Meet the cast of 'My Fair Lady' and its Tony Award-winning director at Asolo Rep in Sarasota

Andrea Prestinario sings the "My Fair Lady" classic "I Could Have Danced All Night" at the Asolo Rep media luncheon today in Sarasota.

The Asolo Repertory Theatre's production of "My Fair Lady" doesn't open the company's 53rd season until next month but its star already earned a nice round of applause today in Sarasota.

Producing Artistic Director Michael Edwards had all the cast and creatives on hand for a media luncheon held on the mezzanine of the Mertz Theatre.

The big cheers came after Andrea Prestinario, accompanied by a lone keyboardist, belted out a pitch perfection rendition of the classic musical's iconic number "I Could Have Danced All Night."

From left: Jeff Parker, Andrea Prestinario and Michael Edwards

"My Fair Lady," which opens Nov. 18 and runs through Dec. 23, features Prestinario as Eliza Doolittle, a role that earned her rave reviews in the Chicago Tribune and other publications during a recent "My Fair Lady" production at The Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Ill.

Jeff Parker, who like Prestinario is based in Chicago, plays Professor Henry Higgins. Making his Asolo Rep debut, Parker is a Jeff Award nominee whose extensive performance list includes Goodman Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Manhattan Theatre Club and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

Based on George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, "My Fair Lady" also marks the return of Tony Award-winning director (and now Sarasota resident) Frank Galati. His credits include last season’s hit production of Asolo Rep's "Twelve Angry Men."

Frank Galati

Galati won two Tony Awards, including Best Direction of a Play, in 1990 for "Grapes of Wrath." In 1998, he staged "Ragtime" and was nominated again for a Tony Award in the Best Direction of a Musical category. Galati also received an Academy Award-nomination as coauthor on the screenplay for the 1988 dramatic romance "The Accidental Tourist," which won Geena Davis an Oscar.

Edwards explained how he wanted to do "My Fair Lady" since he came to Asolo Rep five years ago but needed Galati to direct as to ensure the production would not be "musty."

Galati described "My Fair Lady" as a "biting satire ... about the power of language" and addressed the "serious material underneath this extraordinary musical comedy."

Edwards returned to the podium and, with a sly smile, reminded the journalists representing publications across Southwest Florida that "My Fair Lady" would also be "funny and sexy."

Laughter filled the mezzanine. 

During the brief Q&A section that followed, Doug Peck, the music director/keyboardist, explained the two piano score chosen by Asolo Rep would make the show more intimate because the actors wouldn't have to project over a 40-musician orchestra.

Andrea Prestinario as Eliza Doolittle during a recent "My Fair Lady" 

production at The Paramount Theatre

"My Fair Lady"
Presented in the Harold E. and Esther M. Mertz Theatre
November 18, 2011- December 23, 2011
Preview performances November 15-17
Click for ticket info


Creative Team:
Frank Galati Director
Joshua Rhodes Choreographer
Doug Peck Music Director/Keyboards
Ian Weinberger Assistant Music Director/Keyboards 2
Russell Metheny Set Design
Mara Blumenfeld Costume Design
James D. Sale Lighting Design
Kevin Kennedy Sound Design
Michelle Hart Wig & Hair Design
Patricia Delorey Voice & Dialect
Kelly Borgia* Stage Manager
Michael Morales* Assistant Stage Manager
Nia Sciarretta Stage Management Intern
Ryan Bible Student Lighting Assistant
Lauryn E. Sasso Resident Dramaturg

Cast (in alphabetical order):
Andrew Boyer* Alfred Dolittle
Colleen Cherry 2nd Maid/Ensemble
Sean Effinger-Dean Freddy Eynsford-Hill
Joel Hatch* Col. Pickering
Heather Kopp* 3rd Maid/Ensemble
Carol Kuykendall* 4th Maid/Ensemble
Rob Lindley* 1st Cockney/Ensemble
Robert David May 4th Cockney/Ensemble
Christine Mild* 1st Maid/Ensemble
Annie Morrison* Mrs. Eynsford-Hill
Thomas Mothershed Harry/Ensemble
Jeff Parker* Henry Higgins
Andrea Prestinario* Eliza Doolittle
Peggy Roeder* Mrs. Higgins
Cliff Roles Ensemble
Daniel Schwab 2nd Cockney/Ensemble
Penny Slusher* Mrs. Pearce
Barry Tarallo* Jamie/Ensemble
Bryan Torfeh* Zoltan Karpathy/3rd Cockney
*denotes member of Actor’s Equity

—All photos by Wade Tatangelo

Lucinda Williams at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg, 10/19/11: Review and setlist

Lucinda Williams Oct. 19 at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg. Photo provided by Tracy May.

