Asolo Repertory Theatre announces 2015-2016 season

The Mertz Theatre inside the FSU Performing Arts Center was filled with delightful anticipation as Michael Donald Edwards, producing artistic director of the Asolo Repertory Theatre, took to the podium to announce the regional theater's next season of musicals and plays. This year has been a creative and financial boon for Asolo Rep. According to Edwards, not only did this year's season include the highest attended artistic event in the history of Sarasota (an estimated 24,000 people attended the theater's production of "South Pacific" last fall), but it's set to become the Asolo Repertory Theatre's highest grossing season to date. 

"We have an increased buzz and real feeling of riding a wave," says Edwards addressing a nearly packed house ready to hear next season's slate of shows. "These are stories we love and we're putting all of ourselves into them."

The 2015-2016 season looks up to the task with three musicals, a regional premiere, three well-known properties along with the world premiere of the musical "Jospehine" announced earlier this month. "I feel this whole next season really shows us hitting our stride in presenting bold and adventurous work," says Edwards.

Asolo Rep's 2015-2016 productions and projected dates are as follows:

"West Side Story" | Nov. 13 - Dec. 27 (previews begin Nov. 10)

Based on a conception of Jerome Robbins; book by Arthur Laurents; music by Leonard Bernstein; lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; directed and reproduced choreography by Joey McKneely

"All The Way" | Jan. 5 - April 9, 2016

By Robert Schenkkan; directed by Emily Sophia Knapp; based on the original production directed by Bill Rauch

"Living on Love" | Jan. 13 - Feb. 25, 2016

By Joe DiPietro; based on the play "Peccadillo" by Garson Kanin; directed by Peter Amster

"Ah, Wilderness!" | Jan. 22 - April 10, 2016

By Eugene O'Neill; directed by Greg Leaming

"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" | March 11 - April 17, 2016

By Todd Kreidler; based on the screenplay by William Rose; directed by Frank Galati

"Disgraced" | April 1 to 24, 2016

By Ayad Akhtar; directed by Michael Donald Edwards

"Josephine" | May 6 - May 29, 2016 (previews begin April 27)

Book by Ellen Weston and Mark Hampton; music by Stephen Dorff; lyrics by John Bettis; based on a story by Ken Waissman; directed and choreographed by Joey McKneely

Closing the season is a still unnamed musical that will be running from June 3 - 26, 2016.

In addition to the main repertory season, the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training announced its respective season for its second-year conservatory MFA students. The student productions in the Cook Theatre include:

"The Real Inspector Hound" | Nov. 3 - 22

By Tom Stoppard; directed by Greg Leaming

"The Liar" | Dec. 29 - Jan. 17, 2016

By David Ives; adapted from the comedy by Pierre Corneille

"Macbeth" | Feb. 23 - March 13, 2016

By William Shakespeare; directed by Jonathan Epstein

"Nora" | April 12 - May 1, 2016

Adapted from Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" by Ingmar Bergman; directed by Andrei Malaev-Babel

Combined the season announcement, the theater announced a time change for the performance times during the week. In an effort to respond to market research and consumer comments, Wednesday and Thursday matinees will now start at 1:30 p.m. and those days' evening performanes will now start at 7:30 p.m. The rest of the days of the week will still continue at the traditional 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. respective matinee and evening showtimes.