some of the nobles into school officials. The

Some of the "Dream"  cast

changes aren't obtrusive (except for a repeated school cheer of "Go Minotaurs!" that's ill-fitting and a little bit annoying), but they're probably unnecessary. Wineman said she wanted to make the play as relevant to teenagers as she could, but the changes don't do much toward that end.
   Besides, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is one of the most easily enjoyed of all of Shakespeare's plays, so there's no real need to turn it into a high school thing. The idea is try to get young people who have never seen a Shakespeare play -- and maybe never seen a play -- to try to catch the theater bug, and this one should do that, and would probably do it just as well without those small changes.
   There's no Shakeseareance necessary, but the audience at Asolo Thursday was full of people who had seen full-length performances of the play before (there was a show of hands during a talk-back) and they all loved it. So unless you're a curmudgeonly Shakespeare purist, this should be a really fun 45 minutes. (Count on an hour including the talk-back).
   Besides, it's free.
   Te performance starts at 2 p.m. Oct.11, at Out-of-Door Academy,
444 Reid St., Sarasota. There's an "introductory workshop" at 1:30 p.m.
   Seating is limited and reservations are required. Call 941-351-8000.






    
   

Sarasota's Asolo Rep adds two musicals

   Asolo Repertory Theatre has added has added a couple of musicals to its 2014-15 season. They both celebrate central figures of American music, but that's pretty much where the similarity ends.
   "Luck Be a Lady: The Iconic Music of Frank Loesser" is a new show about one of the best musical theater composers and lyricists. He's best known for "How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying" and "Guys and Dolls," and tons of hit songs you'd know well even if you'd never been to a musical in your life. He won several Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize.

Woody Guthrie

   The show was conceived and will be directed by Gordon Greenberg, who directed "Yentl" at Asolo a couple of years ago. It's set to run May 1-14. (It replaces "It Only Takes a Moment," which had been previously announced for that slot.)
   The final show of the season will be "Woody Sez: The Life and music of Woody Guthrie." It premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2007, and has been performed all over the United States, as well as in Germany, China and New Zealand. It's directed by Nick Corley, who is one of the people who devised the show. It scheduled for May 30-June 21.
   The Asolo Rep season gets going Nov. 14 with a production of "South Pacific."
   For tickets and information, call 941-351-8000 or go to asolorep.org.

Sarasota's Asolo Rep adds new Nilo Cruz play

   Asolo Repertory Theatre has added a new play by Nilo Cruz, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for "Anna in the Tropics," to its 2014-15 season. Cruz, who won a Pulitzer Prize for "Anna in the Tropics," will co-direct with Asolo Rep's producing artistic director, Michael Donald Edwards.
   The play is called "Sotto Voce" and it'll run April 2-26 in the Historic Asolo Theater.
   "Sotto Voce" had its world premiere in New York in February and garnered great

Nilo Cruz

reviews there. The New York production moved to Miami in March, and the Miami Herald called Cruz' writing "poetic."
    The story concerns a German-born novelist named Bernadette who lost the love of her life when she fled Nazi Germany aboard a ship carrying Jewish refugees to North America. After the ship is turned away by Cuba and the United States, the ship returns to Europe, and many of its  passengers die in concentration camps. Sixty years later,aA young  Jewish-Cuban writer contacts the reclusive Bemadette to research the ship's tragic voyage. Their relationship deepens into a romance.
   For more information, call 941-351-8000 or go to asolorep.com.

   
   

Sarasota's Asolo Rep adds "Baritones Unbound"

    Asolo Repertory Theatre’s has added a show called "Baritones UnBound:  Celebrating the UnCommon Voice of the Common Man" to its 2013-14 season.
   The show premiered last year in Boston and drew some great reviews. It's a three-person show (all three people are baritones, of course) that looks at the role of the baritone singer through music history, in opera, operetta, musical theater and pop music.
 

Marc Kudisch

  One of the creators of the shows, and one of its stars for the Boston run, is Marc Kudisch, a Broadway star who's been nominated for Tony Awards for "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," "9 to 5" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie." He'll also star in the Asolo Rep production.
   Call 941-351-8000 or go to www.asolorep.org for tickets or more information.
  