Lucinda Williams made it worth the wait.

When she returned to Jannus Live for her first Tampa Bay performance since 2004 the alt-country queen seemed to determined to make every song an emotional wallop.

As a cool, welcome breeze made its way through downtown St. Petersburg and blew back Williams’ blonde bangs she sang with measured passion, giving each compelling lyric ample care, as if reliving the moment of its creation.

The multiple Grammy winner considered one of the greatest songwriters alive showed she’s also an outstanding performer.

Williams played for about two hours, judiciously choosing songs ranging from her 1988 self-titled masterpiece to her excellent new album “Blessed.” A freshly penned unreleased song and three choice covers made for wonderful surprises. Blake Mills (electric guitar), David Sutton (bass) and Butch Norton (drums) provided spot-on accompaniment.

Dressed in black jeans and a dark top, Williams wielded an acoustic guitar and opened the show with a barn burning rendition of “Can’t Let Go,” off her 1998 breakthrough album “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.”

She then went back a decade for the sweet ode to having good times with her brother in the “Crescent City.” She returned to “Car Wheels” several times to start the show before delivering a chilling version of the album's most powerful number, “Drunken Angel.”

The song is a tribute to Austin-based singer/songwriter Blaze Foley. He was shot to death after a barroom brawl. Merle Haggard and others would later record Foley’s ballad “If I Could Only Fly.”

Williams sang each line like she was offering a prayer to her old pal:

“Blood spilled out from the hole in your heart / Over the strings of your guitar / The worn down places in the wood / That once made you feel so good.”

Williams then said, “Here’s a new song that will be on my next album.” A country rocker with a dollop of funk “Stowaway in Your Heart,” is a beautiful love letter to manager/husband Tom Overby goosed by a killer slide solo by Mills, a young L.A. artist who has a huge future ahead of him.

The lyric stand came in handy on “Stowaway” and a couple others, but did nothing to hinder her performance. I’ll take the cheat sheet and know that every word is right, thank you very much. It’s not like Williams has ever been known to dance around on stage.

Next came “Side of the Road.” It first appeared on Williams’ self-titled album and remains her finest lyric. The song puts you inside the head of a person filled with passion for another but unable to commit. It’s a common enough theme but never written about with such a smart metaphor marked by rich details; or sung with such a tone of resigned melancholy. Williams performed it solo Wednesday, each word a tender reminder that nothing in life or love is black and white:

“If I stray too far from you, don’t go and try and find me / It doesn’t mean I don’t love you, it doesn’t mean I won’t come back and stay beside you / It only means I need a little time / To follow that unbroken line.”

Williams continued in catharsis mode with the heartbreaking “Blue” before letting the band rip while singing her other hubby song “Born to Be Loved.” She ditched the guitar and clutched the mic with both hands, swaying softly in time as her fellow musicians took turns soloing.

Williams then unveiled her gripping rendition of Bob Dylan’s mortality hymn “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven,” which she recorded for an upcoming Amnesty International benefit album.

The band jammed hard and Williams sung with a sexy snarl on “Steal Your Love,” “Buttercup,” and then spit out the words to her classic kiss-off “Changed the Locks.”

“Thank you for coming out during these hellacious economic times and spending your hard-earned money,” she said as the crowd showered her with applause. Williams then dedicated the blues stomp “Joy” to the “99 percenters” holding the spread-the-wealth “occupy” protests nationwide.

After performing the title track to her new album she left the stage briefly and then returned with a faithful rendition of the early Allman Brothers Band gem “Not My Cross to Bear” before leading the crowd in a spirited sing along of the Buffalo Springfield protest anthem “For What It’s Worth.”

