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.

"An Iliad" worth driving to Tampa for

   A lot of people were turned away when Gorilla Theatre's "An Iliad" played at Home Resource in Sarasota recently. No doubt a lot of other people heard how special it was and wished they had had tickets.
   There's still a chance to see it. The production, directed by the great Ami Sallee Corley, has moved to the Springs Theater in Tampa for four shows this weekend. It's only about 90 minutes long, but for people who love smart, singular theater it's more than worth the drive from the Bradenton area.

Ragan in "An Iliad"

   The one-person show is closer to storytelling than to traditional theater. Actor Brendan Ragan, an FSU/Asolo Conservatory graduate is riveting as he condenses Homer's epic poem into into a fast-paced exciting and emotional tale of war and pride, of heroism and frailty.
   He's dressed in modern garb, and serves mostly as a a narrator, occasionally slipping into character as a god or mortal.
   The language is modern, though not without its own kind of poetry, and Ragan, along with writers Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare (who directed and performed, respectively, the original New York production) make the ancient story immediate and contemporary, without sacrificing its epic ambiance.
   Gorilla Theatre is one of Tampa's oldest and best professional theater companies. It went on a two-year hiatus after the death of its founder, Aubrey Hampton, led to the company losing its theater.
   "An Iliad" is its first show since that hiatus. Gorilla has performed it at several locations, and it's winding up at
the Springs, a landmark movie theater from the 1920s
that is now a recording studio where artists as diverse as Jenifer Lopez, Joshua Bell and Robert Smith of the Cure have recorded. It's a beautiful and atmospheric place to see a play, with old brick walls, very high ceilings and perfect acoustics.
   The Springs is at 8029 N. Nebraska Ave. in Tampa. The remaining shows are at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets will run you $10-$25. Call 813-879-2914 or go to www.gorillatheatre.com.
 

TONIGHT: Pay what you can at Asolo Conservatory, Sarasota

Brian Nemiroff, Zlatomir Moldovanski and Ben Williamson in FSU/Asolo Conservatory's production of "The Aliens." Photo by Frank Atura provided.

Pay What You Can Night: For today's 8 p.m. (Wed. Jan. 2), preview performance of "The Aliens," audience members pay whatever they can afford for their ticket. These special tickets are available on day of performance only.

FSU/Asolo Conservatory brings Annie Baker’s acclaimed dramedy ‘The Aliens’ to Sarasota

Two outcasts, both about 30 years old, befriend a high school-age coffee shop barista in a small Vermont town in Annie Baker’s acclaimed play “The Aliens,” the latest production by The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training.

The dramedy has been a critical darling and crowd-pleaser since it premiered off-Broadway in 2010.

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory production opening Jan. 3 is directed by Brendon Fox, the conservatory’s second-year acting teacher who directed last year’s engaging comedy drama “Lobby Hero.”

“It’s not an accident the play takes place just before, after and during the Fourth of July,” Fox said. “It’s reflecting on what America means to these characters and very clever of Annie Baker to pin it to that week where they are questioning everything about how the world really works.”

Details: Jan. 3-20, 2013, Cook Theatre in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets: $29 (evenings); $28 (matinees). Information: 941-351-8000 or www.asolorep.org.

REVIEW: 'Brothers Karamazov' a struggle on stage

From left: Jacob Cooper (Alyosha),
Brendan Ragan (Dmitry) and Jesse Dornan (Ivan) 

Many books make for great plays. Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s more-lauded-than-read masterpiece “The Brothers Karamazov” isn’t one of them. At least not judging by the FSU/Asolo Conservatory’s staging Wednesday of Roland Reed’s script directed by Andrei Malaev-Babel, a Conservatory faculty member.

The epic novel about a dirty old man and his three disparate sons has never been considered an easy read. Dostoyevsky’s obsession with religious faith and how doubt influences one’s morality permeates the book and play, which reportedly uses only text penned by the original author.

These heavy themes loom large over the small Cook Theatre stage, crushing any momentum that might be generated by the convoluted plot.

The acting by the entire, 12-person class of second year students can’t be faulted. It ranges from solid to superb. If the play weren’t so long — three hours including a single 15-minute intermission — I would recommend attending solely to watch Kelly Campbell’s gripping performance as the play’s Jezebel, Grushenka Agrafena.

Brendan Ragan (Dmitry) Jacob Cooper (Alyosha) and Jesse Dornan (Ivan) are also commendable as the Karamazov brothers, as is Francisco Rodriguez, who plays their drunk dad as well as a police captain.

But the 150 minutes of stage time is too full of characters trading monologues rather than dialogue to engage. The conflicts feel forced because the characters are made to come across as vessels for Dostoyevsky’s musings rather than persons in dire positions.

The costumes by Maxey Whitehead and Kristen Lynne Blossom are excellent but the sparse staging did each scene a disservice. There’s essentially no stage scenery. Props basically consisted of black stools, wine bottles and glasses.

That’s a lot to ask of a theatergoer but it might have worked if 14 audience members were not seated in a semi-circle around where the action took place. One couldn’t help but watch several squirm as a dream sequence dragged or notice that three of the chairs were empty after intermission. Incidentally, the two people seated next to me also didn’t return for the second and final act.

After already investing 80 minutes (and price of admission) they should’ve stayed. The second act flows much better than the first with a strong court scene conclusion. But it was not enough to overcome the many obstacles presented by the play, which has moments of brilliance too often undermined by a snake-like story line and tiresome pontificating.

IF YOU GO

What: Asolo Conservatory presents “The Brothers Karamazov”

When: Nov. 1-20

Where: Cook Theatre in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

Tickets: $28/$27 matinees/students receive 50 percent off with advance ticket purchase

Information: 941-351-8000 or www.asolorep.org

'Reasons to be Pretty' by Neil Labute opens at FSU/Asolo Conservatory

FRANK ATURA/PUBLICITY PHOTO Gretchen Porro and Tony Stopperan star in the FSU/Asolo Conservatory’s production of “Reasons to be Pretty.”

Neil LaBute ("In the Company of Men," "The Shape of Things") toned down the misanthropy in "Reasons to be Pretty," his first play to hit Broadway, where it ran last year and earned three Tony Award nominations including Best Play.

The Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory's production opens Jan. 4 at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts' Cook Theatre in Sarasota.

I recently sat down with director Barbara Redmond and leading lady Gretchen Porro (Steph) to discuss their staging of the acclaimed comic drama for this feature story running in today's Weekend section.