Asolo's "Philadelphia" is coming back to Sarasota

   Asolo Repertory Theatre's "Philadelphia, Here I Come!" has been the most talked-about area theater presentation in a long time. Even the Wall Street Journal wrote about it.
  The reason is that director Frank Galati had trimmed the play significantly, and playwright Brian Friel found out and wasn't happy. He made Asolo Rep halt "Philadelphia" after just a couple of shows. The cut scenes and characters were restored and Galati and the now-larger cast went back into rehearsals.

Christian Conn, Douglas Jones
"Philadelphia, Here I Come!

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2014/01/09/4925742/friel-tragicomedy-opens-at-sarasotas.html#storylink=cpy

   It's reopening Tuesday, Feb. 4. It had been a 90-minute show with no intermission; now it's significantly longer and has two intermissions, as Friel dictated in his script.
   The play, which is about a half-century old, was the first big success for Friel, who's now best known for "Dancing at Lughnasa." It tells the story of a young Irish man on the night before he moves to America. The "hook" is that the young man is portrayed by two actors simultaneously, one his "public" self and one his "private" self.
   The shorter version was lovely, with a gorgeous set and wonderful performances.
    The restored version runs through April 12 at the Mertz Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets are $33-$61. 941-351-8000, www.asolorep.org.

Scheduling changes at Sarasota's Asolo Rep

   Asolo Repertory Theatre's performance of "Philadelphia, Here I Come!" scheduled for this past Saturday night was canceled, and "Other Desert Cities" was staged in its place. The result was a very small audience for "Other Desert Cities," which had opened the night before, and lots of ticket exchanges and explanations at the box office.

Asolo's "Philadelphia"

   The official explanation was "just some scheduling changes." Another, upcoming performance of "Philadelphia" has also been canceled.
   On Tuesday, Peter Amster, who's directing "Sasha, and Masha and Sonia and Spike" for Asolo, said that "Philadelphia" was being retooled. It had been edited and it was decided to restore the scenes that had been dropped. The show would go back into rehearsals and would re-open in early February.
 "Philadelphia, Here I Come!" is a Brian Friel drama about young Irish man who's about to leave his home and family and move to America. The Asolo Rep version, directed by Frank Galati, had been pared down to 90 minutes and had dropped one character entirely.
    It opened Jan. 10 and the version Asolo Rep audiences have seen so far was elegant and effective.
   The Asolo Rep website says that on Jan. 29, when "Philadelphia, Here I Come!" has been canceled, the theater will instead stage "Vanya and Masha and Sonia and Spike."
    If you have tickets or plans to see "Philadelphia," you'd be wise to check www.asolorep.org or call the box office at 941- 351-9010 to get any schedule updates.

Asolo Rep adds Melucci memoir to season

   Asolo Repertory Theatre has added "I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti Sauce" to its 2013-2014 season.
Jacques Lamarre’s stage adaptation of Giulia Melucci's memoir is set to preview May 18 and May 20, with opening night May 21. It'll run through June 15, 2014 in Asolo Rep’s Cook Theatre.
    In the lead will be Antoinette LaVecchia as Melucci, an Italian-American writer living in Brooklyn with an entertainingly unsuccessful love life.

Giulia Melucci

    Melucci’s best-selling memoir intertwines her family’s recipes with stories of her past relationships. LaVecchia (as Melucci) prepares a Italian meal from scratch on stage, and  shares tales of her past loves and the food she cooked for them. Audience members with upgraded tickets can sit on stage and enjoy the meal LaVecchia prepares.
    LaVecchia, who won a Best Actress award from Broadwayworld.com for her portrayal of Melucci.
   The Asolo porduction directed by Rob Ruggiero the director of Asolo's season-opening "Show Boat."
   For information, call 941-351-9010 or go to www,asolorep.org.

Tickets for Sarasota's Asolo Rep available Sunday

   Tickets for the upcoming Asolo Repertory Theatre season  go on sale online at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 29 and at Asolo Rep’s box office at 10 a.m. Monday.
   The season starts Nov. 15 with "Show Boat," by Hammerstein and Kern. Other shows include "Philadelphia, Here I Come!" by Brian Friel (Jan. 10-April 12); "Other Desert Cities" by Jon Robin Baitz (Jan. 17-Feb. 27); "Vanya and

Sonia and Masha and Spike" by Christopher Durang (Jan. 24-April 13); "The Grapes of Wrath" by Frank Galati, based on the Steinbeck novel (March 14-April 19); "4,000 Miles" by Amy Herzog (April 4-27); "Hero: The Musical" by Aaron Thielen and Michael Mahler (May 2-31); and a summer production to be announced.
   Visit www.asolorep.org, or call  941-351-8000.

