The Courage to Create: FST Kicks Off its 2022-23 Winter Season

By Gus Mollasis | October 2022

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The productions that Florida Studio Theatre (FST) will feature this winter on its Mainstage and in its Cabaret are an example of the theater’s ability to know who they are and who their audience is. It’s something that comes with being comfortable in one’s skin—a proficiency to offer engaging and eclectic theater to patrons who have come to expect this level of entertainment year after year. 

It’s a challenge that Producing Artistic Director Richard Hopkins passionately accepts each season. Still, this year seems a little different. Perhaps it’s because we have all been through so much over the past two years, accompanied with the realization we can’t take any day, any play, or the next curtain rising for granted. One couldn’t help but feel the excitement in the seasoned director’s voice as he spoke about his 43^rd season at Florida Studio Theatre. 

MAINSTAGE

“This year, FST explores the depth and breadth of our world,” said Hopkins. “On the Mainstage, we open with the hit Broadway musical, Something Rotten!, which is a fun, highly theatrical, and big show.”

Set in Elizabethan England, brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are determined to write a hit play, but are struggling to get out from underneath the shadow of Shakespeare. When a local soothsayer foretells the future of theatre involves singing, dancing, and acting—all at the same time—the Bottom brothers set out to write the world’s very first musical. Called “Broadway’s new big, fat hit” by The New York Post, Something Rotten! was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The musical with book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell and Music and Lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick begins playing November 9.

Next on the Mainstage is the Florida Premiere of What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck, beginning December 7.

“This play tells the story of one woman’s relationship to the Constitution and how she grapples with this document, while also celebrating what is great about our country,” explained Hopkins.

This Obie Award-winning play is inspired by the playwright’s own experiences and family history. As a teenager, Heidi put herself through college by winning Constitutional debates across the country. In this play, she resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the document’s impact on four generations of her family.

Following What The Constitution Means to Me on the Mainstage is another Broadway hit, Network, which Hopkins, himself, will be directing.

Based on the Academy Award-winning film by Paddy Chayefsky, Network tells the story of veteran anchorman Howard Beale, who is fired for not pulling in the viewers. In his final broadcast after announcing he’s been let go, he unravels live on air. The ratings soar and suddenly, Howard is the biggest thing on TV.

“Network is exciting because it tells a timely story that is both a reflection of today’s media landscape as well as a reflection of us as a culture and how media consumes,” said Hopkins. “On Broadway, they basically made a movie onstage. Ours will be more of the play. Like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, many other theatres leaned into high tech. In our production of Curious Incident…, we leaned into the story—the humanity of the play. That will be our focus with Network as well because that is the heart of the work and what is ultimately most important.”

The theatre’s Mainstage Series comes to a close with the World Premiere of Visit Joe Whitefeather (and bring the family!) by Bruce Graham, which FST commissioned in 2020. The new comedy centers on a small town in Pennsylvania that’s losing tourism as an economic driver. 

“The City Council gets a crazy idea about how to save their town, and the plot and the comedy escalates from there,” said Hopkins. “It’s actually based on a true story, which adds another layer.” 

Visit Joe Whitefeather begins playing April 5.

CABARET

For those who love live music, FST’s Cabaret is a popular destination. Set in FST’s intimate dinner-theatre style Cabaret spaces, attendees can enjoy an array of live hits, along with a meal from FST’s on-site restaurants. 

This year’s three-show lineup features music from artists ranging from The Bee Gees and ABBA to Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and more. The series kicks off with The ‘70s: More Than a Decadefeaturing such songs as “Joy to the World,” “Let It Be,” “Stayin’ Alive,” and more.

“FST’s audience continues to evolve, and our goal is to always speak to the heart of the audience we have,” said Hopkins. “The music of the 1970s really speaks to our audience today. It also creates a nice continuation, building off past shows we’ve done like The Wonder Years and Light My Fire.”

While The ‘70s: More Than a Decade features a wide array of artists and music, the next show in the series, A Place in the Sun, will focus on one artist in particular: the one-and-only Stevie Wonder. 

 “What really stands out to me about Stevie Wonder is that he addressed tons of social issues in his music,” said Hopkins. “He does it in a way that both entertains and makes people feel positive—he focuses on love over hate.” 

Featuring Stevie Wonder’s greatest hits like “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” “Superstition,” and “Isn’t She Lovely,” A Place in the Sun: A Tribute to Stevie Wonder begins playing November 16.

The Cabaret Series will then close out with Reel Music, a show that celebrates the power of music in movies and how they connect to our lives. Reel Music will feature such classics as “Singing in the Rain,” “Circle of Life,” and “My Heart Will Go On,” and begins February 15.

All FST’s Winter Cabaret shows are developed by the theatre’s in-house team of resident artists. Each revue takes the team anywhere from 6-18 months to develop. 

“We’ve been creating these works and collaborating together for decades, and we’ve really learned along the way what resonates with Sarasota audiences—what connects with their emotional anchors,” says Rebecca Hopkins, who has been actively involved in the development of FST’s Cabaret productions since her arrival in 1998.  

One of these emotional anchors, she adds, is music itself. “We are emotionally connected to the music we know, particularly music from the time we came of age through early adulthood. That’s why every generation thinks the music of the next generation is not as good. They’ve proven this scientifically. We react emotionally to music and connect it to our lives.” 

ART & AUDIENCE

At the heart of all seven of these shows this Winter Season, for Hopkins, is the audience.

“I spent the first years of my career really studying the art of theater,” said Hopkins. “And I’ve spent the last 25 years studying the art of theater through the eyes of the audience. We’ve learned a lot over these years about our unique Sarasota theatergoers and what speaks to them.”

In addition to the audience, Hopkins says when selecting a Season, he goes back to FST’s long-held mission. One of the theatre’s mission points, he shares, is to challenge with as much gusto as they entertain. 

“So, this Season, you’ll see a diverse range of contemporary theater that entertains in a big way—like Something Rotten! and our Cabaret Series,” said Hopkins. “And you’ll also see plays on the Mainstage that will either confirm or challenge your world view.”

But for Hopkins, great theatre asks questions rather than gives answers. “We don’t pretend we have the answers to everything,” he said. “Rather, we aim to put the world on the stage and let people decide for themselves what they think.”  

According to Hopkins, great theater occurs when the actor meets the audience in a moment of truth, honesty, and compassion. And ultimately, this season Hopkins wants people to be able to say they saw some really great theatre at FST.

“I also hope they can say, ‘I saw myself. And I saw my neighbor,’” he said. “I hope audiences can also say, ‘I also saw my enemy, and I understand that person a little better now. And most important, I saw the other. Someone I didn’t know existed. And now I understand them; I have compassion for them.’” 

Producing first-rate theater comes with no road maps or guarantees, but according to the regional theatre leader, he’s leaned on some important lessons learned over the past four decades.

“The biggest challenge, artistically, is always to get yourself out of the way,” he said. “To tap into your source of creativity. To overcome fear. The act of creation is fear-inducing. Because if you speak the truth, you are afraid you will be rejected by the herd. And that’s a psychic death. It’s easy to not seek the truth when fear wins. The challenge is to have the courage to create.” 

For tickets and more information about Florida Studio Theatre’s 2022-23 Season, visit floridastudiotheatre.org.