Hermitage Announces New Program at Booker

March 10, 2023 – Sarasota

The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Sarasota County, Florida) today announced the culmination of this year’s Hermitage @ Booker Series with a program featuring Tony Award Nominee, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and Hermitage alumnus Craig Lucas, who was also the inaugural recipient of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize in 2009. Elevating the Hermitage mission by enriching the community through unique and inspirational educational experiences, the Hermitage @ Booker Series provides classroom visits with world-renowned artists. The program combines classroom visits tailored to students with free performances and community events open to the public. Previous Hermitage @ Booker programs have featured Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Paula Vogel, internationally acclaimed folk musician Reggie Harris, and award-winning jazz bassist and improviser Luke Stewart, among others.

          In this newly announced program, Lucas will join Booker students over the course of their day, examining his lauded plays and musicals and taking a deep dive into his experiences as a playwright, screenwriter, and director. Then, at 5:30pm in the Outdoor Courtyard at Booker High, Craig Lucas and the Visual and Performing Arts students invite community members to observe an ‘open rehearsal’ where the students will present the works in process while engaging with Lucas on crafting their performance. The program concludes with a conversation between Lucas and the audience about what he is working on now, including a musical adaptation of his Pulitzer Prize finalist play, Prelude to a Kiss, which he has developed partly at the Hermitage.

         Previously announced programs in March include partnerships with Asolo Repertory Theatre, Embracing Our Differences, and North Port High School. Featured artists and performers include Hermitage Fellows Kit Yan (Jonathan Larson Grant and Kleban Prize recipient), writer-actor Nandita Shenoy (O’Neill Finalist, Kilroys List), and celebrated teaching artist Tina LaPadula (founder, Seattle Teaching Artist Network, former chair Association of Teaching Artists).  

(Full program details for all events are provided below, along with bios for artists.)

Nearly all Hermitage programs are free and open to the public (with a $5/person registration fee), offering Gulf Coast audiences a rare chance to engage and interact with some of the world’s leading talent. Due to capacity limitations and social distancing, registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

The Hermitage hosts artists on its Gulf Coast Manasota Key campus for multi-week residencies, where diverse artists from around the world and across multiple disciplines create and develop new works of theater, music, visual art, literature, dance, and more. As part of their residencies, Hermitage Fellows participate in free community programs, offering audiences in the region a unique opportunity to engage with some of the world’s leading artists and to get an authentic “sneak peek” into extraordinary projects and artistic minds before their works go on to major galleries, concert halls, theaters, and museums around the world. These free and innovative programs include performances, lectures, readings, interactive experiences, open studios, school programs, teacher workshops, and more, serving thousands in our regional community each year.

For more information about the Hermitage and upcoming programs, or to support the Hermitage’s hurricane repair efforts, visit HermitagArtistRetreat.org.