Tappers perform at Sarasota Farmers Market Saturday

   If you go to the Sarasota Farmers Market this weekend, you can get some free entertainment, and maybe some dance instruction, to go along with your fresh produce.
   Asolo Repertory Theatre is sponsoring a series of tap workshops for local high school students this week and next, led by two members of the cast of "Pulse," Asolo's current tap-based show.

Russo (far left) and Erk (far right) in "Pulse."

   Christopher Erk and Anthony J. Russo are conducting the workshops. The workshops culminate in a group performance by participants immediately following the Saturday, June 15 matinee of "Pulse" in the Mertz Theatre.
   But you don't have to wait until then to see the student dancers. One of the workshop sessions will take place at the Sarasota Farmers Market 10-11 a.m. Saturday, June 8. Participants will give demonstrations and hold a group tap jam session by the fountain near the intersection of Lemon Ave. and State streets.
   "Pulse" runs through June 16. It's really fun. For tickets or information, call 941-351-8000 or visit www.asolorep.org.

Asolo directors featured in talkback in Sarasota

   The next edition of "Inside Asolo Rep," the series of moderated talkbacks with the creative team from Asolo Repertory Theatre, features two directors on the topic of "American Women."
   Laura Kepley directed "The Heidi Chronicles," which ended its run in March, and Tea Alagic directs "Venus in Fur," which opens Friday, April 5.
   The talkback is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, April 8  at the Asolo Repertory Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. It's $5 for the general public, free, for Asolo Rep donors and Guild members. For reservations, call 941-351-9000.
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REVIEW: Asolo Rep excels at selling 'Glengarry Glen Ross' in Sarasota

Jay Patterson (Dave Moss) and David Breibarth (George Aaronow) in the Asolo Repertory Theatre's production of "Glengarry Glen Ross."

Read more here: http://heraldbuzzworthy.blogspot.com/#storylink=cpy

David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning “Glengarry Glen Ross,” a mystery featuring scumbag real estate salesmen that doubles as an adroit examination of capitalism, gets my votes for the greatest play of the past 30 years. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get right. All those famed pauses and clipped sentences; the fusillade of foul language; the staccato, brilliance of the musical “Mamet speak;” it can fall apart at any moment and leave the audience at an utter loss.

The angular rhythms of the language have prompted countless pundits to liken the master contemporary playwright’s dialogue to jazz, but that’s misleading because it infers that there’s room for improvisation. For “Glengarry Glen Ross” to succeed, the director and actors must, among other things, be completely in sync with the text and all the deftly placed empty spaces that make the language come alive. One wrong pause can lead to catastrophe.

There’s another major issue when putting on “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Most people in the audience have already seen it staged and viewed the outstanding 1992 movie of the same name. Many, like me, have probably also read the play, hoping to gain greater insight to Mamet’s genius or just for the sheer joy of it. It’s an amazing read.

But the movie element presents the biggest problem for the men on stage. Although the awesome opening scene starring Alec Baldwin as Blake only appears in the film, the rest of the movie is pretty much the play opened up. It features killer performances by the likes of Jack Lemmon (Shelley “The Machine” Levene), Al Pacino (Ricky Roma), Ed Harris (Dave Moss), Alan Arkin (George Aaronow) and Kevin Spacey (John Williamson). These are performances not easily erased from one’s memory, especially, if, like me, you practically have the movie memorized.

Shelly Levene (Douglas Jones) attempts to bribe John Willimason (Jesse Dornan).

Despite all these challenges, the Asolo Repertory Theatre’s production of “Glengarry Glen Ross” is a tour de force that left me completely satisfied, almost giddy, following the opening night performance Friday. The first act’s 35 minutes flew by like a brilliant blur while the second and final 45 minutes were as gripping as anything I’ve seen staged. For me, at least, theater really doesn’t get any more entertaining.