“God bless, power to the people, keep up the fight,” Williams said before exiting.

Here’s to hoping it doesn’t take another seven years for her to visit Tampa Bay. Williams holds a discerning listener rapt like few other performers.

Setlist:

1. “Can’t Let Go” (written by Randy Weeks)
2. “Crescent City”
3. “Right in Time”
4. “Well Well Well”
5. “Concrete and Barbed Wire”
6. “Drunken Angel” (see video shot at Jannus below)
7. “Stowaway In Your Heart”
8. “Side of the Road”
9. “Blue” (see video shot at Jannus below)
10. “Born to Be Loved”
11. “Tryin’ To Get to Heaven” (Bob Dylan cover)
12. “Steal Your Love”
13. “Buttercup”
14. “Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings”
15. “Essence”
16. “Righteously”
17. “Changed the Locks”
18. “Joy”
19. “Honey Bee”
20. “Blessed”
21. “Not My Cross to Bear” (Allman Brothers Band cover)
22. “For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield cover)

Bill Clinton headed to Tampa: Lady Gaga incident from Saturday would make great topic for the talk

Former President Bill Clinton, who just had a big night out with Lady Gaga, will bring his "Embracing our Common Humanity" tour to the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa on March 21

"President Clinton’s public speeches describe the challenge of globalization, emphasize our growing interdependence, and point the way toward a common future based on shared goals and values," reads the publicity release.

No word on whether he'll reflect on his big bash Saturday at a packed Hollywood Bowl.

The concert, dubbed “A Decade of Difference,” doubled as Bill Clinton’s 65th birthday party.

“I just love you and your hot wife,” Lady Gaga said, mere feet from Bill Clinton, his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea," reads the Los Angeles Times report. "Gaga described her life as a screwy embodiment of the American dream in eyebrow-raising language, and she praised the Clintons by promising that 'tonight, I thought we’d all get caught up in a little Bill romance.'"

Gaga then performed her hit “Bad Romance.”

Details:  7 p.m. March 21, 2012, at 7 p.m., Carol Morsani Hall, Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N W.C. MacInnes Place, Tampa. Tickets: $65-$185; $325 (includes handshake, photo with the former president). Information: www.strazcenter.org or (813) 222-1000.

Photo: Former President Clinton takes the stage during the "Decade of Difference" concert Saturday at the Hollywood Bowl. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times.

UPDATED 10/17: PHOTOS/VIDEOS: ArtSlam in Bradenton

UPDATED 10/17: "ArtSlam in 3 Minutes"

Find yourself!

Nearly a thousand photos/videos from ArtSlam, the Realize Bradenton event that took place Saturday on Old Main Street.

All photos/video  courtesy of Realize Bradenton by Mitch Jackson.

Read my interviews with organizers from Realize Bradenton.

From Herald reporter Richard Dymond's story "ArtSlam Rocks Downtown Bradenton"

It seemed everyone had their favorite ArtSlam team Saturday.

“You’ve got to go see the kids drawing in chalk,” said ArtSlam board member Michele Redwine, referring to “Little Chalkers,” the brainchild of Denise Kowal, producer of the Sarasota Chalk Festival.

Little Chalkers was one of 15 teams that strutted its stuff from 3 to 11 p.m. on Old Main Street in downtown Bradenton, a volcanic blast of art that drew about 500 fans and more than 100 artists.

Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/2011/10/16/3571527/artslam-rocks-downtown-bradenton.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz1azap33If

Lucinda Williams dishes on kiss from Bob Dylan

Nice to see people are reading my Lucinda Williams interview advancing her Oct. 19 show at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg (click below for details).  It's the most read story today at Bradenton.com:

Lucinda Williams on an amazing career that started with a kiss from Bob Dylan

By WADE TATANGELO
wtatangelo@bradenton.com

Lucinda Williams’ uncanny ability to create songs that are at once poetic and emotive has won her a loyal following and an enormous amount of praise.

One of the greatest lyricists alive, she’s worshipped by aspiring singer/songwriters and respected by the best in the business.

