SARASOTA, FLA.: Asolo Repertory Theatre has announced plans for a 2021 outdoor season, replacing the previously announced 2020-21 productions of Our Town, Grand Horizons, Knoxville, and Hood, which have all been moved to the 2021-22 season. The announcement follows the theatre’s inaugural outdoor production, We Need a Little Christmas. The four-production season, running February through April 2021, will be performed on the newly constructed Terrace Stage located in front of the Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts.
“We Need a Little Christmas proved to us both that there is a hunger for live performance in our community and that we can do it safely,” said Asolo Rep producing artistic director Michael Donald Edwards in a statement. “Each show celebrates not only its own story but also our ability to come together and connect with one another in this moment when it is so urgently needed.”
The season will open with Laura Osnes in Concert (Feb. 5-6), with music direction by Fred Lassen.
Next up, in association with Seattle Rep and Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, will be Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer (Feb. 17-March 3), by Cheryl L. West. Directed by Henry Godinez and starring E. Faye Butler, this one-woman show follows the story of American Civil Rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.
Following will be a six-person concert version of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s Camelot (March 17-April 1). The concert will be directed by Asolo Rep associate artistic director Celine Rosenthal and will have orchestrations by Tony nominee Steve Orich, who will also serve as music director. The production will be performed with some dialogue and staging.
The season will conclude with Ana Isabelle & Friends in Concert: Stand Back, Sarasota!, starring Ana Isabelle, Junior Cervila, and Guadalupe Garcia. The concert will be directed by Josh Rhodes.
Asolo Repertory Theatre, now in its 62nd season, is one of the few select theatres in the U.S. that performs in true rotating repertory.