Credit Michael Edwards, the Sarasota company producing artistic director, for choosing to stage this play from 1983 that’s still deemed controversial because of all the naughty words. Also applaud Edwards for picking an exceptional director in Carl Forsman (Dean of the University of North Carolina School for the Arts, he directed the Asolo's acclaimed production of "A Few Good Men" during the 2006-2007 season) and an equally talented cast consisting of guest artists and Asolo Rep regulars.

All seven men on stage were commendable with Jay Patterson, a New York stage, television, and film veteran who appeared in the 2005 Broadway version of "Glengarry Glen Ross," completely owning Moss, the driving force behind the office drama. David Breitbarth, in his 17th season with Asolo Rep, again astounded with his dexterity as Aaronow, the salesman with pitifully low self-esteem while Douglas Jones, in his 27th season with Asolo Rep, proved just as agile as aging, formerly successful salesman Levene.

“Glengarry Glen Ross,” one of the most important plays of our generation, has received a must-see production by the Asolo Rep.

Asolo Rep brings edgy Broadway hit 'Glengarry Glen Ross' to Sarasota: interviews 

Details: Jan. 11-Feb. 28, Mertz Theatre in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets: $20-$72. Information: 941-351-8000 or www.asolorep.org. 

—Photos by Cliff Roles provided by Asolo Rep

Read more here: http://heraldbuzzworthy.blogspot.com/#storylink=cpy

REVIEW: Asolo Rep’s ‘1776’ musical in Sarasota is a patriotic powerhouse

Thomas Jefferson (left), Benjamin Franklin and John Adams in "1776" at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota.

Despite what the show might suggest, Asolo Rep’s season opener about getting all those famous signatures on the Declaration of Independence amounts to more than a history lesson peppered with songs.

It’s a patriotic powerhouse.

Entertaining and enlightening, “1776" celebrates all that's right about our country's core values without ever smacking of jingoism or mushy nationalism. 

Of course, those familiar with Frank Galati should expect no less.

Most famous for his Tony Award-winning adaptation of "The Grapes of Wrath,” he directed last season's splendid Asolo Rep opener "My Fair Lady," and the season before helmed the outstanding "Twelve Angry Men."

With “1776,” Galati has chosen the Sherman Edwards (music, lyrics) and Peter Stone (book) show that opened on Broadway in 1969 and won several Tonys including Best Musical but rarely gets performed — probably due to a cast of 26 and all those expensive costumes.

Galati’s Founding Fathers, looking fabulous in frock-coats and lace, are a superb bunch of actors.

Bernie Yvon, who appeared on Broadway in "Ragtime" as Harry Houdini, makes John Adams as endearing as he is annoying. He's the ultimate agitator with a heart of gold, and the star of the show.

But Adams would've never succeeded in leading the Second Continental Congress without the sage advice of Benjamin Franklin (played by Andrew Boyer, another Broadway veteran who was Doolittle in last season's "My Fair Lady").

The potent prose of Thomas Jefferson (Brandon Dahlquist, a rising Chicago star making his Asolo debut), is another key ingredient.

The most stirring song of the show goes to Jarrod Zimmerman who, as Edward Rutledge from South Carolina, sings the stinging “Molasses to Rum.” It shames all members of Congress with its zingers about the triangular trading system.

“Shall we dance to the sound of the profitable pound?” Rutledge snarls. “In molasses and rum and slaves?”

Abigail Adams (Abby Mueller) and Martha Jefferson (Andrea Prestinario) make welcome appearances but this show boils down to our Founding Fathers.

More specifically, their verbal sparring and ability to compromise.

And then there's the suspense, especially during the end of the second and final act, which is not easily accomplished with shows like this or, say, "Titanic."

It was a thrilling and emotive experience that made me forget all the partisan ugliness of the recent election season and take pride in being an American.

Granted, “1776” is basically a bunch of white dudes in wigs bickering, singing and sitting around an assembly hall.

But it’s brilliant all the same and altogether amusing.

Details: Nov. 16-Dec. 22, Mertz Theatre in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets: $26-$75. Information: 941-351-8000 or www.asolorep.org.