For more than two decades, Williams has excelled at folk-rock tunes about falling in love, making love and having good times in the Crescent City.

But her most memorable performances are those songs that richly detail doomed relationships, loneliness, little rock stars battling demons or a small town’s reaction to a suicide.

Few vocalists can deliver a love-sick lament as convincingly as Williams, who sings in a singular, unhurried manner, her Southern drawl flowing through the speakers like teardrops.

She can also spit acid in the face of a man who has done her wrong. Venom courses through her voice as she tells an ex she has changed the locks. And the F-bomb has perhaps never been put to better use in popular music than when Williams addresses the lover who promised forever and split after just those three days.

A multiple Grammy winner named “America’s best songwriter” by Time magazine in 2002, Williams’ material has been covered by Tom Petty, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, John Mellencamp and numerous others.

So it came as no surprise when she received the Lifetime Achievement award for songwriting at the Americana Music Association’s 10th Annual Honors and Awards show this month in Nashville. Although honored by the accolade, Williams wasn’t looking forward to accepting it.

“I’m all nervous,” she said during a phone interview with the Herald just before the ceremony. “I have to give a big speech and I don’t know what to say other than ‘thanks everybody.’”

Songwriter supreme Lucinda Williams worried about a silly acceptance speech?
“I know, right?” she said with a laugh.

Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/2011/10/16/v-print/3570168/lucinda-williams-dishes-on-kiss.html#ixzz1ayfb6vpH

Photo: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Lucinda Williams provides guest vocals on killer cover of Dylan gem:

'Twilight' alum Cam Gigandet added to Anna Paquin, Drea de Matteo film 'Free Ride' being shot in Sarasota

Another star is headed to Sarasota.

When I broke the news earlier this week that the Anna Paquin, Drea de Matteo movie "Free Ride" would start shooting in Sarasota later this month, writer/director Shana Sosin hesitated when I asked her if there was anyone else she could confirm for the cast.

Guess she had to save something for Variety, which broke the news that "Twilight" bad guy Cam Gigandet will play Paquin's on screen love interest.

"Pic marks the first production for Paquin's production company SCAMP, whose other principals include Cerise Hallam Larkin, Mark Larkin and Paquin's husband and "True Blood" co-star Stephen Moyer," Variety reports.

The same story also gives Oct. 24 as date the "Free Ride" shoot will start.

—Cam Gigandet in "Priest" photo courtesy of Los Angeles Times

UPDATED 10/16: Disney dissing 'Disenchanted' at Golden Apple in Sarasota is a must-see musical

UPDATED 10/16: Read my review "‘Disenchanted’ is a must-see musical"

Jennifer Baker plays Snow White in the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre production of "Disenchanted." Photo by Paul Videla.

The Golden Apple Dinner Theatre's staging of "Disenchanted" is a laugh-out-loud joy goosed with plenty of snark, wit and a cleverly delivered message of female empowerment.
 
Created by former Walt Disney World Resort employees Dennis Giacino (book, music and lyrics) and Fiely Matias (additional lyrics), the show gives fun, hilarious voices to the princesses locked up in the Mouse House.

Smartly directed by Kyle Ennis Turoff, the Golden Apple production stars Jennifer Baker (Snow White), Mari Bryan (Cinderella) and Alex Torres (Sleeping Beauty).

“Disenchanted” also features Dianne Dawson (Belle), Jenn Abreu (Mulan), Aileen Suseck (Pocahontas), Hilary Kraus (Little Mermaid), Helen Holliday (Rapunzel), Ariel Blue (Frog Princess) and Roberta MacDonald (Secondary Princess/Princess Badroulbadour/Esmeralda/Bitter Pixie)

Each woman shines in her respective role and in MacDonald's case, multiple roles.

My full review of "Disenchanted" will run Sunday and can be found at http://www.bradenton.com/news/columnists/wade_tatangelo/

It will run in print on front of A&E.

Read my interview with Giacino, Matias, Turoff and cast members:

"‘Disenchanted’ gives princesses fresh voices"

"Disenchanted" runs through Oct. 23.