'Cabaret,' 'Man of La Mancha' headline Asolo Rep's new season

The Asolo Repertory Theatre’s upcoming season is headlined by a pair of musicals that have taken the world by storm.

The Asolo Rep will feature “Cabaret” from Nov. 16 through Dec. 31, and its season will conclude with “Man of La Mancha” running from May 10 to June 11 of 2023.

"Cabaret," directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes, will kick off the season with its thunderous mix of song and dance. "Cabaret," which debuted in 1967, has won Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Revival of a Musical, and it’s still relevant in a new century.

"Man of La Mancha," directed by Peter Rothstein, is a musical take on "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes. The original Broadway production of 1966 won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Original Score, and the Asolo Rep is looking to give it a new life.

“The lineup is a truly engaging mix of the classic and the new, and it’s created by some of the most gifted artists working in the American theatre today,” says Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards in an official statement promoting the new season. “Our world is troubled and divided right now, and we are fired up with a renewed sense of the power theatre has to connect, to unite and to create empathy. These plays will dazzle our patrons and fill their hearts with joy. We will not entirely forget our troubles, but while we are in the theatre and present with these stories and these artists, it will be possible to believe that life is beautiful.”

The theater's winter season will also present a rotating quartet of plays: “The Three Musketeers,” “Silent Sky,” “Chicken & Biscuits” and “Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help.”

"The Three Musketeers," an adaptation of the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas, will be directed by Peter Amster, who directed “Murder on the Orient Express” for Asolo Rep in 2020.

"Silent Sky," written by Lauren Gunderson and directed by Seema Sueko, is about a pioneering astronomer who helped change the world at the outset of the 20th century. "Chicken & Biscuits," written by Douglas Lyons and directed by Bianca LaVerne Jones, is a “home for the holidays”-style jaunt through a family gathering to celebrate and mourn the passing of a loved one.

"Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Hope," written by Katie Forgette and directed by Asolo Rep Associate Artistic Director Celine Rosenthal, is a family coming-of-age comedy based in 1973.

There’s an additional show, “Looking for Ithaca: An Odyssey,” that will be performed by the theater’s touring company. Gaby Rodriguez will direct that offering.