Asolo Repertory Theater opens season with patriotic musical '1776' in Sarasota

—Photos courtesy of Asolo Rep by Jaun Davila

Asolo Rep's '1776' in Sarasota directed by Tony winner Frank Galati: interview

From left, Bernie Yvon as John Adams, Andrew Boyer as Ben Franklin, Brandon Dalhquist as Thomas Jefferson and Andrea Prestinario as Martha Jefferson in the Asolo Repertory Theatre's production of "1776." Photos by SCOTT BRAUN/PUBLICITY PHOTO

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/11/11/4272613/asolo-repertory-theater-opens.html#storylink=cpy

Had the candidates been singing and dancing, election season would've been so much more entertaining.

Fortunately, our founding fathers can all carry a tune.

At least the ones who will be on stage in the Asolo Repertory Theatre's season opener "1776."

In light of all the partisan madness leading up to Election Day, there probably couldn't be a better time than now for a witty, patriotic comedy.

Aiming to please attendees of all political persuasions, the Sarasota company considered one of the best in the South presents a musical inspired by the events surrounding the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

While the founding fathers are often depicted as a unified group, at least beginning with our earliest elementary school lessons, "1776" shows the behind-the-scenes machinations were wrought with conflict and peril.

'1776' choreographer Peter Amster (left) and his partner Frank Galati at Asolo Rep media event. PHOTO BY WADE TATANGELO

Read more here: http://heraldbuzzworthy.blogspot.com/2012/10/asolo-rep-previews-1776-with.html#storylink=cpy

Frank Galati, most famous for his Tony Award-winning adaptation of "The Grapes of Wrath (Best Play, Best Direction of a Play), directed last season's Asolo Rep opener "My Fair lady" and the season before helmed "Twelve

Angry Men" in Sarasota. Both productions were critically-acclaimed audience favorites.

He returns to Asolo Rep to direct "1776," which opens Friday and runs through Dec. 22.

"I think the musical presents a very vivid account of how dangerous the situation was in Philadelphia in 1776 and how the future of the nation and its birth was hanging by a thread," Galati said. "It's so fascinating how close they came to not doing it. If not for Abigail Adams, her husband might have lost heart."

Read more.

WATCH: Asolo Rep previews '1776' with performance in Sarasota 

WATCH (UPDATED 10/31): Asolo Rep previews '1776' with performance in Sarasota

UPDATED 10/31: Asolo Repertory Theatre previews season opener '1776' in Sarasota: video 

Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota presented the cast of '1776' on Wednesday.

The Asolo Repertory Theatre offered a rousing preview performance from its season opening musical "1776"  on Tuesday during a media event on the mezzanine of the Mertz Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts in Sarasota.

Peter Amster (left) and his partner Frank Galati listen to Michael Edwards introduce them.

Speeches were given by "1776" creatives including Tony Award-winner Frank Galati (director),  Peter Amster (choreographer) and Michael Rice (music director). Michael Edwards, producing artistic director at Asolo Rep, served as master of ceremonies and introduced the entire cast of the show.

Michael Edwards shows off the Asolo Rep's reproduction of the Declaration of Independence

But the real excitement came when Bernie Yvon, the actor playing John Adams, started singing the  musical's exuberant opening number "Sit Down, John," along with the Congress members and live keyboard accompaniment (see video below). 

Set model for '1776.'

Asolo Repertory Theatre kicks off their five-season American Character Project with "1776," a musical about the birth of our nation and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Previews start Nov. 13, opening night is Nov. 16 and closing night is Dec. 22. The show originally opened on Broadway in 1969 and won the Tony Award for Best Musical.


—Top photo (from left): Bernie Yvon as John Adams, Andrew Boyer as Ben Franklin, Brandon Dahlquist as Thomas Jefferson and Andrea Prestinario as Martha Jefferson. Photo by Scott Braun/Asolo Rep. 

—All other photos and video by Wade Tatangelo/Bradenton Herald.

REVIEW: ‘Love, Loss, and What I Wore,’ Asolo Repertory Theatre, Sarasota

Mary Testa, Loretta Swit, Roni Geva, Donna McKechnie and Rosalyn Coleman (from left) in the Asolo Repertory Theatre's production of 'Love, Loss, and What I Wore.'

Fashion can be fun.

And traumatic.

That’s what we learn from “Love, Loss, and What I Wore,” which opened Friday at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota.

The evening of monologues had the audience laughing on numerous occasions during the 94-minute production.

Nora Ephron, the screenwriter of such films as “Silkwood,” “When Harry Met Sally…” and “Sleepless in Seattle,” coauthored the play with her sister Delia Ephron. It’s based on the best-selling book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman.

It’s a nice match of mostly witty vignettes, 28 total, about clothes-associated memories delivered by five women, all dressed in black, turning pages and seated in front of music stands.

But these aren’t just any five women.

Loretta Swit, the actress who won two Emmys for playing Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on "M*A*S*H," has the only really definable role of the narrator, Gingy.

Tony Award winner Donna McKechnie (the original Cassie in "A Chorus Line"), two-time Tony nominee Mary Testa, "Love, Loss, and What I Wore" regular Roni Geva, and Rosalyn Coleman (who appears in the recent Zach Galifianakis film "It's Kind of a Funny Story") round out the cast.

Loretta Swit and Donna McKechnie talk 'Love, Loss, and What I Wore': interviews

Everyone except Coleman had previously made an appearance in “Love, Loss, and What I Wore,” which has been playing off-Broadway since 2009.

On Friday, each woman did a solid job of selling the stories, with Testa taking the prize for best performance with Geva placing a close second.

Those two just brought an extra energy to the anecdotes that increased the believability factor.

When Testa talks about the sorrows of not being able to fit into a certain size, it’s like hearing a salon confessional.

Subject matter includes dressing room drama, bad bras, prom problems and purchase struggles that tie in with mommy issues.

The material bounds from hilarious to sad, at times burdened by predictable punch lines and a certain maudlin banality.

On balance, though, it’s entertaining if not as insightful as the play would like to be.

Details: Through July 15, Asolo Repertory’s Mertz Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets: $20-$67. Information: 941-351-8000 or http://www.asolorep.org/.

—Photo provided by Asolo Repertory Theatre.

Top quotes from Tony Awards

The Tony Awards would've been a bit more fun, for me, at least, to see the Asolo Rep alumni who were members of the "Bonnie & Clyde" team pick up trophies.

But host Neil Patrick Harris proved highly entertaining again, as did the winners.

Even I if had never met/interviewed any of them recently in Sarasota.

Many gave great speeches worth quoting.

Here's my favorite, from Mike Nichols, accepting the award for best director of a play for "Death of a Salesman."

There's not a person in this theater that doesn't know what it is to be a salesman - to be out there in the blue riding on a smile and a shoeshine. As we know, a salesman has got to dream. It goes with the territory.

Read more "Memorable quotes from the Tony Awards."

—Photo: Mike Nichols accepts the Tony for Best Direction of a Play during the 66th Annual Tony Awards at the Beacon Theater in New York, June 10, 2012. Nichols won for his work in "Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman." / Sara Krulwich/AP

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/06/11/4072491/memorable-quotes-from-the-tony.html#storylink=cpy

 

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/06/11/4072491/memorable-quotes-from-the-tony.html#storylink=cpy

'Bonnie & Clyde' stars Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan earn Tony Award nominations

Local theatergoers should want to watch the Tony Awards more than ever this year now that a slew of former Asolo Rep creative and cast members have earned nominations.

Listed below are the nominees who have joined the professional theater company in the past for productions in Sarasota.


The Tony Awards will be broadcast 8 p.m. June 10  on CBS.

Laura Osnes: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Broadway’s "Bonnie & Clyde." Appeared in "Bonnie & Clyde" at Asolo Rep in 2010


Jeremy Jordan: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Broadway's "Newsies." Appeared in "Bonnie & Clyde" at Asolo Rep in 2010.

Judy Kaye: Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for "Nice Work If You Can Get It." Appeared in "Souvenir" at Asolo Rep in 2009.


Tobin Ost: Best Scenic Design of a Musical for "Newsies." Scenic and Costume Designer of "Bonnie & Clyde" at Asolo Rep in 2010.


Jeff Calhoun: Best Direction of a Musical for Newsies. Director of "Bonnie & Clyde" at Asolo Rep in 2010 and director of the 2013 production of Noah Racey’s "Pulse, A New Dance Musical." 

'Bonnie & Clyde' on Broadway in December 

Asolo Rep Theatre

—FILE PHOTO COURTESY OF ASOLO/FRANK ATURA Bonnie (Laura Osnes) and Clyde (Jeremy Jordan)